Snippet #1856631

Lucas Toland; Sagaro Mall, 1st Floor

Well it was all good and well that Aki was on his feet again – Lucas was relieved for that. However, he couldn’t help but question his decision to bring the injured boy here to this… elderly man. Lucas was at a loss for what to do, and could only watch the strange and admittedly humorous scene unfold with a blank expression. Was it alright for him to leave? No, but he couldn’t just leave Aki for himself when he was half dead just moments ago.

Although he knew it was rude, Lucas couldn’t help but worry about leaving Aki with this man, who seemed to find some importance in giving an injured boy a hammer to wave about. Was it really the best decision to leave Aki here with him? Well, the store itself did seem to be a pharmacy, but that didn’t quite assure Lucas that the rambling man was the pharmacist. To put it mildly, the elderly man seemed a little off the wall… And Aki wasn’t quite in the right state of mind or best condition when he mumbled Arturia – Lucas might have heard him wrong, or he could have meant for them to avoid the shop. Endless possibilities. The only comforting thing about this situation as that Aki seemed to know this elderly man.

Eventually, Lucas mustered the sense to ask, “Excuse me, could you please give him some medical attention? You said this was a pharmacy right?” He said, reaching for his pocket. “If you need money for the supplies, I can pay at least part of i – ” Lucas never finished his sentence when instead of bills, his fingers found his now buzzing cell phone. Who could it be at a time like this? A glance at his screen told him the obvious answer: Liesel.

He stared for a few moments at the flickering name on the screen, tempted to ignore it. Really, she always made such a big deal about these missions and had nothing to show for all the ‘information’ she gathered. He had little expectations from this task as well. Even still, the stone pendent around his neck, tucked beneath his shirt was reminder enough that at the very least, this whole thing wasn’t a joke. He gave a weak smile to Aki and the elderly man. “I’ll just take this call,” he said before stepping outside.

Immediately, he brought the phone to his ear, and before he could even sigh, Liesel’s voice rang out, asking countless questions on what the situation was, what was going on, and various other things that Lucas had no answers to. “Sorry, Liesel, I’m not at the roof yet,” he explained. “There was an incident and I need a way to hide the blood on my shirt – ”

“Blood? Is it yours?” Lucas was surprised at the hint of concern in her tone.

“No, but – ”

“Then it doesn’t matter. Get to the roof, now! No one cares about a little bit of blood!” Well, it wasn’t necessarily a ‘little bit’ of blood, but Lucas knew there was no arguing with Liesel. Really, he thought not causing a scene was more important than some package they weren’t even sure existed or not… and although he started towards the elevator, he decided to speak his mind. Liesel reacted with the expected negativity.

“Do you still not understand exactly what it is you’re doing?”
“Yes, I understand that this is important, but we’re not even sure if that package exists!”
“This time we’re sure – ”

“Like we were the last eight times, but what do we have to show for it?” Lucas demanded as he rounded the escalators. He saw up ahead, an elevator begin to close its doors. Dashing forward, he called out, “Ah – please hold the door!” Some kind civilian propped the door open for him, and Lucas safely managed to slide into the somewhat crowded elevator. He stood facing the wall, trying to hide the drying red stains on his shirt and continued with Liesel on his cell phone. “Okay, I’m going to the roof now… yes, I understand, I’m sorry.” However, no matter how many times he apologized, however, Liesel wasn’t letting it go. He should have been a little more sensitive, Lucas realized, because he knew how important this was to her, although he wasn’t sure how the supposed scientist had any relation to the Masks and his former principal. He probably should have tried to understand what this meant to her before dismissing it as unimportant – but before he could finish that line of thought, he noticed the people in the elevator start to disperse. Caught off guard, he unwittingly followed the crowd out the elevator, and the doors shut behind him.

He was just a little confused when he saw a line of cars before him… until he noticed a sign on one of many pillars that read “Basement – “, and although Lucas couldn’t make out the exact floor he was on, it was more than enough to let him know that he was most definitely not on the roof. “Liesel, sorry… I think I ended up in the parking lot,” he mumbled. Well this was just great…