[I originally wanted to thank y'all for 1k views but you guys were a step ahead and brought it to 2k. Screw you for messing up my thanks >:| ]
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"Miss Gura, please. You don't need to apologize for this, we understand what happened to you." The two maids frantically tried stopping the girl before them.
Gura only stood there with watery eyes and quivering lips, as if a baby had lost a toy.
"But you guys take care of us...I should be repaying you not hurting the ones who give my tail skin care...! How can you even do that?!" The shark whined as she hugged Mica's waist while kneeling in front of her.
The sisters could do nothing but look at each other with a soft smile, and a pang of awkwardness.
"I gotta look out for all us little people!" She squeaked.
"We're technically 2 inches taller than you," Runa mentioned.
"Wait what?"
"Yes! We could tell when we fought Gawr."
"It's the reason why we had a short advantage against her."
Gura suddenly jumped back on all fours and began hissing at the girls. "Traitors!!!"
As the maids giggled, they heard something that they had never heard in this house ever since they started living here.
The doorbell.
Surprised and slightly concerned. Mica asked Gura to stay next to her while Runa went over to check the door, a blade snuggly hidden behind her back as she checked the bell camera.
What she saw on the other side calmed her to an extent but also made her more confused as she opened the door.
"Oh hi!"
"Um, hello! How may I help you?"
"Well! I'm...Well, I guess I came here to meet some of my friends but..."
She stopped and stared at the short maid.
"I forgot what else..."
Runa remained in a confused daze as she debated on whether to let this woman in or not. Not letting her in, due to not knowing what her actual intentions are but also wanting to become it doesn't seem like she knows what her intentions are either.
Suddenly a loud gasp emitted from within the house.
"MOOMERS!"
"GURAAAAA!"
The maid was brushed out of the way like a feather in the wind as the brown-robed girl rushed in and collided with Gura in a tight hug.
"What the heck are you doing here?!"
"I don't know!"
They gleefully hugged and twirled in place as Runa closed the door and regrouped with her sister.
"When did you even find the time to come visit? What about the others!?" Gura asked.
"I do remember that they left before me, I thought they'd already be here."
"Wait what?"
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Amelia had just finished tinkering away in the lower basements where she had begun doing all sorts of experiments involving car parts and chemicals. She wiped the smudges and marks off her face as she tiredly entered her room. What greeted her on the other end was not what she needed to see.
"Afternoon, Time Walker..."
"Alright, first of all; what the hell happened to you? Secondly, why are you here, I swear I haven't been warping since the last time."
"I'm just a bit drained, gimme a bit."
"Why'd your rest period need to be in my room exactly?" The detective shook her head. "But again- why and when did you get here?!"
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"Why did it drop us off here...?"
"I dunno, but 'ey! Check out their shampoos! No wonder Kiara's always got such blindin' locks!"
"Don't touch their stuff! Plus, this isn't the kind of place we should be seen in!"
"Who's going judge? If anyone, I'll just give 'em a good wackin."
These words were muffled through the bathroom door as an annoyed Cyrus stood outside tapping his foot. How the conversation sounded, and the fact it was a conversation, convinced him that he didn't need to knock.
"Girls, do we need to set ground rules about hogging the bathroom or-"
He opened the door and found himself under the dense stare of two girls he'd never seen before.
"Who the hell is that?"
"Bae! Be nice!"
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Cyrus pulled out his gun.
"WOAH WOAH WOAH WAIT!"
The deep reddish-pink-haired girl frantically waved her hands.
"What are you doing?" Kiara suddenly walked up to the man and pushed his hand down.
She looked into the bathroom and soon her eyes lit up like a flame.
"Aaahhhhh! Whaaaatt!?"
"Hey, Kiara!"
"Sup hot stuff!"
"Kikirikiiii!" She ran in and locked her arms around the two of them, managing to slightly lift them in a tight embrace. "Aahhhh it's been so long! What are you guys doing here?!"
"Here here, or here as in why our bathroom?" Cyrus rolled his eyes as he stuffed his gun back into its holster before walking off.
Not sure what to make of the situation, he decided to head back to his room, but along the way, he felt a certain lightness. Uncertainty and doubt were all gone, a fragrant inviting smell was introduced, a warm swish of wind in an enclosed space.
He finally stopped in the middle of the hall and looked around himself.
"You seem in better spirits lately."
Even though he had looked in every possible direction, a voice came from behind as if suddenly materialized into existence.
Cyrus blankly stared at her for a few seconds then slowly walked up to the bright green being.
He then slowly pressed his finger against her cheek.
"Hehe~ No I'm not an alcohol-induced hallucination."
"Just making sure..." His fingertips gently slid down her cheek which she strangely invited the feeling off.
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Just a few feet away from the two was a short shark and a distracted owl girl. The former was not too fond of the sight before her, it was unsure in fact of what she was feeling as her face was as blank as an empty canvas.
The loss of one will save a million more
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When all was calmed down, Cyrus and the girls finally grouped up in the living room, with their supposed guests seated on the long couch.
"Let me get this straight; These guys are from Cover too?"
"Yuuuup!" Kiara ran behind the couch and shook the whole thing, "Come on girls! Introduce yourself!"
"I'd first like to know who this is before I say anything about ourselves." The blue haired woman threw one leg over the other and leaned back in her seat.
"I'm-"
"This is Cyrus!" Gura interjected with a light grip on his arm. "He's head of security of our new home and awesome bodyguard/friend first and foremost!"
Slightly confused and surprised by the last part of her explanation, Cyrus looked around the room to see the rest of myth smiling widely as if agreeing with the shark to the very end. Save for Calli who only looked away but not out of distain but rather sadness.
The others glanced at each other for a bit then shrugged in unison.
"Well if it's a friend then why not!" The robed girl waved at Cyrus to get his already attained attention.
"Nanashi Mumei! A traveling owl and proud guardian of Civilization! I've seen every possible event to occur in human history, so many that it's hard to keep track of everything and I tend to...be a bit forgetful. But! I always have 'friend' here who helps me with...umm.." she looked down at her friend. "Kronii, you're sitting on Friend."
"Does he mind?" She responded with a suggestive side eye.
"Yes he does! Move!" She nudged the woman then yanked out a paper bag with a poorly drawn face. It floated out of Mumei's hands and to her side.
"Hm, suit yourself." The blue fitted woman swiftly stood up from the couch with her hand slid under her chin. "I am the glorious, Ouro Kronii, Warden of Time and a true treasure to the boundless universe. I know you must be wondering why you couldn't have known of my existence sooner but it was all because I was too precious for feeble human minds...~" She then summoned two large blades with a swipe of her hands, both resembling the arms of a clock. She pointed one at Cyrus. "But now you have a chance, bask in all my glory!"
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"Anyway..." Cyrus turned his gaze over to the next woman. Kornii stood frozen, as white as a ghost.
"Hirys! It's IRyS! Ready to lead this world into salvation with excessive hopium! The Gods have sent me here to bring hope to all of humanity and pave a bright smile for them for the coming future!" She saluted with two fingers.
"We've already met before but you never caught my name did you?" The soft spoken green head rose to her feet. "Konfauna~! I am Ceres Fauna, primarily kirin, better known as mother nature. It is my job to oversee and protect the natural flow of the world, something that humanity has been scarring for the longest time."
"Wait, you guys already met?" Amelia questioned.
"Ehehe...yeah, I was slightly the cause for his anxiety the past week or so, given I spent quite some time in your gardens without revealing myself." Fauna giggled.
"So that's why you hadn't been back to the home realm for so long..." IRyS sighed. "Anyway, these introductions are taking longer than we thought, So-" she was interrupted, loudly.
"HEYOOOOOO-! I'm a rat!" The vibrant red haired girl jumped infront of Cyrus and violently shook his hand which tugged his entire body. "It's me, ya new beastie, Chaos in the flesh! I'm the reason everything goes wrong in your life but I can make it seem 10 times more fun! Hakos Baelz! Your worst nightmare and best bet here!"
"So I get to blame you for every failure I experience?" Cyrus raised a brow.
"Nah, I'd say that's on you, technically. I'm only there to see what you make of your slip ups."
"Then that's not an accurate definition. But still, I have to ask." Cyrus tilts his head and leans in. "If I kill you, does all that mayhem and destruction in the world go away?"
"You wanna try and find out?" Bae shunned a bloody smile as her eyes glowed down on him.
The others only sat in silence at their words. Some were still processing what is happening, others anxiously preparing themselves for the worst that could happen at any second.
Cyrus scoffed out a wide smile. "Heh, I like this one."
"What?! Her?!" Kronii yelled. "I'm right here!"
"You want to make this a competition, Kronii? I thought humans weren't worth the input." Bae remarked mockingly, her tail wagging.
"Well, if we're doing this then I think I have a good headstart with him." Fauna clapped.
In the sidelines, Gura was grumbling to herself but she couldn't understand why. Why does the thought of the others hogging Cyrus's attention leave a bad taste in her mouth? Was she really being oblivious like Gawr had mentioned?
"Anywhoooooo,..." Ina interjected. "What brings you guys here?"
"Wellllll! A little birdie told us that you guys are gonna have a huge collab with a special someone, and no it wasn't Kiara. We decide to swing by and make it a Mega Collab!" IRyS explained.
"Really?!" The short girl squeaked as she jumped up infront of the couch.
"But...my stream is a day away!" Gura spoke up.
"Yeah! We talked to Yagoo before we came here and he said that this place is pretty huge so it wouldn't be a problem if we stuck around for a day or two." Fauna explained.
"Well, you've already been doing that." Mumei glared at her.
"This already sounds like it'll be a loud stream." Cyrus pinched his nose. "Anyway, I'm gonna have to read up on you five it seems, so if I'm just going to go off of institution...in some way or another, you're celestial beings."
"Pretty much." IRyS shrugged.
"But not Gods?"
"Nope, we were created by the Gods, well, most of us." Bae answered.
"And just to be completely transparent." Cyrus pulled out his gun again and presented it. "This will not kill you?'
"Hm. Don't know actually, we haven't had a confrontation like that before." Mumei pressed her finger on her chin.
"Do you know anything that can kill you?" He asked again.
"Is all this info really necessary?" Amelia asked.
"Hey, I'm just being curious." He put his gun back, "Besides, wise man once said: Have a plan to kill everyone you meet."
"Did he just..."
"Yup." Calli sighed in pure disappointment.
"You'll be lucky to even get a scratch off of us, human." Kronii angrily huffed. "I'd like to entertain the idea of you even trying but that's not what we're here for."
"I'm not saying that's my motive, it's just nice to know these things." The man shrugged.
"Yeah well," Bae lightly punched his shoulder. "You're not going to get much with educated guesses, I'll tell ya that much. If a timeless life span has told us something, it's that all this unkillable life force and power gets boring fast." She smirked. "Buuuut~! I'm always up for surprises, however I'm sorry to say that Myth would have more chances than a human."
"World's full of surprises." Cyrus answered softly.
"And we've seen them all." Bae then patted his shoulder. "But hey! Doesn't mean I'll stop ya from trying. It keeps things interesting."
"Sure thing." Cyrus then called up on the maids. "These two will help you find your place around here, alot of guest rooms so you can take your picks."
"Oohhh! I'm picking one next to Kronii's!"
"Me too!" Fauna and Mumei exclaim.
"Of course you are..." The warden sighed painfully.
"You guys have your fun, I'll be in my room if you need me."
Cyrus was ready to leave the girls to their own devices, but quickly stopped.
"Oh wait." He pointed at Bae. "Can I have my knife back?"
Confused, the red head looked down and saw a bailsong lodged in her stomach. No blood. The others shared the look of surprise Bae had as she awkwardly slipped the blade out.
Cyrus took the knife then examined it from tip to handle. "Hm, 15 seconds and no reaction. Guess we're ruling cobra venom out."
Some Time Later...
After wrapping his head around this new environment of his, a complete addition of five more to his life, Cyrus did as intended and went to do some research on the girls.
"Hololive English - Promise [Formerly The Council]...although their change of title is prominent in the agency, they are still considered the High Council of Concepts....yadda yadda yadda... Beings that govern and balance the existence of the universe...existed long before humanity...yeah, guns are no go,..." He grumbled and leaned back in his seat.
Unlike people from myth, he has nothing to go up against concepts that can end his existence in the blink of an eye, not that he should worry about such a thing but cation comes before consideration in his book.
When he was through trying to delve deeper into his studying, thinking of simply asking Amelia about it, he went to leave his room and check up on the newcomers.
Heading out into the halls, he first ran into IRyS who was merely admiring the environment around her then capturing the sights out the window.
"Liking the place so far?" He asked.
An immediate response wasn't given, but what she said afterwards completely ignored his initial question.
"You know, I came down here for people like you." IRyS said while keeping her gaze out the window. "You have no sense of direction."
"I'm 'hopeless' as you'd put it. I don't know, I seem pretty determined with my work, I'm giving it my all anyway, aren't I?"
"Determination doesn't mean you're motivated. You're only doing what you're told because you fear you'll waste away when there's no need for your expertise. But at the same time...you're in no rush to find a new meaning."
"It's weird how all of you seem to know a whole lot about my personal life for all this advice dumping but I'm not really asking for it."
IRyS finally turned to him, her hand gently resting on the sill of the window. "It's part of my nature to sense the despair in someone's being, it's how I help them."
"I'm not in any need of that help."
"You are, you just need to-"
"If I wanted to seek some divine revelation that would make my life all sunshine and rainbows, I'd be looking a long time ago." He stepped closer to her, glaring closely at her uniquely colored eyes. "So keep your enlightenments to yourself...and we'll be okay."
IRyS showed no dissatisfaction nor a change of a damper mood. She simply kept a soft smile then pulled away. "Very well."
The nephilim then left for her room. Cyrus could only watch and swallow is regret of tone as she disappears from sight.
"You need to stop making enemies out of the people who are paying you." Mica said as her and Runa step up next to the man.
"I wouldn't say I went that far with her..." He scratched the back of his head.
"Yet." Runa snickered.
"Alright, what do you two want?" Cyrus said, fed up.
"Yagoo called, said he's sending someone over and you should see to them immediately."
"That's really vague."
"It probably won't be when you go check it out."
Just as the girl says this, she presses her hand on her ear then smirks. "Speak of the devil. They pulled up on the driveway just now."
Confused, Cyrus shrugged it off and made his way to the main hall. The maids soon followed while smiling to each other but then headed off in their own direction, letting Cyrus tend to whoever's at the door.
Later...
"Wait, so they said what?" Gura asked as she pulled down her headset.
Kiara closed the door behind her and walked back to the girls who were loathing around in their Collab stream room.
"The maids told us that Cyrus is having a special guest over and it would be best if we don't interrupt them." She explained.
"What, so we're supposed to stay in a room like it's daycare while the grownups talk?" Amelia grumbled.
"Special guest?" Calli mumbled as she lifted a magazine off her eyes to look at Kiara.
They seemed to be thinking the same thing as their eyes met.
"You think it's his sister...?"
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The girls silently glanced at each other, then out of all people, Calliope slammed her magazine shut then jumped to her feet.
"Yeah, no. We gotta see what's up."
"What?! We can't just barge in and see what he's doing, they might not even talk if they see us!" Kiara stopped the reaper from approaching the door.
"We'll just sneak our way there."
"You're terrible at stealth! Plus, do you have any idea how bad this is? We aren't supposed to be eavesdropping on something like that!"
"We won't." Amelia had an evil smile on her face. "Ina!"
"Wah!" The petite girl got up from laying flat on the floor.
"Remember that spell you showed me?" The detective asked.
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"Oohhh!" Ina snapped her fingers in realization then summoned her book out of thin air.
"What spell?" Gura asked as she threw off her headset then jumped off her chair.
The girls all came together infront of one of the larger monitors which was hung on the wall. As they got comfortable around the screen, Ina began whispering a single chant on repeat while the book opened itself and flipped to a specific page. The foreign text on the pages began floating out and started absorbing into the monitor before them like a drop of water on paper.
A short while later, the entire screen was flashing purple until it finally started acting like a screen. The monitor showcased the main hall.
"What the wha?!" Kiara squeaked.
"Yeah! Apparently I can spy on places I've been before." Ina said proudly.
"When did you even find out about this?"
"A while ago. The Ancient Ones told me about it but I brushed it off until Ame asked if I had anything that we can use as CCTV."
"But why would you...?" Kiara mumbled.
"Shh shh shhh!" Gura flapped her hand.
The girls turned their attention to the screen to find Cyrus to the front door. When he looked through the door camera he froze up, his hesitance was very apparent but the girls saw him muster up the courage to finally pry it open.
"Hey..."
"Mihara...what...I mean, hey!"
Cyrus greeted the girl then hesitantly let her in.
"Wait who's that?" Kiara said.
"That's not her..." Calli followed.
"Come on in, take a seat, the maids will whip up something for you."
"Oh no, don't. I'm not going to be taking too much of your time."
Her soft spoken tone followed as the two made their way to the living room. Myth was simply glad they could actually hear their conversation, otherwise this would have been for naught.
Ina didn't even know they had audio in this thing.
"But maids..? Seriously, you're really just living the opposite of what you want people to think."
"It's not entirely mine, I'm just hard at work, like you know. But that brings me to ask...how did you even find me?"
"Well, to make it sound as less complicated as possible; I found out that Claire met up with you in town and saw it as an opportunity to finally talk to you. After some subtle sweet talking, she told me that she had met your supposed friends and even showed me a picture...I couldn't believe it when I saw the selfie. It was Mori Calliope and... Takanashi Kiara, You're living with HOLOLIVE MYTH?!"
Calliope and Kiara widely facepalm in embarrassment as they recalled their last encounter.
"I knew who I had to call by that point and so, after a few references I got the CEO himself to tell me where you are."
"Uh huh...So, what brings you here anyway?"
The girl was now looking a bit fidgety as she played and knotted her hair in her hands.
"Well, I had something important to tell you but, I also just wanted to see you. It's been years man..."
"Yeah, I know, I know...I just- Ever since Claire found out about everything I just had to stay away otherwise it would ruin things for all of us."
"And yet you're still doing your best to support us...Even when you don't get any appreciation for it, you're trying to provide for us. I'm finally going to get back onto my feet and continue my job but...I can't not thank you for all you've done to keep a roof over OUR head." She then slowly rose to her feet and rummaged through her hand bag.
"I know...she won't say it. I never once heard her even consider the thought but I know...she loves you. You just need to believe it too and be there for her and as my part of thanks for the impact you've had on our lives..." She pulled out a sizable envelope and handed it to him.
"I want you to be there for our Wedding."
Cyrus looked up at the girl in shock, his mouth was agape and flapping but a lack of coherent words.
"I know it may sound like a bad idea now but I want our happiest day to be with everyone we love and you have every right to be there."
"M, I can't...I'd ruin it. She wouldn't-"
"I have a right to who I can invite and I chose my future brother in law. I just want you to try for her."
Cyrus only stared at the folded object in his hand, anxiety and guilt drowning him the more he thought it over. In his panic, he felt a hand gently squeeze his shoulder.
"Just...think it over, there's still a while until the actual big day..."
"I...really don't think we should have seen this.." Ina awkwardly rubbed her arm.
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As time went on, the girls had ended their spying session and went back to their routine, pretending they had seen nothing.
Soon came a soft knock on their door and in came Cyrus, the last person they wanted to see.
"H-Heya chump!" Gura stumbled. "What's up? Where you been-"
"I'm guessing you guys heard everything." He closed the door behind him.
Those few words made all the others in the room either fall of lose their balance in a panic reflex.
"What?! Huh?! When?" Calli blurted.
"Uhhh..."
"Ina, play dumb!" Amelia whispered.
"Who am I?"
"Not that dumb!"
"Hate to break it to you but uh...your whole spy camera was really obvious, considering the fact there was a giant floating eye right behind Mihara's head." Cyrus explained.
"What?!"
"GOD DAMN IT INA!"
"HOW WAS I SUPPOSE TO KNOW IT'D BE A PHYSICAL ENTITY IN THE ROOM?!"
Amelia and Ina yell at each other.
As the silence resurfaced, the girls awkwardly glanced at each other then at the man before them. But amongst them all, Gura looked down in thought before she walked up to him and took his hand in both of hers.
"We just wanted to know what's been happening. I know this ain't something we should be sticking our noses into but you're our friend and we want to help you too but you don't talk to us." She squeezed his palm. "Let us hear you out, for today at least."
Cyrus is a man of a fraction of pride he has within himself. Not outright agreeing, he sighed loudly which acted as a sign of approval for the girls.
"Oh! Oh! I know just the way to set this up." Kiara quickly pulled out her phone and mashed away.
Only a few minutes later did the maids deliver large paper bags to the room, a take out order with the brand name being
"KFP".
Being a known regular routine for them, the girls set up this snack party with Cyrus simply wondering to himself.
"How the hell did this get here so fast? The nearest City is an hour away."
"That's what you're missing with good ol' KFP! Never have to wait with our service!" Kiara said gleefully.
"Alright! Hot wings and a beer, you're living the best life right now, go." Amelia clapped her hands then pointed at Cyrus. He sighed and collected his thoughts, carefully tuning what's the right place to start, what context matters, it was all a painful mix.
"If it wasn't already obvious, my sister's not really fond of me, hasn't been for the past 10-11 years. When I was 15, our parents were just...murdered and that's where it ended and started."
"That's it...? What happened? Who did it?" Gura tilted her head.
"That's the thing. They were stabbed in the throat in their sleep, missing a good majority of their blood but none of it was spilled in the room. There was no trace of the killer, no evidence, no history, nothing. It was as if whoever killed them just...stopped existing. Then the police went over to the next most logical explanation, one of their children might have done it... It didn't last long either, the case just ran cold. But Claire...she..."
Cyrus let out a shakey exhale and clenched his fists.
"I always tried to be the older brother she wanted...try my best so that eventually my little sister would like me but it never happened. Which is why when I was the one to find our parents, lifeless in their room, she came up after me and just assumed the worse...Even when I was found innocent, she never believed it. She never even called me by my name anymore, I was just the monster. She was forced to live with me and our relatives who took us in but by the time I was 17 I just left, for her sake and mine. I was going to find out who ruined our family or just rot away living alone. I took up my 'unique' profession in hopes that one day, some connections, some information will turn up about our parent's killer but it was always nothing."
He took a long sip of his drink, rubbing the rim as he stayed quite for a little bit. None of the girls had it in them to disturb this silence because they knew he needed it. Eventually he loudly exhaled.
"Well, one thing led to another, I just started making money off of this job and always tried finding it to Claire's account. Even when she wanted me out of her life, I couldn't stay away, I always watched her grow every step of the way and did my best to support her from the sidelines without her knowing. I could relax a bit when she met Mihara, knowing her girlfriend had taken up the mission I was grinding through."
It was dark out, they treated this fast food experience as dinner. The others had slowly eased into the mood and tried lifting Cyrus's spirits, even when he said he didn't need a pick me up, but they refused.
The mood had gotten to a point where even Calli chimed in to help the man stay distracted, feeling guilty on her and Kiara's end for bringing him down to this point but also tipsy and glad she could ignore the headbutting they've had so far.
"Wait, you rap?"
"Dude! I thought you did research on us, shouldn't that have included our channels?!"
"I thought about it but I had too much on my plate at the time to think about watching endless clips of Gura trying to read basic English."
"I WAS TIRED!" The shark yelled.
It was the first time in a while that him and Calli talked so casually, but to her, it still felt wrong. Someone didn't feel justified in what was happening and she frowned. After some thought, she was about to call for his attention again but..
"HEY! I KNOW THAT SMELL!"
A loud voice boomed from outside of the room. The door then thrashed open to reveal a red rat stomping inside.
"I knew it! You guys were havin' a snack party without us! What happened to guest hospitality?!" Bae yelled.
Kronii peaked into the room with a curious eye.
"Really, I thought that being in a mansion meant there'd be some fancy etiquette to follow or at least a theme that would fit my stature of excellency." She remarked loudly.
A chuckle escaped Cyrus as he raised his hand then snapped his fingers.
The maids quickly entered the room and took Kronii's hands, one each.
"You'd need only call our names, Mistress. We shall be at your service whenever and wherever."
"We live to cater to your needs and your desires. Someone of your wonderful as yourself shouldn't be bothered by small trivial matters."
"...I...y-yes..uh..." Now with the Warden of Time successfully malfunctioning, the girls began tidying up.
Cyrus followed. "Alright ladies, wrap it up. We have alot of prepping to do tomorrow.
"Yeah right! Management does most of the set ups for us then sends it when ready." Amelia giggled.
Cyrus then nudged her as they watched the others slowly leaving the room. "We need to be ready for tomorrow." He whispered.
"...Oh...OH! We're doing this?" The detective asked.
"Uh huh, just keep an eye on your texts, I'll tell you when we move out."
To Be Continued