Dwan Cemetery was located at the suburbs of the town, far from all the bustling streets and moving cars. Calm and still like a tomb.
Moving in between the tombs, Kairo's face darkened—there was absolutely no sign of life here.
'Couldn't expect more from a cemetery. Perfect place to rest,' Kairo thought.
Finding his target wasn't hard. Next to an open tomb, with a torn arm sticking out, was a man in black.
'Harid Din. Jed's best friend,' Kairo immediately recognized the man. The person on the phone was clearly not the Surgeon.
"My dear Kairo. Nice to meet you. I'm Harid, the Gabriel 'guy'—or how you call him now, the Surgeon. Frankly speaking, I love that name. If only I could think of something this cool, it'd be great," Harid said, speaking like he was talking to an old friend.
Kairo suspiciously observed his surroundings. Although he didn't notice anything, he was on high alert.
"Where is he? You are not without knowing I awakened three cards," Kairo said.
"Such a hurry. I have rarely seen many normal people willingly place their head under a guillotine. Are you sure you're okay in there, Kairo? He is a saint, you know. Once you meet him, you'll regret not taking a step back now. I'm just saying that for your own good, you know," Harid continued with his attitude.
The more he listened, the more disgusted Kairo felt.
'He acts like everything is fine. With absolutely no remorse for what he does. You just wait,' Kairo kept his forced smile.
"Now, what's the deal? How do we meet him? Do I have to be drugged or poisoned or something? Be fast. My partner has instructions to come here after ten minutes. You're left with eight minutes and thirty-five seconds," Kairo glanced at his watch.
He knew what he was walking into and had a plan to get out. No matter what they did to him, Nyx would return with Fabian—and with the General Eye, Kairo was confident they'd be able to find him. He would be acting like a living GPS without the need for any gadget.
"We are going to the Misty Cathedral. Yep, the huge building to the east of the Card Mage Police Headquarters. Surprise, surprise. Didn't expect that, right?" Harid smirked.
Kairo kept a cool expression, feigning a lack of surprise. He was more worried about why Harid was telling him this. Didn't he fear Kairo had a card activated that would relay all this information or something?
Unless… they were in a card realm already. Kairo's face darkened. No matter the answer, he needed to be fast.
"One last thing before we leave—you need to follow one last rule. I will activate a card. And before you start fighting with me, listen carefully. Without me, you will never find the Surgeon. The card is called Obey. It is very simple," Harid explained.
"We will make a pact. I will bring you to the Surgeon, and you will not resist or try anything until you meet him. What you do after doesn't concern me. To ensure the pact is respected, Obey will erase our minds and act on instinct until it is fulfilled."
Kairo took a step backward. This complicated things. If his mind was erased, he wouldn't be able to remember why he was going to meet the Surgeon. Until he met him, it would be too late to formulate a plan.
While Kairo thought, Harid flicked the card in his hands.
"Now—Obey," he declared.
The circuitry of the void came to life, flickering with darkish waves that painted the entire cemetery. From within those dark lines, a very disturbing shadow appeared, using its dark tentacles to warp around Kairo and Harid.
"You should have thought carefully about your plan, Kairo. Your doom," he smirked.
Caught in the sky between the dark tentacles, Kairo's mind was spinning to find a solution. He pulled the Animate card from his belt pocket and activated it in the void.
The last thing he knew was that he was willingly following Harid as they left the cemetery.
He glanced at the cemetery and felt something was off. He couldn't remember what he was doing here, nor why he was following this man in black. All he knew was that he had to follow him. Still, Kairo noticed a little human hand hiding in the shadows, following silently behind them. Shrugging his shoulders, he kept up the pace.
…
"You mean you left him alone? I can't believe you did something so stupid. Aren't you his partner, supposed to watch his back? Very disappointing," Mirelle's voice was calmer than the subtle winds of the night, yet her expression made Nyx extremely uncomfortable.
"Exactly because I am his partner, I allowed him to go. I'm not going to apologize for trusting him," Nyx defiantly said. She didn't regret trusting Kairo — she was certain he had a plan. They just had to find it.
"Enough, you two. We have to find him first," Fabian stepped in.
"Don't worry, Nyx. Mirelle is a little overreactive these days. I don't understand why. Everything that deals with Kairo seems to affect her more than it should. It's kind of strange," Leli said.
"You mean she and Kairo…?" Nyx asked with a strange expression.
"No, oh hell no… Mirelle is an example for all of us. She isn't that kind of person. It must be something different. She's not talking about it. Still, our priority is finding Kairo. You said he asked me to come specifically — why is that? I thought he didn't want to talk to me?" Leli asked.
Nyx too was confused. All over the cemetery, Mirelle, Danzan, Fabian, and the others were searching for clues, but nothing. The words of Kairo were as follows: "After I leave, call Leli first and bring her here. And everything will be okay."
"Sorry, Mirelle, but the General Eye cannot be of use in here. Kairo's mind has probably been erased. I didn't tell you, but the General Eye works only if the person is conscious of their last location. If I arrive an hour before they left, I'll be able to find them no matter where they hide. But if the target themselves don't know their last location, the condition cannot be satisfied," Fabian explained.
"You mean the Surgeon knew about this?" Nyx had a worried expression.
"Impossible. How? The General Eye's function is only known by me. The details about its activation and counters are known only to myself. It was more of a 50/50 gamble," Fabian was categorical in his answer. There was no way the Surgeon could know about that.
"I think it was for you to use. Your card — Echo of Memories. This is the only explanation... Can you do that?" Nyx proposed.
Feeling the intense gaze of all the captains on her, Leli shied away. Nyx held her palm with a reassuring gaze. "You can do it," she said. Now the entire survival of Kairo depended on Leli. Kairo had acted with full trust in her abilities, even though he knew how mad she was at him. 'What the hell did he have in mind?' Nyx had a hard time understanding Kairo's thoughts.
Encouraged by her friend, Leli picked up her cards. In between her fingers, she held the Echo of Memories.
"Here we go," she said.
The circuitry of the void was once more summoned into the cemetery, this time forming patterns on the tombs and the trees. Flowing like waves in water, her hair danced backward as Leli summoned the Echo of Memories.
On the side, Nyx felt a tinge of envy rise in her heart. Her abilities, although useful, were nowhere near as powerful as Leli's. 'Is this why he trusted her and not me?' Although it was clear Kairo did it out of necessity and nothing else, she felt strange inside.
"The shadows will reveal what happened here, but I can't stay out of their range — otherwise they disappear," Leli explained.
"Good job, Leli. I knew you were the best," Mirelle acknowledged with a smile.
Observing the scene, Nyx's expression kept shifting between uncertainty and certainty. For now, all the shadows did was look at each other. They could not hear what was being said, but they were probably talking. This was until they saw them float in the sky — gripped by something that had appeared out of nowhere.
"That was probably the card that erased his mind. It's now that we need to be careful." Fabian reminded them
Then, the next thing they saw was the two shadows leaving the cemetery.
"Is that all? We didn't learn anything. It's such a useless ability," Danzan said bluntly.
Leli's face turned pale. Holding her head down, she was unable to look at them.
"Hey, don't be so quick to beat her down. There has to be something we missed " Nyx said decisively. Kairo had trusted them she couldn't fail. Who knew in which kind of danger he was.
The time ticked by slowly with each passing second caused her heart to twitch. ' hope he is fine ' she thought. For an unknown reason she was growing more and more worried each time it was about Kairo.
" I think we should leave now " Danza said
They all had beaten expression but nyx had not given up. She kept analyzing again and again. Replaying the shadows movement with leli help.
" Look at this miniature shadow—a hand. It's waving at us. I understand now!" Nyx's face lit up.
The group was startled. One of the shadows was a little hand that followed after the other two. It was so illogical and small that no one had noticed it in the projection earlier. It would move a few meters, then shake a finger or a leg—gesturing for them to follow. Then, it pointed in a direction.
"What's behind that skyscraper?"
"The Cathedral!" Nyx's eyes lit up.
Kairo had used Animate to give a single-phrase order to the hand—to indicate their destination. He was gambling on the fact that she would be sharp enough to catch the small detail in Leli's reconstruction.
"I'm coming, Kairo!" she said, and rushed out without a second thought.