[Cathy's Apartment Building, Havok, Piasu, Ryomania, 4:12 PM, May 7th, Tuesday 2025]
Everything went so still.
Cathy had shut her eyes, remembering what Erika had taught her and putting it to good use, she managed to meditate on the image of the purple flame.
It burned brightly before her, inside of the flame she could see a purple prism with twelve rocks floating around it, it spun erratically.
The more that Cathy focused on the flame the more the fire seemed to diminish, the fire growing weaker and weaker until eventually only the prism was left.
Cathy continued focusing on it, trying to utilize the Flow in her body—as much as she remembered the sensation of using it.
The prism began slowing down, slowly, slowly.
Until it stopped, standing perfectly upright, the twelve rocks orbiting it looped around it.
Then it shone brightly, brightly enough to open her eyes.
Cathy Ariston: "Ah! Hah… Hah… What the...."
Waking up in a cold sweat from the power nap induced meditation session, she looked down at her hands, at her body.
She was sitting on the bed.
Actually sitting, no purple aura visible around her.
A large grin appeared on her face and she giggled as she got up, going to the mirror to further confirm it.
Cathy Ariston: "It's fully gone… I'm actually touching the floor! Oh that feels so good…"
She jumped up and down slightly, feeling the weight of her own body again as it connected with the floor each time.
However, she put her right foot forward at the wrong time and stumbled backwards onto the bed.
Cathy Ariston: "Uff… Wow, so not even falling will turn it on? That's kind of scary—Oh but whatever!"
She quickly scrambled up, trying to remember how to run again, and made her way to the living room where Amelia was organizing a basket of laundry with her back towards the door.
Cathy Ariston: "Amelia! Look!"
Amelia turned around, gasping as she noticed the lack of an aura.
Amelia Orwell: "Oh my! That's… That's incredible, Cathy!"
She hurried over, setting down the basket of laundry and wrapping her arms around Cathy instantly.
Cathy Ariston: "Oh you have no idea how good that feels…"
She chuckled and squeezed Amelia as hard as she could, feeling tears of joy prick the corners of her eyes.
Amelia Orwell: "Wa-wait, don't cry… It's okay…"
Amelia looked up at her, wiping a tear off her right cheek.
Cathy Ariston: "I'm crying cause I can finally shower and eat and drink water!"
She pulled back from the hug, smirking, looking into Amelia's eyes.
Amelia Orwell: "But how did you do this? I thought it was permanent…"
Cathy Ariston: "No, Erika trained us for a little bit back at the mansion, she told me to focus on the mental image of my Divinity inside of my soul. I saw a purple flame and just focused on the feeling of Flow within my body until it disappeared, and now here I am!"
Amelia Orwell: "Can you still use your powers?"
She tilted her head, glancing down at Cathy's hands.
Before Cathy could answer, there was a knock at the door.
They both exchanged a look and turned towards the entrance hallway.
Cathy Ariston: "Uh… We should open it, it's probably just the mail man."
As Cathy stepped forward, Amelia reached out grabbing her right arm.
Amelia Orwell: "W-wait! What if it's someone dangerous?"
Cathy glanced back at Amelia and then down at herself, smirking.
Cathy Ariston: "I'm willing to take that chance."
She walked over to the front door, opening it.
The Overseer: "Surprise! Did you miss me?"
The Overseer, the man with the giant green eyeball for a head dressed in a sleek business suit was standing there. His hands behind his back.
Cathy's face paled—they knew where she lived—she glanced back at Amelia, shaking her head.
Amelia quickly understood and nodded back, hurrying to hide in the kitchen.
Cathy put on her best friendly look, and crossed her arms, trying to make herself look more imposing yet not threatening as she gave him a once-over.
Cathy Ariston: "What do you want? How did you even find us?"
The Overseer cooed, glancing around the hallway.
The Overseer: "Aww, come on. That's not a very nice way to speak to your new boss!"
He chuckled, holding up a pair of keys in his right hand.
The Overseer: "I got you a little housewarming gift that's quite overdue. It took me a while to find them, but luckily the place was abandoned…"
Cathy slowly reached out, taking them from him as if expecting him to do something.
Cathy Ariston: "You went to my destroyed school to find my apartment keys? What… Why?"
The Overseer then held up his left hand. It was Cathy's backpack, still seemingly intact.
The Overseer: "What do you mean why? They're your things. You should take better care of them… Imagine if someone stole it, that could have been bad."
Cathy Ariston: "You practically stole it! That was police evidence… What if they—"
The Overseer: "They won't."
He stared at her with an intensity that gave her goosebumps, she reached out again grabbing the backpack from his hand and putting it down on the small table in the entrance-way.
The Overseer: "I see you've managed to figure out your little aura problem, that's good. If you keep that up you might get a promotion."
He pointed vaguely to her torso before putting both hands behind his back again.
She looked down at herself, feeling self-conscious because of his sheer presence.
Cathy Ariston: "So…"
The Overseer: "I'm here to chaperone you two to your first day of work! I mean, what else could I possibly be here for? A crappy apartment building like this? Ugh, you should be thanking me I even dropped by."
Cathy Ariston: "You two? What do you mean?"
The Overseer sighed and stepped forwards, putting both hands on the doorframe, causing Cathy to take a step back in shock of his sudden movement.
The Overseer: "That's probably funny and all in your little circle. I meant the maid. Bring her out here."
Cathy stepped even further back, connecting with the bathroom door.
Cathy Ariston: "I don't—"
The Overseer: "No, don't do that! I don't want to hear it… Bring her here. Now. I know she's in the kitchen."
Cathy's eyes widened in shock.
"How good are his senses? Holy shit… I… I can't risk this, I'll just play along for now."
She nodded gently before walking over to the kitchen.
The Overseer stood in the doorway, following her with his eye, patiently waiting.
After a few moments, Cathy and Amelia returned to the front door.
Amelia Orwell: "Good morning s-sir… I'm sorry, I was a bit busy—"
The Overseer reached over, patting her shoulder and chuckling.
The Overseer: "Finally, someone with manners! Good morning to you too. And no, you definitely weren't doing anything in the kitchen, you were just standing still, hiding behind a mop for some weird fucking reason."
Amelia squeaked at his precise description of where she was hiding, she bowed politely.
Amelia Orwell: "I-I-I'm so so sorry sir… It won't happen again…"
The Overseer: "Ah… See, t-this is the exact thing I don't appreciate—People always lying to me. You must think of me as a fucking joke, don't you? No, you know what? We're not doing this right now… Hah…"
He sighed, rubbing the top part of his large eyelid, like a forehead.
The Overseer: "Pack your things, I'm taking you to work."
Amelia Orwell: "Yes sir, right away sir… Cathy?"
Cathy was busy staring at the wall, trying to find a way out of this while keeping Amelia safe.
She should not have listened to her.
She should not have stopped at the Ariston Center.
Cathy snapped out of it, giving her a gentle smile.
Cathy Ariston: "Right, I'll just take a quick shower and then we—"
The Overseer suddenly slammed his fist against the right-side of the doorframe, the white paint cracking on impact.
The Overseer: "No, you're not wasting my time. You're leaving as is. Come on."
He stepped backwards, walking down the hallway towards the elevator, not glancing to see if they were following.
They exchanged a look before stepping out of the apartment.
Cathy quickly locked the front door, sighing.
Cathy Ariston: "We don't have a choice, do we?"
The Overseer stepped into the elevator, with his back to it, looking at them.
He must have been over ten meters away, he shouted towards them.
The Overseer: "No, you don't! Now come here. We have things to do."
They both walked towards him, stepping into the elevator. Cathy on his right and Amelia on his left.
"How the hell do we even escape this guy?" Cathy thought to herself, once again feeling a sense of unease wrapped in a burgeoning sense of anxiety.