Chapter 7: A Looming Shadow

"Me? Cursed?" Rhyme couldn't believe what she's hearing, and let out a nervous laugh, "W-what are you saying, Aria...? According to your story, only the Royals that defy their family get cursed... right?"

"...Well... I suppose so..."

"There's no continent named Rivetta, is there?"

"...I don't believe there is..."

"So why did you think I was cursed?"

"...I-I don't know... Métley told me..."

"Who's this Métley?"

"The... curse...? Though in my case... she's also kind of a blessing..." a headache for her troubles of articulating that, courtesy of Métley, "...eep... she's... she's been kind."

"You have a... name for the curse? It's a she?"

"Yes... well... how do I explain this... Ms. Rivetta... don't you feel that sometimes... you share your body... with someone else...?"

"... Well, now that you mention it..." Discord felt uncomfortable and it transferred to Rhyme. At the back of her head, Rhyme could hear her mutter the words, "She knows..."

Rhyme gulped. "I-I'm sorry, I don't have any idea what you're talking about after all-"

"B-but..."

"Excuse me, I have private, confidential work to do, so if you would please leave, that'd be very helpful, Ms. Aria... you may take the teacup with you to finish your tea along the way. Have a good day." Rhyme quite literally pushed her out of the house and shut the door on Aria.

"...W-what do we do... it seems she's mad..." Métley hissed, a torrent of pain attacked Aria's head, while she focused her ears on picking up what Métley was saying, "....she knows.... don't have to do anything...."

Aria, dejected and in tremendous pain, walked to the wave-bus, heading back to her apartment in Kuqala.

---

"Hey, Discord, were we part of a family of Royals?"

"You actually believe that miserable girl?"

"I'm... just curious."

"Not that I remember of," Discord sighed through the projected mirror, "We've lived in Newgates with Mother for as long as we can remember, until she passed..."

"Ah... That's right," Rhyme thought back to her childhood memories with her late mother. Back when she was but a child, similar to Sylvie. Nostalgia washed over her as she played back the fragments of memories in her head, while her body tidied her house.

---

"Mamaaaaaaaa~" Rhyme pouted, her cheeks puffed, her eyes red with droplets of tear dangling, sniffling, she hugged her mother tight, "Rhyme lonely... Rhyme has waits too long."

Her mother, still in office uniform, patted Rhyme's head. "There, there, wasn't Nana there to accompany you?"

"Nana boring..."

There was only so much a programmed nursemaid drone could reply to the imaginative tantrums a child could think of. They couldn't possibly keep up. That and it hurt for the little ones to crank their necks and wait for the drone to recognize their squeaky voices instead of going over to the nearest door and spraying anti-rust solution on the hinges. Nana was one of its kind; they couldn't make it through the mass production test and was about to be scrapped, before Rhyme's mother took them in, or found a way to make use of her, though it proved not to be very effective.

Rhyme was still holding on to her mother's lap, before Discord had to take over when she couldn't take anymore of her incessant wails, wiping off her tears, and holding back her snot. "I-I'm okay," she managed, "Mom here now."

Rhyme's mother smiled with her eyes. "Good girl, we'll have delicious dinner tonight, it will be your favorite..."

Rhyme's eyes shined and backed Discord off, "Salted egg chicken?" unconcealed enthusiasm shined through her body.

"Creamy, salted egg chicken," her mother added, much to Rhyme's salivating delight, that's wiped off by Discord out of disgust.

---

"Come to think of it, you've always been a slob, haven't you?" Discord intervened her daydreaming, "what would you have done without me?"

"Shush! I'm better now!"

"Sure, sure you are," sarcasm was filled to the brim in that statement.

---

She frequented the GRC with her mother on the weekends, where she would meet a grumpy young researcher in the public labs. She thought he was her father and asked if he was "Papa" once. Overhearing that, the researcher gagged, "Ugh... seriously? Oy, Rivetta, don't let your kid spout out nonsense like that!"

"Oh, there's no harm in a child's nonsense, lighten up, O Great Jacquel Martinez, soon-to-be husband of Thea the Academy's Belle~" she teased.

"Juvenile as always, Rivetta."

"Grumpy as always, Jackie-boy."

"Don't call me that!" he snapped.

"Why? Afraid Thea would catch wind of it?"

"I-" Jacquel realized he couldn't win an argument against this woman and it would be a waste of time and energy to prolong this farce. He grunted and focused back on his project.

"So Mama, this man not Papa?"

She gave her a smile so sad, yet so sweet, "No, dear, he's just a friend from my college days," she then struck a sly stare towards Jacquel, "one that is horribly lovesick~" she put emphasis on the adverb, making a caricature of herself and making Rhyme laugh out loud.

"Watch your mouth, Rivetta, you're going to teach your kid nasty things with that."

"Oh, but is it not true that good old Jackie-boy here has yet to confess to the apple of his eye, the love of his life, for how many years have it been? Two, three years?"

"I will one day, okay!" he snapped, face blushed, ears reddened, he looked just like a smooth tomato. This made both Rhyme and her mother laugh out loud.

He clicked his tongue in defeat, his hands went back half-heartedly tinkering away on his project, "So... what exactly are you here for?"

"Ah, the usual, aside from teasing Jackie-boy for old time's sake..." this brought forth an irate, evil stare that prompted Rhyme to hide behind her mother's knees, "...and for the usual, of course."

"Tsk... you're a real piece of work, woman."

"Are you flirting with me? I'm sorry but I'm not interested," Rhyme's mother cackled pretentiously, "Thea is going to be sad you gave up on her after only three years of staring at her back~"

"My project has been completed, in the right corner, that's the prototype, just hit the start button and you'll see what it does. Do it in an open area, no humans, it's dangerous."

"You know, most people would rest after completing their projects instead of immediately moving on to another."

"I'm not taking any chances. If you've got what you came for, get out."

"Pleasure doing business with you~"

Rhyme was led away by her mother. Discord wanted to observe the lab more, but couldn't seize control from Rhyme nor her mother. She would have to wait for the next visit, most likely two weeks from now. There might not be a prototype to be brought home then, though.

In such cases, her mother wouldn't be returning home, but to the GRC cafeteria, where she would invite over a very dignified lady with a distinguishable scent, to chat away with her while drinking tea together. Though the lady preferred herbal tea, while her mother preferred boba milk tea. Rhyme compromised with Discord's decision to get tomato juice, despite wanting soda.

They would talk the afternoon away, wherein Rhyme would've been fast asleep, and had to be snuggled away to her home.

---

"Those were happy times."

"Times where you could be lazy and get away with it, you mean," Discord was now cleaning up the dishes after a simple dinner.

"The news came like a storm, though," Rhyme recalled, "we were bawling our eyes out at her funeral, weren't we?"

"You mean you were," Discord scoffed, though she had to admit, "I merely sobbed."

Her mother had been her sunshine. The same statement could be said to both of them an neither would disagree to agree.

Through the blurry vision, she somehow remembered, though, one Jacquel Martinez seething, clenching his fists.

"Hey, kid," he said, in her memories, his voice cracked slightly, "you're still studying at college, yeah?"

Rhyme could only nod.

"Study well, kid... I'll pay for any expenses you have before you can stand on your own," he choked, coughed a little, before muttering under his breath, "...I have to take responsibility for you..."

Up until graduation, he had addressed her as "Kid," it was during the graduation ceremony that he whispered amidst the roaring crowds and jaunty cheers of joy, "You've grown up, kid... I should stop calling you that shouldn't I?" he paused, "I'm calling you Rivetta from now on."

Afterwards, he seemed less sad and burdened whenever he saw me. His trademark crabbiness still stuck with him through the years, though.

He was a stranger, but he treated her like family, after her mother's passing, he had been the closest thing she had to a parent. It then made her wonder, where was her biological father during all this?

---

Ryan Dale was wearing a state-of-the-art safety goggles, courtesy of the GRC. He had scrutinized microbes and microorganisms along with their reactions to different chemicals through a microscope, but his next experiment had to begin with the effects that the rare substance he had in his hands would have on a live creature. He wouldn't want to risk having his eyes or bare skin exposed to a dangerous chemical he knew practically nothing about. Just the label, just the name, but it was enough for him to purchase it for an arm and a leg to do this experiment. He dripped droplets of the substance using a pipette to the lab rat. Observing the changes it would make towards its body, which is not instant. He had to be patient. He had to make sure that he didn't spend a fortune for a dud. If he found out he did, he would be able to track down the man that sold him the substance, and, per the contract, proceed to take his life and his body for scientific use. A fresh corpse would do wonders for his experiments and his academic reports would beget phenomenal results, unlike any other students delving in commonplace experiments. "One way or the other, I win," he thought, as he waited, playing around with his microscopes while doing so. Imagining what would happen if this experiment were to succeed, or else, when that man's throat get choked by his hands, exhilarated him all the same. He couldn't help but chuckle, before laughing all on his own in the dark laboratory illuminated only by the luminescent vials and containment jars. He had discarded the label of the substance to keep authorities from apprehending him for possession of a rare substance meant to have been banned by the officials. He remembered by memory which vial held what substance. The rare substance was held in the third vial from the left of the fourth vial rack from the right, among an abundance of other chemicals and vials. He still couldn't believe he got his hands on the coveted, or rather, the feared, RA-19.

---

Jacquel started up again in the middle of the night. His paranoia didn't allow him a deep sleep. He looked over to his wife and daughter, tucked in and soundly sleeping. Thea noticed her husband's unrest, and asked him, "Can't sleep, dear?"

"... just gotta catch a bathroom break..." he went towards the bathroom as he said it, washed his face and looked towards the mirror projection. He had a grim look. Even though he had been filled with hope and joy just moments ago during dinner. Something didn't sit well with his guts. He headed to his lab from the bathroom instead of returning to his bedroom. He checked the upgraded radar to see yellow and green spots light up. He sighed in relief. He then shut down the radar to return to his wife's loving embrace. He would have to start getting busy and dirty with his hands starting tomorrow. His minds swam with multiple theories and technical formulae before he fell into unconsciousness. All for their sake. For the sake of his livelihood, and more importantly, for the sake of their lives.