Chapter 767: Eizo (1/2)
”Pardon the mess.”
”No need to worry.” Expectations of a humble apartment in a not-so-nice part of town had prepared the mind to witness the worse of what an adventuring town could offer. There, after crossing the bridge overlooking the highway, she treaded along the pavement, caution to movement around her, the way her hand and body reacted spoke of a trained fighter. Not wanting to interfere in private life, he simply followed, admiring the diversity of architecture. Soon, they'd cross a residential block of tall apartments of many vacant rooms. Lazily painted advertisements read, '-500-5000 Exa.'
”Ignore those,” she said curling her index, ”-they're scams, I think,” she brazenly added before the guard of one of said buildings, the man looked and paid no heed.
”Are you daft?” he hurried to her side, ”-we're in a sketchy part of town, right?”
”What?” returned a perplexed look, ”-if you haven't noticed, the whole town is sketchy. Our house is in a better place anyway, too bad we have to walk through these parts.” Before the next hour, they arrived whereby she said, ”-pardon the mess,” whether it be jest or not, Igna watched straight-faced. What laid wasn't a normal house nor an apartment; a manor of lavish proportions had, ”-Eizo Family,” written in golden font. Certainly, many questions rose, who is the Eizo family, how did they make their money, and how powerful are they. A touch of the earring replied in a faint vibration, the lens swapped into infiltration mode – unseen information else spared for Éclair's backend processing displayed. Aside from names, the value they held, rumors linking to their past, and a summary of what they'd been known for or had accomplished in the past weeks sorted itself. The blocky silver barricades opened, to which, she asserted her hand upon Igna and pulled, ”-I don't see why you'd ask for pardon,” they landed inside, the gates slammed.
”Don't talk, just follow.”
The truth of previously transpired events linked in a timeline. Was it wrong to trust people, was it wrong to enjoy relations of innocent nature? A nasty gut feeling of deception whelmed, what he felt was a tangible uneasiness, red-alarms riddled. Thoughts ran amok, yet, the truth was Wendy had grabbed and pulled since the start, she didn't let go, and a part felt the reluctance to let go, there was a newfound affection, a natural allure to her words. The trail's thought tightened into tunnel vision, the damning scenery – part clean and part unclean held a sense of disassociation. A block of a building laid at the center, a very typical built for those wanting to flaunt their wealth.
'I don't feel like myself,' an astral projection of himself parted from the physical self, '-the manor looks nice, tis too good to be true. What did she mean by a mess,' no sense of body allowed for movement, '-think, Igna, think. Taking spirit form isn't normal – the only time I know of this happening is when activating the curse of Nox, the all-seeing eyes,' he watched as they entered the building, there, the spirit forcibly pulled, the head rocked into a lack on self. Field of view grew blurry, the five-sense numbed, ”-will you satisfy me again?” said a female voice.
”Yes, I will,” he replied without uttering a word, '-my mouth's moving on its own.' A barrier rose between personality and body.
”You're a good slave,” it added crudely – a glimpse of the untouchable room was black, a warmly lit fire, and the touch of another.
”Yes, I am,” he replied, '-no I'm not,' he fought, '-I'm trapped within myself, what sort of trick is this?'
”Tell me your most guarded secret.”
”I'm afraid of letting go of my children.”
”No, something more consequential.”
”I love my companions.”
”What about your bank account, how do you make money?”
”I don't know, I order people around and they obey.”
”Why did you come to Aria?”
”To meet a friend.”
”And who's this friend?”
”I don't know…”
”Connect into Phantom's servers, I want administrator access,” a gentle caress went down his neck and to the stomach, slowly slipping into his pants, ”-you'll obey to your mistress, won't you?”
”I will,” keys tapped, the screen dimly lit the darkened room, ”-access denied.”
”Access denied?” she slammed the table, ”-Yeah, hello, there's no way to gain entry. What should I do next, I'm expecting my payment.”
”No information, no money,” it replied somberly.
”Don't screw with me,” she exclaimed, ”-you know the amount of shit I had to pull to get in this shitty manor. The young lady wasn't exactly a nice host to inhabit.”
”I don't care, damned monster, no information, no payment.”
”Fine, fine, how about you make him a political hostage, a high valued customer like him will make a fine piece in international deliberations,” she straddled and stared into his empty bicolored pupils, ”-act now and I'll throw in his phone.”
”We'll wire the payment, check the usual account.” *Beep,* notified the laptop screen, [540,000 Exa delivered], ”-expect the rest upon a safe exchange of the goods. Our team is ready at the airport, making sure to move him quietly, don't want to alert his faction.”
”Don't take me for an amateur,” the call ended, ”-look at you,” she bit her lips and pulled his cheeks, ”-empty and without a will, helpless and under my absolute command. Go on, move your hand and undress me.”