Chapter 4: So What Now?
Lydia stood frozen, jaw-dropped, and still questioning over Thalia's elaboration about her soul scroll. Thalia turned to her with half-hearted smile and chuckled nervously.
"Heh...sorry..." Thalia apologized, spinning her thumbs on her clutches. Her eyes never left Lydia's, now that it was glowing in anger.
"H-how—since...when...this happened?" Lydia asked, intimidatingly.
"Uh..? I just told, right?" Thalia shrugged.
Lydia began to have an overreacting panic again shuddering words coming stiff of her lips like she was about to curse when a soft lighten voice of a man chimed behind the pillars. Lydia and Thalia spun around to find a Reaper walking up to them. Thalia gulped while Lydia's eyes shimmered, she recognized as the Reaper from earlier. Then again his presence made Lydia buckled down to her knees, causing her to stutter by just gazing at him.
"Ah, Lydia, there you are, the Council wants to talk to you..." he trailed as he noticed Thalia shaking nervously from her spot. He tilted his head in question, Thalia made a coded gesture and pointed out towards Lydia. His eyes widen.
"Oh, that's not good," he said, massaging his temples.
"Please, Lucas, it was purely an accident I didn't mean for Lydia—to die...for now," Thalia stammered, rubbing her thumbs nervously.
Lucas breathed out a sigh and glanced at Thalia with pity. "Okay, I'm surely not allowed to do this but you need help and I don't want you to get into trouble so I'll help."
"Thank you," Thalia said, quietly with a smile.
Soon, they strolled down the corridors in a rush as the three headed for a the Watchmen's location systems. It didn't took long for them to make it through without any suspicions and made all the way towards some narrowed halls that only bear minimum light much over it almost occupied with the looks of steampunk. Broken rusty pipelines, steam puffs, tightly brown walls, and most of all clutters and clammers of metal banging on the floor like a factory. Yet, in fact it was a stationary where the Watchmen could get their 'collector's tool' when it comes to demon hunting. The three exchanged glances with the people who worked there which caused Lydia to gain sudden interest on what was this side of view in the Afterlife and what's up with the hunter slash cowboy looks from these six footer ladies and gentlemen?
Lydia paused her wandering thoughts when they came to stop at an old rickety-looking wooden door. Lucas pounded knocks on the door when it immediately opened and were welcomed by an old man, fully bearded, and has a look of a steampunk engineer.
Both Lydia and Thalia wasn't all too surprise what was inside the room, being all messy with cobwebs, disarranged books and knickknacks on shelves, rusty pipelines whistling, but something caught their curiosity sitting in the middle of the dark room only lit up by a small chandelier. A table.
A table crafted like a flatten globe and within its form was like a hologram feature, allowing it for the finder to gain more access of locations as it took more detailed information.
"How did you got yourself a map in here?" Thalia asked.
"Oh, easy. I'm the head of building those," he pointed out.
"Then why are you here in this dump like old-school place? No offense by the way," Lydia echoed.
"Okay...I would like to share to you that I prefer quiet dark places rather than brighten areas with many, many people watching and telling my every move constantly. Anyway what brings you three here in my humble abode?"
"We would like to know where—" Lucas began but was cut off by Thalia.
"Where's Lydia's soul scroll and please show it to me now because I beg you I'm in a hurry and I needed to fix this before things get worst!" Thalia pleaded, rushing every word from lungs causing her to pant heavily.
"Could at least slow down for a bit," Lydia uttered.
"Oooohhh, so I've heard this about the mistake at the Bridge. So you're the not-so-lucky newbie?"
"Yes..."
"Well, mishaps happened all the time, believe me, everybody isn't perfect."
"So you'll help us?" Lydia asked.
"Of course!" He exclaimed calmly. They chuckled nervously as they let out a sigh of relief knowing help was near.
"So what seems to be the thing that you needed to pinpoint?"
"Uh, where the scroll had landed," Lucas replied. "Can you locate it for us, Kessler? You're the only one safe to talk with this kind of situation."
"Sure, why not," Kessler nodded as he activated the map making it glow brighter than the small lanterns lit inside.
Lydia, Thalia, and Lucas watched as Kessler typed in some codes with blipping noises following his every tap.
"How come these 'Vents' affect this soul business? And why it could do that in the first place?" Lydia asked.
Kessler wanted to answer but was too busy to do so and Thalia stammered as she was about to reply when Lucas spoke first.
"Here's the thing about the Vents, it's known here as the vacuum of quick-and-easy exit with the perks of sucking anything and sending it down to Earth with no way going back up unless you know your way. Oh, about the soul scroll that depends on whether you've encountered it or somehow touched it without any realization that it was your key from passing away."
"In conclusion, the Vents can highly affect anyone because it was mostly where portals made from and was used to be as the 'backrooms' here," Kessler added.
"With more over whenever a soul scroll flew into it might automatically do the job on its own. Sending you here too soon," Lucas added.
"Well can it be redone? I need to get back home, my sister is probably freaking out right now," Lydia said, looking worried in a hurry.
Thalia swallowed a lump in her throat thinking her mistake over and over again as she listened to Lydia's constant blabbers about her getting back her life. She snapped from her worries when she felt black mist coloring her palms again. She quietly gasped and excused herself to the washroom. She rinsed her arms with holy water, wincing, if they ever stop. Luckily they faded away as the color drained within the water. Thalia longed for air as she closed her eyes, leaning against the door. Her eyelids come up as she heard Kessler exclaimed. She rushed out of the bathroom only to find a small red dot beeping over the located landmark.
Kessler laughed, Lucas smiled, and Thalia sighed. Meanwhile Lydia stared at them confusingly not knowing that it was rare to find a soul scroll or any item that have fallen from the Vents. So far the scroll was lucky to be located but not found.
"Journeying amongst the living would be tough though," Lucas said.
Lydia raised a brow, "why not?"
"Because barely no one has access going down there yet alone roam freely," Kessler explained.
"So what now?"
"How about you, Lucas? You're a Reaper, right? Can you lead us there?" Thalia asked, pinpointing at the red dot.
"I would if I could."
"What do you mean?" Lydia asked narrowing her eyes in confusion.
"Well, for starters we Reapers aren't exactly could go freely around Earth because we're only there to fetch dead people and trust me when I say this, that going down there must be in strict rules 'cause where your duty is that's must you'd needed to be found."
"In other words, Reapers can't come and go as they please and they're only out there when a job is to be done," Thalia added.
Lucas scoffed jokingly, "if only freedom within breaks but no. Break time must be at the Porg and not out other wise it won't be wise doing such actions. Plus, I'm a Fauna Reaper, humans aren't my thing."
"But aren't humans are animals too?" Thalia asked.
"To me, they are savages," Kessler chimed.
Lydia held a finger about to protest but she remembered and just shrugged.
"Okay...? Then what must we really do?" Lydia asked, turning to Thalia.
Thalia sighed looking down on her toes before raising her chin up. She stared up to Lucas gesturing him a not-so-good idea, he shook his head as he disagreed on what she would be going with.
"Lydia and I must go back to Earth to find and get that scroll back before any demons could find it in doing so getting help who knows their way," Thalia sighed, leaning on the map with both of her arms.
"Even if you could do it, how would you ever get any access on their stuff there? Lydia won't be any help since she's dead after all..."
Lydia stared at Kessler with a mouth slightly open, being offended.
"...and you, Thalia, you don't know anything about the humans, how will you get through?" Kessler finished.
"Plus portals aren't easy to get," Lucas reminded.
Thalia sighed, "I might know someone who knows her way on everything down there and has plenty of accesses."
"Oh, you're not talking about..." Lucas grunted. Thalia only gave him the look 'can-you-think-of-someone-else?'
"Please don't even think about her...she's a loose canon," Kessler uttered.
"But she knows her way too well."
"But she'd caused a lot trouble for anyone to get involve with her not to mention she's the one who burnt the Watchmen's Stations in the first place. Are you sure with this?" Kessler asked with uncertainty.
"I am sure that I'm sure," Thalia replied.
"I have bad feeling about this," Lucas muttered, shaking his head.
"Neither do I but there's no other way," Thalia said.
"Whom? Who are we supposed to ask help from if we're not even allowed to do things down there?" Lydia asked, she was confuse with the silence of unsureness filling the air.
Thalia closed her eyes before sighing out a deep breath, "we're going to ask none other Alayah Rendòrò herself."
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A/N: Thank you so much for reading, if you like this chapter of the story come and hit that vote or comment! Happy reading!
Word count: 1696