《Master of Cards. *Reborn*》Chapter 11: Allensphere Metropolis.
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Allensphere Metropolis. Place looks squeaky clean. Every building he has seen so far has been well maintained. The people on the bus ride seemed welcoming. They all had smiles and it wasn't the 'friendly kind' it seemed like they were forced to be welcoming. Kael stepped off at the bus station.
"Hello, Outsider. Coming here for a trip?" He turned to a police officer that was speaking to him.
"Yes, officer. Just visiting." The officer nodded as he asked for some ID. Kael gave it to him without much protest.
"Alright. Just stay out of trouble. Feel free to explore where you want." The officer said as he walked away. Kael walked around the bus station, seeing a few eyes that were staring at him from the shadows. Not ghosts, or horrors. Just people. Kael needed to look for some lodging, moving around as he looked for signs of a hotel or anything of the sort. His dad gave him 500 dollars worth of cash and a few credit cards.
The thick scent of iron was strong, it was everywhere he went. Kael walked to a nearby alley, usually it would be one of the few places where homeless people would be. There was nothing. It was clean and it smelled a lot like antiseptics and lots of cleaner liquids. He found the scent here, there were a few dumpsters but even then they smelled unnaturally clean. Kael looked underneath, finding a pendant. He took the pendant and could see blood stains on it.
"Mommy... I'm so..Sorry. Please forgive me." The voice was in his ears, Kael could not help but feel sorrow in his heart for what he heard. Kael put the pendant aside. Footsteps were heard from behind, Kael had a card ready. Hearing slides of pistols being racked.
"Give us your wallet outsider. Or we'll shoot." Kael let out a breath.
"2 of Hearts. Blood burst." Kael whispered,hearing loud thuds from behind. Kael did not need to check the bodies. He continued walking onwards, following the strong scent of blood. Another alleyway, Kael veiled his pressence with Jack of Hearts.
"Damn. It's not easy these days."
"Yeah, I mean we're supposed to clean the city up. Taking the homeless away is a good first solution isn't it? Besides getting paid to kill sounds fun. I mean they've got no family or anyone else for that matter. We even took some of them to work at some of our places too." Kael's blood was boiling and his anger might reach peak soon but he can't jump the gun. He has to investigate and figure things out. Letting those figures move away, Kael moved on. He needed to find a hotel.
Checking in at the 'Noveltree Hotel' that was a pun of a name. Logo of a tree made with the alphabet N. A bizarre logo choice but it was the only one that he could find that was closest to where he was. Kael headed to buy a room for the week. 250 dollars for the week. That's a solid dear, and the place does look expensive. Though Kael did book the smallest room they have. It was enough, he did not need anything far too expensive.
The small room was just a bed and a toilet. That's good enough, Kael went to take a shower first.
"You 5 better stay outside. No peeking." Kael said, then hearing the 5 of them grumble loudly to him. In the shower he was thinking about what he would need to do. Where he would need to go. He did not have connections in Allensphere and as tempting as it is to just go gung ho. Kael did not want to involve civilians needlessly. Not much can be done so he'll just have to figure things out as he goes along. Kael stepped out to see the 5 swords just floating in their weapon forms.
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"We'll keep watch. You should rest, master. It has been a long day for you." Kael put on a pair of shorts and went to sleep.
Kael woke up the next day, this time it was for him to just have a look around the metropolis. Scouring for more information. The people walking by the streets seem to be cheerful. Like they were brought under a spell of sorts. The buildings were much nicer to look at in broad daylight. Even through the darkness, Allensphere's buildings were a lovely sight. Not a sign of discolouration, not even a sign for any damage to the buildings. The missing homeless people has Kael wondering about where did they go? Some were killed and some were not. The places where the homeless were brought for work.
The streets would not help him at all but there was something else that helped him. The surge of mana that he was experiencing by his feet. It was like a shockwave that would cause a great wind to brush against people in the metropolis. He literally just watched a girl's skirt blew up as if the wind was right below her feet. Kael was embarrassed at what he had seen but he had to focus. Where did he need to go? The problem was that the mana shockwaves are coming from a few directions.
"Symphony?"
"I am trying to find her but my sister's voice seems to be distorted. It's bouncing around... Master. Be careful it seems that we are being watched." Black Symphony's words were for caution. He could feel 3 but there might be more than he could sense. Being in a crowd of people can be said to be similar to a double edged sword. They can't track you so easily but you can't track them easily either.
"If they know what Radiant Sonata is... They definitely will know that you are her sister." Kael said as he moved through the crowd.
"Master, we trust you." The swords spoke as Kael continued to walk into a park. It was just him, he felt the figures that were tailing him vanish. It wasn't that they gave up chase, it was more of they chose not to do anything.
"Master... I have a suggestion. Try to not give chase and paly into their hands." Kael grit his teeth, he did not like that plan.
"Symphony. Can I trust you?"
"I will restrain myself. Trust me." Kael nodded as he walked towards a park bench and sat down. The numbers of the people that were creeping to his position. They were increasing, starts out with 10 heartbeats. Now it's spiking up to a 100. They were armed with rifles, while Kael just placed Black Symphony on his lap.
"Four of you, be on standby. Hide your pressence from them. Stay in my storage." Kael whispered as they stepped closer.
"We've got the subject. What do you want to do Chairman?" One voice spoke up, pointing the rifle to Kael's face.
"The chairman is instructing us to bring you in. Will you comply?"
"Sure." The leading figure lowered his rifle, then he brought out a pair of cuffs. Another soldier picked up Black Symphony, in its weapon form.
"Sorry, but it's a precaution." Kael offered his hands with no questions asked. They then put a bag to cover his face. Followed by a prick to his neck. Clearly they were injecting something into his neck, so Kael pretended to be knocked out. Closing his eyes, hearing his heartbeat echo in the darkness. Forming the path of where he was going. The sounds were now slightly echoey. Perhaps he was in a tunnel. Only the heartbeats of these soldiers were around.
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Then he was brought into some sort of lab. Kael could still see through the bag over his head. It was some sort of lab, men in lab coats. They were studying weapons and armors of the past. Kael was then brought into an elevator.
"Just what was it that the chairman needed from this kid?"
"I don't know, but he said to bring the sword."
"Why were all 100 of us were activated anyway? Just 5 would have been enough."
"That's not it. He evaded our eyes so easily. That's the problem. Anyone who can hide from us is dangerous."
They later removed the bag off Kael's head, bringing him into an office of a woman.
"Chairman Cyan? We've brought him." The woman in the suit turned to Kael while one of the soldier's passed Black Symphony to her.
"Excellent work. To think the other piece of the puzzle would come before me." The woman said, she had blue hair with a scar over her neck.
"Tell me child. How did you come into possession of this blade?"
"It's a blade I have a promise to." Kael said where Chairman Cyan nodded as she pulled out the blade. Glancing over its finer details.
"Such fine blade should not be in the hands of a child like yourself. What say I take this off your hands? Besides, you will be helping Allensphere Metropolis if you do so." The chairman spoke with a grin.
"It's not for sale. I'll keep my promises." Kael said where the Chairman laughed.
"You think you can negotiate? My boy, you are sorely mistaken. Take him to join the people working at the mines."
"Just remember Chairman Cyan. If you think of controlling White Sonata. Be sure to watch the consequences of your actions." Kael said it, where a soldier smacked his head from behind. Kael was not here to reason with them, he just wanted to see more. Once again, he had to pretend to be unconscious, they dragged his body into a room. He found himself wearing nothing but rags. They did not even give him under wear and everything smelled like dust.
"Oi. Get your ass up and start working." Kael followed with the instructions, seeing people with pickaxes. Some of them were beyond malnourished, some barely had the strength to stand. Being beaten by the guards that kept watch on them.
They were given dry biscuits and a cup of water as rations. Those bickets were dry it might as well compete against the desserts and a cup of water would taste like heaven in this place. Kael grabbed the pickaxe, headed to the assigned area and began to whack through the rocks before him. They were orichalcum, no wonder it took some time for most of these people to even chip away the stones.
These people, their spirits were broken and they seemed to be like living corpses. Eyes void of life, tired aching hands that were all they had. You can't rest. You have to keep working or you get beaten, this was similar to one of Kael's previous lives. Even the set-up. There was a loud horn, where all of them were brought out to their rooms. No roommates and no sound was tolerated.
"Now good night you lazy bums. That's what you get for being worthless in our society!" The lights went off, Kael just leaned to the wall with his hands cuffed. Kael heard a baby crying loudly.
"Ah! I said no sound. What are you deaf?! Shut that baby up or I'll kill both of you!" Kael then heard gunfire.
"Hear that!? Any more of you bums make noise I'll just shoot ya!" Kael was thinking, how low can humans go? Somehow they could go even lower than this. Kael heard muffled screaming from the room in front of him.
Sounds of gunfire bothered Kael's meditation. The muffled voice from in front of him, he could see the corpses of people being dragged out. Two teenage girls who were Jenny's age, then another woman. Whatever the bastards were doing, Kael wasn't going to let any of them get away with it.
Kael stepped out, he continued to pick at the mines. Then hearing more gunfire and the laughter.
"Dance for me! If you don't you might not even get any of the food we're offering." Kael heard followed by a gunshot.
"Oh whoops. I think I killed the mother. I was aiming for the kid." They joked about it so easily.
"Master." Kael heard Black Symphony's voice.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Chairman Cyan... She's trying to control my sister. She's breaking my sister's mind. They're electrocuting her... She's trying to do the same to me." Kael let out a sigh as he worked on the fields.
"Still want to play it cool, Symphony?"
"You've always believed in the good of humanity, master... That's why Symphony made that suggestion." THe four swords echoed for Kael.
"Alright, all of you step out for role call." They followed where Kael answered his roll call, the ones that couldn't were put before the firing line. Kael then walked over to the firing line.
"Baihua. I release the seal that bind your powers. Show them what it means to bloom in death's stage as my Celestial Executioner.
Kuro-Hana. Unchain the seals that you put on your own body, put these animals down as the Divine Slayer.
Ga-eul. As your name means Fall, then rain destruction upon them as my Seraph Destroyer.
Banshee, sing me a melody. Lead me to temptation and bring me desecration as my Angelic Whisperer." Kael said as the four blades appeared by his side. They wore the dresses,that formed the armors over their body. Kuro Hana wore a twisted smile while Baihua smiled with glee. Ga-eul laughed with joy while Banshee wore a grimace. The four blades went after the gunmen by the firing line.
Not with their blades, with their bare hands. Banshee ripped one soldier in half then using the skull to smash the head of another soldier. Baihua dismembered another soldier, then beating him to death with his own hands. Screaming 'WHY ARE YOU HITTING YOURSELF' at the soldier. Ga-eul merely used her fingertips to raze the soldiers to pieces. Banshee sung a melody for the soldiers that caused them to walk to their demise as set by the four blades. Banshee kept singing while the soldiers realized that they were going to die and there was nothing that they could do.
Kael tapped his chest as his outfit changed to be the Master of Cards, with the ram skull mask. Kael pulled out the World Arcana.
"Trap my enemies in their domain. Never to let them escape my wrath." Kael shut the card, feeling a large barrier that covered the entire metropolis.
"Girls... I'll leave it to you. You can go outside and kill the ones involved. We're going to massacre them all." Kael said where the four weapons bowed to their master then vanishing.
"Next time. I'm just going to kill these bastards. Forget reasoning with them." Kael said as he walked on ahead.
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