Chapter 009: The Collector
'Tick, Tick, Tick', was the sound that met Robin's ears as she slowly regained consciousness. Her vision blurry, she tried to bring her surroundings into focus. Slowly shapes began to emerge, and she could discern large metal bars all about her. She was in a circular cage. But wait, how could she possibly fit in a cage? Now her vision had returned (as well as it ever could without her glasses), and she hopped over to the edge of the cage. It didn't take her long to reach it, since it was only about six inches in diameter. Looking out, she could see the room she was in. Or rather, the attic she was in. Dusty books littered the old fashion dressers and shelves, covered with cobwebs. On the shelves not occupied by books, however, there were exotic birdcages, containing all sorts of birds, both ordinary and exotic. The green light that floated about the place reminded her of the emerald clock that she and Amon had been ascending the previous day. Was it only a day ago? Her thoughts were jumbled, time seemed immeasurable, and she could barely concentrate. 'What has happened to me?'
A man entered through a door on the opposite wall, the one with all the bookcases. She couldn't tell whether it was the same creep that had ambushed her the previous night, but she had a feeling that it was. He wasn't very young, but he wasn't old either. 'Probably about forty.', she concluded. Dressed formally like a friendly business man and with his black hair cut tidily, he didn't look menacing at all. 'But I know different...', she thought bitterly, ruffling her feathers in agitation.
After shuffling around some papers on his desk, he turned around and grinned in her direction. "Well, if it isn't our new addition.", he said with a voice that didn't match the warmth of his smile by a long shot. In fact, she had decided that it wasn't really a smile. It was a content smirk; one that clearly said 'I've got you now and there is nothing you can do about it'. Instead of fear, his attitude sparked an emotion within her that she hadn't felt in a long time. Anger. Struggling to speak, but unable to do so, she flapped her wings wildly and chirped as angrily as possible. "Now, we'll have none of that.", his voice was threatening now, and she stopped immediately. Slowly he lost his anger, and began gloating just as a child would over an expensive toy. "Lovely. Quite lovely. The prettier the girl is as a human, the more beautiful the bird will be.", he paused for a second, and swept his arm towards the other birds. "As you probably have noticed, I am a collector. I've developed a personal aviary, you might say".
Sitting down at his desk, he picked up an exquisite pen and began to write, chuckling silently to himself. It was too far away for Robin to read, or care to read for that matter. Her anger abated, and after several minutes past with him ignoring her all the while, she became afraid. Terrified, actually. It's not every day that you wake up and find yourself caged and held captive by an insane bird collector. She had so many questions to ask, and the inability to ask them. That alone frightened her. But most of all, she was worried about whether she could ever turn back into a human again. Staring out the window, she could see that they were very high up. In fact, they were located at the very top of the emerald clock. 'Perhaps if I could get out of the cage I could fly away...', she thought.
"Oh no you don't." The collector got up from his chair, and shuffled the papers he had been writing on into a neat pile. Laying them on the desk, he turned to her and approached. "You will do no such thing, my little Robin. And yes, I know that is your name. I have no choice what species of bird my acquaintances turn into, but I do have the power to read their minds once they have. And yes, I am a craft user. I'm not at all fond of the term 'witch'. Too harsh, most definitely. As you have realized, I have the ability to transform young ladies, like yourself..." he added, "...into beautiful creatures of the air. Lovely, isn't it?"
'I don't think so at all!', Robin thought back, angry again. 'So what are you planning to do with all of your prisoners now?!' He laughed at her last thought. "Nothing yet, of course. As I said before, I am merely a collector. And I find you even prettier as a robin, Robin." He laughed again. Robin glanced at the grandfather clock. It was almost two thirty in the afternoon. 'I have only one question left. Why?' He waved her question away as though it were insignificant, with another laugh. "Because I love it. I love collecting young girls such as yourself and transforming them into even more beautiful creatures. I have been blest with this gift, so why not make use of it."
Robin wasn't convinced. He frowned. "Hmm. Not going to believe that, are you? No. I thought not. Well then, here is all I'm going to tell you. An old friend of yours seems to be out to do you in. And when that certain someone is rich, why not get rid of you in an entertaining fashion. That certain someone pays me to continue the noble art that I enjoy in the first place. Quite simple, really." He laughed again, and with each reoccurring laugh she felt a deeper sense of dread.
Back at the STN-J, everyone had decided to locate every single clock in Tokyo. Of course, this threw the office into a slight pandemonium.
"Argh! Doujima, will you stop hovering over me like a human UFO! It's driving me crazy!" Haruto snapped, as Doujima rolled her eyes and backed away a few paces. Everyone was online searching for every possible clock that may be involved in the riddle. They had already figured out that Robin must have become a robin, because that was plain enough. ("The girl shall become her name. Well, that's not too difficult to figure out, now that Robin has gone missing.", Michael had said earlier.)
"Amon. Do you think that the clock that you and Robin were in yesterday could possibly be it?", Karasuma asked. "Well, wouldn't that be convenient.", Michael said with a bit of sarcasm, having just found the emerald clock online. "It just so happens that the clock you are talking about has been ten minutes fast for the past month. If that's the correct one, we need to work even faster!" Everyone stopped working and looked up at him. "Of course that would be the one, then. The riddle seemed to specify a specific clock, meaning that not all of the clocks would be striking three at once. Remember? It said: 'THE clock strikes three'."
Without explanation, Amon rose from his chair, put on his trench coat, and left. It took the others a few seconds. All at once, they leapt up from their chairs and put on their coats as quickly as possible. "Well, we can only hope that she'll be AT the clock. For all we know she's someplace entirely different.", Doujima sighed. "Well, it's the only location mentioned in the riddle. We can only hope.", Karasuma said determinedly, as they got in the car.
'Tick, Tick, Tick', was the sound that met Robin's ears as she slowly regained consciousness. Her vision blurry, she tried to bring her surroundings into focus. Slowly shapes began to emerge, and she could discern large metal bars all about her. She was in a circular cage. But wait, how could she possibly fit in a cage? Now her vision had returned (as well as it ever could without her glasses), and she hopped over to the edge of the cage. It didn't take her long to reach it, since it was only about six inches in diameter. Looking out, she could see the room she was in. Or rather, the attic she was in. Dusty books littered the old fashion dressers and shelves, covered with cobwebs. On the shelves not occupied by books, however, there were exotic birdcages, containing all sorts of birds, both ordinary and exotic. The green light that floated about the place reminded her of the emerald clock that she and Amon had been ascending the previous day. Was it only a day ago? Her thoughts were jumbled, time seemed immeasurable, and she could barely concentrate. 'What has happened to me?'
A man entered through a door on the opposite wall, the one with all the bookcases. She couldn't tell whether it was the same creep that had ambushed her the previous night, but she had a feeling that it was. He wasn't very young, but he wasn't old either. 'Probably about forty.', she concluded. Dressed formally like a friendly business man and with his black hair cut tidily, he didn't look menacing at all. 'But I know different...', she thought bitterly, ruffling her feathers in agitation.
After shuffling around some papers on his desk, he turned around and grinned in her direction. "Well, if it isn't our new addition.", he said with a voice that didn't match the warmth of his smile by a long shot. In fact, she had decided that it wasn't really a smile. It was a content smirk; one that clearly said 'I've got you now and there is nothing you can do about it'. Instead of fear, his attitude sparked an emotion within her that she hadn't felt in a long time. Anger. Struggling to speak, but unable to do so, she flapped her wings wildly and chirped as angrily as possible. "Now, we'll have none of that.", his voice was threatening now, and she stopped immediately. Slowly he lost his anger, and began gloating just as a child would over an expensive toy. "Lovely. Quite lovely. The prettier the girl is as a human, the more beautiful the bird will be.", he paused for a second, and swept his arm towards the other birds. "As you probably have noticed, I am a collector. I've developed a personal aviary, you might say".
Sitting down at his desk, he picked up an exquisite pen and began to write, chuckling silently to himself. It was too far away for Robin to read, or care to read for that matter. Her anger abated, and after several minutes past with him ignoring her all the while, she became afraid. Terrified, actually. It's not every day that you wake up and find yourself caged and held captive by an insane bird collector. She had so many questions to ask, and the inability to ask them. That alone frightened her. But most of all, she was worried about whether she could ever turn back into a human again. Staring out the window, she could see that they were very high up. In fact, they were located at the very top of the emerald clock. 'Perhaps if I could get out of the cage I could fly away...', she thought.
"Oh no you don't." The collector got up from his chair, and shuffled the papers he had been writing on into a neat pile. Laying them on the desk, he turned to her and approached. "You will do no such thing, my little Robin. And yes, I know that is your name. I have no choice what species of bird my acquaintances turn into, but I do have the power to read their minds once they have. And yes, I am a craft user. I'm not at all fond of the term 'witch'. Too harsh, most definitely. As you have realized, I have the ability to transform young ladies, like yourself..." he added, "...into beautiful creatures of the air. Lovely, isn't it?"
'I don't think so at all!', Robin thought back, angry again. 'So what are you planning to do with all of your prisoners now?!' He laughed at her last thought. "Nothing yet, of course. As I said before, I am merely a collector. And I find you even prettier as a robin, Robin." He laughed again. Robin glanced at the grandfather clock. It was almost two thirty in the afternoon. 'I have only one question left. Why?' He waved her question away as though it were insignificant, with another laugh. "Because I love it. I love collecting young girls such as yourself and transforming them into even more beautiful creatures. I have been blest with this gift, so why not make use of it."
Robin wasn't convinced. He frowned. "Hmm. Not going to believe that, are you? No. I thought not. Well then, here is all I'm going to tell you. An old friend of yours seems to be out to do you in. And when that certain someone is rich, why not get rid of you in an entertaining fashion. That certain someone pays me to continue the noble art that I enjoy in the first place. Quite simple, really." He laughed again, and with each reoccurring laugh she felt a deeper sense of dread.
Back at the STN-J, everyone had decided to locate every single clock in Tokyo. Of course, this threw the office into a slight pandemonium.
"Argh! Doujima, will you stop hovering over me like a human UFO! It's driving me crazy!" Haruto snapped, as Doujima rolled her eyes and backed away a few paces. Everyone was online searching for every possible clock that may be involved in the riddle. They had already figured out that Robin must have become a robin, because that was plain enough. ("The girl shall become her name. Well, that's not too difficult to figure out, now that Robin has gone missing.", Michael had said earlier.)
"Amon. Do you think that the clock that you and Robin were in yesterday could possibly be it?", Karasuma asked. "Well, wouldn't that be convenient.", Michael said with a bit of sarcasm, having just found the emerald clock online. "It just so happens that the clock you are talking about has been ten minutes fast for the past month. If that's the correct one, we need to work even faster!" Everyone stopped working and looked up at him. "Of course that would be the one, then. The riddle seemed to specify a specific clock, meaning that not all of the clocks would be striking three at once. Remember? It said: 'THE clock strikes three'."
Without explanation, Amon rose from his chair, put on his trench coat, and left. It took the others a few seconds. All at once, they leapt up from their chairs and put on their coats as quickly as possible. "Well, we can only hope that she'll be AT the clock. For all we know she's someplace entirely different.", Doujima sighed. "Well, it's the only location mentioned in the riddle. We can only hope.", Karasuma said determinedly, as they got in the car.