Bloody Sunday Riot (2)

Alvis opened the door in which he found a neat and clean wooden conference-like room, unlike the modern rooms with only a chair and table.

At the other end of the room sat a cold and stern looking woman who had snow white hair and eyes along with the standard police uniform, undoubtedly it was Gia Lestrade.

She looked at Alvis with an emotionless face.

Alvis sat on the nearest chair and on the table was a map of London and a roll of bandages.

"Haa…"

He sighed a sigh of relief.

Lestrade merely looked at him, observing and waiting for him to speak.

Alvis wrapped his left hand where his now index and pinky finger layed missing, finally stopping the festering wounds. Along with wrapping the wound on his stomach, though it was stitched, due to the large amount of movement the stitches had become undone.

After he was done tending to his wounds, Alvis' relaxed face turned to Lestrade with an equally stern expression.

"First of all, I thank you for meeting with me on such short notice."

Alvis finally spoke.

"It was not much of a short notice when you held one of our officers at gunpoint making it into a hostage situation."

She coldly replied.

"...I suppose so. But if I may be frank, the reason I asked to meet with you was because I have a proposition for you."

Lestrade appeared visibly disgusted.

'She's most likely thinking on the lines of 'you did all this for a business proposition?'.'

Alvis commented within his mind. Ignoring Lestrade's expression, he continued.

"Isn't it quite strange that London's idol police officer is somehow under debt? It is quite a crushing amount as well."

Now a wary expression was worn on her face.

"...Why do you speak of my debt?"

"Surely you can't be that dumb inspector? You must know where I'm going with this."

"...Is that the reason for the blank magical contract?"

"Yes, I may be a mana user, but I am nowhere near proficient enough to conjure a contract out of my own mana so I needed a physical one. Isn't this more convenient for you as well? You can even take this to the governmental office in order to legitimize it so that I am both trapped magically and legally."

"Enough with the eloquent words, hurry and tell me the reason as to why you want to pay my own debt."

"..."

Alvis paused for a second, his act freezing as he observed the famous inspector's expression.

"...In exchange for paying off your debt in installments, I want you to help me for the next week."

Lestrade's expression had finally turned easy to read as her face turned bewildered from Alvis' straightforward words.

"...Excuse me?"

"For the next week I need your help. I won't ask you for any sexual acts nor any derogatory deeds, all I need are your connections and power."

Alvis' face turned completely serious as he finished his proposition.

"Of course, the contract would be effective immediately and you may need to take a temporary leave from the London Metropolitan Police in order to help me."

"..."

Lestrade's face slowly hardens back into a cold facade.

"...Aren't you brushing over some topics a bit too quickly Mr…"

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, apologies, my name is Alvis Quinn."

"Mr. Quinn, you brushed over the 'payments' in 'installments'? Are you saying that you do not have enough capital to pay off my debt in a single payment? Does that not mean that you could pay only a single pound per year in order to employ me?"

Alvis quieted down upon hearing what kind of scam he had accidently subtly implied.

"...I didn't even think of that, are businessmen so cruel? Is that not the kind of deals loan sharks or mafia do? Miss Lestrade I assure you I will be paying well over the interest rate whatever it may be in order to one day fully pay off your debt."

'I'll find some way to fund this deal, perhaps if I beg Jill the Ripper she will help me give me a salary…'

"So my assumptions were correct."

"Yes. But Miss Lestrade, think of it in these terms: you are working for someone only for a week and until your debt is completely settled, someone will be contributing toward its eventual demise. At the very least within my perspective, this seems like quite a good deal, does it not?"

Lestrade with no more witty remarks or comebacks quieted down as she thought over the deal.

"...Very well, I agree to your terms."

"Good!"

Alvis felt overjoyed.

As an hour passed by of constructing a contract, soon two signatures were signed at the bottom of the piece of paper which glowed for a moment before it settled down.

"...Miss Lestrade aren't you a bit cruel? You haggled down as much as possible and got the most benefits. In my eyes, you seem more like an evil businessman than I do."

"Still, I cannot ignore the threat you made just an hour prior, you held a young cadet who was fresh out of the police academy at gunpoint requesting for my audience."

"..."

'...Well, aren't you very sly with your words? Though I suppose she has a point.'

"Now, as per the contract it is effective immediately. What do you request that makes you look as if you had seen a ghost?"

"...Hah." Alvis sighed deeply, recalling the revelation that had slipped his mind because of the heated argument he had with Lestrade, "Miss Lestrade, from this moment on please don't treat me as a madman and listen to my words as if they were actual fact."

"?"

A confused expression now adorned her facade.

* * *

"..."

Lestrade's face was ice cold and her expression indescribable.

"...Is what you said the truth?"

Her voice sounded uncertain.

"Why would I go to such lengths otherwise?"

"...If you had started with this—"

"Miss Lestrade, I hope you don't finish those words because we both know that if I had started with what I explained just now you would have treated me as a madman, not a person who spouted the heartfelt truth."

A bitter expression overcame her face.

"Also, I think by now you are sitting a bit further away than what I would like. In order to find where the massacre is taking place you would need to be closer."

Lestrade shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh, please don't take this as a way that I am trying to flirt with you," Alvis mumbled at the end, "I don't even own myself after all…"

'Jill the Ripper would kill me without a second thought. She would kill me with a large smile at my 'betrayal'.'

Alvis shuttered at his imagination of Jill the Ripper.

"In any case, come closer, otherwise you will not be able to see the map clearly whatsoever."

'...Am I allowed to feel offended at this incredulous woman's actions?'

Alvis questioned, glaring at Lestrade who eventually sat in the seat next to him.

"..."

They both sat looking at each other, waiting for the other to start speaking.

"...I would like you to go first, you are the professional in this case. It would be ignorant and foolish of me if I did not hear the opinions of the expert before starting this wild goose chase."

"Very well, though I am not as skilled as the famed Charlotte Holmes, I suspect the square you found the mass amounts of corpses to be Trafalgar Square just down the street from here."

She pointed at a certain square, the other path that Alvis had not used.

'It certainly looks to be so…'

"May I ask why?"

"There are several reasons. Firstly, there are not many squares with the amount of space that you find within London and for you to be near. Furthermore, over the last two years, Trafalgar Square has been used multiple times as a place to riot in order to get the attention of the Royal Family for reforms to pass. This would also explain the reason as to why there were so many people located within such a place."

'...Was the mystique of what I considered an impossible riddle solved just like that?'

Alvis in that moment felt the profound difference between a professional and an ignorant peasant.

"If it was indeed mass hypnosis; it would have had to have been done not only discreetly but also proficient enough that not even the roaming August Institute Professors who live within this city would notice strange mana flows."

Lestrade chuckled, as if finding what she had said amusing in her ears.

"That is so far what I have deduced, is there anything else to add Mr. Quinn?"

"...No I suppose not. Though there are some key questions that need to be answered, they are not a priority at this moment."

Lestrade's calm eyes looked at Alvis for a brief moment before she stood up, evening out her now crumpled clothes.

"It is quite late Mr. Quinn. I believe I should be heading home. If you need my assistance in the coming days, my services will always be open to you as per contract."

"Ah wait inspector."

"Yes?"

"Please give me your home address, that way if there is an emergency I can find you immediately."

Lestrade's eyes narrowed, looking and peering to find fault within Alvis' words and how truthful his intentions were.

"...I will refrain from doing so as of the moment. Although we are indeed bound by contract in order for me to help you, I would rather not give my personal information to a person I have just met."

Alvis nodded, not appearing distraught.

"I understand, have a good night inspector."

As Lestrade was about to pass Alvis' chair, she suddenly grabbed and restrained Alvis, pinning him down onto the table.

"!?"

"Mr. Alvis Quinn you are under arrest, please do not resist or you will be put down forcibly."

"I-Is this not already 'forceful' enough, officer?"

Alvis coughed out.

As he tried and struggled to get out of Gia Lestrade's hands, he found that even though she was not a mana user she possessed strength equivalent to that of one. It was unnatural in every sense of the word.

'...Don't tell me she also possesses some kind of curse as well?'

"Ugh…"

Eventually Alvis stopped as he noticed that it was all in vain.

"Good, thankfully now that you are unable to access your mana you won't be able to make any more suicidal threats."

'?'

"What?"

"Haven't you noticed that you cannot access your mana?"

Lestrade questioned with an eerie calm tone, unlike the various expressions she had made during the discussion.

'...I can still access my Arts though?'

'She must have some kind of nullifying ability then.'

He deduced.

"H-How!?"

Alvis exclaimed.

"Don't worry, it is merely temporary, soon you will be put into a cell so stay quiet."

"..."

As Alvis was being moved through Scotland Yard, he asked a question.

"...How were you able to nullify the contract? There was clearly a term where you would not only help me but also be unable to cause each other bodily harm, even now I am unable to hurt you."

"..."

Lestrade stayed quiet, a chilling expression on her face.

Alvis gritted his teeth upon being ignored, feeling bitter that he could do nothing as his revelation was soon to come true.

Soon, Alvis found himself inside a damp and dark cell.

"Don't worry Mr. Quinn, if what you said was true then I will personally assure you now that we will keep a watch on the upcoming week for any abnormal riots or anything of the sort and deal with it appropriately."

Lestrade said, her words monotone with no emotion. But within held a confidence that Alvis felt that could overcome anything.

"Haha… If what you say is true, I truly do hope you do. I sacrificed too much only to end up in this decrepit cell after all."

Alvis watched as the famed idol police officer glanced and observed him for the last time before she left him alone, the moon being the only companion for him.

'I shouldn't have been so trusting…'

'...I'm tired.'

He felt almost the same as his second day in this world. When his mind felt as if it was being dragged through a marshland, it was truly a deadly kind of fatigue.

Laying on the hard bed, Alvis fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Shouting and screams filled with despair.

"Ugh…"

Alvis groggily awoke in the midst of screams all around himself. Though it was impossible, he was stuck in a cell with no way to escape.

When his eyes opened, it was not a soft white light that the gentle moon gave off, nor was it the comforting orange and warm sun that nurtured the lands. A blood red light came, the moon looked as if it was douched in blood and wanted to kill the earth.

A black large mana along with a gray mana of equal quantity enveloped the atmosphere for several minutes, the gray persisting longer before they disappeared.

"What the hell…?"

He cursed, unable to comprehend what was happening outside his cell.

A splash of blood came through the window that showed the anger-filled moon.

"..."

Squirm-

It wriggled and moved as if it was a worm.

"..."

The inanimate blood on the floor started to grow eyes and a tongue like an abomination.

Alvis unconsciously took a step back.

'What is this?'

He stared intensely at the strange puddle of blood that moved and grew in an unnatural manner to the point where it looked natural for it to do so.

"Uuuaaahhh…"

It groaned.

Its eyes had gained a light that could only explain that it had gained sentience. They moved until it looked into Alvis' eyes eerily.

For a moment both the strange slime-like blood and human stared at one another.

"Uuuuaahhh!"

A newly formed hand started dragging the liquid towards Alvis.

The ground sizzled as it melted from the acidic nature of the strange blood.

'...I could use this…'

Although the puddle of blood looked to be dangerous, due to how slow it was it posed no threat to Alvis' life whatsoever.

For a minute, Alvis watched as the creature slowly made its way to him. When it was close enough, he kicked it at the iron bars that prevented his escape.

Sizzzz…

The acidic blood splattered and clung to the iron as it visibly melted at a rapid pace.

'...This means they failed.'

Alvis sighed as he recalled the cold yet confident police idol.

'Aren't I already guaranteed to die?'

He at the very least wanted to see what happened to the people he knew before he died praying to the mad gods who destroyed the world.

Once the iron had corroded enough, Alvis simply pushed his melted metal and walked out.

He did not panic, nor did he despair. He had accepted it. 

'...'

'My plans are all ruined… So much was left…'

'I should have struggled more… persisted more…'

Alvis felt overwhelming regret. 

This was the first world in which he had survived for the longest, a world that gave him precious memories that couldn't be replicated anywhere else. It was a unique world, one that would always stay by his side, and so, he regretted not enduring more pain for more memories that would undoubtedly stay with him for a lifetime.

Without realizing where his feet had taken him, he was eventually in front of a burning of a grand building that was no doubt once majestic.

It was the Buckingham Palace, now burning and destroyed almost without recognition.

'...Where's Jill the Ripper?'

He refused to believe that she would die an insignificant death. 

And so he set out to find her.

* * *

"..."

A grotesque scene.

Monsters of incomprehensible horror piled on top of each other making a large flesh pile that squirmed yet it lacked the atmosphere of life, indicating that the pile of flesh was already long since dead.

Leaning on a broken brick wall lies a black haired woman with static covering her face.

"...Miss Jill?"

I called out.

Her body was cold and was riddled with fatal wounds that had surely taken her life.

"..."

No response came.

It was just a day or so prior that the woman in front of me was still crazy and lively. It would have been better if she was still lively and not cold and clammy as a corpse.

I don't think I loved her in the slightest, yet seeing the woman who I had shared so many memories with lying dead in a pool of blood made me shed tears of sadness.

She felt dead, both in a physical and spiritual sense.

I held her in my arms asking if she was playing a cruel joke, no response.

Tears poured, my mind was clear but my heart felt like a stone was replaced with it instead.

After an uncountable amount of time I let go of her body, her blood pasted and covering me.

I listlessly walked aimlessly, thoughts filled my head leaving not even a single moment of serenity.

I found myself in the middle of hundreds of corpses.

There was enough blood that the entire square was covered in a scarlet color.

Looking up into the sky, my mind collapsed.

Eyes that peered through the world that was already collapsing.

I laughed maniacally.

My arms raised high into the air as if praising the entities who destroyed the world.

"Mad gods, oh mad gods, thank you for your grace!"

I closed my eyes and my tears turned red as blood flowed out.

Become one.

Become one.

Become one.

I chanted and prayed.

For they have come and liberated the world with their everlasting grace and power.

'Oh mad gods.'

'Let 'I' end this miserable existence.'

As my head exploded, a light enveloped my vision.