"Wake up! It's afternoon, sleepyhead." Diego groggily opened his eyes and saw Arcueid waving her hands in front of his face.
She didn't show any signs of pain as if what happened earlier was just an illusion. She still has that sunny smile on her face.
"Are you awake?"
"Yeah…" Diego sat up before looking at his watch. It's indeed afternoon, and they should probably get going.
"Is there something wrong?" She tilted her head.
"Nothing. We should go now." He shook his head and stood up.
After some preparation, the two left the hotel room and went downstairs. On their entire way down the elevator, no one spoke but surprisingly, it wasn't as awkward when they first came here.
As they leave the hotel, Arcueid couldn't help but ask, "Hey, do you feel nervous when you do this?"
"I'm sorry?" Diego turned to her, "Do you mean the exorcism?"
"Yeah. After all, it will be pretty bad if they find you pretending." She nodded.
Diego's face darkened but after seeing her curious look, he calmed himself down, "I am not pretending. As long as the job is done, did I really fail?"
"Well, no but—"
"Then it doesn't matter. In this world, what is valued the most are results. Who cares if it's shady or not?" Diego shrugged indifferently.
Arcueid looked at him before muttering, "You're obviously a nice guy so why are you pretending to be bad…?"
"You…" He wanted to say something but sighed.
No one spoke anymore after and just continued walking yet the girl's enthusiasm wasn't dampened.
After some time, they went inside the shinto mall and found the cinema section, making Arcueid wander as she looked around the previewed movies.
"The pictures are moving? So this is what cinema is." She raised her hand in amazement.
Absolute Cinema.
Diego ignored her and called for the client. Some time later, the client called and saw him and the girl behind him looking at the videos with excitement.
"Diego Seijuro-sama? I'm Hajimaru, she is…" Hajimura offered his hand which Diego took before replying.
"Nice to meet you, Hajimaru-san. As for her, she's my assistant. It's her first time in Japan so I apologize for her behavior." He said apologetically.
"No. It's fine. I'm glad she's enjoying it." Hajimaru waved his hand. It's rare for foreigners to have that look of excitement when they come here to watch movies, it's always welcome if someone from other countries comes to enjoy their movies.
"So what is the problem?" Diego went straight to business.
Hajimaru also turned serious before explaining the entire thing again while walking to bring him to the location.
"This is it." They stopped at a certain double door.
"We really don't know what to do, Diego-sama. If you manage to solve it, we will definitely not disappoint you with the payment." Hajimaru offered solemnly.
"I will. Just wait for the news." Diego grabbed Arcueid who was looking at the videos in the preview before whispering to her ear, "That's not cinema. Those are videos. The cinema is the place we are in."
"Oh."
"We'll get there first, Hajimaru-san. Start the movie and let's see what all of this is about." Diego cleared his throat and Hajimaru agreed.
The two entered the movie theater, leaving Hajimaru who left to start the movie.
Entering the theater, Arcueid smiled. The place was dark with only the large pictures moving at the front.There were no people aside from them and the place due to the air conditioner running.
"Amazing. This looks fun," Arcueid looked around and saw the chairs before turning to Diego, "Where should we sit?"
Diego thought for a moment before looking upstairs. This was the perfect spot, it was dark and the light of the screen could barely shine on it. If something weird happens, it'll be mostly in that area, if not, the high view can allow them to see what's happening below.
Before he could speak, a knock interrupted them, prompting him to open it first. The owner must have forgotten something. To his surprise, when he opened the door, it was a staff member of the cinema with two popcorn and drinks in his hands.
"The boss wants to give it to you." He handed him the snacks and drinks.
"Thanks." Come to think of it, they haven't had lunch yet. This should solve their problem, for the time being.
After getting the snacks, the staff bowed before closing the doors.
"What was that?" Arcueid asks from behind.
"Just some snacks. Here." He handed her popcorn and drinks.
"What's this?" She took a sniff and wanted to taste it but Diego stopped her.
"Let's eat it after the movie starts." They went upstairs and found a seat to sit down on.
Once they are seated, Diego puts one of the drinks on the cupholder, making Arcueid do the same.
"It's so dark here." Arcueid looked around and muttered. This is a public place right? Why is it so dark?
"This area is for a better view and…" Diego paused as he remembered something.
"And what?" She perked her ears.
"Nevermind."
"No way! You're going to say something then suddenly not say it. Do you know how annoying that is?"
"I know but…" What is he supposed to say?" That couples sometimes have sex in this part of the theater?
Stupid fucking brain.
"But what?" She glared at him.
Diego wanted to say something but stopped and urged her to look forward, "It's starting."
Thankfully, Arcueid was more interested in the movie and started watching. As they did, Diego kept looking around, so far there was nothing strange.
"This popcorn is so good. This drink too." Arcueid exclaimed beside her as she ate the popcorn and took a sip of probably cola from the cup.
He looked at the screen again and watched the movie. It wasn't really anything, it's the typical romance movie, he has seen this type countless times.
It was an average plot. The main character has some beef with the heroine's parents because he's poor and shit and the heroine rebels against her parents because they are hindering their love.
Parents make sense to be honest. How can the main character support their daughter when he's dirt poor? Heroine is from a wealthy family so she never lacked anything aside from her parents' love because they are too busy.
Typical love brained woman.
Because the main character showed her some love, she's ready to give everything because love beats all and her parents can never understand that because they weren't there.
Meh.
Overall, it's a braindead plot that only couples in the honeymoon phase would fall for. He wouldn't be surprised if the reason why no one was watching here is because of this shit romance and not the ghosts.
On the other hand, Arcueid was completely immersed in the plot. This was her first time watching a movie so she was completely hooked at the story.
Diego saw this and just let her be. There's no problem in enjoying this hot garbage. As he was thinking, a chill passed through his body, prompting him to look around.
The area was dark and the part where the light shines has no one people on it. He looked behind him and frowned, for some reason, he felt as if someone was watching him.
"AHHHHH! Don't go, fight for it!" Arcueid's scream brought him back to reality. He turned to the screen and saw people at black suits beating the main character as he was reaching for the heroine.
From the looks of it, it's the heroine's bodyguards, beating the main character for no reason.
"That's so unfair. There's so many of them!" Arcueid smacked the chair in anger.
"You know. Screaming and hitting things in the cinema is prohibited. You could even be banned for life." Diego gave an amused chuckle. He had never seen someone so passionate about a movie.
She paled hearing that and sat down obediently. He could still see her anger as she looked at the screen.
An hour has passed and the feeling of being watched did not leave him. Fortunately, Arcueid was here so he wasn't too creeped out.
At the ending of the movie, the main character was finally accepted because the heroine's parents saw their bond and love.
Yey….
"...Hgh.." Arcueid rubbed her eyes. She was actually touched by such a plot which made him speechless.
"I guess that's it." He sighed.
"That's it? What do you mean that's it?! Aren't you happy they had a happy ending together?" She glared at him, obviously dissatisfied by his lack of reaction.
"It wasn't that special, trust me." He replied calmly.
"I don't care. It was beautiful." She sighed, happy about her first movie, "So this is what movies feel like. We should watch it again for some time."
"We? Who's we? Do you even know what you're saying? And what do you mean again?" Diego threw her a baffled look. Forget watching this atrocious movie again. Watching a romance movie with someone else is basically a date.
He simply doesn't have the time to do such things.
And it costs money.
"O-Oh.. I thought we—" Arcueid was downcast but before she could continue, the lights in the theater flickered before the screen that was playing the credits suddenly blacked out.
It was pure darkness in the theater. The red eyes of Arcueid were the only thing he could see.
"Diego? Why are you looking around?''
"The lights turned off. It's pitch black." He replied, confused.
"Really? I can see you just fine. See?'' Arcueid grabbed his hand to confirm.
'Damn supernatural senses.' Diego took a deep breath and said, "Then it's fine. Let's go down first."
Arcueid went first to guide him and they went down the stairs. No one spoke as they went down, the silence was bothering him, as if something was not right.
"Arcueid, are we there yet? Why do I feel it's taking so long to go down?" He frowned and asked her but to his surprise, she didn't answer.
No. Diego clenched his hand that was supposed to be held by her and to his surprise, he couldn't feel her touch.
"When was it?" He couldn't see anything so when he took another step forward, he fell down.
"What?!" It was like he's falling into an endless abyss.
King Crimson appeared behind him and tried to grab onto something but to his surprise, there was nothing. It's like an empty void.
'This is bad. I need to stop myself from failing.' Diego gritted his teeth and tried using Epitaph to see the future but to his surprise, he was still falling.
He used it again but all he sees in his vision are falling, no other images.
Even though Diego can't see anything, he knows that if he continues falling, he might die due to the impact of his fall!
"Come on. Hurry up, stupid eyes. Do your thing." Diego tried blinking multiple times to activate his so-called Mystic Eyes but nothing happened.
Damn it!
This annoying space.
I should just tear this apart!
—-
"Diego?" Arcueid looked behind her and to her surprise, he vanished.
"A bounded field?" She may not be a magus but she has already experienced a bunch of magecraft in her lifetime and that includes one of the most basic forms of magecraft, bounded fields.
Bounded fields are in short, barriers used to isolate people, mostly normal ones from entering another space. It could be a bounded field that distorts their cognition and makes them unable to enter or just straight up block them.
"But a bounded field that took Diego away?" Arcueid was puzzled. She seldom encountered ghosts. As a True Ancestor, they weren't really enemies and no wraiths are stupid enough to mess with her.
But it's different now, she's so weak that she wouldn't be surprised if a wraith tried opposing her.
"He should still be here." Arcueid knows that bounded fields, no matter how powerful they are, cannot teleport other people so suddenly. Perhaps if it's a magus from the Age of Gods, they could do it but modern magus simply lack the skill to pull it off.
It's even worse for ghosts that are trapped in a specific place.
The only logical conclusion is for Diego still being in the mall, or even in the theater. Either in another space that is covered with another bounded field or a different room.
As she was about to look for him, Arcueid suddenly saw someone standing in front of the large screen. It may be dark for others but as a True Ancestor, her vision was enhanced to the point that darkness on this level can barely hinder her.
A human? She can't feel anything weird from that person.
"Hey! You shouldn't be here." She was about to approach the person until the screen opened.
She was surprised by the sudden light but what followed next surprised her even more.
It was Diego standing in the cemetery. To be exact, it was the same place where they first met.
'Wait.. I'm here?' She found herself standing close to Diego who was supposed to be inside the screen.
She wanted to speak, to call for him but to her surprise, her body moved and began approaching him.
'Why am I moving?' Arcueid tried to resist but her body wouldn't stop.
Looking at the dead corpses in the ground, Arcueid hurried up even more. If this goes on, she will get killed again. In her current state, she would die and have to recover for a long time to come back again.
She tried mobilizing her body, even trying to extend her claws but nothing happened. It's as if her body wasn't her own.
Just as she was resisting, Diego's body slowly turned around to face her and there, she fully saw his face.
He has red glowing eyes in contrast to his green ones. The glare it exudes actually sent chills through her spine as if he could kill her at any given moment.
To her surprise, aside from the threat, there was another emotion in her heart.
'Beautiful!' Arcueid's eyes widened as she stared at Diego's eyes. It was pure red with a rainbow tint around the black pupils, it was flickering and full of wonder as they swallowed the souls of those who gazed around it.
For a moment, Arcueid actually wanted to get killed by those eyes but she quickly snapped out of it. She tried resisting and finally, she was able to move but it was too late.
'Diego' raised his hand, it was a normal hand, she couldn't detect any mana reinforcing it like those Executors but the danger it was exuding was enough for her to take it seriously.
The arm went down and Arcueid subconsciously raised her arms to resist.
*BANG*
'