"Welcome to the village of Messiahs," greeted the two identical men in yellow robes, "Where death is our daily life." they smiled.
Prim and Vin were left speechless, their faces filled with confusion as they stared at these two suspicious men. The two were dressed similarly only with different shades of yellow and their red hair up, on a man bun. The guy on left had a darker warm color while the one on the right had a paler hue. Prim's eyes locked on the strikingly detailed clothing these two have. She immediately recognized their clothes were of a familiar design as to how she and Vin's clothes were back in the portfolio. She intuitively pulled Vin closer pulling his sleeve.
"Are they our mentors...?" she whispered.
Vin quickly studied their features comparing them to the details that the commander had told him.
"No...we're supposed to meet a man in his early 30s. They look our age," Vin replied.
Prim was about to confront them when Vin pulled her back, "Careful, they might be Guihuns."
"A what?" she rumbled.
"Guihun!" he irritatingly said.
"What the hell is that?"
"It's Chinese for ghosts."
"Oh for the love of..." she rolled her eyes, "You should've just said that in the first place!"
"We should at least try to be exclusive of our language, you know."
Prim's face turned sour, "Alright, I've had it.." she puts down her trunk and walked towards the two unrecognized faces.
"Hey, Flower!" he yelled.
She ignored Vin.
"Pardon my rudeness," she tried smiling, "Yeah hi, but we're new here so we're not really familiar with who lives here so—"
"Exceptionally brave," the one at the left said, "Indeed brother. I do not sense any fear from this girl." replied the one on the right.
"Boy, you guys are tall.." she said realizing she was looking up from where she stood. She immediately shook her head remembering the main task, "Anyway, can you please quit it with the synchronized dialogue...uhhmm? Names? Please?" said Prim in a tone of kindness but with a face who was starting to get impatient.
"Rem," prompted the one in the left, "Josh," grinned the one on the right. "We are twins!" they both cheered in unison.
Their enthusiasm made Prim feel uncomfortable. She awkwardly smiled trying to catch their drift, "Brilliant!" she said, "Then I assume you two are part of the Messiahs."
"Yes!" they said in sync, freaking Prim out.
"Great...so.." she gathered herself, "Can you help us find our mentor?" glancing at Vin for details.
"Right!" Vin quickly puts down his bags and rushed to her side, "We're looking for a man named Sigmund Rola."
"They're looking for Siggy, Josh!" cheered Rem.
"Siggy must be thrilled to have visitors." smiled Josh.
Rem and Josh stared at each other then back at Prim and Vin who were both waiting for answers.
"Well?" Prim asked at the two who were creepily staring at each other.
Rem and Josh grinned at each other, "Yes, we know of a Sigmund Rola."
"Great," Prim clapped, "Can you take us to him?"
"We can," Josh responded.
Prim grinned in relief.
"But we will not," smiled Rem.
"What?" Prim felt a surge of frustration well up, "What do you mean you will not?" she said gritting in anger. "Ugh, know what? I'll do it myself." she walks right at them. But just before she could completely go on the premises, the bright sunny sky suddenly became dark like it was about to rain. Vin felt an enormously large spiritual energy from the tombs and everything began to be covered in mist.
"Flower! Stop! Something's wrong!" he yelled from where he was standing.
Prim turned around with a stern look, "What now Chang?" but before she could complain further, she realized what all the fuss was about. She looked up and realized how the sky had turn grey and the cemetery had turned into a sea of mist.
"Let's play a little game," said Rem facing Prim. "Yes, let's play hide-and-seek," added Josh.
"Wha—are you two doing this?" she yelled, unamused.
"The rules are simple," Josh said glancing at his brother, "You find us and we'll let you out." Rem finished. The mist grew larger reaching up to their knees. Rem and Josh evaporated leaving Vin and Prim staring at each other exasperated by how things have become.
"I told you they were Guihuns!!!" Vin went on hurriedly treading on to the mist which has done nothing. "Even our bags are gone! My brushes!"
"Oh will you shut it!" she shrieked at the boy who was glaring at her, "Get a hold of your self. We have to get out of this stupid mist," she said, "You're the genius here. Any ideas?"
Vin grunted, "They're testing us."
"Wow, finally catching up?"
"This is no time for us to be fighting, Flower. We have to think together," he said looking her straight in the eye.
"Well, at the very least we know they're Messiahs, but not quite sure which of the two is the whisperer and which is the exorcist," she said, pessimistic of their case.
With what Prim said, Vin remembered something he observed with Rem and Josh the instance they revealed themselves earlier, "Something's off between those two." he said, "I was sure I sensed a wandering spirit earlier the moment those two came up."
"Maybe it came from the cemetery?" she remarked innocently.
"No, that's impossible. DoReMi owns the whole six yards of land here and is perfectly snared with enchantments on each tomb to avoid the spirits into becoming wandering souls, eating off people's malice and becoming a vengeful spirit."
The mist thickens which made Prim jolt, "Exactly who are these buried here anyway? Is it so much of a risk that the souls of the dead might turn into vengeful spirits?"
"Well, if you spent your life hunting down spirits without a choice to live normally, it would definitely be possible don't you think?"
Just with those words, she understood what lies within the grounds they stood. This was not merely a cemetery. This was a graveyard for all those who worked for DoReMi. Whisperers and Exorcists combined.
The sheer thought of it gave her chills, "From when?" she stuttered.
"Generation? I'd say from the day the organization was formed."
She lifts her head remembering all those tombs she passed by earlier going to the village. Prim felt her heart being crushed. Seeing all those graves made her realize, she was no different from them. That soon she'll be dead too. All this time she was thinking of herself that she was the only freak, not even considering the number of times those who came before her must have felt the same way but decided to stand up and contribute their abnormal—special ability into making the lives of those without the gift, be in peace.
Feeling responsible for her self-centeredness, Prim slowly reaches up to her headphones, holding both sides covering her ears.
Vin realized what she was doing, "Flower! What are you doing?" he yelled at the shaken Prim.
She looked at him, pain in her eyes, "You want us to get out of this mess right? Then I'll have to remove this thing."
"What difference does it make? We're up against two Messiahs—" he exclaimed.
"You said you felt a wandering soul," she replied promptly.
Vin nodded.
Prim smiled, her eyes were fired up, "I have a theory where it's coming from," she then glanced at Vin, the boy clueless of what she's been spouting, "But to be able to confirm my theory, I'll have to take this thing off." she said pointing at the receivers on her ears. "However, once this is off, I'll have a full range of my hearing, which might trigger that abnormality in wavelength Olivia and you talked about."
"So, you need me to monitor your wavelength while you go all out. Go it." he said popping his knuckles.
She wasn't sure Vin was going to agree with her plan, but she's glad he approved of her reckless idea. Prim grinned at him and immediately closed her eyes as she slipped off her headphones. Even with just a few seconds out of her limiter, Prim's hearing enhanced by 150%. There was a sharp screech at first ringing on her right ear, but she knew it's natural given the fact they are in a cemetery. Anything could be there.
"You okay? You winced," said Vin who had worry plastered all over his face.
"I'm fine. It's been a long time since I had them off so my ears adjusted abruptly," she responded holding her right ear, "For now, focus on my wavelength."
On her command, Vin ran behind her with his back against hers. He closed his eyes focusing his spirit combining to hers.
"Since we don't have the upgraded transmission devices yet, we'll have to make do with what we have now," he mumbled.
Prim scoffed confidently, "Roger that."
"Resonance!" he yelled and a pulse of energy suddenly came bouncing off them both. Vin's soul slipped into Prim's spiritual barrier immediately taking the form of her pulsating life force and harmonizing with her waves. "Spirit infiltration complete."
"We just have to locate where they're hiding right?" she inquired.
"Yeah. But that will be extremely difficult especially when they're using their own mana to mark off their territory. Can you hear them though?"
"Negative. After you've resonated with me, it suddenly became quiet."
"They're probably in resonance too. But that's odd, resonating with your partner means both your soul will combine creating bigger energy that is harder to mask. I doubt even a Messiah could pull that off. That'll just make you the bigger target." he explains.
"Unless.." her eyes gleamed as an idea came to mind. She lifted her wrists just above her waist as if preparing to play something. Vin felt a sudden rise of waves from his partner's soul.
"What are you doing? You're suddenly becoming unbearable," he said as he felt tremors within their resonance.
"If they won't let us find them, then we'll just let them come to us."
Prim started to move her fingers swiftly with her imaginary piano in front of her. The melody was in her head but only she could hear it. As soon as the intro had finished, she started singing the melody, which surprised Vin since it was his first time hearing her sing. Her voice was sweet but it echoed all over. What astonished him the most was that with every note she sung, he could hear the piano accompanying her voice. It was impossible and yet she made it possible. Vin was tempted to turn around and just listen to her. Her sweet song was simply tempting like viagra to the ears. And that's when he realized, this was her power. Because her hearing was especially extraordinary, it amplifies every melody that comes to her, all the more when it comes out from her. Ordinary humans will feel a tingling sensation when they hear it, but for those of the spiritual realm, this is equivalent to being drunk.
Vin noticed the mist down their legs started evaporating. He glances at the cemetery and it did start to get thin. From feeling no sense of spiritual energy, a hint of the wandering spirit had resurfaced.
"It's working," he thought to himself.
Prim had almost reached the chorus of her song and the sky had slowly begun to reveal rays of the sun showering them like beams. She could feel it, it was there. She sang louder and played harder emitting higher levels of energy from inside her. Vin began worrying about her condition. Her waves have gone beyond the levels of normal and are currently rising by the second. At this rate, her body will pay the price. He tried to suppress her by overlapping his waves with hers, but it wasn't enough, this is their first time resonating and it's too rough. Their connection is too weak and it's taking a toll on their bodies.
"Flower! You're getting out of control!" he yelled.
Prim suddenly felt light-headed, "Not yet," she thought, pushing herself more despite the warning of her partner.
"Primrose!" Vin exclaimed trying to push her soul down with his.
She wasn't listening. Her hands moved faster banging the keys with all her might. It worked, the mist had completely disappeared. All that's left was to make the twins come out. The presence had become stronger and clearer now. They're almost there, but Prim's legs had started to shake.
"More." she thought.
dong
"More..." she sung harder.
dong
"LOUDER!"
DONG
Her whole body pulsated, writhing in pain and her song was cut.
A loud gong filled the air, stopping her melody clearing the air and bringing them all back to where they were earlier. The mist was gone, the sky was bright again, the cemetery was right behind them, and they made it out.
"We're back," Vin glancing around in relief. He saw Rem on the ground, collapsed, but there were no signs of Josh. His clothes seemed to have changed too. From being plainly yellow, pale strikes added to the pattern. But that wasn't his top concern. A man in a white striped robe caught his attention, standing right above the fallen Rem's head. He had round glasses with a sharp chin, holding a gong on his left and the baton used to strike on his right. Then he realized glancing up at the man's golden hair glistening under the sunlight.
Vin gasped stifling his excitement, "You are.." but before he could finish his sentence, Prim had fallen to the ground knees first. She caught her body with her hand on the ground grasping the fact that her body felt ten tons heavier than she felt earlier.
Vin rushed to her side seeing a pale struck Prim panting for air, "Flower!" he yelled.
She chuckled, "I'm okay, just a little light-headed."
"A little?! Do you realize what you just did?!" he said pulling both her cheeks.
She moaned, "Em thowwy.." she mumbled trying to get the words out.
Vin was enraged.
Prim just giggled realizing how her partner must have been in shock. Prim had done that before back when she was trying to get Jona to come with her. It was a simple trick she thought of, utilizing her ability into an amplifier that eases spirits. But this time, she knew she went overboard that even she herself didn't know she could take her abilities that far. She only imagined turning herself into a bigger amplifier to pull out the twins from their hiding but ended up expending her energy too much.
"It would be better if you put her limiter back on," the man suggested, "Her spiritual energy is leaking out."
Vin immediately heeded his advice and quickly slipped her headphones on. Prim started to breathe more naturally but her face was white as a sheet.
"Now," he said picking up Rem, carrying him on his shoulder, "Let's get these two fixed up shall we?" winked the blonde man.