"—Oh, great lord. Seeing myself reflected in your irises, there is no greater joy I can feel. Your mere gaze emanates a warmth that revives those who have gone."
—Somonte, 2:7.
In Theon's dreams, everything was golden. He found himself in a meadow, surrounded by fields of wheat swaying in the wind. The sun set on the horizon, its light reflecting off the crops, turning the fields into a yellow paradise that stretched to infinity. If Theon didn't know it was a dream, he would be amazed that such a place existed.
Even though it was the fourth time he saw the scene, he still looked on in fascination. His fingers brushed the wheat with curiosity, but he remembered it was a dream, as the sensation of touch felt superficial. He sighed and looked to his left, waiting for the familiar scene to repeat.
What felt like seconds passed, and where there had previously been nothing but wheat, a figure appeared in a blink. Theon was startled the first time, but he was getting used to it, despite the figure's dark appearance making it difficult.
He assumed it was a man by his clothing. He wore a full-length crimson coat, the silver buttons stood out against the red and had symbols inscribed on them. He had a common top hat of German nobility, its ribbon black and hard to see. But what unsettled Theon was his plague mask. Entirely black, it left no trace of skin expose, not even the eyes. Instead, there were two holes that seemed to contain an endless darkness. In his hands, he held a broken hourglass, its contents scattering among the wheat.
«Here you are...» he thought. The figure remained still for a while, appearing frozen in time. Then, a muffled voice emerged from the mask.
—Trust yourself —he said, bringing his hands to the straps on his neck—. ungrateful puppet.
In the first dream, the nickname had struck him like lightning. It had been years since anyone called him that. Theon watched as the figure slowly removed the straps, and fear grew within him. He felt that what lay behind that mask was not human, or at least not something a human should see.
«The dream will end. No problem.» He told himself, but the feeling of discomfort lingered.
—Trust in... —Before he could remove the mask, the trumpet of an elephant shook the illusory paradise.
Theon woke up with cold sweat running down his back. The loud noise jolted his mind, he felt as if he had just awakened from the worst nightmare of his life.
«Ungrateful puppet...» He recalled those words and felt a burning sensation on the middle of his face.
—Ugh... —He let out a faint gasp as he touched his burn. He took a deep breath for a while and calmed down. He didn't stay in bed for long, he quickly got up and went to the bathroom. After finishing his shower, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. In the center of his chest, contrasting with his pale skin, was a palm-sized ivory lattice. That was his second secret weapon.
Remembering the past made him nostalgic, he lingered for a while, looking at the lattice with some discomfort. He had been a Steam Heart since he was a child, and still, he hadn't gotten used to the unnatural implant. His fingers traced its surface, the holes were tiny to prevent external things from entering.
«Quite practical.» He told himself and stopped dawdling. He finished getting ready and watered the pink chrysanthemums on his desk. They were mostly pink, but some petals were already wilting.
«The chrysanthemums are for warm climates, they won't adapt well to this winter.» He thought with a hint of sadness and left his room.
For a temporary base, his men took care of keeping everything organized. The building had three floors and several rooms. There were no pots or pictures in the hallways, the members didn't bother much with decoration.
«Now that we will take the next step, we can afford a little extravagance.» He felt pleased thinking about it.
He walked through the hallways and descended floor by floor. Along the way, he encountered some of his men, who greeted him respectfully upon seeing him. When he reached the first floor, he saw three people at a bar.
—Good day. —He said with his usual smile.
—Good morning, Mr. Theon. —Responded an old man behind the counter, his hands busy cleaning a plate. He wore a short top hat and bartender attire. It was Aldo, an elderly man in charge of supervising the band's covers.
—Mr. Aldo, as hardworking as ever. —Theon replied, discreetly examining the old man's clothing, which had several difficult-to-hide torn seams—. Please, serve me a sweet rose tea.
—Right away. —He said and got to work.
Theon looked at the person sitting next to him. It was a young man of short stature. He had tired eyes while writing something in his notebook. His long hair was tied in a ponytail, and his framed glasses gave him an scholarly appearance.
—How's the work going, Madon? —He asked with a hint of mockery in his voice.
—The accounts are as good as could be expected. —Madon replied after looking at him for a moment—. Perhaps too good. Yar Kaust was cautious and hid more inventory than he told us.
Theon nodded, it wasn't unexpected.
—Far from it, what's the public opinion?
—The common folk believe he committed suicide. There are also theories that his son killed him and escaped with the little money that was left. Nothing that involves us... for now. —He paused writing for a moment and continued—. As for the guard, they haven't issued any official statements.
Aldo served the sweet rose tea in a cup, placed it in front of Theon, and spoke.
—Mr. Theon, Laco is already raising the price as we indicated. It seems Maran also wants to take advantage of the opportunity, they are matching our prices.
—Gaun doesn't waste time. —Theon replied while smelling the drink. His mind reviewed the plan he had suggested to Gaun a few months ago. It involved gaining the trust of the Kaust company, taking down the competition while pretending to work for different sides, and betraying Yar Kaust, all to seize the vacuum he would leave before anyone else, gaining significant economic power in the city's food market.
Of course, it wasn't as simple as it sounded. Theon chose the Kaust because, according to rumors, he considered the boss—Dals at that time—to be a bit naïve. He had to move contacts among smaller companies to reach him, and Dals was cautious at first. As for Gaun, they both took the opportunity to seriously attack each other, losing several men in the process.
He also had to convince Kaust to pretend that the company was weak to avoid suspicion, while in reality, he wanted to help the suicide cover-up. If a company starts incurring losses, it would be plausible for the boss to give up.
Even so, both gangs ended up gaining quite a bit, they made money by attacking the competition, shared what Kaust was hiding, and their companies grew.
—We must be as alert as possible. Gaun will take the opportunity to trip us up, we will leave him limping. Aldo, reinforce security at Laco's main headquarters. —He took a sip of tea and continued—. Where is Veltar?
—He left, I think he was quite angry. Or maybe it was just his usual expression. —Madon said, though he whispered the last part.
Theon laughed and brought the cup to his lips, heard the jingle of the bell at the door, and turned. A large man entered the bar, the wood creaking under his stride. His clothes were stained with blood.
—Veltar. —Theon looked at him and drank his tea—. It seems Madon wasn't wrong in saying you were angry.
Veltar showed no emotion, the only exeption was the fierceness in his eyes. He glanced at Madon for a moment, who avoided his gaze with a slight tremor.
—I killed Hergar. He went to a bar after the operation was successful. —The large man sat in one of the chairs. He gestured for a cloth from Aldo and continued—. He got drunk and harassed one of the employees. She refused, and he beat her until she was toothless. I found out this morning.
Theon looked at him for a moment and nodded. No one in the room complained. There was only one rule in the gang: not to harm unless it was an order.
—As for the corpse...
—Gerch and the others are taking care of that.
—Very well. Give the woman five gold coras, with that, she can request restoration services at the Institution, as well as buy herself something nice. —Theon turned to Madon—. Hand me the notebook and the pen.
Madon didn't hesitate and passed it to him. Theon dipped the pen and began to scrawl something.
—Aldo, find a hired exorcist, I've had the same dream several times. It must be some spirit.
Aldo was surprised for a moment as he walked toward Veltar. He handed over the damp cloth and turned to his leader.
—That shouldn't be difficult. I'll do it as soon as possible, I heard that spirits tend to draw near.
Theon listened and finished drawing in the notebook. He ripped out the page and looked at it. On it was the symbol inscribed on the man's buttons.
He saw an arrow pointing upward. It was inside a six-pointed star, and there was a smiling face pierced by the arrow. It was a symbol he had never seen before, and he trusted his memory quite a bit.
«Dreams created by spirits are not connected to the subconscious. So, why does he know about that nickname?» Theon looked at the smiling face and felt uncomfortable. He tore the paper into shreds and continued drinking.