Authors note- I hope ya'll enjoy the first chapter/prologue of my fic.
No information can stay safe from Dascal Marion since he was in the pursuit of knowledge, whether it ended in the death of him or someone he loved. He had reason to believe that the mental shutdown cases were all connected in a sense. The public should not be kept in the dark from these secrets being kept from someone or something. Dascal was determined to find out the truth behind the mental shutdowns and see if anyone was behind it.
Everything has been a mystery since he moved to Japan last week. First, the mental shutdowns and this weird app on his phone that he could not delete. Dascal had tried to remove it several times to no avail. The app said Nav, whatever that meant…he was confused on what that could mean. Dascal pondered this thought while unpacking boxes that his family brought. It was mostly filled with kitchen utensils and living room decorations.
"Dascal, why don't you go out and explore?" Ray Marion said as he approached his son, "we are going to Shunjin Academy tomorrow to enroll you there" The Marine could unpack the boxes while Dascal became familiar with the area, plus it could get him out of the house and stop moping around. Ray assumed that Dascal was still mourning his mother, even though it had been 4 years since she died. He was trying to be a good dad, but it was hard because he had trouble connecting with people.
Dascal nodded, "Ok sir." He felt uncomfortable addressing Ray by dad right now since the two were different and often batted heads. Ray believed that you should just accept society as it is while Dascal disagreed and sought to uncover the secrets that were hidden.
"Have a fun time Dascal," Ray's girlfriend Naomi Mitaka said from the living room. She was on her laptop and working from home despite Ray telling her not to.
"Thanks Naomi," Dascal responded to her.
Ray glanced at Naomi and sighed, "Why does he talk to you like that instead of me? I am his father."
Naomi shrugged and glanced at him, "You got to try more Ray, be with him more."
Ray sighed as he sat on the couch next to her, he was trying but it was hard since he did not know Dascal very well and what he liked. Ray knew that he was a fan of the Sherlock Holmes books but that was it.
Dascal exited their apartment, which wasn't too nice or too bad, and started to walk around the Shibuya area. Dascal saw some shops and places to eat that looked good and a lot of people walking to their destinations. The brunette was quite interested in the scene, so much so that he did not notice a green haired girl on a skateboard heading towards him at incredible speed. Dascal then turned to look at her as his eyes went wide, the girl crashed into him before he could dodge.
"Where is that damn girl?!" A man shouted as he ran to catch up to where the girl was skateboarding. He looked around and sighed in frustration, "GOD DAMMIT! YOU COME BACK HERE AND GIVE ME THAT ENVELOPE."
The girl and Dascal were hidden behind a wall as Dascal had his mouth cupped by her. He didn't actually mind this since he was going to ask her questions about what she was doing. She was suspicious as hell, but Dascal did not say anything, even though it hurt when she crashed into him.
The man left and the girl removed her hand on Dascal's mouth as she breathed in relief. Dascal gave her a sour look and wanted to inquire on why the hell would she do that to him.
"Ow," Dascal said, "now, why did you do that?" He was perplexed on why she would crash into him when she could have avoided him easily. He assumed that it was a mistake that she crashed into him and not on purpose. Dascal was also curious on who that boy chasing her was, ex-lover? Someone who she stole from.
"Because you are my soulmate," the girl looked at him, "It is meant to be."
"Really?" Dascal raised an eyebrow at the girl.
"NO!" The girl slapped him, "You're just some dumb idiot that happened to be in my way while I was escaping Akari-san." She got up and dusted her jeans off and walked off away from him. Dascal couldn't help himself and followed her. The girl did not seem to notice him following her as she took a turn into an alleyway.
"Reminds me of MacBeth," Dascal mused to himself, "or Lady Macbeth better yet." He had a habit of comparing people to fictional characters. His dad was very annoyed with him when he did that, and his friends back home would roll their eyes at him.
A blond-haired boy was leaning against the wall and waiting for her, seeming relaxed and didn't seem too bothered. He glanced at the girl and grabbed the envelope from her and opened it to reveal a document. The boy was silent as he read over it, nodding and smirking. There was no way that the document on the Metaverse was going to get published now.
"Good work Masami," the boy said and gave her a kiss, "soon, you'll be rewarded with what you always wanted, being an actress and beautiful." Masami always wished to ditch her street urchin ways and live a life of beauty and people seeing her as proper.
He soon noticed Dascal who was standing there and watching them. The boy froze for a second as he began to wonder how much this guy knew and if he needed to be taken care of.
Dascal smiled and backed up as he exited the alleyway immediately and walked fast to get home. He could feel various crows watching him and steadying him like an opponent studying their opponent. Dascal had a bad feeling in his gut that those crows were observing his moment and would report back to someone, perhaps that boy? No, that was ridiculous to think that. No one could have that amount of power, or could they?
Who was that guy? Why was Masami bringing him that envelope?
Dascal had so many questions in his mind right now, but for now he would have to sleep on it. He needed time to poke around for the answers and would use his charm to entice people to answer if needed.
Leave it to Dascal Marion to get into trouble.
Chapter 1
The rain started to patter on the rooftop of Dascal's apartment as the boy was thinking. He had managed to catch a glimpse of illegal activity between a girl and a boy. The girl could be identified by Masami, but he didn't catch the boy's name. Dascal was intending to do that and find the boy's identity. He was going to have to investigate after school tomorrow, but he did not know where to start. Perhaps look for an Akari-san? Dascal could look at a phonebook or something.
He also wondered what the envelope was and why Masami stole it from Akari. What sort of information did that envelope hold? That kind of mystery was going to bother him all night and likely all day. He had to solve it, but he was not able to right now and probably not for a while.
Dascal sighed and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and floss. While he was brushing, the boy was mulling over his thoughts and thinking about school. Should he appeal to the others to fit in or stand out in his own odd way? He wondered what the main gossip about him would be created, since he was a foreign student.
Dascal finished brushing his teeth and flossing, and then he went to bed. The boy collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep. Dascal could see hints of a velvet world with chains in front of him as it felt like he was being transported to another dimension. He had no prior experience with dimension traveling before this.
Elizabeth's eyes were the first to meet him as he appeared in the jail cell. She was interested now in what was going to happen. Lykas however, was a little irritated that Dascal took so long to arrive. She crossed her arms at the boy.
"Took ya long enough," Lykas commented.
"We are pleased to have you here, Trickster," Elizabeth smiled at him, "we don't get many Tricksters around here." She gazed at Dascal.
Dascal was still processing everything that was happening to notice Elizabeth gazing at him, or Lykas rudeness. How did he end up here of all places? Was it that app on his phone that would not be deleted? How could it be a dimension traveling device?
"Ladies, please don't overwhelm our Trickster," a distorted man sitting behind a desk said and smiled, "Welcome to my Velvet Room Trickster."
Dascal raised an eyebrow, "Velvet Room? What is that."
The man placed his hands on his desk, "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."
Dascal was still a little confused about that, "Then why am I here?"
The man chuckled, "You were chosen to be a Trickster, and therefore you are a part of the prophecy that will decide the fate of the Metaverse."
"Uh, what?" Dascal responded, this guy was terrible at answering questions.
"You will find out soon enough," the man said and smiled, "until we meet again Trickster."
"Wait!" Dascal called out, but it was too late, and he was transported back to his dark bedroom. He looked around the dark room and heaved a big sigh as he laid down and closed his eyes. Dascal was a little perplexed by what just happened. What was his role going to be?
By morning, Dascal was out the door and headed for the train station to get on the Ginza Line. It was a nice day out for walking at least, that was what Dascal had going for him. He made it to the station, which was full of people, and it was hard to get to the Ginza Line.
"Oh my god, Jin Fukai is going to be on tv!" An excited girl was talking to her friend.
"I would have his kid," her friend gushed, "he is so handsome and funny." She blushed a lot.
Dascal brushed past them, paying no attention to their conversation as he was trying to board the train. The train ride was cramped, and he had to stand while holding his school bag. Once the train arrived at his stop, Dascal got off and headed up the steps to the outside.
Shunjin Academy was a large building with multiple floors and entrances. Dascal couldn't believe that he was going to be starting here today, he was pretty sure that he would get lost. At least he could tell his friends back home that he went to the prestigious Shunjin Academy.
Dascal ascended up the steps to the school, along with other students. The students seemed to be in all sorts of years, so Dascal was not weird for being with first years. The chaos was a little too much for the teachers that were welcoming their students to their new classes.
Dascal went to grab his schedule from the student office, which was a cozy little room with a desk in the middle of it. A tired looking boy was sitting on the desk handing out schedules. His uniform was neater than most and he seemed to have a pin on his shirt. His name tag read Sougo Agata as he handed Dascal his schedule.
"Thanks," Dascal said to him, getting a tired nod from Sougo.
The boy then left the office to head up to the stairs to level three. The school was a little bit confusing to him still, but at least he had a schedule to help guide him in the right direction. He was not trying to be late on his first day.
The hallways were filled with students trying to find their first period, while Dascal was trying to find his first period of the day. He took a glance at his schedule seeing that he had Ms. Mori for the first period in classroom 3B. He headed down the hallway and into the classroom.
"Welcome to my class," Ms. Mori greeted as Dascal walked in, "you must be a foreign transfer student." The students looked at him with curious gazes, trying to decide what kind of person he would be. Dascal could guess that the gossip was about to take shape soon from the looks. The students were all trying to figure out everything they could about him, he knew because back in Kelma that happened to him.
"My name is Dascal Marion," Dascal introduced himself to the class, "I am from Kelma Washington, and I moved here because my dad is stationed here on the military base." Nobody said a word and just listened to him talk, which was a little awkward until Ms. Mori brought the class together by clapping her hands.
"Okay, well it was nice meeting you Marion-kun" Ms. Mori said and smiled, "Now, let's get back to the expectations for the year." She then started to talk about what was going to happen this year.
After class, Dascal was getting to leave when Ms. Mori approached his desk. He looked at her, wondering what she wanted. He did pay attention to the lecture or so he thought he did. But upon analyzing her posture, Dascal realized that she was not angry with him but needed something or wanted to ask him something.
"Hey Marion-kun, do you need me to give you homework in English?" Ms. Mori asked as she looked at him.
Dascal shook his head, "My Japanese is pretty good, so I am good but thank you." He smiled at her.
Ms. Mori nodded, "Yes of course." She then walked back to her desk and started to work on paperwork. Dascal got up and left the classroom to head for his next class which was history with Mr. Fukai.
Student President Satori Fujisawa was a little irritated that there was a meeting called by the student council to discuss the possibility of a boxing club. He had better things to do with his time than discuss the funding for a boxing club in Shunjin.
"Ugh it's that damn brat Makage doing this," Satori said to Sougo who was sitting next to him, "the school would be better without him…" That earned a scoff from Sougo, who shook his head. He didn't exactly like Satori, because of his damn lust for power and arrogance. Yes, he didn't like Imato either but that did not mean the school would be better off without him.
Koyumi Abe shrugged, "It could be good for the students to get an outlet."
"I agree with Abe-san," Jun Hasihara chipped in, "I feel like the students could benefit from this club." Satori sighed and debated if he should just have the club be a thing, it was not worth it being stubborn about letting Makage have his fun. He supposed that he should let it happen.
"Very well," Satori said, "we could fund this club but let Makage know that if he doesn't record attendance then I will shut it down." His voice was firm and like he was not for giving Imato any second chances.
The meeting was soon wrapped up, and everyone was gone but Sougo who stayed put as he was packing his bag. He checked his phone and saw a message from Asa Suzuki, who was asking if he was free after school. Sougo would always drop whatever he was doing for Asa, since he felt bad for her and that what happened to her brother was his fault.
He answered that he was free after school. He then left the meeting room and prepared to continue his student council duties until the end of the day. Sougo was planning on taking Asa to a famous ramen restaurant in Shibuya for dinner, and then walking around the night market with her. Sougo was aware that it would seem like a date, but it was not.
Dascal was mentally tired by the end of the day, that he was going to die. The boy sat down on a bench and collected his thoughts. He must have been zoning out, since a blue haired girl was in front of him giggling. She had a cute smile and looked rather appealing to Dascal. It seemed that she was a student at Shunjin too, although Dascal had no classes with her.
"Are you ok?" The cute girl asked while giggling, "you look like you're enjoying an adventure in space."
Dascal chuckled, "I was until you bothered me."
The cute girl giggled again, "You're odd, I like that."
Dascal smiled at the girl, he was going to say something else but was interrupted by the sound of a horn in the distance. Satori was honking the horn to get the cute girl's attention.
"Sadako, let's go," Satori said, before narrowing his eyes at Dascal, recognizing him from the other day. Dascal recognized him too, and the two had a moment of a standoff before Sadako went to the car.
Dascal arrived back home to a sleeping Ray on the couch, so he tiptoed to his room and collapsed on his bed. He was too drained to do anything right now but lie on his bed and stare at the ceiling. Tomorrow, he would like to do more investigating on Satori and Masami and figure out what was happening with them. He had a feeling that he was going to walk into something big.