His phone rings as Kade was busy examining the dagger back in his office, Silvia was sleeping softly in his bed still. Time had passed but it was still evening, simply just a very busy day. Kade puts down the dagger, picking up his phone as he answers.

“Kade Wonder of Steel Rooks’ Agency, how may I help you?”

“Kade, it’s Imamu, someone’s st-”

“Stolen the video, I know sir, the tablet you had provided was also stolen. 2 rowdy kids, an athletic one and…well, I’ve never seen the other one, but I would assume there is 3, you don’t call yourself ‘The Butcher Kids’ as a duo…at least, like 80% of the time you wouldn’t” he finished Imamu’s sentence and adding to it as he heard a small chuckle, although the tone was still serious. “But of course, detective…as you’ve said, someone’s stolen all the footage we had, including the tape and strange security camera. We didn’t even view it yet, did you?” Imamu asks as Kade leans in his chair against the wall.

“I did, sir, and I don’t know if you’d believe me or the footage, it’s…it’s really damning evidence, I say”

“Why? What did you see?” Imamu asks as Kade could only find the time to chuckle.

“You will not believe this…but…” and so Kade began to explain what he saw, the machines, the two who commanded attention without a word, and the missing korpse, with the missing head. He didn’t go further as he needed, or else he’d just string Imamu up into a web of absolute craziness, and he rather keep himself on the case as its detective, because god damnit, it’s too apparent he is needed somehow but he has yet to gander the why.

And as Kade finished explaining all that he saw in the video, the little details he could find before the tablet was stolen as he could physically hear the sound of a chair leaning back on the other end, and silence for a minute before Imamu finally spoke up.

“You are every word your mother has said. What do you think of all this?” he asked as Kade sighed, a smile on his face.

“It’s insane and reality feels like it's shifting around me…and I am already so normal to this, sir. It’s strange but…I guess coming from a mother like her, you’d be surprised if I didn’t”

“I’d be more than surprised, Kade, I’d be shocked. The son of the craziest woman in the detective world, not crazy? That would be an absurd concept! It’s quite clear where you got most of your traits from, boy, and yet…you do still feel quite different from her…just something I can’t put my finger on, you know?”

“I’ve been told that enough times to truly understand it, sir~” he said a bit teasingly as he can Imamu holding in a laughter. “You. Are. Fearless, truly! Well, continue your work, we’ll be sending a small search party for these kids, keep it up, hm?”

“But of course sir…you seem a lot better with kids than me anyways, I’d be damned that a few kindergarteners is enough to take me down, me, a young grown man! Alright then, I’ve got work to do then, sir, I’ll make sure my time’s worth your troubles”

“As if you haven’t proven it already. Have a good day, Kade”

“You too, Imamu”

And Imamu hung up first as Kade put his phone down, sighing, seeing a pair of eyes watch him from his bed as he smiled. “Welcome back to the waking world, Silvia” he said, her blue eyes losing its hue for a split second as she nodded, sitting upright as Kade kept examining the dagger. He couldn’t find anything of importance. No date of time, a name to belong to, just a sigil of a hammer and a stick, and the words “Master’s Works” imprinted beneath it as he shrugs, putting the dagger down before getting up, walking over to Silvia and sitting down on the bed next to her.

“How about something to eat, and we can talk about everything over that?” he asked her as she nodded. “Cool, I think we have some frozen pizza to heat up, never did found myself good at cooking anyways” he said, getting right back up as he headed to the door, but before he could leave, the quick shuffling of the bed and fast approaching footsteps caught him by surprise, she was nimble, that’s for sure…probably had to be if the enemies he may find are beyond human as he felt her hand hold onto his. “But of course, a man shouldn’t leave a little lady like you alone” he said, hearing her giggle as he walked down the hallway with her, not paying much attention to the other rooms of his co-workers as he got into the elevator, but…she pulled him back a bit. Like she didn’t like the elevator.

“Ah, forgive me” he said as he went down the stairs instead. Her own steps were quiet, like she was never there, his only way of knowing she was there was her hands and, well, just looking over his shoulder to her. They got to the bottom floor as he thought to himself…about Silvia. What has she seen? In that dark city, why did they need her? What made her so special? And all of this talk, thinking about her, he felt Silvia let go of his hand, but he never lost the feelings of her hands on his as he looked back, seeing something too familiar to him…a blue yarn, stretching from the palm of his hands to hers. She seemed very entertained by it, lifting her hand up and down, seeing it follow unnaturally. He chuckled at first, and then it hit him…

This blue yarn has been with him since as far as he could remember, and no one, not even his own mother, could ever see it. Despite everything, it helped him solve every case he had been on, yet every time he tries to for Celeste’s cases, he never saw the yarn appear, but no one has ever seen it, not the victims of the cases, not his mother, not his friends and co-workers, no one.

Who is this girl? Coming from beyond the lake, she is much calmer than any child he knows. How can she just…see this now? He’s used this ‘imaginary’ trick on kids as well and they haven’t. Was this not an imaginary thing?

“Silvia…do you see it?” he asked as gently as he could muster as she nodded, flailing herhand a bit more, watching the blue string react correctly. “I do, m-mister…it’s very soft…and w-warm…like your hands…”

They kept walking to the kitchen, Kade thinking to himself ‘Was I never going crazy?’ was all he could ask himself, but he snapped back to reality when Silvia tugged on his sleeves. “I’ll…ask when the pizza’s done” he said, she nodded. They went inside the kitchen (finally) as Silvia went to sit at the table. Standard kitchen, nothing special, it was a mix of an actual kitchen and a break room as Kade went to the fridge, getting a box out from the freezer as he does all the standard procedure. Take out the pizza, remove the plastic, turn on the oven, put it in, and set up a timer on his phone before he begins to…wait. And took it as an opportunity.

“So…uh…god, how does the questioning process go for those of younger minds…so…can you tell me all you can, Silvia? Of what’s down there? Of what you suffered?” Kade asked as gently as he could, now noticing the blinks of her blue eyes fading in and out before answering. “Mind is…s-scrambled…memories foggy when I am outside the…the Clock Tower…”

“Convenient, foggy memories, is this some sort of…magic?”

“I-I guess so…yes…”

“I see…can you tell me about these…creatures of metal?”

Her eyes dilated a bit, but she managed to calm herself down immediately as she took a deep breath before answering. “I…can…” she said as she continued. “A man pretending to be a man…scary…the Third Angel…Tailor……a sailor’s bird with a mouth as sharp as its talons…The Second Angel…Romance…a hound of steel, and of no emotions…The First Angel…Gorge…they hunt…and kill…and make sure I don’t escape…and…um…yeah…”

Kade nods, taking it into his mental notes as he furthers questioning. “Can you tell me about the woman? She seems to ask the same amount of respect by appearance alone.”

Silvia shakes her head. “Can’t remember…a woman…sorry…” Kade sighs, nodding again. “Happens, I guess…can you tell me about The Clock Tower? I assume it's in Time Loss City?”

“A big, tall tower…like a labyrinth of endless metal and steel, disguised by…red and white carpets and wallpapers…machines of various rankings and ages roam the halls and rooms…respecting him…my…dad…”

Time passes. Kade nods, writing it all down in his mental note pad, every detail counted as she stopped.

“C-Can…we eat…I…”

“Of course, Silvia, need not go further than you must, especially with a foggy head. Now then!” his phone goes off as he immediately turns it off, putting on oven gloves as he pulls out the hot pizza, placing the sheet pan with it on the top of the oven as Kade goes to the fridge, pulling out a carton of chocolate milk, pouring them both a cup as he places one in front of Silvia, turning around to put it away, but hearing the glass cup placed back onto the table, he turns around, seeing it empty already, Silvia starry eyed at the taste as Kade chuckled. “I see you have good taste, my lady” he said, coming back to pour her just one more cup before actually placing the now barely empty carton back into the fridge as he grabs two plates, splitting the pizza in half with a pizza cutter as he puts one half on a plate, and the other half on the other plate, handing it in front of Silvia as he sat down on the other side with his cup as he watched Silvia just…tear into the pizza. ‘Flavor seems like an unknown concept for her’ Kade thought to himself with a small giggle as he ate a lot less messy, but he doesn’t judge the hungry little lady and drink from his cup. Eventually both of them finish their plates and cups, Kade the same as he first ate, and Silvia’s hands covered in grease, sparkly eyes still in motion as she comes back to reality, looking away shyly.

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“You’ve had a rough life, dear, don't worry, haha” Kade comforted her as he got up, grabbing both plates and cups. He couldn’t talk much during it since she was…going wild like a dog on her half, but she deserves to. All these horrid things he hears…who would do this to a young child? He cleaned up the messes she may have caused and the plates before lifting her up like a wet cat…which she was, as he carries her up to the bathroom, placing her in front of the sink as he looks away. “You…know how to shower, right?” he asks Silvia as she washes her hand.

“I-I do…I don’t n-need to…”

She didn’t lie, for since he found her and till now, she’s smelled…really, really sweet, of perfume too, but he ignores it. “You should anyway! It’s a nice feeling too, at least, I find it to be a nice feeling even when I’m still clean, trust me!” he said as Silvia giggles. “O-Okay then, I will!”

“Excellent, I’ll try to see if I have anything small for you to wear, don’t start yet” he leaves the bathroom to his room, immediately dipping into his closet and looking for anything small or small enough really. He hears a small cough outside his room as he looks over, seeing Celeste with a set of clothes in hand. “You won’t find anything dear, but this little dress and shorts should fit her, always kept small clothes on me for situations with children, which…luckily hasn’t happened yet until now I guess, haha, or I guess, not for a girl, as if that mattered, if two boys needed a change of clothes, I’m…sure one wouldn’t mind…probably…ahem~” she said as he nods. “I’ll look out for shoes and socks the next time I go shopping so she’ll have to be barefoot in the building for a while” she continued as Kade picks up the folded pink dress and white shorts.

“I never knew you had a thing for dresses when you were a kid”

“Well, you simply don’t know my young self~” she said with a gasp as Kade chuckles before continuing back to the bathroom, seeing the door closed as he knocks, Silvia would open it slightly, seeming like she was already preparing as Kade hands her the clothing, she nods and closes the door as he goes back to his room, seeing his mother walk into her room again as he sighs and stops in place. “Hm…she’s been in her room forever nowadays…did something happen? Grear’s been missing for a week now…” he said to himself as he caught himself drifting off, shaking his head. “G-Grear is fine anyways. If someone were to be missing, Grear would return on her own…I hope” he walked into his room, keeping his composure as he sat back down at the desk, picking up the dagger again to examine, wondering about the claw marks.

“How effective would a basic pistol be…against these types of people? The supernatural…No, I’ll be fine, I’m not good with a fight but I know my words and my thoughts…and yet…” whispers go on in his head again, once more comprehensible as he listens to them.

‘And so the fish took up the shark’s teeth…to bite…’

He looked at the dagger, gripping his hand on the handle. It was a very quality dagger, he couldn’t deny. The metal was sharp, clean, and seemed very hard to break or even tear, it felt so light in his hand yet it could probably cut just as effortlessly as he nodded. “I…see now…”

And then silence washes over the room. No one to talk to. No one to entertain for now but himself as he chuckles, keeping up a smile as he goes back into his closet, looking for something before realizing. “Right, we sold off that old knife holster…I need to get myself a proper holster for my pistol AND new dagger before tomorrow…well! Best I get to it now!” He puts the dagger onto his desk, immediately leaving his room, and the building in general, walking down the road to a nearby pawn shop he knows and can only hope to have something like what he needs as the same young lady watched him go from the cafe, speaking into the same radio device. “He has left the building, approaching the office bedroom, over and out” she said before getting up, whispering to herself.

“It’d be a miracle to get up there with no one noticing me…”

And so effortlessly does she walk through the front door of the agency, past Lizzy, up the stairs, passing the two offices in the way, one with a person, as she snuck into Kade’s room, closing the door behind her as she sighs, taking off the hood of her red hoodie and walking to Kade’s desk as she sees the dagger, speaking back into the radio. “Popoto’s dagger was found, attempting retrieval proc-” and she was interrupted by a knock on the door as she panics a bit, dropping the dagger onto the desk again. “Shit, uh, um-”

“Mister Kade?” Silvia’s voice called out as the young lady quickly whispered to herself before the door opened. “It’d be a miracle if she doesn’t see me!” and then…Silvia walked into the room, looking around a bit. She had put on the pink dress and white shorts, which weren’t visible for how much longer the dress was compared to her patient’s gown as she closed the door behind her. “Oh…mister must have gone somewhere…” she said to herself as she walked up to the desk, seeing the dagger as she pokes at the dagger’s teeth directly, a small cut on her finger comes from it before it closes itself immediately. “Wow…sharp thing…” she said to herself as she looked up, as if…someone was talking to her.

“Someone else is here? B-But I don’t see anyone else?”

The young lady covered her mouth as Silvia looked directly at her, but clearly past her, as she tilted her head. “Over there? But…oh…okay…” and slowly, Silvia reaches a hand out to her general direction, getting closer and closer to touching her as she immediately said. “IT’D BE A MIRACLE IF NO ONE SAW ME RUN” and immediately bolts out through the window, hissing a bit when she gets into the light as she puts her hood right back on and runs down the street.

Silvia looked confused, having only ‘seen’ the intruder for a second as she kept it in mind for now, until she heard voices…a strange radio device was left behind as a neutral voice spoke through. “Emily, do you have the knife, we can’t see your miracles either, you know? Over.” and then a chipper, rougher, yet still higher pitched voice came through. “Yeah! Did you get my dagger! I couldn’t think of something else to use to trick Mr. Detective Man and I miss it a lot already! Over!” and then came another voice, a tired out voice that sounded like the lady who intruded Kade’s room. “I, huff, I, sorry, I-I couldn’t get it, this girl saw through my m-miracle, I panicked and got out! I’m sorry, Popoto”

“Aww, but…my cool dagger…” the chipper voice said as Alzo sighs. “We could always ask Master for a new one, Popoto, now, what do we do now?”

“I…don’t know, think just wait for him now, Alzo…oh…um…I dropped my radio I think…”

Silvia picks up the radio device as she presses a button before speaking into the radio. “Y-You mean this radio?” she asked into it, hearing a trash can or two fall down and its contents spilled.

“Switch the frequency, Al-”

And they were gone. Silvia didn’t know how the device worked so she left it alone on the desk as she looked back outside, seeing a trio of brightly colored hoodies leave a faraway alley way towards Red Ring Park as she tilted her head.

“...Huh?”

-

Kade returns to his room, a new belt holding two holsters as he poses confidently. “God bless pawn shops, now I’m ready and looking fine” as he heard a giggle in the room, seeing Silvia sitting behind his desk as he chuckled nervously. “I…didn’t see you there BUT you look very commanding in that chair, Silvia” he complimented her as she nodded with a smile. Kade would grab hold of his pistol from his luggage, putting it into the right holster. And then he grabbed the shark dagger, putting it in his left holster as he jumps a bit, checking how much it holds them, and it held them good enough, maybe to be careful running about, but it’ll stay where it is at least.

Kade would then sit down at the chair in front of the desk. “So, Detective Silvia, how was the hunt for the Stinky at Hideaway Shower Town?” he said dramatically as Silvia giggled. “Shower was…nice…oh, um…I found…someone sneaking into your room, mister…and this” she would pull out the radio device she was playing around with from under the desk, putting it on top and pushing it forward towards Kade as he picks it up.

“Must’ve been those kids again, hm…” he examined the device. It was very strange, looked impractical yet worked fine as he messed with a few of the buttons and dials as the radio responded in kind, but it was all static as he put it back down, Silvia grabbing onto it.

“Already a natural at this, maybe I should make you my successor when this is all over, but for now…well, I’ve got nothing, all we can do is wait now for tomorrow, so for now…I need to do small chores” he gets right back up, going to his bed, taking the bed sheets off, throwing it into The Pile Corner as he grabs a fresh sheet, putting it onto the bed (with some difficulty) as he goes to the aforementioned Pile Corner, grabbing what few clothes were there (plus the bed sheet), grabbing a basket from his closet and throwing them into it as he puts it out in the hallway, returning to his room as the sound of a ticking clock persists in his ears.

Wait a ticking clock? But Kade doesn't own a clock. A moment to notice his surroundings suddenly shocks him. It was happening again, these 'dreams' of his, now finding himself in a luxurious looking room, a large glass pane showing two long pieces of metal moving in rigid motion, one longer than the other, and the sounds…so many clocks, each one displaying a different time, all of them ticking in unison, creating this obnoxiously loud sound every, single, TICK!

And among the horrible sounds was…humming. A deep humming, coming from above him, a secondary open floor from what he could tell as all the clocks stop in place immediately, the humming stopping with it. And then that familiar scraping noise, mixed with fleshy squishing and gargled liquid.

"a visitor? How…strange…" the sounds of a metal chair scraping against the floor was heard. Kade turns around quietly to try and find an exit, but the door behind him is completely shut, held tightly by locks, valves, and…clocks?

Kade turns back around, only to find himself suddenly seated in front of a dark man. Hair as black as the sky he sees outside, the man held a cup of tea, his right arm and hand completely replaced by some sort of cybernetic arm, but it looked old and ruined as he raises it to his mouth, his other hand lifting up a gas mask to drink before pulling it back down, the protective eye wears of the mask shattered, revealing one eye being as blue as the ocean, the other simply wasn't there, instead it was a pure black orb in the socket, sparkling with red dots, but they weren't dots…

They were smaller eyes, as far as Kade could examine as the man put the cup down.

"..." Kade didn't know what to say as the man stared silently at first, like he himself was examining Kade, before he spoke.

"You…It saw you…or at least…It will see you soon…" his voice was deep, raspy, like he had no vocal cords, but at this point, Kade would be shocked if he did as the man leaned closer to him.

"Return her…return my daughter…or I will find her myself…and I will tear you apart…over and over…but there will be no regeneration for you…" he said, Kade kept his ground, slamming his fist onto the desk, as much as he could anyways, feeling something weigh him down so heavily.

"I will do NO such thing, you bastard" Kade said seriously, the man could only chuckle as he raised a hand to someone behind Kade.

"It was not a demand…"

And before Kade could turn, he felt cold metal gently caress his neck.

Snap.