Work, Work, Work!

Initial Incident Assessment Report (In Progress)

Date 1/9/24 6:48 AM 

Assessment conducted by the Second Battalion

"Doesn't this suck? We get the chance to come to Miami, but instead of having fun, we've gotta work. Seriously, I might just quit!" sighed an older woman, her light brown hair catching stray beams of the early morning sun as she leaned against the weathered gate, her grip on optimism slipping with each passing moment. 

Unenthusiastically listening to her constant ramblings was a young girl, or I should say, a girl who appeared to be quite young. If you'd seen her passing by on the street, you wouldn't be wrong to mistake her for some common, everyday middle or high schooler. A shame, such was just the nature of her curse. 

"Yeah, yeah. When you quit you should pack your bags for Atlantis too. I hear it's just wonderful this time of year." quipped the young girl, her voice resonated with a hint of dried-out amusement.

"Really?! You think so?", the older woman burst out with eyes filled with bright hope and excitement. Seeing this, the young girl's amusement completely disappeared. 

"Dense idiot."

Just then the shadow of a bird passed overhead, causing the young-looking girl to look up haphazardly. When her gaze came down, she looked at the bustling scene in front of her.

Dozens of men clad in somber black suits marched throughout the desolate graveyard, inspecting every seam and crack of this old graveyard. The location was so out of the way, that it likely hadn't been touched in decades, yet during all that time, it hid something of interest. 

Soon enough, one of the men came up to the two girls with a serious expression on his face. 

"Commanding officers, Miss Meiying and Miss Farra. I have a report."

Ah! My apologies, I hadn't been clear up until now. Miss Meiying is the young-looking girl and Miss Farra is the older one with brown hair. Actually... maybe I should've left that aspect in the dark. After all, I wouldn't learn their names until some time later. 

Finally, Meiying stood up from her crouched position, her curious eyes an eager shade of chestnut brown. Farra wasn't too far behind her, after hearing the word 'report', she seemed to sink down. A fear dominated her composure, yes, a fear that the man's report would cause her to work even more.

The finely suited man continued speaking, "We've found several abnormalities in this graveyard. First and foremost, the coffin located in the old shed seems to be a highly sophisticated magical tool. Though we're currently looking into it, there don't seem to be any records on it."

Farra's leg gave out at that moment. Sitting in the dirt, she had an expression of pure, unkempt despair. Things of this nature fell right under her jurisdiction. 

Meiying took a bold step forward, stars twinkling in her eyes. "Well? Continue!" 

"From what we can tell, the coffin operates by taking in energy from this area's natural leylines and-" 

Before he could finish his sentence Meiying spoke up, "Yup, that makes sense. Areas like this that tend to have a lot of natural disasters have far more leyline abnormalities. Like they say, hide a leaf in a forest. Guess that's why this went under the radar for so long... Hmmm, what do you think Farra?"

Wiping away her tears, Farra sniffled out a meek reply, "Whatever... I just wonder what the hell came out of the coffin."

"Yup, and that'll be up to us to figure out. Now then, this graveyard's way too dead. Where are the specters and ghosts?" 

The man in the suit flashed a scared look on his face before yelling out. "We'll get right on looking into it ma'am!" Then he ran off. 

A smirk formed on Meiying's face as she heard him say, ma'am. 

"Don't get that kind of respect too often. Feels good to relish in it." 

"Of course you don't, you look like some school brat." 

"Shut up, it's just-" 

"Your curse? I think it'd be a dream come true for me." 

"Stop talking and quit already."

"Hey, even if you didn't have the curse, I bet you'd still look the same. I mean-" 

"Don't you finish that sentence or so help me god-" 

"You people all look super young anyway." 

"I'll kill you." 

-Last Night

Cacophony and I walked alone in the dark until we reached the main road. Finally, after being forced to traverse the pitch-black darkness for so long, the street lights returned my vision to me. 

It was then that I made a realization. The world is far different at night. The sights, sights that I'd gotten used to during all the time that I spent in this city, looked so foreign. 

I'd always thought of myself as a night owl, but I guess I never really thought about going out and experiencing the night like this. The normally busy streets had far fewer cars zooming by, not a soul walked along the sidewalk beside Cacophony and me, and the quietness around me coated my ears in a special serenity. 

As Cacophony turned her head to watch me, a kind, teasing smile formed on her face. "Come now, it's far too easy to dazzle you." 

"Huh! Well... isn't it your first time in a modern city? Shouldn't you be more impressed?"

To hide my own embarrassment, I quickly switched the subject. 

"That's a good point. With eyes like mine though I could see the edges of the city from the moment I walked out of the shed." 

"Oh... That's a shame. Wait, then why do you need me then?" 

She looked at me a bit wide-eyed, but then just chuckled a little. 

"Don't misunderstand. I'm still quite ignorant of this city and its interworkings. For example, where are we?" 

"Um... Miami Shores I guess. If you wanna get more specific, we're at the church." 

Looking to my side, I examined the large white church building next to me. Truly, it was an impressive monument to Christianity, but just across the street was another church building, a peach-colored one. That peach-colored church was larger than the white, it looked more inviting than the white church, and it even had an elementary school. While I don't know the story, maybe that's part of the reason that the white church was abandoned. 

"See Veri? I couldn't have known that if it weren't for you. And when I said I could see the city's edge, it was a bit of an exaggeration. When I see that far my vision gets blurry. Wouldn't have been a problem if I were at full strength, but it is what it is."

"Alright then. I'll do my best to fill in any gaps in your knowledge. There isn't a single thing in this whole world that I don't know about!" 

"I'd expect nothing less from my servant."

For some reason, I felt glad to have been given a solid purpose. Perhaps I just wanted a bit of validation, or maybe being needed by such a cute woman was all my nerdy heart needed. 

When we're just walking like this, it makes Cacophony seem like just an ordinary person. She happily skipped along the sidewalk, turning her head side to side to take in the new air. She was like a country girl who'd just entered the big city for the first time. 

After twenty minutes of walking, we got to my house.

"Not too bad, but shouldn't the Dark King have a castle or something.", Cacophony remarked. 

"Well, uh, currently I'm hiding out from the... Holy Un- Angellic Order? Something like that. Anyway, I can't make too big of a splash as things stand now." 

As suggested, my house wasn't anything special. It was a two-story house, but it's not like it was that wide or spacious. The downstairs area consisted of a small kitchen, dining area, and living room. Going upstairs, there was one bedroom, a bathroom in the hall, and a hallway closet. 

Digging into my bookbag, I grabbed my key. 

"Hold on. We should make a plan for how to deal with your parents and siblings." 

That statement caused my eyes to dart to the floor. "No, there's no need for any of that. The Great Dark King doesn't need to be pampered by his parents or siblings. I live alone."

"Really? You manage to pay for this place by yourself?" 

"Something like that..."

Turning toward the door, I inserted the key and twisted the door knob. 

"Alright, Cacophony! Welcome to your new home!"