Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Just to clarify, you want to send us here?” Vertin, the Timekeeper, pointed at the board. On the board, there was a map of the St. Pavlov Foundation’s most important spots; everything from different bases to destinations that they would be sending investigators to.

She tapped on a red thumbtack that was labeled: “E. 2005; Yokohama City, Japan.’

Madam Z nodded. “Correct. Usually, the sudden fast-forwarding of the ‘Storm’ would be the biggest concern, some Laplace personnel theorize that, with the ‘Storm’ jumping into the future for the second time, there are some unique cases of discrepancies that resemble ‘Storm Syndrome’ but do not affect humans or Arcanists as they normally would. For example, Investigator Marcus reported that there were people who could use Arcane energy but had no Arcanist blood in them in this timeline throughout the world.”

“That’s possible?” Vertin straightened. This was really putting the “special” in “special mission.”

“Yes, indeed. Humans who can wield Arcanum energy…” Madam Z sighed as she took off her glasses and polished them. “No matter, your priority now isn’t recording this era but getting all of these humans registered by The Foundation. Afterwards… Well, the rest will be up to either Ms. Constantine or up to Laplace, afterwards you may continue your duties as normal.”

The Timekeeper nodded. This was how most of her “special” missions normally went but even she would be a fool to ignore the underlying catch.

“The Manus Vindictae,” she started, “they will be interested in this spot too, right? From the report, it stated that this city would be the best place to record and observe due to its freeport area and its status as a tourist destination.”

Madam Z pursed her lips. “I would say so. Considering their motives, it would be best to be cautious. In the most extreme cases, immediately send the exhibits to The Foundation at all costs.”

Vertin stared at the teleportation ritual disks that were crudely numbered with masking tape and red marker. She pocketed three, two for backup, before fixing her hat. “Thank you, Madam Z.”

Madam Z shook her head. “Don’t thank me, Vertin. I’m just doing my job.” She paused for a moment before remembering something. “Right, be sure to remember to submit your team list so that the Foundation can cover your food expenses.” She winked, handing Vertin a form from a drawer underneath her desk.

“Isn’t this form for the Foundation’s own investigation teams? I thought that Team Timekeeper was completely independent from them since the ‘Revolution’.”

“Well, yes, but consider it a little treat. I’m sure nobody would mind if Team Timekeeper was the one asking. You’ve saved countless lives and you’ll save countless more so don’t worry about it. If anyone asks, just say it’s from me.”

“Alright.” Vertin took the form and began to walk towards the door.

“Oh, right, good luck, Vertin.”

“Thank you, Madam Z.”

Exiting the room, she found that her assistant, Sonetto, was already awaiting her outside. She was reading the initial briefing file over and over again. She seemed to be in a daze, most of the Foundation was. To think that the Storm could go forward into the future… Perhaps this future had already passed.

“Ah, Timekeeper, there you are.” She greeted, briefly glancing up and giving a nod. “I was thinking about the logistics. The Foundation can only send us to Tokyo via the Haneda Airport. From there, we can either go by train to reach our destination quicker or by foot for a more thorough investigation. The Foundation has given us suitable budgets for both plans, the choice is yours.”

Vertin nodded in appreciation. It was great to have a friend like Sonetto. She was always so diligent, even back in SPDM, she offered to help her with homework and such other things. She was lucky that Sonetto even decided to stick by as her assistant.

“I will submit my request file and then I’ll decide. There is no deadline for this mission, right?”

Sonetto nodded though she seemed a bit apprehensive about it. What kind of "special" mission had no deadline? It was hardly the Foundation’s style to keep them off of their original duties for so long but she had no right to complain. The Foundation's orders were first and foremost.

“Alright, but first, is it alright if I had a look at that request file? I just wanted to make sure that we had enough food, water, and Dr. Papper for this whole trip. Regulus would complain endlessly otherwise.”

Vertin nodded in acknowledgement. “Okay, I got it.”

-

“What on Earth did you just say?” The pirate exclaimed, clearly not believing her ears. “You want to take me, Regulus, the Rockin’ Pirate, to be okay with going through completely uncharted territory with a plane?! No, absolutely not! That is absurd!”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t the mission she was upset about but the plane ride to start it.

“There is nothing, I mean nothing , that the Rockin' APPLe III can’t do so why can’t we take that instead? It’ll certainly cost much less than a plane, right Mr. APPLe?”

“Hold your horses,” Lilya speaks up. “Are you only saying this [говно] because you’re afraid of flying?” She teases, a menacing grin on her face as she walks up to Regulus.

“What? Are you kidding? Me, scared of heights? You’ve got the wrong person!”

Unsurprisingly, their bickering was the loudest thing in the room. Louder than X’s tinkering, louder than the explosions from Sotheby’s room, louder than whatever Lilya kept in the broom closet that was always crashing around in there.

Vertin sighed and nodded to Sonetto. The team briefing was done and the next step was to depart.

“Regulus,” she said, “how fast can the Rockin' APPLe III take us to our destination?”

The pirate immediately stopped whatever she was talking about with Lilya and grinned. “Well, you just leave that to me! Hand me a map and a whole pack of Dr. Papper and I swear on my honor as a pirate that I’ll get us to our destination as quickly as possible.”

“Ha! A pirate with honor? What a statement!”

“You-! You shut up!”

Chapter Text

Atsushi Nakajima was starving.

He had been kicked out of the orphanage he lived in two weeks ago. Ever since then, he was fending off rotting food from the dumpsters. It was that or be eaten by that terrifying tiger that followed him left and right. At least he hasn’t gotten attacked yet… Or maybe that tiger was just waiting until he got more meat on his bones.

He shuddered at the thought.

With the newfound determination of not getting eaten alive, he stood up and got ready to mug the first person who passed by!

…

A body floated down the river. Oh god, it wasn’t dead either. Should he save this person? Maybe he should then steal whatever money was left on them. Still, stealing from someone who was practically helpless put a bad taste in his mouth.

Before he could even do anything, a bright light shone from somewhere behind them before a voice called out: “Sempre caro mi fu quest'ermo colle!” As quick as he saw it, it disappeared immediately.

‘What the hell was that?’ He thought to himself. Following the sound of the voice, he turned around and saw two people standing over the person that was just in the river a second ago.

“Is he alright?” The girl with orange hair spoke up. She spun something that looked like a pen in her hand. Before her companion, a person with grey hair, could even respond, the man from the river suddenly sat up.

Atsushi flinched, as did the orange haired girl. The grey haired one didn’t seem fazed at all. Instead, they crouched down and tilted their head at the man. “Are you alright?”

“So I’m saved? Tch.” He didn’t look particularly happy which put Atsushi off. “Was it you who ruined my asphyxiation?” He asked, turning to the orange haired girl.

He dragged out a sigh as he got up. “My intent was to pursue a clean, pure suicide that imposed on no one. And yet, you three were nonetheless involved. I will have to offer some compensation for this imposi-”

Atsushi’s stomach rumbling cut off whatever he was going to say next. All of a sudden, everyone’s attention was on him. The person with grey hair’s expression remained mostly indifferent, the orange haired one was etched with surprise and concern. The man, however…

“Pfft… Are you hungry, lad?” He was hopelessly amused at this development.

“Uh… Yeah, I… I actually haven’t eaten anything in a few days…”

Atsushi wanted to say more, he was going to try and plead his case and beg for some food, but the man who had laughed at him earlier was now the center of attention for the same reason.

“Ha! Me neither and it seems that the river has stolen my wallet.” At the odd looks of the three surrounding him, he was forced to add; “Did you think I was paying for all of you?”

Before anyone could pipe up, another interruption diverted everyone’s attention from what was happening right now.

“Is there where you’ve been, you waste of space bandage hoarder?! You’ve ruined my plans once again!” Someone yelled out from across the river. He didn’t look particularly happy to see any of them.

“Oh! Kunikida! Thanks a lot for coming!” The man grinned, waving his hand at the person across the river. “I have a fantastic idea! That, over there, is my co-worker. Perhaps he can feed all four of us if we plead our case nicely!”

“Listen to me! What the hell are you talking about?!” The person from across the river yelled out. He seemed to be getting more agitated with each passing word that came out of the other’s mouth.

“Anywho, what are your names?” The man asked, turning to all three of them with a carefree smile.

“I’m Sonetto,” the orange haired girl spoke up first. She was then quickly followed up by the grey haired person. “Vertin.”

Atsushi knew he had given the pair an odd look. How could he not? The orange haired girl’s, Sonetto’s, uniform just looked so familiar to him, it reminded him too much of the orphanage’s caretakers , but enough of those thoughts. Now it was Atsushi’s turn to introduce himself. 

“Uh, I’m Atsushi, Atsushi Nakajima, but…” The man cut him off. “Well then, you three, follow me. What sort of food do you feel like having?”

“We’re alright, we’re not particularly hungry.” Vertin responded. Sonetto nodded from beside her. “Would it be fine if we still followed?”

“Sure, sure.” The man replied, waving a hand in a nonchalant gesture, before turning to Atsushi. “What about you, lad?”

Atsushi froze for a moment. He was starving. This was his chance to get something delicious, something filling. Yet, as he thought about his answer, he knew that there was only one thing that he wanted.

“...A bowl of chazuke would be nice.”

The man laughed at his answer. “A child who hasn’t eaten in days, craving a bowl of chazuke? Ha ha! So be it then, I’ll have my partner treat you to as much as you’d like!”

“Quit being so generous with my money, Dazai!” The person from across the river yelled out. He either had freakishly good hearing or they were just being that loud.

“Dazai?” Atsushi questioned.

“Yes, Dazai, that’s my name. Osamu Dazai.”

-

The next thing Sonetto knew was that they were sitting in a particularly cozy tea house.

She sat in between the Timekeeper and the boy, Atsushi. The man, Dazai, and his partner, Kunikida, sat across from her. In front of her was a bowl of rice submerged in green tea, it was also topped generously with dried vegetables, seaweed, and roast sesame seeds.

The way Atsushi gobbled down bowls and bowls of this dish – chazuke, if she remembered correctly – had made her want to try some. Now, however, she felt a bit odd about it. She was used to eating odd dishes; the Foundation’s rations weren’t the most appetizing themselves, but this just felt… wrong.

Perhaps if Regulus was here, she would have a few scathing remarks about this dish; about how it was ‘a disgrace to the very concept of tea’ or something along those lines. Maybe its very nature was the sole reason why Vertin had chosen to have a single cup of green tea.

“What’s wrong? It won’t bite you, you know?” Dazai prodded at her, causing her to snap out of her own thoughts.

“My apologies.” Sonetto replied. She tentatively took a bite out of the dish. It… It wasn’t as bad as she thought. The subtle grassy taste of the green tea complimented the dried vegetables and seaweed very well. It was a perfect taste and the pillowy texture of the rice complimented it greatly.

She took one bite, then another, until the bowl was completely empty. Now she totally understood why Atsushi liked this dish so much. It was incredibly comforting to eat. Maybe she should ask Satsuki to recreate this dish… She worked at a tea house too, didn’t she? There was a good chance she knew this recipe.

“Dazai, we must get back to work.” Kunikida spoke up. He had stopped writing in his notebook. “What kind of fool says ‘oh, what a fine river’ and dives into the rapids headfirst?!” He glared at his partner.

In contrast, Dazai merely smiled at him. “You do love that notebook of yours, don’t you Kunikida?”

Kunikida then slammed it down on the table, much to her and Vertin’s surprise. While she was more open about it, the Timekeeper’s expression had returned back to normal in the blink of an eye.

“This is not a mere notebook!” He exclaimed. “These are my ideals! The very things that guide my way of life – and nowhere does it state partnering up with a suicide-obsessed maniac!!”

“Mfh nf mrrfhngh?” Atsushi, whose mouth was still stuffed with food, piped up from beside her.

Kunikida was quick to respond. “Silence. There is nothing in my financial ideals that state anything close to ‘feeding an orphan as much chazuke as they want.’”

“Hngrmhh?”

“I said that we are working! The military police dispatched us to take care of a violent–”

“Hey, how are you two speaking with each other right now?”

He reminded her of the potions instructor back in SPDM. Strict and no-nonsense. By the way Vertin observed the interaction, she could guess that she was thinking the same.

“Uhm, excuse me. Terribly sorry to interrupt but I must ask,” she turned to Kunikida. She tried to keep a brave face at his stare. “If it isn’t sensitive information, what exactly did the military police dispatch you for?”

It was a stretch of a question. If they were dispatched by the military police then it was obvious that whatever information it was was definitely highly sensitive. Still, she didn’t exactly want to reveal her or Vertin’s positions as members of the St. Pavlov Foundation over information their investigation might not need.

“We’re looking for a tiger. A man-eating one, specifically. It has destroyed storehouses and acres of farmland. It appeared two weeks ago and was apparently sighted in the area near the Tsurumi river.” Dazai responded in Kunikida’s stead.

Atsushi looked horrified at the statement and Sonetto wondered why. She knew that expression, she had passed by the interrogation room many times before. That face was the one that most people make when they know something about a case.

All of a sudden, the boy fell to the floor with a thud. Sonetto immediately stood up; her sense of duty called for making sure that he was okay. “Atsushi, are you alrigh-”

“I- I’d best leave.” He stuttered out, trying to crawl out of the tea house.

“Hold it,” Kunikida stopped him. He held him in the air by the collar. “You… Do you know something about this matter?”

“That tiger is after me! It almost killed me! Ever since I came to Yokohama two weeks ago, it’s been haunting my every step! Now you said that it was sighted near the Tsurumi river four days ago, its surely following me! If I don’t get out of here it’ll–” Atsushi’s panicked ramblings were cut off when Kunikida decided to side sweep him before pinning him to the floor. The other customers in the tea house gasped. Sonetto brought out her wand, her face grim. She was ready to use one of the ritual disks that Timekeeper had given her before their mission.

“I suppose you don’t know what kind of work we do.” Kunikida started, his imposing tone was a stark contrast to Atsushi’s panicked one from earlier. “We are detectives of the Armed Detective Agency. We deal with cases that the military police don’t even dare to touch. Now then, you may pay for your meal with an arm or by telling us everything you know.”

It was at that point that Vertin spoke up. As the Timekeeper, many of the Foundation’s staff tended to call for her help when dealing with difficult situations; she had her fair share of violent confrontations in public and this was no different.

Without moving from her seat, she gave Atsushi and Kunikida a glance. “Mr. Kunikida, I think that you should give him a chance to speak.” She gestured to Atsushi who was pretty much struggling on the floor.

Dazai stood up and walked towards the pair. “She’s right, Kunikida. The boss himself told you that intelligence gathering didn’t always need to be an interrogation.” Kunikida looked annoyed at his statement but he nonetheless let up. That allowed Dazai to crouch down and talk to Atsushi himself.

Sonetto was no longer paying attention to whatever they were talking about. It wasn’t her job and it was most likely not needed in the mission. Instead, she focused on Vertin. The Timekeeper had just stood up and walked beside her. All of this ruckus wasn’t good. If it didn’t stop then one of three things may happen. The best case, and most unlikely, scenario was that the excitement died down by itself; the second best was the owner kicking them out of the tea house; and the worst case scenario was the police getting involved and making things more complicated.

“Sonetto,” Vertin called her attention. “Please be on stand-by for Contingency Plan A-III.”

She nodded in acknowledgement. She hid her wand behind her back, the tip of which pointing down. She was already thinking of which arcane spell to cast before Kunikida had begun shoo-ing everyone away. With that realization, Vertin’s stance relaxed and Sonetto’s did as well.

-

To say that Vertin was a bit suspicious of these people was an understatement. Dazai was the most suspicious out of all of them. Trying to commit suicide by drowning and then acting like nothing happened after he was saved? Not only that, but also treating them to dinner? This was the first she’s seen of it, and she had seen a lot of things.

She had also been listening to Atsushi's ramblings. While Sonetto had been focused on the mission, she had managed to eavesdrop a bit on his and Dazai’s conversation. An orphan who was kicked out of his orphanage two weeks ago due a lack of funding and a disaster with the same circumstances as, what she assumes is, Dazai and Kunikida’s assignment which had begun four days ago.

That didn’t even scratch the surface on what she thought about him. His orphanage uniform, although tattered, was something she could recognize from miles away. Whatever orphanage he came from, it was definitely run by the Foundation but why would a Foundation run orphanage be so out of money that they would send a child onto the street with no good reason? And why only one child if they truly couldn’t afford to pay more? Unless…

“Vertin? Did you hear what I said?”

Sonetto’s voice brought her back to reality. “Uhm, yes.” After what had happened in the tea house, they had been irrevocably involved in a mission that wasn’t theirs. They had no choice but to see things through. Now, to guess what Sonetto had said…

“You should go back to the others and check on them. It has been a couple of weeks since we got back and we have had zero contact; it’s best to be sure that our team gotten into any trouble yet.”

“What about the mission, Timekeeper? Are you sure you don’t want me to join you?”

Vertin was pleased with herself at being able to guess what her partner was thinking once again. “No need. I will be fine, Sonetto. Besides, Mr. Dazai asked for our aid, if we both decided to help, we would waste precious time for our own investigation so you will need to continue some things without me.”

“Oh, alright then. I trust your word.” Sonetto nodded though she looked the faintest bit disappointed. “I will see you then, Timekeeper, may the peace be with you.” With that goodbye, she began walking down the same path they were on a few days back.

With a final sigh, she adjusted her grip on her suitcase and her umbrella before going back into the tea house. The trio from earlier were still there. In fact, it looked like Dazai was tying the last few loose ends of guaranteeing Atsushi’s cooperation.

“And if you work with us, you can expect… this much in compensation!”

Honestly, when Vertin saw the number, she was half expecting Kunikida to hit him over the head and say something along the lines of “don’t say such things,” or “quit with the lies, you baneful bandage waster,” but none of those things ever happened. Instead he just nodded from beside him.

…Maybe she should consider a partnership with the Armed Detective Agency. She filed that into the back of her mind for later.

“Oh, Miss Vertin, you’ve returned.” Dazai smiled cheerfully at her. She simply nodded and took her seat once more. She still had a lot to ask but, just as a single dictionary couldn’t hold every word, all of her questions couldn’t be answered in one night. Still, she decided on one very important question that needed to be answered right away.

“About this tiger hunt… What exactly is your plan?”

Chapter Text

The silence in the warehouse gave Atsushi enough time to recollect his thoughts.

Neither Dazai nor Vertin seemed to want to talk right now. Dazai was reading a book on God knows what  and Vertin was… sleeping? How do they sleep sitting down with their back perfectly straight?? It was so creepy. 

Still, that didn’t change the fact that he was nervous and the silence was making everything worse. “Is… Is it really going to come here?” Atsushi asked, not really expecting a response. Still, it felt nice to fill in the silence so he didn’t have to just listen to his beating heart.

“It will,” Dazai responded, turning a page of his book. “Nothing to worry about. When it does, it will be far outclassed. I am an agent of the Armed Detective Agency.”

That brought little comfort to Atsushi, but at least someone here was capable. Actually, he was sure that he was the only incapable one here. While he didn’t know either of them well, Dazai’s effortless confidence and Vertin’s cool demeanor spoke of years upon years of experience. It was the kind of thing he could never have.

This kind of depreciation made him laugh. “Ha ha, you’re so confident… Back at the orphanage, everyone told me I was worthless.”

Why was he opening up now? Maybe this was just some miserable last words of a nobody who would probably die tonight. “No one would care if I died on the street. I might as well just let that beast eat me and be done with it…”

Dazai stayed silent at his statement. He looked up to the warehouse’s single window wherein the moon shone through. It was a full moon tonight, something that Atsushi hadn’t bothered noticing until now. “Now then, it should be arriving soon.”

Out of curiosity, Atsushi looked up as well. He flinched, however, when he heard something rattling from behind him. “What… What was that noise just now?” He jumped down from the crate he was sitting on, tense, and once again getting to run. Run away like you always do, that’s what makes you so useless.

“What indeed..?” Dazai sounded incredibly bored. It was like answering a rhetorical question; maybe Atsushi should’ve expected that, especially from someone who was as impressive and accomplished as him.

“It’s the tiger! It has to be! It’s come to gobble me up!” He yelled in a panic.

“Do sit down, Atsushi. No tiger will appear from out there.”

“And how do you know that?!”

“Don’t you find it suspicious?” He flinched when Vertin spoke up from behind him. He thought that they were still asleep. Despite his thoughts, Vertin continued talking. “Running low on finances or not, an orphanage has no reason to send someone off on the street. The normal course of action would be to move the children to another facility.”

Atsushi stepped back, a bit dazed at Vertin’s implications. “Vertin, what’re you–”

“Also,” Dazai’s book closed shut. “You said that you came to Yokohama two weeks ago; the tiger cases started two weeks ago. You implied that you were wandering on the Tsurumi river a few days ago which fits into the timeline of when the tiger was spotted there too.”

He jumped down from the crate with a sort of ease. If Atsushi wasn’t so terrified right now, he would’ve been jealous. His heart was beating faster and faster but why? He felt the need to run, to attack, anything to get rid of the adrenaline running through his body.

He was either oblivious to Atsushi’s plight or completely ignoring him. “The Armed Detective Agency is made up of individuals with certain abilities. While hardly public knowledge, some in the world possess other-worldly skills. Some use these skills to earn a living…”

Atsushi’s movements became more and more tense. His muscles were spasming uncontrollably. In his half lucid state, he could feel himself turning into something unnatural.

“...While others come to ruin by them.”

Vertin, who had come to the same conclusion, added their own thoughts. “That orphanage knew what the tiger was all along. It seems that they kept you in the dark.”

Atsushi was no longer himself. He had turned into the very thing he feared, the very thing that he thought would eat him alive. To think that he was the only one who didn’t know what was obvious… Why didn’t he connect the dots sooner?

His consciousness was beginning to fade. That familiar lull that plagued him for all of his life was coming back again and he was powerless to stop it.

-

Sonetto was sitting in the hotel room. According to a note that the others left behind: Regulus had gone out for a walk near the pier, Lilya was apparently bar-hopping, and the others were still within Vertin's suitcase which the Timekeeper kept with her. She had yet to check up on the Timekeeper’s progress. While she believed in Vertin’s capabilities, she often had a habit of straying away from the mission when she found something else more interesting; it was a trait of her’s that dated back to their SPDM days.

No matter, she’d check up on her later. For now, she had her own investigations to carry out.

Atsushi Nakajima… That boy struck her as odd. His clothing, albeit torn, looked similar to the Foundation’s uniforms. He also had a faint trace of Arcane energy. It was hardly there and her senses might not be as sensitive as Vertin’s, but any Arcanist who used their gifts would know what Arcane energy felt like.

An irregular thrum of life. An innate glow that could be dampened but couldn’t be taken away. Only those of Arcanist blood could use it and, in turn, only they could feel it.

As the SPDM’s most outstanding graduate, she was convinced of one thing. Atsushi Nakajima is an exhibit that should be transferred to the Foundation in order to educate and shape him and his Arcane skill for the greater good of mankind. The thing was… his uniform implied that he was, or had been, part of this program already.

With this clue, she had done some digging into a few files. To her surprise, Atsushi’s name was already registered into the database underneath one of the orphanages that the Foundation kept in Japan in order to find children from the Arcanist race. The thing was, he was far past the age when he should have been enrolled in SPDM’s courses. This discovery then prompted her to call Madam Z with Ms. Radio’s help.

“I wanted to learn your insights on the matter.” Sonetto said. The knobs on the green radio in front of her creaked and turned by themself as Ms. Radio tried to get a better connection.

Madam Z’s voice came through. It sounded grainy through the bad signal and her tone sounded tired. “I see. Thank you for your report, Sonetto. I will file this with the Japanese branch of the Foundation for a thorough investigation.”

Inwardly, Sonetto sighed in relief. At least this would not repeat with the other, younger children in the orphanage. The idea of what treatment Atsushi had gone through to come out with practically rags for clothes horrified her to no end.

“Sonetto.” Madam Z’s voice cut her out of her thoughts. “This is in regards to your investigation. When you meet the Timekeeper again, can you inform her that the Foundation has scheduled a meeting with Mr. Taneda and she has been chosen to attend on our behalf?”

“Of course, I will alert her right away.”

“Thank you. If that’s all, I will be going now.”

“Understood, may the peace be with us.”

The radio went static and Sonetto let her go. She sighed to herself before getting up. “Thank you for your help, Ms. Radio.” She said with a smile.

“It's my pleasure!” The radio responded cheerfully. The blue flower tucked in-between her antennas swayed softly as she began to float upwards. “What do you plan on doing next, Ms. Sonetto?”

“I…”

It takes a few moments for her to come up with a concrete plan. The first step would always be ‘find Timekeeper’ but then what? What should she do next? Should she inform Vertin about the new discoveries she found on Atsushi and start a sub-investigation before the Foundation could start an official one or should she immediately go through with what Madam Z asked of her. Between both options, they shared the same amount of urgency but…

“I’m going to find the Timekeeper. Please stay here, Ms. Radio, I will send updates as soon as I can.”

Between both, she has already made her choice.

“What do you plan on doing, Miss?” Ms. Radio asked, her knobs turned and squeaked in anticipation as the blue flower on her case fluttered as she floated upwards.

Her journey with the Timekeeper had always taught her unpredictability was sometimes an invaluable ally. She would put these teachings to good use.

–

“Sorry, I’m not into men.”

The warehouse was destroyed, Atsushi was lying on the floor with Dazai standing over him, and Vertin’s suspicions were confirmed after seeing Atsushi transform into a rabid tiger that attacked anything in its path before Dazai stopped him with a single touch.

During both occurrences, there was an unmistakable spike in Arcane energy but it was definitely weaker than an actual Arcanist’s. It felt like a Mixed’s – a person with both Arcanist and Human blood’s – skill but that had to be confirmed.

“Mr. Da-” 

The warehouse door slammed open, completely cutting her off. “Dazai!”

A familiar man yelled out from the front of the entrance. Kunikida stood there, looking positively annoyed. If Vertin didn’t know any better, she would have assumed that he was one of those strict teachers back at SPDM.

“You’re late, Kunikida. I’ve caught our tiger.”

“That kid?” Kunikida paused when he saw Atsushi on the ground. “It was him?”

Dazai nodded. “Yep, he might not remember anything when he transforms.”

“For goodness’ sake…” The blonde man sounded even more annoyed. “At least warn me beforehand. I was so alarmed I even had to call off-duty agents. Be sure to treat them and Miss Vertin afterward.”

Vertin, who was usually more of an observer than a bystander, was a bit surprised that her presence was realized amidst their conversation. “Oh, no thank you. The compensation should be enough.”

Kunikida looked at her oddly before shaking his head. “Well then, we appreciate your help in our investigation. It’s a bit late so is it alright if your compensation can wait until tomorrow?”

Vertin nodded. She tended to wait longer when it came to compensation from the Foundation. “That’s alright with me. Though, what do you plan on doing with him?” She gestured at Atsushi who was now being checked over by a blonde kid she had noticed walking in with Kunikida along with an intimidating looking woman and a man who looked like he walked straight out of a London literary classic.

At the question, Kunikida glanced at Atsushi as well. “I… have no idea. We’ll probably turn him in to the authorities. I can’t think of anything else we can possibly do.”

“Why not take him into the Agency?” Dazai piped up with a light smile, seemingly unaware of the stares everyone shot at him.

A moment of silence ensued as everyone in the room stared at him as if he had grown another head.

“WHAT?!”

–

“Preacher, do you truly believe that an investigation into this matter will be worth it?” A black haired man asked as he leisurely mixed up a concoction. Was it a cocktail or was it a poison? Nobody really knew what the young owner of The Walden liked to mix up.

The Preacher, a woman with red hair and a somber expression, looked up from her lap. “Yes, I am certain that it will.”

This was all for their mission, to revive their greatest leader, Arcana. If all it took was for new blood to join Manus Vindictae, she would do everything she could. Arcana was, after all, the only person who showed her the truth she sought for herself the entire life; a truth bitterly hidden underneath an island of lies. She owed her a favor of the same magnitude – an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.

“This discovery is precious to our plans, Mr. Forget Me Not. Considering that these so-called “Ability users” have weaker, albeit, more versatile Arcanum magic than pure-blooded Arcanists, surely there is one that can defy death itself.”

Forget Me Not tilted his head at her, setting the cocktail shaker he had to the side. “If such a person exists, are you going to persuade them to join our group or the ritual to revive our leader?”

The Preacher was silent as she stood, walking towards a window that showed only ruins until the eye could see. “When the time is right, I will have made up my mind.”