Prologue
Calliope Mori sauntered down the brimstone brick boulevard of the Sous La Lune bastion, idly tossing up the pair of dice that J-chad gave her and then catching them midair. Otherworldly flames crackling in the street lamps guided Calli's path and stole her attention for a brief moment.
Like the dancing flames of those street lamps, Calli's mind wandered restlessly in deafening silence. Priestess Ina calling this beautiful bastion a gilded cage gnawed at her on one end. The pitiful, tearful pleas of the Phoenix Kiara Takanashi gnawed on the other.
' Ain't no rest for the wicked. ' Calli mused beneath her breath.
Calli waved away her doubts and made her way to the raised heavy drawbridge and the water moat that stood between her and the keep. She raised her right hand up above her and summoned her scythe with a flash of crimson red light. Heavy chains and machinery then rumbled from the other side of the moat and the drawbridge slowly descended before her and finally allowed her to cross.
Once Calli made it into the outer walls of the keep, she found the jetty of petrified wood as white as bone jutting out to the River Styx close by. A small group of Calli's juniors, sickle-wielding Grim Reapers who were still earning their names, were rowing boats towards the jetty.
Calli fondly watched her juniors going through the motions. They tied their boats to the jetty and disembarked the grey souls of the recently deceased like it was second nature to them. It was a process that Calli, over the course of three hundred years, was so familiar with that she could do it with her eyes closed - or even drunk on the strange wines that J-chad finds in the Upperworld!
Knowing this, Calli could easily tell what had changed since the day she first became a Grim Reaper.
A pair of French reapers, natives of the Sous La Lune bastion, crossed the jetty to meet the landing crew. Those reapers were sickle-ranked too, but they carried the latest model of French Army rifles among other weapons. Calli's juniors then proceeded to summon their own sickles - to prove that they were indeed Grim Reapers - before the French reapers let them through.
Seeing that, Calli furrowed her brow, but she kept her silence regardless. Those were security measures that Death-sensei put in place ever since the supposed 'invaders' from Cover Corp came into their world, after all.
While Calli was lost in her thoughts, one of her juniors approached her from the jetty.
"What brings you to the keep, senpai ?" The junior asked, "Were you hoping to see someone among the greys?"
Calli glanced at the grey ghosts that the junior and her team were bringing into the Underworld. However, the Atlantean shark-girl, the British detective and the 'management trainee' from Cover Corp were absent.
Disappointed, Calli heaved a sigh and answered.
"The one I'm waiting for died three hundred years ago, kid."
"Huh!?" The junior gasped.
"Never mind." Calli brushed her junior's concern aside, "I'm off to see Death-sensei. We'll probably talk about your promotion. I'll give him my OK. But only on one condition.
"What's that, senpai?"
"Stop impersonating that strong girl from Cover Corporation." Calli said sternly, "Make your own story, darn it!"
The junior shuddered under Calli's intense gaze. She then nodded sheepishly to Calli and went away together with her teammates and the grey souls they led away out of the keep.
Quietly, Calli thought, she hoped she could do the same.
Make her own story for once, that is.
Before she could turn back towards the inner walls of the keep, Calli felt the brimstone brick road rumble beneath her feet. The thunderous shuffle of canine feet and the dragging of heavy chains reached her ears as well. Calli's face went pale and she dared to turn towards the source of the commotion.
A huge three-headed dog that was taller on all fours than Calli, with grisly brown fur, rippling muscles on its body, and sharp jaws and claws came running full sprint for her. All the while, the hellhound wagged its serpentine tail with boundless excitement that its chains and collar of otherworldly metal could barely contain.
Calli froze in place while the three-headed dog started licking her face and rolled on the brimstone brick floor. It was a display of pure joy that would have been cute if the dog showing its tummy to her wasn't a mythical, infernal hellhound with three heads and a literal snake for a tail!
"H-hey there, B…!" Calli hesitantly patted the hellhound's overturned central head.
"The lad is just happy to see you, Calliope." Another voice then called out to her this time. The figure of Death-sensei in the form of Captain James Morrison descended from the inner walls and ran a hand along the hellhound's fur, "Old Brutus was the terror of humans centuries ago. Descendant of the mighty Cerberus itself! But around those he trusts, he becomes nothing more than a loving guard dog!"
The Cerberus hellhound named 'Brutus' closed its six eyes and wagged its tail, savoring Death-sensei's tender patting.
"Good dogs follow their masters' orders." Death-sensei added fondly and then pulled out a human femur bone from under his coat, "And good dogs are rewarded for their loyalty. Isn't that right, Brutus?"
With that, Death-sensei tossed the femur bone over the walls of the inner keep. Brutus promptly picked himself up from the ground and scrambled after the bone. All the while, the brimstone brick road and the jetty of petrified wood trembled and stirred the waters of the River Styx itself!
Once Brutus disappeared behind the inner walls of the keep, Death-sensei turned to Calli with a wrinkled smile and spoke.
"So then, Calliope. I'm sure that Chadwick told you why I called you."
Calli wiped her face with the sleeves of her long black reaper's hood and brought out the pair of dice that J-chad had given her.
"J-chad told me, sensei." Calli tossed the dice up in the air and confidently caught them in her hand, "And I'm playing to win!"
"So am I, Calliope." Death-sensei chuckled, almost as if he were amused, "Well then, come with me - and welcome to the Keep!"
AlterMyth
Let The Dice Fall
Fiftieth Scene - Snake Eyes
Death-sensei led Calli into the private quarters within the inner walls of the keep. It was a pretty, quiet space made of polished brimstone tiles that shimmered like dark marble. There was furniture there that wouldn't be out of place in a medieval castle: thrones and decor of ancient petrified wood, hearths of brimstone and trophies of moose heads hanging over the fire.
One particular piece of furniture, however, stood out like a sore thumb in that room for Calli: the Casino Craps table. It was made of young, factory-varnished wood and sported an apron of soft emerald green, machine-sewn fabric that contrasted everything else there. That hue of green, however, reminded her of the feather of the Phoenix Kiara.
It made Calli feel uneasy.
Death-sensei marched over to the Craps table and patted its wooden frame proudly.
"Chadwick and I sequestered this table from the RMS Teutonic…among other things." He explained and turned to Calli, "We were quite certain that the ship was doomed to a watery grave… but it appears that luck was on their side."
"It wasn't luck, Death-sensei." Calli corrected and brought out J-chad's dice, "The detective Watson, the Atlantean Gura and the Priestess Ina pulled off a heroic feat. It was pretty sick, if you ask me!"
"Perhaps - in the eyes of those who cheated death." He answered with a chuckle and asked for the dice, "Humans have always been fascinated with 'chance' since time immemorial. Shall we indulge, then, in this game of chance?"
Calli smirked and set the dice on the table.
"Game on, sensei!"
Death-sensei picked up the dice and the two of them began their game of Craps. The Lord of Death played the pit boss and the dealer while Calli took her place on one corner of the table across from him.
Just as Calli expected, while the two of them played dice, Death-sensei wanted to talk business.
"I reviewed the report that you and Chadwick wrote." Death-sensei revealed and passed Calli a stack of casino chips, "Your junior performed admirably well. Chadwick has already recommended her for a promotion."
"I second the motion, chief." Calli casually agreed and took her chips, "That girl busted her ass in the library and got us out of the hotel. We wouldn't have made it out without her." She then looked Death-sensei in the eye and added, "But only if she chooses a name other than 'Enma'."
"A considerate choice." Death-sensei tested, "But do you truly consider the interdimensional interlopers to be… human?"
"I'd treat them the same as anyone." Calli shrugged, "Doesn't matter to me."
"Chadwick would agree with you - mostly." Death-sensei interjected, adding emphasis to 'mostly', "She has sworn to eliminate the Otherworlders who cross into this world. I'm amazed that the two of you still work together so closely despite your disagreement."
"J-chad and I go back a long way, sensei." Calli grinned, "We're more than just a bunch of opinions. She took a chance on me and I took a chance on her. We're practically family!"
"People in the land of the living would rarely treat the supernatural like their own kind." Death-sensei reminded, "It's why the Atlanteans and Phoenixes keep to themselves… and why us Grim Reapers take great pains to welcome humans into the Underworld when their time inevitably comes."
There were a few exceptions to that, however, Calli thought.
She knew that the detective Amelia Watson befriended an Atlantean, a Phoenix and an Otherworlder - all while protecting the Priestess of the Ancient Ones after she had already begun her transformation. More than that, for them to defeat J-chad and every single one of Calli's juniors told her that the Watson Expedition was tougher and more tightly-knit than it looked.
With great effort, Calli kept these thoughts to herself and rolled the dice on the table to start the game.
However, before the dice could hit the walls of the Craps table, Death-sensei reached down and caught the dice in his hands.
"Not yet, Calliope." He interrupted enigmatically, "Don't be like the Phoenixes… always in such a rush to die."
"Huh? Why not?" Calli argued and pointed to the dice, "I got snake eyes! It was a good roll!"
"Perhaps… but you haven't placed your chips on the table yet, have you?" Death-sensei reminded and showed Calli the empty table, "What's a game without stakes, dear Calliope?"
Oh right, Calli realized. Her chips were all still in her stack.
All this time, Calli has been rolling her dice without consequence to herself. She hasn't lost anything valuable in her three hundred years as a Grim Reaper - but she hasn't won anything either. She's been standing there on square one since the day she died, following orders obediently without a sliver of doubt.
Recently, though, doubts have started to sprout in her heart and in her mind - ever since Death-sensei assigned her and J-chad to eliminate the Otherworlders.
"Aside from that," Death-sensei suddenly added, placing a second stack of chips beside Calli's, "We have another guest joining us to play the game tonight."
Another guest?
Calli turned around and found a sharply-dressed gentleman walking into the private quarters. He wore a pinstripe suit, a fashionable silk tie and a luxurious top hat and carried a jewel-encrusted walking cane that tapped menacingly against the polished brimstone floor. The face of the man looked awfully familiar, but it didn't quite register in Calli's mind.
One thing was clear to her, however. She could tell that this man did not have a supernatural aura. He was neither a Grim Reaper nor a grey ghost. Instead, he was a living, breathing human being.
And yet, here he was in a fortified residence of the Lord of Death himself. The Cerberus dog Brutus didn't maim the poor soul either, so Calli figured that this wasn't the gentleman's first time here.
"Welcome dear friend to the Sous La Lune ." Death-sensei greeted the man warmly, "You arrived later than expected."
"Watson and Holmes badgered me about some foolhardy investigation back in London." The well-dressed man answered, "So I led them on a wild goose chase and gave them some cold cases from Scotland Yard. That should keep them busy for a while - or drive them insane. Whichever comes first."
Scotland Yard?
Was this a policeman of some sort?
The gentleman then noticed Calli's dazed presence at the Craps table. This was when Death-sensei finally introduced them to each other.
"Ah, of course. This is my most talented apprentice - Calliope Mori." Death-sensei spoke with unbridled pride, "She was responsible for intercepting the Otherworlders in London - and for slaying the last of the Phoenixes in Bordeaux."
Calli nodded sheepishly to the gentleman, who then tipped his top hat to her. When he took off his hat, however, Calli finally recognized who he was. She had seen his photograph in the newspapers in London many times in the past - posing alongside the once-rivals of the Watson Expedition.
"Now then, Calliope. This gentleman is Mr. Steven Lowry of Scotland Yard." Death-sensei introduced next, "He is the chairman of the Occidental College for Young Ladies, a patron of the arts - and our most valuable ally in Upperworld affairs."
"Ally…?" The word escaped from Calli's lips.
Mr. Lowry grinned with devilish delight and his eyes shimmered like those of a sinister snake.
Fifty-First Scene - Thicker Than Blood
Hours after being called to the Bastion Keep, Calli was walking up the trail to the shrine of the Priestess Ina. The dice that J-chad lent her were stored again in the pockets of her black, hooded reaper's cloak. She had lost all of her chips on the Craps table to Death-sensei. In their stead, the reaper herself carried new burdens in her arms.
Calli cradled a pair of large paper parcels that came from a prominent aristocratic tailor in London - the same one that crafted uniforms and ceremonial dresses for Buckingham Palace. They were 'gifts' for the Priestess that Mr. Steven Lowry had brought with him. Those parcels weren't incredibly heavy, but Calli understood the weight that she was carrying.
It was the weight of opaque, sinister responsibilities that Ina'nis Ninomae was being forced to bear.
J-chad noticed Calli climbing up the hill and came out to meet her halfway. She was grinning at first and wanted to joke around with her junior like she always did. However, the flimsy poker-face that Calli wore and her pensive stares into the distance made J-chad change course.
"Something wrong, kiddo?" J-chad asked her ward. She then pointed to the parcels, "And do you need help with that?"
"Yeah…" Calli answered, but she didn't clarify which question she was answering.
J-chad snorted and took the topmost parcel to lighten her load. The two of them then walked slowly up the hill towards the shrine-house.
"Well, I'm here now. Lay it on me, Calli." J-chad urged.
Calli paused for a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke.
"I learned a little bit about the ritual, J-chad." Calli explained and turned to her mentor, "You know how us Grim Reapers have rules about what we can do and who we can reap?"
"Yeah - it's Reaping 101. Those laws were made even before Death-sensei became our Lord of Death!" J-chad replied, cracking her neck lazily. She then raised up her fingers and counted the rules of the trade, "We can only reap the souls of people who are too far gone, the souls of supernaturals who have breached their contracts and the souls of beings that disrupt the natural order of our world!"
"Death-sensei twisted the meaning of the last one four months ago, J-chad. Mr. Lowry helped him slither through the fine print." Calli furrowed her brow, "Death-sensei also suddenly allowed us reapers to fight back and kill in self-defense. As long as we're attacked first."
"We're the guardians of the afterlife, my dude." J-chad replied sternly, "Death-sensei's just giving us tools to do our jobs. When the Upperworld changes, the Underworld has to change too!"
"But we've been the ones changing the Upperworld, J-chad!" Calli finally erupted, "Unleashing the Sea Serpent on the RMS Olympic killed twelve hundred people - and twelve hundred more people could have died on the Teutonic! Many of those people were political opponents of Mr. Lowry!"
J-chad glanced at Calli with a frown.
"Now listen here. I told Death-sensei I wanted nothing to do with the Sea Serpent shit." J-chad insisted honestly, "But when Death-sensei makes up his mind, he doesn't back down. I oversaw that RMS Teutonic operation against my will. I didn't have a choice." She then tilted her head and tested, "What does that have to do with the ritual anyways?"
"When the ritual is done, the Ancient Ones will help Death-sensei rewrite our rules completely!" Calli argued, unleashing her pent-up emotions, "No more finding loopholes in our rulebook! No more elaborate murder schemes! Death-sensei can order us to cut down anyone he pleases - dying or not! Is that what 'guardians of the afterlife' are supposed to do!?"
J-chad fell silent and turned away from Calli. She then held the paper package in her arms tightly.
"If anyone else in the Underworld heard what you said just now… they'd have you reported to Death-sensei for leaking secrets." The tall lady looked up to the brimstone ceiling above them, "An execution squad would be prepared before you could shine your shoes. It'll be like that team you led when you hunted down the Last Phoenix. Since I brought you in, I'd have no choice but to lead it. I'd have to destroy your soul once and for all, kid!"
"But it wasn't anyone else who heard me." Calli reasoned, looking straight into her eyes, "It's you, J-chad. I'm placing my chips on the table. What are you gonna do about it?"
J-chad rubbed her temple and touched the scars on her face that were rapidly healing. She then turned away from Calli and faced the small town square of the Sous La Lune bastion to reminisce.
"Sit with me for a sec, Calli." J-chad ordered.
Calli halfheartedly obliged.
The two of them stopped there, set down their paper parcels and sat down. J-chad brought out a case of cigars, snipped one with a miniature guillotine and then lit it with a match.
"I remember the day that I picked you up when you died in the Upperworld, Calli." J-chad spoke fondly while she puffed on her cigar, "It was winter in the Thirteen Colonies. 1600's. You died hungry, cold and alone. I took you to the Potomac River bastion. Fed you. Clothed you. Took you under my wing. Gave you a shoulder to cry on. But looking at you, I knew you were meant for something much, much more than this." A conflicted smile then formed on her lips while smoke rose up to the rocks above, "The Underworld always was too small to hold a heart as big as yours. I envied you - but I treasured you all the same."
Calli lowered her head and sympathized with her mentor in silence. This was the first time that she saw J-chad in anguish like this. The senior reaper was a hundred years Calli's senior, but Calli could feel the pain that she was going through with just one look.
Was this what Kiara Takanashi meant by the 'weight of eternity'?
"I can't oppose Death-sensei, Calli." J-chad admitted plainly, "Whatever it is you're thinking of doing… I'd advise you to stop." She then turned to Calli with suspicion, "You met the Phoenix in Paris, didn't you?"
"I did." Calli confessed, "She told me that the people from Cover Corp were interested in recruiting me too. They had an offer letter prepared for me - just like the one I showed you from Kiara."
"An opportunity of a lifetime, huh?" J-chad snorted and blew smoke up to the air, "Sounds like an all-in to me, kiddo. Are you ready to risk it all? The odds aren't in your favor - and the house always wins. If Death-sensei gives me marching orders, I'll raise up a fuss… but I see them through."
"I'm not throwing away my shot, J-chad." Calli answered firmly, "I respect you with all my heart, my dude… but I'm not gonna let you or Death-sensei stop me. If you stand in my way, this hungry wolf's gonna give you hell."
"I had a feeling you'd say that." J-chad elbowed Calli and laughed, "You're just as stubborn as me, after all. Heh… well… more stubborn than me now. That's why I offered you this gig." She tossed her spent cigar and snuffed it out under her shoes, "I've done my part as your mentor… now let me do my part as your friend."
J-chad then brought Calli closer to her and whispered. Calli's bright pink eyes widened and a tender smile formed on her lips.
"You fucking madlass." Calli praised, pushing her mentor playfully.
"You're the only one with the balls to pull this off, dawg. It's Alexander Hamilton level stuff, but I know you can do it!" J-chad grinned, "It's probably why the Otherworlders were interested in you and not me."
"How do you know that, J-chad?"
The senior reaper then formed the shape of a gun with her fingers and pointed it to the side of her head.
"A certain black-haired Otherworlder told me when we fought. She was the only other one to blow my brains out with a gun like Watson did."
Calli failed to suppress a chuckle and teased, "Don't tell me you have a crush on…"
"Oy… do you want my help in your plans or not!?" J-chad formed a fist and threatened Calli with a snarl.
The reaper and her mentor laughed heartily on the hill. After a short while, J-chad stood up first and offered Calli a hand. The mentor then helped her junior back up to her feet, just like J-chad did with Calli on the snow-swept banks of the Potomac River three hundred years ago.
"This conversation never happened." J-chad concluded with a knowing smile, "I'll do what I can to support you… but once you set things in motion, we're going to be enemies. Is that understood?"
"Yeah." Calli nodded.
She then reached into her reaper's cloak and brought out the pair of dice that J-chad gave her. The senior reaper, however, shook her head and grinned.
"Keep those, kiddo. You're the one rolling the dice now. Not me."
Calli returned the smile wholeheartedly and answered.
"Thank you, J-chad."
Fifty-Second Scene - Special Delivery
Three hours later, after her heart-to-heart conversation with J-chad on the hill, Calli finally made her way to the doors of the Priestess' shrine with both paper parcels in hand. Alone. She knocked on the door and waited patiently for the Priestess Ina'nis Ninomae to finally open the door.
The Priestess peeked out from behind the threshold. She scowled as soon as her eyes met with Calli's.
"What do you want?" Ina asked curtly, dismissing the elite reaper with her frown.
"I have the clothes that you're expected to wear for the Ritual of Death and Destiny." Calli explained and showed the packages she was carrying in her arms, "They were made by one of the finest tailors in London. It just arrived today."
"I don't want it." Ina answered quickly and proceeded to close the door, "Go away!"
"Wait!" Calli stuck her foot in the gap of the door, but the door was practically slammed on her foot "Oww, fuck! H-hey, listen to me for a sec!"
Calli weathered the pain and the door finally creaked open. It revealed the Priestess Ina and the dozen or so eldritch, octopus-like tentacles that were sprouting from behind her. One of those tentacles was wrapped around the doorknob.
That must have been why Ina was able to slam the door so damn hard, Calli figured.
Hobbling a little bit from the pain, Calli showed the paper wrappers of the parcels to Ina. They were noticeably wrinkled - as if someone had opened them up and then hastily repackaged it.
"Those ceremonial clothes aren't the only things in these parcels, Ina." Calli insisted. She then looked over her shoulder for a moment and then whispered, "Please accept the delivery, act normally and let me inside, Ina. Then we can talk."
Ina paused for a moment, but her tentacles loomed over Calli.
"I can strangle you right now if I want to, Calli."
"You can try." Calli snorted and then promptly pleaded, "But you have to trust me on this. Please, man. Let me in!"
Ina heaved a sigh and then stepped away from the door.
"Five minutes." Ina warned, "If I don't like what I hear or if you pull off something funny, I'm kicking you out."
With that, Calli stepped into the house-turned-shrine and closed the door behind her. Ina led Calli to the kitchen and had the reaper set down the parcels on the humble wooden dining table. The Priestess carefully opened the parcels while her tentacles seemed to watch Calli's every move.
Just as Calli said, there were ceremonial clothes inside of the parcels. In the first parcel, there was a peculiar breezy yet fashionable black dress that Ina apparently saw in her prophetic dreams. The second parcel, on the other hand, had a large lacy white veil that could cover Ina from head to toe.
Underneath those clothes, however, Ina found the items that were stuffed in along with them. Beneath the black dress, Ina found a familiar sturdy crowbar.
"One of my juniors said you beat him to a pulp with this in the library." Calli explained casually, "I stole it from our storage. I thought you might want it back. It's a gift from me."
Ina picked up the crowbar and looked at Calli for a moment. Then, she looked underneath the white veil and found another weapon hidden there. A strange, futuristic-looking gun.
"That's a P220 pistol. At least that's what the markings on the damn thing says. It's a weapon that the Otherworlder named 'Enma' carried in battle." Calli explained again, "It's the gun that blew J-chad's brains out once. We have no idea how it works, but... J-chad wanted you to have it."
The Priestess passed the crowbar to one of her tentacles while she wielded the P220 pistol. She looked down the iron sights on the weapon and imagined the black-haired lady that she saw in her dreams wielding that gun. Ina then closed her eyes and turned to Calli with a questioning gaze.
"You're smuggling me weapons, Calli?" Ina demanded, "What's the meaning of this?"
"The Ancient Ones will manifest themselves in the Sous La Lune in less than two days. They'll arrive just in time for the Ritual of Death and Destiny." Calli revealed firmly, "During that chaos, when the time is right, I'm going to help you escape. Those are your last ditch weapons if things go south too fast, got it? Get used to using them."
Ina was astounded by Calli's bold declaration. She lowered the gun and asked again.
"Why are you doing this now all of the sudden?"
"Because I did things I regret and I'm trying to make it up to everyone I hurt. Including you, Ina." Calli looked the Priestess in the eyes and added, "I've been following orders all this time without asking why - or thinking how my actions hurt others. Now I'm just paying the price. We're gonna have one shot to do this, and I'm sure as hell gonna do my best to make it happen!"
"Are you sure we can do this, Calli?" Ina tested skeptically, "Where is this confidence of yours coming from?"
A fond smile formed on Calli's lips. She then reached into the pocket of her reaper's cloak and brought out a handful of ashes. Those ashes, exposed to the air, were suddenly set ablaze and then coalesced into a beautiful green-hued feather.
"Let's just say that this isn't the first time I've disobeyed Death-sensei, Ina. And I have a feeling that it won't be the last!"
Epilogue
The sun shone brightly over the Fleur de Lune hotel that late morning. Ophelia Lowry and her expedition had just left along with the French Gendarmes, leaving the remnants of the Watson Expedition alone in the confines of the luxurious, albeit ruined mansion-hotel.
In the foyer, Amelia Watson set down the cracked, glassy obsidian orb down on a table and carefully observed it with a magnifying glass. Gawr Gura, on the other hand, lazily poked on the orb with her aquamarine trident but nothing particularly interesting happened. All the while, the management trainee Jenma dutifully read through a stack of books that she had 'borrowed' from the Bordeaux Municipal Library's private collection.
After finding the base camp that the Grim Reapers had used out in the nearby woods, the Watson Expedition was stumped as to how to proceed. Everyone was at a loss by then.
A grandfather clock in the foyer then rang and marked the twelfth hour of the day.
That was when Gura heaved a sigh and dissolved her trident with a flash of blue light.
"I'm hungry." Gura reattached her fishbone pendant to its string, "I'm making sammiches. Want some, Ame? Jenma?"
The detective and the management trainee nodded and carried on with their arduous yet fruitless investigation. Gura nodded and then went into the main lobby to prepare their lunches.
While Gura was making her way to the lobby kitchen, she felt a strange heat coming from the ruined grand piano and the pile of ashes that remained there. The Atlantean tilted her head and wondered if it was another summer heatwave coming into town.
However, those ashes suddenly caught fire and startled Gura.
"Holy crap!" Gura gasped as the fire grew bigger and hotter before her eyes - so much so that she had to look away and cry, "AME!"
"Gura, what's wrong!?" Ame cried out, rushing towards the lobby with the obsidian orb in hand and her Webley revolver in the other. As soon as she saw the fire, though, she shielded her eyes, "What the hell!?"
Before long, the fire died down and a peculiar figure emerged from the pile of ashes. It was a naked girl in fetal position, holding her legs up to her bountiful chest. That girl had bright orange hair with green accents and soon opened her bright pink eyes.
This girl looked like she was in a state of disbelief for a moment. However, as soon as she saw Ame and Gura standing before her just as amazed as her, tears started to form in her eyes. Then, with joyful tears streaking down her cheeks, she smiled at the detective and the shark and greeted them once again.
"KIKIRIKI!"
To Be Continued