Silence...
"Come again?" Questions the stupified Amanises, hoping that this was just one of Daly Simone's shitty jokes.
"Pass through the wall! Come on!" Encouraged the other woman, clearly ignoring the hint completely.
There's no way! She's crazy!!!
It was just a wall. That's it! A wall! A weathered one but a wall nonetheless.
Even if there are Beyonder powers and supernatural stuff in this world, don't I, at least, need an incantation of sorts? Perhaps an Open Sesame type??
"You're not actually encouraging me to headbutt face first into a wall right?" She needed another clarification.
Daly didn't say anything, opting to respond with her usual stupid smirk.
There are no cameras here right?
She threw a look around the run-down apartment, the windows were nailed shut and the door was closed behind them. The apartment only had one spacious room so there was no space to wiggle around.
Even if she was to kiss the wall, only Daly would witness such a comical scene. And they grew quite close today.
Alright. I give up.
She grunted in annoyance, the sound almost muffled by the clicking of heels.
Approaching the wall, her hand extended forward, intending to give a probing touch, when her hand passed right through.
Huh?
Before anything else could register, along with hand, her whole body was sucked in the wall. All she could hear was a hearty chuckle followed by Daly's voice.
"It's always so fun when they're oblivious! Hahaha!!"
***
A few hours earlier. Tingen City, Awwa County, Lower Street of Iron Cross Street, in a cheap apartment building, first floor, No. 134.
Corpse Collector Frye, who looked so pale that it looked like he had severe blood deficiency, finished examining the body of Mrs. Lauwis.
He got up from the dirty concrete floor and turned to his superior, a beautiful green-eyed man with long messy black hair.
"She died from a heart attack." He said with utmost certainty. His skills as a Beyonder allowed him to identify the cause of death quite easily.
"Hmm." The green-eyed man hummed in skepticism. His divination skills were deplorable, so there was no way to link Mrs. Lauwis' death to the current chain of supernatural events.
The pale-faced Frye wanted to ask something before he noticed a green flash in his superior's eyes. He wanted to address the slight abnormality, before being interrupted by a loud clap of his hands.
"Alright! Let's conclude here." Without further ado, the beautiful man quickly left the apartment, without waiting for Frye, who was left stupified.
With each day that passes he gets weirder and weirder. He commented in his mind, brushing off what happened just a second ago.
***
In an unknown place.
Light penetrated Amanises's eyelids. She opened them only to be bombarded with hundreds of colors, shades that she didn't even know existed.
What the fuck is going on?!
She was delirious, her brain was overwhelmed by what it's eyes failed to capture.
All of that happened in a fraction of a second, but it felt like a decade.
Her heels felt solid ground again, her hands even touched what felt like a solid stone wall.
Phew. She breathed a sigh of relief. That was something else, for sure!
Regaining her sense of space, she looked around the strange room. Only, it was not a room, but rather, a long and dark hallway.
From the supposed dead-end behind her, a figure passed, while covered in tiny, illusionary colourful sparks. It was Daly Simone.
Still chuckling, she said in reassurance: "Don't worry, the first time is hard for everyone. You'll get used to it over time!"
I sure hope so! Almost shouted Amanises.
"Where are we?" Was what she blurted out, instead.
"This—" Daly threw her hand ahead. "Is our secret base!"
"Secret base? What are we? Ghost busters?" Yeah right.
Daly tilted her head in slight confusion, but was quick to add. "I'm not sure what 'Ghost Busters' are. But our organization deals with ghosts too, sometimes—"
"Well I'll be damned." Dead-panned Amanises, before realization hit.
Wait! I mixed them up!!!
But it was already too late to correct her mistake, for Daly was already walking ahead, without a care in the world.
Opting not to be left behind, Amanises followed her like she did all day, not speaking a word.
The hall opened to a brightly lit space. There appeared to be more rooms connected to it, the doors were all closed however, so she didn't know where they led.
"This isn't the main place, of course. This is just a small establishment for the Backlund branch. Due to us being rather numerous, our settlement is quite large."
Daly started explaining the rules of this strange place she found herself in. They included, but we're not limited to: no violence between members, privacy must be respected and to not be an annoyance.
This is a basic work ethic. Of course, many still decided to be assholes and not respect the standard rules of society.
"I'll present each room in detail, but first we must go run by the Captain of this group. Follow me."
"Alright." As if I didn't do that all day today. Amanises waited a bit out of caution, to be sure she didn't mess up her thought-speech again.
Phew. When Daly didn't comment on anything, she breathed a sigh of relief and was good to go.
The Spirit Medium walked to the door straight ahead. It was a large double door engraved with countless geometric symbols that didn't appear to serve any other purpose than simple aesthetics.
The large doors opened with a loud groan, it hasn't been oiled for a while, it seems.
Behind them, was an office-like room. It had large bookshelves filled over the top with antique books, a desk in the middle with scattered documents and even more books piled up on top. Behind it, huge windows that didn't register the outside, as their view was a simple white, luminous plane.
Seated at that desk was a young man, he had very short golden-brown hair and blackish-green eyes that were as dark as a forest on a moonless night. He wore a dark windbreaker, its collar propped up high, hiding the entirety of his lower face.
One could hardly guess his emotions, his eyes as still as a stone.
The man looked up from his papers, an eyebrow raised in question. "I'm guessing this is the recruit you spoke about, Ms. Daly?"
The addressed woman nodded in earnest, her expression bright, almost star-like.
"Yes, this Evelyn Dusk, the survivor of that tragedy." Amanises took this as her cue to start her greeting.
With a slight bow, she raised the ends of her long black dress and spoke. "That's right, sir."
The man started tidying up his messy work desk, arranging different files before picking up one. "I see. I'm Crestet Cesimir, the one in charge of this branch. But most opt to call me Captain. You may do as you wish."
Amanises was left aghast.
I'm in? Just like that?!
"Sir, isn't there any probation I must go through? Or to be asked why I want to join? Or even the name of this organization, for God's sake! I still have no idea what it's called."
The man who bears the name Cesimir was stunned by the barrage of questions, he coughed in embarrassment and quickly responded. "We have been observing you since the incident, actually, since you first contacted Ms. Daly. Our eyes have been kept tight. We have no doubts about your ideals and reasons."
"Oh. I see." She answered in a downcast manner.
On the one hand, she was happy to skid over the questionnaire and jump straight to the action. On the other hand...
So, I've been observed huh—
What a sad reality, where is the privacy in this?
She couldn't even wonder about the last question, before being suddenly dragged away by her new coworker.
"Thanks for your approval Cap'n. See you!"
Amanises could only observe as her new captain gave a tired sigh, leaning back into his seat and closing his eyes.
Leaving the captain's room, they jumped straight to the one right of it. The smell of different unknown stuff penetrating her nostrils.
"Hurry up to the alchemy room and choose a potion! I'm dying to know what your choice is going to be!" Exclaimed Daly in delight.
"Potion? Wait, that fast!" Once again, mouth agape with a stupified expression.
"Yup! That's right! We don't waste time here."
This time they didn't barge in. Daly stepped in front of the door, blocking Amanises.
She extended her hands, giving a warm greeting.
"Welcome! You're now a part of The Arcanists!" Her expression spelled pure happiness.