"For free? That's pretty nice of you, Zeus. What brings a guy like you here?" I asked him. He shrugged.
"I just like making people happy. It helps me be their leader when I see their smiles. Oh, it looks like the auction is starting! Sorry Potion Mortal, I have to go! You're welcome to come with me if you'd like!" Zeus said. I decided to follow right behind him, walking into a crowd of people with him.
Zeus stood in the back of the large theater, while Dex and Hex stood at the front with a large map. Zeus was probably in the back because he was so large. Regardless, I decided to stand right next to him.
"Everybody! Welcome to our auction! My name is Dex and this is my lovely wife Hex, and today, we will be selling properties to the less fortunate! Today, we will be starting with a property on the outskirts of town!" Dex began the auction and I sighed. I was getting tired, but I had to pay attention and see if I could find any clues.
Clad in some sort of armor that shook as she took steps, a girl stopped next to me and turned to look at me.
"What is this?" She asked me.
"It's an auction, he just said that," I told her. I apologized for my attitude and she waved it off, saying it was fine.
"Doesn't this seem fishy to you?" She asked me. I turned my head, knowing she was most likely a spy... probably for Dex. She wasn't on my side, that's for sure.
"It's just an auction, don't be so paranoid over it," I told her. She whispered into my ear.
"I wasn't talking about the auction, Anima."
I turned toward her in shock and she was completely gone. Huh?! Where the hell did she go?! Who was she?! She knew me, she knew my name... should I leave? Am I in danger? Am I putting everybody else in danger?!
I have to calm down. It could've been a coincidence. She had weird armor, so I definitely haven't seen her before, but I had also never seen her style before. It almost looked as if she was dressed in samurai armor... was she one of those? I didn't see a sword on her hip, and she looked rather laid back. What an interesting character.
"Sold! Now, as for the next property, we have one right over in this portion of town." He said. Chills shot up my back and I straightened myself, turning my head to my right again where the girl was standing.
Through my peripheral vision, I could see she was close to me now. Her nose was practically touching the side of my head. I didn't react, I just let her look at me and froze in place.
After about thirty seconds, she vanished again. I waited thirty seconds while Dex was talking and turned back to see absolutely nothing. What the hell was that?!
Was it a ghost? Why didn't Zeus react?!
I decided to move to the opposite side of Zeus and calmed myself down, just watching Dex announce who won each auction of a property.
Zeus finally started to participate and even gave away some property for free, just as he said he would. The girl didn't return after a long while, so I figured she was gone for now. Regardless, that was the weirdest thing to happen to me so far.
Hex stepped up to the microphone, which I was surprised to see them using in the first place, and started to advertise more properties. I was just watching the stage, but I hadn't noticed Ruby, Soul, and Ken were completely missing from the audience. I could understand Ruby and Ken, but Soul wasn't here? Really? I found that hard to believe.
I looked out the door past Zeus and checked for people standing outside of the auction house. But, that was where I missed it. Nobody was here. At all. It was completely empty outside of the auction house.
That bad feeling spiked again and as the door shut, I wasn't afraid of talking out loud and seeming insane.
"You. Who are you? Why do you know my name?" I looked up to the second floor and the girl appeared again, leaning against the railing. I don't think she seemed to know that her shirt wasn't... secure, on her chest.
"I've been curious about you. So, I went to your nation to check you out. Seems that you're living a leisure life while people are dying all over." She said.
"Don't make me feel guilty about what I can't control. What about you? Who are you?" I asked her.
"My friends call me Ama, I guess that's what you can consider us as right now." She explained. She and I? Friends?
"I appreciate knowing I don't have any more enemies than I should, but I'm still confused about this. Why are you here? Why were you spying on me?" I asked her. She smiled again and pulled out a sucker from her back pocket.
She put it in her mouth and smashed it with her teeth, then spit something on the ground in front of me. It was a weird magic parchment sheet that floated upward in front of me. I couldn't read what was on it... but it definitely was a different language on Earth I've seen before. I think...
"[Illusion] is a high ranking spell only the Patriarchs can use, and it disguises your surroundings as you see fit and you can walk around however and wherever you want with no repercussions. You could live in your own world... but the only people who can counter that skill are the Heroes. You were able to see through it, so you're a Hero, which means you are my natural enemy." She stated.
This girl was a Patriarch?! Holy shit... I need to leave...
"But that's the thing. You can't leave, and you're lucky that I've allowed you to stay alive for this long. I'm not here to kill you, Anima, I'm here to learn more about you." Ama told me. She stepped down from the second floor onto invisible stairs but faded away halfway down to the first floor. She suddenly appeared from behind me.
"That's what I mean... you can deter my skill It's not an issue really, but there's something I've been dying to ask you." She told me.
"Were you reincarnated here, like I was?" She asked me.