As Lumière exited the show hall, he saw the familiar form of a silvery wisp rush past. It hopped up and down, glowing a magnificent colour. Its ears were tucked behind its head, and each sight of it felt like it had occurred an infinite numbers of times before.
‘The repeating rabbit…? If it’s here, does that mean that something strange has occurred in this area?’
Lumière began to glance around, wary of any changes that may have happened. He began to follow the rabbit through the streets of the middle borough, cautious of the dangers that surrounded him. Soon, he found himself in an alleyway.
In the darkness of the alley, a familiar figure took shape. He was accompanied by several others, all of which held daggers in their hands, holding the point of the blades up to their necks.
“We should really stop meeting like this.” As he stared at the man in the darkness, his countenance gradually revealed itself. He had bright-orange hair and emerald eyes, and was incessantly twirling a chess piece in between his fingers. It was Orion Callister, the former sponsor of Callis Alisander.
“Do you not enjoy my company, Black?”
After a moment of thinking, Lumière realised he was referring to ‘King in Black’, the title that Orion Callister had referred to him as previously. Lumière smirked, replying, “if I am the ‘King in Black’ in this game, then are you the ‘King in White’? Is this why you refer to the people you control as ‘pawns’?”
“Your deduction skills really are wonderful. That’s right. I hope you will refer to me as such in the future. What I want isn’t a fistfight between a nobleman and commoner. I want two minds equal on a field of battle- of manipulation, lies, and trickery. Of course, if it were to end up that we duel to the death, that would also be fine. However, I ended up choosing you for this role because I thought you would be the perfect candidate for my ideal game.”
“You’re quite a twisted individual, aren’t you, White?” Lumière had decided to give in to Orion Callister’s game. It wasn’t that he found much interest in it, rather that he had resolved himself to gain experience. If he were to plot out how he would take down an entire organisation, starting with a fight against an intelligent man would surely help. He had decided, ultimately, that it was to his benefit to do so.
“Perhaps. Of course, I’ll never tell you why I do what I do. Isn’t the hallmark of a rival to be a mysterious, enigmatic personality?” Orion extended his left hand towards Lumière, smiling. It began to glow a sinister crimson colour as he spoke. “Allow me to wear that hat of yours. It’s quite fanciful.”
Because Lumière had made an appearance at the show hall, and before that attended a meeting with the Mythos Garden, he had been wearing his gaudy attire. As such, he had also been wearing the top hat that had been gifted to him a long time ago- a treasure he would never give away by choice. Still, every muscle in his body urged him to step forward. It was terrifying and painful, to move in a direction you didn’t want to go. The more he tried to force himself to stop walking, the more pain he felt, until he was forced to let go, and allow his body to move as it pleased.
His expression grew blank, and before long, he found himself taking his hat off, handing it to Orion. Orion quickly accepted it, placing it atop his head before smiling. “So obedient. You’re a good little puppy.”
Slowly, Lumière recovered control of his body, along with his lucidity. He saw Orion sitting above him, wearing his hat. Immediately, he reached his hand out, but not towards Orion, touching one of the controlled people beside him. As Orion watched this, his expression grew confused.
“It’s a strange feeling, your power. Do all of these people feel pain?”
“Unless they give up their control, probably.” Orion shrugged.
“Can I have my hat back?”
“Is it that important to you?”
Lumière nodded. So, Orion’s gaze softened, taking off the hat and handing it back to Lumière. For a moment, it felt like they weren’t enemies.
“Thank you.” Lumière stepped back, still watching the figure before him.
Lumière sighed. “So, what is it you have in mind? I know our goal is to kill each other, but to what extent will that go? If I shoot you here right now, won’t you be quite bored?”
Orion nodded his head. “I would. I anticipated you saying so. For me, turning this game elaborate is enough motive. However, I thought that the thrill wouldn’t be enough to move you. So, I’ve prepared rewards to keep you going. I know you love money, being destitute and all.”
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“Funny. What are the requirements for such rewards?” Lumière had no shame in asking such a question. Of course, Orion was right. He loved money. That was why despite accruing three-hundred Len since acquiring the powers of Heresy and the bestowment gifted to him by Lord Sinner, he had spent nearly nothing at all.
“I’ve thought up three goals I wish for you to meet while we play this game. Of course, I can’t give you the rewards if I die, and so I’ve prepared one of my attendants with the task of delivering the necessary gifts to you in the event that you meet these goals.” Orion leaned back on his hands, satisfied. “The first goal, quite obviously, is to kill me. In doing so, my attendant will reward you with one-thousand Len.”
Lumière’s gaze shook. Even after dealing with so much, he still had the mannerisms of a poor bastard. It was enticing, to hear of the promise of more money than he had ever seen at once. With a thousand Len, Lumière could purchase a home in the middle borough. It was enough for one to live a comfortable life.
Still, he kept a calm demeanor about him. “Second?”
“I will manipulate the entirety of Leiden to work against you without using my power of control. I hope that you will fight against it. I’ll unravel your entirety before your friends and comrades, so try not to break. If you can succeed in stopping this plan of mine, my attendant will reward you with three-thousand Len.”
‘I’ll kill you before you let them know of anything that could implicate me. If I kill you before you can enact your plan, I win this as well. It’s stupid of you to reward me on top of that.’
“Anything else?”
“I want you to stoke rebellion. A just, righteous rebellion.”
“Against who?”
“The Imperium.” Orion’s grin was nauseating, terrifying.
“Why would a nobleman wish to rebel against the government?”
“For entertainment. Why else?”
Lumière let out an audible sigh.
“You’re really twisted. So, when does this game of yours start? I’m quite a busy person.” He was hoping that Orion wouldn’t disappoint. After all, the whole point of accepting being a part of his game was to gain experience fighting intelligent enemies.
“The moment you leave, I suppose.”
Lumière gestured towards the people surrounding Orion. “So, what’s with all the people you’re holding hostage?”
“I thought it would make me look cooler. Was I off the mark?”
“A little bit. It was interesting the first time, but now it seems a bit repetitive. However, I’m of the mind to ignore you threatening their lives. They don’t mean very much to me. They don’t serve much purpose in defending you from me.”
Orion sighed. “I thought as much.” He reached inside of his jacket, procuring a gun and subsequently pointed it at Lumière. “I prepared contingencies. If you were to attack, I would use this. If you were to appear before me with several others following you, the people I placed under my control would fall from the rooftops above us in order to assist me. While these people beside me have been commanded to be ready to kill themselves, I could also have used them as sacrificial soldiers.”
Lumière raised his hands, laughing. “It appears I was careless. You’ve definitely outclassed me here. However, since our last meeting, I’ve been practicing quite a bit. It’s to the extent that you didn’t seem to notice that I also prepared a contingency.”
“Notice what?” Orion’s expression perked up, curious.
Lumière lowered his hands, placing one against his neck while grinning. The expression on his face gradually faded, along with his countenance. As Orion gazed upon him, the figure’s expression became blank-eyed, looking back towards him as if ready for his commands. The figure held a knife to his neck, as if told to do so. Orion’s eyes widened, and his focus snapped to the left of him. Lumière grinned, holding up his pistol, Cerces, to Orion’s head.
“The first principle of a magician is to distract. The second principle is that the distraction must have a purpose, a leading goal.” Lumière spoke in a deep tone. “The third principle is that the distraction must lead the audience to the hidden truth behind the ordeal, creating a wonderful spectacle for them to enjoy. So, White, have you enjoyed this trick of mine?”
Orion’s expression was ecstatic, filled with surprise, joy, and elation. “You were an illusion this whole time! No, you were definitely real when you first arrived here! When could you have possibly switched with one of my pawns?”
Lumière had been cautious from the moment he had seen the repeating rabbit, aware that something must have occurred. When he realised that Orion had appeared, he hadn’t let his guard down. Because he had put his illusion into practice before, he had gradually improved his ability to control it. The only flaw of his ability was that any Arisen that had achieved a higher level of power than him would be able to see through it. However, Orion had mentioned before that his power of Control had been borrowed, which meant that he likely hadn’t become an Arisen in the first place. The fact that Orion had fallen for his illusion had proven that assumption.
“When you commanded me to hand you my hat, I touched one of your commanded pawns. You seemed a little confused by this, but you didn’t question it. This, in essence, was to mislead you. The moment I touched the pawn on your right, I switched places with one of the pawns on your left. From that very moment, you began to question the meaning of my action when it truly had no meaning at all.”
“I see, so you touching that pawn was always meant to distract from what you were really doing. How did you manage to conjure such a flawless illusion, to the point that I could hold a conversation with it?”
Lumière shrugged. “Practice.”
Looking into Orion’s eyes, Lumière could see a glimmer that brought him a sense of understanding. It looked like suffering behind his elation. “Are you in pain, White? Is this game a distraction for you?”
Orion let out an audible ‘tsk’. “I told you I wouldn’t tell you why I’m doing this.” He placed his gun back in his pocket, his other hand moving Lumière’s away from his head. “So, shall we start playing this game?”
Lumière grinned. “I’m more than ready.”