Chiyo plays coy as she brings her tea up to her lips. “A little bird told me.”
Victor side-eyes Leo, who shrugs. “Well, I don’t know where to begin,” Victor states. “I would enjoy being able to see it all again. I hope my instructor will give me some time between lessons.”
“Well, I hope she does,” Chiyo responds, setting her tea on the table.
“Victor, meet your Water Specialty Instructor, Chiyo Yamada,” Leo mentions.
Chiyo gives Victor a wink. “And I never got to apologize about seeing you naked in your bathroom back in New Orleans.”
Victor drops his smile and glares at Chiyo. “That’s right, you appeared in my bathroom. Who else saw me naked?”
“I think only she and I,” Leo responds.Then softly says, “Maybe Eddie.” Leo takes a sip of his tea, looking away as Victor gives him a look of disgust and betrayal.
Chiyo leans over to Leo and speaks in Japanese.“I bet you saw him naked more than once.”
Leo looks at Victor, holding back a coy smile, and responds in Japanese.“Maybe a couple of times. Not on purpose, of course.”
Victor glares at both of them. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Chiyo answers with a smirk while sipping her tea. “Have you started reading your books?”
“That’s what he’s been doing on the flight and train ride over,” Leo answers.
Chiyo gives Leo a confused look. “You didn’t go through the mirror?”
“No, we might have run into someone who may be after Victor and would pull him into the mirror realm,” Leo informs.
Victor chokes on his tea. “I’m sorry? What did you say? You said I had nothing to worry about.”
Chiyo and Leo look at each other. Chiyo gives Leo a nod to respond.
“We feel that someone is after you,” Leo proclaims. “First, it was Magenta, and then when you raged out with Karl and me. If someone is after you, you would be most vulnerable walking through mirrors. There have been others that were captured in the mirror realm and never came back the same or never came back at all.”
“So, does this mean we won’t go through mirrors anymore?” Victor asks with concern. “Just for the time being. We are looking for protection spells and artifacts to protect us,” Leo reassures.
“In the meantime, we took precautions at the hotel and where we will be training,” Chiyo adds. “Just make sure you always keep the artifact from Superior Charles on your person at all times.”
A couple of geishas walk up and set down bento boxes on the table. Victor’s eyes grow wide with happiness. “Oh, this looks good.” He picks up his chopsticks and starts digging in. As Victor eats away, he begins to feel dizzy.The room starts spinning around him. He remembers the restaurant in New York.
Fuck, not again,Victor thinks to himself.
Looking around with blurry vision, he sees that everyone is passed out. He notices two black figures walking his way. As they get closer, he feels water splashing on his face before he falls over and blacks out.
Victor sits up and looks around. He’s no longer in the teahouse; he’s in a glowing forest.
He notices he is now wearing a platinum silver suit. As he looks around, he can see the auras glowing around the plants, trees, and animals in his view. He gets up to his feet and starts walking around. There is no moon or sun in the sky. All he can see are the stars moving across the sky.
As he continues to walk through the forest, he spots a house in the distance. He tilts his head to study what he’s looking at. It almost looks familiar, as though he’s been there before. He keeps walking towards the house, but it keeps moving away. The closer he tries to get, the farther the house moves back. Victor stops and continues to look at the house. Suddenly, he thinks he hears a voice whispering to him. He starts to look around but does not see anyone.
“Victor?” Leo asks worriedly. “Victor, are you there? Come back to us.”
Victor starts to moan as he opens his eyes. He sees Leo and Chiyo looking down at him. “W-where am I?” he says groggily. Leo helps him as he tries to sit up. Chiyo brings over a glass of water.
“You passed out at the teahouse, and we brought you to the hotel. You were out for like 30 minutes,” Leo explains.
Victor takes the glass from Chiyo. “Thirty minutes? It felt like I was out for much longer.” He drinks half the glass before he asks, “What happened? It was the restaurant in New York all over again.”
Chiyo gently pats a damp cloth on Victor’s face while she explains. “As soon as our food was delivered, everyone started to feel dizzy. When I started to notice, I gave myself a protection spell, but I couldn’t get to you or Leo in time. I pretended to pass out in anticipation of an attack, and I was right.”
