Keepers Of The Occult (NaNoWriMo 2024) Chapter 16: Chapter 14: To Serve And Protect

Read chapter 16 of Keepers Of The Occult (NaNoWriMo 2024) by Mercynarie on NovelPedia.

Hazel waited impatiently for the glowing glyphs to retreat from the walls. She walked forward, using her hand to shield her eyes from the blinding bluish-white light still flashing around her surroundings. The boy beside her did not move for some reason. “Oh, it’s you.” She blinked, staring at the couple sitting on a pile of sealed boxes. Except for the five containers still bolted to the floor, everything else in the room was already packed up neatly. Luca and Ava, on the other hand, looked like shit. “What’re you two doing here?” Hazel asked. “Waiting for the Japanese branch to pick these monsters up, along with whatever fine they want us to pay for losing two of their monsters,” Luca replied dryly. “We’ve already sent them our official withdrawal from this project, so they should be coming over any time soon. With any luck, everything will be over today.” The girl gasped in shock. “ Today? Oh no, we don’t have enough time!” she exclaimed. “Please let us talk to the Kitsune first; it’s our only hope at bringing Chester back.” “What are you talking about?” Ava tilted her head slightly. “What do you want with that Yokai?” “It’s a long story, Missus Watson,” Liam said. “I promise we’ll explain after this is all over, but we need to speak with this fox spirit urgently.” He hurried to the largest container and muttered an incantation under his breath. The couple stood up in shock as the dark blue chains wrapping around the container shattered like it was made of glass. “Apologies for disturbing your peace!” Liam pulled on the container handle, preparing to pull it open. “But please hear us out—” The doors swung open. Everyone froze. “What the hell…?” Hazel tilted her head in confusion. “Where did it go?” Ava breathed, staring at the empty container in front of her. “We lost this one, too? When did that happen?” “That’s impossible… The seal wasn’t broken at all,” Luca said, stepping forward to examine to cage as well. “How could it have escaped without leaving behind any trace?” A stray breeze hit the back of Hazel’s neck, and she turned around along with everyone else. There was a dark red missive sitting innocently on top of one of the packed boxes. It was roughly the size and shape of a postcard, and a Japanese flag was stamped clearly in the centre. “Oh bugger, what more do they want?” Luca groaned. “Can’t they just send their guys over already? Why’d they send another missive?” Red sparks crackled around his fingers, and he flicked them towards the piece of paper. The missive dissolved as though it were a piece of tissue dropped in water. Silver letters trickled upwards, forming a simple message in the air. “ NO YOKAI WERE SENT TO THE BRANCH OF AMERICA. WE DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. PLEASE INVESTIGATE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ” “What the hell? Are they taking the fucking piss right now?!” Ava exclaimed with a considerable amount of indignation. “Where’d all these monsters come from, huh? Oi, my son died for this! ” The magic message vanished comically into the air as if scared off by the woman’s yelling. “Calm down, Missus Watson.” Hazel fanned her hands, trying to placate the woman. “They sent an ambassador, didn’t they? Let’s speak with Komyo about this.” Confusion overtook the anger in Ava’s face. “What ambassador? Who’s Komyo?” “The Asian-looking guy,” Liam said. “White hair, green eyes? He was standing beside you two on the night the Yokai broke free. Don’t you remember?” Luca furrowed his eyebrows. “Ava and I were the only ones assigned to this project. Everyone else was part of the research team, and we knew all of them by name. We’ve never even heard of this ‘Komyo’ guy before, let alone seen him standing so close to us.” Hazel’s eyes darted to the empty container again, her mind working furiously. Nothing made sense. How was it that she remembered seeing him, but Luca and Ava didn’t? It was as if Komyo was only invisible— Everything clicked. Oh my god… The light bulb above her head could’ve blinded everyone