Not too many people or coaches were around so they found it easier to sneak through the black, metal gate leading to a dark, trash filled alleyway. On the right side was the wall of Mr. Kartour's manor while on the left side was another smaller residence housing unknown.
This feels highly illegal, but I suppose the Ethereals can't abide by the law all the time. Lucian's steps followed behind Jade with quickness.
A couple seconds later, Jane came to a stop and placed her hand on the wall. For a bit Lucian wondered what she was doing until her are fazed through like an illusion. "This should do.", said Jane with a confident gaze. "It will only last for half a minute so follow me."
Lucian calmed himself and followed after her as she vanished like magic through the brick wall. I took in a deep breath and stepped through. The scene around him wasn't like Aurora's though, it was pitch black for span of half a second and then he was in a dimly lit corridor with a red and golden rug laid on the floor.
Letting out that breath in a lengthy sigh, Lucian asked, "What are we looking for anyway? I know it's clues but I'm not sure what would count as a clue."
"Anything that might resemble something of religion is something you should confiscate. Also, if you find any weapons that haven't or have been recently used then take those as well. Make sure to be quick though, I'm not sure when or if the cops will arrive.", exclaimed Jade as she took off her trench coat to reveal a form fitting black bodysuit. It extended to the neck with golden side panels that contour that torso and emphasized mobility as it continued seamlessly into fitted pants of the same colors with a simple black belt holding the sword at her waist. The whole suit gave off a functional and agile look.
Lucian couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship of it. "If you don't mind me asking, what's the suit for?"
"Just in case we enter a conflict, I need flexible suit that allows mobility and durability to fight. The trench coat would slow me down, so we'll just use it to store any items we confiscate."
Sure, call it whatever you want, but it's just plain stealing. As long as this gets me closer to finding out what led to me even being here in the first place, I'll comply with everything they say. That's how I've been doing it, although I just know I would have rejected doing something like this. I'm not educated enough to know if I'm playing a fool's game so why in the world did I do this and the missionbefore?
Lucian kept walking down the long corridor scanning for anything out of the blue before coming to a stop at the main entrance and exit of the manor. It was a large, dark room with a ceiling fit for a giant. The only source of light was some sun rays peeking through the top windows. The double doors to his right held a firm lock looking as if a prison guard made it. The enormous set of stairs separated mid-way leading to another set of corridors on the second floor.
The first corridor was occupied by Jade; Lucian had already allowed her to absorb some essence he had while in the carriage, so he was free to search elsewhere. On the first step he felt something was wrong and that feeling kept escalating. Reaching the middle, Lucian looked to his right, and saw a plain corridor just like the one he'd just been in, and when he looked to his left...
Lucian stumbled backwards as he clenched his stomach and vomited. What lay at the top of the stairs was collective piles of entrails strewn about with blood staining the walls and carpet a dark shade of crimson.
It was a clear sign that Lucian was indeed not meant for this. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he quickly turned around and sped down the stairs. He didn't care about his cowardice; he just knew that he didn't want his life to end within a week of getting his second chance. Seriously why in the world was he doing this, who decided that this was his fate!? Lucian hated the person who chose this fate, but he had no one to direct it to. He didn't know if he was alone in this world or not, he'd made so many connections in such little time that it never truly felt like it was real.
"Jade!", Lucian called out while running through the corridor. No answer called back, only silence bathed the eerie house.
A door lay wide open to the left with the lights on inside. Lucian slowly approached the room, scared out of his mind. Entering, nothing seemed amiss. No blood, no entrails, just a clean white bed with the blanket and pillows in random places. The closet was open with the clothes and hangars on the floor. The only thing Lucian hadn't checked was the bathroom to his left.
The door was closed this time, so Lucian decided to open the door quickly. He took in another deep breath and said with an escalating mutter, "one, two, three!"
Shhhing
The tip of a sword pointed right at his neck drew the dark, crimson liquid Lucian had had enough of. The person holding that sword was Jade with the same startled expression as him.
"What the hell is wrong with you! You could've lost your head!", remarked Jade as she sheathed her sword.
"I called your name at the top of my lungs, that should've been a clue to who it was!"
Jade made a slightly embarrassed expression, "Y-you did?"
"Yes, how did you not here me?"
Looking at Jade, she was sitting on the floor staring up at him the whole time. "Did you fall?"
Jade sighed, "Yes, I dropped my sword as well and it must've prevented me from hearing your voice. What did you want anyway?"
The refreshment of interaction with Jade made Lucian temporarily forget the carnage on the stairs. "O-on the stairs there was so much.....so much-"
Jade put her hand on his shoulder, "you don't have to finish that sentence. I'll check it out."
Seeing the bloody pulp of flesh herself didn't give any different a reaction than Lucian did except for the throwing up and running away that is. Jade covered her mouth with her hand as she kneeled down near it. There wasn't anything unordinary about it, the hall the staircase led to tell a different story though.
The rug was ripped to shreds, a wooden door ripped off its hinges lay in two, the walls and ceilings had cuts and post impact dents. What lay at the end of the hall was a man in a white robe embroidered with a strange symbol that somehow kept changing its form over and over again. It was a priest of the holy mandate.
Approaching the fallen being, Jade's expression was emotionless. Unsheathing her sword, she plunged it into the neck of the already corpse turned priest. Blood splattered onto her cold face, "These bastards really did kill them.", muttered jade.
***
Lucian was still waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a gloomy look. Jade then returned, her face still had blood on it, "We know who the culprit is so all we need to do now is look for the cause of death."
Looking up he saw Jade holding her sword still freshly dripping blood while she held a white fabric containing a weird golden symbol that never revealed what it was showing. "R-really, then who?", asked Lucian a bit startled by her bloodied sword.
"As we thought, it was the holy mandate."
"I never thought something so holy could be so sinister."
"Disappointingly, they don't consider what they're doing to be sinister. They believe they are cleansing the world of the god's and goddess's flaws."
"How did we safely recover the bodies anyway? Did you send someone out before us?"
"The Ethereal with half a missing torso's name was Evan Vanders. He has a power just like Aurora's, so my best conclusion is that while on the brink of death, he used his power to transport him and his companion somewhere where only an Ethereal would find their bodies."
"His companion's name was Teressa Noctil. Her abilities were meant for combat, I believe the one she was given was the season god's breath. The only time she used it in front of me was a while ago but I still remember it clearly. When she used it, I couldn't see anything, only hear it. It sound sort of like a whistle and a few seconds later, it stopped and it felt as though a large force had expand- ", Jade stopped her sentence as if she had just realized something.
Evan's lower torso looked as if it had exploded, but no burn marks remained and most of the entrails that fell out would have been disintegrated. Lucian came to the same stop as Jade. Jade didn't want to believe it while Lucian felt overwhelmed. Why would someone do that to their own comrade?
Not Jade nor Lucian could confirm if it was on purpose or on accident because the killer was also dead but killed something entirely different.
Lucian wished to leave, it felt as if something was trying to get him to leave. It wasn't his instincts, somehow felt deeper. He'd experienced this feeling before; it was outside Eliot's house. He'd already been able to tell that something bad was in there even though nothing had given off that impression.
"I'll check the other corridor; you check the one down there.". Jade was shaken up, most likely thinking the same as Lucian.
It's only been a couple of days since I was given another chance in this world. I've somehow gone from clueless rock for brains to an Ethereal detective. I'm sure my past life was much less eventful.
***
On a bench in east park, sat Ozzus and Eliot both with cigarettes enjoying the brisk day. "You sure he'll be alright? Yes, Lucian's adaptation skills are highly above average but that won't help him when he's thrown into a mission like this. The danger level of that mission requires a much more experienced assistant than Lucian.", said Ozzus clearly concerned
Eliot took the cig out of his mouth and blew a puff of smoke, "Of course I know that. The problem is that the five shit heads at the pinnacle of our work chose to give us a deadline for the young man. In two years, he has to be an Ethereal."
"You know that's impossible, me and you both took five years just to be stuck with only having gotten two advancements now."
"It's not quite impossible, one of the five has done it and so have a couple others before their time."
"I suppose you're right.". The two men sat in silence for a while; the wind blew faintly causing Ozzus's hair to flow.
Eliot spoke up, "He'll be alright, he's gotten rather close with Lilith and Theo. I'm sure they'll grow to become great comrades who support each other through everything."
Ozzus smiled, "You're never wrong when it comes to things like these, so I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it."
Suddenly a celestial scene unfolded for a brief moment and then shrunk to reveal Aurora who quickly vanished and woman Ozzus was rather familiar with. He'd been on the receiving end of a slap from this person and had been attempting to avoid her.