THE SKY was gloomy.
Niccolo looked down at his feet and realized it was slightly sunk in what appeared like sand. Turning his head to the right, a dark calm ocean came into view.
How strange. There weren't any colors present in this place. The sand, the sky, and the ocean were in shades of gray.
Then raindrops began to fall—wait, no. It appears that rain has been pouring all the time, but no sound can be heard, and it is only falling on the ocean, not on the sand.
For the first time in a while, Niccolo was bewildered by what was happening. He didn't use his ability, yet he was transported inside Mizuki's subconscious.
For what reason?
He looked around. Other than he was on a beach, there wasn't anything else that can be seen. The seaside look limitless. Just as expected to a subconscious. No dead end. Pure infinity, like the human mind.
Niccolo pondered for a moment.
His encounter with people's subconscious is never pleasant. There was no single peace and order, for humans rarely have nonconflicted emotions. But this subconscious is quite rare.
It embodies tranquility.
But it also cries in agony.
It makes him wonder what she's thinking on a daily basis to have this kind of subconscious. She seemed dissatisfied… with her existence.
"I haven't seen a human in ages."
Niccolo froze, then turned his head towards the voice.
Not far from him, near the shore, he saw a man lying, both hands behind his head as a pillow, his feet crossed at the ankles. He's facing the blank sky.
For some reason, he can't see the man's face. He's wearing an all-black outfit, no shoes.
Has he been here all the time? He didn't notice his presence at all. In common circumstances, the owner of the subconscious should be the one in here, but most of the time, it should have no one. Then who is this man?
Niccolo smiled. "I would say pardon my intrusion, but it was you who brought me here, aren't you?"
He didn't answer.
Niccolo may appear calm, but he detected danger in this man for no apparent reason.
The man sat up, looking over the wide ocean. "I brought you here for a reason."
"How come a mere object of a subconscious had an interest in me?" Niccolo asked, his voice tinged with perplexity and interest.
The man chuckled. "A mere object, huh? Is it what I am now?"
Niccolo didn't answer. He doesn't even know what 'he' is in the first place.
"So why did you ask for me?"
The man turned his head, and Niccolo was startled, eyes widening in response. This is unbelievable. The man has no face at all. Pure skin. It was as if Mizuki hadn't fully distinguished what the man's face would look like.
The man has no eyes, yet Niccolo can feel he was staring directly at him. It was kind of an uneasy feeling. The disturbance of his presence seeped through his skin.
The man spoke.
Niccolo heard what he was supposed to, and the voice grew weaker and weaker until it fades completely.
"—hey, you good?"
Niccolo blinked, his eyes gaining focus on Mizuki's hand waving in front of his face. "Sorry was I out for a second?"
"Minutes." Mizuki was looking at him weirdly. She brushed his hand away from her shoulder. "And don't follow me. I'm done with my business here." She was about to walk again when Niccolo spoke.
"How is a soul for an ability?"
She froze.
Mizuki's eyes widened and her pupil shook. On instinct, she jumped, away from Niccolo. Her face shows unusual panic. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't worry, I'm not going to harm you," Niccolo said the words carefully, afraid Mizuki might run away.
Instead of being calm, Mizuki's eyes grew sharper. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything," he calmly said. "It was him who put me inside your mind."
"What?" Mizuki's face was filled with disbelief and confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the soul, living inside your body."
It was as if the switch inside Mizuki had been flipped. Her hands dropped to her sides, her face paled as she stared at him.
He knew. Someone knew.
After five years of hiding, being lowkey, and minding her sole and only businesses, another person knew about the buried memory of her tragedy.
She looked down at her feet.
Is there hope to maintain her current, idle yet peaceful life, now that everything is a mess now, starting from the guy who accused her of being his wife's murderer?
Mizuki looked up, her face devoid of any expression. "What else do you know?"
"Not much." Niccolo looked directly into her eyes. "He didn't say anything other than that."
Mizuki was silent for a second.
A beat passed, and Niccolo casually opened the umbrella in front of his face.
Something clanged and fell on the ground.
As he looked down, he chuckled. A metal crap was on the ground. How did she throw that in his direction? He didn't even notice. It was so quic...
Niccolo swiftly lifted the umbrella and placed it on his back, just a second before Mizuki's foot landed on the strong fabric. Mizuki's foot trembled slightly and she backed away a few meters.
Her expression turned sour. "How is that umbrella freaking hard?"
Niccolo turned to her and smiled proudly. "Thanks, it is made by a talented weaponsmith."
Weaponsmith? She gave him a deadpan look before dashing forward.
Niccolo closed the umbrella and leaped away from her. He opened the umbrella in front of him and Mizuki's foot landed on the fabric again. The kick was so strong he was forced to take a step back. His eyebrows raised in amusement. I didn't expect she'll be this strong.
For the next few moments, Mizuki attacked, throwing punches and kicks his way, completely opposite of Niccolo, who wasn't even counterattacking but just defending and avoiding being hit, opening his umbrella from time to time and using it as a shield.
Mizuki slid backward to make a gap between them. She let out a frustrated sigh. "You sure are an annoying opponent."
Niccolo smiled. "I don't seem to see the purpose of this fight."
"I'm clearly showing you my strength so that you'll be scared and leave me alone."
Niccolo chuckled. "You're quite skilled at fighting. Who taught you?"
Mizuki didn't answer. She lunged forward, aiming her fist at Niccolo, and when Niccolo try to evade it, she ducked. She used her hands as a leverage to lift her body and wing her feet upward, aiming at Niccolo's chin.
Niccolo saw what she was about to do and he immediately stepped away, opening his umbrella in the process. "We'll just tire ourselves out at this case."
With a grit of teeth, Mizuki backed away, glaring at Niccolo. Damn it, he's fast. "Whose fault do you think that is?"
"I meant no harm, Mizuki. I didn't know it was a confidential matter." Niccolo looked serious. "I can tell you don't have that much knowledge about him either. I can help you."
Mizuki scoffed and whispered, "That's what they said to me too."
Niccolo's brows furrowed. "Who's them?" Mizuki didn't answer, so he spoke again. "You're rather a peculiar case, Mizuki. Do you know where the soul inside your mind came from?"
"I don't know anything about it other than he's a pain in the ass."
"Then come with me. I can help you."
"Shut up." Mizuki chuckled bitterly, then she sighed. "This is pointless." She turned her back to him, starting to walk away. "I'm so done with the likes of you."
"Do you not wish to know anything about it? At all?"
"For what? It's not like it's going to change the fact that it's in me."
Niccolo stared at her retreating back. "You want it gone?"
Mizuki halted.
Want? I desire it to be gone. Since the beginning. Before it happened. If this wasn't in her in the first place maybe… maybe…
She shut her eyes tight. Too late. I'm too late.
"Mizuki."
Nothing's gonna change. She can't do anything now.
Mizuki ignored that loathe for half a decade. She can ignore the chances of learning the truth about this damn soul too, just as she ignored that ache in her right leg. Mizuki knew where the pain came from. That sharp, burning pain she's been feeling since earlier.
It was as if the pain was telling her something. Something she doesn't remember, or maybe, doesn't want to.
After what happened, Mizuki just wants to live her life peacefully. No trouble, no crisis, totally no ability user shits. She's fucking done trying to know the reason, knowing what she needs to know about. It's not that she wants to be ignorant. But as the quote says, "ignorance is bliss".
"Mizuki." A gloved hand rested on her shoulder, making her snap back to reality.
"What…?" Mizuki looked up, Niccolo was smiling gently at her.
"Setting your ability aside, I still need you to come with me to state what you witness and experienced." His smile widened even more as if mocking her. "Since you're now part of the whole incident, it's your responsibility to help the Carcerem."
What the hell.
"THIS LOOKS more like a mental hospital than a prison."
Niccolo chuckled in front of her.
Mizuki doesn't know how this guy managed to persuade her to come with him to this huge rectangular white structured building called Carcerem. It's located near the coast, on the edge of Central City, away from the cityscape.
It was a busy scene in the lobby. Men and women dressed in grey military uniforms walked quickly, answering calls, doing paperwork. They seemed busier than that in an ordinary prison.
When Niccolo guided her to the second floor, it was the opposite scene.
It was a wide and long empty hallway on the second floor of the Carcerem. Bright lights on the ceiling, countless metal doors on the side, shiny white tiled floor.
"Welcome to the second floor of the Carcerem, Mizuki. The interrogation of the prisoners happens on this very floor. We judge whether the user is worthy of being imprisoned on the third floor, the second floor, or not at all."
"What's with the hierarchy?" Mizuki roamed her eyes around.
"We merely judge whether their abilities can bring too much danger, or if it's basic ability requiring basic imprisonment."
Mizuki didn't speak, so Niccolo continued.
"However, it wasn't the sole reason why we were dividing them. We also uphold the innocence of either suspect and the victim."
"What do you mean?"
"Mizuki, even if it involves ability users—the ones who have more capabilities than ordinary humans—injustice can also be served in this kind of world."
"So you brought me here because I'm a witness?"
Niccolo smiled. "Something like that."
He was about to say more when their eyes caught a group of officers not so far away. The officers were surrounding a person—must be an ability user that taken to be interrogated too.
Mizuki looked curiously at the man being surrounded. He was wearing a white jumpsuit, like that of a mental institution, and his hands were shackled, a chain connecting to his feet.
Some of the officers were blocking him but she was able to see the man's face. Skin tanned and full of scars, eyes cold-blooded and blank, and then his mouth.
It was kind of strange.
His lips had huge stitches on both sides as if someone had cut then sewed them. The man looked like he was smiling yet he wasn't. The wound was fully healed already, but it must've hurt while it was still fresh.
When they walked past each other, the man suddenly looked over at Mizuki, then he smiled at her. The stitches stretched, reaching his ears.
Mizuki felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Nonetheless, she kept her face emotionless.
Niccolo nodded and smiled at the officer leading the group, who returned the greeting with a salute. Just when they completely walked past each other did Mizuki say anything.
"Who was that?"
"He's called the Smilingman. An infamous serial killer in an isolated town in the West. He was captured this morning, "
Smilingman. What a name. So creative. Mizuki didn't ask anymore, and they continued to walk.
After a few minutes of walking for what seemed like forever, finally, they reached their designated location: the metal door at the end of the hallway.
Niccolo opened the door, and as she stepped inside that room, she can tell something changed. Her body feels light all of the sudden.
Mizuki first noticed the blinding lights on the ceiling, making the room too bright for her liking. A huge mirror wall was on the right. Mizuki's eyes lingered on her reflection in the mirror for a few moments, before her eyes shifted.
At the center of the room is a table and two chairs across each other, with one already occupied by someone.
It was the man who attacked them earlier.
Sat on the chair silently, he was looking down at his shackled wrists on the table.
"So you're going to interrogate him," Mizuki stated the obvious.
"Yes."
"You're not afraid he's going to attack you?"
Niccolo held an amused smile. "No need to worry. Carcerem has a very advanced technology system. It is the only prison in the country that has strong security measures made for ability users." He pointed his finger upward, "Those lights feature a nullifying mechanism that can nullify any ability within the space. It is very useful."
Mizuki can't hide her astonishment. There's actually something like that?
"I'll ask you to stay here while I talk to him," Niccolo said. He walked down towards the man. He hung the hook of his umbrella on the backrest of the chair before he sat.
Mizuki walked towards the end of the room, leaning on the wall while crossing her arms. She watched silently.
Niccolo knocked on the table. When the man looked up at him, Niccolo smiled. "Good evening, Mr. Andrei Constantino."
"What…" the "Andrei" answered with a weak voice. His eyes, now back to a normal one, drooped as if he was exhausted. "Who are you?"
"I'm Niccolo Heis. I need to ask you a few questions about the incident earlier. Would you mind?"
As if the memories of the earlier incident slapped the man awake, fear was shown in his widening eyes. "It wasn't me! It wasn't me! I swear it wasn't me!"
"Calm down, no one's going to hurt you here."
The gentle voice and Niccolo's kind face might have some kind of effect because the man really calmed down. "I-I… please… please believe me. It wasn't me."
"What have you remembered before you drove that car inside the cafe?"
Andrei shifted his eyes uncontrollably. "A voice. There was a voice. It's telling me to do something."
"Do you know whose voice is it?"
Andrei shook his head. "I-I don't remember it anymore. If I hear it maybe I will recognize it."
Niccolo nodded. "All right. Was that voice telling you to crash the car in the cafe?"
"Yes… and… kill that girl." Andrei looked over in Mizuki's direction, then looked away quickly.
Mizuki's brows raised, but she didn't say anything.
"Okay, then," Niccolo said, "Do you know who she is?"
He shook his head. "To be honest I don't. But I know she's the barista of that cafe my wife is always been into."
Mizuki's brow knitted.
"Your wife," Niccolo nodded, "How is she connected with your wife?"
"I-I don't… k-know," he stuttered, "it was all the voice. It told me I need to blame someone for my wife's death…"
"How did your wife die?"
"She…" Andrei gulped, tears threatening to fall in his eyes, "died because of a car accident. A jeep crashed into her after she brought coffee from that cafe…"
At the sound of revelation, Mizuki's eyes widened.