Chapter 0: Another Day in Neverland (11)

The woman, who was quite short compared to everyone but Zoe, was none other than Iris Becker, a special grade author, and an official agent from the authorities.

It all clicked then… for how she was able to disintegrate not only the endless army of the dead but erase the whole folio. She was not a writer, but an author. Authors differed from writers, as writers were classified into basic classifications that pretty much anyone with the potential could learn. Each author, however, had their own unique abilities that no one else could mimic and learn but themselves. In each generation, there was always a set of authors with unique abilities that were passed down to their predecessors — sometimes to other third parties who had no authors before. They were the elite of the elite, gifted with powers that only fate could dictate.

Iris Becker was the [Author of Beginning Negation].

On the surface, it was no different than the common ability of erasers or the clean-up team, teams that erase and fix the damage done in the aftermath of the battle, whether done by the target or the writers. But it was unique in its own way, its purpose wasn't erasing creations by creations like the average eraser, rather, it was to completely remove and negate the start point, the focal point, of a creation. By removing that point, there would be no creation in the first place, thereby erasing it in one shot.

If the undead were left to the clean-up team, they wouldn't have perished in seconds like that, in fact, they wouldn't have perished at all due to their unlimited factor. So it was left to Iris, and only her, to erase the starting point of the scenario and remove that factor.

As for her herself, she was like a bear with a sore head, very much more irritable than Nathan and Emiya at this point. That was what years of adult life would do to a person like her, even if it had been only three years since she turned twenty and started this "adult" life. It was still understandable. Working with the authorities or the association would triple one's year just like that, especially if they were a special class author (and recommended by the Academy).

"So…" She walked forth toward Lloyd, gum chewing in her mouth (the only thing keeping her at bay). "You are?"

Height meant no difference to Lloyd in this case as she was just as intimidating as she would be if she was taller than him.

"Lloyd Ashford, ma'am!" Lloyd shouted at the top of his lungs, all he needed was to salute to top it all off.

"Ohh… You're quite gallant, aren't you?"

Instead of getting vexed by her being called "ma'am," she was rather flattered, as she felt like she truly had a higher position for once.

— Huh… She is one of those…

"He's mine, Iris." Shogo finally spoke up, walking in their direction, before resting his hand on her shoulder. "It'd be much appreciated if you kept your hands off him. He's still a second-year after all."

"(That smile again…) Why don't you get your hands off me first?" She had a death stare shot in her eyes.

"Let it down for once, will ya?" A voice called out from the distance.

From the crowd, the most bizarre figure emerged. It was a tall man, most likely, a walking mummy — if one didn't know any better, they would have mistaken him for one of the undead still left behind. However, unlike mummies, he wasn't entirely wrapped in bandages or toilet paper, rather he was wrapped in pages upon pages of nothing but white paper.

That was none other than Wolfgang "The Hand," infamous for his outlandish appearance that put off anyone he would meet except for Iris. It all played into his ability as an author after all, which very little knew about, otherwise, he would get rid of all this whenever a chance presented itself. Everyone depicted him as gloomy and fatalistic, when, in fact, he was the opposite in some cases, and those characteristics applied to Iris more than anyone.

"You don't want a fuss for the press to latch onto now, do ya?"

He was right. The entire crowd encircling the scene was packed with journalists of all kinds. Of course, if there was a case of Wonderland interference or writer activity, the media had to be there to cover it all to the tiniest detail. As for the special authors like Iris and Wolfgang, the media in Neverland thrived on them as they would on normal celebrities… because in this world, authors were the celebrities.

Something like that came with a lot of disadvantages to the authors themselves, of course. Limited privacy and they would almost get accounted for every action they took. In this case, Iris could very well get mistaken for harassing students.

Iris stepped away and confronted Wolfgang face-to-face. She crossed her arms and spoke in the most monotone, yet irritated, voice. "They should be grateful I saved their sorry asses."

"Actually, I could have handled it." Shogo interrupted.

"Shut it, you matrix-looking dumbass!"

— So that was the movie. It all makes sense now.

A man walked up to the team. He was dressed neatly in a suit, one could easily tell he was some agent from the authorities. But seeing as he wasn't swarmed by anyone like Iris and Wolfgang earlier, he would be any class agent but a special author.

"Inspector Mycroft Gyllenhaal." He showed them his badge. Considering the nature of it, he was in a completely different department than Iris and Wolfgang. That was why they didn't recognize or gave him the time of day. "If I may have a moment of your time, that would be much appreciated."

Iris sighed deeply. "Paperwork?"

"No, actually. Your involvement was kept to a minimum, after all. The students, of course, are students, they have nothing to deal with this as well, except with the Academy itself. All that tiresome work is left to someone like me now, Miss Becker."

"(Should've kept it at "No")"

True to Iris's nature, she couldn't stand the authorities' agents for being so formal and by-the-book, even authors who were like herself.

"I do need a word with the leader as well, if I may."

"For sure!" Shogo pushed the tip of his shades backward, and took the man by the shoulder, immediately breaking the boundaries and allowing themselves to be familiar with one another. "If you don't mind, guys, help the others with the treatment."

He waved to the team as he walked away with the man. Iris and Wolfgang wasted no time in following right behind them.

※※※

An ambulance van came in with healers to assist anyone injured on-site, especially the writer themselves. Both Emiya and Juno were in a fairly mild condition, with Juno being a little worse due to how she drained almost all her energy earlier. They all stood by, waiting for Juno who laid inside in the van still getting treatment.

"Oh, right…" Lloyd remembered something. He stood resting his back to the van, with his hands in his pockets. "What ever happened to that woman?"

Emiya's ears tingled in surprise, like a dog who was alert to a familiar sound they should avoid. "What woman?" She smiled, with sweat dropping from her forehead.

Lloyd was surprised and looked the other way, "N-Nevermind…"

From where they were, the crowd wouldn't let up, it was packing up by each second that passed. It didn't matter to them though, as long as the crowd did not bother them. Thankfully, the rabble wasn't for them.

"Doesn't he look so handsome?" A girl's voice stood out from the pack.

There were three girls chatting up with each other near the front of the crowd. It seemed like they were especially interested in none other than Shogo, if not from the way they described him, it was certainly from the way they were gawking at him with awe as if they had found the man of their dreams.

"That look of his is right up my alley," the mature one out of the three spoke, "And those clothes… so mysterious and alluring."

"Oh, what I would give to see his eyes… I heard it's sky blue, like really sparkling."

That was the usual gossip of the Shogo fan club. No, the guy did not have an official fan club, he never cared for those anyway, but he had fans everywhere with most of them very obsessed no less.

Emiya was not pleased in the slightest. Girls like them irked the very bones of her body. "...Ugh, "mysterious and alluring," my ass. I can't believe that guy's got fans for just wearing nothing but black. That went out of style twenty years ago! He looks like he is about to sell me drugs in a back alley. I want justice for my goth phase."

Nathan and Lloyd were genuinely surprised. This was the first time they heard anything about this.

"You had a goth phase?" Nathan looked at her with judgemental eyes.

"What… You worshipped skulls and boxes filled with a man-octopus's heart?" Lloyd placed the tip of his finger on his chin, expressing his interest in hearing more of the matter.

"Ha ha… very funny." She jabbed Lloyd's shoulder with her menacing smile on her face. "If I could stand, I would have punched your gut till your teeth fell off. But I guess patience is a virtue, I still have my chance to square it off after all this is over now that we're even."

"Oh, you shouldn't worry about that, Emiya." Nathan spoke up, "I have a matter to settle with him as well."

"Woah woah… wait, what's going on?"

Sensing the threat from them both, Lloyd backed away cautiously. They were among a huge crowd of people, but that wouldn't stop Nathan from getting what he wants without garnering much attention.

"I don't know… Someone summoned a horde of undead that almost killed us and I'm not very happy about that." Nathan cracked his knuckles.

"Technically, we were summoned to their dungeon (it's all in my head, man). And if it weren't for me, we wouldn't have taken out the dragooun, am I right?"

"Oh no no no… We would have captured it and we wouldn't have had to wait for an author to save our asses."

"Yeah… because you guys were doing such a good job without me. Oh, wait, who scared the dragooun again?"

Emiya was enjoying the show and was very well about to take a bowl of popcorn and continue watching. And with no Juno or Shogo to pull the breaks, Zoe felt the need to step right in.

"All right, big boys, that's enough!"

Never mention size with her, she was capable of handling tough situations much better than some. She broke in between the two who towered over her and managed to stop them right then and there with just a few words and her fierce expressions.

Lloyd chuckled. He walked away and leaned by the van, near Emiya.

"Why so serious, man?"

It was Nathan's job to keep Lloyd in-check, and he took it personally rather than for the reputation of the team. As a friend, he really was after his friend's best interest, however, he lacked the proper method to express it — having a serious nature like that made it difficult.

"Oh My God!!"

The same group of girls that stood among the crowd ran frantically in the opposite direction to where Shogo was, they turned their attention to something else. Even if they were a part of the fan club, there was another more famed individual among the people that definitely needed attention.

"Is that Madame Rose?" One of the girls wheezed in excitement. "It is! It's Bella Rose."

Hearing that name at the end quickly grabbed Lloyd's unwavered attention and pulled him by the ear. He wasn't sure if he had heard what the girls said right, or if it was true at all. But he wouldn't miss the chance to verify it himself.

— There's no way.

Speaking with the authorities was a refined brunette woman dressed in a rather elegant garment, a red dress that matched the times of when the train tracks were the most innovative technology in history. Her hair was tied to a bun in a dignified manner. She certainly had the aura of a noblewoman from the highest class of society, but it wasn't from this time, perhaps the time of fairy tales. One thing that was certain, out of people like Wolfgang and Shogo, she caught eyes more.

Even with that mind, Lloyd wasn't so keen on the identity of that woman. He eyed her meticulously. It was her face… it wasn't quite the image he had always pictured.

— No, this isn't right. Something's off.

"You're not Emma Watson!!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, almost bringing all the attention at him.

When heads turned to his direction, and the woman as well, he was gone like the wind, with nothing but dust left in his place. The only one that remained near that location was Emiya, who felt the attention slowly being directed at her, and immediately moved slightly over, albeit with an awkward expression, to the front of the van, which was in the opposite direction of the crowd.

In the back (or front of the van in this case) were Lloyd, Nathan, and Zoe. The moment Lloyd spouted the words from earlier in that vigorous manner, Nathan grabbed Lloyd and moved over to the other side of the van. It was his job to look out for his friend's ineptitude. However, this time, it was for the team to not be looked upon as a laughable bunch.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but those movies are really rotting your brain here, moron." Nathan smacked the back of Lloyd's head.

Realizing the meaning behind Lloyd's words, although it took her a while, Emiya burst out laughing. "You thought she was…" She tried to suppress it to not attract more attention. "You really thought you'd see her actor instead of the actual person?! — Are you serious?!! And who watches the live-action movies?"

"Well, what was I supposed to imagine? A cardboard cut-out?"

"Imagine nothing!" Nathan said.

Fairy tales were real, that was the fact no one should forget as a writer and a citizen of Neverland — the dragooun was much evidence of that. That meant that any tale that was ever told in reality manifested into the world known as Wonderland. The kinds of Gilgamesh, who was very much a king of vanity in history as well, Snow White, the young maiden who was banished out of envy, and The Beast, the prince who was consumed by wrath, to the kinds of Aladdin and Ali Baba from the "One Thousand and One Nights" folk tales, they all roamed the very surface of Earth, although in a different plane of the world. Those tales were the ones that formed the very fabric of Wonderland.

To one who was consumed by the modern world and the various tales that were altered, the famous heroes and heroines of Wonderland often seemed different to them, to what they expected. Nathan understood that very well. Most of those came to be from the very first tale that was told about them, tales that were in high contrast to what they actually became in the future.

"Forget the movies!" Nathan tried to explain without being ticked off, "That over there is not the delightful princess who also happens to sing. That's Madam Rose, a highly respected member of the Association and the Lady of the Chambord castle."

The Association of Wonderland was just as respected as the Committee of the One Hundred. It mattered the affairs of its world just as the committee mattered its own. And with the dragooun being an escaped deviant from that world, the association had to interfere and retrieve the little beast themselves. Madam Rose was just one of their representatives, and a core member.

"I'm gonna pretend I know all that and nod." Lloyd had the blankest expression on his face as if his mind was elsewhere.

"It's not my fault you don't catch up on your classes, especially your literature… some writer you are."

"Ouch… You're hitting my pride there, Nate."

"But wow…" Emiya yawned, "You seem to know a lot. Are you sure you and Juno aren't study partners? (Because I know sure as hell she wouldn't pair up with me unless it's really dire.)"

Before Nathan could answer back, he felt a droplet on his hand, followed by another, and another. Just as he thought of getting rid of the surrounding noise somehow, God answered his plea.

Umbrellas emerged and the crowd started to wane. Everyone was in a hurry to find shelter. Even with some shops having tents out front for the sun or something like this, it was getting cold. It was the perfect time for a clean-up of this sort.

Nathan, Emiya, and Zoe quickly hopped inside the van, which had Juno within, to take shelter as well.

But Lloyd stood out there, reaching out his hand to the front, waiting for the miracle to drop. He wasn't about to run away from something he loved so much.

The very time of twilight came upon Neverland, the time that sheltered the day from the night, keeping them both at bay. And today… of all days… it arrived with quite the delicate transition.

"Rain…" Lloyd smiled. Instead of running to the shelter, he ran around in circles with the most genuine laughter in his tone. "Check out, you guys, it's raining! It's actually raining!! Finally, a blessing from God!!!!"

Emiya gawked with confusion. "W-What's up with him all of a sudden? He looks like he went kaput."

"It's the start of the rain season," Nathan sighed. "Lloyd's been patiently waiting for this."

"Should we pull him in? He'll catch a cold." Zoe expressed her concern.

"Nah, he'll be fine. He's like a kid when it comes to rain. There's nothing better than that for him. Besides, Lloyd staying home because of a cold? Sign me up."

"Always the odd one, huh." Emiya moved over next to Juno in the van, "I guess that's his kink then."

"Don't make it weird…"

"I'm not!"

And that marked the end of another day like any other, and the start of a night like no other.