The Okami Files

Chapter Five: Something strange is going on, and it's not my fault!

"Hiro's" P.O.V.

*BRIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGG!*

My alarm clock went off, rousing me from sleep. I'm not really a morning person, so it took a lot of self-control not to blast the annoying little thing into a pile of molten slag.

It was one of those old school alarm clocks (in case you were wondering) the kind with gears instead of what they have in modern clocks. Technology doesn't work well around wizards, which is why whenever I go to school everyone's cell phones go crazy. Can't really explain the reason, it just happens. Of course there are some wizards on the council who have a few theories that the magical energies that wizards give off work almost like… what were they called again…? Electromagnetic waves, I think… and that causes tech to go all screwy around us.

And because of that, I don't have anything techy in my home (when I told Tigress and the rest of my friends this, they looked at me like I was some kind of alien.)

I don't have a refrigerator, I have an icebox… that runs on actual ice. I don't have a cell phone, I have an old rotary phone. I have no computers, no video game systems, and the only TV I have looks like it would belong in your grandfather's house. Simply put, if you walked into my place, you would think you've gone back in time.

I've been working on a way to end all that, but I haven't been all that successful.

I turned off the alarm clock ( that ringing was starting to give me a headache) and saw the hands were positioned at five thirty. Why the hell did I set my alarm this early? It was friday and I had school… no that's not it. Was I supposed to meet someone? No that's not it either. While thinking about the reason, I got out of my bed (king sized baby!) and opened the window to let in the cool, crisp autumn morning air. I took in a deep breath, it was so nice here, it wasn't like my hometown of Chicago, but I liked it. Yeah, I'm from Chicago originally, the Merlin had me transferred here after an incident with a visiting vampire dignitary (long story short, I tried to dry roast him). So now I have a new home and a new name… one that I don't really like all that much.

The Merlin got me this nice, big log cabin at the edge of a forest on the east side of Peace city. It's private, quiet and peaceful and big enough to make a couple of rich snobs envious… like I said, nothing like the noise and excitement of Chicago that I was used to. But the Merlin went through a lot to get me this place (what a guy), so I'm not complaining.

I went to the bathroom, got cleaned up then went down to the kitchen to get some breakfast. I'm a decent cook, I mean I haven't poisoned myself or anyone else yet. I made something simple; a ham and cheese omelet, and buttered toast. I turned on the old TV while the food cooked and turned it to the morning news.

"Another bizarre bank heist has left police baffled, as authorities struggle to make sense of the unusual chain of robberies. Chief Hu had this to say…"

Yeah, this has been going on for the last week or so; the strangest robberies have been happening, always the same as the last. People fall asleep and stuff goes missing, maybe not as strange as you might think but it does go on the weird side of things when you fall asleep waiting in line to deposit your weekly paycheck.

Once my breakfast was ready I brought it in my lab; a large room near the back of my cabin. One wall was dedicated to books. It was covered from top to bottom with books ranging from fiction to nonfiction, magical how-to books, and some old world faery tales.

The wall opposite of that was my workshop wall, where I mix up potions, make magical items and other such things. And the wall I was facing was my study wall, with a large oak desk, lots of notebooks filled from front to back with potion recipes I've made up, some paperwork I need to send to the council (I know right, paperwork at my age.) and a bleached, three-eyed human skull.

I sat at the desk and tapped the skull in the forehead. "C'mon Calcifer, time to wake up." I said.

Three orange pinpricks of light appeared in each of the skulls eyes. The skull then opened its mouth and let out a huge yawn. "Don't do that, it's contagious." I said jokingly.

The skull groaned. "Yawning is not a sickness and therefore cannot be contagious."

I grinned at the skull. "No need to take it so seriously Calcifer, It's just a joke."

Calcifer rolled his eyes at me. "Making jokes this early in the morning… aren't you cheerful."

I shrugged. "Not really, I'm just trying to lighten my mood so I won't be grumpy all day. By the way, you've seen the news reports?" I asked the skull.

Before we move on, I just want to clarify something, Calcifer the Skull… isn't really a skull; he just lives in it. Calcifer is a spirit of intellect, of knowledge with over nine hundred years of wisdom and experience. He's been assisting wizards for a very long time, now he helps me out. His knowledge on everything from the metaphysical laws of magic to different ramen recipes makes Calcifer an invaluable asset to anyone who possesses his skull… regardless of their moral alignment. In fact, one of the wizards who possessed Calcifers skull was a very powerful necromancer who terrorized Europe back in World War One. (As a precautionary measure, I ordered Calcifer to keep those specific memories locked away.)

"Yes, I have." He stated plainly.

"What's your take on it?" I asked, wanting to know as much as I could before checking it out myself. Why would I do this you might ask…? Because I want to, that's why!

"Not much, after just hearing what's been going on, I can only give you a few theories… but there is one thing I am sure of."

I started digging into my omelet and goddamn it was good, the eggs were nice and fluffy, the cheese was warm and gooey… just perfect. "And that would be...?" I asked.

"The people are being put into a magical sleep. Which allows the thief to walk off with the cash unopposed."

I kinda surmised as much. The question now is how is it being done? "Mass sleep spell?" I mused.

"The only kind of spells that can pull that off are mind fog spells, and those have been deemed illegal by the White Council nearly seventy years ago. Whoever is doing this is at least trying to avoid the council's eye at the moment." True. As the name implies Mind fog spells involves getting into people's heads, which is against one of the laws of magic.

"Faery work?" I suggested.

"Now what would anyone of the faery courts do with something like money? Their currency is favors, remember?"

"Yeah, but what if a human wizard made a deal with one; doing him the favor of putting everyone to sleep as he robs the place?" I said, trying to think like a criminal.

Calcifer hmmed in thought for a second then replied. "If one wanted to make a deal with one of the fae, he'd have to offer something of equal or greater value, otherwise whoever the wizard is trying to work with will kill him for wasting their time."

After I was finished with my omelet I started on my toast. "What would be an even trade then?" I asked.

"Children." He said. Made sense, faeries have been notorious kidnappers for a very long time. "Has there been any missing persons cases?" He asked.

I shook my head as I finished my toast. "None that I know of, and I've been keeping careful track of all the weird things that have been going on around here. Sad to say, the unusual thefts are the only weird things that have been going on."

"Well if it's not magic or faery work, then it could only be one thing." Calcifer said. I took out my pocket watch and… oops time to get going.

"Some kind of magical artifact?" I wondered.

"Bingo."

I got up and walked to the kitchen and put my dishes in the sink, then came back to my lab to gather my school supplies. "So all we have to do now is figure out what artifact it is."

"Which narrows it down to at least a few dozen things I can think of off the top of my head, about three more if I took some time to think about it."

I put my coat on and my bag after that. "I'll ask around the places that were robbed after school, see if any of the employees noticed anything strange the days they were robbed."

"Let me know what you find out boss." Calcifer said as I laced up my boots.

"Will do." I said. As I reached for the doorknob I froze, a thought had suddenly crossed my mind. A thought that made me start to laugh. "You know, I just noticed something interesting about the weird stuff that's been happening around here."

"Yes? What's that?" Calcifer asked me as I opened the door.

"It's not my fault." And I walked out the door.

A/N

Okay, I'm going to end this chapter here and next time we'll find out what "Hiro" (who's real name will be revealed soon) is getting himself into. Also I can't decide who should debut next, Mantis or Crane. If anyone has any ideas for me, PM me and let me know.

See ya next time!