𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐋 ᴰʳᵃᵍᵒⁿ ᴿᵃʲᵃ

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨

There's doing something wrong and then, right in the underbelly, there's the guilt that accompanies it. However, Doll had a hard time feeling guilty. Guilt is always strident like a persistent itch, or a fine paper cut which flared after the passing of water. Whatever Doll felt was mellow and dull. Her throat was heavy and thorny, and once she had stepped out into the crisp night, the inside of her mouth dried.

She was choking on words. Caesar looked at her with more than anger. He looked at her with irreverent disgust. In his fine traits and tousled hair, his prudent blue eyes that shook with the waves of a deep ocean, she saw her mother for the first time in years.

Neon and cement defined the area around. It had rained; the splashy gravel found itself in the grooves of her shoes. Lights, brightly colored fuchsia, cyan, chartreuse, absinthe, colored the dirty and muddy sidewalks like spilled watercolor. The low hum of electronic music, the musty air of forgotten cigarettes, the harsh odor of cheap alcohol enjoyed by both trepid young adults and despairing businessmen, all signs of ghost amusement.

The streets were not empty. They had simply changed occupants. The night, this night, was reserved not to the enjoyers of nightlife, of secrets and liaisons and rush, but to the world of violence.

The difference was negligible anyway.

Doll could still smell in the air the scent of women, sweet flowery hints of warmth prancing through the air. However, it seemed to have all fallen to ground as the rain had raged down. But it was over now and people were unwilling to step out. The streets were incensed with different landmines.

She had thought about telling Caesar about the sequence of events that had led to this, seriously thought about it. She'd been told to keep quiet, but ultimately, she enjoyed acting of her own interest than a flimsy alliance. She'd even made a list.

1. I was wondering around being a nuisance, trying to find any lone bottles that I could bring back to my room.

2. I was wondering what was wrong with me and everything that's been happening ever since I've been breathing, heard some muttering.

3. I was wondering what was being said and why it was made, so I could clearly overhear.

4. I was wondering why the two women were talking so loud about owning Takamagahara when they weren't Whale and made such a big deal of seeing me in the hallway when I knew that they knew I was listening.

5. I was wondering why they proposed me with a deal to do their bidding and keep my silence on the true owners in exchange for an hourglass, and a knife, and an in-ear translator. They knew that I would have stayed silent either way.

6. I was wondering why the elaborate plot to get me to listen to them was made, and why I even accepted in the first place.

She, however, had always decided to not mention Kaede, and the deal they had entered.

The costumers had been talking about Paradisio, the women that she now had to obey had also mentioned the place. The women had insisted on going there to talk with the owner. To find out what was going with Paradisio.

"It's family," the dark-haired women had said, wearing an annoyed look from the blonde.

Doll didn't know where Paradisio was, she knew that they were failing flat broke. "It's a casino where if you win," a costumer once muttered to her blushing friend while Doll stood still while her outfit was changed, "they will fulfill a wish, no matter what."

She'd also known how the Devils owned Paradisio which explained the excitement of the gangs on the streets. The Hydra were, too, trying to find out was Paradisio was doing. That night was a night of conflict. Everyone was bound to be shackled by dread. She was content to be an exogenous factor in play.