Chapter 10: First Illusion

  The man floating next to a white star thought quietly as he tried to remember something… What happened after my first mission? Didn’t Olivia say something to me before I left? What was it again?

  …

  After calmly explaining the situation, Ms. Astral went up the stone stairs with plans to head home. Mr. Specter started teasing Mr. Magician, he was bright red from embarrassment.

  “That’s enough Mr. Specter.”

  Mr. Rouge looked at the young man in purple with a massive grin before turning to the rest of the team.

  “Take care of your desires then head home. The ones on duty tonight will be me and Mr. Specter. Mr. Magician, you can finally head home, be back on Monday.”

  “Shit… I hoped to return home for a glass of red wine!”

  Mr. Specter groaned. He looked forward to drinking a certain wine he had bought recently.

  “No need to worry, Mr. Specter! I will drink a whole bottle of red wine from 1543 in your stead!”

  Ms. Snow had a mischievous smile. Her cream coloured short coat accented her figure. Her noble like appearance darted for the bridge on the right, leading to the many rooms along the wall.

  The captain patted Mr. Magician’s back and then followed Ms. Snow. Mr. Specter sighed while turning away from the young man in a purple cape.

  “See you later my young Magician!”

  Specter bade his farewells and disappeared by the use of his illusion characteristic… Show off.

  Mr. Magician decided to ascend the stone staircase with the intent to head home. In the reception hall sat the blond and green eyed siblings Olivia and Andrew.

  “Mr. Magician! We were waiting for you! Come! Time to drink!”

  Olivia’s energetic voice filled the room. Andrew made a genuine smile as he waved. Mr. Magician gave a simple greeting then asked a question.

  “I am guessing that the two of want to go to a bar?”

  “That’s right! And I won’t take no for an answer!”

  Though incredibly exhausted, Mr. Magician wanted to experience the night life their city had to offer. He thought about it for a moment and then remembered Evangeline… What if she sees me?

  Shade gulped, the pure risk of running into a certain someone terrified him. He was well conditioned to be afraid of his older sister’s wrath. Olivia grabbed Mr. Magician’s hand and lightly pulled him.

  She didn’t intend to drag him along but did so in an attempt to coerce him to follow along.

  “Come on! It will be fun, I promise!”

  “May I ask what you are worried about?”

  Andrew asked a question. He noticed that something was off with Shade. His first thought was that the young man was scared of something, but what would a mystic be afraid of in a common bar.

  Andrew decided to simply ask what caused Mr. Magician’s mind to waver while his sister was tugging at the young man’s arm.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Um… I am worried that I will run into my sister.”

  Shade noticed that his sentence sounded a bit harsh towards Evangeline and quickly tried to amend it.

  “Not because I don’t want to see her but because she is probably worried about me and then I suddenly show up trying to order a drink! That would be rather insensitive of me.”

  Shade mumbled that last sentence. Olivia turned to Andrew then looked at Shade once again.

  “Mr. Magician, have you seen yourself in a mirror lately?”

  Caught off guard, Shade answered truthfully.

  “No… I felt too embarrassed to do so after getting so many compliments.”

  Oliva started laughing and walked up to Mr. Magician. She took out something from her pocket.

  It was a portable mirror that has been popular with unmarried women in high society lately. It had a simple design that was still rather stylish.

  “I barely recognized you when I saw you in your new outfit. While I have only known you for less than one week, I think most would have trouble recognizing you.”

  The mirror reflected a young man in a tight black suit-like outfit. The coat and pants had taken inspiration from suits used by nobles but changed it to have a tamer appearance.

  The dark purple cape only covered half of his back and draped over his shoulders, the silver details were well-made and glistened in the light.

  The only major difference from his current appearance and his appearance before jumping into the temple waters was that his hair was no longer styled.

  He remembered his former appearance before he walked into the detective agency for the first time. He himself didn’t recognize the young man in the compact mirror.

  Thoughts welled up in Shade’s mind… Right, with this appearance, even if the whole orphanage was looking at me, no one would be able to recognize me. As long as I do not act like myself, even Evangeline wouldn’t be able to figure out that it’s me.

  “I’ll go!”

  Mr. Magician made up his mind and quickly said his choice. With a nod, Olivia linked her and Mr. Magician’s arm and led him out of the building.

  Andrew followed closely after and the three of them embarked on their tipsy journey.

  Olivia started talking about her thought process when choosing a bar, Magician listened in a daze… Does she hold an interview with the owners of the bars as well?

  Olivia wasn’t picky but she changed which bar she would go to depending on her current mood.

  Andrew noticed that Mr. Magician wasn’t listening, and honestly, neither was he. He walked up next to the well-dressed young man and initiated a conversation as to not bore him on his first night out.

  “Was the mission difficult?”

  “I have nothing to compare to, so I don’t really know.”

  Andrew nodded after hearing Magician’s answer. After thinking for a short moment, Andrew asked another question.

  “Then what did you do? Even though we are civilian employees we know more than your average person.

  As long as you don’t tell us any secrets or things you yourself think would turn out problematic, anything is fine.”

  With a smile, Mr. Magician started recounting what had happened during his first mission. Olivia stopped talking when she heard Magician talking about the spirits.

  The two siblings listened intently and complimented Mr. Magician on a mission well done.

  “Do you know anything except divination?”

  Olvia was the one to ask a question this time. She and Andrew have seen some mystical powers from time to time, but their understanding of those powers is even less than the inexperienced mystic next to them.

  “Not really. Specter did try to teach me how to make illusions but anything bigger than a football is rather difficult.”

  Olivia’s eyes glimmered as she made a request.

  “Can you make me a flower?!”

  Magician thought for a moment… Probably. While smells are hard to replicate, Olivia only asked me to make a flower. There is no need for it to smell like anything.

  He looked at his left and saw Andrew looking at him with the same glimmering eyes as Olivia. Their green eyes made Mr. Magician think that he couldn’t let them down in any aspect.

  He turned his head and looked around at his surroundings. He waited for a moment when the three of them were as far away from other people as possible.

  Magician infused spirituality into his fingertips and with a fast but gentle gesture, a flower appeared in his hand. It looked and felt like a blue rose.

  On its own, it smelled like a whole bouquet of roses had appeared. Mr. Magician let out a sigh of relief as he felt his spirituality draining little by little.

  Andrew and Olivia watched as a flower suddenly appeared in the hand of their companion. They watched the rose with awe and gently tried to touch it.

  As it was an illusion dependent on Mr. Magician’s spirituality, it disappeared before their fingertips could touch it as Mr. Magician was incredibly exhausted and had expended all of his spirituality in the mission.

  …

  The man still floating next to a white star created a rose in his hand. It smelled like a whole bouquet of flower, and it invigorated the memory he had just thought of.

  “Those two really liked the rose I created back then.”