The rooftop offered an unobstructed view of the Museum of Ages.
Elias sat perched on the edge of a slate-tiled roof, his boots dangling over the abyss of the street below. He was staring at the museum, a monolithic structure of reinforced stone and archaic security runes that seemed to drink the moonlight.
Hours ago,
The townhouse had become far livelier than Elias would have preferred. The afternoon had bled on without granting him a single uninterrupted moment.
Araba had appeared first.
His aunt had burst into the sitting room, her enthusiasm somehow expanding to fill every corner of the house.
"The Hydrangea Festival only comes once a year so we must make preparations!" she declared. "We'll visit the lantern streets first, then the performances, then the flower promenade."
Junior, naturally, disagreed with everything. He was however more docile now, especially when Jamie entered the room.
Maria had arrived shortly afterward carrying several boxes from the Rustmark Trading Company, claiming she had "been in the neighborhood," despite the obvious impossibility of that statement considering where Rustmark was located.
By the early evening, Aunt Araba, Maria and Jamie had turned the dining table into a battlefield of competing festival plans.
Elias used that as the perfect opportunity to make use of his cloning technique he had perfected under Tamamo. Initially he would have made it purely out of flow and made a crystal with instructions but that was rather limiting the technique, Tamamo showed him that he didnt need to create a new ego as an imitation of his own , just copy his and let the flow do the rest. As at the time of his sneaking out it seemed like a perfect copy of him. he hoped that no hitches happened. Luckily Gyan and his father hadn't reutned from wherever they were yet so he hoped he would be back before someone decided to overly interact with it.
Now,
Within his Spirit Domain, Tamamo stretched lazily across the Torii gate.
"So."
She tilted her head.
"Why aren't you wearing the armor?"
Elias didn't even look at her.
"For the same reason I told you the last thousand times."
She pouted.
"I lost count after six.You could have made it less conspicuous."
"I could have made it pink but compromises need to be made, Tamamo. "
Tamamo reluctantly nodded.
"Okay fair."
Elias continued watching the entrances. He'd been changing his position and observing from several angles to get the full perspective.
Visitors still entered despite the late hour, though nowhere near as many as earlier in the day. Guards remained stationed around the perimeter, pairs rotated every few minutes. Artifacts hung discreetly beneath the eaves.
"Now, about the tail—" Elias began.
"Still in the building," she said. There was a pause.
"...Actually..."
She frowned.
"No."
Elias blinked.
"No?"
"It's... inside the building..."
She narrowed her eyes.
"...but not inside the building."
Silence.
"What the bloody hell do you mean its not in the building?! you've been nagging me for days to come get it and its not here?"
She folded her arms.
"There's another space."
"Huh?"
"There is a separate space within the building. It overlaps the museum but it isn't part of the museum. Like a seperate dimension"
Elias pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Tamamo. I asked you one question. Is the tail in the building? You said yes. Now you're telling me it's in a different dimension that happens to be attached to the building?"
"I am giving you an update! There is nuance to these things!"
Elias stared.
"How sure are you?"
Her voice rose to an indignant yelp.
"Excuse me?"
Elias immediately regretted asking.
"It's my tail!"
She pointed accusingly at herself.
"First you ask whether it's inside."
"I answer."
"Then I take a closer look and update you."
"And now you're doubting me?"
She threw both hands into the air.
"For crying out loud!"
Elias winced.
"I'm not doubting you."
"It certainly sounds like it."
He sighed.
"S-sorry."
She huffed before speaking with considerably more pride.
"I am a Divine Beast."
"My awareness naturally extends through space itself, allowing me to perceive disturbances connected to my existence."
"Okay, okay. Calm down, I believe you."
She sniffed triumphantly. Elias returned his attention to the museum.
"A separate space," he murmured. "That changes things. If it's a pocket dimension, we can't just walk through the front door."
"That depends entirely on the nature of the severance," Tamamo replied, her demeanor softening into something more clinical.
"Is it holding back a contagion of corruption? Is it a high-security vault? Is it a containment field? The catalyst for the space's creation will dictate the difficulty of our entry."
Elias agreed.
"If it's a containment chamber, it'll have seals, wards, probably guards. If it's a storage vault, it'll have traps. If it's a base..." He trailed off.
"Well, let's hope it's not a base."
He now needed to rethink how to get the tail, preferably without becoming tomorrow's headline.
Tamamo suddenly lifted one ear.
"Ah, someone opened it."
"What?"
"The separate space. It opened, for only a heartbeat."
Elias's gaze swept across the entrance. A figure emerged the opposite direction. Elias recognized neither her clothing nor her purpose.
Without hesitation he stepped from the rooftop. Wind gathered beneath his feet so instead of crashing downward, his descent slowed into a controlled glide before he landed silently inside a narrow alley. Tamamo looked amused.
"Have a plan?"
"Nah."
"Hmmmm, refreshing honesty."
Elias studied the woman again.
"She looks familiar. I just can't remember from where."
He landed silently on the cobblestones and began moving toward the entrance, keeping to the shadows. He could feel his Flow pulsing in his veins, a constant hum that would be detectable to any competent artifact or trained guard.
A second woman appeared. She was older, and her posture was relaxed, almost languid, as if she had not a care in the world. As for her clothes... Elias blushed and looked away. Tamamo just laughed.
"Oh, boys will be boys."
Elias ignored her.
While the woman produced a pipe from her lab coat and began to smoke leisurely.Gathering his thoughts, Elias crept closer, considering using Flow Suppression. Then discarded the idea.
'Too risky.'
If the museum truly housed artifacts capable of detecting Flow, suppressing himself now might attract attention instead of avoiding it. He instead hid behind a nearby pillar.
He remembered asking Araba about the museum earlier that day.
She had practically glowed.
"The museum is wonderful!"
"We should all go together during the Hydrangea Festival!"
She had gone on to explain that years ago thieves had attempted to rob the place. None of them ever emerged.
Officially...
They had been captured.
Unofficially...
Nobody ever learned what became of them.
His gaze shifted.
The younger woman, Todd sighed dramatically.
"Mom!"
"What?"
"You're dressed like that again!"
Firdaus smiled.
"I'm a grown woman, I can wear whatever I please."
Todd pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You're almost fifty."
"I know."
Firdaus beamed.
"Isn't it wonderful? I've still got my figure ven at this age." She chuckled and took a puff.
Todd looked genuinely defeated.
"What would Dad say?"
Firdaus took another puff.
"Oh...I'm certain he'd compliment my taste."
Within the Spirit Domain Tamamo giggled.
"I like her."
Elias wasn't surprised.
"You would."
"We're kindred spirits."
He was about to ignore the pair when Todd spoke again.
"Mom, are you listening to me?" Todd hissed, tugging at her mother's sleeve. "This isn't a social call. You're wearing… that. And we are going to the Forbidden Vault. It's dangerous!"
Firdaus waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, pish. You're over reacting, I've been working there for years now. Nothing has happened and nothing will happen."
Elias however had stopped listening to the mother and daughter, remaining frozen for a moment. The Forbidden Vault. The name sparked a memory—a conversation in SK's shack, mer months ago. The old man had been brewing another batch of his horrid tea at the time. He had told both him and Jamie about it but Elias asked about it again that day. That was a few days before the attack on Blackhaven.
The old man had said:
"Some artifacts," SK had said "are too dangerous to smash to bits. And too bloody dangerous to leave lying about for any fool to stumble over. So we built the Vaults. A places where the rest of the world can't get its grubby hands on them."
He'd flashed that crooked grin, and for a second, Elias caught something ancient and sharp in his eyes—like the man knew far more than he let on.
"The Forbidden Vault is In Aethelberg. That big bastards got things in there that could unravel kingdoms, kid. Tear reality a new arsehole if you so much as look at them wrong."
Tamamo tilted her head.
"Forbidden Vault. Hmmm, rather straightforward. Sounds like a place storing artifacts....Though the name lacks imagination."
Todd sighed.
"So why did you call me here?"
Firdaus grinned.
"I've got something adorable to show my adorable daughter."
"...Mom."
"Oh?"
"You still blush."
"I am not blushing!"
Firdaus laughed before grabbing Todd's hand.
Todd sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Mom, if this is another one of your stray creatures—"
"Hush, hush," Firdaus teased, pulling her daughter toward the entrance.
"Just walk."
Elias watched them disappear toward the entrance. His decision had already been made and he reached into his Storage Beads.
A charcoal-black cloak unfolded into his hands.
It had been crafted from the pelt of a Shadow Lynx, a nocturnal beast whose natural adaptation erased its scent, sound, and presence from the perception of predators and prey alike.
When worn properly...
It rendered its owner functionally invisible to ordinary senses.
Next came a dull gray bracelet.
It was made entirely of Flowstone. This one contained Anti-Flow. It was originally intended as a restraint for criminals as it absorbed Flow continuously until the wearer became an empty vessel.
Elias however had other plans. His body could only output an amount of energy. Others would have been powerless and have to wait till their body absorbs it from the environment. Elias had infinite Flow so that wasn't a problem. The problem , however, was that the museum would have ways and means of detecting Flow so he put the bracelet on and it turned red, immediately draining his energy.
Once the bracelet drained him completely, he would use Flow Suppression to prevent his body from immediately replenishing itself from the infinite reserve.
For all practical purposes...
He would become indistinguishable from a mundane human.
Weaker but unnoticed.
'Hopefully they don't have lasers...'
Tamamo raised an eyebrow.
"...Lasers?"
"Long story."
He pressed a talisman against a nearby wall.
"It'll serve as a checkpoint."
A stray dog wandered past.
Elias smiled faintly.
"Insurance."
Ahead, Firdaus and Todd reached the entrance.
'Not yet.'
His Flow hadn't fully vanished. He needed another few seconds.
He tapped into his dwindling reserves, focusing the energy into his fingertips. He didn't want to hurt them; he just needed chaos. He flicked his wrist.
A concentrated gust of wind—sharp, precise, and entirely unexpected—whooshed down from the roof. It caught the hem of Firdaus's dress, flipping it upward in a spectacular, unceremonious display.
"Mom!" Todd yelled, horrified, grabbing for the fabric. "This is exactly what I was talking about! Can you please, for once, have some decorum?"
Firdaus merely laughed, unbothered.
"The wind appreciates beauty."
"Mother!"
As they bickered, distracted by the sudden gust and the indignity of the situation, Elias tightened the cloak around his shoulders. The world seemed to dim, his presence leaching out of reality. He felt the bracelet bite into his wrist, the Flowstone beginning to siphon away the last of his power. He felt the cold, empty numbness of a mundane human.
He pulled the hood over his head and without another sound... followed the two women into the museum.