"It's because I had made my presence disappear at the time. It is a little mage-craft we call Absolute Frost Requiem."
"Absolute Frost Requiem?" I ask as I tilt my head.
"Yes, it is a really special ability." He says proudly, "And it is not really unrelated to why I summoned you either."
That's … surprising. I can only urge him to speak further as I listen closely.
"I don't have very long to live." There is no grimness or sadness in his voice as he says so, "Therefore, I want someone to learn this technique from me, the technique known as Absolute Frost Requiem."
And … he wants ME to learn it?
"Yes, I do want to you to learn this ability." He says calmly after reading my thoughts.
I see. It's not the type of requests I had generally heard being made by people.
"Diamond Angel Roswaisa, for you, time-periods are irrelevant, aren't they?" he asks as he bows his head, taking me by surprise. But, I answer,
"Yes, they are. I can be summoned a million years in the past or a billion years in the future. They don't matter to Angels and Demons." I am a bit nervous as I say that.
"Hah!" he sighs and continues, "That is why I ask this of you. If you can learn this ability, then this one creation of mine that I am so proud of will become eternal."
While I wouldn't go so far as to call myself eternal as I can die too, I can kind of understand his wish and the motivations behind it.
"Therefore, my request for summoning you here is for you to learn my ability – Absolute Frost Requiem."
*****
"What do you think his reasoning for doing any of this could be?" Danny asks me with a serious face but it's not like I can think of anything to be honest.
"…" I don't have any answer to give and, "…" so is the case with him.
It is obviously really important for us to find out what reasons that doctor has for doing anything that he has done so far. But I don't know, how are we supposed to find out? We don't know where that guy is. We don't even have a hint as to where he might be. What are we to do here?
"Considering this time-period is 1856 of India, maybe this whole situation has something to do with the revolt that happens a year later." Danny says.
Well, it's not a bad guess but how? We still don't get any answers here.
"What are you proposing?" I ask dejectedly, "That we go to Meerut or something?"
Meerut is the place that revolt happened in. However, it is only a guess so far that the revolt has anything at all to do with the mess we are in. For all we know, it could be a coincidence that we were sent back to 1856. We shouldn't jump to conclusions.
"Nothing comes to mind, does it?" he asks dejectedly.
"No." I answer even more dejectedly, "not even any anime references."
Seriously, how long has it been since I made any references? I feel like my character is wearing off or something.
"Hey!" and then a voice calls to us. "What are you two doing?"
It's the voice of the younger brother.
"Just brainstorming." I answer.
"I … see. Don't know what that means but the doctor is calling for you."
Wait! What!?
I look at Danny and he seems to have shared my reaction. Justified, obviously!
"Where is he?" Danny asks in a rushed voice as he looks at the younger brother.
"Where he always is." He answers calmly and drearily and goes back into the clinic.
We immediately head-in too. But just as we enter, we see something quite awry and also, cliché. Everybody in the clinic looks like they have had their life drained out of them. They are staring at some void like they are zombies or something.
"Could this be his doing too?" I ask Danny.
"The younger brother, earlier, accidentally killed his elder brother." Danny says. And only when he says that, I realize how stupid that situation was. How can he ACCIDENTALLY kill his brother with his bare hands? There's just no way a human can hit so hard. As the logic in my mind resembles Danny's thinking, he continues,
"And that means that the doctor was doing something to cause that effect too, maybe a heightening of emotions or something." He continues in a contemplating voice, "Maybe what we are seeing right now is the after effect of it, an extremely low-point of emotions. Either that, or we are just seeing an ability that is the vice-versa of that ability."
Both are possible. And regardless of which one is the case here, we have to go to the doctor's chamber right now. So, we both do. We run and reach there within seconds and enter. And then,
"Welcome!" He says with open arms while getting up from his chair.
"What the heck is going on, you bastard!?" Danny asks in an angry voice and to say I don't have the same level of anger burning inside me would be a joke.
"Nothing really, I just wanted to tell you something." He says with a smirk, "I just wanted to tell you where Adonia Evans is at the moment."
"Uh!!!"
"What!!!"
We are both left unable to answer after hearing those words coming out of his mouth. He says he would tell us that, and so easily? But why?
"So, shall I?" As if to mock us, he asks us that.
While clicking my tongue and holding in my anger, I say, "Yeah, go on!"
We can't simply trust every word he says but hearing what he has to say is still better than knowing nothing like we are now.
"Okay then, the woman known as Adonia Evans is right now …" he looks at us mockingly and continues, "Aboard a train to Meerut."
We are left unable to respond because of the shock as he continues,
"If you want to find her, go there. And do hurry, as this game of cat and mouse is just now getting started."
*****