[The Karawei Farm, Darrilyn, Piasu, Ryomania, 11:50 AM, May 7th, Tuesday 2025]
The eerie sounds of the undead and wailing creatures echoed in the distance, drowned by the steady downfall of rain.
A car rumbled down the muddy path, passing by the Redwoods and the wheat fields, the distant houses shadowed by the dark oppressive sky. Two figures stepped out of the car and gazed at the remains of The Karawei Farm. The giant crater at the center of the forest, past the police tape in the area, surrounded by debris everywhere.
"What an absolute mess," said the taller one — a middle-aged chubby man in a black suit, wearing a black fedora, around 6'2 in height. His hands in his pockets as he looked around the area.
"Pigs clearly came here to snoop around. Looks like they're long gone though, probably called for backup," said the shorter one — a teenager, around 5'4 in height, with dark blonde hair, sparkling green eyes, a green jacket, blue jeans, and a dark-beige backpack.
The center of the crater glowed brightly in a sickly green as the two men walked towards the forest edge, stepping over the police tape and going inside the Redwoods. The younger one began whistling, piercing the grim atmosphere, cutting through the rain and the growling of the undead flora and fauna remaining in the woods. The low cherry-like sound defying the dreary rain.
"Normand... How badly have I failed you as a father?" Obadiah crouched down near the crater's edge, looking at the green flames and the large prism at the center. Normand's Divinity.
"Ah, don't worry, Dad. I'm sure Normand fought well. He was smart... but absolutely naive. You didn't fail him, Cathy did." Yoshio chuckled, crossing his arms as he looked at his father. "You want me to go after them? The Magi should be on the case already. But I could pay Havok a visit. It'll be nice to stretch my legs for a while. I'll have to track down Piers too for that mission — we were supposed to be doing a relic deal with Iris this weekend."
"A warning… A test, a spar even… But nothing more. As much as this hurts, we cannot mess this up. We cannot… But I don't want them to just go free after what happened here." He bent down, scooping dirt in his hand as he gazed at the chaos below.
Obadiah then snapped his fingers, and a strange-looking mahogany door appeared behind Yoshio.
"Thanks, I'll see you later, Dad! ♪ Oh, we can own the night, don't worry bout' a thing ♪—" Yoshio hummed to himself and stepped through it. The door swirled into space before disappearing.
"Don't worry, son. Soon, I'll see you again." Obadiah rose to his feet, extending a hand towards the prism in the middle of the crater. A door formed behind it, even though he was 45 meters away.
And then —
[Havok, Piasu, Ryomania, 1:10 PM, May 7th, Tuesday 2025]
Jack and I continued walking down the street towards the western side of Havok.
"We should've asked Erika to also make you a mask."
Jack snorted and patted my shoulder.
"Nobody's recognized me this far, don't need one now, dude — wait, no way! Dude! I know that restaurant!" He stopped dead in his tracks, pointing up ahead at a large cafe called "La Tazzina d'Oro."
"I'm pretty sure that's a cafe. You're not going to suggest we stop for drinks, are you?"
Jack then turned and looked up at me with puppy eyes, tugging on my shirt.
"Aaaah, come oooonn… Don't be such a buzzkill, James! I need energy! I'm so tired after walking all this way…"
"It's only been like five minutes since we left Hamloins…"
"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaseeeee!~" His voice rose in tone and pitch as he continued his theatrical antics, now fully tugging on me like a spoiled child.
"Fine, fine! Just stop yelling… We're supposed to blend in, remember?"
Jack almost instantly straightened up, putting on a serious face.
"Hm, yes yes, of course. Now let's go forth towards the golden cup! They serve food too, you know…"
"What? You can understand that? What language is it?"
Jack burst out laughing, practically dragging me towards the cafe.
"Dude, be for real."
I didn't argue back. Clearly he was joking around.
We stepped into the cafe, noticing the luxurious decorations — the ornate gilded wallpaper, the marble pillars strewn about, the various art pieces hung up. This was a fancy cafe.
"Um, I think this is a fancy cafe, and we're practically broke."
"Nah, it's fine, I'll just charm the barista with my rizz."
"You… what?"
Jack didn't elaborate further. We stepped up to the front counter. I didn't necessarily notice it at first, but despite the calm music playing from the speakers, it was just us and the lady at the counter in the cafe.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Jack smirked as he leaned against the counter, glancing between me and the barista.
The barista, a young woman with amber eyes and blonde hair, around 5'3 in height, was slowly wiping the counter with a cloth, not even looking up at us.
"We don't mean to bother, we just—"
Jack grunted and elbowed my right side, pretending to cough and patting my shoulder.
"Hah, what my friend wanted to say is… Your eyes are as enchanted as the sun, speckled with beautiful gold flakes…" He grinned as the lady slowly looked up at us.
"Don't ever say that again. What do you want? I hate loitering," she said in a cold, almost deadpan tone, rolling her eyes and sighing but continuing to wipe down the counter.
"So sorry about that, that's just how my friend jokes… Um, we'll just have some coffee? Uh, black, standard… Right, Jack?" I gave him a look to stop flirting with her.
"Ahhh yes — yes, ahem, sorry about that. I must've seen the sun somewhere else, perhaps in the sky? Ceiling — uh… yeah, two coffees, black."
"Go sit down somewhere, it's just you after all." She sighed and walked off towards what looked like a kitchen.
I turned to Jack, looking disappointed.
"What the heck was that?"
Jack glanced around, uncomfortable and feeling a little awkward.
"Oooh, I have no idea, buddy." He then pushed off the counter and walked to an empty table near the right side of the cafe, by the windows.
I sighed and followed him, sitting in the chair opposite his.
"So… Do you actually know this place or were you just trying to find someone to harass?"
Jack laughed sheepishly and rubbed his face, probably in dismay.
"Nuh uh, I… I'm just a little stressed. That's all."
I leaned back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling, noticing a strange mandorla of a smiling sun, orbited by twelve other smaller suns with different colors.
"Yo, Jack, look at that… Freaky, isn't it? Maybe that's why she didn't like being compared to the sun."
Jack barely glanced up at the ceiling before yawning and looking quickly out of the window.
"I dunno — say, you think something is happening back at the house? I'm getting a really really weird feeling…"
I turned to him, reaching out and putting my hand on his shoulder.
"No… Everything's fine, for now. You should relax."
Jack sighed and leaned back in the chair, shutting his eyes.
"Ay ay, cap'n, I'm shutting off…" He then began to snore loudly.
I smiled, endeared by his candor and carefree nature. I glanced over to the left, noticing a rather large painting of a man in a golden robe with a golden crown with precious amber stones sitting above the service counter. The man held in his left hand a rod with a scepter on it and in his right hand a golden prism. The painting shone brightly from this angle, a result of the various lights from the ceiling, creating a weird ambient feeling of unease and comfort.
The image almost reminded me of what Keito Nakamura said to me before he died.
"Someone else... Someone just as wicked... A man with golden blonde hair, gold everywhere... Beware of the man in gold…. Kingsley…"
The barista soon came over with both of our coffees, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Oh — thank you, ma'am, and uh… sorry for earlier."
Jack opened both of his eyes and stood up straight in his chair.
"That'll be 22.34 dracos. You can pay after you've finished your coffee. Enjoy." She then walked back to the service counter, continuing to wipe it down with the cloth.
"Let's just pretend that never happened!"
"Mhm…"
We both began drinking our coffee when the door to the cafe opened. A teenager with dark blonde hair and green eyes entered, wearing a dark green jacket, blue jeans, and a dark-beige backpack. He calmly walked over to the service counter, not even looking our way. He leaned over and whispered something to the barista. Whatever it was, she quickly hurried out of the room.
He began humming and turned, looking directly at us before walking over.
"Yo… I wonder, you mind if I sit here?"
Both Jack and I looked up at him. Something about this stranger made me uneasy, though I couldn't say why.