Chapter I: Pick your Poison

A woman sat on the wooden bench inside the central plaza of Viridis Lapis, the capital city of the Mikhail continent. A crestfallen smile adorned her face as orbs of pink seemed to glisten underneath the golden rays of sunlight that bathed the city in its soft light.

"I see...Thank you for calling, have a nice day." she murmured with quivering lips and hastily hanged up on the call before throwing her head down in self-pity.

"... That's the fifth job this week." the woman continued to talk to herself before throwing her head back in a groan, startling the people that were passing by.

With a sheepish smile and waved, the woman continued to lament on her current circumstances and stared directly at her phone. She stared at her reflection and began to ponder if it was her appearance that was causing her bad luck at finding a job.

She had dark, purple hair that she had tied into twin-tails at opposite sides of her head. Dark spots began to form below her eyes as a side of effect not getting enough sleep for the past few weeks.

Another sigh escaped her thin, strawberry pale lips. "What am I gonna do, I can't make myself look good for my job interviews when I need a job to look good!"

The sound of a text coming in caught her attention which immediately lifted her spirits. The name Sylvia Porfirio was present inside the text that had once again informed her of another failed interview.

Sylvia's shoulders once again drooped and the smile that came out of nowhere disappeared as fast as it came. BPD or bipolar disorder easily came into the minds of those walking by her.

"Well... No use in staying here, I guess." she nodded to herself and slapped some sense into her before jumping on to her feet and began to walk outside the plaza and into the busy streets that were filled by people hurrying to their jobs in the afternoon rush.

Sylvia's eyes darted from one store window to another, hoping to see a need for a clerk or any position that could work for as a temporary job. She began to regret the fact that she had taken psychology as her course for her college years due to the mysterious fall for the specific branch of health.

"What should I do though, I'm gonna be evicted if I don't get a job soon." she whispered beneath her breath and eyed an elderly woman who seemed to be at lost while waiting at the crosswalk of the upcoming intersection.

"Need some help?" Sylvia asked the old woman with a cheery tone and didn't wait for her reply as she held onto her pruned hands.

"Thank you dear..." the woman replied in a high-pitched voice that seemed a little force. Sylvia raised her eyebrows in confusion yet didn't dwell on the topic.

' She's old, so she should be suffering from sickness '

She thought to herself and carefully guided the old woman across the road, bidding a hasty goodbye as she ran off to look for another job with the old woman gazing at her with sultry eyes.

"Well, that's my daily good deed done and dusted. But that didn't put any money on my pockets!" she huffed as she bit on the sandwich that she had bought.

"Hello there!" the sweet, gentle voice of a woman filled her ears as a white flier rudely filled her vision out of nowhere.

"Would you be interested in a job?"

'Job?' she hastily thought and swallowed the entire sandwich in one bite before grabbing the flier that was presented in front of her.

It was a simple flier, leaving one to wonder if the business that it had made wanted people to notice or take an interest on it. The words were simply printed out in dark, bold letters and the background was as plain as it could possibly get.

"Vele... Bianche? Is that how you pronounce it?" she sheepishly asked and tore her eyes off the flyer for a split second, only to be surprised that the woman that had offered her the flier to be no longer there.

"... Well... Thanks?" Sylvia whispered and decided whether to keep the flier. It was a job hiring for a new maid at an unknown cafe that she had never heard of before.

"... The salary is... A little too big for a maid though."

Maids weren't a high paying job despite the difficulty of the profession with a veteran maid earning as little 3,000 axias. But the salary that she was offered not only doubled that but multiplied it by 10.

"I feel like this is a scam."

With a sigh, she crumpled up the flyer and threw it at the nearest trash can before going on her way to search for a new job.

"Did she pass the test?"

The gruff, monotonous voice of a man whose body was overshadowed by the countless monitors in front of him filled a dark room. Behind her was an old woman, who merely gave her an amused smile before bobbing her head slowly.

"I see, and your test?"

A gloved finger then pointed towards the woman who wore a neatly kept maid dress that seemed to stretch too much on her chest area. With a huff and a puff, the woman flipped her hair over her shoulders and gave a thumbs up to the man.

"Very good. Keep an eye on her, and make sure we get her."

The light on the room suddenly turned dark red as the monitors in front of the man played the scene of another man exploding, covering the lens of the cameras in a myriad of blood, and burnt flesh before shifting channels and landing on one that showcased a smiling Sylvia, walking down the sidewalks of Viridis Lapis.