The Seeker | Volume 2

"This mad king is something I think I've seen already." I said, leaning against the frame of the balcony whilst still looking at Cattleya; who stood near the door.

She took a few steps towards me and asked in curiosity, "You have?"

I nodded, before looking up into the sky, the same sky from which green spears rained down upon everything in the vision.

"A figure clad in black and green, his eyes burning bright, and he conjured weapons that murdered everything. He looked familiar for some reason, but I can't seem to grasp the reason…he had a name though; Izuku…"

Cattleya repeated that name under her breath before sighing again and approaching me with a solemn expression.

"Perhaps the visitors from the Katshin Empire have more information about this person. If he's causing ravings upon everyone, then he certainly has a large amount of power, an amount that we can only imagine grasping."

She said, staring down at the market, at all the unsuspecting people who didn't know much about how dangerous the world was. Her blue eyes flickered with a little sadness before she spoke again.

"I was able to settle the dispute with the Nightshades, returning them their notes in exchange for them not intervening with us again."

"Really now?" I asked, looking towards her. Beyond the lenses of her glasses many different emotions crossed her face, but I could see a tiny pinch of happiness begin to surface, but the way it did made it seem like it artificially appeared, as if to mask something else; something actually genuine.

"I'm with Carter now." She chuckled, smiling gently at the people below, who didn't seem to pay her a thought.

"So, you're lovers now?" 

She nodded. 

Suddenly, another Palsy leaned up in bed and looked towards me and Cattleya in confusion.

"Who's this woman?" He asked hoarsely. Cattleya turned around in shock, taken aback by the sudden voice. She hadn't actually seen Palsy in the bed for some reason.

"Who are you?" She asked.

The red haired man stretched under the sheets and sighed. "I'm with those tourists from the Katshin Empire. We came here to investigate a crime that folks like you wouldn't call normal."

"A crime like what?" Cattleya asked with a sly smile. Suddenly, Palsy pulled out the photo of the flesh blob, and her eyes widened.

"H-how? Wasn't Isaiah Walls captured?" Her voice was filled with shock. I tilted my head slightly, but I wasn't shocked at this sight.

Last night I had an encounter with Raymond, and that means he broke out of his jail cell by turning back to his regular form and most likely turning the prison guard into one of those bittorrent flesh creations.

"He was, but I surmise he broke out." I said. Palsy looked towards me and his eyes widened.

"Broke out, goddamnit!" He tossed the photo aside and sighed heavily, falling back into the pillows. 

"But I believe I know where he is, sir." I followed up. Palsy opened his eyes and fixed them at me, before he leaned up again, his back cracking audibly.

"You do?" He asked.

I nodded, "Indeed, sir." 

Palsy fell silent for a few seconds as if contemplating my words, then he suddenly sighed and stood up off the bed and stretched.

"I'll have to visit the Kitonow family later today to see how they're coming along, perhaps you and your friend may begin your search without me?" He asked.

Cattleya gave me a look of uncertainty, her fingers drumming on the balcony's railing. "I'm not entirely sure that's how we should proceed with this. Perhaps your visit can halt and we can search together? After all, your goal here is to find Isaiah Walls and the origins of the heap of flesh; not to accommodate a family who probably has everything going right for themselves."

Palsy sighed and nodded. "I suppose." 

He approached the door, put on his coat that he wore in the chilly morning air, and stepped into the hallway, only to be greeted with the curious gaze of Damien, who was now seeing him for the first time.

"Who are you?" The child asked, his slightly sunken eyes peeking behind his mop of white hair. Palsy looked down at Damien and smiled softly. "Just a detective, one who was sent here to solve a case, determine its origins."

Shinso, who was standing beside Damien, raised an eyebrow. "What case?" 

Palsy looked at Damien for a few seconds before pulling out the photo of the flesh heap and showing it to Shinso, whose eyes widened upon seeing the photograph. "I've seen that type of thing before." He said, his indigo eyes fixed on the multiple appendages of the heap in the jail room.

"You have, then perhaps you can accompany me and your friend?" Palsy asked as he stuffed the photo back into his chest pocket and took a few steps back. Shinso hesitantly nodded, and Damien looked up at him, clinging to his leg.

"Will you have to leave?" He asked, his eyes filled with exaggerated worry. Shinso rolled his eyes and looked down at the child, trying his hardest to stay nonchalant. 

"Only for a little while, you'll have to spend the day with Aizawa and the others I suppose," Shinso replied, gently prying the boy's small hands off his leg. Suddenly, the door opened and me and Cattleya stepped out, both wearing our day clothes.

"Your friends' coming with us," Palsy exclaimed as he gestured towards Shinso, who ruffled up his hair and sighed softly in his tiredness. I nodded as I looked down at Damien, who was already clinging to me.

…

My intuition told me that Raymond's location wouldn't be easy to pinpoint, but using the proper clues I could surmise that he was probably inside the shooting range conjoined with the bar. When me and the others walked in, Sebastian tipped his hat with a smile, before approaching us. 

"We're looking for someone, and we're hoping he might be here." I said casually as I sat down onto a bar stool next to Sabestian. The middle aged man's eyes flickered with curiosity as he said with a smile:

"That brat, Raymond? I had a feeling you'd be looking for him. He comes here quite often, except you never seem to be with him." Sebastian said as he popped his collar and smoked a cigar that he just lit, sending a tiny trail of smoke upwards into the potent air of the bar.

"Are you aware of his whereabouts?" he then asked, raising an eyebrow. I nodded. "I am, do you know anything?" 

Sebastian suddenly sighed, his voice gradually lowered as he spoke. "Well, it would be unfortunate news that he actually left Seraphis Kingdom this morning in hopes of looking for…something?" 

I didn't need to hear much more, for it was probably the slate that he told me about last night. But if he needed my assistance, why would he journey on his own? 

"Do you know which way he headed, or where he was going to begin with?" I leaned in closer, meeting Sabestian's gaze.

The man nodded, his eyes gradually became more fearful as he gulped a little. The air around us seemed to grow more dangerous and foreboding as Sabestian told me.

"The Western Lands. Nobody has ever ventured there, because the People of the Wind don't take kindly to outsiders. It was originally a settlement for angel families in the last epoch but most of the information regarding that subject has been lost to history, only for the bravest of scholars to uncover." 

Raymond, being the level of an angel, wouldn't have much trouble in the Western Lands. But information and any form of knowledge of the People of the Wind was scarce, but from Cattleya's historical documents kept in her office, I learned a little.

They were Seekers who weren't minded by any moral or philosophical codes, and would believe that their life is like the wind, they are like leaves. It was much similar to the rock and stream metaphor I abide by, the one that was crammed into my head. 

"How far is the voyage?" 

"Many months." Sebastian replied, sipping his ice cold tea.

If Raymond wishes for the slate, why would he wait so long to retrieve it? Is his goal still in the planning phase, is he unaware on how to proceed with things, or could it just be the weather?

"But the seas are treacherous these times, the krakens and dangerous conditions in the water make it almost impossible to travel across the west. You'd also have to be wary of pirates and thieves, who would stop at nothing but to take your valuables."

Suddenly, Palsy spoke up. He stood near the exit of the bar and pointed his finger.

"Who's that?" He asked, his voice slightly trembling. We all turned our heads, me and Sabestian stood up and approached the window, peering outside.

Outside, staring at us was a man with brown hair, deep blue eyes and wearing classical clothes. He looked confused and disoriented, as if he just woke up in the corner of the street in the middle of nowhere.

"Hello?" He said, peering at us. The man suddenly walked into the bar and sat down, staring at the wall with a dumbfounded expression. He began to speak, but his tone indicated something I couldn't properly understand.

"1 drink please, that's all." His voice was gruff and low. After a few moments of him being still, he cupped his hands and brought them to his mouth, as if drinking from an invisible glass.

"Who are you?" Sabestian asked the man, who didn't give a reply. His blue eyes continued to remain placid as he drank from nothing.

Suddenly, Sabestian's palm collided with the man's face, sending him off the bar stool and into the hardwood floor with a clang. 

"Who are you?" I asked, approaching the man with curiosity, curious about his bewildering actions. He gave no reply for a moment, as if he just woke up again.

"I-I'm Isaiah Walls, who the hell are you?"