★ | I, Rhys Kakyoin | Jotakak

56 ☆ Spear

Dressed properly, equipped now with my phone and my rapier hanging stored within its scabbard from my belt, I enter Natsukashii Bookstore, feeling like the wind was just knocked out of my lungs. Kume-san reveals herself, once hiding behind the furthest bookshelves from the door. "You are here," she says. "Good, there is no time to waste. Follow me."

I take the stairs down to Hereafter, where she has gone minutes before I made it. Just as I step foot upon the final stair, she wheels around and leads the way to the atrium, unlocked by the push of a book, where we had shared tea weeks before. Past the tree of still foliage and the cold, silent pond was a hallway washed over by a dim, leaden, golden light. Kume-san and I soon leave the vibrant embrace of the bright atrium behind, finding an old elevator like the one in the Sanctuary — it must be it.

  "Why didn't you tell me about... about the teddy bear earlier?" with a stutter, I ask, as she calls the elevator with the press of a downwards-pointing button.

"I decided only to reveal it to you if you wanted to know," she replies, simply. The elevator arrives and the doors slide open, its walls of stern, glinting granite, adorned with tarnished metal rails.

"Well, how did you know I was looking for it?" I step in beside her, watching the doors seal us in together.

"I knew there wasn't anything else you would want. Anyway, I was right."

The elevator begins its ascent up into the Sanctuary, or its descent below. Stumbling the moment it moves, I cannot tell though my body becomes lighter, like I am drifting a millimetre off the ground. I want to ask her about the masked man who had held me in his arms earlier, whose name must be Comovera, but I can't find the words to; it feels as though something holds me back, tying my tongue. Something within tells me she knows him as much as I do. His presence in my house felt less like it belonged there than Kume-san's, much less corporeal, much more otherworldly. The few seconds he manifested in my vision it was as though a hazy kami that once dwelled in the deepest, most cryptic of our dreams had entered my home, blessing it with security from what coming thunderstorm posed a threat to the calm as it stepped foot on its floors.

Perhaps he is from Mylourevia. An exile, reaching to me from the furthest depths of oblivion, away from the Minister of Fate's reach.

My train of thought rushes me through time and a soft ding sounds within the elevator, announcing our arrival at the Sanctuary. We are welcomed to the ground floor, where the Tree stands with its gleaming foliage and ever reaching wands in the middle. There seems to be far less people now, only a few Guardians engaged in conversation. Among them I spot Homare and Ms Wen, awaiting me by the desk for writing letters.

  Urgently, I approach them, no sooner reading the looks of undeniable disquiet on their faces unlike before. Homare is the first to greet me with a bow, along with Ms Wen, yet unable to part her lips to speak. I resist the urge to retch into my hand.

  The closer I inch towards the Tree, something calls for me; a hum from far away, ringing in the distance above. It flutters around my ears, dancing around me like a butterfly. It whimpers for my reach, like it yearns for my help. I glance up and I extend my arm to the invisible skies: I am receiving a letter. This could be what the Guardians are disturbed by. When I slowly open the envelope I notice my trembling hands, struggling to unfold the parchment.

  "Please read it, Kakyoin-san," Homare says, her tone dangerously low. My eyes hover over the words. This is a letter from Mylourevia. The writing is rushed and careless, as though the author was battling time: this concerns me.

Rhys Kakyoin,

  You may know who I am as you discover my name. You have heard of it before. But whoever I am should not concern you; only what I need to tell you.