"So you've noticed…" Varik sneered as we each focused our attention on him.
He was happier than before; it was like his whole emotion had changed, following the same words that came out from Renji's mouth earlier. 'Which emotion is this?!' I guess that can only mean one thing…
"That's right!" He screamed, then paused.
Bang!
Varik slammed his hands against the fence, staring inwardly towards Renji. "You've noticed it haven't you! My LAW!"
I took a step forward, prepared to face the same man I could've sworn took us here using his Koru, one that I've never seen since coming here.
"Hey, guy," Renji calmly whispered, eyes screened on Varik, "This man, he's one of Aereanthia's most powerful awakens, a top S rank, Atlas Reed. I knew something sounded fishy; that was never a contract."
"What was it then?" Emilia whispered out loud, curling her hair.
Renji's serious face turned into a grin, locked onto the fence. "That order." He paused, backing away slightly, "That wasn't a Koru. But Laws don't work the same way contracts do. So it could've been anything, honestly, anything. Once he murmured that contract obligation, even so, it's possible he can obtain that many laws with his demonic pet, contract users are capable of sensing their spiritual pressure amongst each other through Amora."
Renji breathed calmly, "It's not like I wasn't already suspicious, but it was the fact that he knew what I'm capable of. And how, how would he know? Mind telling us? Mister awakened!" He ended with a scream, his face a mix of curiosity, intrigue, and seriousness.
"Hahaha!" The man whom Renji declared as Atlas Reed chuckled with excitement, "It's simple. Just one of my hunches."
Skreet!
The gate slowly began to open as the man started walking back into the shadows.
"Well, now I'll be off."
Step. Step. Step.
"You guys will be able to rejoin everyone else in the center, for now."
Atlas calmly said, each part of him now vanished into the shadows…
"For now, each of you is nothing but pests to the feast on war day."
Rude, isn't it? But I can't hope to agree with him, I haven't made much progress, even as I am now, I wouldn't be able to take on the Orca and Gator, even with the help of each secret technique, with their speed, would I win?
"Wait!"
Renji yelled as particles, white and yellow, began vanishing, each held a beautiful light weight of flowers.
Kank!
The gate fully opened, so each of us began walking in.
"Don't bother listening to him," I said, calmly, "But what's his Law?"
As the darkness grew in the hall, the light in front widened as each step closed the gap between us and the exit.
"His Law, you say," Renji replied. Emilia looked more curious than even I, "He can summon three versions of himself. One that encompasses boredom, another that distributes happiness like the one we just saw, and the one nobody's ever seen in action before…"
Renji paused if the thought of Atlas' third emotion being unsightly to the mind.
"Fear. Fear that covers the entire face of the planet." Renji finished, as we each made our way out into the main area. The entrance that separated a colosseum, a Royal Academy, and many small buildings with red roofs was just up above.
It was layered in steps, as it was on top of a mountain, so it's reasonable.
Step. Step. Step.
With each step we took, the noise grew louder from above, whispers, murmurs, excitement, giggles, everything.
Stiff.
We finally reached the top, the sun was still supremely glowing from above, from the center, just as I explained earlier, had the huge pole in the middle, that's where so many Cleaners stood, prepared to be assigned something.
"Just in the middle over there, let's go!" Emilia elegantly yelled as she excitedly went into the center.
Some loudmouths entered.
"When will we be assigned something! Idiots take us here, then expect us to know it all-"
"Calm yourselves," a person holding a megaphone cut him short, but it seemed like a yell from the pure strength of the tool.
He was dressed in a complete black suit, with a calm, low taper fade, and a megaphone covering his face card.
"Calm for what?! You guys are making us wait for what?!"
Jeez, I guess someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Me I can't complain. Sleep was just fine, except for Renji's snorting. How annoying that was.
"Be calm." He calmly spoke into the megaphone. "Nice to meet you, Cleaners. I will be assigning your class, room number, ticket badge, and status reports. I'm Clad Morice, you can just call me Heyo mister C!"
He stopped, expecting a reaction if I were to guess. What an airball, even I'm feeling second-hand embarrassment.
"That's not all…" He gazed downwards, megaphone airing the entire crowd of hundreds of Cleaners. "I'll also be the one to contact your Amis."
Panic in the crowd erupted. I knew I had heard that word from somewhere, but I couldn't remember.
"I'm not sure if the king has already explained, but an Amis is simply a weapon that you can contract through the power of Amora. Since you yourself cannot access Amora, you'll be in a contract to something that can."
The crowd already knew, but some people smiled, others panicked, and some didn't show any reaction at all. It was time that I, as a Cleaner, must step up to shape this world, and shape the meaning of a Policeman here.
"Oh, but I'm not done…" The man in the megaphone cut the area's tension short. "Like I said, it's based on you as a human. That's what will encompass your weapon."
"Personality, huh?" I whispered towards myself, sneering with a calm breath, "I wonder what my personality is like."
"Now!"
The man yelled proudly into the megaphone, like it were his last stance. Took it off his face, now his face card began to show, but he wasn't finished.
"Take a stance!" Heyo mister C yelled, without a megaphone, just the tone of his erupted voice, "Cleaners! Take this mission to your success! Be the ones to change the world! Be the heroes this world requires!"
Small claps began turning into cheers, as the entire crowd erupted into excitement, only I stood behind, Renji and Emilia in front.
A hero? We'll see if I can become what they expect me to…
But what am I truly?
Can I truly…
Live up to those ideals? Or will the past leverage me down?
Well, the only way to find out.
I smiled, walking forward, and began following Emilia and Renji's lead.
"Yeahhh!"
Screams from not only the crowd, but myself rumbled.
It was the end of an era, and the beginning...
The beginning of...