The Vaiie Records Part 2

A woman preparing food in the pot looked worried as she looked throughout the window. As she stirred the pot tirelessly she could hear the front door open quietly, before being slammed with force, at which moment she lowered the gas and quickly ran towards the entrance. The young boy that stood in front of the now closed door was drenched from the rain, with bruises and scratches on his face, and after seeing them the woman had to hold back her tears, but stopped herself when she realized the young boy started crying instead, as he ran towards her, before both of them clutched into a hug.

“Mom!”

“Shh, it’s ok, it's ok… What happened?”

“Some boys… They were throwing some girl’s toy,I told them to stop and then and then…” - the boy couldn’t finish his sentence due to the tears overflowing his face

“They beat You?”

“I tried to run, but they were faster than me…”

“And the girl? Did she get her toy back?”

“Yeah…”

She pulled the boy a bit away from her and placed her hands on his shoulders

“Then you won, but, next time, if you’re slower than them, then turn back and punch as hard as you can!”

“B-but I thought You said fighting is bad?”

“There's no shame in running away, but sometimes it’s not an option, and if you only have a single path that you think is right, You might as well go all-out, right?”

“R-Right!”

“Good! Now, Mom is going to find them and have a talk, but let’s get you all cleaned up first, I’ll make some hot chocolate too”

“Yeah!”

As the little boy took his mom’s hand when she was trying to lead him deeper into the house, his vision started to get more fuzzy, and as it was fading away, his body shook itself in shock before he realized he was back in the limousine.

“A nightmare, young master?”

“Hm? No, it wasn’t a dream, more like a memory. Did I miss the event?”

“I see, Don’t worry young master, I think you woke up at the perfect time, we’re just about to get there”

He tried looking out of the window, but it was already dark enough that he could barely see outside, combined with the fact that he didn’t recognise the area, he had no idea where they were. But soon the bright lights from the large building entered his sight. It was in a similar older style to the building of his father’s company, but this one seemed even older and surprisingly even more prestigious. The lights were illuminating it from the bottom and shining into the sky. It was the only building in the vicinity, but because of its size it covered quite a large area, with the rest being a forest. He was so invested when observing it that he didn’t notice they had already arrived, and only seemed to notice when Gregory turned off the engine in front of the main door. The boy left his seat first, he waited for Amana to walk from the other side of the car. Then both of them waited as Gregory handed the keys to the limousine to one of the attendants, before smiling at the two of them.

“Let’s go, young master”

The three of them walked slowly up the dark-red carpet laid out before them. They slowly approached the large ornamental door, which two of the assistants that stood on either side of them slowly opened as they saw all three of them approaching. A grand hall was revealed in front of them, the space was tall enough to cover at least 3 floors, though the upper levels were only contained to the sides, leaving the middle of the hall empty. The center was filled with a red carpet with golden embroidery on its sides. The Beige color of the bricks the building was built from made it stand out. The large number of people chatted away in different places, some stood in the center of the room in a large group, on one side there was a table with food and drinks, and on the other what seemed to be filled with casino games, though it was just roulettes and card tables. He couldn’t see if there was anything on the upper levels, but some people seemed to be observing the bottom from up above.

“We seems to still have some time left” - Both Amana and Shun looked at Gregory as he said this while looking at his watch

“Well you guys enjoy Yourselves, I have some things I need to check first, I’ll meet You before the main event starts”- She said As she left the two of them behind and headed off deeper into the party.

“Hmm, what would You like to do, young master? There are some things I’d like to check before the event starts as well, but I’m happy to accompany You if You wish”

“Don’t worry it’s fine, We’re all here to relax, right? Go enjoy Yourself for once, I’ll find some way kill the time one way or another”

“As you wish, You don’t have worry about keeping track of the time, It shouldn’t take too long so I’ll find you before the main event starts”

“All right, but I’ll be mindful anyway”

Gregory did a little bow before him, and headed off. He seemed a little unsure and stood by the entrance for a while, before a couple walked from behind him and seemed quite mad that he was blocking the entrance, so he decided to just walk around for now. He was a bit thirsty so he made his way to the drink stand, and stood next to a group of people chatting. As he took one of the drinks, he seemed reluctant to try it at first, due to its smell, so instead he started talking with the people next to him.

“So, Is this also your first time?”

The two of them stopped their chuckles and looked at him without saying anything. Even through their mask their formalism made it clear they were pretty confused by his actions. Even then after a quick pause he continued speaking.

“I’m Shun, and You are?” - he said as he put out his hand for a handshake, but neither of the two people reciprocated, and once the woman started whispering something into the man’s ear, the boy pulled his hand back, downed the drink and left.

“I really shouldn’t have come” he whispered under his nose, though luckily the mask hid his red face.

As he walked away at a pretty fast pace towards the center of the hall, he ended up bumping into a blonde man who was doing the same. Though both of them seemed to not get hurt from it, Shun apologized straight away

“I’m really sorry, I wasn’t looking”

“Haha, It’s All right!” - The loud voice of his made the people in vicinity stare at both of them

“I’m glad, I’m Shun, and you?”

“My name? Bold! I would accept Your challenge, but I have to depart now, farewell!”

As he said this, he walked past the boy and behind him, a couple of bodyguards who did the same. The blonde man continued speaking very loudly to them, but for some reason it was hard to exactly pinpoint what he was saying.

Even if he didn’t plan to play he thought it’d be a good idea to check the casino part of the hall, so he headed there right after shaking the confusion from the loud blonde man. He walked past some of the card tables, which had people laugh and others throw their belongings in anger, but because he wasn’t quite sure of the rules he moved towards the roulette table, which was currently occupied by a woman with jet-black hair.

“All in on red”

The assistant that was operating the table seemed hesitant to start the roulette, but after a single gulp he spun it. As the people around the table watched the ball spin it began to get slower and slower, before landing on a red number 20. The sweat formed on his face, and with a defeated voice he simply said.

“You won, miss, the payout is $10 million…”

To which she just smiled.

After hearing what amounts people were playing with it, the boy’s eyes became wide in shock, before he decided that perhaps this isn’t a place fit for him either.

The last place for him to check out was one of the upper balcony levels. He walked up the stairs while passing another group of people, when he finally made it to the top only to find Amana looking over the railing, so he made his way towards her.

“You've already finished doing all You had to do?”

She took a quick glance at him, but then went back to looking over the railing with a bored expression.

“It didn’t take too long, And how are you? enjoying yourself?”

He leaned his back on the railing before he answered.

“I don’t think fit in here, You really weren’t kidding about them keeping themselves anonymous

She smiled a bit when he said that

“You’d get used to it, and yeah In a place like this, showing your face here is basically suicide. Wait, did you show it to others?”

“Hm? Oh no no, just introduced myself by name, and even then they seemed pretty weirded out”

“Yeah I’d assume, you’ll probably be talk of the evening for quite some people”

“Why do they care so much anyway, it’s just a part full of rich people, shouldn’t they want to make connections with others or something?”

“Now, who knows…” - she smirked a bit when saying that almost as if knowing the answer

“Seems like You guys are enjoying yourself” - the familiar voice reached their ears.

“Gregory! Did the main event already start?”

“Not quite yet, young master, but we should probably get going now either way”

“All right then, You guys lead the way”

“As you wish…”

The three of them slowly descended down the stairs and made their way into the now long Queue that stretched over the middle of the hall and into one of the doorways, that was on the opposite end from the entrance. The boy seemed to notice a few people he spotted earlier, but he just stayed silently next to Gregory and Amana. The line moved pretty smoothly, but it still took them quite a while to reach the entrance, around which one of the assistants was checking everyone's place.

“Could I have your tickets?”

“Yes, here you go”- Gregory was the one talking to the attendant, as that was probably expected of a butler.

The man seemed to inspect them for a bit before handing them back.

“Perfect, box 50, right in the middle with the perfect view, would you like a copy of the catalog?”

“Oh no, that won’t be necessary”

As he said this he signaled to the two of them that they can go inside, and after walking through a dimly lit hallway, they made it to box 50. It only contained three seats, and had a direct view at the stage. They were on the top row and there were another two rows below them, all curving in a Half circle shape, facing towards the stage. The boy was sure the grand hall was extravagant, but this place seemed to be even more impressive, but without further hesitation, all of them sat down and waited for the main event to begin.

As the lights around started to get dimmer, spotlights around were turned on, and started to illuminate the main stage. Soon after the lights got turned on, and the noise of people moving their chairs got quieter, a man entered from behind a big curtain.

“Welcome Everyone! To the 301st Edition of the Auction! I hope you’ve enjoyed Your night so far, but trust me, the best is yet to come! Let’s not delay this any further, our first item, 20th century, hand written letters between the leaders of the axis!”

As he started describing what was being auctioned, one assistant used a projector to showcase the item on the wall behind the presenter. Despite it seemed pretty flimsy the quality of the projection was really good, and it fit well with the old-vibe

The presenter placed his hand right on his eyebrow and began investigating the audience, before

“And we have a bidder! $100,000 from Booth number 90, $200,000 Million from booth number 87! $1 Million from booth number 90 again, seems like he just can’t let that item go! And that’s $1 Million , once… twice… and sold! I certainly hope you’ll enjoy yourself Mr from Number 90!”

As the auction continued Shun started talking to Gregory about it,

“$5 Million huh, I don't think I could ever compete, not that I planned to anyway… Are you planning to buy something?”

“I’m not particularly interested in anything, but you could participate if you wanted to be a young master, Your Father’s will left everything to You.”

“I guess you’re right, but It just doesn’t feel right, but out of curiosity, how much could I spend?”

“I guess today we could muster up an upwards of $100 Billion”

The boy's eyes became wider, but he didn’t say anything, he couldn’t. He also looked over at Amana but she answered before he could even ask.

“I’m not buying anything either, just came here to watch the main event”

“I see…”

With that said he went back to observing the auction and despite the conversation being brief it did seem like he missed a couple of items being sold off. But after looking at the list he didn’t seem to be really interested in any of them.

The auction went on, a private boat, juggling between 4 different booths, all full of young men but ended on $2 million, even if the man that bought it seemed pretty angry about the price. An engagement ring of one of famous 20th century celebrities, this one seemed to only bounce between an older man who came with a young woman, and an older lady, but eventually it ended up selling for $1.5 million to the older lady. A whole skull of Tyrannosaurus Rex, which surprisingly sold only for $5 million, as only a single booth auctioned it. There were a dozen items which sold for less than $500,000 to a lot of different booths, but they were just normal antique items, which were hard to distinguish from each other.

“And that’s it! Thank you everyone for participating in today’s auction. Your patronage is welcome, as always, and I hope you had a great night!”

As the announcer said those words, a lot of members from the audience got ready to leave, and as they did certain thoughts crossed the boy’s mind. “That’s it?”, even if he wasn’t used to the lifestyle, he certainly felt this was unbecoming of the main event, and his disappointment showed on his face for a split second, before he started to get up as well.

“Don’t worry young master, it’s not over yet”

“Huh? But the auctioneer said that’s it for today”

“It’s fine, sit down and you’ll see for Yourself.”

He sat down back in his chair, a bit reluctantly, and yet a part of him was glad it wasn’t over. As he crossed his arms and waited, the lights that illuminated the room were all turned off, and as he turned around himself restlessly to check what happened, they came back on, and somehow the booths which were empty disappeared, and all of the remaining booths have been moved closer towards the stage.

He didn’t have enough time to process what happened, before the same auctioneer appeared on stage, and as he lifted his hands up, most of the remaining audience erupted into an uncontrollable laughter.

“I know I know..” - the auctioneer tried to get to them through their laughs - “ It was pretty boring at first, but I told you it’d be fun to see them like this, I mean, did You see number 48s face when he saw he actually won the auction and had to buy that shitty boat? I nearly had to go off-stage because I couldn’t hold it in”

As he told the story the crowd began to laugh even more.

“Anyways, the true ladies and gentlemen, as the clock strikes twelve, the time for the true action to begin, I welcome you, to the 301st edition of Akashic Auction! Let’s get to it straight away, since I took so much of Your time already, so here it is, the still active piece of the starcraft which crashed at Roswell back in 1947!”

Two men pushed a trolley from behind one of the curtains and onto the main stage, after which the auctioneer took the blanket off, revealing a giant slab of gray metal, which while definitely looking futuristic, gave the boy a weird vibe..

“And since I've been wanting to do this ever since we got our hands on it, here we go…” - As he said this, he let go of a metal pipe, and as it was falling on the object, it seemed to melt into nothingness.

“Ahh, I knew it would feel good, and I’m sure it would feel good for whoever decides to bet on it! And I see $10 Million from booth 27! Ah quickly beaten, $15 Million from booth 43, is this it for this secret treasure? Oh! No, with the corner of my eye I see a $25 Million bet from Booth number 4! And with that, all other hands go down, that will be $25 Million, once… twice.. and sold!”

As the man said this, and with a snap of his fingers, the object seemed to engulf in flames for a split second before disappearing.

“Now, onto the next item…”

The boy couldn’t believe his eyes, as he looked around himself, both Amana and Gregory didn’t have a surprised reaction to what just happened on stage, and instead they seemed to enjoy the performance quite a bit. Not being sure what to do, he simply looked back onto the main stage, at which point they were bringing in something else.

This time, one of the attendants brought a small book that rested on a fashionable cushion. Once he got close enough, the auctioneer pulled out a glove from one of his pockets, and put it on his hand before

“Straight from the Vatican Archives, confiscated during the Salem trials, one of the original Grimoires passed on since King Solomon’s times!”

As he said this, the attendant who brought the item, rolled up his sleeve, and the auctioneer placed his other hand on it.

“Now, for the demonstration!”

The boy was not sure what were the next words that came out of the auctioneer’s mouth, but in a split second after that, a sizzling sound could be heard throughout the auction house. He lifted his hand from the attendant’s forearm, and lifted it up so everyone could see the unnatural purple burn scars that appeared on it. And upon seeing it, the majority of the audience clapped.

“Now, what can I expect from you ladies and gentlemen!? Oh!? $40 Million from booth 20 straight away! And with that I think this lady scared everyone off from betting! That’s $40 Million once… twice… and sold!”

The boy was stunned once again, but this time felt like he couldn’t hold it in. As he turned to Gregory hoping for an explanation , he was already facing him as if expecting to be asked.

“What’s the deal with all of this, what just happened to his arm!?”

“He just said, didn’t he, young master? A simple spell from a grimoire.”

Upon hearing this the boy felt a bit defeated, because that really was what happened, yet he couldn’t believe it. As he turned towards Amana, her reaction was similar, she just simply smiled smugly while he looked all confused. He once again sat back in his chair, unnerved watching what was going to be brought up next.

“And our penultimate item…”

As he did this, a trolley similar to the one which rolled the mysterious piece of metal, but this time the white sheet which was covering it, was moving unnaturally. When it finally reached the main point of the stage, the auctioneer ripped the curtain off, revealing a grotesque scarlet red tentacle, and with a foul, yet familiar, stench that filled the whole room.

“I can’t believe we got our hands on this! 15th Demon’s King flesh, still alive!”

As he unveiled it and said those words, a lot of the audience were very vocal with their amazement, bar for a couple, which included Shun, Amana and Gregory, though the latter were still enjoying the show.

“It took us ages to catch and procure properly, so I certainly hope you enjoy the show! Now…”

He signaled to one of the attendants, who brought a woman from behind the curtains onto the stage. As one of the men pushed her onto the stage she kept resisting and trying to go backwards, but the force of people pushing her from behind was too much. As the boy watched it he clutched his hands harder onto the railing.

She looked back at once of the men, but upon seeing that their aces didn't change, she turned around and slowly faced the laid out flesh on the trolley, as she reluctantly extended her hand towards it, at which point, a small piece of the flesh molded itself, and launched itself at the woman’s arm. She screamed in panic as everyone else watched, and as the live piece of meat seemed to start enveloping her, it eventually reached her mouth muffling her screams, and soon after they completely stopped.

In a single moment after that, all of the red flesh that was enveloping her dropped onto the floor, and slithered back onto the demon’s tentacle, leaving nothing but a puddle of blood and bones on the floor, with an even stronger stench than before.

Once it went back, and the auctioneer turned towards the audience for a reaction, he was once again met with applause and amazement from the majority of them, and while the boy looked around to see them react to a death like this, combined with what he just saw, he quickly stood up and vomited, before turning back to look at Gregory and Amana, just to see them look at him with a satisfied look on their faces.

“I thought, just maybe, I can give this a try, to check if this life was really worth it for Father to abandon Me and Mom. But I can’t take it, I’m getting out of here”

As he said this he angrily made his way towards the exit of the booth, but noticed that the two men standing in front of the locked door wouldn’t let him through, as he tried to go through it, they extended their hands and stopped him from going further, he tried multiple times, each with more force but to no avail. As he got more frustrated he began hearing Gregory chuckling behind him.

“Oh, young master…”

When he turned around his eyes widened in shock once again. Even with the mask it was clear that Gregory’s Sclera turned pure black, with the iris of his eyes turning golden and becoming narrower. All of his teeth were also visible because of the wide grin on his face,

“You’ve seen it, the true nature of what this world has to offer, you can’t get out now.”

He knew Gregory wasn’t joking, even though his appearance was scary and he felt intimated, it didn’t feel like Gregory would kill him. Not being sure, he noticed that Amana was also staring at him with a smile on her face, though she looked the same as before.

“You knew all this time!?”

“Yeah, I Told you, it’s nothing special once you get used to it.”

“Why didn’t You tell me!? That all of this is some sick game to all of you just to spite me, because father left the fortune to me? You must’ve known I was planning to resign from it!? And what even is all of this, magic, aliens, demons? You expect me to just look at all this and pretend like all of this is normal?”

“Because it’d be fun”

There was nothing that could’ve prepared him for this answer, with his mouth wide opened unsure of what to respond to, Gregory broke the silence between the two of them.

“Now, young master, since you’ve gotten it out of Your system, let’s continue watching the auction, the finale is about to start”

He quickly rushed to the railing, but it wasn’t out of respect for Gregory, but rather out of curiosity as to what the next item was.

“And now, for what everyone was waiting for, “The Key” is finally here!”

When the auctioneer said those words, the entire audience seemed to erupt into cheers, unlike anything from what was previously presented. This time a large box covered with a red curtain was pulled onto the stage, it was big enough that two people had to pull it in, compared to the other items.

As the boy waited with anticipation as the Auctioneer unveiled what was inside, a swift motion of his hand, he threw the curtain right onto the floor, and underneath it, was a giant glass box, with a beautiful woman inside, which seemed overwhelmed with the situation as she looked around the whole audience hall, to which the audience seemed to cheer even more.

“Now, I’m sure everyone else is aware of what object, let's go straight to buying! And that’s $50 million right away from booth 29…”

As the bets bounced between all of the booths, he quickly looked and Gregory

“What is this supposed to mean?”

“A product being auctioned off, young master, just like the rest of the sale”

“$150 Million!” - The auctioneer could sometimes be heard by the two of them as they discussed

“But what’s the deal with “The Key”?! Just what are they gonna do to her!?”

“You’re not a boy, but it feels even too vulgar for me to say, so I’ll leave it to Your imagination…”

“$500 Million!”

“You really expect me to sit-by, when I see stuff like this happen!? If I knew what was gonna happen I would’ve tried to save that woman earlier!”

“Young master, do You really think that’d make a difference?”

He tried to answer but he couldn’t so Gregory continued speaking

“301st edition of this auction, withs tens or hundreds more happening around the world since ancient times, and not even counting what people do in their private homes, how many lives do You think were taken in total? How is this any different? That's the world you now live in, young master. “

“1$ Billion! We finally crossed that mark!”

While he argued with Gregory, he took a quick glance at the girl, and noticed that she seemed to be looking at him as well. Although one of her eyes was covered up by her bangs, just seeing one of her eyes was enough to nearly break the boy into tears, the rest of her face felt familiar to him, and the longer he looked at her, the more he got reminded of something said to him once in the past. The familiar voice which once spoke to him, but was gone now.

“$5 Billion! I’m sure we can’t get higher!”

“Gregory, you’ve said that there is no going back, right? I’ve seen too much, if I was to leave, even if I pleaded to never speak of anything I’ve seen here, I’d probably be found in a ditch not even a day later, right?” - His voice was now much calmer than before.

“You catch on quick, young master”

“You’ve also said that my father’s fortune is mine to use, right?”

Gregory smile widened “That’s correct”

“What’s with the sudden change, I’m kinda disappointed, I thought you were gonna be a crybaby for longer” - Amana joked at him

“All of this just reminded me of something, and I think I know what I have to do, if running away is not an option…”

“$10 Billion! Is this finally it?!”

“Then I just gotta fight back as hard as I can”

As he said those words, he seemed to lessen his grip on the railings, before slowly raising his hand, and even before being chosen to speak, simply said.

“$50 Billion.”

Every booth and even the auctioneer stopped talking when they heard the price being mentioned.

“What a turn of events! Booth 50, which has not raised their hand a single time, obliterating every price we had so far fivefold!”

He could see that some booth owners stared at him with resentment, while others discussed what just happened with people that came with them, but even the people who have raised the price before, didn’t seem to raise their hand now.

“Forgive me for my pause, but I am as stunned as You are ladies and gentlemen! But since none of you are raising Your hands, I have to call it! $50 Billion once…”

“Pretty much half of your father’s fortune, I didn’t expect you to be this crazy, young master…”

“$50 Billion twice…”

“Man You really aren’t used to all this, I’m really glad I tagged along.”

“And Sold! “The Key” goes to the young gentleman in booth 50, for a price of $50 billion!”

“Not quite.” - Since everyone was still watching him, they were clearly able to discern that the boy still had something to say. But since the boy didn’t continue, the auctioneer still felt like he had to take the lead.

“Erm, Is there something you’d like to add, was your bet a mistake?”

“No I’d simply like to correct you on one thing, “The Key” wasn’t bought by booth number 50”

Everyone seemed confused when he said this, even Gregory and Amana who sat next to him, but it was soon clear, when his hands moved towards his face, and took the mask off of his face before tossing it on the ground behind him.

“”The Key '' was bought by me, Shun, current owner of Vaide Corporation. Honestly, I have no clue about any of the things you’ve shown today, it’s my first time seeing something like this, I don’t even want to believe it but just from tonight I can tell that people like you shouldn’t get what they want, and I’ll make sure of it.”

The speech seemed to shock Gregory initially, but he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, on the other hand Amana seemed a bit more panicked about the whole thing, which was unlike her carefree attitude from earlier

“Come for me whenever you like, I don’t care what underhanded methods you guys will use, if anything you will be doing me a favor, because eventually I’ll track all of You either way. I’m not some hero, I didn’t want to be put in a place like this, but since I have no other choice, I’ll make sure I’ll do what’s right. The fact that freaks like you have gotten away with sacrificing thousands for your enjoyment is something that I cannot forgive, and I’ll make sure that you pay the price after all those years.”

The girl in the box seemed to tear up even harder after hearing him say this, but they felt more like tears of relief rather than fear.

Since booth 50 was almost on the highest row after they rearranged the room, it seemed like he was almost looking down at people in all other booths. Since everyone was still surprised no one seemed to say anything, but Amana soon grabbed one of his sided and her anger was clear even if she tried to whisper

“I didn’t think you were this stupid! What are you thinking, I told you revealing your face here is basically suicide,and telling them that you’re gonna find all of them? How many people do You think you’ve just set yourself up against?”

“It’s fine” - he said without breaking eye contact with the audience, which this time made her not sure as to how to respond.

“That’s everything I had to say. Now, Mr Auctioneer, let me get what I paid for so I can get out of here and get to work.”

“Erm, Sure…” - After responding with a confused tone, he snapped his fingers once again, and after being engulfed by flames, the girl in the box was teleported back to the boy’s booth.

She appeared on the ground right behind him, still covered by the piece of cloth she was in the box, while she timidly looked up at him, he saw that her face was more malnourished than he expected. Though it seemed like her tears from earlier have stopped now, all she could say was a simple “Thank You” in a weak voice, which while a bit demoralizing, still put a smile on his face.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Now, we just need to get out of here and fast, somehow” - he turned to Gregory who was chuckling in his seat.

“And how are you gonna do it, young master?”

“I won’t lie to You, I didn’t really think that far… But once we get out of here, I’m sure we’ll manage somehow…”

“It’s part of my duty, so let me tell you one small tip. A part of your father’s fortune that you inherited, not included in any official writing…”

“That being?”

“Me, young master. “

As he looked at Gregory, his face seemed to show some relief.

“I guess I should’ve known something like this was the case… So, can you get us out of here?”

“Of course. But you’ve got to do the running yourself, as long as you run faster than them, I assure you, I’ll eliminate whatever stands in your way”

He looked at the girl, and although the reluctance showed on his face, he still asked.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but do You think you have enough strength to run?”

“Erm… I mean…”

“Oh don’t worry ,young master, I’ll carry the lady”

“Does that include me as well?” - Amana said with a joking tone

“Haha! I’m sorry, I’ve only got two arms, and sadly I’ve got to user their ”

“Amana, I’m really sorry you had to be dragged into all this, you know, even if you’re used to all this I don’t think you are as bad as them.”

“Ahh, I’m over it, I think I might even deserve it after only coming here to check your reaction” - As she said this she got up, and ripped a large chunk off the bottom of her dress, so that it would be easier to run. - “ Don’t worry about me, just focus on keeping up yourself.”

“All right, let’s get out of here, shall we” - As Gregory said this, he grabbed “The Key” with one hand, and threw her over one of his shoulders, which flustered her a bit..

“Yeah”

On Shun’s signal, they rushed towards the entrance of the booth, and the same men which blocked his exit earlier seemed to check something with their earphones, before assuming a fighting stance against the group running at them, but with a swift motion of his hand, Gregory seemed to cut their necks and they dropped to the floor instantly.

As they barged through the door, they started to run straight into the direction they came from, but soon after they began hearing the doors behind them being forced open, and a bunch of people chasing after them. Some looked like the assistants that helped with the auction, but others looked different, although it was clear from their formal appearance they served as bodyguards for the people who came to the auction.

Most of them pulled out handguns as they were chasing the group, and began shooting at them, though luckily none of them were successful at hitting the group, even if a couple of shots seemed to only avoid hitting them narrowly. As they group turned around a corner, they saw a group of men standing at the end of the corridor, and right as they readied their weapons,

The second they turned around the corner, a group of men at the other end of the corridor was waiting for them already, and with a swift motion, all of them pulled up their handguns ready to shoot, however in an instant, Gregory disappeared from the boys vision and reappeared next to the men. It seemed to shock them enough that instead of shooting and Shun and Amana, they quickly switched their targets to Gregory, but it was too late, as by the time their guns were pointing at him, he’d already hit them in their neck hard enough to knock them out, before turning around and waiting for the rest to catch up to him.

They went right under another archway and continued running, but then, as Gregory passed right by a door, it seemed to open suddenly. The man in it started to reach towards his gun immediately upon seeing Amana and Shun, who upon seeing him, wanted to grab Amana to pull her towards him before she got hit, but he was too late. The man already readied his weapon and shot, however in the same instant, she seemed to duck towards the ground, before spinning on one of her feet and with a roundhouse kicking the door hard enough, that the man who got squashed between it and the doorframe, got knocked out instantly. The boy’s hand was still extended, but when he saw that, he pulled it back. She turned her head slightly to look at him:

“I told you, just focus on yourself”

Which despite sounding a bit mean, instilled confidence in him.

They finally made it back onto the grand hall. Gregory jumped over the railing to reach the ground floor, which was filled with people waiting to ambush them. As he went from person to person, either knocking them out or killing them, Amana and Shun were running down the stairs, following him. He must’ve been getting out of breath now, because he started to slow down, which put a bit of a distance between him and the rest of the group.

Amana seemed to turn around to look for where he was, and upon noticing that he was lagging before, she stopped instantaneously, but then her eyes widened. Seemingly, out of nowhere, almost as if they simply walked through an invisible wall, two men appeared behind the boy, and started to reach towards him.

“Behind you!” - She was far enough that she could only scream, and at the same he turned he realized it was too late, as one of the men’s hand was about to reach him, he prepared for the worst, but then, the arm seemed to unnaturally turn inwards, before the men seemed to collapse into themselves one after another, and disappeared.

Both Him and Amana were shocked, but when he started looking forward again, he saw the girl on Gregory’s shoulder, had one of her hands lifted and pointed with open palm at him. While the bangs on the side of her head lifted up, revealing her other eye, which had a pupil in the shape of a keylock. When she saw that both of the men were gone, and that Shun was now safe, she smiled at him weakly, before seemingly passing out, which happened right before Gregory made it outside, although Amana waited for him.

All other people seemed to have been knocked out by now, so he was able to make it safely to the door, where she seemed to help him stand as they made their way outside. Gregory had already moved the car, and was parked right before the entrance, so after only a few steps they had already reached it. “The Key” was laying in the backseat, and Amana sat right next to her, while Shun quickly went to one of the front seats, got in, and upon Gregory quickly checking that everyone was inside, they sped off instantly.

Although everyone seemed to still be on their nerves and stayed silent, Gregory breaked the tension.

“Seems like they gave up the chase for now”

“Yeah, but I doubt we can rest for long, I assume my father’s building is not the safest space either now, anyway, how is she?” - He said as he turned to Amana in the back seat

“Seems fine, I checked her pulse when I got in, seems like she’s just asleep.”

“I see, that’s good…” - He said as he sighed with relief - “What’s the deal with the whole “Key” Thing? Despite all I said, I refuse to believe they’d be willing to spend so much on just an attractive woman”

“But you ended up spending more than any of them, young master”

“Well yeah… But you know, it was about sending a message”

“Seems like they got it, Anyway, good luck, “Big Bro”, dealing with the aftermath “ - As she said this he turned around to look at her speak

“Haha! Ms. Amana you seem so harsh now, but despite that, I think you enjoyed all of it quite a bit.”

“Oh, Shut up” - she said as she got red, which resulted in both Gregory and Shun letting out a little chuckle

He looked at the sleeping face of the girl, despite all they just went through, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully, which put him at ease. But at the same time, it also made him think about everything that happened so far. He went back to staring at the road before him, which although illuminated by the front lights of the car was still dark enough to not see anything, for him at least, as Gregory seemed to be driving with relative ease. He thought about all of the things he inherited, about his mother, about what happened in the auction house and most importantly, about why so many of those people wanted to get their hands on the girl. Even if he didn’t have answers to any of the questions he asked himself that night, at least he knew what to look for, and with his life on stake now, he knew he had no other choice but to succeed.