~2215 words
"You nearly had me and my friend killed!" Klein's tone was exasperated as he did not bother to use his Clown powers to control his emotions.
Seated with his fingers crossed and his eyes focused on Klein, he replied simply: "I was confident in your ability to stay alive."
(refer to image in reply to this para for the image)
"Thank you, but that is not the matter to be concerned with right now. You could've told me! Hell, I would be willing to help you even if it put my life in even more danger, but you should've at least told me! You..." Klein felt his own voice echo in his ears. "...you should have told me. Isengard could've died—he almost did. I could've died! You could have at least let me in on the idea. Instead you sent a letter to Isengard and lured him right where you had led the Devil Dog!"
As Kiyotaka was about to say something, Klein shut him up again. "You weren't there yourself. And no, sending Maric and Madam Sharron does not count. How could you be so indifferent to someone potentially dying?"
Kiyotaka kept his fingers crossed. "They were amply paid. Besides, you already knew, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
"You can divine without interruptions in this space. And given your cautious nature, I am sure you divined everything beforehand. So tell me, why did you still lead Isengard towards it?"
"I did not." There was a heavy, sudden drop in Klein's tone, which bordered on the tone of a betrayed person. "Yes, I knew you contacted him, but I did not divine anything about you."
He looked at Kiyotaka, his expression stripped of the usual polite mask he maintained.
"I trusted you," Klein whispered. "Not because of your abilities, and not because we share an unsaid alliance. I trusted you because when I'm sitting across from you, I'm allowed to remember who I was before all of this. Before becoming a Beyonder, or drinking these damned potions... before everything.
You are the only person in this entire world who shares the memory of the same world that is my home. I thought that meant we shared a baseline of a common humanity. I didn't think I had to protect myself from... You, of all people. I thought we were... Friends."
There was a strange emotion in his voice today. Usually Klein was really controlled and composed, however, it felt like he had taken Kiyotaka's deliberate manipulation to heart.
Kiyotaka looked down at the table and traced the design that was carved in mysterious and incomprehensible patterns. "I am sorry." After a beat or two, he added: "I would not have let you die."
Klein looked at him in an incredulous manner. His mouth worked and it looked like he wanted to form words, however, the words never did form and Klein never uttered them.
Still sitting in his previous position, Kiyotaka simply placed his hand on Black Emperor Card of Blasphemy and gently pushed it enough that it covered half of the distance of the table.
Klein's expressions grew strained as Kiyotaka stood up.
"Get some rest. Let's meet some other time."
Klein's eyes fell on the depiction of Emperor Roselle clad in robes and wearing a dark-black crown on his head and the corresponding words came into his focus as well.
He pursed his lips and peeled his eyes away from it.
"I have not forgiven you. But the next time we meet, you have to tell me everything. Including why you connected the royal family to mass abductions."
"It's merely a theory, but sure."
"Mhm..."
Before Klein could send him back, Kiyotaka's features contorted a little. "And Sherlock."
"Yes?"
"You are my friend. I hope you forgive me." Klein paused for a moment and then nodded simply.
The strain on his mind and body increased as he severed Kiyotaka's connection, making him plunge back into the real world.
At the same time, Klein descended to the real world and immediately fell asleep.
On the other hand, as Kiyotaka arrived in his hotel room, he sighed and looked outside the window where the sun was not visible but it was still early in the afternoon.
His lips parted in an amused manner as he looked at the smog choked sky, speaking in an ancient, forgotten tongue.
"O' my friend, there is no friend." [1]
*****
As the evening heralded its start and the light of the morning began to wane, Kiyotaka dressed up nicely.
He was wearing a white shirt with a black tie. Above it was a waistcoat that was cinched at his waist with a belt and was buttoned up until his lower chest. The waistcoat had sharp, silver colored buttons with minor engravings inside them.
Beneath it, he was wearing black colored pants and shoes. Finishing the attire was a long windbreaker that had its collars raised up.
Furthermore, he had styled his hair that had grown long enough to reach the tip of his nose in a middle-part, much like how he used to have on Earth, except much longer. His ears were half hidden by his luscious locks and his eyes had regained a life which was totally absent before.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he noticed that his body had gotten much more in shape—not just restricted to his height. Checking himself in the mirror one last time, he sprayed his neck, wrists and every inch of his coat and shirt with a perfume he had bought for £1.
It had an upper note of bergamot, heart note of rose, jasmine, and pepper and base notes of amber and vanilla.
He placed his revolver in its holster with some spare bullets in his inner coat pockets. He did not wish to face Klein for some time, so he avoided summoning his Mystical Items from the mysterious space.
Besides, he was going to the Church of the Evernight Goddess. If they really wanted to do something, no amount of Mystical Items could save him.
After that, he picked up his leather wallet and checked inside. Currently he had £80, after giving Leppard an additional £1.000 for customizing Prince Edessak Augustus' car.
Mal still had to give Kiyotaka the money Zmanger Gang had collected via intimidation and protection of the local vendors. As per Kiyotaka's instruction, they refrained from collecting such money from bigger ones, as they usually have some kind of contract or connections with law enforcement.
The first Car was going to be given out for free so he had also revised the price for other models to cover the costs.
Double checking the £80, he pushed the 'measly' sum back in his pocket and left the room. Once he was out, he went to the counter and handed the keys back to the receptionist.
The walk from the hotel to the Church of Evernight Goddess was not much. Since winters were almost here, and the distance was measly, Kiyotaka avoided spending money on a carriage and instead walked there.
On the way, since he didn't have much to think about, he reminisced over the past 2 months. About 2 months ago — give or take — he was wandering these streets with a severe alcohol addiction, shuddering shoulders, nerves that utterly refused to calm down and a disastrous habit of relieving himself with his hand multiple times a day.
And after working so hard, he finally curbed a lot of his previous habits. It was natural to take time— after all, those habits were basically instincts by the time Kiyotaka took over Williams' body. Instincts that had been engrained into the subconscious over the years.
However, the irony was that now he could not fully leave them. If his hypothesis was correct, he needed to ground himself. Habits, hobbies, relationships—all of what defined the concept of "humanity". He needed them.
'What a strange thing, life is.'
As he looked up, he found himself standing in front of a building that he was quite familiar with.
It was a security company. A security company where he had audited files before.
Not feeling one bit nostalgic, Kiyotaka stepped inside.
As soon as he was inside, his eyes landed on the person he had met for the first time when he had gotten entangled in... whatever was going on.
The girl had black hair tied in a bun and dark blue eyes.
Roxanne.
Roxanne stopped and stared at Kiyotaka for some time. In her eyes there was confusion and disbelief, and for a moment, she kept staring at him in a stupefied manner. However, she soon composed herself and shook her head.
"Williams?"
"Yes."
"God... You look so different." She let out a nervous titter, adjusting a stack of papers just to give her hands something to do.
Kiyotaka gave a single, polite nod. He wasn't in the mood to entertain small talk with the receptionist.
He had other things on his mind.
Having more-or-less deciphered the core principle required to digest the Barbarian potion, he really needed to get to work.
Before Roxanne could speak again, a familiar, smooth voice drifted from behind, cutting through the awkward quietness between them and prompting both of them to turn.
"I will take him from here, Roxanne." A woman dressed in a dark colored flowing dress that hugged her body snugly walked up to them.
She was wearing dark makeup, which made her look older than she actually was.
Daly Simone.
"As you say, Ma'am." Roxanne nodded quickly and hopped away, glad to escape the sudden drop in temperature.
Kiyotaka turned his gaze to Daly only to find her staring back at him. She had a volatile, complicated mix of resentment, shame and... some kind of vulnerability in her eyes.
"Come with me." She spoke flatly, her tone brittle.
Instead of replying, Kiyotaka just followed along. They walked through the hallway that had all kinds of furniture in it, towards the door that was always locked. Once inside, Daly dropped down and pulled the lid that led to the underground channels—one of the many channels that was connected to Saint Samuel Cathedral.
Picking up a torch, Daly began to lead the way after they had descended the spiraling staircase.
'This brings back memories.' Kiyotaka looked around.
It was here where Daly had interrogated him, after suspecting him of being possessed.
Once they had covered half of the distance, suddenly Daly turned around and pushed Kiyotaka against a wall. She placed her hand on the wall, pinning him in place and got closer.
"Look. That was an accident. My emotions were all over the place because of that fucking Desire Apostle and you just happened to be there. So do not flatter yourself with the thought of sharing my bed, ever again."
Kiyotaka didn't show any outward reaction. Without even blinking, he merely stared down into her panicked, angry eyes, reading the exact nature of her outburst.
And then he moved forward, forcing her arm down and breaking the pin. Daly took a sharp step back as she watched him calmly dust off the sleeve of his new windbreaker.
"I have no intentions of touching you again," Kiyotaka's voice was entirely flat. "But your warning is redundant. You were the one who went through the effort of removing my clothes, not the other way around." He looked down the path ahead. "Regardless, it was not your fault, so I do not expect anything to happen ever again. Unless, of course, you require it on your own volition."
"I will not!"
"Perfect." Kiyotaka looked down the path again. "Lead the way."
Feeling humiliated, she began to walk the rest of the way in an utter, crushing silence. From behind, Kiyotaka could see the bruising along her neck line which was visible despite the mandarin-collar of her dress.
Before long, they reached the end of the dark passageway, stopping before a set of massive bronze double doors.
"You are on your own from here."
"Thank you."
Daly paused, looking at Kiyotaka's face that remained passive for the longest time. However, she turned around quickly, and left without a word.
'She'll come back around. Soon.'
Adjusting his windbreaker, Kiyotaka lifted his hand to knock on the door. However, before that could happen, the double doors flew open and a cold wind gusted out at the same time. Kiyotaka felt a shiver in his very bones, and a sensation he had not felt in both lifetimes suddenly creeped up his spine.
However, he quickly realized that this feeling was not his own but a supernatural, imposed feeling.
It was the feeling of Horror.
*****
[1] Attributed to Aristotle: "O' my friend, there is no friend." Some later interpretations dispute the wording, arguing the original meaning was closer to: "He who has many friends has no true friend." However, Kiyotaka purposefully used the disputed meaning.
Author's Note:
Well, we have hit 40 chapters. I won't lie, I thought, much like most of my stories, I will stop writing after like 20-25 chapters max. But well... Anyways, here we are.
We also just hit 500+ Collections, so that's a huge W as well.
Thanks to everyone for reading, commenting and supporting, and I will see you all next time.
Auf Wiedersehen.