The mood had been decidedly tense since the recent departure. Luna had been as polite as ever but less outgoing than before and tended to take an extra couple of hours to get going in the morning. In deference to the mood around the house, Musume had sullenly acquiesced to sleeping in the remaining room and sullenly muttering to herself at every given opportunity. Undaunted by the stresses of reality, Jaden and Leo had been getting on like a thermite charge in a fireworks factory.
"For fuck's sake." A cup in either hand had seemed like a good idea when she first got started but now they were both empty and ready to be deployed as weaponry. "Can you two give it a rest?" The pair had been going over play-by-plays of the Duellist Kingdom and arguing if each Duel would have been harder or easier if it had happened under Battle City rules.
Do not mind Musume. Keeping a steady hand on the pot, Phantom carefully refilled both mugs with fresh coffee. She is simply overtired.
"It's that fucking bed." Slumped over the island table, she lifted her head long enough to pour more coffee in before slumping back down again. "I swear, it hates me and deliberately wakes me up every couple of hours." Every time she opened her eyes, time had tripped forward by minutes instead of lurching ahead by the usual seven hours.
I find it more likely that it was your snoring. Terrified looks reminded her that everyone else still had lives left to lose. Nobody had wanted to raise the possibility on account of Musume being murderous when she'd had a full night's sleep.
"Don't lie to the idiots." Pressing the other mug to her cheek, she enjoyed the warmth for a long moment before draining the entire cup in a single mouthful. "I don't snore." Like all other snorers in the world, Musume had no idea that she could rival a small fleet of rusty chainsaws when she got going. Jaden had wondered if there was still ongoing construction work about the place.
Being autistic means I cannot lie. Phantom rebuked. And you do snore.
"Sure, you can't lie." Musume snorted. "And I'm the Queen of France."
"Hang on," Jaden nearly had a handle on her sarcasm. "Are you the queen of France?" She was from an aborted (further) future, had two mega-powerful spirits inside her, a magic sword and glowing eyes. Wriggling her way into the line of succession wouldn't be impossible.
"No." Said glowing eyes were squinting in an attempt to peer through his skull to the gaping void inside. "Yubel, are you sure he's all there?"
"Trust me, there are days where I have my doubts." More than enough. Including several times since they had come to the future.
"Okay then. Jaden's still an idiot, I'm still the best Duellist here," There were murmurs of discontent with Leo throwing his hands up in protest and Yubel having to remind her partner that he didn't have to prove it if he wanted to keep both breathing unassisted. "And nobody's cursed with honesty. It's im..." Then the potential started to set in. "Let's say you can't lie." A peculiarity to growing up in a Hogan-rich environment was the instinct to try and turn every new development to an advantage. Having a pathologically honest person on hand could settle a lot of arguments in a hurry. "I bought four muffins from that bakery a couple of blocks over this morning." 'Bought' and 'muffins' were the only two inconsistencies in the story. Musume had smiled at the man behind the counter and asked him how much the small cakes were. Something about her smile had been enough for him to pile the confectionery onto the counter and beg her not to hurt him. "You're the omniscient watchdog, tell me." A steely rasp underlined her pleasant tone with the threat of imminent violence as she drew the Tender Hands and there was a universal movement to edge away from the growing force of destruction. "What happened to them?" She'd gone for a shower and come out to find not even a trace of the packaging.
The ramifications of Phantom's inability to lie were rapidly settling into everyone else as she started backing further into the kitchen. … I accept full responsibility. That was clearly the wrong answer as Musume stabbed her through the throat and to the fridge.
"You're the only one in here who can't have eaten my muffins." How anybody could make the word 'muffins' sound threatening was a perverse miracle. "But I think it was probably one of the idiots trying to sneak away behind me." Both Jaden and Leo froze in their otherwise silent attempts to escape. Then broke and scrambled for the door without concern about making noise.
Musume, wait! She paused in the turn towards the fleeing pair.
"What?" Breakfast was a sacred rite, the first and most important act after coffee.
Nothing. Phantom admitted. They needed an extra few seconds for the lift. The first stabbing had concerned her. She didn't want to find out what happened if Musume tried to retrieve the sword after stalling for the escaping perpetrators.
By the time, Musume had made it into the hallway, the lift was already escaping down the floors and years of practice had taught Jaden how to take stairs four steps at a time and elude anyone trying to follow. He was five floors down and gaining speed by the time Musume even glanced down the stairwell, that distinctive red jacket flashing around a corner. "Fucking fucks." There was no point in trying to chase them. Luckily, she still had a captive audience waiting in the kitchen. "Oh, that sneaky bitch." She'd almost have found it funny. The worn overalls lay piled on the ground and the outline still pressed against the refrigerator was absent a pair of legs. It was as equally macabre as it was funny, seeing the upper half of the armour dangling helplessly in the air.
Taking the stairs to the second floor in an unnaturally powerful bound, she took a moment to calm herself outside her new destination. Knocking politely on the door, Musume heard shuffling from inside. "Who is it?"
"It's Musume. Have you seen Phantom?" There were exactly six doors the legs could have escaped from; patio doors, front door, four bedrooms upstairs and only one door had someone on the other side to open it.
"Phantom?" Opening her door to peer through the crack, Luna still had damp hair wrapped in a towel above her bathrobe. "I thought I heard the front door close a minute ago. Could she have gone out?" It was ludicrous to pretend that the shadowy form led an ordinary life but it still had to use doors to get about.
"Not unless." Inspiration struck in a heartbeat. "Oh, that sneaky bitch." Heavy fire doors and posh front doors always had one factor in common – they took a little while to shut. Enough for a couple of unburdened legs to sneak through and escape while her back was turned. They were probably catching up to Jaden by now.
"What's going on?" Like how Musume had left her cakes unguarded, Luna had been in the shower for most of the excitement.
"Your brother and his little friend ate my muffins." There was that slight disconnect again as Luna tried to figure out how anyone could say 'muffins' in such an angry tone. "Leo got to the lift and Jaden managed to hit the stairs because Phantom distracted me."
This was too strange a conversation to have before caffeine but she was doing her best. "Can't you fly?" It was a fairly obvious solution from where Luna stood.
"I..." There had been exactly one decent influence in her childhood and it was the same damp form standing before her. Restrain the urge to swear, suppress that embarrassed rage. "Did not think of that." Musume managed to finish through gritted teeth. Then she realised how long she had been standing there. The lift had to be near the bottom by now! "Gotta go." She turned on the spot and darted for the patio.
Luna watched the bloody wings erupt and carry Musume over the wall. The neighbours were going direct some fairly direct questions towards the penthouse in the near future and she had no idea what the answers were going to be. For now, she had more pressing issues. Walking over to her dresser, she carefully pulled open the bottom drawer that usually housed spare bedsheets. "She's gone." Lying atop the cotton was a dismembered pair of legs that still managed to look appropriately ashamed.
Thank you. Carefully hooking one foot over the rim, she managed to rock herself over the rim and stretch upright.
"What do you think she's going to do to them?" Like her companion, she'd delayed Musume an extra few seconds to allow both idiots time to escape. She'd also seen the dangling armour still pinned to the fridge at the neck.
Probably shout at them a bit. Fair enough under the circumstances but there was an unsettling quality about her voice when Musume was angry. Like there was enough anger for two people. And then the 'other' aspects would creep in. Do you think it will have an effect?
"Probably not." She knew that Leo could crack under pressure as much as he knew that Musume probably wouldn't escalate beyond shouting and bodily lifting him with one hand. "They did eat her muffins though."
Cakes. Phantom shuffled uncomfortably. Two strawberry, two dark chocolate.
"Oh." They both recalculated the odds of a messy homicide. Everyone had their particular favourite snacks and it was mutually agreed that eating them without permission was open grounds for a stabbing. "How did they eat four cakes?"
Two apiece. It had been easy enough to mistake a box of four bespoke cakes for a group treat but quite another to witness them be consumed in under ten minutes. If the stitches from fleeing didn't catch up to the criminals, indigestion from running on a full stomach would. I understand that they could not choose between them. Most people would have considered having half a cake each, or maybe even splitting off a smaller fraction.
"You look silly like that." The hips tilted back to stare upwards. Without the upper confines of the armour, the dark light inside had flattened down to hide within the leg guards alone. "Do you need some help with the door?" Striding across the room, her half-companion glared at the door handle with a resolute set of the legs.
I have this. Stretching one leg up, she hooked the boot over the handle, pushed the other against the door and managed to lever enough to open the door. Ta-da! Despite herself, Luna actually laughed at the sight. Wait, wait! Having anchored herself so tightly, Phantom was unable to release herself and could only dangle helplessly while the door slowly closed again.
"Let me." Carefully grasping the freezing knees, Luna gently inverted the legs and placed them on the floor again. "Here you go." She didn't mean to treat Phantom like a child but the suddenly limited stature ignited a further collection of her kind instincts. She even stepped aside to hold the door open.
Looking up at the looming portal, Phantom awkwardly scuffed a foot back and forth. Can we... talk? It was difficult to look embarrassed without a face but she managed it. It was significantly easier to look helpless and underwhelming.
"Sure." Luna shut the door again. "Let me throw some clothes on and I'll be right with you." Gathering a handful of clothes from the drawers not concealing fugitives, she headed back into the bathroom to finish getting ready for the rest of the day. It would have been an ordinary occasion except that she couldn't seem to look at the mirror for long. "Sorry for the wait." She returned to find Phantom still standing in the same spot. "Did you want to fetch your... top?" She'd nearly said 'arms' before switching at the last second. Lesser of two bad choices still came across as awful.
Oh. Right. Shivering slightly, she returned to full height. It was unsettling how dark she stood while still being transparent. My apologies. I get... uncomfortable. Being exposed.
There was no real response to that. "Would you like to sit down?" She gestured to one end of the bed while she curled up against the headboard.
Thank you. She lent a hand down to steady herself only for it to pass through the mattress and fell to one knee. … Still adjusting to that.
"Does it hurt?" Luna didn't know why she asked that. "I mean,"
I know what you meant. Phantom carefully folded one leg onto the bed before leveraging the other up. It does not hurt. It simply... feels. There was an awkward pause. Leaning an elbow over the other fist, she gently floated her head above the imaginary palm. I am... sorry about Patty.
"It's not your fault." Luna shrugged helplessly. "She's going through a lot right now." Which didn't excuse the bleeding sores festering on either side of the knife wound currently dividing her heart down the middle. "And she knows that she can come back here if she needs to." Disappointed certainty rang in every note and spelt out how her friend wouldn't have left in the first place if she'd wanted to stay.
Luna. Phantom sounded more lost than Luna had heard before. I have... been where Patty is. After so long having to... to fight for everything... It is difficult to accept the sort of unconditional help that you offer. It was difficult to tell which way that head turned when both eyes faded but Luna had the uncanny feeling that she had looked away. But... Both eyes reignited and she managed a crooked smile. But it helps to know that there is someone who will help.
"How long were you homeless?" They still knew precious little about who Phantom had been before showing up in their lives. Even a couple of weeks without a fixed place to live could be a defining period in life.
Long enough. Her gaze drowned beneath a sea of crushing memories before it could hope to swim to freedom. Too long.
Luna sat in sullen silence as she mulled over the cheerless words. "Do you think you could find her again? If you had to?" For all the charities and good work she had done, she knew very little about how being homeless really worked. She knew the risks that people would take, the actions they would have thought unthinkable until they had nothing left to lose. To think that her best friend was somewhere in the city without any security or certainty about where she would sleep next tore her apart. But she had no idea where to find her.
Those haunting eyes flickered and danced in some internal conflict. New Domino is... big. She admitted. I could start searching if you want. But there is no guarantee I would find her. Especially if she does not want to be. There were any number of cracks to hide inside. All it took was one in the right place and she would never find her, even with all that range on her new hearing.
"... You said that she would come back if she ever needed help." Luna hugged her pillow a bit tighter. "Would you have come to us if you needed help?" She expected an instant 'yes'. A sure affirmative that the Signers were the answers to all the problems in the world.
Had I needed help, I would have. As close to 'no' as a 'yes' could be. I admit I was... not expecting to meet you all. But, Phantom held up an ethereal finger. I am still here.
For the first time, Luna managed a smile. "Do you think Patty will come back?" She'd already left instructions with Criss to always let her know if Patty turned up, no matter how long that might be or how far away she might move. He had her personal phone number and an email account to send any information or requirements he might have.
If I were in her position with a friend as good as you? She matched Luna's shaky smile. One day. Shouting sounded from the living area downstairs and the pair jumped at the sound.
"I'm sorry." Luna had folded in half laughing. "That's just too funny!" After hearing the commotion, Phantom had shucked back into her remaining armour with an uncanny resemblance to a frightened tortoise. "What's going on downstairs?" Judging from the shouting, at least Jaden and Leo had managed to survive their capture. Rolling off the bed, Luna's personal eavesdropper crabbed her way over to the door.
Well, the good news is that we have cake. Slowly crawling back out of her shell, she look down at her exposed form. The bad news is that I really wished I had my... 'top' right now. True enough, there was plenty of cake downstairs. It appeared that neither man had been able to complete a frantic sprint for survival whilst managing to retain full control of their digestive systems. At least it couldn't be any worse.
"For the fifth time: Siiieeeeeg. Lllloooyyd." Crow made sure to enunciate the name as carefully as he could. Bolton would have set his own people to look into the Crimson Mefist Shadow Card and his company had been the first stop on Crow's hunt for answers. A few probing questions there had turned up the name of a researcher from nearly fifteen years back who had been personally tasked by the then-CEO to look into a private matter. He had apparently turned up a couple of leads before suddenly bailing ship to over in the Zarustica Company. Two hours of sweet-talking the charming Cynthia in HR had put his next port of employment at Eisuke Incorporated. A devilish rogue by the name of Tsuda had been good enough to accept a personal phone call from one of the world's best Duellists to his son in payment towards Noguchi Electronics. Three more jumps to Garam Motors, Senrigan Network Systems, and then to some company called 'Seiko' and Crow was now finding a dead-end where the elusive Mr Joume had disappeared over five years ago without a forwarding address. What had him convinced that he was getting close to a destination was how quickly security had closed ranks when he dropped the name. Why else would they care about an errant employee who left on bad terms?
"Sir, for the fifth time, we don't have anyone by that name working here." Joume was seemingly capable of expressing the sentiment in all three languages Crow had used sarcastically and showed no outward signs or irritation other than a bored tint to his voice.
"Let's recap for the round half-dozen." Both hands gripped the fake wooden desk hard enough to scratch the plastic veneer. "I know Sieg Lloyd doesn't work here like I know he used to work here. If you have anyway I can contact him, I'd appreciate any help that you could give me. If you're not allowed to give me his contact information, I'd like you to pick up that phone," He jerked a finger at the phone which hadn't garrotted Joume yet because someone in the upper echelon of the organisation had realised how costly it would be to constantly replace the receptionists and opted for the cordless handset. "Give him a call and tell him my contact details. Now, what part of that is unreasonable to you?"
"For the round half-dozen, we don't have anyone by the name of 'Sieg Lloyd' working here." Joume probably would have rotated his screen had it not been bolted to the desk so that it wasn't used to bludgeon him to death. That was the only reason Crow could think of to secure a computer that thoroughly. "Nor am I your secretary. If you want to contact Mr Lloyd, I suggest that you find his information yourself."
"Mr Hogan?" A more helpful voice sounded from Crow's left and he looked over to see a drab grey suit wandering in his general direction. "I hear you've got some questions about a member of staff. Would you care to talk about it in my office?"
"You have no idea." Crow muttered darkly. "Thanks for your help." In his head, he continued to attack Joume with the stapler that had been within reach before beating him around the face with the cordless phone, simply to point out how futile it was to try and find ways to prevent any moveable item near an idiot from being useable as a weapon.
"My name is Mr Willis. Now, I understand that you've been trying to reach a former employee called Sieg Lloyd." Pressing a button for the elevator, the grey suit pulled back a sleeve to check his watch. "Damn things never seem to run properly." He muttered disdainfully. "Sorry, can I ask your interest in Mr Lloyd?" Remembering that he had a guest present, he let Crow enter the squeaky elevator first.
"It's a long story. There was an incident back when he was employed at Bolton & Company." Which was true enough to get by any sort of probing questions. "I just want to hear what he has to say."
"Ah. Would this be the incident involving Mr Bolton and the late Mr Pearson?" Willis glanced sideways at Crow's suddenly stony expression. "As you said, six times. Plenty to get up to speed on the situation." The lift doors cheerfully dinged open in a suitably drab environment for the apparently drab Willis. A light even flickered as they walked past cubicles filled with the sort of soulless eyes only found in those who have seen too much, lived too little, or spent an entire week off binging sitcoms and realised the monotony of the laugh track covered jokes that were bordering on outright psychopathy and it was no better than being at work except they had somehow been less productive than if they had been at their uniform grey desk and typing away at their worn out keyboards because at least that probably had some sort of effect somewhere in the world, right? Right?
As the longest surviving non-suicidee, Mr Willis had been granted a tiny office with frosted glass so that when his brain inevitably realised that this was as good as it was likely to get for the next thirty years, at least the cleaners could simply wipe down the walls from the spontaneous explosion and only the papers currently on his desk would need replacing. "Please, have a seat." A drab wave directed Crow to one of the chairs which he had briefly thought were covered in dust before realising that they were just grey. "Do you need a tissue?" Wow, the grey chairs had been covered in dust all along. What a twist.
"I'm fine." Crow managed to get his sinuses under control long enough to wipe the thick grime from one seat. "Don't you ever clean in here?"
"Never had guests before." Willis shrugged as he idly swivelled in his chair. "Never actually had anyone come into the office before. Not that didn't work here or couldn't be done in an email."
"I tried to get this done in an email but Joume" Crow managed to create a new curse word with the sheer venom in his voice. "Is unusually stubborn."
"Yeah. Why do you think we hired him?"
"Can we focus on Sieg Lloyd for now?" Willis was so drab and uninteresting that Crow had nearly fallen into a trance simply by listening to the monotonous lullaby of his unenthusiastic drone. How he could work in the tiny area without leaving any sort of impact must have been a sort of skill. No pictures on the wall, not a cup of company pens on the desk. Even the faded colour of his hair seemed to blend into the filing cabinet over one shoulder.
"Sure." Willis straightened nearly most of the way up before slouching back down again. "What do you want to know?"
"What he did here, any contact information, and when was the last time anyone heard from him." Whatever Sieg Lloyd had learned for Bolton had eventually led him to work here and then to vanish. It was the strongest lead Crow had to learning where the Crimson Mefist had originated and if there were any other Shadow Cards that had come from the same place.
"Is that all?" To his credit, Willis made an effort to look like he was going to reach for his keyboard but gave up in the attempt. "All we do here is verify error data. Sieko is a dozen subsidiaries belonging to... now I want to say KaibaCorp but I think we're technically Industrial Illusions?" He shrugged off the pressure of not knowing exactly who he was working for with all the enthusiasm that the office could provide. "Either way, we're the guys who verify that the computers haven't made huge mistakes in automatically flagging errors. If Floyd worked here, that's all he would have done."
"And when did he stop working here?" From what Crow could gather, the elusive researcher had probably been on the same journey he was currently on.
"Five years, eight months ago." Willis made another great effort to reach for the mouse before giving up again. "Give or take a week."
"Do you know where he went afterwards?" Willis had obviously done his research while Crow was still sequestered in the lobby. The only other rational explanation was Lloyd was the last soul still sane enough to escape and lived on in a sort of infamy.
"Of course. But I can't tell you." That was the end of the living clipboard's otherwise helpful streak of information. "Don't want people knowing where the bodies are buried."
"Look, I don't care what corners your company is cutting." Not that he could think any corners were being cut in the office outside. That would require imagination and Crow could feel his creativity being slowly sucked away like a pile of sheets down that ancient shredder in the corner. "I only want to talk to him about the incident between Bolton and Pearson. You tell me where Sieg went, I'll ask him in person, nobody gets in trouble."
"Oh, I know where he is. I just can't have the cops digging around." The drab surroundings became a whole lot more menacing as Willis continued to swing idly to and fro.
"What do you mean by that?" If this sentient paperclip had meant any harm, Crow would already be in a garbage chute by now. "What happened to Sieg Lloyd?"
"I killed him, of course." If the motive turned out to be 'so I felt alive for the first time in a decade', Crow wouldn't have been shocked. Even confessing to murder, Willis had the same bored look on his face. "He was poking around for information that he shouldn't have been. One thing led to another and now he's fertiliser. Nice enough guy but an unacceptable risk." Willis frowned in the first display of real emotion since Crow had arrived. "Unless I'm thinking of the other guy. Then he was a complete tool."
"How many people have you killed?" If Sieg had died for sniffing around, then it could only have been in trying to trace the origins of the Crimson Mefist. Crow could easily be next on the list but he had to keep Willis talking while he figured out a plan.
"Three, so far. The girl was an accident, she simply stumbled across a program I run and figured out what it did. It's ironic but I made her look like an accident." No, that wasn't irony. Irony was packing an umbrella and having nothing but sunshine. What Willis was describing was murder! Crow managed to keep his emotions from actually screaming the facts aloud. "And I got the company insurance to payout to her family. Poor girl hadn't been lucky in love but her sister got enough to settle down with that 'perfect guy' I kept hearing about."
"And why are you telling me this?" Had Willis – or whatever his real name was – cleared his desk to limit Crow's options for weaponry? He should have asked Musume to lend him that magic sword if he'd known this might happen. Fuck, even that creepy bitch friend of hers would have been welcome right about now.
"Crow Hogan calls in a few favours about a missing person and we'd have cops crawling all over this place." From how he was speaking, there might just be a chance Crow made it out alive. "We let you come upstairs, have a nice chat with a manager, show good faith, and now your story sounds insane. Like you said; why would I tell you about this?"
"Then, I can go?" If this was a sadistic joke before Willis lunged and stabbed him in the back, Crow was going to come back as the most furious ghost to ever haunt the planet. "Just like that?"
"Or what?" The benevolent psychopath raised a chunky eyebrow. "Then we have to explain to the police that Crow Hogan was searching for a missing person and then went missing himself? Might as well announce myself with fireworks." Chance. Pure, limitless chance had come through for him yet again and Crow carefully rose to his feet. "Don't look like that – I'm not going to bite." And now that was the only thing he could think of.
"I don't suppose that you'll let me have any of the information the Sieg dug up?" He was closer to the door now. Even if Willis suddenly snapped and lunged, Crow could get a decent headstart down the hallway.
"Can't. It's all gone." His guest tenses as Willis straightened again to slump back into a more comfortable position.
"Would you kill me if I asked why you killed the others?" Spending enough time around people can let you create vividly accurate depictions of how they would react if they were present. Crow didn't need Jack to be in the room to know that he would have called him a reckless idiot and dragged him out the door at speed.
"Oh. Right." Motive seemed like an afterthought and the notion that he did it simply for the thrill resurfaced. "Got a guy who pays me to let him know if certain information comes up. Anyone who asks about it has to be got rid of but that's more a speciality. Give me a few more years and I'll have enough to retire somewhere sunny."
Yliaster. Crow didn't have to say the name to know who was behind it all. "This guy." He said slowly. "Guessing that he told you to let me know all this?"
"Yeah." Willis picked at his teeth with a thumb nail. "Took him a while to come back with that, which is why you got stuck in reception too long. I get pinged if anyone asks about Sieg or the others."
"I'll be going now." Whether it was the faction in contact with himself or the group led by Nanashi, Crow didn't feel like staying in the room with the casual killer any longer. "Show myself out. Give my best to your guy." He didn't turn his back to the room until he was already most of the way down the corridor. Then he sprinted the remaining distance to the lift and didn't take a breath until he was back outside in the warm light of the evening sun.
Shadow Cards and damned creatures from the deepest abyss he could handle but the casual murderous nature of other people never failed to turn his stomach on its side. Part of him wanted to call Trudge, Mind, Lazar, the entire police force if it had to be but the psychopath and his bland office had been right – he'd only sound crazy and nobody would look too closely for long enough to make a difference. There was a word he had been saving for such a time but he hadn't expected to be using it this soon. "Fuck!" Notably marked by the punctuation, this more vehement form underscored exactly how few leads he'd had to begin with and how that number was perilously close to verging on negative. Crow's backup plan was to grab a tranquilliser gun from a zoo and ask Leo for any information he might have on the Netherworld. His 'oh shit, I have no better options' was to approach Jack for the inside scoop on containing Red Nova and his ultimate 'nothing left to lose' approach was to ask Musume.
Out of a deep love for the integrity of his charming good looks, Crow opted to go to Leo first. But tomorrow. After his encounter in the office upstairs, he had a sudden aversion to being outside once darkness fell.
Watching the last vestiges of light drain away from the sky, Phantom carefully pulled the patio door closed and set the heavy curtains to close themselves over the window. After their quite frank conversation that morning, Luna had regained a bit more of her usual energy. Not much, but enough. Similarly, Leo and Jaden had figured out the wisdom of not eating whatever cake happened to be nearby and the powerful defensive measure of begging for forgiveness by offering a tribute twice as big as the one that had been besmirched by their unworthy existence. Musume had forgiven them by the time she reached the sixth cake and slowly passed out on the couch as she resolutely chewed through the seventh. Not having learned their lesson, the boys quickly split the cake in two and devoured it in minutes.
Quite what punishment awaited them in the morning, Phantom shuddered to think. For now, she focused on her usual routine of tidying up at the end of the day. Dishes were washed and stacked in the cupboards, and loose detritus and empty wrappers were swept away. All surfaces carefully covered in various cleaning solutions and then silently wiped clean. She didn't mind the work, really. It was an easy way to wind down at the start of the night and settle in for the quiet hours that she rarely had to share with anyone else. But on that night, as the wind hollowed outside the building, she felt a deep pang of unease inside her shell. Opening up to Luna had certainly helped the younger woman but it had led Phantom to some memories that she tried not to focus on. And now she had all night to try and bury them again. Throwing the towel onto the side, she crouched under the sink and rummaged around for a packet she had found entirely by accident. Set at the back of the bottom shelf was a pack of tealight candles.
Quiet contemplation would normally have been accomplished by controlled breathing and listening to a slowing heartbeat behind closed eyes. All three aspects she could no longer accomplish but meditating on a candle would suffice well enough. Taking a single candle from the packet and a spare gas lighter from the side, she silently relocated to the coffee table in the living area, pausing only to gently spread a blanket over the snoring figure on the couch.
Shuffling a clear area from the papers still strewn across the low table, she positioned the candle an inch from the edge and carefully held the wick to the tiny flame in her other hand. Pale light illuminated the room as it flickered into life and immediately started to blacken and decay. Humming softly, she folded her legs and placed both hands on her lap while her mind began to sink into hidden depths as events of the last few days were slowly absorbed into her psyche.
She remembered the fear as the boat went down, the screams all around as the Signers were lost in the waves of terrified passengers. Sprinting through the ship to drag out every single person still alive because Yusei would never have left as long as there was anyone left to help. Finding him aflame and lowering the last lifeboat to safety, having to throw him overboard to save him.
She remembered the blood, oozing in spurts down an arm as her working hand tried desperately to patch up as many wounds as it still could. A heated iron rod lay nearby for when finer control failed. Filthy clothes were the only bandages available to use even though they would probably lead to infection later on. That was often the choice: to risk a fast and certain death now or a slow and uncertain one later.
A dust mote flickered and danced in the fire before being swallowed by the softly burning flame. Yliaster was not the first terror she had encountered. It was merely the most honest. There had been other threats in the world that nobody wanted to even admit existed. But they all knew. If they looked closely enough, if they dared to confront reality.
She remembered the sunlight burning down from above. Always too bright, always too hot. No matter how much begging and pleading, nobody ever listened.
She remembered the laughter, the jeering. That poke in the nose that still clenched both fists and made everything too close, even skin. At least there had always been her family to support her.
Mother. Brother. She remembered them most of all.
Silence enveloped the room as her gentle hum fell away. With everything that she had been doing for others, she hadn't taken the time to measure her own life. A lot had happened. Some good, most not. More than most people experienced in a lifetime. There was a curse that summed it up well enough: 'May you live in interesting times'. Good or bad, anything interesting tended to stir up the lives of anyone involved. When the day came and the Signers woke, she would return to helping them in any way that she could. But for now, during this night, she was free to tread back through the darkness where she kept her hidden memories with the candlelight to guide her way back.
"Eh?" Stirred by the dim light, Musume peered over at the silent figure who had disturbed her sleep. Being on the sofa put an end to the tortured screaming of her snores and the only remaining culprit was the flickering light a few feet from her face. "Put that fucking thing out. I'm trying to sleep." Wafting the blanket, she sent a wave of air to extinguish the candle.
No! Phantom wasn't ready to forget everything again, not yet. Reaching out a hand, she tried to shield the tiny flicker before it could be crushed by the wind. Even so, a gust or eddy managed to slip past her hand and wipe it away.
"What's the big deal?" Musume couldn't figure out any reason to get so upset by a candle as she tried to stifle a yawn. "It's only a damn," Without any outward sign of intervention, the candle gently lit in a quivering flame. Rubbing the bleariness from her eyes, she stared at it in shock. "Did you do that?"
You... extinguished the... flame. And I tried to sing the heat back into it. Phantom had attempted to describe the musical way she perceived reality several times now. She had given up after a while, about the time Musume started reaching for the Tender Hands. I do not understand how, Caressing the flickering beacon with a fingertip, she was entranced by the miracle. But it is a wonderful gift. On the couch, Musume was going through a few recollections of her own.
When she had inadvertently sought shelter in Convergence during Aion's attack, Musume had been kept apprised of events beyond the bar while learning what was going to happen once she made it back to reality. Of course, they had barely met Phantom at the time who was, in turn, still adjusting to her new existence. Hearing that Trudge and Yusei had released her from custody was hardly welcome news.
"The crazy bitch we put in prison?" Sleep hadn't been needed in that place since all normal functions had been put on hold the instant she had entered the bar. Musume was enjoying endless bowls of ramen mostly for the taste as Himeru narrated events in the world beyond. "What's her deal anyway?"
"Her 'deal'? Forgive me," Wiping down splatter as her tone indicated the forgiveness should be going the other way, Himeru was the most patient host. "Would you mind elaborating?"
"When she fell from the tower." And Musume had heroically leapt after her. "It felt like we blipped for a second." No other word she could think of was as accurate. Luckily, Himeru knew exactly what she meant.
"A minor quantum bridge. Neat, aye?" Her glowing smile implied the correct answer without words.
"Yep. Neat." Musume had heard the word 'quantum' before. Nobody had managed to explain it to her though.
"You have no idea what I am talking about, do you?" Enough gentle forgiveness radiated outwards that Musume wanted to puke her food right back out onto the counter.
"Nope. More, please." Pushing back her bowl and cup, she was starting to lose the amazement from how they were switched under the counter for refilled versions. "What's a quantum bridge?"
"How familiar are you with quantum entanglement?" Swigging her cup in silence, she listed everything she knew. "The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox?" She moved on the ramen as Himeru continued to search for knowledge. "Everett's many-world interpretation of relative state formulation?"
"Like the mountain?" It was that question which finally drove her to check on the other customers as Himeru momentarily escaped the insanity.
"Jee-zus." Plucking an unlit cigarette from his lips, Ryan was begrudgingly impressed as he chugged from his amber pint. "First, she won't speak to anyone and now you make her stop again. And Everest's the damn mountain."
"Thank you, Ryan." Stepping from one end of the bar to the other without skipping the intervening space, Himeru had apparently unwound enough to continue. "Musume, do you have a pen?" Fishing through her pockets produced a stub of pencil she had picked up somewhere and a scrap of receipt she had been meaning to bin. "There's a book in the SRC. 'Who We Are and Who We Are Not: Practical Ethics and Their Application in the Modern World.' Ask Akiza to get it for you."
"A book on ethics?" Studiously writing down the title, she was hoping to avoid a lengthy talk on the subject. "What good's that going to do?"
"It is what you will find inside the book which will be of use. Study it all and you will not have to run back to me for every little question." If Musume had any idea of the amount of studying she would have to do, she might have reconsidered the arrangement slightly.
"You know I have a sword, right?" She didn't care for the phrases used. Especially since the tone had been amused. "And you still haven't explained how the crazy bitch is going to help us."
"Ha! You have no idea." If there was ever a face she shouldn't have trusted, it was that gentle smile. "Her gift is difficult to describe. She cannot do anything directly, only influence what is already there. If she wants to light a candle, she will gather a fraction of heat from all around and focus it in one spot. The more she has to change, the more focus and energy it will require."
"What the fuck sort of power is that?" It sounded ridiculous. Admittedly, Psychic Duellists usually needed a medium but they could destroy buildings before tiring. All they had to do was stick Phantom on a boat and she'd be harmless.
"You will be surprised by what she can do." Even with her mind fractured, Phantom had been well on the way to bringing Musume back to reality. "As will she. She did not have the ability a few days ago."
"Do you mean..." A hand strayed to the handle beside her hip to finish the question.
"Only that she could not do so in such a physical way before." Skirting the issue with ease, it was easy to see Musume was still trying to grapple with the rooftop incident. "She is more accustomed to manipulating events in traditional methods."
"Can you tell me more about her?" Despite herself, she was growing curious. Phantom was becoming an increasingly complex puzzle.
"Ask her whatever you want to know." Off-handedly dismissing the utter subservience the armour would soon display didn't appear to bother Himeru in the slightest. "All you need to get complete cooperation is some handcuffs, a collar and a pair of heels." And she had laughed at the blushing face across the counter.
Heat suffused her cheeks once more at the memory. Are you alright? Compassionate eyes gazed across the distance without a hint of embarrassment.
"Fuck off." Musume wished there was booze on hand at that moment. "It's none of your business."
Phantom had now balanced the tiny candle atop interlinked fingers. I used to wonder what people found fascinating in fire. Slipping her hands apart, she stroked the flame with the tip of a cold digit. I think that I am starting to understand.
"You're not going to burn the apartment down, are you?" She knew the sort of addictive personality she was dealing with. Leo had asked her to teach him a few moves and now she was running daily sessions with him. Expressing a fascination with fire was probably the only indicator to precede pyromania. "I swear, I'm gonna stab you a million times if you burn down this place while I'm asleep." More if she woke up while it was still on fire.
No. Setting the tiny candle back onto the table, Phantom watched it flicker one last time. Get some rest. I will try to avoid disturbing you again. Then she pinched the candle dead and plunged the room into darkness.
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