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For whom does the bell toll?

"I think it's nice that this place is in the U.S." Amelia remarked. "It'll feel pretty homey in my opinion."

"Okay, cool but...couldn't Ina just have teleported us to the place, why do we have to be in this sweaty car?" The pink reaper groaned as she tried to nudge away a sleeping drooling Kiara.

After an already long flight to the location, the group was now being driven in a rather average looking vehicle that drove off far away from the big cities to forest filled lands. Their driver wasn't the most talkative type so they didn't engage much with him at all.

"My spells aren't and will not be used for you to make excuses to laze around, besides, I need to know where the place is for us to get there." Ina nagged, tucking in her ear like flaps back into her hoodie that covered her head.

"And come on! What's wrong with a bit of travelling? I had fun." Gura popped up from the very back of the car.

"You were gnawing on my arm the entire flight. What counts as fun to you exactly?"

"Hey! I barely got used to being on land in a few hundred years, I'm not going to practicing being a thousand feet in the air when the whole plane is wobbling."

The continued to bicker about and cause a commotion along the way. It was truly astonishing how the phoenix was still sound asleep through out all of this.

Hours went by until the car finally stopped at the gate, outlined with tall neatly trimmed hedges and the boundary of the are having the same patterned shrubbery.

The driver made a quick call which in turn caused the gates to throw open, the car entering once it did. Amelia and Gura ended up gluing their faces to their side of the car windows, watching the scenery as they went on.

"Oohhh ho ho! That was just the entrance! This place is already huge!" Gura squeaked

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh....Oh...Oh my God..." Amelia's excitement slowly dipped down to pure bewilderment and shock.

"Woah..."
"That's..."

"Wait a minute is that....Yagoo?!"

When the car finally came to a stop, the girls hopped out with Kiara, groggy and half asleep, being dragged on by Calliope.

"Welcome, girls." The man greeted with a smile while A-chan stood behind him with a deadpan gaze stabbing at the back of his head.

"Hi boss! When'd you get here?!" Gura hopped.

"Well, I had to welcome my talents into their new home personally, of course."

"Yeah...about that. This new home..." Amelia mumbled

"ISN'T IT KINDA HUGE?!"

Her voice echoed into the emptiness on the outskirts of the property.

"Oh don't be like that." The man waved his hand. "Compared to the impact you've brought to Cover, this is a smaller token of my gratitude."

"We need to talk about what exactly 'small' means to you." A-chan mumbled.

"Mmhhh...why's everyone so loouuu....HOLY HELL!" Kiara yelled at the sight of the mansion causing her sleep to blow away.

"Please, come on in! A tour awaits you!" As the man turned and walked to the wide stairs, the girls hesitantly followed.

Except for Gura and Ina who were beyond excited and scurried after the man.

"There are also a few things that need mentioning;" Yagoo began when they reached the doors. "You will be provided with a few maids and certain security, I'll share the details when you're all settled in."

When the doors were thrown open, the group was greeted by a direct empty hall that displayed multiple stairwells and a glorious chandelier at the center of the circular structure.

The view was almost cliche to the girls but it still did the trick of leaving them awestruck as they walked in.

"You can go ahead and take a look around, your belongings are still on the way so you won't need to worry about the unpacking for now." A-chan addressed

"DIBS ARC!" Gura yelled then blasted off up the first set of stairs.

"Wait! No fair you guys are gonna scout this place up before I even get up the stairs!!"

Amelia whined and ran after the others as Calli and Kiara rush off as well. Their speed causing the very huge chandelier above them to sway. Ina however, stayed back and timidly walked up to Yagoo and A-chan.

"Um...I know I was the one to give permission for it but when exactly will the moving truck be here? It's been some time since I've been without by book for this long." She laughed nervously. "The Ancient Ones are starting to get a little rowdy."

"Oh... Don't worry! Everything will be here by tomorrow." A-chan waved her hands and tried to quell the girl's worries.

After a small nod, the petite girl turned to follow her friends.

And at that moment, A-chan turned to face Yagoo who at the same concerned look on his face as hers.

"Is it still missing?" He asked.

"Unfortunately." A-chan pulled out her phone. "Nothing's turned up ever since the van's got raided. They only took the book."

"It was probably the only item they found that had value...This isn't good."

"No kidding, we have to get it back before Ina catches on about it. We can't make them worry." A-chan kept glancing at the upper floors, hoping none of the girls come back down. "Whatever happened to that help you were talking about?"

"Oh I've already gotten that taken care of."

"Wait wha?"

On the upper floors, Calli is walking by Amelia and Gura who are growling at each other while they try to push each other out of a single room, seemingly trying to claim their pick.

"Got your pick, Kustori?" She asked as she walked by Kiara.

She was standing outside the room and simply admiring how the inside looked.

"Uh huh....this place really is a lot bigger than what we actually need."

"Hey, maybe that means we can finally have our bedrooms and stream rooms separately." The pink head shrugged.

She then went on to take her pick as well but she saw it as a no-brainer. Looking back at her friends she saw that even though they were making their own choices they still end up having a room right next to each other. So, she thought it right have right next to Kiara.

She opened the room door, expecting to see something astonishing or enormous for her liking, or a potential studio for her music but all she saw was...

A man.

"Who the..."

"Oh, didn't think you guys would show up already." He turned around and Calli immediately noticed the gun in his inner pocket, or rather, in a proper holster.

'Is this an intruder...? A squatter?' She made a decision quickly and summoned her scythe then burst forth. Attempting to subdue him before he could cause any damage.

'Shooting at me won't help him but if he does act out of line I'll-' When she stopped at her destination, the man was gone.

Now he was standing at the door way with her Scythe in hand as he spun it around.

"This thing is no joke, I almost lost my head." He said with fascination.

Calli was still processing how he managed to avoid her approach and even steal her weapon from him, she only toned down her movement in hopes she doesn't actually end up hurting him.

Angrily, she tapped her shoe on the ground, causing the scythe to fling away from his hand and retreat to her's. He seemed truly surprised to see this happen but also had the expression as though he expected to see something unusual.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked.

"Not your enemy, first of all."

"Really? As far as I see it, you're some random guy with guns up his alley, wandering in our house."

"That's not exactly cooperative."

Calli had enough small talk, she attempted to get her hands on him again but he slipped from under her grasp and began running down the hall of doors. As he made is way down the hall, the reaper made another lunge for him, missing again and slamming her fist into the wall, cracking a large hole immediately.

'Hoooo boy, I gotta steer clear of her.' He thought as he went on.

Suddenly the rest of the doors down the halls opened to reveal the rest of myth popping out, investigating the commotion.

"Guys! Grab him!!" Calli yelled to her friends who remained confused at the sight of these two running towards them.

"What the...?!" Kiara didn't process his presence quick enough.

The man jumped, placed both hands on her shoulders and flipped right over her. Her build was inhumanely strong so he didn't even make her budge when he vaulted over her.

Next he waved past Amelia's attempt to grab him and in turn flung her over to Gura where the two collided foreheads.

"OW! WATSON!"

"SHUT UP! YOU SAW THAT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

Ina, on the other hand, didn't even try to stop the stampeding chase as she watched him run past her, her phone in hand with little to no interest in getting in his way.

"INA!!" Calli screamed as she ran past her.

"If it's a human, you know we can't do much." The priestess reasoned.

The chase continued until Yagoo was alerted of all the noise. Looking up at the stairs where both him and A-chan find Cyrus grinding down the railing, jumping off to avoid another slash from Calli until he landed right infront of the two.

"Is this the 'help' you were talking about?" A-chan asked.

"Indeed. -- Nice to see you again, Mr. Cyrus." Yagoo nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, hey uh...Can you deal with her?"

"Right."

Yagoo simply raised his hand up just enough to see it peeking over the man's shoulder. The literal wake of death's lesser stood behind him with impending violence but she stopped just inches away.

"Hold on there, Calliope. I'm sure there's been some misunderstanding."

"What?!"

The rest of the girls come barreling down after the reaper as Yagoo places a hand on the man's shoulder then turns him around.

"Girls, I would like you to meet, Cyrus. He will be head of security of the mansion and your personal bodyguard."

"Wait, huh?!"
"A"
"Seriously?"
"What for?"
"Pog."

Rushing out from the bunch, Kiara grabs Yagoo by the forearms then carries him to a far corner of the room as if he were a leaf. The rest of the girls soon follow and engage in a whisper session.

"Boss, we really like this new place and all but...do we really need him?" Kiara begins as they look back at the man who's now engaging in conversation with A-chan. "I mean, not to be rude towards your decisions but...he's a human."

"I'm pretty sure we do a better job at self defense while snoozing than he could in full throttle." Gura shrugged.

"How come we're only hearing about this now?" Ina questioned.

"Easy now." Yagoo raised his hands to quench their thirsting questions. "You don't have to think of it as your actual protection. Think of him as the facade of security, do keep in mind that there are going to other house keepers here, when you will be off doing your work, streaming and minding your own, you will need some sort of protection in the area." He reasoned. "This is a big place, it can attract much unwanted attention and especially be helpful for when you go out. Now that you are in full control of your living space you girls can go out shopping and exploring like you've always been wanting to."

He was right. In their time at HQ, it was rather difficult for the girls to go out there and see the world more often due to the restrictions. Not because they were enslaved by their contracts as talents but rather it being difficult to just go out there without being noticed for their.... uniqueness. Some of the talents find it hard to socialize in this world, others struggle to hide their identity, these girls were peak of envy and attention. They all had utterly perfect features, no flaw in their looks and overall beauty, even if you couldn't see the shark tail and radiant powers, one would look at them for a single glance and see that such perfection can't possibly exist.

"I wanted to give you girls this opportunity of freedom but if you're going to walk the world of the people, you will face the dangers they experience as well. If something were to happen out there, whether it be a criminal or a crazed fan, you know your contract."

"We can't hurt humans, yeah yeah..." Calli sighed.

"And so, you got us someone who can? How can we be sure this guy is any good." Amelia tapped her foot.

"I hand picked him myself." Yagoo smiled. That alone was enough to quiet the girls.

Because it's those words that hold most impact, a known fact to the girls for all their years working at Cover Corp. Yagoo's talent for always finding the right pick has never once been wrong.

"All I ask is for you to welcome him with equal trust."

When this discussion had began, A-chan turned to the tall silent man and examined his features thoroughly. Despite also having high trust in Yagoo's ability of recruitment, she couldn't see what was so special about him.

Of course, besides his athletics that he displayed a few moments ago. Even if the girls were not trying to overdo it and end up hurting him, it was still a sight to imagine, a human managing to slip past Myth by sheer flexibility.

"While those weirdos have their little talk...Hello, my name is A-chan, a staff member for Hololive. I manage most of the tech stuff and general support for alot of these streamers but I do end up seeming like a Secretary to Yagoo." The woman brightly introduced herself.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel rather intimidating by the man's stare. His eyes are gray and hollow, the height difference doesn't help at all either.

Still, he raised his hand with a soft, slightly uninterested, smile. "Cyrus."

"So I've heard." She shook his hand. "He seems to have a lot of confidence in you. You have previous experience in such fields?"

"Many. But I'm sorry if I seem bit under-qualified when my clients are...."

"Beings pulled straight out of a comic book? Oh yeah, I really get it." She giggled.

"Believe me, if I hadn't seen their weird antics for myself I would just called your boss a bit too immersive in his job."

"Delusional."

"Yeah that's the word."

But Cyrus knows better now, too better, in fact.

As he looked on at the girls whispering about, all he could recall was the talk he had that night. The information he seemingly got forced to by that woman at the library...

Or how she specifically calls herself....

A few days ago...

"The name's Shiori! But if we're going of titles then I'm more commonly known as 'The Archiver!'"

"By whom exactly?" Cyrus sat opposite to her, his gun slamming against the table as he dropped it.

"My fellow talents and maybe a few interdimensional authorities here and there~"

"So, you work at Cover Corp."

"Yup! And it looks like you got your hands on our contracts." She leans on the table with her arms crossed. "So, what brings you here, Cyrus?"

He immediately picked up his gun, the barrel pressed right between her eyes. But she kept on smiling, it was a rather crazed smile but not one that was crazy about being held at gunpoint but rather completely disregarding the threat of life, she kept on staring at him.

"Why do you know my name?" He demanded an answer.

"I read a lot~ I have to say, I'm a HUGE fan of your work and I've been really interesting in meeting you. Among all humans I've seen and read about, you're the most....Inhumane among them~"

His hold on the firearm didn't falter and kept it pressed against her.

"Your entire life reads like a thriller novel. An Assassin with specialties so great that you're almost a myth. 'The great Void', a man so deadly and precise in his handy work that some people don't even consider you a man, you're a curse." She gracefully hummed his praise. He found her entire aura disturbing, likely a good level of crazy among his usual targets.

"Just give him a name and you can consider that entire generation dead already...." She quoted a rumor.

"I didn't come here for a boot kissing." He put a stop to her rambling.

"Ahaha~! Right! You came here because you're dragging yourself around looking for answers!" She leaned back in her chair, she knew wouldn't actually kill her. "Answers that are pretty obvious but you'd rather hear them from someone else."

"Why does your boss really want me?"

"Because by helping us, you'll help yourself in fixing your life, solving a case that you've been after since you were twelve."

"Why would any of you know anything about my life?"

"Because I know anything and everything that needs to be known. Knowledge is a big story that needs someone to read it." She smirked a toothy grin, pure fascination beamed from her eyes. "And I read it....over and over and over again with every new update that it had, I gained that knowledge until my hair couldn't keep up with my ever growing awareness....I got too invested." Touching the whites of her hair with a loud sigh.

"But some didn't like me knowing too much~"

She went quiet but her smirk remained.

"Still! I'm going to be to one to provide you with information on just who you'll be protecting and how you'll go about it."

"What makes you think I'll accept this job?"

"Because I know you're at that point in your oh-so- dangerous life where you'll take the worst of opportunities to make things right." She placed a thick white book infront of him, then a paper file next to it.

"You being this vague won't help in encouraging me."

"But if I spill the good stuff now what's the point of the plot to thicken~?" She shrugged widely but Cyrus wasn't too satisfied. "Fine then, let me get you a little motivated..."

She suddenly crawled onto the table and then dropped down on him, straddling the man. She then suddenly grabbed his face and stabbed her nails into his hair. Her eyes were glowing in the darkness that seemed to suffocate him.

All she did was lean in and bit his ear, whispering into his hear a mere few words.

"You want your sister to stop hating you, don't you? She can't live her life as long as you're here."

He said nothing after that.

What followed after was nothing but silent compliance. Shiori sat back down on her seat with the same warm grin then opened the book for him, soon followed the file that Cyrus opened.

"Make it easy for yourself and just believe everything you read. While you do, I'll be transferring the needed information to you directly. It's much faster than having you sit and read every book shove at you~"

Cyrus found a litter of pictures that he dropped onto the table. He began looking at each of them as Shiroi started speaking...her voice was weirdly echoed and denser than before.