Percy crouched by the garbage box with the spare bag Lyro had handed him, picking through rubbish with two fingers and a deeply unimpressed expression.
"Fuck he brought an extra bag."
"He brought an extra bag because he was expecting me to do it too."
Percy dropped a crushed vase into the bag and glanced sideways at Lyro, who was sorting through the other side of the box.
" Tricked. I got tricked into being a senior's errand boy."
He had assumed, somewhere in the back of his mind, that helping Lyro would show him the ropes or something like that .
It had not occurred to him that now that he had become a legitimate Syndicate , Lyro would used his authority as the senior to make him pick garbage.
"So much for a different world. Whether on Earth or here, rookies and interns are still at the bottom of the food chain."
"This is it?" Percy asked. "This is the Oath?"
"This is part of it," Lyro said, not looking up.
Percy asked again not convinced.
"So cleaning trash is Disturbance? I think it is more of a cleaning than disturbance to me ."
Lyro finally straightened his back.
"No," he said. "I'm not doing this to clean the garbage or anything." He smirked.
Percy's face twitched at the smirk.
Once the bag was full Percy followed Lyro through a narrow alley, which opened out onto a stretch of open ground. Percy didn't recognise the area at first and looked around for anything familiar. Nothing came to him.
They walked further across the open ground until they stood before a tall wall.
Percy blinked.
"Isn't this Luken Street?"
He was still working through that thought when Lyro started climbing the wall.
Percy looked at him, confused. Lyro gestured for him to follow.
Percy checked for passersby, saw none, and grabbed the wall. He slipped immediately and came back down.
Lyro glanced over from the top.
"Don't you have an ability for this or something?"
Percy looked up at him, deadpan. "You haven't taught me how to enter my Haunted state."
Lyro tilted his head. "Hadn't I?"
Percy shook his head.
Lyro sighed and came back down.
"Fine. First, just sense the spirit inside you. Should be easy enough. Just think about it."
Percy tried. The faceless silhouette surfaced in his mind almost immediately and a chill crept up through his whole body.
"That's it," Lyro said.
Percy looked down at himself and could not see any edges.It was hazy, the same way the other Haunted he'd seen had looked. He held his hands up to his face and saw no outlines to them at all.
"So what now?" he asked.
Lyro shrugged. "I don't know. Why are you asking me? I don't know what a Doppelganger does."
"Then how? " Percy's whisper nearly cracked.
"Shh." Lyro pressed a finger to his lips.
Percy looked around, then spoke more softly. "Now what?"
"Try asking the spirit inside you," Lyro whispered back. "The Doppelganger."
Percy nodded and tried.
"Oh, wait."
He stopped.
Lyro's brows had furrowed. "I don't think you should do that."
Percy was thoroughly confused now. "Which is it?"
"Since you just integrated, it's not a good idea to communicate with the spirit yet. You haven't finished your Oath."
"What? I thought I did."
"I'm pretty sure Senior Charles said something about reading a stranger. I don't think it counts if it's me."
Percy frowned but didn't push it.
"Try some strangers on the way back," Lyro added
Percy nodded, deciding it wasn't worth arguing. Lyro put a hand to his chin, thinking.
Then, without further explanation, he climbed the wall again, dropped down the other side with a soft landing, climbed back up, and held out a hand.
"Give me that one too."
Percy handed over the bag without question. Once Lyro had set it down on the other side, he reached his hand back out. Percy took it and climbed.
Neither of them spoke once they were both over.
"Shouldn't he have explained what he's doing before doing it? " Percy thought.
"If I try to ask now I'm sure I'll just get shushed again."
He looked around instead. They appeared to be behind someone's mansion.
Lyro moved quietly ahead. Percy followed at a slower pace, somehow still managing to make more noise than Lyro despite trying twice as hard to be silent.
After a turn they reached a garden. Lyro pulled the bag off his shoulder, took out the garbage, and began placing it on the ground piece by piece.
Percy watched, confused, until Lyro glanced over at him. Percy started doing the same.
It took the two of them three hours to empty the bag.
"I was wondering why he wanted me to climb the wall too , so he wanted to help "
Percy straightened up at the end, both hands pressed to his lower back. Lyro looked over the finished arrangement with a satisfied snort.
"To think an honourable Syndicate agent does something like this."
Percy looked at Lyro's satisfied expression as a thought occured to him.
"Wait a minute..."
"Would me helping him even help with his Oath ? "
Percy leaned in closer to Lyro's ear and whispered .
" I thought only you can fullfill your Oath , Was me helping even necessary? "
Lyro looked at him with a realisation, knitting his brows together he answered.
"I guess , probably not "
Percy's hands twitched as he was urged to punch his face .
Tap tap.
A sound came across the wall , which was getting closer .
Lyro's head turned. He pointed toward a corner of the garden.
They crept closer. Percy felt the sensation arrive before he could say anything, and Lyro, noticing the shift in him immediately, grabbed him and pulled him down behind cover.
Two figures were climbing down the far wall.
One of them frowned, looking at the garden.
"What the hell is wrong with this place. Why's there trash everywhere."
The other looked toward the mansion. "Some kind of rich person's weird kink?"
The first shrugged.
Both of them were hazy at the edges, flickering between solid and not.
Lyro stayed still, one hand firm on Percy's shoulder, holding him down as Percy strained slightly toward them.
Twenty seconds passed before Percy regained full control of himself. The two figures had turned solid again by then.
Percy stared at one of them.
"That's him."