"What's the time?" asked Eliza, walking alongside Kazuki.

They were in the middle of the customs line. The Ball Palace looked far too bright, filled with splendour - and the hidden blood of so many beneath them all... The walls were lined with ornate pillars, with hovering chandeliers and fabric banners Hanging from the ceiling, displaying the vibrant colours of the galaxy's aristocracy.

'Would you like standard time or…?' Synthia asked in return, perched like a bird on Eliza's shoulder, peering across the entrance hall.

"Umm… Localised time, please?" Eliza shook her head as she glanced up and around, the lavishly decorated entrance zone was nothing short of a total display of luxury and wealth.

Kazuki expected nothing less, considering who's hosting the Dassant this year.

'0900. One hour until the start of the Dassant proper, we were quite lucky to have arrived on time.' Synthia said.

"I guess…" Eliza trailed off. She turned towards Kazuki. Her beady blood-red eyes stared into his amber-gold husks.

"What?" Kazuki asked before Eliza could even say a word. His head remained planted forward.

"Chloé will be here, have you got anyone else with you? Well… except the bodyguards you told me earlier," Eliza said, then raising an eyebrow. "Wait… are you allowed guards?"

She then looked around, seeing the half a dozen guards stationed around the room. Imperial Knights.

"Yes," Kazuki said. "Three is enough."

"Oh… What about the attendant cap?" Eliza trailed off. This was her second Dassant, Kazuki thought.

"Attendant cap scales on fame and wealth…" Kazuki held firm onto the hover luggage in his hand. "Despite what it may seem, my personal wealth is not large."

Eliza shook her head. "Isn't the AGENCY profitable? It is… Clandestine's successor, is it not?"

It was. "Hmm." Kazuki was going to sell it short to Eliza. "I pay my men more. I pay them far more than Clandestine did."

"Ooh, well, I guess that's why a lot of your men seem quite loyal to you," remarked Eliza.

Money buys loyalty. His blood secures it. His name meant nothing to them because he bleeds more than he proclaims.

"Fer-Charelota. Any idea on how to contact him?" asked Kazuki, slowly stepping forward as the customs line shifted.

Eliza replied, "Oh, don't worry about that, he'll come of his own volition… He's organising this, so he'll be quite busy." She popped her head out of the line for a moment. peering down to the security gates leading into the palace proper.

"You… don't have anything bad on you, do you?" inquired Eliza.

That was too subjective for him to answer. He had medical drugs on him… From the perspective of his detractors, they'd see that as bad. Proclaim and lie that the Contract-Breaker is a druggie…

"Luggage, body, regular stuff," Kazuki said.

Synthia then Eliza snapped towards Kazuki. "Wait, but you're…" she trailed off, pointing at him. "You don't have anything on you, right? Like… self defence things."

Kazuki paused. He absolutely did. "I'll convince them," he said.

His head glanced around the room, noting down the monitor drones scanning up and down the line. There were guards as well, white-cloaked, suited and armoured individuals. Gold accent trims along their clothes and armour… It was more extravagant than last year.

"Imperial Knights…" Kazuki trailed.

"Pardon?" Eliza asked, leaning in towards Kazuki.

"Nothing." Kazuki's eyes glanced across the room, before settling back forward. He didn't have Archius to help him, not here at least. "I'll think of something."

"Kaz!" Eliza shouted in a hushed tone. "There's no need for weapons, especially not here."

Kazuki simply nodded. It was better to just not argue with her. Arguing gives him headaches, and with her especially. She did have a point, though. There are no open threats here. It is best to play by the rules. "I'll hand them over. That good with you?"

"Why… it sounds like you were asking me for permission…"

'Probably because he was,' said Synthia, turning to Kaz. 'Mr. GemRy, you shouldn't be worried about trouble, the Imperial Knights are more than competent.'

"Threats without, or within?" asked Kazuki. Synthia paused for a moment. Both he and Eliza waited for an answer.

Then, Eliza realised what he was asking. "Hey, I don't think we'll have too much trouble…"

The Imperial Knights aren't too fond of him, especially after the last Dassant. He's been pardoned, though. Officially, at least. Unofficially, that was a different story. And Matt had connections, Mischief Board.

They must have served him well before Kazuki smothered his reputation and brains across the window.

Still, who knows what enemies lie in wait? He continued to think, time passing. Before he knew it, they were at the checkpoint.

"Bags and luggage in the tub," said the chief security guard. They were tall, a figure clouded in white clothes, with an ornamental arming-sword at their waist. "You two together?"

"Hmm?" Eliza looked over at the guard as she placed her bags on a hovering tub, attached to a searching machine. She glanced back at Kazuki, who was putting his own stuff in another tub, before looking back. "Yes, Kazuki's with me."

"Alright, just a formality but… passports." The man extended a hand out as Kazuki handed his own personal holoport to Eliza.

She passed them over as the man ignited the black and blue passports. He peered at the information for a moment, including their Gene-Chains.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Kazuki peered past Eliza's head, seeing the contrasting colours of the two passports. The blue standard Republic holoport against the Black, diplomatic immunity of the Trasian Delegation.

He skimmed through them, before passing them back. "Welcome to the Ball Palace, Miss Celeste-Delmara and Prince Geminorum-Ryzaku. The journey to the main hall will take some time, I would recommend you two change in one of the changing rooms before the metro arrives."

Eliza nodded. "Thank you, sir," she said, as she passed through the contraband detector. Kazuki glanced over at the bags as they slid into the machine through a large gap. There was a drone behind the computer. Then, Kazuki stepped through the same detector.

As expected, a loud beep stopped him from passing as the guard placed a hand on his shoulder. "Should have expected that," the guard remarked.

"Yeah," Kazuki replied. They led him to the side, over to one of the smaller tables near the corner of the room.

"Kaz? Is there a problem?" Eliza looked over at him, as she was holding onto both their luggage.

Kazuki shook his head. "Just go on ahead, it'll take a while."

"Oh! It shouldn't take that long," said another guard, a female voice taking over the inspection. He looked over at the guard. "The galaxy's a dangerous place… Here's different though. Hand over your weapons, Arbiter…"

Kazuki recognised the voice. "Lycinakia?" he asked.

The guard nodded, waving at him. "Sorry about this, but rules are rules."

Oh… That was a surprise. Though he was quite thankful that she was able to get a good job after leaving the AGENCY.

Kazuki lingered for a moment, as Lycinakia placed her hands on her hips. It was close to her blades, a simple gesture. Foolish, yes, but Kazuki will respect her for standing to her rules.

He complied, nodding. He placed one hand up in front of the guard, as he pulled out a pistol from his trousers. The guard placed a security case in front of him, something for him to place his weapons in.

They must have been saving this for him, he reluctantly thought.

Then, he took out throwing knives from his belt. A secondary pistol wrapped around his ankle. A miniature WRIST-SHOT within his ICAPAD. A small knife from his other ankle. A third pistol hidden underneath his arm…

Lycinakia let off a small sigh, before chuckling at the sight.

Eliza, though, was simply patiently waiting. But Synthia was another story. 'At my estimates, we have twenty minutes of changing time until the next round of the metro. I have no doubts about Kazuki's ability to change clothes quickly, but Miss Eliza, you should probably get a head start.'

"What, no!" Eliza retorted. "It'll only take a small amount of time, right, Kazuki?"

"I think," he replied. He took out an expandable stun taser embedded into his holophone. Half of it was gear that Archius would have snuck in with… successfully, unlike him. "I'll have to apologise to Rivera later."

"I… can see that," said Eliza, before letting off a small laugh.

Kazuki finished up by placing down three more throwing knives.

Lycin asked, "You done, Arbiter?" She sounded mildly frustrated.

"Yeah," Kazuki said, as he walked off.

He grabbed hold of his own luggage, marching forward as Eliza handed him back his holoport. The Phoenix mon seal shone brightly… He was a phoenix, though he was a literal one… arisen from the ashes of Clandestine.

However, that was not the Phoenix his family wanted him to be. Nevertheless, they don't get a say in that matter. They lost their right for that nine years, eleven months ago…

∗ ∗ ∗

Ugh… did she… order the wrong dress, Eliza thought. She circled around the room, counting her paces instead of focusing on the problem at hand. Taking a swift glance, she looked in the mirror. Seeing the spectacular dress that Kazuki's tailor had made, it was beyond her own description of elegance, extravagance and modesty, all compounded into a single item of clothing.

To think he worked at such speed and in such a small space! She felt like twirling around in it, but Synthia cut that thought short, sprouting off her shoulder and onto her head.

"I even have one for each day of the week…" Eliza trailed off, glancing at the wide selection of similar-ish clothes that the master tailor had provided. The themes were all similar, yet different at the same time - a mix that she wasn't able to truly comprehend… even with a repository of words from studying comprehension.

'Are we done? I believe Kazuki is waiting for us outside,' she said. 'And we've only got two minutes until the train arrives.'

"Two minutes? How do you know?!" Eliza asked.

Synthia rolled her eyes as she stood on the bag of luggage that Eliza had with her, no taller than a Her coffee mug. 'I've downloaded the schedule for the system, and these people do love their schedules, so if you are changed I believe we can leave, you can freely gawk at it ON the train.'

"Well… I just…" Eliza trailed off, looking back at the dress. She was worried that she was… wearing it wrong? It just had a sense of flourish that made her believe she wasn't fit for it.

'Well, you got what you asked for, is there anything else?' she asked. 'Come on, let's go.'

"Wait…" Eliza readjusted her hair ornament, keeping her hair neatly in place… This dress was fine, she thought. Her pride overpowered the thoughts of it being above her. "Alright, I think I'm ready."

'Great!' Synthia said out loud, holographically projecting herself onto Eliza's shoulder as she shoved everything in her luggage bag, before messily zipping it up. Activating the hover lifts, she tugged both on the curtains and the hovering luggage, exiting forth as Kazuki stood leaning against the wall in the hall.

"Alright, let's get going," said Kazuki, with his cold, monotone voice. He gave her one look, before turning and walking away. He wore a black suit, with gold and red as its secondary and tertiary colours. It was the family colours of his house, though his response was quite lacklustre, given how she agonised over her presentation.

Was that all he had to say?! She grumbled to herself but followed anyway. He must be worried about the train's timetable, she thought.

Whilst walking, the sight of a painting caught her eye... "Kaz...?" Noticing that Eliza had stopped, Kazuki slowly backpedalled.

"Hmm?" inquired Kazuki, slowly looking at the painting. It was in three dimensions, a snapshot of history, in three dimensions. "Oh. That dates back to the year four-seven-four-nine."

"How can you tell?" replied Eliza in a rather frustrated tone, both at Kazuki's lack of tact and the lack of a proper explanation.

Kazuki slowly gestured to a woman in the painting, a Trasian woman dancing with another. "Ancestor. The to-be-Empress with her to-be Consort," nonchalantly answered Kazuki, before walking away.

Eliza found his lack of emotions rather... rough, to say the least, especially with the bombshell just dropped on Eliza! Still, she followed after him.

Walking through onto the station, it was packed with people, all wearing brooches of differing sizes, shapes, colours and flavour. She tried her best to look over the shoulders of everyone, seeing if the train had arrived, as a distant Whir slid into hearing distance.

"You didn't say anything…"

Kazuki snapped back, "What?"

She pouted, looking away and letting off a harumph. "Can you see anything?" Eliza changed the subject, not wanting to repeat herself.

Synthia projected herself on top of Eliza's head, placing a hand up to her forehead, glancing left and right. 'Not exactly, though it should be here in just a few moments.'

Eliza sighed, feeling something tug at her arm. It was a course, rough hand. "Best we don't get separated," Kazuki said. She glanced down at his hand, seeing the burn marks and scars littering his skin, along with a very slight shake.

She grabbed his arm back in return. "I concur," she said. "So… when's the train arriving?"

"Now?" Kazuki asked, as a gush of wind rushed into the station/ A steel object flung into view, stopping at immense speeds in front of them. Almost everyone was pushed back slightly by the force, as gale and storm cleared a path from the doors to a yellow line painted holographically on the platform.

Looking around, Eliza realised that they were in front now, as almost everyone had been pushed back by the air force.

"Huh?!" Eliza looked around, and at the ground, noting 'DO NOT STAND IN FRONT OF THE LINE' sign plastered to the floor.

"Hmm," Kazuki commented, as he looked around him. No one was on the ground, though the force was quite strong. "Unnecessary theatrics."

He tugged on her arm, as the doors opened, entering into the train - ahead of a crowd of stunned passengers. "How did you?"

"I stood behind the line," Kazuki commented. "If the air didn't push them back, there'd be a fine paste of red on these walls."

The train wasn't exactly like a standard metro train back on Anagora. Its chassis was ornate and old, yet had a grand design of elegance on the interior, built with cabins instead of mass rows of seats, like the trains on her homeworld of Enga. Kazuki led her into the first cabin they found. She carefully placed her luggage down beside the door as Kazuki dropped his.

'I see the owners of this palace still have quite a sense of humour,' said Synthia.

"Something like that," Kazuki replied, sitting down. He glanced out the window.

Eliza sat opposite him, still somewhat bitter that he hadn't commented anything on her clothes. She angrily cleared her throat, attracting Kazuki's ire and gaze. She crossed her arms, puffing her chest forward with confidence. "So?" she asked.

"So what?" Kazuki immediately snapped back, without a moment of thinking.

Synthia projected onto Kazuki's shoulders, whispering something into his ear. He slowly pried his gaze back to Eliza. "Oh…" Kazuki paused and trailed off, before looking at Eliza…

His face was unchanged, a blank and unremorseful expression. "It's good," Kazuki said, his voice monotone - but with a hint of hesitation.

Eliza ignored that, she shouldn't have asked to begin with. It takes far too much effort to get Kazuki to express any emotion whatsoever, she thought. Best to accept what he's able to do, she thought.

Synthia projected onto Eliza's shoulder. 'Come on, Miss Elizabeth…' she whispered. 'You understand that he must be rather tense… give him some slack. You know I do when you skip plans with friends to revise.'

Of course she knows that… Yet still the forced words stuck to her mind, leeching away the brain power for everything else.

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