A week had already passed and I think I was already used to the work being done around one of the members in HoloMyth.
From those multiple meetings, I now knew Calli was a hoarder of food. She didn't pay attention to the nutrition facts or have a caloric intake. To her, intake meant nothing but a void contract. In other words, eating over ten-thousand calories a day wouldn't change a thing to her weight.
If this information was disclosed to the government, I wonder how they'd capture her. More like, I couldn't imagine. It'd be funny even trying to threaten Calli with a gun, even a missile. That must have been the reason why the former assistant quit. Calli disliked being told what to eat.
Secondly, Calli didn't have a single fear bone in her body. Ina could morph into a bigger version of Cthulhu and it still wouldn't have an effect on the woman. Though in her streams, there was potential for her to be visibly panicked or frustrated to the point she'd maniacally laugh.
She was playing a rhythm video game right now on stream where you have to press certain buttons to match the tempo of a song. Being an observer, it was hilarious watching her attempt one song a hundred times. While she was good at twirling scythes that'd cause a roar of applause in a cosplay event, she returned back to the crib when she played more 'modern' mediums.
I kept laughing every time her character's balls were turning blue.
"Why'd I hire a jester instead of a personal assistant? You should be encouraging me to keep playing." she bickered, her fingers were already blistering hot from pressing the arrow keys in a repetitive manner.
"I just think it's weird. You're pretty powerful. Why not just be quick with your fingers as the arrows pass by? Doesn't time run slow for you?" To her fans, this was probably just roleplay. She's actually really powerful, you guys.
"You hear that dead beats? I'm getting made fun of by my assistant. You know I'm not just gonna let Tankman do me like that. I'll keep playing this over and over until I beat him."
"I'll just make sure to carry some of the L's. Looks like you could use a hand... and a cart." Her fans were 'oohing' and 'ahh-ing' at comments. I had consented to having my voice recorded as her current stream introduced me for some reason. "From previous streams, you've played the game before so I had initially thought you'd gotten the hang of the arrows and stuff."
"Haven't you heard no one can truly be good at everything? My only issue is being inaccurate. I conquer more than control."
"Mhm. Your excuses are gonna be clipped."
"The beatmap's a bunch of bull-"
"You can't swear. Your management team's notified me beforehand."
She turned off her mic. I couldn't hear her anymore. I was in another room. Then, my phone rang with her caller ID.
"You ok-"
"F**k these stupid restrictions and their f**king pieces of-"
She played the song for another one-hundred tries before giving up and ended the stream.
Me and the rest of HoloMyth decided to go shopping a few hours later in the afternoon because who doesn't?
In reality, I was the carrier of their things. I didn't really want to buy anything and went where Calli tagged along since she'd told me to stay by her side should she demand it.
Of course, the idols' fans were begging for autographs each store we crossed by. The girls probably just figured that hiding was useless and disguises only worked back in the 2000's. This must've been both a blessing and a curse. To have everyone know who you are but to not be able to enjoy brushing through blouses and jeans without getting mobbed for two seconds. I was a social recluse in the past so the mere thought of people talking to me were honestly 50/50's.
"T-thank you so much! I'll never forget this for as long as I live!" One teenager ran away crying, his signed shirt swaying with the wind like a horsetail.
"Sometimes I question if we're really that great to other people..." Ina muttered, the scarf placed around her neck covering her mouth. "I don't underestimate us but to have people crying tears of joy for you is a sight to see nonetheless."
"I think it's great! Just realizing we have that effect on people is a good thing!" Amelia had bought from a wide selection of plants and placed them on a cart. She bought ten pots. If she wasn't a comical detective born for mischief, she'd definitely be into being a daredevil. She says the plants help keep her room fragrant and annihilates her gremlin energy, whatever that is. "I might have to go back to the Victorian Era for some confectioneries. Some good ol' history in your stomach's pretty good once in a while~"
Kiara perceptibly dried her lips in shame, "Did you really not buy any clothes, Ame? Your wardrobe's limited."
"I'm being resourceful. Is there something wrong with not wanting to waste water on more clothes? Be grateful I only own like five amazing ones to wear!"
"F-five?! You only owned two last time! What kind of detective are you?!"
Gura chimed in. "What matters is that we're together, aren't we?"
"That reminds me," I said to myself, looking at my watch. "We have to return by 4 in the afternoon. It's currently 2:35pm so please make the most of this mall."
Calli liked the colors black and red whenever we visited a clothing store. She didn't settle for much diversity and stuffed in those clothes in her basket without a care. Frivolous spending at its finest. She was pretty much just picking whatever tickled her fancy or should I not call it that? It seemed she already knew what she was going to buy the moment she joined the girls.
"What about you Gura? You wanna go clothes-shopping with me? It seems like you still have a lot of energy to spend!" Kiara eagerly wanted someone to go with her. "Or Calli-" she looked at me, her shopping-craze expression shifted to one of smugness. "Heh. On second thought, Ina accompany me!"
"W-Wha? But... I have to buy a new tablet-" Ina was about to bounce until Kiara's hand clawed at the neck of her Tako shirt.
"I know just the right dress for you, girl! We'll grab the things you need later!~" Kiara clapped her hands. "You're gonna look so adorable in it! Ame... and Gura! What are you going to do?"
"Us? Maybe we'll join Calli-" Gura innocently remarked.
Kiara somehow had a fiery look on her face.
Gura instantly recovered as well as my sanity. "AH YES! Ame... we're going to do that thing you always wanted to do, right?" she bumped her elbow into Amelia's chest. "Right? Right? Right?~"
"You're a great buddy, Gura but I don't understand-" Amelia was then stopped by Kiara's glare. "OH HAHA! I remember! Yes indeed! We'll get to that, yes! ... Whatever that is..." she muttered the last part.
I heard Calli click her tongue. "If you want me to hang out with Clay in the mall, just tell me straight." Death's apprentice pulled at my ear, causing me to let go of the shopping bags the other girls bought. I felt like Brock in Pokemon where my ear was always the prime target, except I had no one in mind to woo.
"Ow ow ow! Calli!" Can we get the radiography on otherworldly beings? What the heck were they made of biologically?
I had adjusted accordingly to my job as personal assistant and the tasks given to me were now within my level. Calli mentioned she'd take care of the rest in the Underworld due to how things turned out.
"Have fun, you two!" Kiara chirped.
She gave the girls one last look with a smile with her fingers still clutching on my earlobe. "Be back in a few. I'll see you girls later."
We were in the eastern section of the mall comprising of the food court and gadget stores several blocks away ten minutes later.
"Alright. Personal assistant," I stood straight, patiently waiting for her command. My name would've been better than addressing my job but I wasn't the boss in this relationship. "Let's go grab food. It's my treat."
Being a personal assistant of Mori Calliope wasn't as terrible as I'd made it out to be in the past. Mostly, the duties presented to me were either fetching things to her (in a human level) or buying clothes and food for her like what we were doing right now. Except we'd already bought food and now she wanted more. If there were any sorts of sponsors or aspiring collaborators looking to make connections with her via mail, I'd be responsible for looking through all of them.
Want to know the best part of the job? I get to play video games for more than half an hour when she doesn't have requests for me by the lobby. And yes, there was a PlayStation there.
I was going to salute and abide by her request until it wasn't really a request. "We're eating? Couldn't we have eaten with the rest?" We were joined by the hip together not long ago.
"I've already spent a lot of time with the girls, even my manager. Seeing as the girls are having fun by duos, I figured we'd do something too." She folded her arms, a pose I've been used to seeing a lot working under her.
She seemed to enjoy doing it when she looked pensive or lost in thought. Maybe she wasn't sure if eating really was the best idea. Having considered that, it didn't mean she was strange or anything. Calli could never with that kind of appearance.
"You ate a truck-ton of food this morning. I'm not demeaning your consumptive efficiency. We could do something else besides wasting money on things we've already spent on."
"Food is not a waste," she rebutted.
I held my head in place. "I know but we have grocery bags of them and you're bound to eat more when we get back home."
"I was kidding on eating, of course." Sure you were. "I'm not a pig. I just need them for brain juice. You can't work well on an empty stomach, after all."
"Uh-huh. Roger that, Calli."
"And so, as you're my second pair of eyes! Where do you propose we should go?"
If I hadn't gotten the job at Cover, I would never really think of going elsewhere. Being familiar with places came with the job description.
"I don't know how long I'm going to work for you but for us to succeed, we'll have to interact in a place without distractions."
She craned her head. "Haven't I been treating you well this past week? What are you insinuating?"
"I wasn't saying that. I meant we could to get to know each other." Sure, I knew her favorite foods and her tendencies. What she wanted in the workplace and what was to be delivered right at her doorstep. Though, what I was specifically searching for was a genuine conversation relating to our beliefs and preferences.
What kind of life did we lead before entering this line of business? What made us tick? Laugh? Even the littlest of quirks could pave way to lengthy dialogue. Those were the questions I'd scribbled on my folders when I was on lunch breaks. My gut told me Calli was someone I could trust. To enlarge that trust further was still debatable.
I could probably tell her a gist of my past without revealing every little crevice. Perhaps what kind of shows I watched or sports I played when I was young.
Calli would probably never agree since this kind of interaction wasn't mandatory.
"Alright. Let's go to the front gardens then. We'll talk there."
"I see. It's too bad but I'll accep- Wait, you want to?"
"Yes. I am slightly curious about you." She sauntered slowly right to my face, bopping my nose with her finger. "How you could ever think to go to the Underworld... Speaking with Death and immediately getting along with my friends... You still following?"
Was I hypnotized? I didn't realize she could do that.
I was thinking about her a lot lately so forming questions for her came easily.
"I'm curious about you too. Stepping foot where you were born and how you became this way instead of being with your master..." We made our way to the front gardens of the mall which was by the entrance. "I can kind of empathize and I apologize if I'm being offensive but if I were in your shoes, I would've chosen to be on Earth too than be in the Underworld."
"I guess. It's not that I hated the place. I was just tired of seeing the same thing. It's a cool place but Earth's cooler. I've never once thought I wanted to leave. Quite different from where I originally lived."
"How long have you been staying?"
"Promise you won't be shocked," Calli said. "I've been here since the Renaissance Era. The Golden Age, as people name it. Much has changed. This is one aspect I admire that the Underworld can never have."
"Change?" I repeated.
"And time." Calli was walking the same pace as the people around here. They didn't know she could visit all the shops here in ten seconds, maybe lesser if I didn't know her any better.
"A critical factor the Underworld lacks is the ability to evolve. My world remains a stagnant hallucination, devoid of desperation to enhance its environment. Being unable to behold a wilting flower or the shifting of seasons is a greater pity than staying there permanently. My master sees no need as we only have the purpose of guiding souls to their destination. But then what of our preferences and creativity? What happens to a world that refuses to change despite the never-ending power of our minds to bend will? I sought after a world which is inclined to meet my expectations. If a monotone world like mine stands forever, I'd rather be on the edge of the universe." she looked at me. "How about you? How old are you exactly, Clay?"
"Me? I'm 21."
"Very young. Living in this world since you were born, you must be really lucky huh?"
"Lock him up! I don't want to see him anymore!'
"B-but I'm your son!"
"My son can't be a monster! Protect me, dear!"
"Stay back! You're no longer a part of this family anymore!"
"Hey Clay, we're almost at the gardens. Get your chin up,"
"Huh? Oh. Sorry, I was having tunnel vision for a bit."
"Anyway, let's put that conversation on hold, yeah?" This woman changes her mind a lot. "Since we've already bought food and all, want to see what I'm seeing right now in the gardens?"
"What do you mean?"
"Here." Calli forcefully shut my eyes with her index finger and thumb, slid them gently over my eyelids and snapped her fingers. "Take a look now. At the center of the garden."
Was that...
"Calli... That's..."
"Yep. Wanna talk to a soul? You wanna get to know me, right?"