Watching Frank be escorted by Black, James remained in the empty apartment. He stared at the corpses scattered all over the place.
The blood and guts that stained the road painted a horrific image, the crosses, the barbed wire-
Even for a place such as Hell's Kitchen, this scene was something already in the realm of "abnormal".
"I wonder…"
James stood still, his senses focused as he waited.
The whole world was silent, oddly silent, but that was something he expected, after all, it was James himself who made it so.
Yet-
Minutes pass and still-
Nothing
"What are you waiting for?"
James muttered as he continued to wait, still, nothing happened.
"Should I invade them instead?"
He muttered, but he quickly shook such thoughts out of his head.
"At least I'm fine… for now"
With those words, James vanished, leaving the area and as he did, sound returned to the space.
The loud noise that came from gunshots, screaming, and the occasional siren echoed in the area. Yet, the eerie image of crosses and desecrated corpses still remained. Blood continued to fall as rats, sensing the relative calm started to exit the sewers and alleyways.
Emaciated dogs rushed to the scene along with cats and even a few crows.
It took a couple of hours for a group of black sedans to arrive in the area and clean up the mess, but by the time they arrived the already mangled corpses had already been messed up even more by various scavengers.
There were even shoe prints painted by blood on the pavement.
Upon seeing such a scene, the clean up crew almost threw up, some even hesitated to stay in the area after seeing the bloody footprints that had a trail of dried blood droplets following it.
Few dared to imagine what had transpired in this area, the thought of scavengers feasting was enough to send shivers down their spines, much less whatever caused the deaths of all their buddies.
That night, a new bounty was put up, one for Francis "Frank" Castle. His name would also be associated with the horrendous massacre. But since the man had no family or any close ties left, few dared to take up such a job.
It was one thing to hunt down a man with all the world to lose, but only those with a death wish to go after a man who only wanted to kill or be killed.
Frank Castle followed the man called "Black", his name cold carry many meanings but his fair skin showed that his name was used more to describe his nature.
Dressed in all black, with pure black hair and a pair of deep black eyes, the man seems to embody darkness. His white skin was almost unnoticeable due to the endless black that covered his being.
Yet, when Frank looked closely, he found that the white skin was not fair, no, it only looked fair from afar. Upon closer inspection, the white skin of the man looked pale yet- healthy.
It was an unnatural pale, as if all color was drained from it yet it still carried a strong vitality.
"Unfortunately I'm not into men"
Noticing his inquisitive gaze, Black spoke in a teasing tone as his eyes glimmered with a mix of emotions.
Apathy, helplessness, annoyance-
Frank, not a stranger to many of such emotions, seems to understand the thoughts running through the man's mind.
Yet he dare not speak up.
In other times, Frank would have long gone on a debate, talking down on the man, even daring to enter a brawl.
Yes, in other- more, "normal" times.
Frank was no coward, he did not mind facing death, he's a soldier who had gone through hell and back. But this fearless, battle hardened veteran was acting like a little rodent caught by a hunter.
Though Frank's cowardice at this moment was acceptable.
Even soldiers, the most hardened individuals still carry the feeling of fear.
Fear was not a weakness, in fact, at times, it was the greatest weapon one could have.
Many say that courage is commendable but forget the second part of the statement that said, "Blind courage is stupidity".
A soldier who was trapped, with no way out and with nothing to lose, such a soldier trading his life for a final hurrah! To allow his buddies to survive, that was bravery.
But a soldier that rushes towards danger with a smile was not bravery but pure stupidity, some may even call it lunacy.
At this moment, Frank was able to properly assess his surroundings.
He looked at his previously injured leg, the injury that he predicted would need weeks to a months before complete recovery had now disappeared. It was as if the injury had not existed at all.
Looking around, Frank noticed the various individuals, maids, butlers and some servants walk by. But what he took special notice of was the identical faces they had.
Ever since he entered this mysterious hallway, he had recalled a total of six unique appearances.
A short red haired maid wearing a modified maid uniform, her skirt barely covering her privates with her top being cut to only covers her shoulders and chest revealing her stomach. She had accessories such as long black evening gloves, black knee socks and a black choker.
She looked less like a maid and more a hooker on the streets but just a casual glance at her caused Frank to have chills. Anytime he had thoughts that disparaged her, he felt as if a rope was tightening around his neck.
The other individuals were also quite- eccentric to say the least.
A blonde maid who had a normal dress save for the fact that her top was a front tied corset that was barely tied! The laces were tight but a large space showing off her belly button and a large portion of her cleavage was revealed behind the laces.
Moreover, unlike the redhead who wanted to kill him for taking a glance, the blonde woman even tried to show off her bust. She had a look of lust in her eyes as she stared at him but Frank felt a deeper fear for this woman compared to the redhead.
Frank had seen many women like her in the middle east, assassins, suicide bombers… They tried to earn his favor but behind their kind and warm smiles were bad intentions.
Fortunately two other women appeared, a blonde maid who had her hair tied in a bun and an intellectual beauty who sported a pair of rectangular glasses.
These are the only maids that appeared, but they appeared from places where they should not come from.
He'd see them pass him from the front two, three even five time! Consecutively!
He had initially believe that he was being led in circles until he saw two blue haired maids, same appearance, same clothes and same accessories bearing the same air…
'Twins?'
At that time he had such a thought but the man, Black, chuckled as he explained to him.
"Homunculi, we are all creations of our Lord, artificial life created through magecraft"
Hearing the explanation, Frank felt his blood turn cold.
"Of course, having identical appearances are expected, creating new appearance everytime is too much effort, especially for a disposable workforce~"
Black turned to him, his eyes showing a mischievous glint as he revealed a pleasant smile.
"Unfortunately, identical appearances lead to many issues, moreover appearance altering magecraft is both useful but inefficient. Of course, Homunculi, who were created to be completely loyal their Lord are useful but as the lord said- "sometimes, unpredictability could do wonders", alas, Homunculi lack a LOT of things, which is why human personnel are needed-"
Black paused, his expression turned stern as his tone got a bit lower.
"That is, if they prove useful"
Black did not elaborate further as he returned to the calm smile and turned back.
Recalling that short episode, Frank could still feel a shiver run down his spine.
'The master he speaks of should be the young man with silver hair'
'The butler was probably made to copy his personality'
'The maids… maybe some women he slept with?'
Recalling the appearances of the four maids, Frank split them into two groups-
'Probably slept with two of them, the other two… lovers?'
As his mind wandered, Frank suddenly realized something, a fact that he did not consider before but was now able to internalize after some deliberation.
'No wait- homunculus? Artificial human? What kind of…'
His thoughts started to spin wildly as theories continuously popped up one after the other. But then his mind calmed down. He recalled the event that transpired at Hell's Kitchen. The graphic scene that he dare not look at.
The miracle that happened to his injuries-
'But if they could do something like that…'
A young man with brown hair and green eyes dressed as a servant passed by, followed by a large man with long grey hair and deep western features.
Frank ignored the two individuals as his thoughts were more focused on another matter altogether.
'This… could I also do the same thing?'
The oppression, the brutality, the carefree attitude of the young man as if he was mocking every existence around him.
Recalling it all, from within Frank's mind, a thought emerged. It was a thought that he would have never had before but for some reason, after meeting the young man he had developed a certain desire…
'This-'
Was his mind controlled?
Did the young man use some weird voodoo on him?
Did the man named Black do something?
Frank was no idiot, when he was able to calm down he realized just how chaotic his thoughts had been for a while now.
Yet-
'I feel free'
Despite feeling as if he was walking straight into a tiger's mouth, he felt a certain kind of release.
The haunting memory of his loss, the terror that plagued him all his life, the scars accumulated in his years of fighting-
All of these "marks" that made him who he was were now-
Calm-
They were still there, he could still feel the emotions he had before but now, instead of being the victim of such emotions, Frank was somehow able to look at it all with the perspective of an observer.
When he came to such a realization, Frank's eyes opened wide.
The enlightenment did not go unnoticed as Black had halted his steps.
Frank was unable to enjoy that moment of joy for long as the words of Black echoed in his ears.
"You finally broke free, enter now, the Lord is waiting for you inside"
Black pointed to the right, a door had appeared, it looked rather normal and seemed to blend into the surroundings.
If Black did not inform him, Frank would have never found the door.
"Just push it open, there is no knob, but if you aren't allowed in then no matter how hard you push it wouldn't budge. But if you were called-"
Black walked to the door, giving it a light tap and as he did that the door opened.
"The door would open by itself with the lightest touch"
After explaining, Black turned to the man inside the room, gave a bow and then left.
Frank being left by Black entered the room, not like he had anything else to do or anywhere else to go anyway.
"So Frank, how was it? Do you like the new mindset?"
The young man spoke in the all too familiar carefree tone, he talked about a psychological issue as if he was deciding what to have for dinner. Casual and uncaring-
Maybe if a maid of his were to be tortured, raped and murdered in front of him, his reaction would a chuckle, maybe he would join in?
Frank had such thoughts but to his horror James replied-
"Come on now, I'm not that heartless~ I gave them abilities that could prevent such scenarios! In fact, any being capable of truly harming and killing them won't even think of doing things such as torture and rape, it's not only a waste of time but also a barbaric act that such individuals look down upon~"
Hearing the response of the man almost broke Frank.
Were his thoughts being read?
"Not really, it was just a suggestion, for a good while now you've been talking over your own thoughts"
The man's words caused Frank to reflexively answer back-
"What?!"
'What?!'
This allowed him to confirm the words of the young man.
"What? Is a suggestion to blurt out your inner conscious thoughts bad? If I were you I'd be more worried about the way I'm thinking~"
Hearing the words of the young man, coupled with his still present smile and casual atmosphere caused the fear within Frank's heart to grow deeper.
"Franky boy~ didn't you want to be able to do the same thing?"
The young man's words made Frank freeze, his mind going back to the thoughts of his desire. But-
"Don't think much about it, I already stopped you from doing such reflections. Though if you want to go over your previous psychological state then be my guest. Of course, if you can master magecraft, maybe, just maybe, you could crack that spe- no curse, I placed on your thoughts without cracking open your skull~"
Frank did not know how to respond, his mind was now in overdrive. His thoughts in constant turmoil as various ideas and thoughts continued to clash.
"It's not that weird is it? When you study a bit of magecraft, a magus cracking open their skulls is child's play! Imagine living in a child's body, of the opposite gender, born from the womb of your wife, maybe husband or… quite possible yourself?"
The young man spoke in a carefree tone, laughing and chuckling as he did but Frank remained frozen, his mind getting more and more chaotic by the second.
"No… I- want… pow-e…r…. Ve…ng-e…n…ce"
Despite all the pain he was going through, Frank was still able to speak out his thoughts, his desires and at that moment the young man stopped laughing.
The air about him turned serious as his casual expression turned sinister. His smile held many meanings as his lips parted to speak but before Frank could hear a single word from him-
*bang*
James looked at the collapse Frank Castle, his expression turning playful as he spoke-
"So, any other complaints?"
Behind him, the shadows wriggled and from them emerged Black. His gaze deep as he stared at the collapsed Frank.
"15… barely average quality"
James let out a helpless sigh as he spoke up for Frank.
"Oh lighten up~ Waver was worse at a whopping nine and look at him!"
But Black did not give up, with confidence, he responded-
"A "knowledgeable" pest who spends more time hiding behind you than he does actually working as a magus"
"..."
"A "master of theory" but has never actually applied anything himself"
"..."
"A wallflower whose only purpose is to become your shield during mee-"
James cut in-
"I get it!"
From the way Black was talking he could probably list down a few more "important notes" he had on Waver Velvet. Of course, James did not really mind hearing someone curse at Waver, hell, he had previously despised the rainbow flag waving idiot.
As much as he loved the story of Iskandar and Waver, he did not like how he was made to be such an important character in the Clocktower.
Waver chasing after Iskandar? James fully supported it, but making him a Lord? Giving him power and authority?
He disliked it… well at least before he was reincarnated into the Nasuverse.
Living in the Clocktower and playing around with the events after was interesting to say the least.
Waver was especially useful, he had charisma and a certain aura about him…
Of course the talks that happened between him and Reines before a certain mirror was something that could only be shared between him, his butlers, Reines and Trimmau…
Waver was a really great (tool) guy, his act of being tough was also fun to watch.
"Though I do wonder how Grey and Reines are holding up?"
— IN THE NASUVERSE —
Reines stared at an empty seat, her eye carrying complicated emotions as she caressed her stomach.
"What are you? An abandoned wife or something?"
Behind her a familiar voice echoed, smiling she turned around and replied with a teasing tone.
"What? Jealous~"
Reines had a coy expression, her eyes brimming with playful delight as she watched the expression of the long haired man before her twist in frustration.
"Tsk! Why did he have to leave you here?"