Passing Time

The runic scripts engraved within the twins were an ancient sealing technique instrumental to a certain ritual that took place on this island for generations. A terrible existence was hidden and locked away within the mountain; hence, explained the necessity of this spell from the grimoire to be utilizable by the family throughout every age. Yet, not all of these details were explicitly explained to the boy as of now.

After a lascivious feast for his eyes, Leo continued the conversation on more trivial matters. However, when asked about his mother, Maria, the figure behind the curtain gave an obscure response and hinted that he will have to agree to the succession to learn more.

With heavy thoughts weighing on his mind, the boy bid his respect to the current head until the next visit.

"Madam! Why did you let the young master decline so easily?" The twins thought the head should have put more pressure on Leo; they were fervently anticipating to be in his service.

"Be patient, you two. We must not impose our will on that child. If the destiny Maria claimed was true, then he shall come to us on his own." The figure remained confident.

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It was noon by the time when Leo was escorted out of the manor. The boy met up with Anna as planned and visited the town to explore the local delicacy that he missed very dearly. Due to the new openings and trades, the island seafood cuisines had evolved into many foreign mixes of varieties, which was something both gluttons looked forward to.

The kind big sister brought Leo to her favorite restaurant near the sea port. It was part of an inn that also hosted many tourists from abroad. By the entrance, there was an elegant, tall and mature lady dressed in traditional housewife apparel sweeping the floor. As the landlady and the owner of this establishment, she gracefully bowed down to the two guests while proudly showing off the white milky valley of her ample bosom.

"Fancy to see you again so soon, Anna. Didn't you have your fill just a few days ago? Better watch the scale. Ku ku." Anna usually visits only once a week; the landlady was delighted to see the return of a lavish customer and kindly teased.

"I brought a special guest today! Here is our reservation." Anna proudly introduced Leo to the mature, ripe and lively acquaintance of hers and the boy politely greeted in response.

"Oh mine... A charmingly fine date. Very well, please follow me inside." The landlady sneaked a lecherous smile towards Leo.

Inside the restaurant, the table was soon populated with a myriad of food that Leo blindly ordered through the menu. Despite the long digits of money signs next to each item, Anna encouraged the boy to try them all out and ask for seconds if need be. It would be a small price to pay for him to fall in love with the island. As for the big sister, she ordered wines for herself to lighten the mood.

The two feasted heartly on the appetizing dishes while Anna slowly got tipsy from the alcohol. With a drunken expression as she stared intensely at Leo, the delirious sister began to mumble senseless words.

"Leo, my sweet little darling. I am... so glad that you came back to me. The dark surrounds me...nibbles at my flesh... eating away my soul. But... But! You are like a beacon, a wondrous sun... that freed me from the darkness... Please... become the head of the family, become our savior! So, I can be at your service." The intoxicated sister rambled in monologue.

"Anna... You drank too much; your face is bright red." Most of her words were inaudible, but Leo still could feel the deep fond passion directed towards him.

Then, Anna collapsed on top of her breasts pressing against the table and fell fast asleep.

"..."

"Ara... I told her not to drink this much..." The landlady came to the rescue.

"I am her acquaintance, allow me to take her to rest in the guest room. Please enjoy the rest of the food while you wait for Anna to wake up... Oh, and don't worry about the bill, sweetie." With a lovely smile towards the boy, she lifted up Anna's tall voluptuous body with ease.

Without Anna, Leo was losing the appetite for the exquisite meals in front of him... But his stomach and mouth demanded otherwise. The boy continued to ferociously gobble down the rest of the food, until a man in a casual Hawaiian shirt called out to him.

"Young man, how are you doing?" The man also wore a pair of hilarious looking sunglasses.

"Who you might be?" Leo finally put down the food.

"The name is James, I am an officer from the supernatural bureau. Fancy to see a young man such as you so close to a woman from the halfmoon family." There was a deep imperceptible meaning behind his smile.

"Ah! you must be the agent that Jean mentioned. I am Leo, nice meeting you." The boy had a clear surprise on his face.

"Oh? To think you know my junior. What a small world this is. Mind if I take a seat here?"

"Go ahead." Leo had a favorable impression on the female agent; hence, he was not too aversive to the man who approached.

"Well, young man, I am curious to know what brings you to this island? You don't seem like a simple tourist." The man had keen senses.

"I am on a family visit." Leo innocently blinked his eyes.

"hmm... you see, the woman you were with, Anna. She is dangerous... Hey! Don't give me that look, I mean dangerous in the sense of her reputation with the outside world."

James began to share some histories of the island. The man was a lot more knowledgeable than Jean in this regard.

As it was known within the circles of the supernatural world, several years ago, the island of the Halfmoon was secretly invaded by the Shuzens, another prestigious family of Anima users from the mainland. Shockingly, not much information regarding the battle was known as the invasion was quickly quelled with no survivors from the invader left alive.

After the invasion, Anna was sent to the mainland for a punitive mission against the Shuzen family. During the battle of Demilune's retaliation, that was when she got her reputation as the black flames. She became known as a cold blood killer that inflicted as much pain as possible to all of her victims. In essence, Anna was notorious for her deeds.

Regardless of the story, Leo took the information with a grain of salt. As if he would treat Anna any differently even if they were completely true. All he could see from the adoring big sister was the devotion within her eyes to squeeze him dry on bed, but at last could not as she had tried yesterday.

During the conversation, the man attempted to probe information regarding the family; but despite the boy being careful in his words, the sharp agent still caught a whiff of something that interested him. Impressively, testament to his social skills, he still managed to leave a good impression on Leo for the most part.

"As I have noted. You see, this island is run by the women of the Demilune, and the family is all females. Every important position and major businesses here are filled by those ladies..." The man said as he glanced at the landlady serving another table.

"But I got to say, every one of them I met is damn big and round... heh, heh. Unlike my cute junior who is modest at best..." The man was getting a bit tipsy as well from too much beer.

"Anyway, there is something strange with them, just giving you heads up because you associate with one of the Demilune." The agent finally returned to the topic.

"I see, thanks for the story. I will go see my sister now." With the last bite, the food on the table was now all empty.

"Anytime, boy." The man took another sip from his can.

Moments later, just when the agent finished his beer and was about to leave.

"Dear customer, here is the bill for this table." The landlady creeped behind him like a ghost.

"What?! Wait. Wait! Dang, he is already gone. O my beautiful Landlady, you know me, I didn't order these." It was time to test his fashionable appeal as a middle-aged gentleman.

"Well, the other guests have already left, and there were more orders on the table. Even if I want to charge them, I don't know where they are." It was super effective...not.

'What do you mean you don't know where they are?! Don't think I didn't see you escorting them into the guest room!!'

That was the man's thought; but of course, under her threatening stare that pierced through his soul, he dared not to speak the truth.

"But..."

"Ara! If you can't pay, then I must deduct from the rent deposit you have left." Behind a dark and sinister aura, the gentle smile on the landlady was frightening.

Well, from the perspective of the restaurant, if the bill wasn't already paid, the last person who leaves naturally takes the tab.

"Fine...how much is it?" The agent treated it as a necessary expense for information gathering; but little did he know, he was in for a whole world of pain after he glanced at the bill.

Several minutes later, James lifelessly wandered on the street.

"My whole month's worth of paychecks.... *Sob*" These were tears of despair from a depraved man.

Either the government agents were severely underpaid, or the restaurant was ridiculously expensive. Nonetheless, it did not stop the agent from doing his job. He took out a radio and informed his team.

"Stay away from the Halfmoon estate, but prepare the rest as planned." Despite Leo describing the manor as relatively empty, the man still sensed danger.

The higher ups from the government were frustrated due to the lack of progress for intel they had on the Halfmoon. Hence, under the pressure from his direct boss, the agent was forced to intrude in the sacred ground despite knowing the restrictions that had been placed. James knew the mountain hid a big secret, a foul evil that was deep-rooted in this island. In spite of his reluctance, he needed to find out what made the Shuzen family sacrifice everything in this place.