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A few days later, the remaining task from the previous case has finally got the stamp of completion. The chief Inspector of Kinsel is currently leaning against his car and waiting in front of the infamous apartment gate. This is a routine for him and today the car is going to have one extra passenger.
The wooden gate opens and pop out Yanyi's head. Her hair was tied to a high ponytail with braids on the side. Instead of wearing a much more professional outfit, she is currently rocking a pair of normal looking outfits. One that is more fit for an outing.
Luyao — "Not going to work today?"
Yanyi — "Nope! Accompanying someone to a new place with the VIP tickets I got."
Luyao — "Is he even awake yet?"
Yanyi — "When I said "amusement park" that little leg rushed to the bathroom before I could stand up. Currently filling up his stomach with energy."
"Brother Luyao!" The small steps came rushing from behind Yanyi and lunged toward his leg. Luyao patted his head and carried him in his arms. "Well aren't you an early bird." A small innocent giggle emits from that little smile of his.
While those two are busy with being cute together, Yanyi makes sure that everything that is needed was packed. "You're bringing your signia with you?" Hearing this sudden question, her head turned from locking the gate.
"Yup! I won't leave it! What happens when I need to protect myself or when I need to fight bad guys?" He gave a pout with a determined face. Fisting the air, showcasing his prowess to his mentors.
Luyao eyed Yanyi, seeking if she is approving this or should he take it away. Yanyi shakes her head and grabs the little signia into her hand. A small protest came from her younger brother. "You can't ride with a weapon on hand, you know. So, until you are tired of going on rides, Jie will hold onto it."
"...Fine…" Luyao places the little pouty guy in the backseat before asking the lady behind him. "And you? You didn't bring yours?" She nodded, showing her little handbag with a small pouch.
"I keep it hidden. With the current state of Kinsel right now, anything can happen. Leaving without signia is an invitation to death for us." Yanyi replied nonchalantly, making her way to the other side of the car. Luyao took his place in the driver seat and drove all the way to their destination.
Sure, he's gonna be late. But you can't help a man in love can you?
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After sending Yanyi and Eker to the entrance gate, Luyao took his leave and arrived at the station later. After clocking in, Max knocks on the door and peek his head in "Sire? There's something that I need to show you. On behalf of the members on night shift duty."
Seeing how his brows are slightly furrowed with worries, Luyao takes his place behind his desk and motions for Max to step in. He then took out a piece of envelope wrapped with red and green strings.
No wax seal. No address. Just an envelope.
Luyao opens the said letter and reads the content inside. It's just a poem. It reads:
In the .quiet. pond, two small hearts thrived,--
Nestled close,. their laughter kept them alive..
Hunger crept, a low supply, twisting minds,
A radi.ant– friendship shadowed by dark deigns..
Older wings grew gnarged with sudden ire,.
Yet the younger heart refused the fire.
.Rip ples carried whispers of a violent scheme,.
Unseen. courage ignited a fledgling dream.
No more silence could contain their tiny fight,
Pungent–quacks tore through the night..
A.flurry.of feathers; the.tyrant pushed aside,.
.Rarity of peace returned to the pond's tide..
Yes even in victory, fear still left its mark,
_Know.ing the–older would soon reclaim.the dark–
He spent about 15 minutes just rereading the letter over and over again. Not sure what it was supposed to be. He then turned back to Max, "Could this be a prank?" Skeptical to the origin of the note.
I mean just by looking at it the writing is a story sure but god the use of crayon and weird usage of symbols looks like a child's handwriting. Max shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure either sire. All I knew is that the person who was supposedly doing their night patrol around the area suddenly saw a flicker of white and saw this letter stuck in between the window."
Luyao — "Late at night?"
Max — "Yes."
Luyao — "Which window?"
Max — "The main office window. Your window, sire."
Luyao turned behind him where the supposed place the letter was stuck at. He was confused himself. The area outside of the window is blocked by a high wall from the building next street. The idea of the letter even getting enough speed to stick itself onto the crack of the window is not even possible.
Let alone at night.
"Are you sure this officer didn't overwork himself?" Asking, suspicion still linger in his voice. Max shakes his head as well.
"I'm sure of it sire. Because I was on duty in the office and was called and saw for myself how the letter is indeed stuck between the crack of the window." Luyao again eyed the envelope on his table before dismissing Max. Stating how he will personally deal with this ordeal.
Considering how many weird and big cases that they've encountered just in Kinsel alone, he wasn't about to let something like this off the hook. For now, until Yanyi returns tomorrow, he shall put it aside.
Maybe it has something to do with whatever she is hiding.
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At the amusement park.
After being left off, they saw from the parking lot gate how long the line into the park is. The hand that she is holding sank down a bit, sensing how the mood had died down just a bit.
"There's no need to worry about the line." The little head perked up at that sentence. Yanyi then waved two VIP tickets in front of him. "Did you forget your brother Luyao gave us VIP tickets? We can skip the line and ride on all the rides without worrying about time."
"YAY!!!" He shouts before dragging Yanyi closer to the ticket gate. Using all of his body force to drag Yanyi, who is twice as tall as him, to have some fun. You can imagine just how bouncy this little guy will be once they are inside.
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On Kazuto's side.
He was tasked with overseeing the fairyland amusement park. Because his father is busy with the whole citizenship fiasco, he has to take over for a few weeks as the acting leader for the Ryuichi Co. and actually went to oversee all the projects that have gained their approval.
This marks the third out of the five times that he had to go to the theme park. One might be excited the first time but he is not. But so far as things go nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.
All of the rides are following the required safety procedure and the overall area is safe as adequate guards is stationed almost around the entire park. Visitors? Of course they are happy. Especially since it is currently school holidays.
He didn't expect anything else to change today, so he went into his car without any sense of danger ahead. Big mistake.
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Hours later…
Irene has already finished her job term and has absolutely nothing to do. Before this, she would be going back and forth to the Ryuichi's estate to take care of Vaiden since her pregnancy is coming to a 6 month period.
However today it is said that Ikuto would be at home all day and would be taking care of his wife and his second child. She would be stupid if she decided to crash that little romantic moment.
So she takes the liberty of finishing the leftover task at home.
Cleaning.
Errands.
Groceries.
She knew for a fact that Yanyi and Eker would be back home quite late in the evening. To spare her friend some energy, she decided that she will handle dinner.
You would be sorely mistaken if you think that she will cook for real.
There's food vendors for a reason.
All she has to do now is just wait for Yanyi and Eker to return and her chores for the day will come to an end.
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Except they didn't return on time.
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From 10 in the morning until sunset, they have spent a total of 7 hours in the park. They ride every ride they can, eat all the snacks they want and even have the liberty of resting for a bit in the VIP lounge.
At last Yanyi can say goodbye to this long heck of a day. The park will be closing in 30 minutes and they will return back home. Ending the celebration and the tickets given to her.
She is currently sitting on a bench at the side of a fountain. Her body is sluggish from exhaustion but her eyes are fixed on the not so far balloon stands that are overwhelmingly being flocked by children.
Eker is one of them.
That genuine and happy smile never leaves her lips as she keeps a close watch to that little brother of hers. "Yanyi?" The familiar voice brought her head to tilt to the side. Her eyes met with a pair of bright blue pairs. It was Kazuto.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. It would be stupid for him to ask her since anyone who came here would be a visitor. All but him of course. "Just doing an inspection. Have to take over while the father is tending to the mother. You? Not going home yet?"
Her head tilted to the stand just across from them. Kazuto can see the little guy that everyone has been fawning over jumping to get the attention of the stall owner. "Luyao gave you the tickets?" Yanyi nodded, not disagreeing with that question.
Yanyi — "Figure the little guy needs to have some celebration. He gave me those tickets and there's no way in hell that I won't use it."
Kazuto — "Well, you might as well grab another ticket and go together with him."
Yanyi — "Why?"
Kazuto — "Nevermind. *whisper* Dunce."
While they both were chatting they heard some yelling coming from the front gate area of the park. They are quite close to the entrance and can hear everything from such a distance. Especially when there's someone who yells.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T LEAVE?!!!" A man shouted, his hand holding onto his partner's, yelling at the guard station at the entrance gate. Presumably denying them the permission to leave.
In fact, it wasn't just the man. Multiple people are crowding near the gate and are waiting for their turn to exit but no one has been able to leave the park. "Is there something that prevents visitors from exiting? Any major theft or negligence?" Kazuto shakes his head from Yanyi's question.
"I have checked everything here. Nothing major is reported. Everyone should be able to leave as they wish." That is when the commotion starts to explode even more. More and more people started to bombard the guards around the entrance and some even tried to pry themselves out of the park forcefully.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The sound that follows is never mistaken by veterans like them.
Those are gunshots.
Fired in the theme park.
At the entrance.
Two bodies fall down to the floor lifeless. Immediately ruckus erupted from there. Many visitors started to take cover. Hiding behind benches and trees. Anywhere that seems safe.
Yanyi didn't waste time and run over to the stall and snatch Eker away. Cradling him in her arms while taking shelter behind the stall.
Kazuto, as the overseer of the theme park at the time, having the authority of the Ryuichi didn't hesitate to open his signia and shoot back at the culprit. Making sure that no civilians are harmed in the process.
That is when…
BANG!
"Argh!!!" He screams as his back lurches to the front. His body barrelling down the ground. His shoulder was shot which prevented him from properly holding his sniper. Blood gushed out from the bullet wounds.
"It's best to fall down, Young Marquess. Unless you wish for the entire park to be eradicated." A man's voice resounded behind him. A glock in hand, the end pointing towards Kazuto's head.
The man on the ground looked around and found an alarming discovery. Some of the guards that had been stationed around the park were holding out weapons. Directed towards other guards that have no chance of fighting. The genuine worker.
Whoever this group is, they have succeeded in infiltrating the themepark. Both inside and outside.
With almost everyone at bay, that leaves only Yanyi as the known veterans in the park that can still put up a fight. The thing is she can't. Not when she herself is holding out for Eker.
Their eyes met, asking for what their next plan should be. Yanyi gave a reluctant gaze and shook her head. Even she didn't see any way out of this situation. The only way is to hope for outside help.
Kazuto didn't protest and locked his signia. His body is then pinned down and knocked out. What happens next is something that is best to be told elsewhere.
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Luyao is still in his office. The clock has struck 8 in the night and his shift is coming to an end. He just needs to finish one last document. But before he could read the last paper on his desk, a rather distress knock came to his office door.
He looked up and saw Irene, her brows furrowed with worry. Her demeanor is speaking worry. 'Why would she be coming here this late?' Luyao thought to himself.
Irene — "Luyao, have you seen Yanyi?"
Luyoa — "Yanyi? Wasn't she supposed to be home by now?"
Yanyi — "She was 2 hours ago. But they both didn't return. I came here thinking that she might have stopped by."
Luyao — "She didn't come here. The last time I saw her was when I dropped them off at the theme park this morning."
"Did you call the manor? Maybe Kazuto knows where they are." Luyao didn't waste time and dialed the manor. After a few minutes the call came through and he spent 3 minutes talking to the other side.
When it ended he shook his head. He added "Kazuto also has yet to come home. His inspection was supposed to end 2 hours ago. When the park closes." He pondered for a while when he realized something quite an odd coincidence.
He took the note on his desk and waved it around, asking Irene. "Do you know anything about this puzzle? This letter came this morning." Irene didn't waste time and started to look at the letter. Specifically the handwriting.
It's the same handwriting that sometimes would send letters to them. For Yanyi.
"Decipher it." She commanded without hesitation. Luyao also didn't comment. He had a feeling that Yanyi would know about this sort of puzzle. If she came here with Irene then at least they both must share the same secret.
He deciphers the puzzle. It was a morse code and figured out the letters hidden inside the poem. "Danger Fun Park…" Irene stated slowly, disbelief, worry, anger. Every single emotion she feels is burning to one.
"The themepark… Yanyi and Eker are there… There's danger there…"
"FUCK!" Luyao slammed the office desk. Disgust and anger circulated through his mind. To himself. He should have known something is off with that letter.
"Why…? Why didn't you notice it…" Irene is more than furious. She is livid.
"..." Luyao has nothing to defend himself. He knew he was in the wrong. He knew it was weird that a letter suddenly appeared at night. Stuck in between the window to HIS office. He should be more careful.
The most devastating thing to him is the knowledge that he had given those tickets to Yanyi and Eker. He had unknowingly placed them in grave danger.
"Why? WHY?!!!" Irene's shouts are only bearing more guilt to him. He had sworn to himself that he would protect them. At any cost. Now… He is the reason they are in danger.
BOOM!!!
A loud explosion erupted. Albeit quite far away from the station the sound permits through the city of Kinsel. Both equally devastated individuals make haste to go to the themepark.
Whatever that sound may be, they knew where it was just from what they had discovered. Before moving with Irene, Luyao made an emergency call to the military post near them.
Their nation is in danger.
Their people are in danger.
Their Holy Maiden is in danger.
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-~*~-