CHAPTER 3

  “Sirius, Wake up.” Regor tapped my shoulder.

  I jolted awake on my seat. Way more frightening than seeing something inappropriate. “By the stars! Regor! I was having my deep slumber-!”

  He interrupted me. Rude if him to do so. “You call that a nap? You slept for two lights straight, Sirius. I don’t think you can consider that a short-term rest.”

  “First of all, that is how I must sleep. Second of all, two lights?! And no one seemed to awaken me from my nap?!” I stated loudly.

  “Master, lower your tone. We do not want this kind of attention.” Astei looked to see if anyone heard my yells. A lot, none the less.

  I’m sorry, I can’t control how my booming voice breaks the sound barrier in the train. I just woke up too.

  “How much nearer are we to the council hall?” I asked, hoping the two of them knew at least.

  Regor was the one who answered. “3 more lights. It’s a long time, don't you dare panic that much.”

  “That is not enough time to warn the others. What if one of them already fell into the same pit as I have?” I fumbled with my fingers in worry.

  Regor reassured me. “Sirius, relax. I’ve already checked on the others while you were sleeping and no one has ended up in that situation yet.”

  Astei then looked at me, worrying about me worrying. “Calm down your nerves, Master. Detective Regor can answer anything you ask him.”

  I took a deep breath, and settled down on the anxiety. “I thank you for your concern for me, Astei.”

  He then faced at me. “I should use the bathroom.”

  And he just left. He was probably going to stay there for quite some time again. Not my fault my sleep schedule is elongated. Maybe I should talk about something to calm myself down.

  “I just needed to wake you up to remind you about our whereabouts.” Regor apologized.

  “It was best for me.” I sighed after saying that.

  “I should signal the two to see if any predicaments happened in the circus while I was asleep.” I brought out my Cosmic Communicator to use.

  Regor just decided to stargaze out the window while I did my own thing. If he had nothing to do, he’s love to watch sceneries. Crime fighting and case solving was always making him tired, so he does this as some kind of “Me-Time.”

  I opened the gadget and Cosmo appeared again. “Order Sirius, what do you need to do today?”

  “Send an Astral Signal to Xegel. I want to check how it has been going on the other side.”

  “Signal Sent.” It replied.

  Now, I just had to wait. It might take a long time but that really depends on what universe we are currently in. I know someone who is annoyed at people constantly, and he's in front of me.

  “Regor? Which universe are we in at the moment?” I asked.

  His gaze stared away from the window to face at me, his peace ruptured from my question. "Cosmon XVII. Don't disturbed me again."

  “So that is five universes away from the circus…” This signal will take a really long while…

  The signals really depend by how strong or how far we are to anyone. The council has extremely fast access to each other while the rest depend on how far they are. No, this doesn’t apply to the council members and their devotees unfortunately, so I have to wait.

  The silence is too awkward. I had to say something to fill that silence. “How has it been going in Topion, Regor?”

  He rolls his eyes then looks at me. “What did I say?"

  “Well, what must fill the empty space of the silence? You and I look like strangers who repel from conversing with each other.” I told him.

  He had no choice but to talk. “It’s been rough as usual. Nothing more, nothing less. You luckily pulled me out of that nightmare of paperwork.”

  “What can I say? You enjoy having yourself being brought here by someone else to do an escapade from the awful load of work. Being an escapee when it is your job to chase one… Ironic.”

  With the few seconds of silence came a chime from Regor’s Cosmic Communicator. It’s kind of embarrassing to have it make a sound in the middle of very awkward silence.

  “I need to take this.” He said.

  “I wish to join in but only to listen.” I requested.

  Connection secured from Topion, Dusty Hand, Astron IV

  A voice come from the other end of the signal. “Regor. We captured someone trying to steal the Sparking.”

  Just in time, another incident. I knew it.

  “Let me guess, Kalypto. A Unit attempted to steal it?” He asked to confirm.

  Kalypto then was slightly shocked. He probably asked himself how Regor knew already. “How do you know who tried to steal it? You haven’t been here for a while.”

  He mentioned what happened when he left. “Let’s just say this is the second time it happened. Sirius had it first."

  I said, “The situation finally arrived at your planet. I must wonder what their leader wants to do, and what the pattern to the attempts are”

  Regor then looked at Kalypto seriously. “I’ll explain this all. You tell me your findings.”

  I stood up. “I shall check on Astei. He is rather having a really long time in the bathroom and I am well concerned.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  He stared at me when I said that. "Come back quicker. This also concerns you"

  As I was walking to the direction of where Astei went, many other passengers in the train were talking and mentioning me. Yes, I love drenching in my fame and popularity. Please keep on admiring me my fellow peasants.

  When I reached the bathroom, I knocked on the door. “Astei? Are you feeling alright? You have enjoyed your stay in there a bit much…”

  Only was I met with the door opened and no one was inside. Where did he go? Did he pull one of his disappearing tricks on me or did I check the wrong bathroom? I could’ve sworn I saw him moving this direction.

  “What in the universes… I should consider searching the room…” I went into the room to investigate. I’m sure Regor could feel the curiosity.

  The spark can be felt from so far away. Even stronger if it were to be closer. Surprisingly, only me, Regor, Meissa and Janus can feel these kinds of pulses. Official by Janus, he calls this phenomenon a “Pulsar” or something.

  I found a fragment of Astei’s golden body. “A fragment? What happened in here?"

  I then thought of something to do. "I must search the premises. I am not having him be in another predicament.”

  As I stepped out of the bathroom, I heard a clink on the heel of my shoe. Another fragment. And a trail of fragments leading me to the darker carts of the express. Creepy stuff? Consider me out of this place by now.

  “Astei, why should you bring me in a theme I do not enjoy as much… At the utter thought of void inducing clowns…” I said to myself to not be scared.

  I looked out the window and saw a planet made of pure water. Otherwise known as “Hiedronus” which served as a halfway mark to the council court. I know one of Merope’s devotees live there, I just can’t remember who.

  “I beg of you, I hope you are alright.” The worry started to envelop me in its shadow again. It only heightened when I heard him yell

  “Master step back! The Voidstrums are there” Astei saw me while being shielded away from me by those creatures. His torso was also broken so he’s currently split into two.

  “Move away from my devotee.” I prepared my whip.

  These Voidstrums are much bigger than regular ones and the reason is because I noticed a gadget made by the Units imbedded in their dark bodies. Avior has a lot of explaining to do here.

  “You do not wish to give him to me? Then I should earn him by engaging in a fight.” I slashed my whip to signal the start of the battle.

  They growled, and I run towards them and attacked. Regor, I seriously need your help right now. I can’t do this, these monsters are the size of our pure forms!

  I whipped one of them around using my weapon and fended off two more others. There was a lot of them and I was trying my best. My whip isn’t doing anything at this rate because it just cuts through their bodies. I hate this.

  “Why is this not going the way I wish to?! There is way too many of you!”

  Astei then reminded me of something. “I can’t help you out, Master! Without my torso working, I cannot simply put my power to use!”

  If he did move while still broken, he would crumble and die. Yes, it’s that Sirius. Get it? Because my name is Sirius? Never mind.

  I was struggling so much, until someone decided to finally show up. “You thought I wouldn’t be curious of what was going on? It’s what I’m known for, Sirius.”

  His true weapon, his double-wield solar gun shot directly at the Voidstrums and they were getting killed there and there. Something my whip couldn’t do.

  “Patience, Astei! I am almost at your side-!” I hollered at him before a Voidstrum destroyed his golden torso. Now he’s split into two.

  “No!”

  “Hagh-!” Regor grunted while defeating the monsters. A few seconds and all of them were gone.

  “Regor, help me-!” My anxiety reached even the highest peak of the tallest geological structure ever known by the council.

  I took Astei’s top part while Regor took his lower part. Ok, so now we have two reasons to get to the court faster. I need Avior to fix this since he’s the only one who can fix it since without the bird chirping, Astei can't function and Avior's followers being the cause of me and Regor's core being nearly stolen.

  “I shall say to the other two about what has happened… Regor, I was hoping for not another predicament…” I said.

  “It’s probably a better idea we hide Astei’s body somewhere. We can’t cause panic in the express.” He commanded.

  I looked around to see if we can put his halves in some kind of bag. “I have found one!”

  “Quick, put him in there. I can hear staff approaching.” He got alarmed when he heard footsteps approaching. He also took a gadget the fell from the Voidstrums earlier.

  We stuffed his body parts in a real big suitcase. This feels like we’re doing a heist but it’s with a person, not money.

  “Is everything alright?” One of the staff emerged from the active express cart.

  “Fine as wine, dear member of the express. We were just strolling through the other carts as usual.” Don’t worry, I picked up the pieces of gold so there wouldn’t be any mysterious traces left.

  “It’s not any of your business. Scurry along, staff.” Regor barked.

  The staff left with a small amount of frightened. They didn’t even think to look back after Regor’s scowl.

  “A bit of a harsh command, Regor?” I said to him.

  “Let’s just get on with it. No one snoops at business like this.” A snarky comment left from his mouth. I don't like that tone.

  Back at our seats with the bag containing Astei’s parts, I looked at Regor.

  “Did you get anything from the Unit stealing your core, or is it the same approach as my situation?” I questioned.

  “Same approach. They have some kind of way to get to the core even though it’s kept in secret well… I’m still writing down the events so could you please do something else? I’m busy.”

  I opened up my communicator to see if the signal arrived. It did.

  Signal received by: The Circus, Milky Way Galaxy, Astron XII

  I looked at them in the holographic screen. “Xegel? Evliga? I bring you terrible news from my very end.”

  Xegel's voice came from the other end of the signal. “Master, you haven’t called in two lights, what happened?”

  “I had a very well rested slumber, thank you." I stated first, then brought the bad news. "Astei broke into two by a Voidstrum. Of course, me and Regor have both his body parts, do not fret.”

  They did, in fact, fret. “Oh, dear Orders… Evliga, darling, calm down-“

  “Astei is deceased! I feel like fainting into a very deep slumber!”

  Xegel rushed to Evliga for her aid. “My precious doll, relax… Master can fix him in due time.”

  Trying to help through the signal, I said to them. “I apologize for the devastating news, both of you. It has not been exactly the kind of trip I wanted either…”

  “How has the circus been going? No mishaps while I am far?” I asked.

  “Work is the same as it has always been, Master. It’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Good. That is what I expect for you two to maintain while I am at leave.” I responded back.

  At least I knew the circus is in good hands. Not to have another stealing situation again or else I would completely lose my own sanity. It’s safe to say that it is safe for the meantime.

  “I am almost at the council court. Please, keep up the good work I expect both of you to do.” I ended the connection. “This is not how I desired my trip to be like.”

  Regor just rolled his eyes. This was a regular for him. “Well, it’s best you rest. We have a lot to waste energy on by the time we get to the court.”

  “You made the point. I guess I shall have my next deep slumber. Dear friend of mine, will you wake me up as soon as we arrive?” I asked him to do.

  “If you will be the reason of my extended lack of sleep, then so be it.” He crossed his arms as he leaned back into the cushion. He's very stubborn, it's evident on the way he speaks.

  And I fell asleep. Who knows what might happen again for another unknown extent of my sleep.

  My dreams are always black. I barely dream but, today is different.

  I saw a tarot card floating in mid air. Could it be from Rana? Or Altair? What do they want to tell me with this? “What in the worlds…”

  It wasn’t just any random tarot card. It was specifically The Fool, number zero, calling out to me. Quite odd... “The Fool? What kind of reading is this?”

  I approached the care but before I could even touch it, I was awakened by Regor. Great. Another dream ruined. I prefer my dreams not broken. Ugh, guess I’ll give these fragments to Rana then.

  “Sirius, we’re here.”

  "At least you did the task I asked you to do. Let us gather our things."

  We grabbed our stuff and prepared to depart from the express. Of course were bringing the two halves of a devotee with us that no one knows about yet. It needed to be secret.

  "You also disturbed me from my sleep."

  "We can't be slacking off. We have a lot of work to deal with here." He said back to me.

  The conductor approached us and said his temporary farewells.

  "The best of luck to you two for whatever you have prepared in the council today." He bowed his hat.

  "No need for that, conductor. You already have one of the order's blessings."

  We stood at the gate of the council court, with the letters written on top reading, “The Order’s Council Court” or the TOCC. Weird name but who cares, were the TOCC of the multiverse. Get it? Do I stop with these bad puns? Probably not.

  I then looked at the gate in front of me. "This shall mark the start of a long journey. They need to know and deserve to know"

  And so we went in through the astral barrier, preparing to hold a meeting by having Janus initiate it.