[The Daniels Estate, Havok, Piasu, Ryomania, 12:30 PM, May 7th, Tuesday, 2025]
Ten more minutes passed since my realization.
Once Erika heard what I saw and did, she said we had trained enough for one day. The four of us went downstairs once more — me, Cathy, and Jack all sat on the couch. Jack cracked open a can of Coco-Cola that he swiped off of the kitchen counter.
"Wow, so Infinity is basically a rose?" Cathy said as she sat on the left side of the couch, her aura once again turned on as she hovered above the cushion. She hadn't gotten the hang of it yet in such a short time, but she made enough progress to please Erika.
"Whatever he saw, it made him stronger! He made a bubble without one of those roses… I love to see it, man, heck yeah!" Jack chuckled and hit my shoulder lightly.
"Thanks, it… It was a giant prism, and inside of it was the rosebud! And there were so many lights… I still can't really comprehend it all…"
Erika hurried to the kitchen again. There was an unreadable expression on her face as she opened up the fridge.
"Hey! Shut up! Stop mumbling over there! James. Jack. Can you two go to the butcher's and pick up some prime rib cuts? We ate the last of 'em. I'd send Amelia, but I have a feeling you two should go. Get some fresh air after… that. We're out."
I glanced between Jack and Erika and stood up, sighing.
"You're sure we won't be recognized?"
"Uh huh… And make sure to use the copy I gave you. The bat'll react to the dormant Flow within you and change based on what's needed for the situation. Turn it back into a mask and boom, you're good."
"And you're sure it's fine if I keep it?"
"Take it. It's just a copy. I have a feeling you'll need it more than I do. Plus, I can make as many as I want!" She demonstrated by making two more baseball bats with her hands, winking.
"Stop being weird, Erika! Ugh..."
"Yeah, okay, sure." She grinned at Cathy, retracting the baseball bat copies into her hands again, causing Cathy to bury her head in her hands and groan.
Jack chuckled and opened a can of Coco-Cola, the first one seemingly finished.
"Right, let's go, James. We'll be fine."
"Hey, thanks for telling me about... you know..." I gave him a hug, the bat in my right hand morphing and changing back into wooden strips on my right hand.
I looked down at my hand and touched the wooden strips. They crawled up my body before latching onto my face, taking on the form of a wooden mask.
"What the—"
I prodded at it, and the wood shifted under my fingertips, reacting to me.
"Yo, that's pretty weird, bro... But useful! You're like a super cool wood ninja now!"
I took a deep breath.
"Guess you could say that..."
I was filled with new purpose and determination. With that, I walked out into the foyer and opened the doors of the mansion, stepping out onto the front lawn.
And into the whole wide world.
[The Daniels Estate, Havok, Piasu, Ryomania, 12:35 PM, May 7th, Tuesday, 2025]
Cathy lounged backwards on the couch, looking towards the door as I left. She groaned and pushed herself up, moving towards the kitchen counter and hovering next to it.
"Hey, Erika? Do you seriously not have any steak left in the whole mansion?"
Erika turned to her, the wooden spoon in her hand morphing back into a bat, holstering it into her backpack.
"Dunno, last time I checked we were out. Like two minutes ago." She smirked, putting a hand on her hip.
"Could you check again?"
Erika sighed and opened the fridge.
"Yep, all out..."
Jack finished drinking the rest of his Coco-Cola, crushing the can in his right hand and throwing it into the bin.
"I gotta go... By the way, sis, you totally messed up the upstairs floor when you were, uh, testing us, earlier? Remember?"
Erika facepalmed, sighing again.
"I knew I was missing something! Damn it, you're right, I should fix that." Erika hurried past them into the hallway leading to the foyer and up the stairs.
"Welp... I'm gonna go now." Jack hopped off his stool and turned to walk out of the kitchen after me.
"Hey Jack...?" Cathy called.
Jack stopped, looking back at her.
"Don't get yourself killed, bloody moron..." She smirked and threw an apple at him from the fruit basket on the counter. He caught it in his hand and chuckled.
"Right. Thanks. Uh… don't need this, here." He threw the apple back and, with a wave, he walked off after me, leaving Cathy alone in the kitchen with her thoughts and the apple floating next to her head.
Cathy sighed and brushed a hand through her hair, letting the apple float back down into the fruit basket.
"This is like, the worst time of my life. Fuck."
Her gaze snapped to the door as footsteps started approaching. It was Amelia with her mop bucket, still cleaning the floors. She looked exhausted, panting and leaning on the doorway.
"Oh dear... Oh! H-hello, Miss Ariston, I was... I finally finished mopping the first floor. It took me a lot longer than I expected, but I managed to clean up after what happened earlier, with those creepy heads… Uff… I shiver when I still think of them."
Amelia stepped into the kitchen, leaving the mop and bucket there. Tinker Bell was still hovering behind her.
"Well, that's good, we're all tired after... training."
Amelia smiled gently at her as she took a banana from the fruit basket and began eating it.
"Yes, very tired..."
Cathy hovered off the counter, crossing her arms.
"Tinker Bell... Have you tried turning it off? If someone saw that, they'd ask questions. And technically that'd go for me too, but yours isn't as obvious. Plus, I just began learning how to turn this aura off."
Amelia glanced behind her at the bell, grabbing it with her left hand and holding it up.
"Ah, I don't know… I'll try… I wish for you to deactivate!"
Tinker Bell shone in her hand, rang once, and disappeared in golden particles, causing Amelia to giggle.
"Hehehe, it makes me very happy! It's amazing... I... I'm glad Mistress Erika trained us today, or I wouldn't have had this amazing ability!"
Cathy smirked, seeing Amelia's child-like wonder and curiosity.
"Good for you, Amelia—"
A knock on the front doors suddenly grabbed their attention. Amelia quickly threw the banana peel into the bin and wiped her hands on her apron.
"Oh! Right. I-I'll answer that. I'm sure it's just the mailman!"
Amelia nodded and hurried towards the front door. Cathy hovered over to the kitchen window, trying to look outside. She saw my silhouette as I got into a taxi, which drove down the road into Havok.
But something caught her attention. A fly quickly flew by the window, faster than any normal fly would. It flew fast enough that a small crack appeared in the glass.
"What the…!"
[The Foyer]
Amelia once again wiped her hands on her apron — a nervous habit of hers — and she opened the door.
Before her stood a slightly chubby man with dark gray hair. He looked to be about fifty years or older, he had glasses on his face and was wearing a red sweater with some brown chino pants and matching brown leather loafers.
"Hello... Excuse me for bothering you, but who exactly lives here? I'm new to the neighborhood and I was just walking by, enjoying a walk on this fine day, and I couldn't help but be drawn to this place! It seems so elegant and larger than the other villas around here. This is a mansion, correct? And you're clearly a maid, madam, so once again I will ask, who lives here?"
"Oh... It's nice to meet you. Yes, I am the maid of this mansion. This is The Daniels Estate. I serve The Daniels family and anyone who is considered a friend to them... I-Is that all? Sir."
The strange man chuckled and reached out, grabbing her hand and shaking it. Amelia squeaked and tried pulling her hand back, but the man's grip held firm. She awkwardly squirmed on the spot, glancing back into the foyer and at the man.
"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Krist Cobain... Just a fellow enjoyer of life, a nostalgic old cook if you will... Well! It was nice to meet you, young lady. This house smells like… Teen Spirit..."
The man nodded and let go of Amelia's hand. She quickly pulled it back and held it close to her chest, leaning on the doorway. The man took a deep breath, smiling. A fly flew by his head and into the house.
Unnoticed by Amelia.
"Well... I hope you have a nice day, s-sir..."
Amelia shut the door on him, putting her back to it and sighing.
"That was so strange..."
She turned and stood on her tip-toes to peek through the visor of the door, seeing the old man walk back through the main gate. A taxi was waiting for him. He got in and the taxi drove down the road.
Amelia stepped back, rubbing her hands on her apron again and adjusting her mob cap.
"Phew..."
[The Kitchen]
Cathy leaned against the window over the sink and saw a strange man leaving from the front door and making his way to the gate where a taxi was waiting for him.
"What the hell...? Another one?"
The man glanced back toward the house, looking towards the window Cathy was at.
"Shit!" She quickly ducked down behind the counter, closing her eyes. He got in the taxi and it pulled away. She stood back up.
"How did he see me...? Who the hell was that?" Cathy muttered to herself as footsteps approached.
Amelia stepped back into the kitchen, trembling slightly.
"N-no w-w-worries, Miss Ariston! It was just a stranger!"
Cathy hovered closer to her, causing the maid to shrink back, looking timid.
"What'd he want? Why now? Who was he? Ugh, this is just what I needed, more trouble…" Cathy frowned as she stared at Amelia, her arms crossed, waiting for an answer.
"W-well... He asked who lived here and he said I... I mean, the house smelled like teen spirit? That was strange, and he shook my hand and—"
Cathy leaned in.
"Did you tell him?"
Amelia squeaked and tried to back away, feeling herself unable to move as Cathy's gravity grip held her in place.
"Y-yes..."
Cathy closed her eyes, frustrated. She let go with a huff.
"It's fine, he's not an enemy. Probably just some weirdo with a realtor hobby, whatever. I'm sorry, Amelia. After everything that's happened... I have to be sure. No, we have to be sure. Nobody should get past us. Erika's right. We need more training."
Amelia nodded, standing tall as she felt a literal weight lift off her chest.
"Yes... I understand, um..."
Just then, the same fly from earlier buzzed its way into the kitchen, drawing both of their attention.
"...A fly?"
"Oh, it must've gotten in when I opened the door."
The fly suddenly turned and stopped right in front of Cathy's face. She felt herself tense up.
"Huh?! What... What's it doing, Amelia?!"
Amelia stepped to Cathy's left, trying to get a good look at the fly's face, which was now perfectly still, a few inches from Cathy's face, looking at her.
"I think it's observing you—"
In a burst of speed it flew forwards into Cathy's neck, pushing hard against Cathy's aura. The knockback of force caused Amelia to fall backwards onto the floor.
"Holy shit—"
The fly pushed Cathy out of the back window of the kitchen, taking her outside. They both flew upwards past the house. Cathy struggled and clapped her hands in front of the face, causing the fly to dodge out of the way, letting her hover there.
Cathy knew it was dangerous for her to be outside in broad daylight. People could see, things could get public. She quickly flew back down towards the house, keeping her body straight as an arrow to get maximum velocity.
The fly suddenly flew into her from the right side, tackling her onto the grass of the backyard, past the garden. It pushed against her torso as the ground stirred up beneath Cathy's aura.
"I knew something was wrong! I knew it! Get off of me!"
Cathy once again clapped her hands together, this time grabbing the dirt from the ground and making two giant palms of it with her gravity. But the fly was faster. It buzzed by her face, going off somewhere to the back of the mansion.
Cathy quickly stood up, panting, the dirt collapsing out of her grip in a pile next to her as she let go of it.
"Wait — Amelia!" Cathy quickly flew back towards the front of the mansion, towards the kitchen.
[The Kitchen]
Amelia stood up from the floor, rubbing her forehead.
"Oh no! Mistress Erika doesn't like it when I get hurt, she'll yell at me again..."
Suddenly a loud buzzing could be heard. Amelia heard Cathy yelling her name and she ducked down. The fly came in from the hallway and hit the wall with such force it took out the top half of the right-hand-side countertop, the fruit basket, plaster and dust raining down everywhere.
"Ah! Help!" she yelled out, as she crouched down next to the trash bin, covering her head uselessly.
Tinker Bell suddenly appeared, glowing once before her.
"I-I wish to be protected! Tinker Bell!"
Tinker Bell rang once. A golden shimmering bubble appeared around Amelia. She quickly stood up and turned to face the now destroyed sink, looking at the fly as it twirled outside, almost tauntingly so.
Cathy flew in from the back window, landing next to Amelia.
"Amelia...? Are you alright?! What... We have to take care of this. Where the hell did Erika run off to again?! Erika!"
Cathy yelled, but nobody came.
The fly dashed forwards again.