“SOLD! To Zonkleberg Marcuson! Please hand this man his Yeezy Red Octobers and proceed with the agreement papers”
The auctioneer waited for the brief ripple of applause to die. He raised his hands, and the gallery fell silent—a hush so deep you could hear the hum of the climate control.
He raises his hands as he lays them both forward, silencing the crowd
“Ladies and gentlemen… esteemed buyers… we now present the crown jewel of tonight’s collection. A relic lost to history, whispered about in Martian chapels and Earthly cathedrals alike.”
He let the silence hang. From the corner of his eye, Zephyr saw Kremidal’s knuckles tighten while his hands were clasping.
One can hear the whole room holding their breath.
“Recovered from Palestine, a country from Earth, authenticated by the Cydonian Local Relic Association”
The servants whips the cloth away, revealing the finger which has already undergone necrosis, the skin looked like leather, flesh pitch-black, and the bones have already opalized, emanating a rainbow sheen against the lights.
A collective gasp ripples through the room. Holographic displays around the hall flicker to life, zooming in on the relic, displaying schematics, and digital authenticity certificates.
“It is said that this finer belonged to the very father of the late Jesus Christ, the first true god before Apex Solaris”
The crowd erupts into murmurs, as some have even stepped forward to get a closer look at the relic.
“Order everyone! Bidding will start at 20 million chips”
The room explodes, this wealthy crowd of people explodes as their murmurs became full on excited conversations
Kremidal leans down to Zephyr “Alright Zeph, We can do this up to 500M chips, do not hike up double the contesting price, nor up to half, we need to creep it up slowly. Got it?”
“You got it Kremmy” He proceeds to side eye the masked woman accompanied by multiple workers in suits as it approaches them, then her full face looks at Zephyr, thus he snaps his eyes back to the relic.
The auctioneer raises his finger calling out “Alright going for 22 mil, 22 mil anyone?”
Another person raised their fan
“25 mil? Do we get 25 mil?”
Kremidal clicks his tongue
“Eeyup alright 25 mil! Going for 27 mil! Anyone got 27 mil”
While the auctioneer was talking in the background, the woman in blue synthetic suit approached Zephyr.
“I didn’t know they allowed pets in this gallery?”
Zephyr dumbfounded, visibly shook his head and asked “I’m sorry have we met before?”
Kremidal clicks his tongue
The auctioneer announced “30 million from the man in Prada!”
The woman in blue announced to her colleagues while jerking her thumb towards Zephyr “Get a load of this guy! As expected of you amor” then she raises her hands
The auctioneer yells “50 million! From Agua Fresca!”
Zephyr exclaims quietly “What’s your deal lady?”
The woman took her mask off “So you really are a dumb co?o”
Zephyr’s face stretched open, gasping “Mantra! So… Where do you work these days?” he followed with a whistle.
The Auctioneer announced “60 from the man in Gucci!”
Mantra answers “CEO… puto, let me guess you work in a blue collar job, barely scraping 800 chips a month? Gacias Jesu Christo I did not end up with a man like you!”
The surrounding crowd began to notice their quarrel, as she raised her hand.
The Auctioneer announced “80 from CEO Agua Fresca!”
Zephyr visibly raised his hat to the auctioneer “90 million from the Gucci man!”
Zephyr continued with a low voice “What do you want me to congratulate you for? Getting rich with all that nepo-money? You’re still the girl who slept in an alley!”
Mantra yells to the auctioneer “200 million!” She leans towards Zephyr.
Zephyr responded with “500 million!”
Kremidal’s eyes shot up, as he glared at Zephyr, moveing his lips silently snarling “The FUCK are you doing?”
Mantra yelled “And you still fucked the ‘alley-girl’ like street meat! You spat on our relationship like I didn’t matter, but you did. I didn’t know you fuck with trash so often! What?! You want me to blow you behind the gallery since you love trash women so much?!”
She rests her fists on her hips as the crowd stood silent
She darts her head at the auctioneer and yells “I’ll be taking that for 1 billion chips!”
A collective gasp echoed throughout the room, as an explosion of murmurs filling the atmosphere followed. The auctioneer slams his mallet - with each clack it echoed throughout the room.
“Silence everyone! - One Billion Quid from Agua Fresca, any opposing bids?”
He looks around the crowd as it darts from person to person
“Going once!”
He finally raises his mallet as he shouts
“Going twice!”
It drops
“So-!”
“WAIT!”
Kremidal emerges from the crowd, revealing his entire outfit, his cap gusted as he stepped forward to shout
“I’m afraid none can buy something that is stolen!”
Quiet murmurs blanketed the room. The auctioneer freezes, as all eyes are on the three of them, this includes Mantra.
The auctioneer stuttered “S-sir, this item was authenticated by-”
“The Cydonian Local Relic Association, I know. It’s strange because I’ve never heard such an organization"
The crowd loudly erupts with gasps, including Mantra’s entourage.
The auctioneer points his mallet at Kremidal “What makes you so sure? What gives you the authority to spit such allegations?”
Kremidal took his glasses off “I am the pontiff”
The crowd loudly gasps
“Specifically of the Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish, I’m sure you’re familiar because it’s literally Cydonia’s only church.”
The murmurs continued
“What makes you say that?” Said the Mantra while she stepped forward towards Kremidal “Not a single document proves that relic belongs to you!”
Kremidal raises his chin with a smug look on his face “You’re right, it does NOT belong to me, in fact I am but a humble courier for THE Church of Vatican in Cavéz Avinolia, and you know they do not play with religious artifacts” He says while he pulls out a scroll as thick and as long as his forearm hidden from his suit.
It rolled onto the tile floors, as it was made with hemp, with signatures and wax seals on the end of the document. It however doesn't show any text
The auctioneer yelled “Ha, the audacity! Nothing’s printed!”
Kremidal pulled out a flashlight, as the beam of light revealed the dents of each letter in the document. As the light shone onto it, it revealed clean, complete paragraphs for its terms and agreement
“Right there!” Kremidal pointed at the document
[relic will undergo temporary ownership to Pontificate of Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish: Kremidal Swanson]
He looked at the auctioneer dead in the eyes “So, cough it up, unless you prefer eating through a straw for the rest of your life” he followed it with visible lightning arcs sparking all over his body.
A man emerges from the side, approaching the auctioneer. He whispers to his ear. He nervously announced
“A- a- apologies, Pontiff… this misunderstanding will not go unpunished, a- as we and the Cydonian Relic Association will have a stern meeting. Men! Please hand him his relic, now!.”
The men emerged from the back stage, hurriedly, yet carefully wrapping the relic back up, encasing it again in an air tight glass container, then wrapping.
Kremidal steps forward to pick up the relic, he bowed down to their level as he whispered. “Thank you for your cooperation”
Both of them went on their way - however on their way to the exit. Mantra stared Zephyr down, putting her mask back on while her eyes were locked on to him, even as the both of them left
As they drive home, Zephyr’s face is perked down while he slowly looks at Kremidal “Krem… what the heck, you could’ve told me you already had papers!”
Kremidal shrugged back “I was actually intending to buy it back for 50 mil, but err… you kinda went overboard - plus scolding you will lead to nowhere, since we actually got it now - could you double check it please?”
Zephyr lifts up the fabric hiding the casing, he looked inside as the opalized bones still sparkled under the fabric
"It's the real thing, byt the way; is the document real?”
“No” Kremidal answered with a straight face
Zephyr scrambles his hands around saying “Krem you sly dog! Where did you get it then?!”
Kremidal shrugged “Ms. Baker - the church’s paper lady”
Zephyr briefly looks at his side of the mirror “You still paying her?”
“Sure am! Everyone who’s still alive has been working for me for the past week is pretty much working with me online, she just mails me the paper in the post office. Which reminds me: what are your plans for today?”
Zephyr takes his at off; he pulls out his bag containing alternate clothes inside “Oh thanks, for reminding me - could you drop me off Casa Plata? I’m actually going to the podcast me and the boys are drinking today, while guests come over”
Kremidal snaps his view to Zephyr before darting back to the road “Ooooh! Do tell me who your guests are?”
Zephyr dresses himself with casual clothes while she sighed “Eh, it’s just a bunch of lackey Onlyfans whores, they’re gonna preach how
‘sex-work is just as important as normal work’
Whatever the fuck that means”
Kremidal lowered his eyebrows and pursed his lips while telling Zephyr “Zeph, do you really believe what your ‘friends’ are saying?”
“Of course I do! You gotta meet them Krem! One is a pro MMA fighter, the other got rich off of gambling and the other-”
Kremidal waved his hand while shaking his head “N-no I don’t think I’ll ever get the chance to meet your friends, but please; be careful to what you say, you’re old enough to know that there are some words that you simply cannot take back”
They finally arrive at the Casa Plata building, its towers scraping the skies, while the sunlight hits the windows, it shines a silvery glow.
*Fast forward into the podcast studio*
Zephyr enters the room, it’s already thick with smoke from their vapes and cigars. He futilely waves his hand to gust away the smoke but it just fills the room.
“Sup guys!”
They’re eating lunch while smoking, the athletic man wearing a black tank top with shades yells “Ay bitch, turn the AC for us will ya?” throws a remote towards Zephyr
Zephyr frantically caught the remote, almost dropping it “Troy! Don’t just throw away the remote without looking!”
A man wearing a whole jumpsuit covered in luxury designer brands and an obnoxiously shiny pair of sneakers scoffed “h-yeah, what’re you? Troy’s dad?”
And then they just started snickering like a pack of hyenas
Another man wearing shades and a quarter-zip polo shirt taps the chair right beside him “C’mon Zeph! Bryce(rich-kid) and I were just talking about you!”
Zephyr finally sat down beside him. He has already worn his headset, then adjusts his microphone “Aight Darius (the guy with a quarter-zip), are we live?”
Darius “Not yet” presses the button on his deck “Good morning, afternoon, evening, people all over the world you are now tuning in on The Black Pill.
This is your host Darius Jackson, here are my friends, Troy Green, Bryce Fisher, and how could we forget our youngest caster: Zephyr Aguila, give it up boys!”
They start clapping while whooing, Bryce was coughing. Thus Darius mentioned “Just a head’s up for the headphone listeners, some of us will start coughing because we kind of hot-boxed the studio, my bad B; Troy! What’re we talking about today?”
“I’ve got a scoop for you, I was sparring with one of the boys, and I saw this pathetic old woman doing aerobics n’ shit, dude they be doing aaaanything but workout normally”
They started laughing like turkeys - while the laughter dialed down, he asked “Dang that was highly funny, Bryce I noticed your wearing a bigass chain on yo neck, tell us somethin’ about it”
He answered back “Sure G! These chains are made with 24 karat gold, and the ice? Yeah, they’re real, y’know the usual - which reminds me all of ya’ll listenin’ right now hit the subscribe button, cuz Imma hand out some gift cards, give us a sub to get bigger wins!”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Darius continues “Dayummmm! Peep the fit! Anywho, I just wanted to talk about how easy it is to get bitches, not only in Cydonia, but in the entirety of Mars.
But to get a confidence booster, you gotta date an ugly bitch first, then dump they ass, then once you get that confidence you can take on any bitch in the entire galaxy. Ain’t that right Zephyr?”
“O-of course my glorious king, and speaking of glory. Our guests for today is a bunch of glory-hole-suckin’, std-ridden, filthy-e-beggin’ onlyfans girls. C’mon team, let's give 'em a round of applause!”
*BLAG*
Somebody barges into the door.
Everybody strangely got quiet.
One can hear her heels clack loudly as she walked, hips swaying with every step.
Troy got up from his seat and yelled “Ay bitch! Just who the fuck do you think-” water from his cup suddenly wrapped his face, dropping him on the floor - suffocating him.
Bryce shot up from his seat “Hey! Who are you? Where the hell’s the securi-” water from his metal flask explodes, his now wet designer jacket, stuck to the ceiling.
Darius stays in his seat with his hands up stuttering “W-w-w-w-w-w-wait a second lady! If you wanna talk about something let them go please!”
She turns to face her as Zephyr finally finds out who exactly she is, he leans forward as she leers at her
“Mantra! What are you trying to do here?”
She smirked, then she dropped Bryce from the ceiling, and forced Troy to drink the water he was being choked on, coughs and a burp followed from the background.
She spoke with a condescending tone “Like you said… Darius? Correct?” Darius nodded “Ok Darius, I just heard about you podcast from the livestream, and I have to say: I’m quite impressed”
Darius visibly shaking “Y-you are?”
“Yaaaaasss! I find it amusing that belittling on everyone else’s lifestyles miraculously makes yours better, and that turns you into a peak representation of man! And the views? Outstanding!”
“Really?”
“Yes! And it’s rotting the minds of young men - sit down!” She forces the other two to sit back on their chairs.
Mantra’s eyes are wide open, looking at them from eye to eye, each of them avoiding eye contact - smiling ear to ear she gives herself a seat as she asks “Do you boys not have an extra headset?”
Darius snaps his fingers demanding “Zephyr! Get the nice lady some headphones”
Mantra condescendingly said while leering to his eyes “Yes Zephyr, get the nice lady some headphones”
After he pulls an extra pair from the cabinet, he gently hands it to Mantra - she snatches from his hand as Darius said “It’s automatically paired to our computer so jus-”
“Hold the power button, I know. This is the Sony XM5000B, I have seven of these, I use a different one every day of the week”
All of them stood in front of her in silence
Before she could wear the headset, she took a whiff from one of the ear cups, she flinched at what she smelled “Oi puta madre! Have you boys been breathing on these headphones? You’re all disgusting!” She instead pulls her own personal headset.
It’s coated in a holographic film, accented with gigantic sapphires on the side. One can even see that the leather the headphones use is suede. Before she wore them, she blasted it with disinfectant spray - finally wearing the headset as the studio’s computer chimes the words
“[Connected]”
She scoffs “Of course your bluetooth system talks”
She adjusts herself on her seat as she begins talking “Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone, this is CEO of Agua Fresca here, live at The Black Pill.
But make sure to listen well everybody, because I’m going to make this pill hard to swallow.
So Troy Green, I heard that you’re a professional fighter! When was your recent fight hm?”
“Ah well, I just had one four months ago - I won, spectacularly of course”
She tilts her head “Hmmmm… no that’s not your recent fight”
Troy shot up from his seat “IT IS BITCH! I even got the belt for it!” He pointed right behind Mantre, she turned her head as she saw it.
She raised her eyebrow “Really… and from what association did you get this?”
Troy sat back down crossing his arms “The Underground Fighting Association!”
Mantra taps her finger on the table “How come I’ve never heard of this?”
Troy scoffed “Because you don’t fight, hehehe” the boys began chuckling out loud.
She suddenly slid her phone towards Troy, his eye locked on to it while it slid, picking it up he sees a photo of her wearing combat attire holding a belt on her shoulder.
Troy asks “W-what the hell is this?”
Mantra leans her elbow on the table, “that my friend is my victory on the One Championship in the welterweight division - I’m sure you know that because it’s the most famous MMA tournament of all time.
My opponent there is Izzy Saenchai who is now a former welterweight champion, because of me. Honestly that fight money helped me kickstart my company more”
Zephyr interrupts her by “what are you trying to say here Mantra?”
She responded “Amor, I am implying that you muscle-brain of a friend has never fought a real match in his life - ‘underground fighting’ HA! Who’s the founder? You?! Hahahahaha!-
I know exactly when your real fight was. Ten years ago, it was when you lost to a tomato can Oliver Rodriguez; you were a fat loser while you belittled Oliver who was skin n’ bones, he kept punching you in the face fair and square, and all you did was spit your mouthguard, you spat it out so much that they disqualified you! Your first professional fight, A LOSS! AGAINST A CAN! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Bryce interrupts her “So what if he’s never won an actual fight? He makes more money than you ever will with your stupid water business!”
She stopped laughing, her wide eyes locked onto Bryce sparking a shit-eating grin “Bryce Fisher right? I heard that you’re the CEO of SportsWin aren’t you? Or is that your Daddy’s role - since you’re pretty much using his money for your own personal gain?”
Brcye shot up from his seat as he slammed his hands on the table “If you’re implying I am a nepo-baby, I assure you; my money is from the employees that actually care about my company, and I care about them!”
Mantra leans back, arms crossed, finger on her chin “Is that so? Tell me, how many times have you up-started a company? Is this your second? Third? Tenth? Twentieth? No, I’ve most definitely lost count! What does your company even do?”
Bryce slowly sat down as he stuttered “Th- thi- this is my third company, and we do cross-investment campaigns”
Mantra smiles as her eyes squint “cross-investment? Really now? So what exactly goes on in that cross-investment?”
Bryce waves his hands in front of her while he explains “Well, employees come to me so I can hand them money, then they can give that money to other people trying to become employees”
Mantra interrupts him “Then what happens to the newly employed once they’re in your company?”
He answered “Well, we take the money back and add investment fees, and once we invest in their money we can give back double, they can do the same too. Hand out money to hire more employees, and those employees will give money too.
Mantra nodded “Ahhh! I get it now, so you’re running a pyramid-scheme”
Bryce shook his head “No! No! No! Like I said it’s ‘cross-investment’”
Mantra rebutted “Really now? Then where does the money come from in the first place?”
Bryce answered confidently “from me!”
Mantra taps her finger on the table “and who does your hiring staff give the money after taking from the newly employed?”
Bryce answered with hesitation “to me…”
Mantra slams both of her palms on the table “Then who has the least amount of money, and still paying for your fees?”
Bryce answered reluctantly “The… newly employed”
Mantra drags his mic closer to him “Is that so? In what shape do you think that system travels?”
Bryce wheezed “like a pyramid”
Mantra stuck her ear close to him “I’m sorry, could you shout please so your entire company can hear you live?”
Bryce shouted “Like a pyramid!”
“LOUDER!”
“A PYRAMID!”
“Good boy” she pats him on the head from across the table
Darius shook his head while facepalming, he couldn’t help but ask “lady,if you’re just going to slander us on live, you might as well make it credible”
Perplexed, Mantra darts her head towards him - standing up from her seat with her arms leaning on the table “Slander, what do you mean - oooohhhh… You’re saying that because in the end of the day, this is still a podcast, isn’t it Mr. Darius Jackson? After all your listeners have no control, unlike you”
Hand on his chest, eyebrow raised - he asked “Me???”
Mantra aggressively points her finger at his face “YES YOU! You loooooove control, especially to vulnerable people - men who lost everything that’s left in their lives, you revel in the fact that their weakness is feminine.
I’ve seen your courses, they’re nothing but common advice. You even promise that you’ll talk to these men one on one - you never do!
It’s always another person, that doesn’t even participate in your podcast itself, you can even see in the reflection on their eyes that they’re reading through a script! You even, most definitely, underpay these people. While all the money gets funned into your pockets.
Not to mention your wife”
Darius scoffs “My wife? Pfft! She-”
Mantra interrupts her “Oh that’s right Nerissa White, she’s no longer your wife because she divorced your ass. You keep pushing these views towards her, forcing her to become a trad-wife, while you do nothing but jack each other off in this podcast. And when she wouldn’t comply; you would beat her, senseless…”
Troy, Bryce, and Zephyr looked at Darius, their jaws dropped, the ends of their eyebrows reaching for their hairlines. The three are shocked with hatred in their eyes
Darius’s sweat began to bud on his forehead while he scoffed “Th- th- that’s a goddamn lie, this bitch is bluffing!”
“Really? Then let’s ask Nerissa then-”
Mantra pulled out her phone, showing the hidden bodycam footage of Darius threatening his wife. His wife was audibly in distress, he stood imposing - blocking the doorway from her wife, until.
He pushed her down to the ground, you can see in the video that he’s kicking her, stomping her, with each hit her wife squeals out the air from her body. As he left, he locked the door shut, panning back to the camera towards his wife’s face. It was all bloody, full of cuts and bruises.
All of their eyes shot up towards him, each pupil filled with contempt
Mantra scoffed “Hmph! It seems that your friends have their lines crossed with this one Darius.
No wonder your wife left you, ever since she’s gone you’ve been looking for that high, taking advantage of women, especially when their lives are in a compromising position. Onlyfans girls? They’re easy pickins aren’t they, you can easily devalue their work by just brushing them off as whores, correct Mr. Darius?”
He just sat there in silence, his eyes glued to the floor, his face drooping with embarrassment.
“You took advantage of her because she was physically and financially weak - giving her the promise of giving her a better life outside of her city” Her voice suddenly becomes shaky as tears start to ride up to her eyelids.
“But instead… you mistreat her, you hurt her - throwing her around like a ragdoll during your childish tantrums! You’re despicable…” Tears were overflowing down her cheeks as she sobs uncontrollably. She lightly wipes it using her handkerchief.
In Zephyr’s mind a flashback from the past brushes his thoughts; it was the time he’s hurt her for the last time, realizing: she’s showing the same emotion.
Bryce leans forward asking “Ms. Mantra del Monte, right?”
Face red, eyes still watery, stares at Bryce with a dead frown - not saying a word.
Bryce continued “Yeah, sorry for interrupting but. You mentioned earlier that you’re the CEO of ‘Agua Fresca’ right? What does your company even do?”
Mantra composes herself as she adjusts herself on her seat while wiping her tears away. She cracks her neck left and right, then she answered with a grin “I’m glad you asked - guess you’re familiar with the brand since you’re already soaked in it”
Bryce looks at his water bottle, then all of them switch their eyes to the water dispenser. Slapped in front of it was the very sticker of Agua Fresca.
She crosses her arms “I think that’s all I need to let you know that I distribute every drop of distilled water on the entire planet - buying each and every last one of these dying businesses that couldn’t keep up at my pace.
To answer your question se?or Fisher, what my company does is collect, filter, and distribute every last drop of our purified water; ranging from the wealthiest, and to those who are about to die of thirst. My company has singlehandedly made water a human right, saving lives and making it accessible to all.
So let me regurgitate your words. What does your company - puta madre your whole group even, contribute to the world?”
The boys looked down in silence, with their eyes drifting at each other whilst looking away.
She scoffs her own breath, sparking a smirk
Zephyr shook his head - he shot up from his chair.
Everyone’s eyes snap towards him.
He walks toward her. His shoulders drooping and feet dragging along with every step - for a few feet away from her, he reached out his hand and opened his mouth to speak.
Mantra blocked his face with her hand, she says
“No”
Zephyr froze
she exclaimed “I know exactly what you're trying to do!
But sure; say it - tell the entire cast what you want to say?”
His lips quiver as he closes his hand back to a fist, pressing on his chest.
“I… I'm sorry… For breaking your heart, I know that you hate me. I just hope that you'll accept my apology”
She pouted her lips and nodded in agreement
“apology rejected"
The boys’ jaws dropped, and Zephyr's lower lip quivered as he asked
"Wha- Why?” with his arms spread sidewards
She took her headphones back to her bag and sighs
“People like you don’t deserve apologies, because you refuse to change, you use your words as a bandaid, while you keep reopening a wound - you refuse to swallow your pride; instead you leverage from your environment.
But this time you’re alone, physically and emotionally.
But I know that whatever I say will be flying across your head like the wind.”
In a brief silence the world stopped. Mantra pulls out a parasol and opens it indoors.
“And boys!”
All of their eyes snap back to her.
“Stay mad”
With a sway of her hand, she does a rapid pulling motion. The ceiling breaks as she activates the sprinklers inside the studio, drenching every piece of equipment; including the people inside it.
She leaves the studio while the boys are frantically trying to cover each and every piece of equipment in the studio. As the sprinklers kept sprinkling, Zephyr just stood there in the middle of it all, drenched.
His vision started to blur while his hearing started to deafen, his whole body started to feel numb. Bryce was yelling at him, while Troy was shaking him by the shoulders. In this moment no action could phase him, all he could stare was the rectangular window of the door, towards the exit of the studio.
*An hour passes*
A cleanup crew is now handling the mess Mantra made, a few electricians check the appliances and computers, they vacuum the water on the carpet, and use blow dryers to get rid of the remaining water residue on the electronics
The boys were wiping themselves dry, while Zephyr was sitting with them. However Darius came from the bathroom, freshly dried and fitted out his new clothes. He approaches them while rubbing his hair dry, he approaches Zephyr the closest.
“Ay Z”
No response
“Zephyr! Can you hear me?”
Still no response
Darius slaps him so hard his cheek started to turn red
“Mars to Zephyr!”
He snaps out of his own trance, shaking his head to lock in as he asks “Huh what - sorry?”
“You’re fired” Darius said with a straight face as he threw him a bag.
Zephyr looked down at the duffel bag, opening the zipper; it revealed a stacks and stacks of chips (money). Darius leans down close to his ear as he whispers
“Never speak of this incident to anyone, or I’ll make sure you shut up for life!”
Darius stood up straight, he snapped his fingers and commanded Zephyr “Go! Get the fuck out of here”
He exits the studio, there he arrives at the floor’s lobby. Through the window, he sees the sunset shining through the glass. The mixture of red, violet, and orange smears throughout the sky, spanning beyond the windowsill. He stared at it for a good minute right before -
*RING RING RING* A ring tone blares out from his phone, briefly startling him. Looking at the call card, it’s Kremidal.
Zephyr picks it up
“Yellow?”
“[Zeph! It’s 5pm, want me to pick you up?]”
“Err… Yeah! Please do”
*fast forward upon Kremidal’s arrival* Zephyr was finally at the pick up spot at the building. Zephyr hops in the car with Kremidal as he asks
“So Zeph… rough day huh?”
Zephyr blinking rapidly, shook his head “what? Ugh! Were you listening to my podcast this whole time?”
Kremidal looked at him back at the rear mirror “Well ye! I listen to you podcast all the time, though I rarely hear you talk”
Zephyr rests his face onto his fist, looking at the sunset from the window.
Kremidal sighs “Look - I’m not really sure if this is a great time to tell you this but, I’m going to need you pack your stuff from the church”
Zephyr’s face snaps open
Kremidal looks at him again from the rear mirror “You wanted to quit, yes? After all we only take in the homeless, or the abandoned. You don’t fill any of that criteria.”
Zephyr grabs the shotgun’s seat headrest while he exclaims “Krem, you need me! I’m practically your strongest student, you even said it yourself that I had 89% chance in hitting all of my projectiles! You even said it was the highest!”
Kremidal gave him a side eye and said “But you still got shot”
That shut Zephyr up, leading him to rest his back on the backseat
Kremidal sighs “Like I said, you can go anytime. But I want you to remember this after you leave:
Watch your pride”
*meanwhile at Poppy’s apartment*
While she’s heavily asleep, snoring loudly.
But in the corner of her room. The same faceless man, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, an all white outfit and red tinted glasses. Stares her down from the corner of the room.
