Episode 10 Skylark City

Kunai peers curiously around the brightly lit streets and neatly paved roads of Skylark City as the group walks down a sidewalk bathed in the artificial light of the city living in constant darkness.

A bus loaded with commuters rolls noisily by, while the sidewalks themselves remain clogged with pedestrians and busy-looking people hurrying about, now that the threat of the Dragon Paradox has been lifted.

Ryuu carries proudly his new Twin Dragons by his side in its sheath, as he saunters next to Kunai, glancing every now and then to his side to look into a strange shop.

“This place never really shuts down, does it?” Ayame mutters.

“Since there is no daylight to signify the beginning of a day, people just take it upon themselves to determine their own schedule. They wake when they want, and work when they want. The city never closes,” Sasha replies.

“What should be our next move?” Ivy asks, as she glances merrily about at her surroundings, her eyes lighting up at the scene of beautiful displays set in the stores built along the sidewalk.

Running along the sidewalks are thin but sturdy streetlamps, blazing forth a bright, fluorescent white light. The stores, mostly businesses and nightclubs themselves emit powerful rainbows of neon lights.

“This place is so beautiful!” Ivy gasps.

“I figure our next move should be to see if we can find anyone who might know where Lily is, or at least heard something that could be useful,” Kunai replies, scratching his chest, where a large set of bandages has been wrapped around to secure his wounds.

“But how are we going to do that?” Ayame asks, “This place is huge!”

“I suppose you could always apply for employment,” Sasha suggests, “After all, a job will bring you fresh revenue of credits, which you obviously don’t have. Not only that, communication with other locals here might yield some useful information.”

“That’s true,” Kunai admits, “but where are we gonna find jobs?”

Ayame suddenly trips as her foot lands on a sheet of loose paper on the floor and slides, sending her toppling backwards onto the ground. During her impact, the sheet of paper flies into the air, and Ryuu idly grabs it.

He stares at it expressionlessly for a few minutes while he reads it. Ayame hastily returns to her feet to peer over Ryuu’s shoulder at the poster in his hands.

Kunai joins the two of them as well, staring at the sheet of paper. “Hm? Says here that there’s a job opening for an on-scene reporter for the local television station.”

“Ryuu!” Ivy cheers, “You could do that!”

“Eh? Me?” Ryuu stammers, caught off guard. “Why the hell would I want a stupid reporter job like that?”

“Because the super-eloquent Ryuu is good with words, is polite, reasonable, and pays attention to detail,” Kunai teases, joining in on the fun. “If I were you I’d take the job, Ryuu. You could easily gather information with a job like that!”

“Why me?” Ryuu groans, as Kunai jabs him playfully.

“Because of the guys in our group, you’re the handsome one,” Ayame replies distractedly.

Kunai nods in agreement. “Mmhmm, yup. Hey, wait a minute…”

“The address is written right here on this poster!” Ivy interrupts, “Let’s go there now!”

“Now?!” Ryuu cries.

“Why not?” Ayame adds, “We’ll get you a job and then we’ll see if we can get some jobs of our own later!”

Ryuu groans, lowering his head slightly in frustration. “I suppose it can’t be helped then…”

Ryuu sighs exasperatedly once more as he stands inside a large studio room, awaiting his audition. Behind him, Kunai, Ivy, Ayame, and Sasha have formed a kind of moral support team, cheering rather obnoxiously for Ryuu.

Suddenly a man dressed in a crisp suit enters the room, and peers unimpressed at Ryuu, noticing his torn traveler’s jacket and sword hanging by his side. “A Paradox Hunter?” he assumes.

“Yeah,” Ryuu mutters, “Heh, you do take Hunters, don’t you?”

“Of course,” the man replies. “My name’s Mason, the news anchor.”

A loud scream suddenly pierces the otherwise quiet studio. A girl of about sixteen suddenly sprints across the floor straight at Ryuu, hurling herself into his arms and wrapping her own around Ryuu rather tightly.

Ryuu peers incredulously at the girl, while Ayame glares jealously over Ryuu’s shoulder, folding her arms with a sour expression on her face. “Who…who the hell are you?” Ryuu mutters lamely.

“Ah! Apple! Don’t you recognize me? I’m your biggest fan! I sent you that gift basket of self-portraits of me the other day! I’ve always wanted to meet you! Are you really going to take a reporter job here?! I’m so excited!” the girl squeals, grabbing Ryuu’s jacket and rubbing her face on it.

Ryuu narrows his eyes irritably as the girl’s makeup is strewn all over his jacket. “HOW DARE YOU CALL ME APPLE?! WHAT AM I, SOME SORT OF FRUIT TO YOU?! DO I LOOK LIKE A BIG RED ROUND PIECE OF FRUIT TO YOU?!”

Everyone suddenly silences, as the entire gathering of people inside the complex turn and blink awkwardly watching Ryuu in the rather uncomfortable silence that follows.

“She means Apple the actor, idiot!” Ayame whispers into Ryuu’s ear.

“So you’re not Apple?” the girl mutters disappointedly, apparently impervious to the harsh comments of Ryuu.

“Of course I’m not Ap—” Ryuu begins, before glaring at Ayame while she places her own hand over Ryuu’s mouth, forcing him to stop speaking.

“What he means is,” Ayame begins, laughing nervously, “Of course he’s not apple the fruit! He’s Apple the great actor of the Night World!”

“So you really are Apple?” the girl cries, her eyes shining brightly as she pulls Ryuu into a forceful hug again.

Ayame glares at the girl. “Yes, and he doesn’t like being hugged, right Ryu—uh, I mean, Apple?”

“Actually, I really don’t care either way,” Ryuu mutters, folding his arms indifferently.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T CARE?!” Ayame cries angrily, bopping Ryuu heavily on the top of the head with her fist.

“Such a rowdy bunch…” Mason sighs, turning to the girl. “Jasmine, why don’t you step aside? I need to interview Mr. Apple to see if he’s qualified.”

“Oh! He’s more than qualified, Father!” Jasmine replies cheerfully, “He’s Apple, the great actor! I’ve seen all your movies, Mr. Apple! Even those not-so-child-approved ones that you made when you were younger…”

“I…WHAT?!” Ryuu cries, as he realizes the meaning of Jasmine’s words. “How old are you again?!”

“Would you like to take a moment to prepare, Mr. Apple?” Mason interrupts, “You may also take this time to formally fill out this application for the job.” Mason then hands Ryuu a sheet of paper on a clipboard, and a pen.

Ryuu mutters inaudibly to himself as he takes the paper and pen. He turns to Ayame and the others as Mason and Jasmine depart to await his audition. “Why the hell did you tell them I was Apple, Ayame?”

“Good opportunity,” Ayame shrugs, “Since you’re such a good look-alike, we might be able to use that to our advantage to make it easier for you to get this job.”

“So lying is a good method to get jobs?” Ivy asks perplexedly.

“Um, not exactly…” Kunai mutters.

Ryuu sighs, staring down at his application. As his eyes read the first line, he blinks perplexedly. “Confused already?” Sasha asks, glancing at Ryuu.

“So far everyone’s just called me Mr. Apple,” Ryuu growls. “What the hell’s my last name so I can write it on my application?!”

“Uh…” Ayame blinks awkwardly. “They never mentioned your last name, did they?”

Ryuu sighs. “Skip that. Birth date…er…”

“Just put your own!” Kunai cries.

“Can’t,” Ryuu sighs again, “that nice little Jasmine is supposed to be my biggest fan. She’ll know Apple’s real birthday for sure, and I can’t exactly ask her when my own birthday is, now, can I?”

“Just go on to the next one then,” Sasha shrugs.

“Past experiences…” Ryuu mutters. “How am I supposed to know what movies Apple was in?!”

“Next?” Ayame mutters, sounding rather unsure.

After several minutes, Mason returns, glancing briefly at Ryuu and everyone else. “Completed the application yet, Mr. Apple?” he inquires.

“Yeah,” Ryuu mutters, handing the blank application back to him.

Mason stares at it in puzzlement for several moments. “But this thing is completely empty!”

“Heh,” Ryuu replies, “I’m uh…well, not much for writing…it uh…stifles my creative…energy.”

“Of course!” Mason answers, clapping his hands. He crumples up the application sheet and nonchalantly throws it into the air behind him. “What ingenious ideologies! You’re hired!”

“Heh…” Ryuu grunts rather exasperatedly. ‘What morons.’

Kunai, Ivy, and Sasha turn to each other as Jasmine yelps blithely, pulling Ryuu into a tight two-armed hug and dragging him off with her father to find him proper clothes for the job. Meanwhile, Ayame stands idly by, fuming as Jasmine grins rather stupidly.

“So what other kinds of jobs can we get around here?” Kunai asks Sasha.

“Well, I heard that the hotel is hiring for some pretty respectable positions…” Sasha murmurs.

Kunai groans as he and Ivy now stand next to each other, Kunai wearing a red bellhop’s uniform and Ivy wearing a black maid’s uniform. “I thought you said ‘respectable!’” Kunai shouts at Sasha, while the hotel clerk behind the desk inspects the two of them keenly.

Ryuu stands awkwardly behind Sasha, dressed in a ridiculously bright red suit and tie. Ayame remains the only one of the group besides Sasha dressed in her normal attire. “You look handsome, Ryuu,” Ayame smirks behind her hand.

Ryuu’s eyes blaze dangerously red, a sight that hadn’t been seen since Arai’s death. “Are you kidding me?! I look like a big fat red tomato!”

“Do you want the position or not?!” Sasha shouts back at Kunai.

Kunai sighs, hanging his head. “Not really…”

“Okay!” the hotel clerk interrupts brightly, “Your names and info have been registered into Skylark Hotel’s mainframe database. You guys can start your jobs tomorrow.”

Kunai groans again, slightly louder this time.

Ivy leans over and tickles Kunai’s nose with her feather duster, giggling slightly. “Oh, come on, Kunai! It’ll be fun working in a hotel for a while!”

Kunai groans yet again, still even more loudly this time, in addition to sneezing violently due to the dust sent flying up his nose.

Sasha now turns to Ayame, scratching her chin while she inspects her. “Hm…all that’s left is to get a job for you, Ayame…”

“Please, nothing too embarrassing…” Ayame moans.

Ryuu stands impatiently next to Kunai, Ivy, and Sasha, the first three still dressed in their work uniforms. The four of them wait in front of a large dressing room, partitioned off by a wooden screen.

“Hehe,” Kunai smirks, “I bet Ayame’s costume is two times worse than ours!”

A sly smile appears around Ryuu’s face. “Yeah, I’ll bet Sasha got her a job as a mascot for a car dealership or something, and she has to wear a big costume that looks like an Orange Mushroom!”

The two of them snigger childishly before the screen opens up, revealing Ayame dressed in her regular clothes, sporting her own Geta in her right hand and a Seclusion Wristguard in her left.

Both Ryuu and Kunai blink blankly at Ayame’s apparent lack of costume change. “What’s the big deal?!” the two of them cry out furiously.

Sasha shrugs, not even bothering to glance at the two of them. “I got her a job as part of the Skylark City Police Force. All she needs is to wear her badge around while she roams the city and makes sure there’s no trouble, particularly involving that of Paradoxes.”

“HEY!” Ryuu growls in a deafening shout, “HOW COME SHE GETS THE GOOD JOB?!”

Ayame blinks at Sasha’s explanation. “So why did I have to go behind into the changing room?”

“Anyway,” Sasha replies, “Now that you all have jobs, I suppose you’ll be wanting a place to stay. I live in my parents’ home on the outskirts of this city. You guys can stay there with me as long as we’re in Skylark City.”

“What about you?” Ivy questions, “What will you be doing while we’re all working?”

“My duty,” Sasha answers, “as usual. I’m a Paradox Hunter, remember? It just so happens that I’ve been assigned a case in a small village about five kilometers from here. I’ll be heading there early tomorrow, and I most likely won’t be back until the day after, at least.”

“I see,” Ryuu grunts, “then I suppose we’ll be here trying to gather as much information as we can about the whereabouts of the Third Phoneme.”

“Correct,” Sasha retorts, “and I’ll also inquire about her during my journey. Perhaps the people of Farlot know something we don’t.”

Overhead the eternally sunless sky over Skylark City gleams dully as a dark blanket of twilit clouds hangs over the heavens, obscuring the myriads of stars. A light fog hangs about the stony streets of Skylark City, further producing a lonely, forlorn scene.

A single house, fair in size and with a thatched roof, two floors, and a porch, stands alone in the middle of a small clearing under the night sky. Nearby runs a narrow boulevard empty of traffic, with a wooden fence lining each side of it.

About the boulevard lie neat and tidy groves of trees, their leaves rustling softly in a wan nighttime breeze. The sidewalks beside the boulevard are paved neatly with red bricks, as if someone had taken great care to construct this lonely, forsaken avenue.

Further off, the main boulevards of Skylark City lie crowded with pedestrians and traffic as usual. Innumerous skyscrapers and department stores line these streets, creating a sort of blockade in front of the humble quiescence of the house standing by itself.

Suddenly, with a whisper hardly noticeable, the door of the house is pushed open, and a single figure dressed in a black cloak exits, shivering slightly in the cool, frigid wind.

A thud follows as the figure drags behind her a large Berzerker. As she walks, she drags it on the ground behind her, leaving faint marks on the brick pavement.

All at once, the girl stops, drawing in an icy breath. She freezes, staring about her into the silence of the empty darkness around her, her eyes narrowed, keenly searching for something.

Abruptly, two Tobis cut through the air, falling with a clatter at the girl’s feet. The two Tobis bounce off each other, only just missing the girl.

The girl raises her Berzerker to arm herself, but not before a previously silent and unseen assassin dressed in a fluttering black cloak appears behind her, paralyzing her with a single jab of his claw.

The blow from behind the back and a flash of pale green light tells the girl her situation. She tenses, though unable to do anything more in the grip of this new enemy.

“Who the hell are you?” Sasha whispers through her teeth, still chattering due to the cold air.

The man pulls her closer, his hand clasped tightly around her right arm, straining it. “My name…?” he mutters with a familiar, yet unknown voice to Sasha. “It is Shuriken.”

Next Time: Episode 11 The Information Hunters

Ryuu: I hate doing this reporter crap.

Kunai: Being a bellhop is demeaning…

Ayame: All this police work is tiring…

Ryuu/Kunai/Ayame: SASHAAA!

Episode 11 The Information Hunters coming soon!