Jareth cleared his throat.
"Errmmm… about the option… I—"
"Don't worry," she interrupted him as she drove into the underground parking garage. "I just want you to get your arcanist badge, so that you can enter the exclusive nexus for arcanists. That will get you up to date and might give you the motivation you need."
Jareth nodded, turned to the window and exhaled in relief.
Esta finally found a position and parked, before turning off the engine.
"Go and get your arcanist badge. The elevator is behind me, or you can walk up and use the door. Remember to tell them you have forty percent oblivium in your body."
With that, she rested her head and shut her eyes.
Jareth nodded, opened the door and went for the elevator.
When he looked around, he saw the big underground parking garage was filled with cars of various kinds.
"If the Arcanist Court is for arcanists, then arcanists must be rich," he mumbled.
But it didn't capture his attention too much as he was rich at his peak. Fleet of expensive and luxurious cars? He had them.
He walked up to the elevator that had just opened, with a casually dressed man and woman walking out.
"Evening," the woman greeted with a smile, while the man's expression was stern.
"Good evening ma'am and sir," Jareth greeted as he entered.
Jareth took the elevator up, and when it opened, he found himself in a wide, neatly decorated hall, with two female and two male receptionists behind a wide desk in office suits, on the side opposite the elevator.
There were a few people forming a small queue in front of them. A few teenagers strolled in from the door.
Jareth walked up and stood at the back of the shortest queue.
In a few minutes, the queue shortened until it was his turn.
He smiled politely at the beautiful lady with light brown hair and calm but soft eyes. "Good evening, ma'am."
"Evening."
"I'm an arcanist and I was told to come register for my arcanist badge."
"Follow me," she said and stood up.
Then she left from behind the desk and walked to the doorway to the corridor on the right.
Jareth quickly followed behind as she led him through the long corridor past many doors until they reached a door, which she pushed open.
The room had one girl, who was pressing her phone and laughing. She stopped and scrambled to her feet.
The lady nodded and gestured for Jareth to sit opposite her, with the girl standing beside them.
"Your name?" the lady asked.
"Jareth Idren."
"Your comm band?" She stretched her hand and requested.
Jareth was stunned for a second before he regained his senses and removed his comm band from his wrist and passed it to her.
"Go stand in that room." The lady pointed at the door behind him.
Jareth walked into the room, and the light turned green like the Parliament Court.
He was not nervous as he had gone through it before.
Ten minutes later, the door opened, with the girl standing there.
Jareth walked up to her, and she passed him his comm band and a circular silver watch-sized metal with a feverish smile he couldn't comprehend.
He looked at it and saw that the badge had an engraving of a mystical staff, lifted high up by four arms that looked like they came from different people. On the top of the badge was a star, which Jareth guessed was his rank.
"Mr. Jareth, let me give you a brief introduction of the badge," the girl's voice pulled his attention from the badge. "The badge has a small spatial space. You can also buy a handle to attach it to your wrist like your comm band, except this one is more mystical. That's why it's also called the storage watch. Before I forget, buy a strong handle from a recognized shop; fake handles will snap during battles. Where was I…
"Right, to activate it, just drip your blood, and it can be activated with your thoughts. When you go hunting and you see strange things, like flowers, rocks, and more, you can store them in there. Although there are some things you better to avoid, to keep your life—"
"Annie, just give it to him. Why all the rambling?" the lady cut her off.
Jareth held the arcanist badge and comm band with a slightly stunned expression, which he repressed.
'Brief? Really?'
"Sorry," Annie apologized, her face red in embarrassment. "This is my first time making an arcanist badge. I was making sure…."
Jareth nodded in comprehension.
"Let's go." The lady led him out.
On the way, she said, "Although Annie likes to ramble, she's correct when she said we buy things, ranging from beast cores, to beast carcasses, and strange plants and things you get from your adventure. You can exchange them for Arcanists points and aure. Mind you, some things, just because they are strange doesn't make them valuable to be bought by us; so don't pick just anything on your adventure.
"We also sell. Although aure is acceptable, there are some rare things that can only be bought by arcanist points. Have a nice day," she said when they got back to the hall.
"Thanks," said Jareth.
He took the elevator to the underground parking garage, and went to meet up with Esta in her car.
"Done?" She lazily opened her eyes.
Jareth nodded.
"I thought you were going to run." She chuckled.
Jareth was stunned for a second as he realized he hadn't thought of that, even when he didn't trust her.
'Is my survival instinct that bad? No. I never thought of escaping because I don't know how wild the powers of arcanists are. But my survival instinct is still…'
"Erm… why should I run when you're helping me?" Jareth said with a fawning smile.
"Is it?" She said plainly before starting the engine.
"Of course," Jareth replied as she drove off.
Soon, they arrived at the gate where they dropped the girls.
Esta pressed a button on her watch and the black gate slid aside by itself. She drove into it, revealing a serene compound, with flowers by the driveway and a well-cut field on each side.
She drove and parked in front of the building before turning off the engine.
Stepping out of the car, with Jareth following a step behind, she led him into the house, opened with her comm band.
When they entered, Jareth looked around and noticed the luxurious design.
He quickly walked to catch up with her when he noticed she was already climbing the stairs.
Jareth followed behind as she led him to the top floor, turning to the left before leading him to the end of the hallway.
She pointed at a room, with a key inserted in the door. "This is your room. You can go test your spells in the basement; it is reinforced and can bear the destruction of your spells. The fridge is in the dining room, downstairs. There is a free comm band that can be used to call me in the room during an emergency. Lastly, I'll be expecting your answers."
"Thank you, Miss Esta," Jareth said politely as he watched her receding back.
He couldn't understand her.
The way she behaves, from her usually plain facial expression to body behavior, she looks like she's bored, or to be precise, too lazy to engage in a conversation with strangers.
So, why is she helping him?
Shaking his head, he opened the door. When he entered, he locked the door before looking around. It was a big furnished room, containing a king-sized bed, a desk and chair with packaged clothes and a placed comm band on it.
With a quick survey, he noticed a door that led to the balcony, and another that led to the toilet.
"She's really rich," he mumbled.
Then he unbuckled his attire, which was a bit difficult as it was foreign to him but he managed to tinker his way through, which made him breathe out in unexpected relief. The attire had been tight for him without him realizing it. He entered the bathroom, took a quick shower, changed into the pajamas, and laid on the bed.
'Phew! What a hectic welcome. Curse that girl, called Nadia! Well… she paid for my comm band and introduced the world to me… but still curse her. I should check out the arcanist nexus, let's see if I will see anything that will convince me. To be honest, I would have wanted to leave to myself. Did being a loner affect me? Maybe I should shave my hair and become a monk. Hahahaha,' he thought.
He removed the comm band and placed it on his chest, before activating the holographic screen function. Then, following an instruction he saw on the nexus, he scanned his arcanist badge and entered the arcanist nexus.
Jareth began surfing through images and recorded videos, ignoring most text, as he found the mystical battles fascinating. He saw things he always imagined when he read fictional novels and games. But what made him shiver were some huge monsters. He saw no way a gun would kill those. Maybe a nuke would stand a chance.
'All powerful arcanists are walking nukes! So if they go mad…'
Jareth tried not to think about it.
He watched until he fell asleep, with a video playing.
***
Jareth's eyes snapped open, but he found himself blind. Whirling around, all he saw was encompassing darkness. He couldn't tell up from down, his direction utterly lost. The darkness was as thick and lightless as the deepest part of the sea, without a single sliver of light.
Then he heard a soft and thick whisper, "Hello, Jareth."
He shivered at the voice.
His eyes widened. He couldn't forget the haunting voice.
Snapping his head, he searched for the speaker but saw darkness.
The voice spoke slowly, "We meet again."