The Deceitful One

The sun had completely set as Damascus welcomed another cold winter night. The lampposts on the side of the streets began to light up one by one as they illuminated the path ahead for cars, carriages, and people alike.

Detective Watson and Bryan continued to chat in the steam car, as it slowly approached 22 Augustus street. And soon, the car stopped at the entrance of Detective Watson's two-storied villa.

As soon as the duo got out of the car, they were greeted by a middle-aged man, who appeared to be awaiting their arrival.

"It is good to see you, sir!" The usually stoic Butler John smiled faintly at Detective Watson, He then turned to look at Bryan and nodded, "And you too, Mr. Lombardi!"

"Yes, it has been a while!" Bryan nodded with a bright smile.

Detective Watson approached Butler John and patted him on the shoulder, "How have you been, John?"

"I have been quite all right, sir!" Butler John bowed slightly as he replied. He then lifted Detective Watson's suitcase and led the way in, "Please follow me, gentlemen. Dinner's almost ready!"

The duo followed after Butler John as Detective Watson instructed, "John, please keep my luggage in my study."

Butler John turned around and nodded respectfully, "Right away, sir."

Detective Watson and Bryan entered the house and straight away went to the study on the second floor.

Before entering the study, Detective Watson looked at Bryan and stated, "Wait for me inside. I'll freshen up quickly and be there in a few minutes."

Bryan nodded, "No problem, teacher."

He then entered the study, leaving the door behind him ajar. Bryan looked at the familiar bookshelves, the study table and the world globe placed on it, and everything else in the study as a reminiscent sigh escaped his lips, "It's been so long since I've been here."

As he looked around the room, he recalled the time when he used to come here and Detective Watson would teach him how to read and write.

'Things were so simple back then.' Bran thought wistfully.

So much had happened since Detective Watson had left for Nadir. In that short span of almost half a year, Bryan had witnessed a lot of things.

He had come to know the joy of friendship as well as the pain of losing someone dear. In these past few months, he had grown a lot. Bryan had turned from a boy to a mature man.

As he sat on the chair by the study table thinking of the past few months, Detective Watson had already entered the room and taken his seat.

It wasn't until he spoke that Bryan snapped out of his daze, "What are you thinking about, Bryan?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just thinking of how much time has passed and so much has happened since you've left." Bryan replied with a wry smile.

Sensing the emotions in Bryan's voice, Detective Watson asked worriedly, "Did something happen to you, Bryan? You can tell me anything, you know?"

Bryan's heart warmed as he heard the concern in his teacher's voice. He smiled and nodded as he began to recount his experiences since Detective Watson left for Nadir.

From joining the Silver Owls and befriending everyone on the Strike Team to talking in detail about the different missions he had to go on with each of them.

Bryan spoke about his experience in the cemetery and his encounter with a lost spirit as well as a wraith. He even spoke about how he spent time going to pubs with Andrew and Elijah after work.

Listening to this, Detective Watson smiled warmly, "It seems that you're quite close to Andrew and Elijah."

Bryan nodded his head as he smiled, "Yes, they're my best friends. Hmm, I guess I could even say that our bond is close to that of brothers."

Detective Watson smiled, "It's great to hear that you have such friends you can rely on. They're good and hardworking lads, Andrew and Elijah."

Bryan replied, "Indeed, they are." He then continued to tell Detective Watson about his other missions. Soon, the topic got to Jamie and Bryan's mood turned downcast.

He explained to Detective Watson how he had met Jamie and the kids and how much Jamie reminded him of himself. He then spoke about Jamie's subsequent death at the hands of Anthony.

Finally, he concluded his experiences after describing his battle with Anthony and the three other Blood Path Transcendents.

Detective Watson shook his head and sighed, "It's been hard on you, Bryan. How are you feeling now?"

He knew the pain of losing loved ones very well. After all, throughout the course of his life as a Transcendent, Detective Watson had lost many of his friends along the way. Hence, he knew just how devastated Bryan must have felt.

"I'm all right now, teacher. I'm learning to live with it." Bryan replied as he forced a smile.

Detective Watson tried to cheer him up as he spoke from his personal experience, "Time is the best medicine. As time passes, you will learn to live with his death and gain closure.

But the most important thing to do is to always keep Jamie in your memories. A person truly dies when they're forgotten."

Bryan mulled over Detective Watson's words and then smiled faintly, "Thank you, teacher."

Detective Watson smiled warmly, "Always."

"Anyways, I have a gift for you." He got up from his chair and walked to his suitcase that Butler John had kept in the room at some point.

"I found this at a secret gathering in Nadir. The seller claimed to have gotten it off the coast of the Northern Continent." Detective Watson added as he took out a brown wooden box from his suitcase.

At the mention of the mysterious Northern Continent, Bryan's interest was piqued, "Oh? What is it?"

Detective Watson sat back in his chair as he pushed the wooden box towards Bryan with a smile, "Open it and see for yourself."

Bryan eagerly grabbed the wooden box and opened the lid. Inside, there was a black-colored oval object the size of his head—maybe even a little bigger—kept on a red silk cloth.

With bright eyes, Bryan gently picked up the oval object. After staring at it for a few moments, he looked up at Detective Watson and asked in excitement, "Is this what I think it is!?"