Leaning against the nearby door frame with his hands crossed over his chest, there stood the detective Lord Ayato mentioned to have been working with.
"Sorry for the intrusion in the middle of your rather fascinating conversation, but there's something that had piqued my interest." He said as he walked over towards Aranea with his hand out. "I don't think we've met before. The name's Shikanoin Heizou."
"I'm Aranea." She said as she shook his hand.
"Ayaka. Thoma." He said as he acknowledged her, before greeting me as well.
"You being here must mean that you've learned something new?" Ayato asked him.
"That's right. I'm still trying to confirm the circumstances that lead to this phenomenon, and what exactly happened during that unusual storm. I need to know, before those researchers from the Akademiya get in the way of my investigation."
"Is Sumeru going to send more of it's students here to Inazuma?" I asked.
"I already noted an increase of them since they've been allowed back in the country. Their goal is to track down anyone that obtained a new Vision." Heizou turned to face Aranea. "That means you."
"Me?" Aranea looked surprised and made her way over to the chair where her Vision was to pick it up.
"They'll want you to wear you down with all of their questions. I'd avoid them the best I could if I were you." Ayaka suggested.
"Without a doubt, the scholars of Sumeru aren't going to leave this alone." Ayato said. "This event has already made to front page of the Steambird newspaper."
"Something this big will not go unnoticed by the rest of the world." I agreed.
"That Vision you're holding, it's real alright." Heizou tells Aranea. "It's not first one I've seen since all of this began. So this does confirm one thing at least."
"What do we know for sure?" Ayaka asked.
"As of right now, I've tracked down 18 people who have gained a Vision throughout all of Inazuma." Heizou answered. "You're number 19."
"What does it mean?" Aranea wondered.
"It means, this was a long time coming. If my hunch is correct, the end of both the Vision Hunt and Sakoku Decree is where we need to focus on." Heizou said, a hand on his chin as he spoke.
"It changed the Almighty Shogun more than we initially believed." Ayato added in.
"What are your theories?" I asked the detective, curious of what he might say.
"The main one that I came up with is..." Heizou paused as if he was trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say properly. "How do I put this?... After what we've seen the Almighty Shogun do to people who had Visions before, especially some of us who experienced it first hand... Well, now that she's had a change of heart from recent events, she's reflecting that change into Electro Visions."
'People who experienced it first hand, huh...' A memory of seeing my Vision fly through the air away from me before being caught in mid-air flashed in my mind.
"If what you're saying is true, then she wants to give back to the people and give them a way to move forward, and a way to watch out for themselves." Ayaka said.
"That's one way to put it." Heizou said with a nod in agreement. "Those who had impressed the Archon with a strong will or a powerful wish, again in theory, are who have gained a Vision.
"Wait. That again?" Aranea spoke up. "How could someone as ordinary as me really able to do something like that? I've never even met her, let alone did anything significant enough to leave such an impression on her. I'm simply me, an ordinary girl."
"You're not ordinary!" I exclaimed but then realized all eyes were on me. "I, uh, I meant that the Almighty Shogun herself doesn't think so."
Catching a small smile from Ayato from my unexpected outburst, I cleared my throat and tried to dismiss what I had blurted out and let the conversation continue.
"Well, for starters, impressing an Archon isn't the only thing that earns someone a Vision." Ayaka picked up the topic once more, making me feel grateful she covered for me. "I've never met the Archon for my own Vision myself."
"I can't really say what exactly is the sole reason for this to happen to you, Aranea. But we should all take it as a sign that Inazuma is heading into a new era, a change of the times." Heizou said. "It isn't just the Archon of a nation that gives out Visions. Plainly speaking, it's a power that we don't really understand much of yet... Which is why I'm here to help with that."
"Do you have any leads to start with?" Ayato asked.
"After Kujou Sara made her initial report, I've heard of other rumors." Heizou said.
"What kind of rumors?" Aranea wondered.
"There's been, well to put it bluntly, a kind of confusion from the people throughout Inazuma who have gained new Electro Visions. Sangonomiya Kokomi herself has dealt with something known as a Delusion, and it was her soldiers most affected by them. Like I mentioned before, it's not clear how one actually gains a Vision, so people who have lost others to a Delusion have been making a scene."
"Surely there's something that we could do?" Ayaka said hopefully.
"What about the heads of the other clans?" I asked Ayato directly.
"It seems that everyone wants to wait. The meeting ended in a bit of a impasse." He answered, which only raised more questions.
"Waiting? For what?" Aranea spoke up first.
"Until they received word from the Almighty Shogun herself, they didn't want to say anything to the people right away. I argued against that, but what they were saying also made a lot of sense. We can't throw people in a panic until our Archon speaks to everyone directly."
"And when will that be?" I asked.
"Nobody knows yet. Due to the increased numbers of people crowding the Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko hasn't been available. Made up of mostly people who have not received Visions and are asking for one, she's dealing with a lot on her own. The Priestess of Sangonomiya is in the same boat with her people." Heizou said. "This is just not something anyone has an answer for right away."
"The last I heard, Kujou Sara is stationed at the docks with the other Doushin now that it's full of people sailing in from all over, especially from the Akademia, to try find some answers. Which doesn't help either Priestess unfortunately." Ayato added in.
"There's no end to the chaos." Aranea said in a low voice.
When I looked at her expression, it revealed how worried she was because of the situation.
"I think that we can figure it out." I said suddenly, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "If we have to wait for the Almighty Shogun to give us some answers then that's what we'll do. Let's focus on what we can do for now."
"And what would we be able to do?" Ayaka asked me.
"Someone who has the trust of the people will be a big help... As the Shirasagi Himegimi. We can start there." Ayato suggested.
"You're right. I have to do my part as well." Ayaka said with a smile.
"With so many questions left to answer, I'll get right back to it." Heizou said with a nod. "I look forward to continue working with the Yashiro Commission like this." Taking out a hand towards Ayato, he took it with a small smile.
"I'll leave things to you then, Detective." Ayato said.
"Thanks for having me over, but I still have some work to get done. Maybe one day when all of this is over, I can sit down for a more casual chat." He said before excusing himself. "I know the way out, so don't worry about it... Expect to hear from me or Kujou Sara about this matter again in the near future."
With that, Heizou left the four of us.
Twitch: Enrita11
October 9th, 2023