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Recent Statuses

13 days ago
Keep calm and carry on.
2 likes
6 mos ago
WAIT HARAMBE DIED ON MY BIRTHDAY?!
3 likes
6 mos ago
I have now been alive for 20 years. How in the fuck.
3 likes
7 mos ago
would've loved to explore the concept of a Marshmallow Marshlands.
2 likes
7 mos ago
The only time I've shown interest in a Nation RP was something based off Candyland of all things, but it was dead in the water before all of us were able to submit CSes. A shame too,
2 likes

Bio

Current Haunts:
Symphony on High - Finn/Timekeeper (Co-GM)


...Yes that's it. Literally in nothing else atm, sue me.

Most Recent Posts


"*Looks at the camera* They don't know this isn't an act."
Corruption:???%
(Wonder when this'll be relevant.)


Aaaaand Mika lumped Olivia in as another girlfriend anyways! Great. Not really. Finn's only response to her remarks was an eloquent flip of the bird, but at least she was more business than Ashley, who had deftly tried to justify her accusations against Betty and Olivia. He nodded when Mika asked for confirmation about when he had met up with Betty.

"Faith's a bit of a chatterbox but the few times I've run into her, her behavior seemed pretty consistent enough." He spoke up with what he had noted, crossing his arms in thought. "I've... Actually, I've not seen Binky since you guys got her back from that weird casino. You don't think...?"

Then Ashley, sweet, stupid fucking Ashley. Decided he was somehow more of a threat than what they were actually THERE for. As she went about her little ultimatum with him, she could see his hands tighten their grip against his arms as he glared daggers at her. He could so easily fling himself up to the front of the van and.... Finn sharply inhaled, shutting his eyes for a moment. "Agent Orion, there are bigger things at stake here than you gleefully signing off my pink slip. If you wanna act like I'm the bigger threat than two behemoths with the destructive power of hurricanes, then cut the shit you're pulling here and let me do my job before we end up killing each other first? You can cry to Dr. Moller that you want me out AFTER the threat's been neutralized." The machine's glare had reeled back to a more tired bitchface.

"Oh but don't worry though, I'll be an obedient little killer. Trust!" He even crossed his heart to emphasize.

Albeit with a rather spiteful smile.

"Aaaaaaaand it begins. Fun."
Corruption:???%


Soon as Finn climbed into the back of the Van, Mika had brought up the mole issue. When she went on to explain how Dante had a literal dossier on him, Timekeeper and all, he couldn't help the frown that formed on his face. He was set up! Why can't they just see that already?? It was a good thing Mika had found it before it got into someone else's hands, but that doesn't change the fact it was there. It was scary to think about. Doesn't help that whoever was behind it set up the ambush at St. Bianchi's too. Finn quietly listened to the conversation between the other two agents, including Ashley's theories on who leaked the information.

And then the topic turned...targeted. The Timekeeper gave their glorious leader a pointed look as she went on about how Betty and fucking Olivia of all people could be suspects too. Just cause of their association with him. The machine sharply breathed in through his nose, then dryly chuckled.

"Y'know, you can just accuse me of being the mole. Makes things much easier." He crossed his arms with a hateful grin. "Since I'm already such a liability and all? Come the fuck on, Orion, for how much bullshit Betty's been through I somehow doubt she'd still be working for the very same people who kidnapped and enthralled her and god knows what else they could've done." Unless Ashley was accusing Betty of being a sleeper agent. That'd align with the current peanut gallery with both Faith and Binky having been in contact with the Hand too. "Compared to the rest of you assholes she's been the one of, if not the best to me. Unless you're saying I've been too reckless with who I trust?" Betty had been aware the whole time she had been controlled, according to her. She knows how much he'd gone through hell and back to save her, why would she suddenly betray him after all that? He had rose a brow, then his grin dropped to a glare.


"Especially if you think an innocent girl like Olivia can be a threat? I didn't tell her jackshit beside that I'm an esper, okay? Even then she could've tried to kill me in the catacombs when we went down there if you're somehow worried about that but she didn't. She just talked to me about stuff like her school and her partner." ....That he barely paid attention to. Hopefully mentioning that Olivia's taken doesn't give Mika anything to make a snide remark about though. His eyes then widened in an exaggerated tilt of the head, eyes boring holes into Ashley's skull. "Frankly if you think she's such a threat why don't you go ahead and go kill her yourself after this, hm~?"

Letting the tension simmer for a moment, the machine leaned back against his seat, reeling himself back. "Though having a potential sleeper agent does make sense. Had either Faith or Binky acted strangely over the past few days?"


"My representative advised against me making a 'Two Trains Having Sex' joke."
Corruption:???%

Two hurricanes at once. It was something unheard of, usually. Though one could suppose with the luck of Pax Septimus this wasn't surprising in the slightest. Certainly didn't surprise Finn. After his date went horribly awry he only continued to grow more distance from the other agents, sometimes even just other espers in general. Well, asides from Betty. He did take on a hunt with that vulgar imp girl that went...as well as you'd expect, he got a mecha out of it he could repair and polish up, and the two of them co-operated pretty well for what they could manage. But something seemed to properly snap into place in the boy there and then. A strange sort of awareness.

If that awareness was anything to go by, someone was going to die today. Or at the very least something was going to happen to someone. That he was certain. But who would believe him, after the one person he hoped to understand forced a smile instead? And his situation was much worse in the fact that he'd be partnered with one of the girls he yelled at for thinking he had been romantically interested in her, and the leader that was no doubt going to keep him on a tight fucking leash, whilst there was a mole hiding amongst them.

He didn't care. Not anymore.

As long as he plays his part, he'll be just fine. He was a killer resigned to his fate. T̶̨͕͓̙̜̺̻͎̳͕̔͌̌̅͂́́͊̀̾̅̍̽͝ḩ̷̨͚̗̙̪͇̭͔̺̹̤̅̿̄͊͋͒̕͜͝͠ͅͅè̸̯̲̜̹̻̺͔̗̄͋̾̃̀̂͐̈́̚ỹ̸̨̧̫͚̞̪͕̹̣͈̞̿̈́́̂̍̈͒͒́̆̅̍̀̂̕͜͝'̷̡͔̳͚͎̟̘͍̥̫̤̭̖̦̍̓̔͌͊̎̀͑̈́̆͜l̵̢̡̢̙̦͕̯̹̱̗͖͇̫̩̦̏͑̒̃̉̓̈́͌̐̚͝l̸̗̦͐̀͗̋̓ ̷̟̗͎̭̖͙͕̭̝̖̀͋̍͛͌̑͆̐͑̚͠u̷̢̘̰̲̠̦͇̯͊̈́̾̃̂͋́̈́̆̀́̾̑̀̒̓͠ͅͅǹ̴̡̨̤͎͉͈̘̣̟̮̦͛̓̈́̈́d̸̼̝̘̜̍̔̈́͐͐̾̄͗͌́͌̉͆̂͝e̷͙̭̹͎̥̺͍̯͇͚̬͍̬̠͍̣̓͒̑̀͋̚͠r̶͙̜͈̿̂̈̔̿̅́͂̑͆̒́͗̃s̴̭̪̣̩̪̻͖͉͖̘̩̗̰͍̫̲̞̑͌͆́̆͒̄t̵̢͙̯̦̦͇̀͋̏̑̓̇̐̈́̚̕͠à̷̘͌̍̐͒̓͊̈́̊̔͒̄̒n̶̩̝̹̖̻̱̰̱̍̽̈́̑͛͂̚͜͝d̸̳͈̖͖̖̺͍̑̆͗̒́̄̽͗̍̕̕ ̵̨̢̩̲̩͎̻̖̝̃̃̐̚͝ͅs̷̨̬͇̳̻̜̜̭̳̪̥̺͊̋̅̿͘͝ͅǫ̶̯̭̦̭́ǫ̸̢̖͍͖̰̙̩̫̥̣͕͓͉͚̽͐͋̈́̓̽́̓̈́̐̉̈́͐̐̓͘͝ņ̶̭̲̮̞̗͇͗̊͆͜ ̷̠̋̉̾̍̆͛̌͠͝͝ę̷͕̭̫͖̭͚̹̝͎̠̍̂͝n̷̞̞̗̍̎̓̽͋͊̅̇̕ơ̴̖̰͍̬̬̬̣̼͉͚̊̇̆̉u̷̧̳͕̣͈͔̙̘̼͈̣̣͐̄͆̋̓̿͊̿̂̔͊̎̕̚͘͜͜͝͝g̷̡̛̹̮̜̘̺͈̮̳̭͒̾̏̇́̌̒̋͜͜h̸̦̯͓̗̠͉̜̬̤̩̰̥̔̄̍.̶̟̗̼̾̄̑̔͗̏̒͐̈́͊̕͘̕

As it was, the Timekeeper was idly pacing as he waited for Mika to arrive, already transformed and letting the torrential downpour cool himself down before the fight. As much as he wanted to say that this time things would be different, he'd be lying. At the very least he'd be doing things different this time.

How?

Best not to spoil the show before it's even begun.

Difficulty Rank: Bronze


Though she was new to the cursed city of blood, Noah Anderson decided to start somewhere small and take up a call for investigating supposed monster activity. Following the common pattern to a string of recent hauntings led back to an abandoned theater nestled in a quiet corner of the historic district. No one had ever been able to go near it even before the Holy Diver had rained ruin unto the city. Any attempts to repair the theater were apparently thwarted due to something attacking people. Sandbags and old props nearly being dropped near innocents, furniture being forcefully thrown and shoved about leaving bruises on those unfortunate to be in their path, doors locking people in, it was enough to convince the people of Pax Septimus that a phantom had haunted the once lively halls. Countless mundane civilians trying to investigate (or entering on a dare, if it was some group of reckless kids) on their own wasn’t enough to stop this, perhaps the Walking Church will have better luck in exorcizing this ghost?

Even then, it seems she wouldn’t be alone. Her and her temporary companion would meet up a short distance away from the theater.

Still, Noah couldn’t help but allow some sadness to take hold of her at seeing the state of the theater. Her mind returned back towards all of the advertisement she’d been able to see of it from before the Holy Diver had done it’s damage, it was all still up online. If she had to compare it to anything, it was very similar to watching the damage reports of those hurricanes hitting the south. Just… a whole lot more real.

She shook her head, and considering what would await her in the theater, her head turned back to the whole idea of ghosts and monsters in general. Perhaps another might find it strange, but she’d taken to referring to them as demons in her own head. It just seemed to fit, for creatures that survived through human suffering. Ghosts, too, would fall under that paradigm. Under God, spirits of the dead returning from the grave… is simply not possible. Such things are, again, often demons, returning for chaos and discord, and whatever other evil they may be aiming to perpetrate. After all, what better way to inflict pain upon a grieving man, then to haunt him as the recently deceased?

She could very well be wrong, certainly… but most monstrous things that she’d learned about this new side of the world did seem to fit rather neatly into the ‘demonic’ category of her own religion. So, until proven otherwise, she would be operating underneath that assumption. She may not be as… enthusiastic as her family, but if Noah saw a spade, she would call it a spade.

But, before she would walk into what was likely, as the media would call it, a ‘poltergeist’, Noah checked around again for any sign of her soon to be companion. It would be a bit rude to start early. And, given how she was quite literally glowing in the dark, she doubted it’d take much longer for this ‘Marrie Knight’ to spot her.

And spot her she did. Maybe it wasn’t wise to take on a mission immediately after training again, but this was supposed to be a simple job, and she got a partner along to help. The glow from what she could only assume was said partner drew her in towards the girl in the nun outfit, a-... a nun outfit? Why was an esper wearing a nun’s habit? Marrie shook her head to dislodge the question, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen weirder, and with the giant she’d met at The Great Escape, church-based espers weren’t a total surprise anymore.

”Hey,” she asked as she waved at Noah, now only a few yards away, ”You here for the ghost hunt too?” She tried to think back to the name of the one who had taken the job besides her, but she was still too out of sorts from her daytime activities to remember. ”And, uh… Sorry, but what do you go by, again?” Having stepped even closer, Marrie was trying to block the light from the other esper by holding a hand in front of her eyes. Probably less offensive in the daytime, she figured.

Noah blinked, hearing who she could only assume was her temporary partner, and turned around. She’d been looking for her in the opposite direction she’d arrived! “Ah-” A little embarrassing, but she brushed that aside and returned the greeting. “Hello! And, yes, I am.” She took in her new partner, who looked just as techy as she’d thought she did from her profile picture! Headphones so thick that Noah was left wondering if the girl could even hear out of them, and two strange pieces of metal were on the sides of her cheeks. A blue zip up long sleeve with a rather stretched turtleneck paired itself with a black skirt and leggings. An interesting outfit, to be sure!

And, from the sounds of it, Noah’s newness to the esper scene was rearing its head. “I’m No-” She coughed. “Ah- Walking Church! That’s it…” She said quickly, rubbing the back of her head. “Sorry, I’m a little new to all this… You’re Miss Knight, yes?” Noah asked, figuring it’d be best to make sure she had the right person. Or esper, as it were. Hah.

… And, some moments later, Noah realized she may be glowing a bit too brightly, judging by her fellow esper’s actions. “Oh, sorry about that.” She apologized, willing the glow to lessen to something a bit easier for the eye to handle.

Glad that Walking Church, as she was apparently called, had turned down the light, Marrie internally groaned once again at not having set up a good alias before her name got out. ”Yep, that’s me. Nice to meet you.” She had caught the near slipup, but not enough to guess at what Church’s name might be, just enough to recognize that she must be even newer than herself. With the strain lessened on her eyes she glanced around at the building, asking a question as she did. ”Do you have a battle plan to get in, or deal with anything hostile? I’m really hoping that we don’t have to fight anything, but I’ve yet to get that lucky here in Pax.”

Noah hadn’t actually been thinking of a way in and had been mourning the state of the theater while she’d been waiting, but she certainly wasn’t about to say that out loud. She brought her hand to chin for a moment, and thought aloud. “Well, with my own magic, it shouldn’t be terribly hard to avoid injury?” Her eyes widened slightly, and she clarified. “Ah, I mean, I can grant us some defenses, and heal us both, if needed. I’ve got the three enhancement notes, and a lot of, uhm… white magic notes.” It took Noah a moment to recall the precise term for her notes, but she got it in the end. “And with the Reveal and Magic Sense notes, I would think it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to spot the ghost? Or, at least, spot out its attacks before it can really harm us.” At least, so she hoped. She’d experimented a little with each note, and she still wasn’t entirely sure exactly what some of them did and didn’t cover.

But with the two of them together, Noah was hopeful that this job would go fine. Hopefully neither of them would get possessed like in those horror movies…

“And I was thinking that we’d just, ah, walk in? The entrance itself doesn’t seem blocked…” She trailed off, wondering if there might be a blockage on the inside. This ghost could move quite a lot around, according to the reports, so it was definitely possible they’d be stuck moving a couch or something out of the way.

White Magic, huh? That seemed to be rare, in Marrie’s experience. But Church was right, Magic Sense would probably be useful, and if they were going to try a peaceful approach, just walking in would be a good start. Though if it was blocked, that would change things. ”Sounds good.” She walked up to the door and tried it.

As the two had guessed, there was some form of blockage from the inside. But with a bit of elbow grease Marrie managed to pry the door open and slip inside. The inside of the theater was in as much disrepair as the outside. Holes in the roof faintly illuminated the main lobby, faded posters of stage performances lined the walls, there were worn seats and broken tables and lights long burnt out. It was a sad sight indeed.

And yet at the same time, it looked like someone was in the middle of cleaning it before they arrived. Asides from the Walking Church herself, there were a few lights barely struggling to stay alight despite their circumstances. Some of the pieces of what’s broken around them appear to be repaired constantly, after a closer inspection. Perhaps after scaring many intruders away? But whoever this ghost was, they seemed to take proper care of their haunting grounds. Whoever this ghost was, there was no sign of them. Yet. The espers soon had the feeling they were being watched. Closely. Carefully. Quietly.

”Hello?” Marrie called out to the emptiness and to anyone or anything else that might be there. ”We’re here to lodge a complaint. Well, actually, we’re just here to talk to any ghosts who might be here.” If the ghost was there, it would make sense to follow Church’s idea and use Magic Sense, so she cast a simple Self Melody of just that. [Silver Self - Magic Sense: 48]

As the newbie to the job, Noah thought it best to let Marrie take the lead. She silently stood a bit behind the techy esper and observed the inside of the theater, an undisguised frown making its way onto her face at the sight of it all. Noah shook her head, and refocused. Though the casting of melodies was still a bit foreign to her, she could still do it fine enough. Putting together a Self Melody just like Marrie, Noah lined up and played Magic Sense, Reveal, and Full Extend to be completely safe… And, just in case it was necessary, quietly prepped and composed a defensive Melody afterwards, but did not cast it. [Silver Self - Magic Sense, Reveal, Full Extend: 180] [Prepped: Silver Touch - Shield, AoE: 90]

Out of all the kinds of people that ever entered this place, it had to be espers. The blue one seemed harmless enough, but the walking glowstick, she seemed the type to burn heretics for breakfast. The being watching over them was prepared to strike back at whatever melodies it could only guess they’d conduct. Except their combined efforts only forced it into a more corporeal form. Exposed. The small figure let a quiet gasp slip, and quickly rushed away to the stage in the back. Just somewhere, anywhere it could hide. Somewhere it could bide whatever time it had to plan. It certainly did not expect someone to force it to reveal itself!

“Oh- There!” Noah exclaimed, pointing directly at the ghost’s form. Honestly, she hadn’t really expected the note to be quite so effective! The most Noah had been hoping for was a vague idea of the ghost’s location, but being able to see it was a boon she’d not take for granted, alongside the knowledge of its power. And then, instead of attacking immediately as she’d anticipated, the ghost… ran?

Noah blinked. “Huh, it ran…?” Well… she could only suppose that it was either as surprised as she was, or just didn’t like being seen- Ah, she’s on a job! “Uh-! The ghost went through that door!” She told Marrie, before starting to run after the ghost and taking the same door and delving further into the theater, with Marrie hopefully right behind her.

The slight hint of the ghost’s location was helpful, but more so was Church pointing out its exact location and running after it. But… it ran? Why? Marrie didn’t know a lot about ghosts, but she had to assume there was little difference from people, if it was actually a ghost. She sort of jogged, sort of walked after Church, trying to keep up but not so quickly as to scare the spirit further if that’s what was happening.

Once Noah and Marrie hurried into the main stage area they could spot a glimpse of the small figure ducking backstage, the undrawn curtains slightly blowing outwards as if it was just a gust of wind.

Noah herself wasn’t entirely sure on how to proceed. Her left arm had wrapped around back and grasped at the ethereal cross held to her back… but she didn’t draw it. Was she supposed to? Was this the time to fight? Or were they supposed to do something else, first? The ghost was definitely a monster, a demon, she knew. A really tough one, too. As espers, it was their job to take out a threat like this, right?

Why was it running away like that?

… Despite feeling the call to do something, be it from her religious roots or her newfound powers, Noah had never actually been in a fight before. She’d never initiated one, either… So some strong amount of trepidation and indecision overtook her. Noah was bound to the entrance of the theater. Her eyes focused on the curtain, but she didn’t make a move.

Unable to come to a decision, Noah elected to wait for Marrie to come up with something. Her temporary partner had been doing this esper stuff for a ton longer than Noah had, right? She had way more experience… She’d probably know what they’re supposed to do.

So, when Marrie caught up, Noah asked exactly that. “... It ran behind the curtain, what should we do?”

The blue-haired esper sighed. ”Well, that depends on if you’re the type to “destroy all monsters” or the type to give them a chance.” Marrie glanced over at Walking Church. If she had to guess, she’d bet on the former, but… ”I’ve never met an enemy that I didn’t at least try to talk to first, but if you want to go for the attack, I’ll back you up. You’re the one who can see it really well.”

“Mm…” Noah tilted her head in thought. Certainly, the existence of something that survived off of the suffering of others wasn’t something Noah thought deserved to live. Partially because it just sounded like a demon, and partially because the idea of something harming others mentally and physically, and even killing them, for the sake of its own survival was… well, the idea of it utterly repulsed her.

But, as far as Noah knew, and as far as the reports she’d been told went, this ghost hadn’t actually gone out of its way to kill people. It’d thrown a bunch of large and heavy things at many civilians, but in spite of its actions, she wasn’t aware of anyone who’d been seriously injured. In other words, despite how much her heart was telling her to get rid of it as quickly as she could, her head was saying otherwise.

And the idea of at least trying to talk with it first… Noah wasn’t against it. It didn’t sound like something she’d try with every demon, but with a case like this, and with Marrie implying she’d done it a bunch before… There was no reason to not try, right?

Noah’s hand released her cross, leaving it on her back, and it returned to her side. She nodded to Marrie. “I think we could give it a shot. But I don’t really know what to say…” She said, keeping a careful eye on the curtains.

Marrie smiled slightly, glad that Church was okay with trying the peaceful approach, not that it’d ever worked out before. ”Hmm…” She thought for a moment, and then spoke up towards the ghost. ”Hello? We’re not sure why you ran away, but that means we might have gotten off on the wrong foot? We’re hoping to have a talk about what’s been happening recently. People have been getting stuff thrown at them, dropped on them, stuff like that. Was any of that you?”

Backstage, the ghost was rummaging through its effects for something. The two could barely hear things moving from behind the curtains. It wasn’t until Marrie finally spoke up that the sounds paused. The figure cursed under its (his?) breath. At least they weren’t going guns akimbo on him yet. After a moment passed, Marrie and Noah can feel the presence return, but remain hidden behind the curtain. ”Funny, isn’t it? You try to scare intruders away from your home but they only come back with more determination each time, and now they’ve sent you lot to deal with me.” It looked like he was peeking through the sliver of an opening, if they looked closely. ”I-If you’re here for the same reasons as they are, I demand you leave at once!” The young voice commanded.

Oh no. The ghost sounded like a kid. ”We’re, er, I, at least, am not entirely sure what reasons they were even here.” She looked at Church. ”It’s just that the possibility of people getting hurt has made it so we have to try to prevent that. Hopefully there’s a way we can all just… coexist peacefully? But that’s why we want to talk to you.”

Noah’s mouth pressed into an ever thinning line the more noise came from behind the curtain. With the knowledge that Reveal had given her, Noah would not allow herself to be tricked by the demon before her. Not with its choice in voice, nor with its choice of words. The voice of a young boy to garner sympathy, and a phrasing that painted everyone else as the intruder… all to further sell the idea that it was some recently deceased child. Truly, a deceptive creature to the end.

But she did not voice such thoughts, however much her distrust of the entity might show on her face. Noah had said that she would try a peaceful approach with Marrie, and she wasn’t going to go back on that so soon. Instead, Noah backed her up. “From the sounds of it, I believe there may be some kind of misunderstanding..” Noah started, her voice noticeably tense. “I do not know exactly which ‘intruders’ you are referring to, but much of the recent ones have been innocent.” Noah had a small tendency to become a bit more formal in speech, in situations like this. Something she got from her mother.

Her head tilted slightly down, and continued with a firm tone. “If they were not here to repair this theater, then they were investigating whether or not you existed. I can understand either of these things being distressing, especially if you hadn’t known what it was they were doing, but you must understand that they did not mean harm to you.” Noah paused, recalling the state of the entrance to the theater. “... Before the two of us entered, it looked like the entrance to this place was in the middle of being cleaned. Would I be right to assume that you were the one cleaning up?” She asked.

Well. Suffice to say, he liked the blue girl better. The nun’s tone didn’t sit well with him. Of course, everything about her made him feel tense. The ghost was about to snark back at Noah saying no one meant any harm, when she brought the condition of the entrance. He perked up for a moment, then sighed. The small ghost moved away from the opening, then the curtains were finally drawn back, revealing a young boy with an elegant blue cape draped over his shoulders, and a book in his arms. His face scrunched up in a quick frown, but he turned it into a smile once he looked back at the two, ”It’s as I’ve said. Why wouldn’t I attend to my home?” He reiterated, confirming the Walking Church’s theory. ”I’ve never really hurt anyone though! At least- I don’t think I went too overboard, maybe some bruises but that can always heal. I always figured scaring ‘em enough. Dunno how it even got to this point...” The boy frowned.

This was good, for once there was actual conversation. Marrie grew even more hopeful that this could be resolved without fighting. ”Okay, that’s a good thing.” A genuine smile lit up her face, taking the boy’s word that there was no serious injury intended. ”So if you live here, could you tell us more about that? Do you know when you first got here? Were you elsewhere before, or did you… you know, here?” A hand went to her chin in thought. ”The bad news is that it’ll be hard to get legal ownership for a child or a spirit, so we can’t exactly just handle this that way. But! There’s other things that could be done. If you’re cleaning up, would you want people to restore this place?”

The young ghost turned more of his attention towards Marrie. ”I… I don’t trust anyone else to restore it. They might have different ideas, might try and modernize it, and it’d just- it wouldn’t be the same, you know?” He hugged the book in his arms tighter to his chest.

”It was my family’s. Me and my brother, we’d spend much of our time here, sneaking around to get the best view of the shows and playing pranks on the performers.” He wistfully smiled. ”But then, and I don’t know how but, a fire started and…well…”

Noah brought a hand to her chest and closed her eyes, offering a silent prayer for the deceased. Whether or not the demon before them was telling the truth didn’t matter. What did matter was that lives had been lost in that fire and they deserved to be mourned all the same.

But, then, a thought occurred. A callous thought, especially considering the words in the air, but an important thought. “… Forgive me, this is going to sound insensitive, but…” Her hesitation was clear in her choir of voices. “If your parents are… ah, no longer with us… Then ownership of this theater would fall to you, by inheritance, and I… don’t believe there would be any reason you wouldn’t have full control over how the theater would be restored?” Noah shifted from foot to foot, and sent a glance to Marrie. Hoping her fellow esper would pick up the cue to take over.

Marrie paused. ”It might be hard to convince people of that, but it sort of makes sense. Especially if you were left a will, or something. The hard part would be finding people who would accept a ghost as a boss.” She wasn’t sure at this point if Church was being genuine with her idea, but she saw no reason to doubt it at the moment. ”If we could find some espers who were willing to be go-betweens for you and whoever else, that might work. Or if you have a claim to ownership of this place, we should at least be able to set it up so you can choose someone you consider worthy to run it.” She thought for a moment. Did she know any lawyer espers? She couldn’t think of any, but maybe she could find one through those she did know? It was at least worth a shot, if the boy wanted that.

”That-” The boy dropped down from the stage to approach the two. ”Is a fair point. But you’ve seen how things are right now out there, and for all intents and purposes I’m…” He motions down to himself. ”Magi or not I still fall under the monster bracket with the whole undead thing, so even if you’re both right, not everyone may be as merciful as you two.” The ghost sighed, then his face perked up slightly. He snapped his fingers, the subtle embers of a cyan flame sputtering as if he was a lighter.

”Wait. Right. Introductions. My name’s Oliver.”

Noah nodded slowly when Oliver gave his name, tense from the demon jumping from the stage. An introduction… It wasn’t as though she’d be giving the monster her real name, just an alias, so Noah didn’t see a problem with responding in kind. “... I go by Walking Church, in this form.” She said, trying to regain her previous calm.

”Nice to meet you, Oliver. Hmm… Maybe Maverick will be helpful? I dunno what the legalese would be, but…”

Noah blinked twice. “... Maverick? Incredulity in her voices, Noah was put off balance once again as her head jerked to Marrie. “Maverick as in Maverick Alternative? Like- the terrorist organization?” Wide eyed, Noah stared at Marrie. After a moment, her face twisted slightly, she coughed, shook her head, and recomposed herself. “I… I do not think the government would be eager to help an organization like… well, that, transfer ownership of property…”

Oh, right. They were technically terrorists, weren’t they? ”That’s a good point, but they’re the most likely way to get this done legally. I’m sure they have plenty of people in there who could manage, but…” Was there any other way? Surely there were Freelancer lawyers, but without a way to pay for whatever would have to be done, Marrie doubted that they would be jumping on the chance. She turned her attention back to Oliver. ”Maybe it would be better to go with the other idea and try to get someone you trust to be the legal owner? Preferably someone who can see you, unless you have an effective way to communicate otherwise.”

Oliver sighed. ”Ah, that’s the fork in the road, isn’t it? I can’t recall anyone that really knows me. Most I do is stalk the catacombs in my freetime and act as an ‘imaginary friend’ for the kids that live around here. I don’t really go far.” He frowned in thought, before looking directly at Marrie. ”Can’t you help me though? I mean if you want to, of course! You two are just the first I’ve revealed myself to in…years.”

Marrie nodded twice without a second of hesitation. ”Of course. I want to help, I’m just not sure what the best way to do so would be. Do you have any alternative ideas?” Nobody who could work as a go-between for Oliver and the world of the normals was a problem. Church was also correct to point out that bringing in those who were legally considered terrorists might not be a great idea. Maybe the espers at the Great Escape would have some ideas, if the three who were there couldn’t figure out an answer.

Unlike Marrie, Noah didn’t say anything one way or the other quite yet. Instead, she asked what she believed to be the only real question. “... Do you want us to act as that legal owner in your place?” Noah wasn’t even remotely close to familiar with the general esper scene, so she could only guess at things like this, but if trying to find another freelancer that would be willing to act as the go-between would really be so hard that Marrie suggested a terrorist group as her first alternative… Well, the demon before them probably didn’t have very many options besides the two of them.

Oliver seemed to pause at Noah’s question. He glanced back at the nun, an expression of slight discomfort crossing his features for a second. ”I…” The ghost shook his head. ”If anything, maybe you can help me find someone? I’m sure if I focus I can appear less incorporeal...” He nervously frowned.

”Even so I, uh, I’d rather go with her.” Oliver motioned to Marrie.

Noah sighed. “... Fair, I suppose..” As much as it pained her to say it, she felt similarly to the demon on that topic.

While Marrie didn’t know why Oliver seemed to prefer her, she was glad that he also seemed to like the idea of finding someone to help. ”If there’s no-one who knows you on a personal level, the next best thing might be to find out if there’s anyone who shares your vision for this place.” She gestured around at the theater as if Oliver had never seen it before. ”If you can’t think of anyone who showed up and seemed like a good start, then…” She put her hand on her chin in thought for a few moments.

”It could be dangerous to have you leave the theater to meet someone, both because I don’t know if that’s dangerous for a ghost and because you’d be more likely to get seen by someone who wants to be violent about the situation. On the other hand, staying here and bringing people in to meet you means possibly letting your situation slip to those who would try to exploit it somehow. It’s a tough choice.”

A lightbulb was nearly visible above Marrie’s head as she punched her fist into her other palm. ”Of course! The safest way to get you to meet potential partners is if you can latch onto someone. Can you possess people, preferably with, like, dual-control from you and the person? For example, then you could go out and meet people who seem like good leads without them knowing what you look like or entirely knowing the situation with you being here. It’s a little bit dishonest, but anyone who would get upset about that probably wouldn’t be a good match for helping a ghost in the first place.”

“Marrie you cannot be serious-”

”Hmm…” Oliver thought for a moment, then nodded. ”Y-Yeah, I can do that.”

Noah could do nothing but shake her head in disbelief. There were many things that Noah would very much like to say in that moment, but most of those things were either quite rude or would most assuredly spawn some manner of argument. Something she was trying to be better about.

So, against her better judgment, with skepticism that may as well have permeated the room, Noah asked the obvious question. “... And who, exactly, are we suggesting Oliver should possess?”

”Well…” Marrie shrugged and scratched the side of her head for a moment as she considered the possible outcomes. ”I mean, helping out like this would be good for my mental health, so I could be the person, at least to get him into contact with someone who would, you know, actually be able to help with the larger problem of fixing things up here.” How hard could it be? If Oliver and herself spent a few days working at it, the Great Escape should provide some good leads for helping fix the theater in a way Oliver would like. She wasn’t confident in herself enough to have been okay with looking on her own, but if the one who was supposed to make the decision was there too… ”Hopefully it’s not a ‘oh, ghosts take over a person completely’ thing, but even if it is, you’re here, Church. Not that I think Oliver will do anything bad, but the buddy system is a great concept.”

For a few seconds, Noah stared blankly at Marrie. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath and muttered. “Lord, grant me strength…” Her hand fell to her side, and Noah’s mouth formed a thin line before she spoke again. “Alright, we can try that, sure. However,” Noah stressed. “If this does work, I will be coming with you – both of you – whenever you two decide it’s time to start looking.” It was nonnegotiable. If it turned out that the demon could just force Marrie out of her own body whenever it wanted, and only pretended to not be able to, it would be for the best that Noah was actually there and present to do something about it outside of this singular instance. Better to have some kind of insurance than none at all.

”I mean- …Actually. At the very least I can just attach to you, that way I can still come without having to share a body. Hmm…” Oliver glanced around, before his eyes landed on the book he’s been holding the whole time. After thinking it over, he held it up for Marrie to take.

”My spellbook. It should suffice.” He explained.

Having Church come along was a good idea, to be sure. But Oliver mentioning that he didn’t actually need to literally possess her was reassuring, deep down. ”Sure thing.” Marrie reached out and took hold of the book. ”If you don’t mind me asking, why do you have a spellbook?”

”Magi.” Hadn’t he mentioned that to them earlier? Oliver pointed down at the book. ”At least I guessed that’s the term people use nowadays.”

Marrie paused, the book kept tightly in her hand. Magi? Ah well, hopefully that doesn’t mean things are going to be harder than otherwise. Why would it even matter, though, especially if nobody found out? ”That’s really cool. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to teach me any, heh.” She held the book in front of her face to look at the cover. ”So carrying this around will let you stick nearby? If it’s that easy, we can probably start now, if you want. I can only think of one place to start the search, unless you have better ideas already.”

At the mention of him teaching Marrie spells, Oliver’s eyes seem to light up. But then he remembered: ”I dunno if it’s possible for someone to be both a Magi and an Esper at once. I’d be glad to teach you a few tricks otherwise. But, yes, after you!”

The three left the theater together. Marrie led the group while her fellow esper and new ghostly companion trailed right behind her. Noah did still have one question left, though.

What was a Magi?

The rest of their trip, following that question, was occupied almost exclusively by Oliver’s very enthusiastic exposition.

Mika was still on the fence about telling the others what she had found. They had a spy among them that was privy to both operations. To her knowledge, there weren’t too many people that could be. In her heart, Mika was sure Ashley was the mole. Everything had been going great for her, and her actions as leader were a bit questionable. Or did Mika just want it to be Ashley because she didn’t like her? Whatever. It was late. Mika decided it would be easier if she remained at HQ for the night. There was plenty of stuff to do and Fritzi had given her a room to use. But first she decided to take a shower. It was always easier to think after taking a shower.

HQ wasn’t massive. There were only a handful of Gemini espers in Pax, and most of them could make due with a unisex shower room. Pax’s espers had been mostly female anyway, and presently Finn was the only boy in GEMINI. There were four showers, each one had its own privacy curtain and was seperated by a tiled wall. Mika had become quite familiar with them from all the traveling she used to do with Su, as they were similar to the ones you'd see at a rest stop.

She sighed. Mika didn’t even have to scrub to turn the water black.

A few minutes passed before she could hear the door open again, followed by someone sharply cursing under his breath. Usually Finn would just wait until he headed home for the night to shower privately, but he had spent most of the day trying to improve his fighting skills and didn't exactly enjoy the feeling of being sweaty. The boy figured he'd take a quick one when no one was using it then leave. Such was his luck that the sound of someone already present caught his ears a second too late.

"Uh, sorry, I can come back another time!"

From inside the shower, Finn sounded like a muffled, unfamiliar voice. In a flash, Mika transformed into cerberus before dashing towards the voice. She plowed into the privacy curtain with enough force to knock down the curtain rod. Mika skidded across the tile floor and threw the curtain out from in front of her face. She open her hand, ready to rake her claws across her would-be stalker, only to freeze when she noticed who it was.

Cerberus was standing in front of Finn, fully clothed, with a shower curtain thrown over her shoulder. Her hair was wet and stuck to her face, and her hand hovered a few inches over his head.

”Oh, it’s just you.” She relaxed her shoulders.

"Ffffffucking hell!" Not the worst hello, he figured. Just Mika, albeit a tense Mika, but it makes things a bit less awkward. Especially since she took the liberty to transform into a more decent form... "Should be saying that to you too. Sorry for the intrusion, I didn't think anyone was in here at this hour." Finn casually spoke as if she hadn't nearly scratched his face off.

”I’m here late most of the time.” she turned away from him and walked back over to the shower rod, which had fallen on the floor. It was a simple metal dowl that had been knocked out of a J channel. She slid the curtain’s rings back onto the rod. This wouldn't be hard to fix. ”You don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He was too far away to be peeking, and he was young enough that Mika questioned if he was even interested in girls like that. ”Why are you here? Don’t you have a nice bath at home?”

He shrugged. "I didn't feel like going home covered in sweat. Feels gross." The boy explained. "Combat practice."

”Mmmhmm.” She tugged on the curtain to test its strength before turning back towards Finn. ”I haven’t gotten to work with you yet. I don’t think we’ve talked much either.” Ashley thought Finn was super important for some reason. At least, that was why she had assumed their great and glorious leader decided to take Finn and every able hand at Gemini. Which was just Estelle, but it would have included Angelie too if she didn’t come with Mika instead. Maybe she’d still be alive if she did. But maybe Mika wouldn’t be. ”Want to shower together?” She pointed at the adjacent shower with her thumb when she said this. ”If we’re loud enough, we can hear each other.”

"Ah." Quite the blunt phrasing. It caught Finn off guard for a second. "Well uh, if you don't mind." Finn stepped around Mika, saying a quick "Excuse me" before stepping up to the other stall.

Once Finn had entered, Mika walked back into her own and untransformed. Now came the difficult task of finding a topic of conversation. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn’t really have anything to talk about. She was either too uninterested or didn't feel like sharing. Mika found herself waiting for Finn to say something. Though maybe letting Finn decide the direction of things would be a mistake.

"I heard about what happened. With Agent Angel and all?" And speak he did. "You have my condolences. If we weren't so tight on agents now I would've gone with you instead. I'm sure Ashley and Estelle regret not doing so..." The boy uttered under the sound of running water.

”Alright.” Was all Mika could say. So far this was starting to seem like a mistake.

"But what I wanna know is what was so important that you had to fight through a nun ambush?"

...Yes, letting Finn guide things was not a good move on Mika's part.

”It was a coded message. I handed my report in earlier, so I’m sure we’ll know soon...” That wasn’t entirely honest. With HQ’s security compromised, Mika had decided that she could only share so much in her report. At present, only a few freelancers had seen Mika take the pendant. But Gemini? They should be totally ignorant of it. Given how none of the nuns could access the safe, the Hand should be unaware of it too. She’d have to tell someone though, eventually. Untill then, her report only contained the strange list of names that Oros had left out. That should keep GEMINI pacified for a time. ”I wish I had saved Angelie. The freelancers were good though. I didn’t have much to worry about once the ambush went off. Next time, they won’t get to escape.” Her voice lacked any malice. ”You use to be one of them, right? What was that like?”

All that for a coded message? Finn didn't exactly know Oros that much, and frankly, he'd rather it stay that way, but it didn't seem right that the Depraved would lure her into an ambush for a quick gaff. But he wouldn't voice his disbelief, for now. "Only for a short while. Some of the ones I've met are a bit eccentric, but they're good people. At the very least, they're just trying to get by without pissing off either GEMINI or Maverick." Finn sighed. "I end up having to help Binky stall a behemoth for a while before extra help arrived, then there was that job against a succubus I took with Klava that ended up fucking me over, and then the raid on Justin's mansion that went about as horrible as you'd expect."

After a pause, he added wearily: "Okay so being a freelancer wasn't as great for me as it is being an agent now? But that's just me and my crap luck."

”I don’t know who Lava is, but the suck-a-bus was from Dante’s, right? The clean up crew looked through the film from the diner, and I thought it was weird that Ashley sent you through the front first. Does she always have you do such reckless things?”

Finn sucked in air through his teeth. "I meaaan she didn't exactly stop me." Not a lie, not a truth. "But I can't say she would always, that was just our first mission together outside of the Diver. And even then everyone was so caught up in fighting elsewhere, I was left to fend for myself."

”Well my first mission with Ashley wasn’t that much better.” She didn’t hide the annoyance that crept into her voice. ”She pushed to have us charge in as fast as we could, which left us open when we needed a password for the lift. Nobody got hurt, but that was just dumb luck. If you’re not in her close circle of friends, you don’t matter. That’s what I think.” With her shower done, she dried off and got dressed before waiting just outside Finn’s shower. ”I get that she’s done this longer than us, but what makes her a good leader? I don’t get it.”

"I don't either, but every other GEMINI agent that started out here is gone. Guess it's natural the position goes to the last man standing." Finn surmissed. He did have an inkling as to how, but there's not a snowball's chance in Hell he was gonna be able to explain the unexplainable.

”I don’t think cowardly behavior should be rewarded.” Mika grumbled. But decided that complaining about their squad leader too much might demoralize Finn. That was fine. There were other things to talk about. ”What do you think about Estelle and Fritzi?”

"Hmm... I haven't been with Estelle long enough to form a strong opinion." Mika could hear him turning off the showerhead. "I'd like to say Dr. Moller's pretty cool, she let me borrow one of the unused labs for my own use, but after the Diner I'm gonna have to redeem myself in her eyes the next time we're out on the field."

”You sound like the main character in one of my cartoons.” Mika examined her new pendant before tucking it under her shirt. ”Are you doing anything tommorow?”

"Got a date, nothing much else." Once he dried off and got dressed, Finn finally stepped back out.

”Did you want to go on another one? There's a carnival showing up but I have no one to go with. You seem kinda cool”

Finn's eyes lit up. "Oh! Yeah, of course! I've been waiting for it to come back in town all year!" Granted he'd have to prepare in advance so he can go without being overwhelmed, but nothing Mika had to worry about. "Got a time in mind?"

”I think I have some training in the morning, but I should be good from ten onward.” Mika stuck her hands in her pockets. ”I don't know when all your other dates are happening, sooooooo, you tell me.”

"I'll have to run it by her, but if we'll be going around the afternoon then I should be free for me and Betty to go to the Great Escape at night!" He thought outloud, giving Mika a quick thumbs up after.

”That works.” She started to head out. ”You're going straight home then?”

"Yup." The boy followed behind her.

Mika rolled her arms. ”I don't know where your house is but do you need a lift?”

Finn's brows rose at the offer. "I mean, I usually go home on foot but-" Then again, no one really asked about that. He guessed cause they figure he could defend himself and all, he knows his way around the city, but if the two of them were gonna be spending more time together... Well, why not? And it'd be quicker this way too. He smiled at her. "That'd be appreciated, thank you."

”Don't mention it.” Soverign had warned Mika about getting closer to Finn, but what did she know?


Although much of Pax Septimus had been affected by the Diver’s attack, for the most part, the city’s historic district had emerged relatively unscathed. Whether this was due to some form of mystical protection, the Diver’s appreciation of Art Deco architecture, or pure coincidence was anyone’s guess, but it meant that the district’s various businesses and learning institutions continued to operate as if the recent, large-scale disaster hadn’t even taken place. Such was the case for the city’s historic library. An imposing, monolithic structure, it boasted several floors filled with books of all kinds, and even a basement archive that, rumor had it, not only connected to the catacombs below the city, but was also the home to several ghosts. Olivia Bell hadn’t seen any of them on her first visit to the library, but that was before she’d found a helpful guide who knew all the so-called “city of blood’s” myriad secrets. Thus, a return trip was most definitely in order, and so the bespectacled young woman found herself sitting on the ornate edifice’s massive steps, enjoying the crisp autumn afternoon weather as she waited for said guide to arrive.

And even if he still kinda felt like crap, Finn wasn’t going to just ghost her like that. Besides, spending some time with his new acquaintance might help take his mind off things! After a few moments the boy soon emerged from down the street, jogging over once he recognized Olivia. ”Sorry if I’m late!” He called out.

“Hi, Finn!” Olivia called back, her nasally voice filled with delight as she smiled and waved enthusiastically at the approaching young man. “And don’t worry!” she hastened to reassure him. “You’re right on time! Besides, it’s such a beautiful day, so I don’t mind sitting out here in the slightest!” she added with a giggle/snort. “The head librarian said she would be happy to give us a tour, but I told her that she didn’t have to trouble herself because I had a super knowledgeable guide of my own!” the bespectacled brunette explained, jumping to her feet and holding both hands out towards Finn. “Plus,” she added, leaning close and lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper (which, for Olivia, was about normal speaking volume). “I wanna try and sneak into the catacombs via the basement archives, since that’s where all the ghosts are supposed to be!”

The catacombs? Finn might’ve been around the block to memorize every nook and cranny possible, but he had never considered going underground. Even if they manage to sneak down there, it’d be unfamiliar territory from then onward. ”Ghosts huh? So, where’d you learn about that? The entrypoint through the library I mean.” He asked, walking up the steps to the front door.

“I read about it in one of the books I found at Mr. Torvald’s shop!” Olivia replied with an enthusiastic smile. “The head librarian also confirmed the rumors about the archives possibly being haunted when I asked her about it the first time I came here,” she added.

”Oh.” Torvald’s. Then this is going to be quite interesting. ”Then again you can argue that the librarian perpetuates the rumor to keep people coming back in hopes to catch any sign of hauntings during their stay. A lot of people like to claim things are paranormal when half the time they have a logical explanation for a lot of things, like UFO sightings for example. Who says that alien spaceship isn’t some sort of balloon some kid lost flying in the clouds? Who says those lights aren't some sort of commercial airplane making late night rounds instead of a squadron of space invaders?” Finn went on to ramble as he got the door for her. ”Yeah comparing alien sightings and paranormal activity are akin to comparing apples to oranges but it’s not like there’s any spike of dumbfuck teenagers carelessly opening portals to hell with a ouija board they stole from some shady alleyway trash dump recently. I hope. He grimaced. He’s had more than enough demons this past week.

“Perhaps not,” a refined voice observed, its tone polite, yet still containing an unmistakable iciness. “But several adolescent hoodlums have nonetheless been causing no small amount of trouble by purposely misplacing manuscripts, speaking at an excessive volume, and using exceedingly vulgar language. Finn would quickly discover that the voice belonged to a tall, bespectacled woman with light brown hair worn in a ponytail, and garbed in a rather antiquated ensemble, one which gave the impression that she had just stepped out of the early 1900s. “I trust, young man,” the woman continued pointedly. “That you will not deign to be counted among them.”

”Eek!” Finn flinched at the sudden voice and presence that could only belong to the head librarian. He shrank back, instinctively adjusting himself accordingly. ”R-Right then ma’am, sorry!” He slightly bowed. Both in a formal greeting and to indicate that he understood.

“Apology accepted,” the woman replied with a slight smirk, before turning her attention to his companion. “Ah, Olivia. Am I to take it that this is the guide you mentioned earlier?” she inquired, gesturing to Finn.

“Yes, that’s right!” Olivia confirmed with an enthusiastic nod, doing her best to keep her voice at a respectful volume. “His name is Finn. And Finn, this is the head librarian,” she introduced, gesturing to the woman.

“Eleanora Everly, at your service,” the woman greeted with a polite smile, while holding out her hand to the boy.

”Nice to meet you.” The boy shook her hand, as was expected.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young man,” she continued. “Olivia here has spoken quite highly of you.”

”R-Really? Honestly, I don’t think I’m that worth the praise, researching stuff like this is just a s-sort of a side hobby of mine.” Finn nervously chuckled.

Facing it as Timekeeper was a different story…

“Awww…! Don’t be so modest!” Olivia told him with one of her trademark giggle/snorts. “You told me you have one of those super cool conspiracy boards at home and everything! So, obviously you’re knowledgeable about this stuff, and you were also nice enough to help me when most people would’ve just called me a freak and told me to go away!”

Finn sheepishly scratched at his cheek. ”I suppose I do get a bit too into it sometimes…”

“In any case, I hope you both enjoy your time here,” Eleanora told them with a gentle smile. “And please do your best to keep your voices at a respectful volume.”

“Don’t worry, we will!” Olivia assured the head librarian, before taking her guide’s hand. “Come on Finn!”

”O-Okay!”

With Olivia leading the way, Finn was guided through the library’s multi-leveled central atrium, the maze of shelves beyond, and finally, to the staircase leading down to the basement archives. He tried to provide commentary as best as he could with his limited knowledge, but for the most part this ended up with him going on another ramble about something entirely unrelated to the library. “Do you come here often, Finn?” Olivia inquired as she dragged the young agent along. “I just love libraries! Back home, I used to spend most of my time in an especially charming one,” the bespectacled brunette continued. “It was quite large, but nowhere near as big as this one! But it’s where I first met my darling Xolys, so it will always have a special place in my heart!”

”Uhm, yeah, sometimes.” Finn nodded. ”U-Usually when I wanna go somewhere less…much. Being out in the city alone can get pretty overwhelming for me sometimes, so it’s good to have places like this I can retreat to.” A light shrug. ”...Sooo, there any way I can meet this Xolys fella?” He couldn’t help asking out of curiosity.

“Well, I’d love to introduce you to him, but for some strange reason, people seem to get really frightened by him, so he said it would probably be for the best if he didn’t appear in public,” Olivia replied. “Unless, of course, I was in danger,” she hastened to add. “Plus, I have to be transformed, too, and that’s kinda supposed to be a secret, but you said you deal with supernatural stuff all the time, so, um, maybe once we enter the catacombs it would be okay?” the bespectacled brunette rambled, seemingly just thinking out loud.

Frightened? Finn’s brows rose when she mentioned how other people reacted to the presence of her companion. He glanced around to see if anyone else was in their vicinity. Can’t have anyone catching them sneaking downstairs. And something about having to be transformed. Was she actually an esper too? ”Well I mean, I’m sure he’s not as scary as people make him out to be. But why do you need to transform in order for him to appear? Does it work as a sort of conduit to summon him? Is he a part of your esper form?” He asked, stepping downstairs first.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking,” Olivia confirmed as she followed Finn down. “Although I’m not actually an esper,” she clarified, lowering her voice to the quietest she’d yet been. “I’m a magical girl.

A. What.

The boy blinked at the distinction. ”Wh-What’s the difference?” Maybe she was just ribbing him? Or calling herself a magical girl was part of her act? Or she was a Chuuni?

“Well, I don’t actually know very much about espers,” Olivia confessed. “Although from what little I’ve heard, they do sound somewhat similar. But magical girls get their powers from mystical storybooks called grimoires, and I would imagine, based on the name, that espers’ powers are psionic in nature, correct?” she inquired, her voice taking on an exceptionally eager tone. “Oh gosh, do you happen to know any espers, Finn?! My neighbor says they can be dangerous, but I’ve really been wanting to learn more about them ever since I heard they exist!”

”Erm, more or less.” He shrugged with a faint grimace. ”F-From your description of…magical girls…they function similarly to espers. Except their grimoires can be anything. Like a pocket watch for example. Finn would go on to explain how espers worked to the best of his ability. Though he did stumble on his words once or twice because the whole deal with them was complex enough, but hopefully Olivia would be able to get the gist of it?

”Or uh, well, it might be better to just demonstrate.” The boy grabbed his grimoire from his pocket and transformed into the Timekeeper on the spot.

”...Yep.” The mechanical esper awkwardly rocked back and forth on his heels as he tried to measure out Olivia’s reaction.

“Oh gosh!” Olivia exclaimed, her wide eyes gleaming with excitement. “You’re an esper, Finn?! That’s so absolutely wonderful!” By this point, they had reached the archives, and the bespectacled brunette wasted no time in darting around to look her guide over from all angles. “You know, we don’t have magical boys where I come from, so seeing one transform up close is really extraordinary! What kinds of things can you do?! I just love your steampunk aesthetic! Oh, wow!” she added in amazement as she noticed the artificial-looking joint on the young agent’s neck (having throughly invaded his personal space in her unbridled glee). “Are you some kind of cyborg?! Or perhaps a mannequin?! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your grimoire was Pinocchio!” she declared with a giggle/snort. “Or maybe a steampunk-style alter,” she noted thoughtfully as she continued her rambles. “Oh! You probably don’t know anything about them! You see, alters are grimoires that tell a version of their story that’s been modified from the original in some way,” the babbling brunette explained. “For example, my grimoire is an alter of Beauty and The Beast!” In the time it took Finn to blink, Olivia had produced an ornate, hardcover book, upon which several dozen shimmering blue jewels formed the image of a rose. “My friend Chinami says that girls with altered grimoires are often picked on and treated as outcasts, but everyone at Marrywell Academy has treated me with nothing but kindness since my first day there! Which was really nice, since I’ve always been treated as an outcast everywhere else long before I ever became a magical girl.”

It took Finn a few seconds to process the sudden excitement and deluge of information from the bespectacled girl, akin to a computer taking a moment to load up a file. He blinked in dumbfoundment before speaking up once more,

”I-I guess that’s fair.” The way he was built did make him look like a puppet of sorts. He tilted his head at the book. ”So your grimoires all take the forms of storybooks, with some having the rare chance of being alternate retellings. There a power scale to it? Like do written mythos have more power than your typical fairytale? How different do these ‘alters’ have to be to be formally classified as such?” The mechanical esper went on to ask.

“Well, from what I’ve been told, any story that’s a deviation from the original is considered an alter,” Olivia replied. “As for power levels, there are three, based on how old a story is and its global impact. First are fables, then legends (which is what my grimoire is classed as), and finally myths, which are kinda rare. Of course, I didn’t learn any of that until I started attending Marrywell,” she added. “But what about you, Finn?” she asked, leaning in close to the young agent, her eyes seeming to sparkle. “What kind of abilities do you have, and how did you become an esper? Were you just born as one?”

”Espers aren’t really born. Their grimoires choose the wielders. You can argue the possibility of bloodlines being naturally compatible with them but no one really knows.” He began walking again, looking for the entrance to the catacombs. ”An esper’s magic follows the theme of their glamor, and their element. Mine’s lightning, and as you can probably guess…” Finn motions over himself. ”My kit revolves around time itself. The notes I use lean more towards supportive melodies- Uhm. Think of it like weaving a spell, but these days it feels like I’m…” The boy trailed off, his expression twisting to a frown. ”It’s like I’m more made to hurt people. And I hate it. It- It really sucks.” He shook his head in disdain.

“Y-You’re forced to hurt people…? Olivia asked hesitantly, her once eager smile dissolving into a confused (and concerned) frown. “I thought espers fought monsters, just like magical girls do. U-Um, so, does that mean your grimoire controls what you do? Is it what makes you hurt people?”

Finn quickly shook his head. ”Nonono, I’m not saying I’m forced to! A-At least I don’t think… It just feels like I haven’t had the best luck since starting out, y’know?” He clarified. ”Espers do fight monsters too but sometimes we have to fight people, magi, other espers, it’s all a bit too complicated to explain in one sitting. Just know a lot of espers have differences in ideologies and goals?” They’re all human at the end of the day, after all.

“I think I understand,” Olivia replied. “Back at school, there was a magical girl who could control monsters called Pageless and used them to attack some students. She had good intentions, but she still went about things the wrong way,” the bespectacled brunette explained. “Hurting innocent people, even if it’s to free them from some perceived captivity, is never right. That’s why we had to fight her, but, even so, I’m still willing to forgive her,” the nerdy girl added with a smile. “And I still hope that, someday, we can work together as friends!”

Glad at least one of us can still be hopeful.

Finn nodded with a faint smile. ”Though, bit of warning, it’d most likely take something drastic against her in order for her to see that her methods were in the wrong. I get not wanting to hurt her, using a more pacifistic approach, but some people just need a good smackdown in order to get their heads straight.”

“I guess you’re probably right about that…” Olivia conceded. “A-Anyways, it looks like we got a bit distracted,” the bespectacled brunette noted as she looked around the musty, dimly-lit archives. “Um, I think the book said there was a hidden passage behind that shelf there,” she added, pointing to a long shelf along the far back wall.

Finn walked over to the shelf and scanned over the books, occasionally pulling a few down to see if it was your typical secret-lever-disguised-as-a-book door.

Olivia giggle/snorted as she watched Finn search for some sort of concealed mechanism on the shelf itself, before stepping over to the young agent. “Um, I think we have to move it,” she advised. “The entrance is probably built into the wall itself.”

The boy stepped back with a huff. ”Figures. Right!” He stepped to the side of the shelf and began to push it away from the wall.

Once the shelf was out of the way, a faint rectangular outline could be discerned on the brick wall behind it. This was clearly the entrance to the catacombs. “Oh wow!” Olivia exclaimed in delight. “It’s just like the book said!” Rushing over to the secret door, she began examining it closely. “Hmmm… I wonder how it opens…”

Finn tilted his head in thought. ”There a secret button? Is the wall weak? I could try and break it open while I’m still…y’know.” He glanced down at himself, it had only occurred to him that he was still in esper form. But hey, might as well make the most of it, he’d need to keep Olivia safe once they reached the catacombs anyways.

“Maybe one of the bricks needs to be pressed in,” Olivia suggested. “Let’s see if there’s one with some distinctive markings on it.”

”Secret button then. Let’s see…” The timekeeper stepped up next to her and began feeling around the wall for any loose bricks.

Soon enough, Finn came upon a brick that sunk into the wall at his touch, causing the rectangular outline to depress with a burst of dust and swing open, revealing a stone staircase leading into the darkened depths beyond.

“You did it, Finn!” Olivia cheered. “Oh gosh! This is just like Indiana Jones!” she added with a giggle/snort. “Did you bring a flashlight with you?” she inquired as she peered into the darkness. “I brought one of my own, but it’s still nice to have a backup, just in case. I mean, I guess I could always transform and have Xolys illuminate things with his eldritch flames, but it doesn’t look like there’s too much space down there, and I wouldn’t want him to get stuck. Plus, he might scare the ghosts away! Wouldn’t that be awful?!”

”uh…yeah. I don’t have a flashlight flashlight, but my phone does.” The boy searched his pockets and pulled out the aforementioned device. ”Shall we then?”

“Yes, let’s!” Olivia agreed with an enthusiastic nod. “You know, this is almost as exciting as the slumber party we had in my school’s haunted music room!” she added with a giggle/snort as she started down the steps.

Haunted music room. Huh. ”Your uh, school sounds interesting…” Finn aimed his phone flashlight down the steps into unfamiliar territory. He was a bit tense, if he was being honest. But it should be fine.

Should.

“Oh, yes!” Olivia told him, her nasally voice filled with delight. “It’s a wonderful school! The teachers are so knowledgeable and kind! Well, Miss Valeria is sort of rough around the edges, but she’s still very encouraging! And I met so many wonderful friends there! Like my roommate, Suzuya, and Bonnie, who helped me organize the sleepover! Oh! And the sleepover itself was super fun!” she continued to happily babble away as they descended the steps. “Since it was October, we decided to make it a Halloween party, and some of the teachers and students actually wore costumes! Even Xolys dressed up as a bedsheet ghost so he wouldn’t scare away the actual ghosts!” she added with a giggle/snort. “But the very best part was how, when we got to the music room, it had transformed into a gothic castle! It was absolutely incredible, and I had so much fun exploring it! Did you do anything fun for Halloween, Finn?”

The boy hummed in thought. ”Think me and a few friends from school had a movie night last Halloween? Was pretty easy getting enough candy for all of us.” He shrugged. ”Horror movies don’t really phase me that much, to be honest.”

“They don’t really bother me very much either,” Olivia replied. “I usually find the parts other people are bothered by really interesting, which is probably why everyone at my old school always called me a freak and told me I belonged in a mental institution. I mean, there is this one that’s supposed to be haunted, but there’s no guarantee that’s the one my parents would have sent me to,” she continued. “And the rumor that it was haunted might not even have been true! Like with the Marrywell music room. Even though it was mysteriously turned into a beautiful castle, I didn’t get to see even a single ghost! Although, after the party, while darling Xolys and I were walking down one of the corridors, we met the most adorable little…”

Hello, Finn, a new voice spoke up. I’m pretty sure Olivia here is going to keep rambling for about… I’d say fifteen minutes at least, which should give us plenty of time to have a little chat. Oh, and try not to freak out, but only you can hear me. I know hearing voices might be a little strange… well, maybe not so much in your case, but we wouldn’t want Olivia to think you’re completely nuts. Of course, I could chat with her, too, but if I went around popping into the brains of everyone and their dog, it would cause some pretty MAJOR problems. So, for now, it’s just you and me, having a nice little chat in the cozy confines of your little mind, not unlike the stroll you’re taking through these utterly isolated and charmingly claustrophobic catacombs. Uh, you didn’t happen to annoy Olivia before coming down here, did you? Otherwise she might decide to stage an impromptu reenactment of ‘The Cask of Amontillado’. The voice was silent for a moment. That was a joke. Anyways, as for who I am, let’s just say I’m a friendly ghost, but my name’s not Casper, or Oliver, for that matter. I mean, I’d love to just come right out and tell you exactly who I am, but I think it’s best if we preserve a sense of mystery here. Although I will say that, while my voice might possibly be mistaken for that of a prepubescent boy, such as yourself, I am, in fact, a woman, albeit one who has absolutely zero interest in joining that ridiculous little harem of yours, so don’t get any stupid ideas. That said, you don’t need to worry, Finn. I’m here to help you. I’ve been following your exploits for quite some time, and recently, I’ve noticed that you’re starting to resemble someone I REALLY can’t stand, so I thought I would step in to make a slight course correction. Full disclosure, I wasn’t initially planning on having this little intervention, and the mere fact I’m even talking to you right now is breaking some pretty massive rules, but desperate times call for desperate measures and I’ve always made it a point to give rules a middle finger whenever I possibly can. Look, I know you have problems, Finn, but closing yourself off isn’t going to make them disappear, and neither is getting ‘psychiatric aid’ from a perverted lunatic who runs around with buttered toast hanging out of their fucking mouth like some shitty anime character. However, unlike her, I actually am a doctor, and I actually want to help you. So just relax, and if all goes well, you’ll end up in a much better state than when you came down here, plus you’ll have a cool ghost story to tell Olivia. Okay? Oh, and, uh, just ‘think’ your responses. Otherwise things’ll get really awkward really fast.

What the fuck.

Frankly I’m not sure if I can trust a voice in my head after the Dante shit left me second guessing myself by the hour. Finn furrowed his brows. The voice could swear he mentally sighed. But then again, my job’s on the line, and my team probably hates my guts right now. I fear your worst might be better than the alternative at the rate I’m going. …Also what do you mean harem?!

It was mostly a joke, the voice replied. But I’m sure you haven’t failed to notice how girls seem to be drawn to you like moths to the proverbial flame, and not just in the romantic sense, either. For some reason, they like you, Finn. They’re concerned about you, and do you know why that is? Do you know why Mary and Betty are so obsessed with you? Why Klava and Ashley both wanted to fill the void left by your too-busy-to-give-a-fuck actual older sibling? Why Olivia made you her tour guide? Why Oros calls you Penny Jr.? It’s because, despite being a perpetual fuck up, you’re important. You matter. You have a unique, almost imperceptible, but still undeniable charisma, even if it’s only because you’re seen as cute, non-threatening, pitiful, or maybe even as having some hidden potential (which you actually do have, by the way). And that’s a good thing, Finn. A very good thing. It’s certainly not something you should be afraid of, or try to resist, even if it’ll bring a little discomfort along the way. Which is why I’m so glad to hear that you’re willing to have this little therapy session. If Ashley’s any indication, it’ll do wonders.

Finn subtly nodded along to the infodump, even if he felt slightly uncomfortable with how much she knew of him. Spine-chilling, considering the last time. But things that hadn’t even crossed his mind before. If I’m so important, why is my luck so shit then? …Hm, unless there’s some sort of penance effect going on here. A price paid for advantage elsewhere. Popularity draws in unsavory sorts, power brings about instability, love from others… He frowned. All eyes on you, watching your next move, ready to abandon you once you’ve gone against their perceptions. Right?

Wow, you sure are quite the pessimist, the voice snarked. Looks like you needed this chat even more than I thought. The fact is, Finn, someone in your situation is always going to face adversity, but it’s up to you if you’re going to put forth the effort needed to overcome it. Plus, if you’re creative, you can put your suffering to good use. Life is pain, Finn. The lives of the truly exceptional even more so. I may only feel physical pain exceedingly rarely, but I experience emotional pain more often than I’d like to think about. For example, I recently offered to help a certain someone, offered to bestow upon them all sorts of amazing gifts, only for them to turn around and SPIT IN MY FUCKING FACE!!! I don’t have to worry about you doing that to me, do I, Finn? For your sake, I sure hope not. Anyways, the point is everyone feels disappointment. Everyone feels pain. It’s what they do with it that matters. Look at Ashley. I gave her one of these pep talks a while back, too. Remember when you raided Justin’s mansion and brainwashed Betty kicked your whiny ass? I do. In fact, I replay that scene when I’m feeling particularly depressed and need something to laugh at, like when that individual I mentioned COMPLETELY FUCKED OVER ALL MY GLORIOUS PLANS FOR HIM!!!

The voice paused for a moment to catch her breath.

Ahem. As I was saying, while you were reduced to a mangled, sobbing mess in that corridor, pathetically pleading for Betty to come back, Ashley was having a bit of a breakdown of her own. She’d just escaped Justin’s literal shit hole of a dungeon, where he keeps all his cannon fodder thralls, innocent victims she had to kill her way through, only to find out that every last one of the hostages she’d been trying to save back at the entrance hall had all been slaughtered. I think we can both agree that was way worse than what you went through. In fact, it was enough to make her question why she was even granted the powers of an esper in the first place. Which was when I decided to intervene. And now look at her! Yes, she’s felt despair and heartache since then, but she’s always pushed through it! Even with all the crap she went on to endure, she never needed someone to hold her hand and help her through it. She was able to manage on her own. Meanwhile, what’s the first thing you do when things get a little too stressful? ‘Oh Betty! Please hold me and have ice cream with me so I can forget about the teammates I just abandoned and all the people I just murdered like a total fucking psychopath!’ Do you see the difference? You mustn’t run away from your problems, Finn. You need to stand up to them and kick ‘em in the balls! As I told Ashley, life may be pain, but pain is weakness leaving the body. Embrace the pain, Finn, use it to make yourself stronger. You want to be stronger, don’t you? Of course you do. You want people to stop seeing you as the pathetic little kid who always fucks everything up and then runs off and cries about it. That’s a very admirable goal to work towards, and one you’re fully capable of achieving. That said, the choice ultimately lies with you, so what’s it gonna be, Finn? Do you wanna actually learn from your mistakes, or are you just gonna keep repeating them?

Depends, are you ACTUALLY trying to help me or are you trying to kick me down and spit in my face? Finn bit back at the voice becoming more hostile in her words, her admittance in finding sadistic glee in a moment he was most powerless, and the weird grudge against this someone. Something in the back of the boy’s mind was trying to crawl its way back to the surface and between it and the tripe from this twat, it was giving him quite the headache.

One: I wasn’t being pessimistic, I was being realistic. Have you ever heard or seen how quickly people abandon ship and distance themselves from famous celebrities, creators, and social media influencers whenever they catch wind that the famous person isn’t as flawless as they make themselves out to be? Or whatever the fans led themselves to think? Not to mention some celebrities are actually vile as fuck outside of the view of their audience but there’s always people that don’t give a shit either way about who someone is outside of their ideal of who they are. As long as that ideal isn’t shattered, no one really cares about the real them. Get put in the spotlight and you’re expected to give a damn good show. He never understood why he became so popular. Two: Just because pain is expected doesn’t mean it’d magically hurt any less when it happens, so how the fuck am I supposed to use it to my advantage, hm? Yeah, I know, I need to get a proper therapist that doesn’t try to ask for my sister’s phone number and all that at some point but do you got any bippity-boppity-bullshit you can pull since you apparently know so much about me and Ashley apparently? I didn’t even know she had to go through all that… It was like the universe was telling him to just shut up and bear it. Three: Leave Betty out of this. Christ alive, our popularity and Oros sparing me just cause I agreed to TRY and see if we’re compatible is bullshit enough, this is just getting ridiculous. Four: It sounds like you’re only doing this just so that you can get back at whoever-the-fuck apparently hurt you that badly, Finn sharply took a deep breath, despite not speaking out loud.

And lastly: If I’m such a irredeemable psychopath, why should I care about what any of you think, Doc? You could easily just focus on Ashley instead of bothering with such a perpetual failure.

The boy’s eyes suddenly widened, as if he’d struck an epiphany. Why should he care about what anyone thinks?

That’s an excellent question, Finn, the voice replied, sounding quite pleased with how things were proceeding, despite the young agent’s little outburst. In fact, that whole pissed off rant of yours shows that we’re making some real progress here. I mean, I would have been pretty disappointed if all you did was nod along and passively acquiesce to everything I was saying like some mindlessly obedient child. But instead, you’re actually getting defensive! You’re standing up for yourself, facing a challenge head on! Well done, Finn! the voice commended. This is exactly what I’ve been talking about. And since you made the effort to organize your points so neatly, I’ll address each in turn. But before we get to that, I’d like to answer your first question. Yes, Finn, I actually do want to help you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to coddle you. You don’t want to be coddled, do you Finn?

I want you to be honest.

Well, lucky for you, I am being honest, the voice told him. Now back to those points you raised… First, almost everyone I’ve ever met is less intelligent than I am by several orders of magnitude, so I couldn’t really give a single fuck what they think, and you shouldn’t care, either. That said, not everyone will be so quick to turn against you. Like I said earlier, there are plenty of people who genuinely care about you, and the fact that they don’t always pander to you like some fragile little baby is actually a good thing. But we’ll talk about that some more in a bit. Next, I’d like to correct a little misapprehension you seem to have. I never said you’d hurt any less, I said to use that hurt as a power source, as fuel. Turn that pain, that anger, into strength. You’re actually doing it right now. Clearly I struck a nerve, but instead of wallowing in self pity, you struck back at me! That’s great, Finn! It means there’s still hope for you. And I’ve got a LOT of ‘bippity-boppity-bullshit’ I can give you, but for now, all you’re getting is this chat, and, with any luck, it should be all the help you’ll need. But only if you agree to cooperate. I brought up Betty because she’s inextricably linked to your current situation. Your desire to save her, to defend her even now, is the source of a great deal of your motivation, so you better bet your ass I’m going to address it. And let’s get another thing straight, the voice went on. I’m not doing this to get back at that sorry piece of shit I mentioned earlier, I’m doing this to ensure you don’t become him! He was a total disappointment right to the very end, but you don’t have to be! You’re not irredeemable, Finn. If you were, I wouldn’t even be talking with you right now. Like I already mentioned, Ashley doesn’t need my help anymore, but you do. And I believe you can be helped, but only if you want to be. It’s like you just realized, you shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks. It’s what you want that matters. This is something you need to do for yourself, Finn. So, do you want to be helped, or not?”

If you’re not gonna turn-tail and try to kill me too, then knock yourself out. If they were talking in person he would’ve shrugged.

Excellent. In that case, let’s begin with your recent debacle at the diner. Tell me, why do you think things went as poorly as they did?

Finn mentally groaned. Are you gonna rehash that I disobeyed Ashley’s orders and caused a chain reaction that resulted in everything going up in blood, fire, and smoke? That I shouldn’t have expected either her or Estelle to work with me because neither of them want to work with such a loose cannon? Or are you going to mention that I put too much faith in Dante actually being willing to listen when most of these fuckwits I’ve faced so far have only looked out for themselves? I followed Dr. Moller’s orders to kill on sight, and yet SHE gets a quick promotion to second-in-command for doing nothing but being a punching bag? What a blatant ‘fuck you!’. She could hear a bitting, sarcastic laugh afterwards. And before you mention it, I know, I also fucked up by running off too. But that’s ‘cause I didn’t want to kill Amanda either. I didn’t know she was real.

He went silent for a moment.

... Perhaps I should’ve. You know, catch her in the moment of weakness? But I honestly think my co-workers would’ve frowned upon that too. Can’t win with them. That line of thought only served to further his epiphany.

You certainly have one hell of a victim complex, huh? the voice noted with what seemed to be a mocking smirk. The truth is, Finn, while this universe may treat you as its personal punching bag, not everyone is out to get you. Let’s address your various complaints one at a time. Yes, you disobeyed orders and caused everything to go to hell, but it seems you fully understand that, and are fully prepared to take responsibility for that particular fuckup, which is very commendable. I think your biggest problem is the second point you brought up, the whole, ‘nobody wants to help me’ bit. You see, Finn, contrary to what you might think, the reason your teammates didn’t come rushing to your aid was because they were dealing with their own issues. If you’ll recall, there were only three of you against roughly twice that many adversaries. And do you remember why that combat began in the first place? It was because you decided to play the hero and order your fellow agents, including your immediate superior, to save a group of schoolgirls. It might interest you to know that Ashley and Estelle were in the middle of actually doing that when you were mentally whining about how they had ‘abandoned you’. Oh, and they did their fair share of killing, too. In fact, Ashley took out almost as many hostiles as you did. The only reason she decided to be a ‘punching bag’ for so long was to give the defenseless civilians that you wanted to save time to get out of the building! As for Dante, why would he be willing to listen when you barged into his diner and acted so aggressively? You threatened him, Finn. How else was he supposed to act? If you’d gone around the back like Ashley suggested, maybe things wouldn’t have escalated quite so quickly. Instead, you walked right into a fucking powder keg. Of course it was gonna become a clusterfuck. Finally, it’s just a hypothesis, but maybe Moller promoted Ashley because she not only followed orders, but also stuck around to deal with the repercussions of doing so. I’m pretty sure she didn’t want to use lethal force on Amanda either, but she didn’t have much choice. It might have been hard for her, scratch that, it was hard for her, but she still did what had to be done and took responsibility for her actions.

The voice took a deep breath before exhaling it in a weary sigh.

Look, Finn. The real problem isn’t that you fucked up, it’s that you didn’t own up to it. You want to be the badass hero who calls the shots? Fine. But then don’t complain when you come face to face with all the hardships that role entails. I mean, it would have been one thing if you had said ‘I’ll handle Dante, you rescue the girls!’, but all you did was complain that no one was rushing to hold your hand when the Big Bad came after you. So here’s my next question- what do you wanna be, Finn? The whiny little kid who falls apart when things get too tough, or the epic hero who takes one look at adversity and kicks it in the nuts?

Oh if only she could see the look on his face. It took some considerable willpower to draw back the anger this “voice” was feeding. Dickhead. The reason WHY I complained so much was cause I realized I was at a major disadvantage against Dante and expected my T E A M to actually coordinate and back each other up, you know, act like an actual T E A M? And, fuck, it’s not even the first time I’d been left alone like that, but hey! AT LEAST BETTY WAS A H U M A N! If Finn was facing the source of the voice he’d most likely attempt to behead her by now, wouldn’t he?

Undoubtedly.

I was even considering offering to step away willingly and help out around the workplace in a way asides active fieldwork, but now I’m starting to think I should cut my damn losses and get out while I still can, since apparently I can’t be assed to work in a pathetic excuse of a T E A M, why NOT go back to flying solo if I’m so apparently powerful enough to do so?

So to answer your second question, Doc, I don’t necessarily see a point in being an epic hero like I’ve for some reason became in the public’s eyes. I’m just trying to do my job.

I was afraid we might reach this little impasse, the voice said with a disappointed sigh. Sometimes, a team has to delegate responsibility. Did you want them to just abandon the helpless schoolgirls, Finn? Was their safety not more important than your own? You seemed to think so when you ran off all hot headed to try and rescue them in the first place, the voice noted pointedly. Anyway, if you truly just want to ‘do your job’ like a good little secondary character, then I would suggest that you actually be a team player yourself, instead of trying to steal the spotlight at the first opportunity. In case you didn’t notice, your teammates were trying to help you by getting answers about your little ‘condition’ in the least problematic way possible. But you’re right. If you want to be a moody brat who just does whatever he feels like, then you should probably just go back to being a freelancer. After all, you only joined G.E.M.I.N.I. to save Betty, right? Well, she’s safe now, mission accomplished, so why keep hanging around with people you obviously can’t stand?

The wryest of smiles formed on the boy’s face.

Why indeed.

That was a genuine question, Finn, the voice deadpanned.

And you think I actually have an answer…? He internally deflated. I guess I had high hopes for this job at first? But then Miss Fang died, then Miss Leroux and Mr. Howard got redeployed elsewhere, and now this. Feels like people everywhere are abandoning ship, from what I hear. More freelancers than otherwise these days. Finn couldn’t really say if that was a good thing, even they were strained due to dark web espers. Is it really gonna be worth grinning and bearing this shit, Doc?

Yes, it will, because you have the power to make a difference, even more so than my dear Ashley, but only if you stop moping around and murder this little victim complex of yours like you murder everything else that stands in your way! This isn’t the time for weakness, Finn! Major events have been set into motion, and you need to face them head on! Own up to your full potential, and you can be the greatest esper in this city! Or, you can go back to your old life, the meaningless life of a powerless child. Fuck quitting G.E.M.I.N.I., you can quit being an esper entirely! Just throw your grimoire and that other super mysterious pocket watch what’s-her-smug-face gave you down the nearest storm drain and watch all the big, scary decisions go away with them!

The voice paused for a moment.

Some might say that you’ve been given far too much responsibility for someone so young, that you’d be crazy to keep doing this, and that the only sane course of action is to walk away from this shitstorm as fast as possible. Are they right, Finn? Do you really believe that being an esper is too much for you to handle?

There’s only one logical conclusion from this conversation either way, is there? After a pause from his end, he “spoke” again: I’ll humor your and everyone else’s…assumptions of me for now, but I’m not gonna play into the good boy act while I do it.

And what, exactly, do you mean by that, Finn?

You know for someone who claims her intellect is above all, you’re really slow on the uptake. I meant if people wanna see me as a killer, I might as well embrace it.

I simply wanted to clarify, the voice replied. And that’s good, Finn. Fully embracing the identity you wish to create for yourself is one of the core lessons I’ve been trying to get you to take to heart. And speaking of clarifying, I want to make sure you fully understand what that entails.

Not really one he wished to create for himself, only what always came natural. Of course I do.

Then tell me, Finn, what have you learned from our little chat?

Embrace the hand I’ve been dealt?

In a manner of speaking, the voice conceded. But instead of just passively resigning yourself to it, you need to actively use everything that comes your way as material with which to build the future you want, and you can only do that if you have a clear goal in mind. So, what is your goal, Finn? What do you actually want to achieve by being an esper?

Finn blinked. I…actually don’t know. I’ve not really had a goal in mind besides protecting Betty. He admitted.

Well, my advice is to get one. Sooner, rather than later. Otherwise, you’re still that confused, lost child you hate people viewing you as.

Right.

(sigh) Y’know, I really wanted to believe that this little chat of ours was going to have a bit more substantial of an effect on your mental state moving forward, but I suppose that was never going to be the case. For what it’s worth, I really do hope you’ll take what I’ve told you to heart and actually succeed where that other fuck up I mentioned utterly failed, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?

Wow, aren't you a ray of sunshine? I’m not just gonna suddenly know what my purpose is or whatever. I think as I work, go with the flow, all that stuff. You can say this little conversation of ours is a good nudge into one direction, but I hope you don’t expect any credit or anything. Whatever happens, happens. If I get hit with an epiphany, I’ll fax you or…however this works. Finn “spoke” up.

So yeah, wait and see.

And, after another moment,

I’m sorry I hurt you.

There was a period of silence, broken only by the background noise of Olivia’s continued ramblings, and then…

Apology accepted, the voice replied. Although, if you really wanna make it up to me, you’ll prove that our little chat wasn’t a colossal waste of time and actually put the lessons I’ve imparted into practice, like Ashley has done. After all, while I don’t see us ever speaking again, I’m always watching…

“…and then she said that espers were really dangerous,” Olivia was saying. “And she told me I shouldn’t try to find any, despite my interest, but you’re an esper, and you’ve been nothing but the kindest and most helpful person since the moment we met! In fact, I couldn’t imagine you hurting anyone! she added with a giggle/snort. “You know, we’ve been walking for quite a while now, and we still haven’t run into any ghosts! Do you think we might have taken a wrong turn somewhere?” the bespectacled brunette inquired. “I mean, this place is quite labyrinthian… In fact, I’d be really concerned about being lost down here forever if I didn’t have a guide with me!” she added with another giggle/snort as she gave Finn a big smile. “You probably know these catacombs like the back of your hand!”

”Oh, uhm,” With that out of the way, Finn could finally focus his full attention back to Olivia. ”Actually, this is the first time I’ve ever been down here.” The mechanical esper grimaced. ”I’ve been around the block so many times around the city but I’ve never been underground like…this…” He trailed off, voice growing quieter. He stopped walking.

”We’re- L-Let’s head back before it gets late!” The Timekeeper glanced back at Olivia with concern.

“Oh, gosh! Does something happen if it gets to be a certain time?!” Olivia inquired, her nasally voice filled with a mixture of concern and excited curiosity.

”N-Not really, just- just better safe than sorry-” Finn gently grabbed Olivia’s arm and started walking back from the direction they came from.

“B-But, you’re an esper, right?” Olivia protested. “Wouldn’t you be able to protect us from anything dangerous we might encounter? Since, well, if there is some kind of dangerous creature down here, I’d very much like to see it!” she added eagerly.

Finn sighed. ”Yeah, but I don’t know what’s down here. And frankly I had a long conversation with an annoying ghost that ended up distracting me, so…” He stopped to glance around, trying to remember the path. ”I just- Hopefully we’re not lost??”

Any worry Olivia might have felt about the possibility of Finn not actually being able to get them back to the surface was completely subsumed by the gleeful excitement generated by the prior piece of information the Timekeeper had almost nonchalantly revealed.

“Ohmygoshyouactuallytalkedtoaghost?!” Olivia exclaimed, her words coming out in a lightning-fast torrent as she moved her face to within mere inches of the young esper’s own. “Whatdidtheysoundlike?!Whatdidtheysay?! Wereyouabletoseethem?! Ohgoshthisissoooexciting!”

”S-Slow down!” Finn panicked in response, pausing to catch up to her questions.

”Right, uhm, it was a young girl I think, around our age? Hard to explain what she said cause it ended up turning into a bit of an argument in the middle of it, no I didn’t see her but she talked through some sorta mental link? Psychic? Whatever it was.” He did his best to explain.

“Oh wow! So, did she say if she was actually the spirit of someone who died down here, or if she was just an ectoplasmic entity who was drawn to this location?!” Olivia asked. “Oh, and, um, sorry for getting overexcited, earlier…” she apologized. “I just find this sorta stuff to be absolutely fascinating!

”Er, guess you can say she was drawn here, yeah.”

“What else did she have to tell you?!” Olivia pressed. “And you said you had an argument with her? What was that about?! Did she come here just to yell at you?! Oh, goodness! Y-You didn’t kill her, did you Finn?!”

The boy chuckled dumbfoundedly. ”If I somehow killed HER? I’d eat my goggles.” He shook his head. ”Don’t worry about it, ‘k?” Finn gave Olivia a crooked smile.

“Oh, okay,” Olivia acquiesced. “I was just beginning to get worried that a vengeful ghost had started haunting you! I’m really glad to hear that isn’t the case,” she added with a relieved smile. “It’s too bad she didn’t want to talk with me though… So, um, anyways, do you really think we should start heading back now? I was hoping we could explore some more…”

Finn shrugged. ”Much luckier than I am in that regards.” The boy glanced around again, thinking. ”Well, if you insist we explore a bit longer we could-” He suddenly cut himself off, eyes glued to the quickest sight of the tail end of a royal blue cape passing by and disappearing behind the corner.

Well. Perhaps they can still catch a ghost! Without thinking much further, he began following the direction of the passing silhouette.

“Huh? Is something wrong?” Olivia asked. “Oh! Did that ghost start talking to you again?!”

”Different ghost!!” He calls back, with a surprisingly excited grin. As if to further his point, the two would hear a giggle echoing through the catacombs; one befitting of a young ghost.

”This way!”

“O-Okay!” Olivia replied as she hurried after him, her own grin having returned in full force. Indeed, the bespectacled brunette couldn’t believe her luck! Maybe she really would get to see an actual ghost after all!

Only time would tell…
Ashley did her best to stifle a gasp when Doctor Moller almost casually noted that Ellie had been killed in action. The Knight of Tomorrow hadn’t known the young woman for very long, but she was a cheerful presence that would sorely be missed. There was also the fact that hers was a young life cut down far before its time, but with the staggering loss of life that she’d seen over the past few weeks, the high-tech heroine found herself becoming increasingly numb to the horror and sorrow that would normally be engendered by it. Instead, the frustration and concern that she had been feeling before the director’s announcement all too quickly returned to the forefront of her mind. Finn had been a major liability during the recent mission, and even if Dr. Moller had spoken with him about it (something Ashley knew was far from a certainty), the Knight of Tomorrow wished to ensure that she and her young subordinate would be on the same page moving forward, especially now that her status as team leader had assumed a more permanent nature.

Oh great. Great great great- As if Ashley didn’t have enough reason to reprimand him, now she has an excuse to exercise her new promotion over his head. Finn tried not to let his reaction be too obvious lest that add yet another reason to the growing list of complaints. He avoided looking the other agents in the eye. It always hurts being forced to look someone angry in the eyes.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Ashely told the director as she took the offered badge. “I’ll strive to put forth only my best efforts in this new position. Finn?” she asked once Dr. Moller had departed. “I would like to speak with you for a moment.”

The boy quickly tensed up. He expected this, sure, but that doesn’t make him any less… He didn’t know what to call it. Anxious? Irritated? Some other third thing? Crossing his arms over his chest, Finn took a shaky breath and stepped over to the leader. ”Mm?”

“I’m not sure if Director Moller has spoken with you about your conduct during the mission or not,” Ashley began, carefully adjusting her glasses in such a way that the light now seemed to create a reflective sheen. “But I’d just like to clarify exactly why I’m so disappointed with your recent behavior. To be perfectly honest, the entire operation was a complete debacle, and while I can’t say for certain if things would have ultimately turned out any differently if we didn’t enter the diner directly, the fact is that you disobeyed an explicit order, putting the entire team at risk. Everything that followed was due to that rash decision, and to compound matters, you left the scene before the operation was fully concluded, leaving Estelle and I to handle the fallout alone.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “You were a liability today, Finn, and I can’t have you jeopardizing future operations in such a manner. Therefore, unless you can learn from these mistakes and promise me that you won’t make them again, I can’t in good conscience condone your continued presence on my team. Do you understand?” She felt like she was admonishing her little brother, and while she hated having to do it, a lot more was at stake here than just some bad grades or getting detention.

Finn quietly let her talk, nodding along to indicate that he was still listening. He frowned when she brought up him running away. Did any of them even care why he did? Of course he realized how much he fucked up, he wasn’t as stupid as they think he was. He didn’t want to kill Amanda. He never wanted to kill Dante, he hadn’t had a choice!

…And yet, he did. He acted rashly out of fear and recklessness. He wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of his co-workers regretted humoring his stupid theories. If they regretted protecting him. Was that why he was left to defend himself against Dante? Who knows. There was just no point in arguing back.

”...I-I understand, ma’am.” The boy’s gaze remained downwards. At least no one was yelling, that’s a good thing. Right?

There was probably a lot that Estelle could have thought about right now. There was the obvious part of being so out of the loop regarding everything that this branch of GEMINI was handling. There was the fact that there was a whole ass behemoth in Pax Septimus that apparently no one was even tracking until it swept in and aligned itself with that shadowy Esper. There was Finn, the perpetual fuck-up who turned the whole mission upside down for a curse that Estelle honestly didn’t even have a clue that he was really harbouring.

But all that really just paled in the light of Ellie being dead. Dead, just like that. Announced in a throwaway line at the very end of Dr. Moller’s briefing. Estelle wasn’t sure if she’d have gotten along with the trigger-happy Angel in the long run, but in the short run?

A death of a fellow agent just felt too heavy a thing to ignore in the face of getting angry at a child for messing up in a high-pressure situation. The boy couldn’t drive, couldn’t drink, couldn’t vote. At his age, all she had been worried about was homework and whether her parents were going to announce an impromptu family-friend-dinner that weekend when she had made (but not announced) her plans for heading off to the trampoline park with her non-family-friends.

Pax Septimus seemed sadistically short-staffed.

“You figured out your ‘curse’, right?” Estelle’s own expression was softer. “Do you need to keep working right now, Finn? I know you’re experienced and all, but it’s not going to get easier.”

Not now that there was cause for Amanda to be rightfully vengeful, not now that they’ve gotten the attention of a Behemoth.

The boy looked back up and over in Estelle’s direction at her question. He opened his mouth to speak; of course he can still work, he was fine, and yet no words came out. Finn would be lying if he said he knew. He had been second guessing himself and his own mind a lot lately. At the same time he didn’t really want to stop working.

”Damnú air.” He cursed under his breath. ”I don’t know.”

“Well, I hope you figure out an answer by the time our next operation comes along,” Ashley told him. “This isn’t something to take lightly,” she added. “Not when people’s lives are at stake.”

”I know. I know…

Well, she recognized that expression anywhere. Words were basically pointless now.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Estelle said, clapping her hands together. “I’m sure we’re all tired and everything, so let’s split like a banana and get some rest.”

“Agreed,” Ashley concurred with a tired sigh. “Please think about what I said, Finn,” she told the boy as she headed out.

Hopefully he would have ample time over the next few days to do just that.
Meanwhile. Again.


By the time Finn arived, Betty had already gotten to the place he had mentioned, She was waiting in line for some ice cream. The ice cream parlors wouldn't be open much later in the year, so this was likely everyone's last frozen treat for the year. It was amazing places like this could even stay open with all the recent happenings. But regardless of what fell in the cursed city, somehow, people found a way to survive.

After a short wait, Betty took the banana float to the table Finn was sitting at and set it down between them. The thing was massive. Three different piles of ice cream sat between a split banana. Vanilla, chocolate, and straberry, drizzled in chocolate and caramel. And since they were in America, there was a giant dollop of whipped cream on top of each mound, topped with cherries and garnished with rainbow sprinkles.

Betty pulled out one of the spoons and licked her lips. "They all look so good!" She pointed at each mound with her spoon. "Which one is your favorite? Maybe we should sample each of them, and then decide which one we like mo-"

And yet as she spoke, Finn was already digging into the dessert, quickly glancing up when Betty suggested they sample. "What? Oh." At least he wasn't picky. "Try getting more than one flavor in your spoon, trust me!"

Betty watched Finn consume his food like a heathen in haste. She turned her spoon in her hand before digging in herself. Though she didn't rush. Each bite was savored, even as Finn tried to make a muckbang out of it. "I didn't realize you liked ice cream so much."

He paused for a second, then sheepishly glanced aside.

"I didn't eat breakfast."

"I see..." For a moment, she just stared at him without trying to eat anything. "But you didn't call me up to eat ice cream, right?"

Finn frowned. "Yeah. I-I've had a rough few days." Rough didn't even begin to cover it. He told her about his whole situation with his curse, Dante, and Amanda. This time without hiding any details, and how the investigation of Dante's diner went. Betty listened without interupting or breaking eye contact with Finn. He wasn't eating anymore, he felt slightly nauseous.

"I-I just don't understand why I'm like this. Am I just that unlucky? I keep trying my best to be this hero everyone seems to want of me, but it's like everything I do bites me back in the ass no matter what it is." His gaze on her turned downcast.

"That’s… a lot to take in." Betty Folded one of her arms over her chest and tapped herself on the shoulder. "That whole deal with Dante’s doesn’t sound like it went your way, but um, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you." She pushed her spoon into the melting ice cream. "If you weren’t here, I’m pretty sure I’d be drinking someone’s blood right now. Or I’d be dead. But because of you, there was some interest in saving me. And I’m here now. I don’t think you failed with me."

"...Yeah, maybe." Finn's expression softened when he looked back up at her. "But Oros nearly killed me cause I, well, nearly killed you. I still don't know why."

"Well, I’m sure vampire me nearly killed you a few times, so I think we’re even on that front." She sighed.

Finn genuinely smiled. "At least you understand."

"But who’s Oros? I’ve heard his name a few times, but it’s always in passing."

"Oh right, you're still new to this esper shit. Most of what I know is from the grapvine, but Oros is an infamous cultist esper. Had a nasty run-in with her followers lately so the cultist part's officially legit. GEMINI, Maverick and the Freelancers are all wary of her and how dangerous she could be. Having both your legs sliced clean off by her for example? Quite the gas." He added with a sarcastic smile. "But I don't know how she knew what happened between us if she wasn't even there in the first place. Maybe she has some form of clarvoyancy as a means of getting the upper hand? Or her own network to spy on people? Hell she even spared me this time cause I had agreed to go on a date with you. Finn furrowed his brows in thought.

"What I wanna know is why you're apparently that important to her. And if that's the case, why didn't she help any when you were kidnapped?

"This person sounds very unstable."

"On brand for cultists, I guess."

Betty ate a spoon full of ice cream. "I’m not really that popular a performer. Maybe they’re a fan? I’m a little nervous now… "

"Somehow I doubt she's just a fan." Finn poked at the ice cream with his own spoon. "Whether or not she is though, she's gonna have to get through me first if she's wanting to hurt you. I'm not leaving you behind again." Finn grinned at her. "Who knows, if you do decided to join GEMINI, we can be partners!"

She playfully nudged him with her elbow. "Hey now, if we're partners, maybe I'll be the one to save you! You can't white knight your partner, it goes both ways. Are you okay with that?" After staring at Finn for a moment, she continued. "As for the situation at Dante's, I think you did your best. But if you feel like you messed up, apologizing to Amanda might give both of you some closure... Maybe? I mean, Dante cursed you. You were only doing what you thought was right. It was sort of an accident. That might not make her happy, but she might be able to move on if she realizes it wasn't malificent. I don't know..."

Finn flinched at the suggestion. Apologize? For murdering her father?! He anxiously chuckled.

"Sure! Maybe if she doesn't try to kill me at first notice! What if I end up killing her too!? I mean the last few times I tried to fix things ended in someone getting hurt, what if it-" He shook his head, hiding his face in his hands. "I can't. I can't..."

"And you don't have to!" Betty half shouted. "You walked into Dante's the way you did because you felt like it was something you had to handle yourself! You didn't!" She sighed and placed a hand on Finn's shoulder. "You have allies, you have me. Just talk to us. It's not you against the world, Finn. Nobody beats this city by fighting it alone." She pulled back her hand and continued eating. A bit faster than her usual pace. "I know I couldn't."

The boy lowered his arms back down onto the table, eyes admittedly widened at her words. He looked down to his hands, mulling over everything she's said, then his lips quirked up into a smile. It felt good having someone understand him.

"Thank you."

She sighed and brushed a hand through her hair. "You're quite welcome. I'm glad you decided to ask me for help." Her eyes moved back to the icecream. Most of it was eaten, or at least, it looked like most of it had been eaten. There was a pool of melted icecream in the bottom of the dish. "That was way too much, I'm ordering a sundae next time."

He giggled. "I'm sure this place allows for takeout." Finn shrugged. After a moment, he spoke up again. "I-Is it alright if we continue hanging out a little longer...?"

"Sure! I don't have any plans. What did you want to talk about?"

But Finn's earpiece poured Fritzi's voice into his head. ”Time Keeper? I understand you left an opperation in progress. That is not behavior that we tolerate in GEMINI.” Her tone was more like a teasing mother than a mission opperator. ”Anywho, you're upsetting Orion. Could you please come back? After mission donuts with the agents wouldn't be the same without you.”

Ah.

Finn quickly cleared his throat. "Nevermind, guess I'm taking a raincheck. Here!" He rummaged through his wallet and set down the amount of money the banana split costed. "See you at the Great Escape later?"

Betty picked up the money and held it out towards Finn "It was going to my- Yes, yes I'm looking foward to doing that with you later." She sighed and opened her purse.

"Don't worry about it, consider it a part of my thanks for letting me be here with you." With one more smile, Finn got up and stepped out of parlor. As for Ms. Moller, "Forgive me for my conduct, ma'am. I grew overwhelmed and acted on instinct. But I'm alright now, I met up with Betty for a bit." He finally responded.

There was a short delay before Fritzi spoke again. ”We're not beasts, Time Keeper, we shouldn't rely solely on our instincts. That's the difference between us and them.”

"I... A part of me hoped I wasn't right." Finn took a deep breath. "Despite them cursing me, they didn't have any intent to hurt me at first. Apparently, I was supposed to meet with Dante at some point. For what, I don't know. They didn't exactly give me any specifics." Omitting information from him was what got Dante killed, wasn't it? He was bound to figure it out eventually. So he might as well fess up to the boss now before it kills him too. Somehow.

”That's very interesting, you should include it in the report when you get back.” Fritzi sounded like she was only half listening. ”Return to HQ, I don't have the manpower to evac you that far away from the opperation.”

"...Very well, ma'am."

Later then.
Meanwhile.


"What was that?" Oros had finished her toast and was crouched down beside Finn, who was still laying on his back. "Are you wondering what's wrong with you? Is that, an invitation, to be your therapist?" She sat up and grinned. "You know my title is 'The Mad' right? are you sure you want a therapy session from me, Penny junior?"

Ugh, it sounded like she was rubbing it in his face. Finn pushed himself up into a sitting position and reverted back to his bloodless, mundane form. The luster in his eyes was notably absent. Just like back when everyone raided Justin Von Carnage's mansion only to come up with nothing. He furrowed his brows at Oros' nickname for him. "Penny who? W-Whatever, I had to have run i-into you for a reason, right?"

As much as she did have a point, Finn somehow had a feeling that if anyone could've understood his blight, it'd be Madness herself.

"Alright, but it’s going to cost you something." Oros Laid Finn back down before she pulled out a camera and a tiny tripod and set it up in front of him. Once she set it up, she pushed the record button before jumping back into frame and pointing at him. "I told him to lay down, and he did it! The absolute mad lad!" She turned off the camera and stashed it in her kimono. "That was just your down payment, I'll collect the rest later." She fished Finn’s phone out of his pocket. And started to push buttons. "Right, so let's start with your mother. What's she like?"

Welp.

He did ask for it. Once again the boy sat up with a thoughtful hum.

"I don't really know either of my parents well since they act like I don't exist most of the time, but from the few bits I gathered? Mother's one of the haughty types. Puts on an act to get on peoples' good graces and unfortunately drags the rest of us into it one way or another. The amount of times she talked shit about others behind their backs, about her own family. If you ever had the displeasure of meeting her, don't let the kindness bullshit fool you. She'd plan on being rid of you as soon as possible." Even talking about her in detail left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"That doesn’t sound too flattering." Oros’s tone sounded refined. At some point during Finn’s explanation, Oros had put on a pair of cat eye glasses, with a little silver chain that looped behind her neck. "She sounds like a hard one to trust. But surely this pride comes from somewhere. Why do you think she’s such a bitch?"

"Hell if I know. Neither her or Father are around 90% of the time. Why do you think I'm able to sneak out like this?"

Maybe if he snuck into their things he'd find something incriminating, but that'd come later.

"We are not interested in the truth here, Finny boy. We are interested in how this makes you feel." She raised her hand like an opera singer. "Speaking of your father, what is he like when he isn’t absent?"

"...Intimidating. No one wants to piss him off." Finn frowned. "No one's allowed to act out of line around him. Apparently he once had a temper so bad it could make the Devil pleased. I don't think he and Mother get along well. He's more quiet though, keeps to himself most of the the time. He's the one that does most of the buisness stuff."

"And this business? Do you know what it is?"

Finn shook his head. Not even Lydia spared any details.

Oros smacked her lips before pulling out a clip board and jotting some things down on it. "Do you have any other family that you interact with?"

"Just my older sister." The boy shrugged. "She can't be around all the time either, but she tries her best to be. More buisness stuff before you ask. Mom and Dad trying to prepare her for taking over."

"What’s she like, do you enjoy her company? Does she share your feelings about your parents?"

Finn nodded twice. "Lyds is really sweet, but also pretty tough, probably tougher than I could ever be if she ends up becoming an Esper too." He explained. "I ended up learning how to fight from her, after all." A ghost of a smile.

"So your mother’s a bitch, your dad’s a hard ass, and your sister is the only family member that treats you with any kindness?" Oros nodded while furiously scribbling on the page. "So where’s your sister’s favorite place to eat?"

"You do realize there's a fee if you want me to help set you up with my sister?"

A song and dance he's dealt with before, people being nice to him for their own personal gains with the rest of his family. That's one of the reasons why he wanted to dissociate from them. So that people could treat him as Finn and not an extension of the Vanhorns.

"Dude, fuck!" Oros threw the clip board to the ground and stood up. "Do you know how much I'd get paid per minute to be your little therapy buddy? The least you could do is tell me where she likes to eat, or what her three sizes are, or if she likes pink hair, and really likes it when the carpets match the drapes." She drew her sword and thrust it into the clipboard, and the caustic poison that coated her ritual blade dissolved it in seconds. Not even ash was left. With a twirl of her blade, she pointed at his head. "Was her swordsmanship better than mine? I hope she's better than you were..." She tossed Finn's phone back to him. "You actually have an incredible support network. You’re practically drowning in cute girls that only want the best for you. What's her tits with the puppet, Betty, Faith, Kid Icarus, I don’t consider your purple haired boss or Sharr cute, but I guess they count. My diagnosis is that you should call one of them, because they’ll actually give a shit about whatever you're moaping about. She sheathed her sword, but didn't take her eyes off of Finn. "I added Betty’s number to your phone because you didn’t have it. As for payment, how about you tell your folks I could have killed you but didn’t? I think that'll become relevant in time." Oros placed her cold, half eaten toast in her mouth and ran off.

Well, that went absolutely nowhere. Only made him even more confused. In fact he might've ended up giving her information she could weaponize against him oh god what the fuck was he thinking- "W-Waitwaitwait WHAT DO YOU MEAN REVELANT?!" He shot up from the ground and called out to her in vain. Oh god if he had to deal with his parents now then he might actually scream. But she did point out something he found odd. After a moment of thinking about that, Finn sighed.

"Christ, no wonder people think I'm some heartthrob."

She was right though. He really should call someone. He looked back down to his phone and tapped the call button. Hopefully Betty wasn't busy.

The phone rang three times before someone picked up. Sure enough, it was Betty.
"Hello?" Once Finn introduced himself, he could hear her sigh on the other end. "Ah! I couldn't remember if I gave you my number or not. I was a little out of it and I thought I had forgotten. I'm so glad you called me, I'll add you once you hang up." He could feel her smiling from the other end of the call. "What's up? Is it about the date?"

Already it made him feel a bit better hearing her voice. "N-No, uhm, I don't know if you're free right now but..." But he still sounded so tired. "Where- Where are you? Is it a-alright if I come see you?"

"Um, sure." She said with a hint of concern. "I was about to look for an ice cream place that served good sundaes, but I'd be up for sharing a banana float. Do you know any good places?"

"Hmm... Yeah, h-hang on, I'll text you the details." Finn lowered his phone away from his ear for a moment to type out the name and location of an ice cream bar he passed by a few times, and a few details on what they sold from what he could remember. Aaaaand send. "Got it?"

Their date might be a bit earlier than planned.



He... He did it! Finn had to take some deep breaths to calm himself down, letting a relieved laugh slip as he stared down the broken statue that used to be Dante. These near death experiences are going to give him a heart attack one of these days. The patrons, asides from a few stragglers were dead. The infernal demon only he saw disappeared, a hopeful sign that he might've been cured. And hopefully this burnt shithole will get torn down with the death of it's owner. The Timekeeper would've turned to thank Estelle for the long overdue assist.

If someone hadn't emerged from the back room Dante had lost his life protecting. And now they'd see why.

Amanda wasn't a part of the curse, wasn't a part of the hallucinations forced upon the both of them. She was as real as the sandman they had killed, right in line of her sight. She was...Dante's daughter. Finn's eyes widened when she revealed herself, and more so in fear when she cried out for her dead father and cradled his glass corpse. He was just protecting his daughter! But Finn didn't even want to kill him in the first place! Dante could've just played along instead of forcing his hand, but no! The bastard was just as fickle as the rest of this fucking town and now he had more blood on his hands and a ringing in his ears and oh god why does this keep happening!?

The boy bumped against the counter, not even aware that he was backing away from the scene, not even aware of his surroundings or the people. The corpses, or the way he was hyperventilating. He didn't want any of this. He didn't want to be dangerous! He didn't!! And yet every time he tries to be a good person it always fucks him over so he's had no other choice but to-

Finn's body acted before his mind registered it. He ran. Out the diner, past the small crowd gathered outside, he ran away as quick as his legs could carry him. He couldn't stay there any longer.
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