Heaven Thatcher's Story

Even though the early morning air was cool, Heaven was sweating from exertion. Since five A.M. she had been up and working in her garden behind the mansion, pulling weeds and harvesting some vegetables. Her white hair was tied back and a bandana rested on her head in an effort to keep dirt out of her hair. She wore dirty overalls and heavy brown boots that were a far throw away from the satin dresses and laced shoes she usually prefers to wear.

Heaven tugged at a particularly stubborn weed to no avail. She gripped it tighter with her thick gloved hands and dug her heels into the ground, and used her body weight as leverage to finally yank it free. Unfortunately she was also thrown backwards a bit and landed on her back with a thud.

“Yes! I got you, you little bugger!” she shouted out in victory. She giggled a bit and stood up to look at beautiful creation. The patch she stood in front of was her vegetable garden, filled carrots, and onions, cucumbers and so on. And tomatoes even though they were technically a fruit. She other patches of flowers scattered all over the grounds, front and back.

Brushing herself off, she picked up a basket beside her that she had filled with her picked vegetables and headed toward the door that would lead inside. She kicked off her boots on the way in, of course, even though she would track dirt in anyway, she wanted to minimalize the amount she would have to clean up.

“Good morning everyone!” she said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen in her socks and set her basket on a counter. She was just about to head upstairs and take a shower when she heard a knock at the door. Everyone in the room stopped looked at each other.

“Whose going to get that?” Adira asked.

Heaven smiled at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it. It’s probably the new irrigation machine I ordered.”
She walked through the main hall and opened the large door. She expected to see a delivery man, but saw a young man with a collar around his neck instead. She smiled confusedly.

“Oh, hello. My name’s Heaven Thatcher. Is there something I can do for you?”

Matt was beginning to wonder if the mansion was abandoned, though from the shape it was in there had to be someone maintaining the place. Just as he reached for the door to knock again, it swung open and a young woman smiled at him awkwardly. She had long white hair, which was usual all by it's self but she was wearing a bandana, overalls and a pair of shoes you would not normally see worn by a beautiful woman such as her. The smell of fresh dirt and wild flowers accompanied her. It was a pleasant scent.

“Oh, hello. My name’s Heaven Thatcher. Is there something I can do for you?” bandana-girl said with a smile. Her voice was pleasant as well.

'Heaven, that suits her just fine' Matt thought to himself. 'But what do I say? a mysterious book led me here and I have no idea why?'. Those were the kinds of things that get people arrested, but honestly Matt had no real options. With luck, maybe Heaven would just think it was a bad prank. Matt fished the book out of his pack and held it for Heaven to see.

"Good morning. I am Mattrim Hawthon" he said as he introduced himself with a small bow. He saw her eyes taking him in, particularly the collar along his neck. He ran a finger across it nervously, wishing not for the first time that he could take the thing off. "I umm.....was led here...by this book".

'Yeah, that wasn't awkward at all' Matt berated himself as he handed the 'Strength' book to Heaven. Maybe she would have idea about what it was. Or even who he was.

Heaven watched the young man bow to her and thought to herself how polite and nice he seemed.

"Good morning. I am Mattrim Hawthon,” he introduced himself as. She continued to look at him, waiting for him to explain his reason for being there. She glanced at his collar, then felt guilty when he seemed uncomfortable at the staring. It was something he was obviously self-conscious about.

"I umm.....was led here...by this book,” Mattrim said, then held out said book. She took it from him and looked at the cover. ‘Strength’. Her eyes lit up as she realized what this meant, and handed it back to him.

“You’ve come to the right place. Come on in.” She waved her hand in a gesture for him to follow her. She started her walk toward the kitchen, talking the whole time. “When William wakes up, he’ll explain everything. He knows more about it than the rest of us.” She stopped suddenly and turned to face him. “But you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about do you?” She smiled again. “Don’t worry. Like I said, William will explain it. But in the meantime, how about some breakfast?” She started walking again. “Although, based on who’s in the kitchen, I suggest cereal or something easy. They couldn’t cook something edible if they had a gun to their heads.” She said this last part as she entered the kitchen, knowing full well the people in question could hear her.

She looked at them and smirked. ”What? It’s not as if it’s a secret.” She gestured to Mattrim. “This is Mattrim Hawthon. He’s here to talk to William. Mattrim, this is Liliana Newman, Vitali Heilige, and Adira Dean.”

She walked over to the stove and was about to put the pan down when footsteps came from the door that she had just entered and a horrified voice spoke.

"Put the pan down and step away from the stove." Liliana turned and sighed, a smile appearing on her face. Vitali stood near her, shirtless she realized. He must have slept on the couch again. She nodded and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, fine, I can handle myself you know." She put the pan down on the counter next to the stove and backed away from it slowly, sarcastically holding her hands in the air. There was a knock at the door just as Adira entered the kitchen and Liliana waved a quick hello her way.

"Whose going to get that?" She asked quietly, and Liliana heard as Heaven opened the door for the newcomer. She turned towards the door and walked out of the kitchen to go and see who it was, waiting to see if Vitali and Adira would follow. Not many people came to knock on the Manor's door, in fact, Liliana could not remember the last time that anyone actually had. Perhaps this person was misdirected. Liliana stood just to the right of Heaven, visible to her, but not visible to the person outside the large door. She raised her eyebrow.

"Good morning. I am Mattrim Hawthon. I umm.....was led here...by this book." Liliana frowned pensively, could this be another card-holder? Though she had never heard of anyone being led here by a book before. She supposed she should step beside Heaven into the light of the morning sun and smile at the newcomer, but instead she stayed back behind the door to await Heaven's response. the gardening woman explained that William could talk to the new person and then turned inside to offer him breakfast. It did seem that he was a card-holder then.

"Oy, don't judge my cooking!" she said playfully after Heaven lead the boy inside and introduced him. "I'm Liliana, welcome I suppose."

Noah had woken up a bit earlier than usual, he proceed to do the daily routine when he woke up. Though he woke up earlier than usual, it doesn't mean he add up more to the routine. He then do 50 push-ups after some stretching.

After that, he wiped out his sweats with his towels and wears a white sleeveless shirt. He went out from his room and immediately proceed to the kitchen, noticing some people also already awake. He also noticed a man that he never saw before.

"Oh..." He said with lack of interest when he entered the kitchen, acknowledging the new arrival. "Morning." Still with the same lack of interest tone, he greets everyone. He proceed to see what's on the table, nothing. He looked over to the one currently manning the stove. No one is manning the stove at the moment. He huffed in disappointment and proceed to work on making the breakfast.

"Thought one of you guys cooked already." He commented as he took a pan and filled it with water. He put it down on the stove and turns it on. While waiting for the water to boil, he took out a large bowl along with some instant noodles. After prepping the bowl, he put the noodles into the boiling water. Stirring it for a short while before taking it out to pour into the bowl. He moved the bowl of instant noodles to the dining table afterwards.

"There." He said as he carried some smaller bowls to the dining table. He took a small bowl and filled it with the instant noodles he cooked up earlier. He looked back at the new guy, noticing he have yet to introduce himself.

"Oh right... You're going to stay here right?" Noah assumed the new guy was going to stay over at this house. "Name's Noah." he introduces himself to the new guy.

The sun was shining brightly as the blue sky was clearer than ever. The world seemed eclipsed in the shining sun. Along the way, a girl rolled a suitcase that seemed bigger than her across the dirt road. This girl’s name is Shio Naona. She had been travelling to Platinum Manor for about 3 years now. Along her journey from her house, she had made a lot of stops in random areas that would house her. Unfortunately, this had left her nearly broke. She only had 500 yen left in her pocket. Most of the money went to hotels and food. She really did love the smell of the food, the brightness of the moonlight and the warmth the sun provided her. But she didn’t love it nearly as much as her abilities. Upon her recollections, she suddenly felt a sudden pain in her chest.
“I better take a break then.” Shio said. She found a nearby tree and rested underneath that. She closed her eyes briefly before she heard a familiar voice.
“Shio… Shio!”
Shio’s eyes opened to take a good look at her most prevalent imaginary friend. The girl in question wore a white jacket with a black ribbon tying it together, a black button up blouse, a white skirt with black frills, white stockings and black high heels. She had medium length hair tied in pigtails and creamy purple eyes that were strained to try and find her. Shio smiled a bit.
“What’s wrong, Aika? Did you come out of my daydreams again?”
Aika frowned as she used her hearing to find Shio.
“That’s precisely the problem. People will get suspicious if I’m here. Besides, you shouldn’t be using this power anyway! Didn’t you remember what the doctor said? The more you use your power the more you strain your heart. You could have died right now!”
Shio laughed a bit at Aika’s worry.
“But I didn’t, silly~”
Aika frowned at the statement.
“You shouldn’t be so easy going about this.”
Shio still kept her smile.
“What can I say? I have a Sunny disposition~”
Aika groaned at Shio’s pun while Shio herself laughed. During Shio’s laughing spurt, she suddenly stopped. The motion frightened Aika. She was blind and needed to rely on hearing to judge if Shio or anyone else was near.
“Shio?! Shio, are you okay?”
Shio then smiled and looked up at Aika.
“We’re here!”
Aika then realized what she meant.
“Right… So, are you going to make me disappear? You know the proctor said we have to keep our power a secret, right?”
Shio nodded.
“Right, right… I’ll talk to you later, okay, Aika?”
Aika sighed heavily before disappearing. Shio made her way to the manor. It was a beautiful place… if a little bit old. Blue rooftops adorned white buildings as there seemed to be some people coming down to greet newcomers like herself. She was ready to go down but then noticed something that caught her attention. She squealed upon finding a dirty pink hair ribbon.
“Alright! My first memory of my first day here at Platinum Manor!”
She quickly pocketed the ribbon before getting ready to run towards the group. She then stopped.
“Right… My heart problem…”
She mentally slapped herself for forgetting. Shio then walked as calmly as she could to the front of the manor. The door was strangely open so Shio just showed herself in. She was greeted by a man with white hair, a boy with brown hair, a girl with black hair and a ribbon, a woman with white hair, a man with curly black hair and a girl with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. She squeed at the sight of the boy with brown hair.
"So cute~!"
She immediately tackled him in a glomp/hug. Then she turned her attention towards the girl with the long brown ponytail.
"But you're even cuter!"
She then let go of the boy with brown hair and hugged the girl tightly, nuzzling her cheek against the girl's cheek. Aika then popped out and sighed.
"You'll have to forgive my friend. She tends to be... flighty. In any case, her name is Shio Naona, holder of the Sun arcana and I'm her dream, Aika. Nice to meet you and sorry for any awkward moments."
She bowed lowly when asking for forgiveness.

Matt felt a little at odds when Heaven's eyes popped open wide at the sight of the book's cover. Apparently this was not the first time she had seen something like it.

“You’ve come to the right place. Come on in.” Heaven said as she waved him to follow and started walking back into the house while explaining about someone named William who could answer all the question Matt had. Matt glanced back at the still open door and wondered if he should go back and close it, but Heaven was already almost out of sight around a corner.... and Matt really did not want to get lost in this huge place so he left it open for now.

Heaven led him through a polished oak door that led into the largest kitchen he had ever seen. The place was bigger than the apartment he lived in! There were not one, but two stoves and various other appliances neatly arranged along the side of the room and a fair-sized table stood at the center to dine on. One of the stoves was occupied by a woman who was handling a frying pan...'this one seems.....dangerous' Matt thought to himself only to be confirmed a moment later by Heaven giving a word of caution about eating anything that the black-haired woman cooked.

Heaven introduced him, by his formal name at that. As the names were given, Matt memorized the faces that went along with those names. It was a habit of his to do such a thing, he could memorize almost anything once he had seen or read about it. That he was so good with the details only made it worse that he couldn't remember...

"I'm Liliana, welcome I suppose." a calm voice said and snapped Matt out of his thoughts.

"Thank you for allowing me into this wonderful home" Matt said with sincerity, he would love to get a tour of this place before he left. "Please just call me Matt. My full name is just....well... old-fashioned". Matt glanced at the other two in the room Adria and Vitali. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you... erm if you are all hungry I suppose I could make something if you have any ingredients. It is the least I could do for your hosplitalit-".

Matt stopped as yet another person entered the kitchen. Just how many people lived in this place and everyone here must be such early risers! 'Perhaps this is William, the one who could answer my questions." Matt pondered to himself but then the young man introduced himself as Noah. Noah apparently had the same thoughts as Matt because as soon as he glanced at the empty table he began to make a large pot of noodles for breakfast....instant noodles.... not something Matt really expected to find in a mansion like this...

"Um... It is nice to meet you as well Noah" Matt said when Noah had sat down to eat his noodles. Matt was thinking about taking one of the bowl's that had been set out when suddenly a high pitch 'Squeeeee!' erupted from the doorway. Matt turned to see an orange-haired woman standing in the doorway pointing at him.

"So cute~!" she exclaimed and suddenly launched herself at Matt.

"W-Wha?!" Matt shouted as he was suddenly tackled by the young woman and she trapped him in a tight hug. Matt could swear he heard a rib or two break... but it must have been his imagination, even his body was not that frail...but still. Thankfully he was saved as orange-haired woman noticed Adria and focused her attention on her instead. Free from the bone-crushing grasp Matt tried to catch his breath and regain his composure.

"You'll have to forgive my friend. She tends to be... flighty. In any case, her name is Shio Naona, holder of the Sun arcana and I'm her dream, Aika. Nice to meet you and sorry for any awkward moments." another young woman said, accentuating the apology with a bow.

"D-dream?" Matt replied. Maybe it was a term he was not familiar with, but for this woman to call herself a dream? This encounter was just getting stranger and stranger. Matt turned and whispered to Liliana and Heaven "Is this another one of the tenants of this place?". Though judging by the looks of bewilderment they shared, he someone doubted she was.

Aika blinked and said "Yes, I am in fact a dream. Shio created me when she was younger. That's her power... I know I shouldn't have given it away but knowing Shio, she would've told you anyway."
Shio was still nuzzling a cherry red Adira as she turned her eyes to Aika.
"Ai, you're no fun..."
Aika looked back at Shio.
"Well, someone has to be grounding you in reality and I don't trust anyone here so far. No offense..."
Aika raised up her hands in surrender upon saying that she meant no offense to anyone. Shio on the other hand grinned.
"Ai's right, I created her. You name it, I can create anything out of my mind... but there's a catch to my power-"
Aika glared at Shio. She didn't want her to talk about her heart problems so casually. Shio caught the glare and stopped.
". . . Maybe I'll tell you when I get to know you all better~"
Shio finally let go of Adira and then walked over to the center of the kitchen.
"In any case, I better introduce myself properly. My name is Shio Naona. You can call me Shi, Nao-Nao or anything you want though~ I don't bite too badly and hey, everyone needs a little Sunshine in their life~"
Shio laughed at her pun while Aika groaned.
"As I mentioned earlier, Shio is flighty. She tends to make bad puns like that and be spacy... be nice."
Aika sent a warning glare in everyone's direction. Though she liked the look of everyone, especially glasses boy, she didn't trust them because she didn't know them all that well. She then stood by Shio's side, waiting for Shio to bring her back into her mind.

(Elsewhere)

Apsel noticed that William was still trying to go to sleep. He could hear a loud noise coming from downstairs and sighed softly. 'It must be another new resident...' Apsel then shook William.
"Will? You have to wake up. There are new guests here and they require an official welcome from the manor's owner."

Suddenly there was another girl, or... Two? Liliana didn't know. Apperently one of them was like a dream, or a projection of the other girl's mind. What she did know, was that the new guy was very polite, and he looked rather confused, the new girl was very excited and she had a pounding headache. Someone should probably go and get William, she supposed.

“I have to go upstairs guys, my deadline is next week and I haven't even started yet," she stood from the table and smiled, then walked to the kitchen and placed her half eaten breakfast in the trash and put the plate in the dishwasher. “I'll get Will while I'm at it." She began the long trek back upstairs to her room and nearly passed William's door. It was open and she could hear Apsel trying to wake the fool up.

She leaned on the door frame and crossed her arms, just after taking her hair out of her bun. She didn't want to surprise Apsel too much so she knocked lightly on the open door.

“Throw some water in him," she smirked. “Show no mercy." She stepped into the room and took William's water bottle off of a table in his room and handed it to Apsel.

K E Y - E S D O R A // Justice

---

J U D E - M A Y S T R O // The Magician

---

Apsel heard a light knocking on the door. He turned and there stood Liliana. "Good morning to you." Apsel spoke politely to her. He always treated each resident with the utmost respect even if some of them didn't deserve it. He was often a source where people would go to for help. He then heard newspapers crinkling and without even turning around, he said "Good morning, Jude. I trust the next painting is going well?" Jude yawned and said "Morning Will, Apsel, Lil. Can you let me in on what happens downstairs? It's really loud for a Thursday morning." Apsel laughed to himself. "That would be because we have new guests. And by the sound of it, on of them gets excited easily." He saw Jude peek in to see the situation for himself. Jude, biting his sandwich, muttered "Will, youw lawzy thingw, doun't leawe Apwsel hangwingw." Apsel could feel his face grow warm. "J-Jude! It's nothing like that!" It usually doesn't work when you try to get Apsel flustered but mentioning his crush on Will is one thing that works guaranteed. Liliana smirked and said "Throw some water in him. Show no mercy." Before Apsel could object, Will spoke from underneath his covers "Argh! You guys are too noisy! Go away!" Now Apsel knew Will was just being stubborn. Well, two can play at that. He felt a rather mischevious smile creep up as he said "Jude, open up the curtains. It's much too dark in here. Liliana, be a dear and remove the blankets so I have a clear shot. I believed you said I should show no mercy, correct~?" As he waited for the two to complete their tasks, he took the water bottle, drinking a bit of the contents due to thirst.

Shio watched as Key and Vitali walked out of the kitchen. She grinned and said "So how long have the happy couple been together?" Aika sighed.
"Shio, you don't know if they even are a couple." That had stopped Shio a bit before saying
"Well, if they aren't, I will root for them to be a couple until my dying days!" Aika turned a little pale when Shio mentioned death but otherwise kept a straight face.

---

There are quite a few people here now... Adira glanced around the numerous faces in the room, there were too many of them in one place. She introduced herself to the two new strangers, Adira supposed that she would try and get to know them at some point, but for now she wanted to leave the kitchen. She didn't quite know what to say as everyone else talked around her, what was there to say to everyone? She was still trying to adjust to the two new members being present yet alone all this action going on in one place.

Have breakfast later, when it quietens down. It seemed like a good plan and she would be able to prepare something she wanted. Adira thought for a brief moment, she supposed that she could go into the library for a short while before waiting for everyone to disperse, that way she could properly introduce herself to the others on her own accord. She smiled to herself, good idea. Although part of her wanted to get the introductions over and done with already, she was curious to know more about the powers of the new arrivals, it made her feel good when she thought about the fact that there were people like her. However, she got slightly uncomfortable when the new girl began nuzzling her cheek? Adira went bright red and felt really awkward all of a sudden, as soon as she stopped Adira was more than ready to get out of the room for a moment.

Leaving the room, Adira started towards the staircase, climbing the stairs quickly before hurrying towards the library. She often resorted to visiting the library when she wanted peace and quiet, or as an alternative to her room. Staying her room all day was something she did quite often, a change of scenery was much appreciated. However, there were days when Adira would go out into the garden and spend her day lying on the grass and staring at the sky. Adira sat down in the library, she considered reading something but it would take her too long to find anything worth reading, she was far too picky about books. Well, at least it is pretty quiet up here. Adira reassured herself. She planned to go back downstairs after half an hour or so, that way she could get something to eat and probably go outside for a little bit.

Since there were two new arrivals, Adira wondered if there would be any more. I thought there were enough people in this house as it is.

Vito leaned onto the kitchen counter, not bothering with Adira's question of "Whose going to get that?" because he was far from presentable. His hair was sticking up in different directions and the shirtlessness might give a wrong impression to whoever was at the door. Vito likes being shirtless because then people cam see his ink, it has no use covered up by layers of unnecessary clothing. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and was just about to light it on the stove burner when Heaven brought in a short unfamiliar figure. The comment about his and Liliana's inability to cook made him smile. It was indeed no secret that hell would freeze before they managed to cook something edible. "...this is Liliana Newman, Vitali Heilige, and Adira Dean." When Heather introduced him he nodded his head at Matthew, Mattrim, what ever that guy's name was, and proceeded to light his cigarette.
When he finally inhaled the smoke his head got a bit clearer. He wasn't an addict, he just enjoyed smoking, those cancerous little sticks were the only thing (except for Key) that made him more relaxed. Closing his eyes he took another drag when a loud squeal disturbed his inner peace once more. "So cute~!" Two more people appeared in the kitchen, what the hell was going on? Why is this random girl hugging everyone? It's fucking 9 in the morning. Who is that cheerful so early. He was still hungover and all these people and the yelling were not helping his headache.
He was about to make an over dramatic exit from the now crowded kitchen when he spotted Key at doorway. Fuck, Key hated it when he smoked so he quickly stubbed out his cigarette and waved his arms around to clear the smoke. All his grumpiness disappeared when he saw the look on Keys face, she looked so out of place when she blushed. "Waah- VITO! A- aren't yo- you cold?" Before he managed to answer, and he had a damn good answer ready; I'm too hot to be cold, the girl practically dragged him out of the room "C-come! I-it isn't good for you to w-walk around l-like that... even worse when greeting others!"
Key let his hand go when they reached the living room. He brought his face close to Key's. Are you jealous of me flaunting myself in front of everybody? He teased. His mind reading ability wasn't necessary the blushing of Key's cheeks was enough. The girl was obviously embarrassed but she managed an awkward. "Y- you work out?" God, she's so cute when she's flustered. As a matter of fact I do. He grabbed his white shirt which was thrown over an armchair. Running away from mobsters is my favourite activity. He put on his shirt but didn't button it up. Besides I'm getting a new tattoo on my chest next week and I won't be able to wear any clothes over it so I'll be shirtless weather you want me to be ot not. The last part of that sentence was accompanied by a smirk.

The next few moments went by in a blur. Yet another young woman, this one named 'Key' entered the kitchen and introduced himself. As Matt began to do the same, she suddenly noticed Vitali's somewhat.....lacking attire and proceeded to drag him out of the room to go change.

"Nice to meet...you" Matt said as the door closed behind the pair. He supposed it could not be helped, this Key person was indeed a very dutiful girlfriend. Vitali was a very lucky man. With the exit of these two, Liliana also left to wake up the owner - William and apparently also had some type of project she was working on. Maybe Matt could volunteer to help later, he had always been pretty good at projects....at least as far as he could remember. Adira seemed to be the quiet type, which Matt could respect though she seemed a bit uncomfortable with this many people packed into the kitchen. She excused herself and left the room. Matt would have to tread carefully during this visit, it seemed that everyone in this place had very unique personalities. With the other's gone Matt could focus on the most confusing person in the room. Shio and her....dream.. Aika. Aika said that Shio had used her 'power' to create her when she was a child....what Matt in some kind of manga or something?

"Um..Aika.... when you said 'power' what do you mean?" Matt asked, trying to delicately address the issue. If these kinds of powers really did exist.. Matt probably just walked into the most dangerous place on the planet. "Are you trying to tell me that you are not real, just some kind of manifestation?"