"Hello." When Mao approached the two woman he was cautious. Dolltopia actors still struck him as dubious. The guys at the park had stared at him weirdly and he had heard many strange things about Eternia. The one with the black hair however looked very gentle and friendly.
"Good day!" she greeted and the blonde smiled at him too. "Another teenager! I'm surprised how many of you there are."
'Hey, I'm almost grown up', Mao though but didn't bother to protest.
When he stayed silent Eternia asked: "Who are you and how old are you?"
"I am Mao. 16."
Since the boy kept displaying suspiciousness and stubborn silence Eternia gave up to get more information from him. "All right, Mao. If you have any additional clothes you can put them in this box for Isuls. Everything else you don't need you can give to us and we pack it up."
"Eh?" Now Mao became lively, after all. "The box is completely empty!"
"Err... yes?" Eternia wasn't sure why he was upset about that. "So far the others only had accessoires, but no clothes. That the norm."
"Incredible! Just a moment." Without another word Mao trudged off.
Shortly after he came back, balancing a heap of clothes on his arms. "Here." He pushed a heap of shirts and other stuff in Eternia's arms, handed his backpackk to Sinistra and started to peel himself out of his loosely worn jacket.
"Good lord!" Eternia was deeply impressed. "Is all of this yours?"
"Yes."
"Why do you own hair clips?"
"No idea."
"And these... interestingly patterened glasses, do you really wear them?"
"Nope, never."
"Your shoes are... of different colours..."
"Listen, I didn't design myself! What do I know why things are like this!"
Sinistra intervened cautiously. "At least Eph-Sama seems to have bought you new shoes, didn't she."
"Yeah, I'm glad about that", Mao said with a deep sigh.
Eternia nodded appreciatively. "All right. You have lots of stuff and don't know what to do with it, so in the box it goes, right!"
Suddenly Mao felt a burning gaze in his neck. He shivered involuntarily. When he turned around there was an errie man standing in front of him, staring at him. Actually Mao felt as if he wasn't stared at but directly into his self. Sinistra noticed the man too.
"Good day", she greeted, "do we know each other?"
"I am Ama", the man said calmly while not taking his eyes off Mao for a second. If Eternia had heard that she would have cheered but she was way too busy putting away Mao's clothes.
"Hi." Mao said tightly and folded his arms. The dark eyes of this guy seemed to burn right into his soul.
Sinistra was less bothered by the stranger. "So, Ama. Are you here to check in?"
"Indeed. It seems I will travel with this boy."
"I object", it slipped out of Mao spontaneously.
Ama ignored this, put his bag in front of the woman and asked: "Is Noel in the box already?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I have to check the list to answer that." The elementalist, who still held Mao's belt and necklace for him, was embarrassed because she didn't know. "Or I check with Eternia! Eternia...?"
The blonde turned around. "Oh, wow! You're Ama! THE Ama!"
"Err, huh?" Sinistra was confused. When the man turned his attention to Eternia Mao used the opportunity to take care of his stuff himself. That way the guy could at least not stare into his face anymore.
Eternia sighed. "I'm sorry, nobody here seems to be into music! Sinistra, Ama and his band are just as famous as Dark Delight!"
"Only just as famous? You offend me." A sneer played around Ama's mouth. "So how about Noel?" The secret of Ama's success as a singer was his sensual voice. An impression he also made when just talking, as became clear now.
"Noel... Noel... Ah, the ballerina? Yes, she's in the box, but in box 2, so it's not the current one."
"Very well. And Natsume?"
"Uhm, him too."
"Very well. Sadly I was tied up with business and was unable to accompany them. I would be very displeased if something happened to them. They are very important to me. Both of them."
Something in his voice led to a cold shiver running down Eternia's and Mao's backs simultaneously. Even Sinistra, who was used to having contact with all sorts of undead and shady figures and whos best friend was actually a necromancer, thought that he was a bit spooky. She clearly felt an aura of power emanating from Ama. No way was he human. Perhaps Eternia felt that too, and perhaps that was why she didn't even try to hit on him. Perhaps she didn't dare to.
When Mao was done with packing and definitely had to go sadly the pale guy still stood motionless behind him.
"Are you ready? Let's go then. Don't worry, I will keep a good eye on you." The man's black eyes seemed to glow red like smouldering coal.
Mao felt another icy shiver. "Err... say, you aren't a pervert, are you?!" he asked bluntly.
Now Eternia tensed, ready to protect the boy if Ama would say or do something fishy.
Ama laughed, very soft and very humourless. "Young man, your perception of me as amusing but utterly wrong. I just think that we can be useful for each other."
"How do you know that? You don't know me at all!" the teenager protested.
"So, I don't?" The arrogant tone was back in his voice, and a cruel humour. "You, Mao, are very talented. You're unique. Just like Noel and Natsume."
"Talent? You mean because I draw? Many people can do that!" Mao waved the compliment aside in the hope that would discourage the spooky guy.
He was wrong. "Maybe your skills are not in full bloom yet but your talent is immense! I foster... special people like you."
"Aha... And what do you want in return?"
"I want to bathe in the sun of your success." That even sounded sincere, but there was also a weird sparkle in his eyes. Something like... greed. But whatever it was, it didn't seem directed at Mao's body but at something within him.
"Come, let's talk about it in depth, Mao." The dark man lifted an arm behind Mao. He didn't have to touch him, the boy trudged beside him out of free will.
"All right... but if you're a pervert after all I'll scream! There are other people in the box, too!"
"Be my guest." Ama's dark smile was a grimace in his heavily painted face. "As long as you listen to me. I'm sure one day we'll make a deal."
"You want to publish my comics? Now, that sounds good..." Mao wasn't fully convinced yet what to think of this spooky man, but as long as he only wanted to talk and took interest in his comics...
When they were gone Eternia said loudly: "Shit."
"Eternia!"
"He frightened me to the bone."
"To be honest, me too. Still I felt somehow... attracted by him." Sinistra felt awkward to admit it.
"Me too. Must be the reason why he's a superstar."
"But it doesn't seem like he wants to harm Mao."
"Maybe, because he's a child. But I wonder if it's the same for Noel and Natsume."