24 The Puppet Master

-Charm's POV-

Is this really happening? Or is it part of my hallucinations?

I tried to shake my head countless times, and tried to convince myself that this is all not true. However, no matter how much I deny it, every time I find the courage to open my eyes, there he goes again... standing right at this moment.

In front of me is the lad that I've met in the Misty Cave, and on his right is where Johanne is standing right now.

"Grrrr..."

I swiftly turned to look at the guardian animal Cerberus when I heard him silently growled from my back. I saw its piercing golden eyes glaring at these two mortals in front of us, and I knew exactly why he's acting this way.

"I know these guys, so let me deal with them... okay?" I tried to appease Kirin over here, which later on made him calm again.

Him and Mambo hesitantly went back to the temple, while me on the other hand... I don't have a freaking choice but to deal with these two.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as soon as I was able to go near them, but still making sure to keep my distance.

"We are here because..." Lance suddenly paused for a moment and stared at me for a while, as if he's trying to find the right words to say.

"... because I badly wanted to see you." he continued, his gaze never leaving mine.

I almost gaped at his words, but then I fought the urge to do so. Johanne here, on the other hand, smiled at my direction. I think he wanted to say something, like he wanted to tease us like what he's usually doing before, but chose to remain silent.

Geez... I can't let my emotions take over me once more!

Remember, self, this lad in front of you is the son of the tyrant king that you're destined to defeat! You can't risk your mission for these stupid emotions that's currently building up on yourself!

Pull yourself together!

"I'm sorry, but there's no need for us to see each other again." I swiftly looked away from him as I said this in a flat tone.

I didn't wait for his answer and instead I started to walk forward once again. I was able to make it pass through them when I heard him speak once again.

"I miss you so much!" I heard him say which made me frozen in my place. "Isn't it enough reason for me to see you?"

"Believe me or not but... ever since I started to know about your true identity, I know that you're still the same nonchalant Charm I came to know at the Misty Cave."

He paused to take a deep breath and then continued.

"I admit that I was somehow sad to know that you lied to me, but it doesn't change the fact that you were the one who helped me cure my mother. And what I know is you're truly a good person in contrast to what they're saying about you."

*Badump... badump*

Even with my back facing them right now, I still can't contain my heart from fluttering after hearing those words from him.

I wanted to tell him that he's wrong, that I am not a kind person that he assumes me to be... since I am the one destined to kill his father.

But I chose to remain silent.

"Farewell Lance..." was all I had to say.

With a heavy heart, I left the place with the help of my teleportation spell. I heard him shout my name once again before I completely faded from their sight and instantly went back to our room in Lucas' house with just a blink of an eye.

"Ohh... welcome back!"

Aurora's perky voice was the one who greeted me first as soon as I came back to this place. I noticed that she's currently busy slicing some potatoes on a wooden table. I tried to search for the talking guardian animal and immediately spotted him sleeping soundly on a rug.

Aww, someone looks tired from their shopping.

"Were you guys back here for too long?" I asked while walking towards the queen size bed and plopped myself on its silky mattress.

I suddenly felt that my energy was drained upon encountering Lance once again.

"Yup. And I have something to tell you." she said, feeling excited all of a sudden.

"What is it all about?"

"About this so-called puppet master."

Upon hearing that from her, it instantly piqued my interest. I decided to sit at the edge of the bed all of a sudden and turned to look at her.

"This puppet master... is it even real?" My brows were knitted together as I faced the girl sitting in front of me.

"Yes, it's indeed real. According to what I have heard from the residents a while ago... every time that midnight arrives, there would be some residents of the city who would be gone missing during that time, that is still not yet found until now. No one knows where these lost residents are being taken to." she thoroughly explained.

I rested one hand on my chin as I thought more of this so-called puppet master.

If he or she is indeed real, there's a great possibility that she may be one of us that can also wield magic.

"I think this puppet master is also a deity, like us." I said as matter of fact.

If I remember it correctly, I've known a level 5 dark side spell wherein it can control any living mortal, but doesn't have any effect against deities.

But what I do know is this kind of spell has been strictly prohibited to use by our supreme leaders. Anyone caught using the said spell will face a severe punishment.

"That's exactly what I said to Baal earlier." I heard Aurora's voice once again, which snapped me out of my thoughts.

"If you want to find out if this puppet master is a deity or not, why don't we conduct some sort of an investigation? In that way we will also be able to catch the culprit behind the disappearance of the residents here."

I tried to weigh in the chances of us doing the investigation. We have to leave early in the morning the next day, and I want us to rest as possibly as we can before continuing our trip to the next city or village.

However, if this puppet master is indeed real, we have to stop him or her from using dark magic as soon as possible.

I sighed. "What else can we do? We need to stop this puppet master from victimizing residents of this city." I decide to give in to this investigation thing that Aurora is proposing us to do.

***

Later on, we ended up having to wait for midnight to come. As we did so, we tried to play a game of charades just to keep us from sleeping. Baal was finally awake at this point and was persuaded by Aurora to join us the moment he woke up.

However, we then grew tired of that game and chose to remain silent for the next few hours. I chose to lay down on the bed for a bit, and stared blankly at the ceiling. The memory of earlier's counter with Lance flashed back once again.

After that encounter, I bet him and Johanne would be off going back to Citadel...

"Yey! It's already 12 midnight!"

I immediately went back to what's happening currently as soon as I heard the energetic tone of my friend over here. I bet she was staring at the wall clock this whole time.

And with that, me and the rest of my comrades slowly went down the stairs, trying our best not to make any unnecessary noises that could wake up the landlord of this house.

However, we were shocked to see Lucas' presence at his living room before we could even make it down the stairs. We immediately took a few steps backwards and hid ourselves from him.

As I tried to look at him closely, I immediately sensed that something's off with him today. He's currently walking towards the door with a small gas lamp clutched to his right hand.

Even his outfit is kinda weird since he's wearing a black robe with the hood covering up his head.

"What's up with him tonight? Should we warn him of the dangers of going outside?" Aurora said, almost in a whisper.

"Or spy on him perhaps." said Baal.

I agreed to Baal's suggestion and carried on with our plan of spying on him. As soon as Lucas made it out of his house, we hurriedly cast some invisibility spell for him not to notice our presence immediately.

We're just trailing him from behind when we notice that this road, to where he's heading to, is going to the south entrance and exit point of the city where travelers barely pass here because of the main gate's existence. There's not even any single houses built here nor guards to watch over the place, so why is he even here?

We saw him finally stop walking and hide himself behind an oak tree while his eyes don't leave the road... as if he's waiting for someone to pass by here.

We also halted and carefully observed him from behind.

"What's he doing up here? Is he waiting for the puppet master too?" whispered Aurora but me and Baal shushed her at the same time.

A few moments later, my forehead creased upon hearing several stomps that looked like it came from some horses. Along with it, we also heard several hushed voices speaking to each other.

"Bro, of all time, why did you choose to travel at night?!"

"You perfectly know that I came out of the palace without my father knowing, right? So this is the perfect opportunity to come back."

I was frozen for a bit upon recognizing the owner of those voices. And what the heck they think they're doing?

Soon enough, when my gaze landed on Lucas once again, I was startled to see him on the move right now... as if finding the right opportunity to strike. So he knew all along that these two will pass by here this evening?!

I noticed him slowly raising both of his hands. At first I was kinda confused as to why he did that for. But seeing those two fools frozen on their tracks and voluntarily moving along with the movement of his hands...

It didn't take that long before realization dawned upon me.

The lad hiding behind the oak tree right now is the well-known puppet master of Belmont City!