The Vaiie Records

“We’re nearly here Young master” - the warm voice of the older man reverberated throughout the limousine, though when he checked in the read mirror the boy was still looking through the window unbothered by the comments, nevertheless the man continued speaking:

“Who would’ve thought both of Your father passed away nearly at the same time as Your mother, perhaps true lovers like them couldn’t last on this earth by themselves, Haha” - the uncomfortable laugh earned the older man a rather angry look from the boy, but soon after he returned to looking through the window.

“Such a good father that he left us to pursue his career was it? If not for him Mom would still be alive”

“Now now, his job was rather, eh, “Peculiar” let’s say, I’m sure he had Your best interest at heart, otherwise why would he leave everything to You in his will?”

“To torment me all the way from his grave, I guess. Whatever, I came just to deal with the formalities, I’m leaving as soon as We sort the stuff out”

“Haha, We’ll see about that. Anyway, we’re here, young master…”

As the car stopped the boy lifted his face from his hand, and began unbuckling his seatbelt, as he turned around to open the door the older man was already standing outside of it, and with a smile opened it for him. With a rather uncomfortable look on his face the only words he could muster up were a simple “Thank you”.

As he got out of his seat he walked a bit further, and looked at the building in front of him. Its beige color and older architecture mixed well with the city, but the most impressive thing about it was its size. Though it didn’t seem extremely wide, it was high enough that the boy couldn’t make out the top of it. He looked at it for a while before shaking off his admiration and checking on the older man.

“Impressive, right? Your new home that is…”

“Well, I guess it is a bit bigger than I expected, but it’s not enough to win me over.”

The Man continued to throw a smile at the boy.

“Let’s go inside, shall we?”

While the boy waited for Gregory to catch up, he looked around the rest of the surroundings, and similarly to the massive building, the pavement, the green bushes leading up to the entrance, and even the sliding door, all seemed of the highest quality. As he followed the man inside. The soft carpet that was on the floor and the golden chandeliers took the attention of the boy, before he noticed that the older man was speaking with a woman behind the counter.

“Oh, Mr. Gregory, You’re finally back! I presume that’s the Young Master?”

“That’s right, I’m just gonna give him a tour of the penthouse first of all, before dealing with any formalities.

“Oh my! How lucky You are, getting such a fortune at Your age!”

“Eh… Thank You, I guess?”

“If You ever feel like settling down, I can introduce You to my daughter, she’s around Your age, I’m sure You’d fit in together nicely!”

“Right… I’ll think about it”

“Anyway, mr Gregory, now that I take a good look at him, he really is old master’s son, the resemblance is almost uncanny”

“I think so too, takes me back to when I first started serving the old master, I guess even an old man like me can get nostalgic…”

“Oh please! You look like You haven’t aged a day, and look at me, wrinkles from top to bottom!”

“Some say wrinkles add to woman’s beauty Ms Nicole, haha, I’d like to chat more, but we’ve had to skip Lunch and I can’t keep young master hungry”

“Oh My! My sincerest apologies! It was nice meeting You young master, I won’t hold You up anymore, all I can say is that mr Gregory will treat to You to the best food You’ve ever tasted”

“No worries, it was nice meeting You as well, Ms Nicole”

“Shall we go then?” - the old man turned towards the boy as he asked, and they both began heading deeper into the building.

Both of them stayed silent, until they reached the elevator, which looked surprisingly modern when compared to the rest of the building. Gregory signaled for the boy to enter first, and while he still felt pretty uncomfortable with the treatment he obliged. As he went to the back of the elevator, the older man pressed one of the buttons on the panel, and with the door slowly closing they began chatting away.

“Gregory huh… sounds nice, Can I call You that?”

“You’re free to call me whatever You want young master”

“I should’ve expected that answer…”

The two of them stood only listening to the movement of the elevator before the older man seemed to remember something and hurriedly asked the boy:

“Ah, one more thing young master, You’ve yet to meet Amana ,right?”

“Yeah, sorry, it doesn’t ring a bell, who’s that? Someone my father remarried? ”

“Hmm…” - the butler seemed to think how to answer the question pretty deeply - “ I think “Sister” would fit most appropriately here”

“Sister, huh, You didn’t mention Father had another child”

“Ah, well… You’ll see for Yourself…”

The confusing answer earned the butler a rather weirded out look from the boy, but he continued to maintain his professional attitude even under that.

“Looks like we’ve arrived”

At the same time Gregory said those words the elevator’s door opened, revealing a grand penthouse, which was way more modern than the lobby and the building from the outside, but that difference wasn’t jarring, and instead it only accentuated the prestige of everything. The boy was once again stunned upon seeing it, but after noticing that Gregory was clearly anticipating his reaction his cheeks got a bit red and he tried to change topics.

“When are we going to deal with all the formal stuff, I really wanna just get it out of the way and go back to living my life”

“Now now, don’t worry young master, we’ll get to it right after dinner, I could never lie to you”

“Well, If You say so”

“Gregory, You’re back, is that the young master?” - The voice of the woman came from deeper inside of the penthouse, and as the boy turned his head to check he realized she was leaning on one of the pillars, unsure whether she was always standing there and he didn’t notice, or if she just popped up.

She had relatively long, dark-green hair, and a much more casual outfit compared to the rest of the people he saw in the building so far, which included a pretty large hoodie.

“Amana, good timing, I was hoping You’d get to meet the Young master before we start making dinner”

“Don’t worry, I can do the explaining myself”

She said as she approached closer, and as soon as she was close enough she started inspecting the boy’s face.

“He really does look like Father doesn’t he?”

As he stood uncomfortably his eyes followed her and soon after she took a step back.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, you know?”

“Y-Yeah” - He said still in an uncomfortable tone, which seemed to leave her disappointed in its own way.

“Anyway, Nice to meet you, “Big Bro”’

“Eh, Nice to meet You too”

As the butler sensed the rather awkward tension between them he tried to resolve the situation:

“Say, Young master, why don’t you check out Your Father’s office while I prepare dinner?It’s just right around the corner”

“I doubt I’ll need anything from there, but considering I’ll probably just get in the way in the Kitchen I can do that.”

“That’s perfect, I’ll call You as soon as it’s ready”

As he started walking he looked at Amana, but she quickly caught on and simply answered

“Oh, don’t worry I need to do some things first, but I’ll be back by dinnertime”

“All right” As the boy said that he relatively hesitantly headed deeper into the penthouse, looking in both directions multiple times, before looking at the butler who signaled with finger which way he meant. As he disappeared behind one of the walls the two of them continued to talk

“So, does he know?”

“No, I think he doesn’t have the slightest clue”

The girl smiled as she looked at Gregory - “Taking him to the auction like this, You really are a monster, you know that?

“Haha! I learned from You and the old master“

The boy opened the heavy leather door and entered a relatively spacey office area even if it only had walls filled with bookshelves and a desk with a computer and a chair near one of the large windows. As he made an effort not to slam the door he slowly began walking around the room, which with its more antique style didn’t seem to fit as much with the rest of the penthouse.

Eventually he made his way to the desk itself, and sat on the reclined office chair. As he did he put his hands to support his neck and put his feet on the desk as rocked back and forth on the chair, but even if he made an effort to keep the rhythm stable he ended up going both faster and then slower before eventually coming to a stop.

“Man, I really can’t relax in this place” - He said as he was taking his feet down from the desk and unintentionally knocked a picture from it. After which he leaned a bit before picking it up.

The picture was black and white, and in it a photo of a man from around chest-up who looked almost exactly like the boy was wearing some sort of professional school uniform. The expressionless face added to the ambience of everything.

“I guess we really do look alike.” - he said before placing it back on the desk, he contemplated a bit whether to turn on the computer but decided against it, and instead observed the city through the window.

Despite the massive height they were at, even when he looked down at the street below he didn’t feel scared. He looked at the different shops down below, people walking with their pets and chatting, people hanging clothes on their balconies, at the life that was in the city

“So that’s the view you chose, right dad?”

Still bored and unable to relax he paced around the room some more, and eventually began looking through the many books that were on the shelves. He started with the shelf right next to the window. but that one seemed to contain just law books and dictionaries to all sorts of languages, and after opening a couple of them and realizing he can’t read anything that’s written he shamefully put them back in.

Next shelf focused on history, archeology and geography. Similarly to the previous one, it was also made up of different languages from all around the world, but luckily this time, a lot of them had diagrams and pictures so he could work out more or less what it was focusing on. And while he couldn’t read the text, the pictures seemed to encompass various sites around the world, Africa, Europe, Asia, Americas, there even were some locations which he didn’t recognise but he chucked that to his poor geography knowledge.

Just as he put one of the books back, and began moving towards the next shelf, he got a bad hunch and stopped for a while before moving forward. He took a quick look at the shelf and as he was reaching for one of the books with his finger, he pulled it a bit too hard and it fell to the floor. He got scared that he might’ve damaged it and went to pick it up straight away, but when he was about to reach for the book, a corner of his eye caught something interesting. In the, now missing, spot of the book there seemed to be another one, hidden deeper behind. As the boy looked at its spine he seemed mesmerized by it. Its deep red color, the strange texture of the cover, and a weird smell which only got stronger as he moved his face closer to the gap. He put one of his hands inside the gap, pushing some of the books out of the way, and while the unnerving feeling in his chest grew stronger, he couldn’t stop. The closer he got the weirder the book seemed, and he could swear it seemed to vibrate by itself, slowly moving towards him. His breathing got heavier, and he was just about to reach it but then…

With the sound of the door opening the boy pulled back straight away, and with one swift move took the book from the floor and placed it randomly somewhere on the shelf.

“Young master?” - the concerned voice of the older man sounded through the room.

“Ah sorry, I was just, eh, thinking about something, you know?”

“Dinner is ready, I called you a couple times, but you didn’t come, so I thought I’d come get You personally”

“Ah, Thank you, and once again my bad” - the boy hurried out of the room - “ So what’d you make today?”

“My special steak, with a couple of different sides”

“Sounds great, I’m starving”

As the butler was closing the door, he took a quick glance at the spot from which the book was missing, his face quickly turned into an unnatural grin for a split second before going back to normal.

They walked through the apartment, and made their way onto a large dining table, next to which Amana was already sitting near one of the ends. It was way too spacious just for three people, but what made it even more surprising is that the boy noticed there were only two chairs.

“Are you not eating with us?” -

“Oh don’t worry Young master, I snacked a bit when I was making it so I’m not hungry”

“Well if you say so…”

As he took the seat on the opposite end Amana moved closer to the table as well. After a brief silence the boy wanted to break the uncomfortable atmosphere which only he seemed to mind:

“So, how long did You live with father?”

“As long as I can remember, why are You asking?”

“Ah it’s just , you know, I thought if he left a family behind he wouldn’t start a new one right away”

“Family, huh…”

He got once again confused with the answer, but before he could think of anything, Gregory placed a plate in front of him, and smiled. The steak stretched pretty much over the whole plate. It was very clearly browned, but didn’t look burned, and the small green spices on top accentuated its quality. As he looked up he realized Amana was already eating it, so he quickly picked up

“Not quite to Your liking, young master?”

“Eh, no it looks good, I think. It's just that I never really ate something like this when mom was alive, so I got a bit surprised that’s all”

“I see…”

He looked at Amana as he tried to replicate the way she ate, but when she noticed she took a small pause between one of the bites and started speaking

“Knife in Your right hand, fork in the left, keep your hands level and take small cuts to enjoy the flavor”

“Thanks”

As he followed her directions the cut off a piece of it pretty easily and after cutting through it like a piece of butter, he took the whole chunk in mouth and started to chew, his face instantly brightened up, and before he even finished fully chewing he said enthusiastically:

“This is amazing!”

“Haha, I told you It’s my special”

“People would kill to taste steak made by Gregory, you know? “- Amana added, though she did it before her bites and not with a mouthful of food like Shun, coincidentally she has also finished her plate, so at the same as she got up and started going somewhere -” All right, I’ll get ready and see You guys downstairs, all right?”

“Yeah that’s perfect”

“Downstairs?” - the boy said as he continued eating

“Ah, I forgot to mention it, young master, but there’s somewhere I wanna take you first. Your father had a couple of tickets booked to a certain event, and it’d be a shame if they went to waste.”

“I’m really not sure, I thought we were going to deal with the legal stuff right off the bat”

“Trust me, I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself one way or another”

He still wasn’t sure but when bombarded with the older man’s smile he really felt like he couldn’t refuse

“I guess I can go along for just a bit longer”

“Great! Let’s get You ready straight away!”

“Huh? Are we going already, right now?”

Gregory checked time on his watch before answering

“It is quite a long-ride, and it’d be better if we arrived before the main event young master”

“Let me just finish the food and then I’m ready to go”

It was probably the first time he seemed to throw a relatively disappointed face at how the boy approached the situation, but soon went back to normal.

“I’ll show you your father’s wardrobe, I think the clothes should fit well enough for one occasion.”

“Oh, right, I guess it is my bad thinking this outfit would be fine…”

Gregory didn’t rush him even after saying all that, but once Amana was gone and the boy got a better hang of how to handle the cutlery properly, he cut bigger pieces of the meat and was done in no time.

This time they went to his father’s bedroom, and unlike the office this one blended with the rest of the penthouse quite well, as the older man opened the closet a large array of suits appeared, which were illuminated both from top and bottom by lights in the closet.

“Well then, pick one You like, young master”

“Eh, All right”

As he said it he began inspecting each one of them more cautiously, the materials were nice to touch, some silky smooth, others having a bit rougher texture to them, but it felt nice to touch despite the disparity between them. The colors for all of them were mostly darker, but there were some extravagant ones, with a brighter pink or neon green. He couldn’t settle between the two of them, one navy blue and the other more of a dark gray. He looked at Gregory, who instantly responded

“ I believe the Navy Blue would fit you better, young master”

“Is this the one Father wore the most?”

“Hmm… I don’t believe so, I believe we left his favorite on a trip not too long ago”

“I see, well, I’ll get changed and we can go”

“Very well”

Despite him saying that the butler didn’t budge an inch and as the boy was slowly trying to get his clothes off his face was getting a bit more red.

“Sorry, can I have some privacy”

“Oh, my bad young master, I thought you’d be used to it”

Gregory left the room, and just a short while after the boy followed through the door, despite the high quality of the suit it did seem like it made him a bit uncomfortable, but it did indeed suit him very well.

“All right, let’s go then”

“As you wish”

Both of them approached the elevator, and Shun pressed the button to call for it. As he stood trying to adjust his tie, it seemed like the elevator arrived much faster now, than when they were first riding it, and similarly the journey as it traveled back to the ground floor seemed much faster.

Once they were on the ground floor and went into the lobby, Amana was already waiting for them while sitting on one of the small couches. Similarly to the boy, she seemed to be much more formally than before, with two small pins in her hair and a slick dark-green dress which almost matched her hair.

“I thought You’d never come”

“My bad, getting into the suit took longer than I expected”

“Well then, both of You, shall we go?”

While neither of them actually vocalized their answer their mannerism made it clear they were ready.

“Ah, One more thing before we go” - He pulled two ornamental masks out of his pocket, which covered upper portions of the face before handing them to boy and Amana.

“What are these for?” - The boy asked as he was inspecting the front and back of his one.

“Everyone is gonna be wearing them, you could say it’s part of the appeal”

“I don’t think I’ll get used to stuff like this”

“Haha, I’m sure you will, young master”

He put it on, and despite there not being any sort of strap to keep it on, the mask seemed to fit onto his face by itself. When he looked up at Amana and Gregory, they’ve also put on their mask, and for a strange reason, he felt like he wouldn’t recognize them had he not known they were there before.

“I guess these really do work”

“They are top of the craft after all”

“Are we going then?” - Her tone wasn’t aggressive, but it was clear

“Haha, my bad”

They slowly went outside and into the same parked limousine from before, though this time Gregory let Amana inside of it first. He looked at her as they both waited

“It’s just that, you know, you seem really used to all this,

“It’s nothing special, you’ll get used to it too”

After his little chat he soon assumed the same position with his hand supporting his chin. Soon after Gregory started the car and they got moving straight away. As the boy was observing the night city around him, the slow and steady rumbling of the engine reverberated through the car seat, and soon enough he started to get sleepy. Even if he tried to keep awake, soon enough his eyes were closed and he was in deep sleep.