Solitary: Compass Of Fate

At the west of the Serina district.

Walker heard three consecutive knocks on his door and when he opened it, he saw Sidric who Walker wasn't very fond of but he didn't hate him either.

His tense body relaxed for once and he loosened his guard.

"Good morning, good hunter." Sidric's tone had a certain level of sarcasm to it but it was in a friendly manner.

Walker, without saying a word welcomed him in and sat at his lofty chair and while expecting Sidric to sit on the couch.

Sidric closed the door and did as Walker expected him to do.

The foil wrapped sandwich he had with him had turned somewhat cold but not so cold that it couldn't be eaten.

He offered it to Walker but he just looked at him before saying, "What brings you here? If it's for the interrogation then tell Sephro that I'll get there when I want." He leaned back on his chair and rested, battling against his almost eternal fatigue.

"Not quite." Sidric pushed the sandwich further and continued, "What I want is your time, just the two of us." 

A jolt struck from Walker's feet all the way up to his brain as he revealed a grimaced reaction.

"Word it better next time!"

Sidric broke out into a laughter, his suggestive tone was always provocative towards Walker. And he was the only one not used to Sidric's sarcasm.

The laughter disappeared as Sidric took on more of a serious expression, "Eat up. We'll be heading to the Relené Mansion right away."

Walker raised an eyebrow but soon decided to follow along as he had questions himself that needed answers. 

Walker quickly ate up, he'd have preferred a more filling meal but a sandwich wasn't so bad.

After he finished, the two left after Sidric rented a carriage and headed to the Relené Mansion.

•••

At the front of the Relené Mansion, there stood two men who had recently departed from the West of the Serina District. They held paper coffee cups they had bought on their way.

Sidric Baskerville took off his hat and threw it inside the carriage they rented and slicked his charcoal black hair back.

Walker took a big sip of the black bean coffee, one that he did not like but was the most effective. Crushed the paper cup and stuffed it into his pocket as thrashing the streets was against the law.

His expression turned sour, making him let out a rough cough but gladly he had finished it now and felt a surging energy that evaporated his fatigue.

"Alright. What now? Did you even seek Sephro or the police for permission?" Walker's patience was like a fragile glass that could shatter depending on what would be said next.

The charcoal haired Sidric set aside the asked question and replied, "No need, I'm a Blazeheart myself."

Within 6 meters, Sidric who was slightly shorter than the 190 centimeters Walker stopped to continue his expressive enthusiasm about the upcoming venture, "This really feels like a novel. I'm glad I was recruited."

Walker, who was barely interested in anything at all, gave his reply as honestly as he could, "Nothing to be excited about a murder scene."

"I guess you're right." Sidric nodded and his usual expression turned into something serious.

"What a cruel fate befell that couple…" Creasing his eyebrows, he expressed sadness to Walker for the first time.

Sidric clenched his fist, "I was going to be an uncle… Julie, she was like an older sister to me. Really kind and wise." he grit his teeth and barely held himself together.

Having no ability to show remorse, Walker silently watched the mansion and its magnificent design and size.

After a moment of silence, Walker could think much better and notice things he couldn't before.

"Your words suggest you knew the couple, if so, what makes you think they were murdered for?" 

"No clue actually. They lived a pretty simple life and were kinder than most of the other tycoons, the wife at least." Sidric's face twitched in an attempt to hide his emotions.

Walker reached into his pocket and brought out his compass. The needle moved naturally, indicating no sign of supernatural abnormalities.

A sudden breeze pushed past, Sidric who was usually cheerful became awfully gloomy. 

"What was Miss Lucille doing in the mansion?" Their eyes engaged in a momentary stare, Walker who did not know either became frustrated at the sudden accusation.

Walker bent his head and gave him a cold glare, "What are you getting at?" 

Sidric regained his usual cheeriness but Walker sensed the falseness straight away, he smiled and replied, "Wouldn't you like to know too?" 

The tension eased up, Walker exasperated a cold breath before agreeing, he didn't have much to lose besides some time which he didn't have much use for at the time.

After seeing him nodding, Sidric quickly moved towards the wooden door after unlocking the iron gate.

He moved in a manner which resembled the heroes in detective novels which both of the temporary investigators seemed to have read.

Ridiculous, He thinks he's even close to being Claudius, obviously I'd be a much better fit for the role! Walker remarked inwardly, with a belittling smirk on his face.

Claudius Angus was the protagonist of the newly trending detective novel produced by an author within the royal palace, called "The Cloudy Judgement." It was quite popular among people of all genders and ages in the Settlement of Wainwright.

From over the door, Sidric waved at the white haired Walker, holding in his hand the key of the 7 Answers, an item given to the Blazehearts for cases of emergency. A relic capable of unlocking many doors.

He made the generosity of opening the door before Walker even arrived, Good work! Walker complimented Sidric for the first time, but of course inaudibly.

They entered the mansion with bare effort, it actually had the usually uninterested Walker excited, his blood was rushing to his head.

He even considered joining the Blazehearts but that thought was almost immediately brushed off.

Upon entering, they saw the place brightly lit by the sunlight but it still had the eerie vibes from the previous night.

The hall where Walker fought the Spirit sent a shiver through his entire body. 

He noticed the bullet marks on the wall near the stairs, a chunk of visible dust gathered on the ground right below the mark.

"A bullet mark?" Sidric noticed the mark, then noticed all the others in the first floor.

The culprit behind the firing remained silent, until Sidric himself drew a conclusion. "The Boss needs to watch how he fires, he's gotten too sloppy!"

Walker let out a sigh and placed his hand on his chest, feeling his thumping heart slowly calm down.

"Let's split up." Suggested Sidric and pointed towards the room opposite to the hall, the bullet marks intrigued him so he chose to go that way.

Walker went through the hall to the living room, where the spirit pinned him down. It contained a fireplace which after examination had been extinguished for a few days at the very least, meaning the couple had been inactive for that period.

The servings of cake and tea remained the same as last night.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary during Walker's search of the living room until Walker noticed a dent made one of the carpet's edges.

On one knee, he lifted the carpet and saw several folded papers laid on the ground beneath the dusty yet still soft carpet.

A few flicks blew the dust settling on the folded papers. 

Walker comfortably sat down on the couch, he didn't cross his legs because it would be too disrespectful as he was merely a guest, even if the owners were deceased.

The first of the letters was received 2 years ago on the 16th of July, the letter said, "My daughter… Julie, I speak to you sincerely that I am proud of you."

Daughter…? It must be a parent of the bride. He then continued reading the contents.

"I can't begin to trust your husband, but your judgement has always been sound. I say this because I care for your well being, as your father!" 

Oh, her father! This is touching…

"You're the only one I have left, your mom passed away and there has been no one there for me but my pride and joy, so come home whenever you wish. You will always be welcome… Your father, Jared."

Walker's initial thought was that it was a worrying father but it fell between the line of worrying and obsessive as he read that the rest of the letters were under the same address and name.

He skimmed through all of them until the last two remained. It was suggested that Julie had a disability around her leg, as her father continuously mentioned how it wasn't a weakness.

I wonder what she had to say about them… surely he wasn't ignored if Julie was as great as Sidric described her.

The second to last letter: "Julie! I'm sorry for the past two years I have been nagging you continuously but I have come to terms with everything. I'll be coming to visit you soon, and properly introduce myself to the new family you have built. Greet me at the Train Station if you can—I'll be there on December 26, looking forward to it. Your humble father, Jared."

The 26th!? That's in three days! The poor man likely had no idea his daughter was already dead.

Walker set aside his thoughts and finally unfolded the final letter, This one, unlike the others had no name.

"Dear father. There is no need to apologize for anything—I knew it all came in good faith and I thank you for trusting my judgement. Hans is a great man, you can confirm it yourself! I can't wait to see you, papa. I have a HUGE surprise! Your dearest, Julie!"

…Must have been the baby. Walker pinched the bridge of his nose before neatly folding and tucking the letters in his coat pocket.

"Hey, Soliraine! Over here!" A muffled voice sounded from above, Walker immediately turned and bolted upstairs.

The double door to the home office stood wide open, Sidric crouched by the white outline of the bodies, his gloved hand examined the ground filled broken glass, he suddenly seemed taken aback.

"What's the matter?" asked Walker, his expression sharpened by his curiosity.

Sidric held up the shard, the jagged edges catching the dim light. "This is from a mirror!" he explained, with a grave tone.

Walker furrowed his brow, his silence prompting further explanation.

"A mirror is a common tool for summoning spirits from the other world or similar malevolent entities in our realm, this is magic!" 

As Sidric spoke, the shard's edge glinted, pointing at Walker's bandaged arm. Walker noticed and immediately hid it behind his back, asking, "What reasoning would a spirit have to kill them? Don't they need the host alive to possess and have them do their bidding?"

Did the couple offer themselves as sacrifice for such a ritual, Or were they really killed by an exterior force? Questions churned Walker's mind, before Sidric interrupted by adding, "We still can't be sure if it's magic entirely," 

Walker kept his expression steady, waiting for his temporary partner to continue.

"When did the spirit appear before you?" 

Walker thought back to the moment he first entered, the shots he fired still vivid in his memory, but just to be sure he gave Sidric the vague version. 

"When I first went in… and after meeting Lucille."

Sidric went to his coat pocket and took out a towel to wrap the shard with and tucked it back where it came from.

After standing up, Sidric dusted himself off and explained, "I'll get it examined later," 

"Luckily this remained. The Erfinders must've taken the rest."

A few seconds passed, Walker had stopped thinking momentarily as exhaustion from yesterday's battle hit before he was awoken again.

"Let's look around a bit more." Sidric rolled out his pocket watch and set up a timer for 30 minutes.

Walker excused himself to the shelf on the left side. On it, he saw books on economy, psychology and history and not a single book was related to anything that interested Walker.

Right when his patience began to deteriorate, a book caught his eye. What differentiated it from the others was the red writing it on the spine.

It read a strange word, one Walker could not make sense of. "Zalure." Its font was extravagant and classy and the cover was made of navy blue leather.

He pushed the bottom of the book and brought its top forward and pulled it out of the shelf.

In an instant, the book felt heavy in his hand. It felt as though freezing hands were clutching his insides.

But all the same, his other hand rapidly flipped through its pages. None of the words were in a language Walker was familiar with.

Nonetheless, he began hearing murmurs in his head. Raspy and distant voices that spoke various incomprehensible words but there were exceptions, but the ones who particularly stood out where: "Help… Save Us…. Sacrifice A Maiden Of Light…" and finally the one which shocked Walker the most… "Alan Starborne…!!!" That was said in the most aggressive manner.

Walker found his consciousness traveling through a tunnel of light of varying colors like a shooting star.

Unexpectedly coming to a halt, Walker witnessed a strange and a dystopian view. He could view the entire city-scaled area from a bird's eye view.

There stood a tall tree, one that extended to the Earth's atmosphere. It carried red and bulging fruits that were unlike anything Walker had seen.

The sky had both the sun and the moon together, creating a beautiful purple atmosphere.

Surrounding the huge tree were houses, stone buildings like the ones in ancient paintings. They had plants covering parts of them and appeared small to him from his height. 

Walker felt his body being pulled down. His vision became sharper, more focused and almost unreal by the way he observed everything.

While falling, he noticed a boy. A boy with pitch black hair wearing an ancient style robe. His eyes reminded Walker of the abyss continuously described in the books of historical archeologists.

Being pulled closer, Walker could now see the boy's lips moving.

His hearing became clear and solely focused on the boy as he muttered, his eyes looking up to Walker's direction. "...Alan Starborne…" this time it was much calmer but also emotionless.

Suddenly Walker felt his down-faced fall come to an abrupt stop as his body turned up and his eyes became filled with the tunnel of colorful light again.

Landing him back to Earth was a hand that placed on Walker's shoulder, instantaneously shutting all the murmurs and the book together.

Walker let out a heavy gasp as if he was being suffocated by everything he heard, felt and went through and… held.

"You doing okay?" Sidric carried a worried tone.

The colors in Walker's vision flickered from normal to inverted a few times and gradually returned to normal again.

The book slipped down from his hands and fell on the ground. Walker's breathing was heavy as he answered. "Yeah…"

Sidric pulled his hand away then patted Walker on the back. "I sure hope you're right."

He then went on to check Hans Relené's desk while still talking. "You were standing there like a ghost for about 28 minutes so I got worried." He continued pulling the desk's drawers one after the other, ultimately finding nothing of special attention.

Almost half an hour!? He found it surprising as the time he had spent with his consciousness traveling felt no longer than three minutes.

I have to be more careful from now on… Walker kneeled down, wondering if he should touch the book again in order to put it back to its place but in the end when he touched it, nothing happened and he normally put the book back where it was.

The time passed when the watch finally clicked.

Even after looking for that amount of time, they did not find any other leads.

The office room contained novels, educational and especially philosophical and psychological books, those two topics had the largest quantity.

Rest of the house had nothing unusual, just things any normal family would keep.

Sidric looked at the time, it was almost 10 AM. Despite only finding a few clues, Sidric felt satisfied, and he discovered a lead that could help solve the case.

Click!

He closed the case and walked out the door with Walker.

"I swear I'll get to the bottom of this." Sidric made a chivalrous vow, clutching his pocket watch.

His mouth opened with the intention of saying something but closed again right after.

Sidric after thinking realized there was no more to be said. "Hope we can investigate together again, it was kind of fun not doing it alone!"

His usual attitude returned right after exiting the house, it was like he was two different people in and outside the investigation area.

How are you so cheerful after investigating the death of someone close? Walker sighed, and bade farewell.

•••

At the Blazehearts main office, Lucille was welcomed by none other than the leader of the group.

She was brought to sit down and had to wait until Sephroteus Blazeheart was done preparing tea.

Ching!

He brought two cups, both filled with green tea but for some reason, he had taken the courtesy of adding honey to Lucille's cup and whisking it.

Perhaps because Lucille was very young but what surprised her was that tea with honey was the only tea she'd ever drink!

Sephro sat down on his lofty chair and leisurely took a sip of his tea. Then he broke the silence, "So Miss Orville… would you like to explain what you're doing here?"

Lucille's heart skipped a beat hearing her family's name, especially because her mission involved being discreet!