It's me again. Just wanted to thank everyone for their support so far. I also wanted to note that even if there are a few sci-fi elements here and there, this story won't actually lean to that genre all the time as it is a mix of themes, most especially containing fantasy elements like the human Psyche. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!


Advent
Chapter 2: Wake up, Adagio

Len stopped behind his companion as both of them stared at the popular Shegeru mall named '10-1'. It was situated right at the center of multiple wide crossings, all of which branched out to either reach the large mall or head on elsewhere.

"We're not here for clothes, are we?" Len started, arms crossed as he looked up to the highest floor of 10-1. The gigantic structure consisted of a total of 7 floors, making it quite a landmark aside from its factual popularity among the young and old alike.

"Of course not, silly" the girl beamed, "Although your fashion sense is a bit lacking"

"I wear what I want…"

"Well, I never said it looked bad. Anyway, this is where our HQ is located. I'm sure right now you're thinking, 'Our HQ's a darn shopping center?' or something like that, but you'll be surprised" What was actually surprising was her ability to mimic Len's expression to quite an extent, much to the boy's slight irritation.

Going through the large glass doors, the two were greeted by that familiar vibe and atmosphere of people who just wanted to do something interesting and leave their work life behind just for a little while. "Hey, did you know?" Rin began, "Shegeru actually wasn't like this in the past. Before, it was called 'Shibuya', but because of the Buried Day, a lot of it was forcefully changed"

"The Buried Day?"

"Yup, it's what we call the incident 10 years ago that almost everyone forgot. I was the same age as you when it happened, and I can still remember that this place used to be called '109'. It was a shopping mall smaller than this one" Unlike her, Len wasn't aware of that change. He'd spent his early years in a prefecture quite far from Shibuya, let alone Tokyo.

Entering a round shaped elevator, Len glanced down at the view from the glass window of the locomotive. The numbers lit up one after another from 1 to 7. When it'd finally hit the last floor, the rest of the shoppers exited the elevator. Assuming it would go down that time around, Len was surprised to see that the machine had suddenly continued to rise until the appearance of the mall drastically changed to a long and spacious hallway that could fit right in at a five-star corporate building. After seeing all that his afternoon had to offer him, Len didn't allow anything else to catch him off-guard.

"Hey there. Glad to see you've joined us" A calm voice suddenly greeted as soon as the two had begun walking. In front of them was a man with dark blue hair, a long dark grey coat adorned with small belts and a necklace that resembled a cross with a lion engraved at the middle. The most notable thing, however, was the Popsicle stick hanging by his mouth. "Name's Kaito Aisukuri. Pleasure to meet you, kid" the twenty something year man said, extending a handshake to the boy.

"…I never said I'd be joining whatever this is. I only said I would hear you out" The boy replied, making the man smile as he moved his hand back.

"That so? Well, I'm sure you're aware by now that we don't force people into things. Whatever you pick is your own business. Alright then, as much I'd like to sit and chat, I've got a truck load of things that need some attention. See you kiddo, and you too rookie" the man finished with a casual tap on Len's shoulder before heading off to the elevator.

"Rookie?" Len uttered, making his companion chuckle.

"He's just like that. He treats all of us like we're his best friends. That said, he's pretty serious when it comes to being an Engraved, and his Pneuma's pretty top-class too…or so I've heard"

"A what now?" Len questioned once again.

"Oh, that's right! I haven't even told you what a Pneuma is yet, have I? To put it simply…it's our weapon against the Keii. My cellphone and dagger combined is my Pneuma" She said as she pulled out both items. Upon further observation, the knife in truth had a blunt edge. It was no wonder why it could simply be put in her pocket.

After a short minute, the two had arrived at a large dome-like room that seemed out of place with the rest of the structure. There were a few people present, but it seemed like they had all been waiting for the two to arrive. Len took note of a girl about his age with green hair, and an older man dressed in a suit to name a few.

Among them, a lady with aqua-blue pigtails stepped forward to greet them. "So this must be Len Kagami, then? Hmm…you're actually shorter in person"

"…Is that supposed to be an introduction?" Len fired back with a twitching right eye. They were practically the same height, with Len being only very slightly taller. If one were to look from afar, there wouldn't be a notable difference at all.

"Oh, sorry about that; Forget I even said anything" The woman smiled, making it hard for Len to really ignore her unintentional insult. "I'm Miku Hatsune, an Engraved just like all the others in this room. I'll get straight to the point now. We need your assistance in fighting the Keii. Normally, tracking an Engraved would be a difficult thing to do depending on how powerful their 'Psyche' is; In other words, the strength of their spirit. Tracking you down was pretty easy though, and the reason to that is because of your incredible Psyche. It was almost like finding a needle in a needle stack"

Aside from the lady's unorthodox comparison, Len contemplated about the so-called energy of the spirit. "If tracking me was as easy as you just said, why only ask for my help now?"

"Because your Psyche signature also matched a Keii's" A deep male voice interrupted, turning everyone's attention to a middle-aged man with short brown hair. His demeanour could be likened to a CEO's, and the same could be said about his luxurious clothing.

"Oh, chairman Al. I thought you had a meeting?" Miku greeted.

"It ended earlier than I'd expected. At least now I can meet Mr. Kagami face-to-face" Turning towards the blond boy, the businessman continued, "My name's Al Taragaki, and you could say I'm the head of this organization. You see, it was only about two days ago when your signature cleared up. Before that, we weren't certain whether to treat you as a friend or foe. It's good to know that the strong signature belonged to a human being, or it would've been problematic for us. Also…there was one other reason why I wanted to meet you in person. Mr. Kagami, I'm aware that the Buried Day had another – how should I say it? Traumatizing effect on you, yes?"

At that, Len's eyes slightly widened, clearly giving him away. He cursed at himself for acting surprised, but now there wasn't any way out.

"I thought as much" Al said with a concerned expression. "When you turned 10, everyone around you had forgotten you even existed…and every day after that, any interaction you had with anyone would also be forgo-"

"Yeah, so you think you know all about me now, huh?" Len angrily interrupted, clenching his fist as he looked at the man with sharp eyes. It was obvious that only Al had known, basing from the surprise on the others' faces.

"I apologize…I seem to have said too much" the man said, clearing his voice afterwards. "But that is one of the things in particular I would like to discuss with you. That effect is caused by your overwhelming Psyche energy. Whenever you come in contact with a person outside of the Engraved, your Psyche consumes the energy of that person little by little. In response, your own mind releases any excess energy by the end of the day before an overload can occur"

Len responded, "You make it sound like I'm a circuit breaker"

"As a sort of metaphor, yes, but your mind is a much more complex thing. In the process of absorbing a target's energy, your Psyche also forcefully breaks any memory that person had with you in the hopes of he or she not approaching the next time you two may meet. Should that happen again, the process repeats itself like the hands of a clock circling a full 360 degrees"

Len despised the current topic. He hated thinking about that fact and tried to distract himself whenever his mind could even begin to ponder on it. "…So how's that supposed to help me? Sounds like you're just rubbing it right in my face"

"I'd like to help you by limiting your Psyche. That way, you won't have to worry about it acting on its own accord. There are three steps. First, we'll need to open a 'Soul Space'. This is the temporary area that represents a certain place at a given time"

"You mean the space where I'm standing right over the ocean?"

"Yes, though that space merely belongs to Rin. Each one is unique to the person that initiates it. For this to work, we need to initiate your own space. It'll be difficult since you're unable to wield your Pneuma, but we can still perform a 'Breach' and force our way into your Psyche. The second step…and undoubtedly the hardest, is to normalize the area. We cannot modify your Psyche directly after a breach because the Soul Space would still be erratic. The only way to normalize the space, however, is to convince the being within your Psyche to let down its protection. Once that is done, the only thing left to do is to distribute the energy evenly throughout your body. Now, the question of the matter is…are you ready to take on the risks involved?"

For the most part, Len understood what the man was trying to get at. A part of him was anxious to start right away, but then he was also reluctant – afraid of what might happen if it fails or even succeeds. He was, however, the kind of person that would rather try and solve a problem rather than prolong it. If something were to happen, then at least he'd tried.

"Fine…I'll give it a shot. What do I have to do?"


Len was led into another room shortly afterwards to prepare for the process called 'Breaching'. The room consisted of numerous machines linked up together. The only thing Len could ask himself was how all this was hidden from the shoppers just below them.

"We're just about ready" A man with thin glasses and dark chestnut hair spoke.

"Thank you, Kiyoteru" Al nodded in response before speaking to Rin who stood patiently. "I'm sorry for having you do this, but only one person may safely enter his Psyche, and being the first Engraved Len has ever talked to makes you our best bet. Even though he may not know it, you've officially become a person of great significance to him"

"G-Great significance?" Rin stuttered, her face slightly blushing with embarrassment coupled with a pinch of ignorant confusion. It may have just been the way Al had worded his sentence, but she wasn't sure whether to take it seriously or not.

When everything had been properly set up, Len and Rin were asked to stand on a wide platform at the center of the room.

"Commencing breach. Standby" The man named Kiyoteru announced, typing in a command that caused the white platform below to shine. "I'm gonna need you two to keep a clear mind. Just close your eyes and wait for me to give you the go signal"

Doing as asked, Len and Rin both shut their eyes and swept away any distractions. With closed eyes, their senses switched to their ears, following and remembering the clicking sounds of computers and the running of machines. In a few more seconds, those familiar sounds had disappeared and were replaced with the sound of an empty space.

"You can open your eyes now" Kiyoteru's voice echoed throughout the solitary world. He wasn't with them anymore, but somehow they could hear his voice. Not much else could be heard from where they were, but the scenery around them had a bit of a story to tell. There was static all around them – like a TV screen with a scratchy signal.

"I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to see you eye-to-eye, Lenny" Rin almost believed it was her companion that had spoken, but looking over her shoulder, the girl caught sight of an identical clone. The copy looked just like the original, save for the eyes which were deep reddish in color as a contrast to Len's blue eyes. "You like you've seen a ghost. Oh wait, I guess you kinda have" the clone laughed.

He didn't want anything to go wrong, so Len quickly went straight to the point and ignored any shock once again. "I didn't come here to mince words with you. I'm here to convince you to let down the lock so I can have this place 'refurnished'"

"Refurnished, you say? Do you even know what'll happen if I do that? Your body's a 'freakin time bomb! If I let down the lock, then you'll just absorb all the energy 'till you have a mental breakdown! You've seen those psychopath killers on the news, haven't you? Sounds to me like you're willing to write that down as your occupation for the rest of your life!" The copy's voice took on a senile tone, but all the facts he'd laid down were true. He was trying to protect both himself and Len.

"I'm aware of that" Len replied, "There's a way to stop it from happening, you just have to trust me!"

"Trust you? Like how you trust some random strangers you've only just met? You've been walking on your own for 6 years and you still haven't learned that sometimes trusting yourself is all there is? Forget it…you're too stupid to understand right now. Know what? I think I'm gonna do you a favor" At that, a translucent red blade appeared on the copy's right arm. As his limb moved inside the see-through sword, so did the weapon. "I'm gonna send you back into the real world and make sure you can never come back"

With sharpened eyes, the copy dashed towards Len, only to be interrupted by Rin's dagger. Pulling out her phone at the same time, she quickly pointed it towards the hostile being and opened fire, causing the enemy to leap back. "If we can't convince you with words, then we'll just have to make you listen to us!"

The copy grinned, "Is that right? Look little girl, I don't wanna end up killing you, so why don't you just-" Before he could finish, another streak of light shot close to his head, forcing him to sway slightly to the right. "I guess you've made up your mind then. It must be sad to die at the prime of your youth!"

Rin attacked with another shot, but the copy easily evaded it and every other beam as he drew closer. Shortening the distance between them, the enemy jumped high in the air, slashing away at another beam before clashing his weapon with Rin's. "What's the matter? You talked pretty big awhile ago!" With a strong arm, the hostile pushed her a good 10 feet back. Not wasting any time, Rin fired a single shot as a distraction to attack the copy's side. Unfortunately, the only thing she was able to hit was her opponent's weapon.

Len stood helplessly as he watched the two fight. Another feeling he despised was the feeling of weakness; the truth that he couldn't do anything to help. Along with that dreaded emotion, however, something began to spark inside him; a surge of strength that grew with every second that he stayed in that world.

Suddenly, Rin's opponent had disappeared, only to reveal himself behind her at the snap of a finger. Before she could even move, Rin felt the copy's arm wrap around her neck with a strong choke. Trying desperately to break free, the girl grabbed the spiritual being's arm with both hands, but to no avail. "You couldn't even give me a proper workout. See, Len? How could you put your faith in people this weak?" The look-alike sighed as he continued to choke-out his opponent.

"Stop! I said stop damnit!" Len exclaimed as his worry began to peak. Just then, the rush of power had finally reached its limit. With it, Len let out a strong yell that shook the environment around them like an invisible force.

"The hell?" The copy muttered before letting his target go. As Rin now caught her breath, her eyes focused on a transformed Len. His blue eyes were glowing a bright shade, and he held two swords similar to the single translucent weapon attached to his clone's arm.

Emanating a colossal energy from his body, the tranced Len whispered, "Wake up…Adagio"