"Arto!" a white-haired little girl with round blue eyes was waving her hand at Arthur with a bright smile on her face.
The scene changed, and in front of Arthur was a black-haired little boy. His face was colored with fury and he seemed to be ready to attack Arthur at anytime. "Arto — it's your fault! You — you killed her!"
*******************
"GKK — HAA — HAA —!" with great difficulty, Arthur managed to stop himself from throwing up in front of Walter. Both Chao Xiang and Zhi looked at him with shock, confusion and slight concern. "— forgive — me, sir —" Arthur uttered in difficulty. His face became paler as he spoke each words.
Walter's face obviously looked like someone who felt guilty. He opened his mouth and spoke in a very apologetic manner, "That — sorry, kid. I didn't think you — I mean — I didn't expect your reaction would be so severe — I'm sorry, kid."
Arthur smiled slightly, trying to reassure the apologetic old man in front of him as colors gradually returned to his face. "— don't mind me — sir — just — a personal condition of mine." He answered, trying to keep his words as vague as possible.
"I see," Walter nodded with a small smile, although his gaze were still judging Arthur — still, those eyes were now a little gentler than before. "Well, I won't pry into your privacy — that's right, I heard that you were adopted by the Rolyn's. Do you have a good relationship with them? Do they treat you well?"
"Thank you for your concern, sir," Arthur answered him with a polite smile as he took a deep breath, finally managed to calm himself. "They are too kind to me, honestly."
Walter smiled before patting Arthur's shoulder, "Is that so? Good, then. That reminds me — kid, how about you help me investigate this ship? From what I see, you're quite observant and meticulous. Additionally, this ship is too big for me to investigate alone. So, lend me a hand, will you?"
"Eh, is that really alright?" Arthur was surprised. He thought that as someone who knew his dark past, Walter would have some prejudices on him. He was already prepared to receive any kind of insults and reproaches, and Arthur was flabbergasted by Walter's offer.
"Why not?" Walter asked him in confusion. "Two heads are obviously better than one. And I've heard of your accomplishments from my colleagues too. Honestly, I can't even compare the current you with that little boy from 4 years ago."
Arthur's eyes widened before he let out a small chuckle. "Then, I'll do my best to cooperate with you, Mr Walter," he shook Walter's hand before turning to Chao Xiang and Zhi. "That's it, then. I'll be investigating this ship with Mr Walter. Zhi, why don't you stay here if you're still scared?"
"You're not going to ask me if I'm scared or not?" Chao Xiang asked, tilting his head in a cute manner. It was obvious that he was trying to look like a normal 8 year old kid.
Arthur glared at the little boy before grabbing the back of his collar, dragging Chao Xiang with him as he walked away from the other two. He suddenly paused, turning to face Walter before speaking with a seemed to made up cheery tone, "Then, Mr Walter, I'll try to see if there's anywhere we can enter other than the restaurant. Zhi, go play with the others first, okay? We'll be back in 3 hours at most."
Then, Arthur dragged Chao Xiang with him again as he exited the casino. In truth, all of Arthur's strength was almost spent trying to drag the kid with him as Chao Xiang kept struggling to get away at first. But after they arrived at the outside hallway, the kid suddenly stopped rebelling and looked at Arthur with scornful gaze.
"You obviously don't need my help," Chao Xiang scoffed.
Arthur only smiled mockingly. "Do I? Aren't you the one who say that I can use you to my heart's content?"
"Damn it!"
Chao Xiang cursed. The little boy looked frustrated but at the same time he seemed to realize that it was better to resign himself to his fate. "Fine! Alright! This young master will help you! Satisfied now, you annoying four-eyes?"
Arthur ignored the kid. He passed the opened restaurant's door without glancing inside even a second. He didn't want to engrave another terrifying image of that scene into his memory again. His feet stopped in front of one of the two locked doors left in that hallway.
"The mini-theatre, huh?" Chao Xiang mumbled behind Arthur's back. He pulled out his penknife and proceed to take off the donor's hinge.
'How in the world do this kid manage to use the knife so skillfully??' Arthur thought, staring at the kid who seemed to be getting stranger as each minute passed. 'Wait, wasn't he acting strange when Sandra mentioned the Lu's before?'
"What?" Chao Xiang asked in annoyance when he felt Arthur's stare. "Don't ask how I do it. And in the first place, I don't have any obligations to explain anything to you."
Arthur didn't answer. His gaze wandered from Chao Xiang's jet black hair to the bright red lenses that hid a pair of patterned crimson eyes. Months ago, when he was looking for his thesis' materials, he happened to read a certain book about the royal family that reigned over ChenLu before the rebellion of military faction which changed the previous monarchy into the current military republic. It was described inside the book that their 'talents' were centered around the use of eyes, which were the largest contributor of their golden era.
To know what kind of 'talent' each person had, it was said that the easiest way was to analyze the pattern engraved on their eyes in replacement of their pupils. Each person's pattern was different according to what 'talent' they was borne with. Their 'talent''s rank could also be determined by the intensity of their red eyes. The one with the thickest bloodline had darker red eyes. The same went for their hair color. It was written in the book that most direct descendants of that royal family were born with jet black hair. That royal family's surname was Lu.
Jet black hair and dark crimson eyes engraved with a strange pattern — it was already obvious.
Arthur sighed. He knew that Sandra must already reached this conclusion, but she abide to the fact that she was on vacation and chose to ignore it no matter how much she wanted to expose the kid.
"Say, kid," Arthur finally spoke, sighing once more. "Do you want to advertise yourself to your enemies?"
The knife's movement stopped for a second before Chao Xiang resumed taking off the door's lower hinge. "What the hell are you talking about, you four-eyes?" he spatted in annoyance.
Arthur stared at the little boy who was only a little shorter than him in height. He thought for a while before speaking out, his hands were inside his coat as he leaned on the wall beside the door.
"'Lu' Chao Xiang."
Chao Xiang's hands stopped again. Although he didn't turn his face towards Arthur, the boy could feel a terrifying murderous intent leaking out from the kid who was 6 years younger than him. Arthur swallowed hard, trying his best to keep standing with a collected face. After a short while, the killing intent disappeared. Chao Xiang threw the door's lower hinge he had just took off behind his back, it landed on the floor far away from them. Then, he turned to Arthur, smiling brightly like an innocent child without any hint of guilt, "So ~ sorry, glasses~. It's some kind of reflex. Don't be mad, 'kay~?"
Arthur breathed deeply in relief, holding the urge to hit the little boy on his head. He always had the belief that violence was uncivilised and very unbecoming of a scholar.
"Reflex? I thought it wasn't a reflex when Sandra mentioned this matter earlier in the restaurant," Arthur said sarcastically.
"Ehhh~? You saw that? Well, can't be helped. I was already wary since the moment she volunteered to follow us to the restaurant. Only few kinds of people will take action in this kind of environment — and my instinct was right, she was the most dangerous variable for me right now."
"So, you're indirectly admitting that you're a 'Lu', huh?" Arthur muttered. "Considering the fact that you are alone in this ship, adding with the recent massacre of the Lu's illegitimate descendants, I'm assuming you're one of those illegitimate children."
"Uh-huh," Chao Xiang answered without care as he seemed to be focused on inspecting the door with his hand. "I'm one of the former clan head's illegitimate children — pine wood?? Are you kidding me??" he gaped, knocking twice on the door to confirm it again. "What the hell —? Is this really a first-class ship? It's practically inviting any criminals to break the door!"
"Wha —?" before Arthur managed to finish his words, he immediately stepped away in hurry, averting his face as to not look at the thing Chao Xiang took out from his coat's inner pocket. Arthur managed to hold himself from throwing up or fainting as he spoke out a few words in broken sentences. "You —! For Luna's sake — that thing —!"
"Ah! Do you hate guns, glasses?" Chao Xiang suddenly realized. "Sorry. Bear with it for a second, 'kay? It won't be long."
Arthur quickly covered up his ears at the sound of metals colliding was heard. Chao Xiang shot the door's upper hinge with a very accurate precision. The hinge flew away from the bullet's coil and landed behind Arthur's.
"Alright, it's settled now," Chao Xiang muttered as he put back the gun into his inner pocket before kicking the door hard. The wooden board fell down, and the view of the dark mini-theatre came to their sight. "Are you okay, glasses?"
Arthur tried to calm himself again with great difficulty. He would absolutely 'never' lose consciousness in this kind of situation! After taking a few deep breaths he finally managed to compose himself. It was good that the hinge fell behind him, so he didn't need to see any bullet mark — or else he would have a harder time collecting himself.
"It's great if you're fine," Chao Xiang said apologetically. "Sorry, it's the only way I can think to open the door swiftly — I mean — I also think that maybe you could let me stand on your shoulders while I take off the door hinge, but —" he paused, scrutinizing Arthur's appearance up and down, "— forget it, let's go."
Arthur twitched. Did this kid almost call him weak?? In anger, he stomped to the mini-theatre while ignoring Chao Xiang's constant calls. But to his surprise, a movie was now playing in the mini-theatre. And in the middle of the very front row, sat someone.
"Hm? Is that someone there?" Chao Xiang's eyes widened. He quickened his steps and approach the person who was watching the movie. "Hey! You're that Mr Bartender!"
The light from the screen hit the man's face, revealing his figure. He had dark purple hair and a pair of dark green eyes. Although he was sitting, Arthur could see that the man was quite tall, about 6 feet — well, not as tall as Gilbert Gulchin.
"Kids —?" the man muttered before his eyes widened as if realizing something. He quickly stood up and went behind the screen. Right as the movie moved onto the act unsuitable for children below 18, the scene suddenly changed into a cartoon with talking animals as its characters.
"Ehhh~? No fun — I want to watch it —" Chao Xiang sulked as he saw the movie changed into the popular cartoon.
Arthur flinched before hitting the kid on his head, growling, "You brat — there's nothing to watch aside from human's way of reproduction. It's no difference from animal copulation."
"Whoa! That's quite a twisted view, kid," said the man as he appeared again from behind the screen. "Not what you should say as a 10 year old, though."
"I'm 14!" Arthur gritted his teeth as he glared furiously at the man. His height was always his sore spot. Anyone could rile him up easily if that topic was brought out.
"Really?" the man looked at Arthur doubtfully. "Well, does it matter? You're still underage anyway. Oh, I'm Fabio. Nice to meet ya."
"I'm Chao Xiang! And the glasses here's Arthur," Chao Xiang said brightly.
Arthur twitched again at Chao Xiang's words. It seemed that the kid had gotten used to call him 'glasses'. Although he couldn't object, as he himself didn't call Chao Xiang with his name except for that one time.
"Hello," Arthur said simply before glancing around the dark mini-theatre. It seemed that Fabio was the only person in this place. "Before we entered, the door was locked. So, how did you get inside?" he asked while eyeing Fabio suspiciously.
"There's the staff door," Fabio replied with a smile, unbothered with Arthur's suspicious glare. "Do you want to watch the cartoon?"
Chao Xiang was about to nod brightly when Arthur suddenly interrupted him. "Who the hell can watch cartoon peacefully inside a ship full of corpses?? And you," he scowled at Chao Xiang. "Do you forget what you come here for?"
The little boy pouted childishly. He seemed to want to watch the cartoon very much, but surprisingly, he surrendered easily. "Finee," he sulked. "So? Are we going back? As you can see, there's nothing in this place."
"I think so," Arthur sighed. "I actually wanted to explore outside this entertainment venue, but I think it's better to ask Mr Walter first. Let's return to the casino for now."
The three then exited the mini-theatre. On the way back to the casino, Arthur suddenly pulled Chao Xiang by the collar.
"Wha —? Hey, glasses!! What the hell are you doing??"
"You know," Arthur said in annoyance, dragging the kid to the side. "You're really impudent to someone who's 6 years older than you."
"So? Do you want me to start calling you 'Mr Rolyn'?" Chao Xiang asked in a mocking tone.
A feeling of disgust crept on Arthur. "Forget it," he sighed before his expression turned serious. "Tell me truth. How did you sneak that — that — that thing onboard?"
It seemed that even saying the word 'gun' was very hard for the current Arthur. Well, it wasn't surprising, considering that his trauma was triggered twice in the span of three hours.
"Hm? You mean the gun?" Chao Xiang seemed puzzled. "I bribed the staff, obviously. How else?" He added with a hint of pride in his tone.
"As expected," Arthur snorted while releasing his hold on Chao Xiang. "You go back first, I'm going to the bathroom."
"Do you even know where the bathroom is?"
"It's that small door, right?" Arthur said, pointing at the opened door at the end of hallway. "Seems like someone went there before. If you see Mr Walter at the casino, tell him I'll be back soon."
Grumbling, Chao Xiang nodded. They separated ways. As Arthur entered the bathroom, he was shocked upon finding the person he didn't expect to see the most inside.
"Ms Kleinn?"
Sandra turned to Arthur when she heard her name called. She seemed to be fixing her make-up. "Oh, it's you, Rolyn. Perfect timing. I was about to look for you."
"Me?" Arthur asked in confusion. "Is there anything I can help you with, Ms Kleinn?"
She smiled brightly. Arthur suddenly felt a very ominous feeling. His instinct told him that he should get out from that place, away from Sandra. But before Arthur managed to escape, she grabbed his hand tightly, as if preventing him from getting away. Her expression now looked like as if she had found a treasure trove, and Arthur knew that whatever she was going to say, he would hate it.
"Now then, Rolyn, how about you tell me," Sandra started speaking. "The case 4 years ago. What did you feel when you accidentally kill your friend in self-defence? Sadness? Anguish? Anger? Or — relief?"
Arthur was frozen. The loosened seal was finally broken, releasing the memories he had been running away from for long. His mind was in turmoil as he snapped his hand away from Sandra's grip. Arthur staggered. His small figure crashed onto the wall as the unwanted memories kept flooding into his brain. He finally remembered everything — the source of his trauma — the point of his anxiety and uneasiness.
His vision was blurred, but he managed to hold himself from fainting or throwing up in front of Sandra. The voices he was very familiar with kept ringing inside Arthur's ears. The boy knew, he understood that it was his fault — everything that happened back then was his fault. He was the source of tragedy. If only they never knew him —