Oddities II

"It is here, she's right there".

Rocco stopped the car and Andrew departed the vehicle. The beautiful Clare had been twirling her hair next to the train station -where she believed her date would pop up from. She grew instantly mesmerised by the beautiful midnight blue SUV that was parked in front of her.

Her little mind started ruminating about the possible background of this individual. What she didn't expect was for Andrew to come out of that car, dressing like a pop star.

"A-Andrew!?"

The boy right in front seemed to have shattered all of her expectations from this date in merely the first few seconds. The awkward Andrew could tell instantly... none of these was according to his plan.

"Afternoon Clare, you look splendid, are you ready?".

It couldn't be any other way, Andrew peeked at her attire while casting aside whatever remaining thought he had about Maya. The girl looked astounding.

"Y-You too… look handsome in that, I never thought I'd ever see this..." Her bright smile indicated her happiness, she rejoiced that Andrew was taking this date seriously to the point he even rented such an expensive car for them.

Clare was dressed in a sporty outlook that quite highlighted Andrew's own. She had a short red top with her plain belly exposed, short red leggings and tan sneakers. Her blonde hair flowed unusually.

This could only be addressed as the pinnacle of beauty and youth. Andrew even blushed as she usually placed her long hair in ponytails. He had almost never seen her let it cascade down like this.

"Y-You're staring" She fidgetted, blushing as well and slapping both of her cheeks softly to get back out of trance, 'H-He's looking really nice...'

"Are you nervous?" Andrew snickered and held her hand, walking her towards the SUV that was waiting for them to set off.

"Of course not! It is not like it's our first date… I love that set, who got it for you? I hope it wasn't a girl" Clare's glare was a menace, she had known the boy for a long time. Enough to realise that he'd never pick up such fresh and natural colours on his own.

"I choose these myself..." There was no way he could ever reveal the truth of what happened in that stall with a woman almost double his age.

"Liar… but since you arrived this prepared, I'll leave it, for now~. I thought we'd go by train".

"I couldn't possibly have a lady like you ride on the train".

"Really? How sweet but I already know that sneaky mouth of yours… always saying the right thing at the right time, even if you don't mean it… let's go, let me see what you have in store for us~".

Andrew opened the door for her and Clare boarded the back of the SUV. When he got to his own side, it was immediate, Clare hugged him like a Koala.

"Please take us to the funfair in Coney Island, Rocco".

"Right away, boss".

Clare's eyes shone brightly as the vehicle started driving off.

"Did I tell you that I wanted to go there?"

"No, don't you?" Andrew asked with worry, it would be sad if even the first destination was not of her liking.

"I absolutely do! It seems we're in sync… like a real couple".

"I guess so" He rolled his eyes which only made Clare cling further.

"By the way what are you waiting to confess your feelings to me? Then we can stop the nonsense and officially start going out. Everyone at school thinks we're boyfriend and girlfriend already".

"Because you go spreading rumours and running your mouth! Also, what feelings!?"

"So, you are saying that you don't like me?" Clare pressed forward, shamelessly using her voluptuous assets to entice a pitiful soul; feeling insulted that her advances were being so brazenly declined.

"I-I didn't say that... but sometimes you piss me off, like with Sasha..." Andrew took the chance to address a sensitive topic, one that if not addressed, wouldn't allow him to enjoy this date to the fullest.

Clare bit her lips and looked away in dismissal, aware of what he was talking about. Her clear depiction of the 'commoners'.

"I don't understand you... with everything that you have, and everything you will have... why would you even care about people like them? let's just forget that and keep moving, the two of us..."

"This world is more than just money, Clare. Trust me..." Andrew took a glimpse of the windshield, a sea of people. Some lived, some didn't. "There are a lot of other things happening around us that we can't always see, and yet they are there. Having a lot of money doesn't make you any more conscious. You must respect everyone. Even if you don't, at least try to pretend that you do".

"..." Clare felt annoyed, but at the same time, seeing the concern in his gaze she thought about all their moments together and how this subject seemed to be turning into a more palpable barrier by the day.

'I don't want any barriers between us...'

"I hope that... if there is something about me you don't like, you will tell me" She suddenly said, making Andrew gasp in silence.

"You mean you will change? for me?"

"No, but I will know that you don't like it and maybe... I'll try".

'That's good enough for me' He rejoiced, increasing his opinion about her if even just a little.

"By the way could we change this old funeral music into something more moving? like Taylor Swift's new album?".

"Right away, missy" Answered Rocco, ignoring the Boss' opinion about it. After all, there is always a boss above the boss.

'Give me back my good opinion'.

The journey took about half an hour from Clare's place in Upper Manhattan to Coney Island. A great surprise for Andrew to find himself enjoying Taylor Swift's new album. He wondered if Clare leaning her breasts on him had anything to do with it.

As per his orders, Rocco remained behind, stating that he'd wait for them to finish before taking them to their next destination, all they had to do was board the vehicle. The place was bustling with people, the majority of them tourists. It didn't take long for Clare to attract gazes that she didn't care about, instead... as they queued to get their tickets, she made a rather dangerous question.

"By the way, Andrew… are you still living by yourself?"

"… why do you ask?".

"Because I smell women on you".

"It must be your imagination".

"I smell women on you".

"M-Maybe one-"

"Women".

"…"

Sweat was dripping and it wasn't because of the sun.

"At least three women".

'That's impossible! Sophia shouldn't have any smell!'.

"My uncle got someone to take care of me and she has been living with me for about a week, she's a maid of sorts".

"And the other two?"

"There is just her, but she uses different perfumes".

"..." Clare's glare looked like she wasn't convinced, but she also couldn't make any argument about it.

'Phew, saved for now... wait, she's not even my girlfriend, why am I nervous!?'

He was planning for this date to go perfectly and for that, he needed to deviate his and Clare's attention away from all the changes his life had gone through in the past month.

Andrew's love life had morphed from a waveless lake into an unexplainable chaotic mess in a spawn of a few weeks. What he didn't know, however, was that his life overall was about to become chaotic as well.

Without a way back into peace. Because not so far away, a portal had opened.

**

**

"Ugh!"

A body fell into the sea from above, a rather small portal, barely big enough for a human body to fit in, floated above the sea not so far from the shore. In the distance the crowds of people having fun and enjoying themselves in Coney Island were paramount, but for the man whose bloodied body had just fallen on this sea. He couldn't care any less.

Wearing a bloodied tux, he floated back to the surface, groaning and coming face to face with the spinning blue-greenish portal. On the other side, there was a massive desert-like world. Screams of despair, thrill and bloodthirst, hailed from the other side.

According to his protocol, now on the 'other side' there was an immediate action he needed to undertake. He took out his lantern bereft of energy and started recording.

"N-Number 552, Case 1245 - Report N*12: I made contact with 'Adrift' along the way while fleeing from the shattered Frozen Castle. All the Soul Eaters inhabiting inside have moved to the Olympic Division and started a massacre. Queen Pleione -ugh!!"

The vanquisher held his bloodied tux, moved it aside and realised that the wound wasn't a light one, even if it was regenerating at a slow pace, a whole chunk of his skin was missing.

He was literally adrift, working hard to not let himself be drawn by the waves. Forsaking the protocol he groaned and started swimming ever so slowly towards the shore. Nevertheless, there was this distinctive feeling unique to the human species perhaps... the distinctive feeling of being watched.

His gaze was drawn to the position of the portal -which should have already been closed- and realised that wasn't the case at all.

Instead, a gargantuan eye was prying from the other side, following him. It was precisely the creature known as 'Adrift'.

"Bastard why are you still there, quickly go away!" Panic resurfaced in the agent's expression, 'This shouldn't have happened, the moment I crossed the portal it should have-'

"LET ME IN, HUMAN".

It was hideous, cold... bereft of emotions and not with good intentions, such as the voice of 'Adrift'.

"GO... AWAY! YOU CAN'T ENTER THIS WORLD!" Realising the huge predicament he was in, Number 552 discarded even his livelihood and focused all of his energy on trying to close that portal no matter what, but it was fruitless. Locked in a stalemate the creature was unable to invade this world, but soon... his life would wither.

"PATIENCE~"

The creature uttered with a mock sagely tonality much to the agent's disbelief.

"PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE YOU HUMANS SHOULD LEARN".

What number 552 didn't notice was that ever so slowly, almost imperceptibly and against all odds, that portal was widening.

"THE DAY OUR LORD RETURNS IS NOR FAR AWAY BEYOND THE FIRMAMENT, INSTEAD, AS CLOSE AS THE DAMNATION OF YOUR RACE, BY YOUR OWN HANDS".