A/N: Here's my take on a Kamen Rider story. Took me forever to come up with a concept I remotely liked, and now here it is. I hope you all enjoy and make sure to leave reviews. Thanks.
Once upon a time… that's how these kinds of stories are supposed to start, right? Except, it wasn't just once. Or twice. Or hell, it didn't even end at three times! It had been going on for weeks! And every time it happened, a new piece of the puzzle presented itself. Shame none of them ever fit together for the most part. The first time, she felt a warm embrace; it was loving and gentle. The humming of a short tune and a kiss planted on her forehead. Next was the field of flowers. Roses, daisies, orchids, and other kinds of flowers she'd never seen before! They were everywhere and so beautiful against the soft, green grass. She felt herself lifted off the ground, carried in a pair of strong hands that she knew would never let her fall, and all she could see was the wild blue expanse of the sky.
But this newest dream was more like a nightmare. The sounds of struggling and running could be heard as she was scooped up and pulled close into the chest of someone familiar. Their heartbeat was erratic, and she could tell she was being carried. Soon enough, she was gently set down, two kisses once again placed lovingly on her forehead, and then… darkness. A massive shadowy hand reached out from the darkness, eager to ensnare her in its bony, clawed fingers, before a massive blast of bright white light consumed everything.
"Ah!" she screamed. Yoseihime "Yotari" Mongatari suddenly rolled out of her bed and hit the floor of her bedroom with a loud THUD!. She got herself up just as her parents burst into her room to check on her. Her mother instantly ran over to make sure she wasn't hurt; it was sweet, but she was always one quick to overreact.
"Oh my goodness, Yoseihime! Are you okay? Did you break something? Does your father need to call an ambulance?"
Yotari slowly got to her feet, rubbing the back of her head, and promised her mother she was just fine and that a hospital visit complete with a CT scan was most certainly unnecessary. Her father, cracking a smile at his wife's antics, eventually managed to convince her that their daughter was perfectly all right. After they went to go get breakfast started, the teenage girl ran to the bathroom to get in a quick shower, only to find the door locked, the shower running, and the tell-tale sounds of a shrill cry desperately attempting to pass itself off as singing. There could only be one culprit…
"Jirou!" she yelled as she pounded on the door. "So help me if you use up all the hot water! And stop singing! Every time you do, all the dogs in the neighborhood start howling!"
The flow of water came to a halt. There was a bit of shuffling and the sounds of random stuff moving around, then out he came. An eternity's worth of annoyance that Hell somehow crammed into a four foot tall, tan skinned, spiky haired shell that had been tormenting the adolescent girl for the last decade! Of course, this is all in loving reference to Yotari's little brother Jirou. She glared fiercely at the boy as he walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and sporting the signature smirk that she'd come to associate with him and his antics. Steam poured out of the bathroom door as the 10 year old walked towards his bedroom.
"You little pest! If I have to take one more cold shower in this house, I'll toss you out a window!"
"Don't have you have a village to go menace somewhere?" Jirou quipped back. He stood in the door to his bedroom, turned around, then stuck out his tongue before slamming the door shut.
Yotari wanted to throttle the little bugger, but she had bigger things on her mind. As she walked into the bathroom, she looked into the mirror and stared at herself in the mirror. Unlike Jirou, clearly God took a great care of time and patience in crafting such a glorious figure as Yotari. She had the typical skin tone of your average Japanese citizen, although her hair was a slightly lighter shade of black than most. Speaking of her hair, it was very long; it almost ran down the entire length of her back and part of the front was long enough to sweep over her right eye. However, when it came to the strangest of her appearance traits, then it had to be her nose and eyes. The bridge of her nose was full of freckles and her eyes were a shade of soft purple. They weren't hazel or blue that-if-you-squint-in-the-right-light-looks-vaguely-violet, no! They were full on purple!
Most people would think it strange to have purple eyes, but Yotari's parents had always told her that it made her unique in a world full of people always trying to copy one another. As she prepared for her shower, Yotari couldn't shake the dreams she'd been having. Everything felt like a blur in them, yet the sensations were still so vivid. And the last one that had scared her awake, it felt so real too. Almost as if some dark force somewhere was sending her a personal omen of things to come. She needed to clear her mind. Maybe Hikaru and Tomoko could help her out… OH CRAP! They were supposed to meet up today to discuss the Anime Club's activities for the upcoming week! What kind of president would she be if she was late for the fourth time?! Yotari jumped into the shower as fast she could, turning the knob with wild abandon… and then the water hit her skin.
"JIROOOUUUU!"
After that awful, awful cold shower, Yotari changed out of her sleepwear into a simple outfit made up of her favorite peach-colored hoodie with pink interior, black jeans, and a matching pair of peach high-tops. She scrambled to grab everything she needed, including her phone, purse, keys, and… AHA! Her computer! She definitely couldn't forget that, it's where she kept all the Anime Club's information. What kind of president would she be if she forgot it? As she ran down the stairs, Yotari grabbed an apple from the kitchen fruit bowl as she prepared to head out the door.
"Ahem," her father said. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Yotari looked confused for a second, but then a lightbulb went off in her head. She placed two fingers into her mouth and whistled. The sounds of a jingling collar and tiny paws making their way across the room followed soon after. The owner of said paws was a small, tan and black Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy with big brown eyes and a heart-shaped nose. Yotari scooped the young pup up into her arms and was then bombarded with several affectionate licks and puppy breath.
"I can't believe I almost left you behind, Brooke!" Yotari managed to squeak out in between giggles. "Come on, girl. We're gonna be late!"
As Yotari headed for the door, her mother called out after her.
"Be careful out there, Yoseihime!"
"I will!" the teenaged called out as she placed her pet into the basket of her sky-blue bicycle and hopped on. If she pedaled like a bat out of hell, then maybeshe could still make it on time! She put the pedal to the pavement as her legs moved with incredible speed as she rode off toward the city.
"... and that is what I have been shown, my King. Her power will be awakened soon, and…"
"And what, Spiru? You know better than to waste my time with an incomplete prophecy."
"Please, my King. I would rather not say. It would be blasphemous…"
"I will not repeat myself, Spiru."
"I… I fear her new power will interfere with completing your rise to power. She will not be a threat to be taken lightly."
Spiru could only look at the floor, his navy colored hood hiding the overwhelming feeling shame he felt telling his king that anything stood his way. It churned his stomach in a way that nothing else could; it was just so… wrong. His gift of prophecy had always been straightforward; it never had given him any sort of deviation from the rise of the King. As he continued to avert the gaze of his master, Spiru dropped to his knees trembling with fear and self-loathing.
"I-I-I can only request your most gracious forgiveness, Master. For me to even insinuate that anything would ever threaten your rule… I humbly accept the punishment I am to receive."
Preparing himself to be dragged away to be tortured to the highest caliber, Spiru could only listen in shock as the King began to laugh with his normally baritone and stoic voice. It was a sound that had never made itself previously known to the seer, and it was something so foreign that it genuinely made him afraid. The King snapped his fingers, the sharp sound echoing through the halls of the dimly light and largely empty throne room. Two sets of footsteps could be heard making their way across the obsidian floor and with them came two more hooded figures. Spiru looked up to see that to his right was a taller figure with broad shoulders wearing an a crimson robe identical to his, and to his left was a much shorter figure with a feminine build clad in a gold version of the same robe. Both kept their hoodies over their faces, but Spiru knew all too well who they were.
"Spiru, you are my most trusted advisor," stated the King. "Your abilities have yet to fail me, and I do not expect them to any point in the future. However, this threat you have made me aware of is very much a risk to be avoided. And so I have enlisted the aid of Sansu—"
The crimson robed figure bowed nobly.
"My most capable general. And Jaykei—"
The golden clad gave a maniacal chuckle as she did a regal curtsy.
"She is my most creative torturer. I am entrusting the three of you with but a small fraction of my awesome power. And with it you will kill the young princess before she has a chance to realize her destiny. Seek out those in the human world who are wallowing in darkness and whose hearts are heavy with fear, sorrow, and hatred. Their souls are weak and malleable; they will make the perfect puppets."
The King outstretched his arm and waved it across the room. In a bright flash of golden brilliance, three identical mystic tomes appeared in the hands of the trio. Just holding a fraction of their King's power made all three of them feel so empowered. It was truly a blessing.
"If anyone is capable of ensuring this mission's success, it is the three of you."
Spiru was about to express his gratitude, but Sansu beat him to the punch. The general's grandiose and authoritarian personality shined clearly through his voice and manner of speech.
"I humbly and most graciously accept this most blessed of quests. It is my sacred duty as your most valuable soldier to oversee the complete decimation of your enemies."
Jaykei added in her own bit of psychopathy into the situation, "I live to serve you, my King. Though, I have but one humble request of you as your loyal servant."
The King was intrigued.
"And why might that request be?"
"Can I make it so that the princess's death is as slow as possible? I'd give anything to hear her screams for as long as I can."
"So long as she dies, do what you wish."
Jaykei let out a massive bout of insane laughter. Its bone chilling cry echoed throughout every nook and cranny of the castle. After she concluded her ghastly wailing, she took a deep breath and kept an eerie smile on her lips.
"Whew. This is going to be fun!"
Yotari was still on the street and was still running late, much to her chagrin. She continued on up the street, waving to the occasional passerby, and moved her legs faster in a vain attempt to try and make up for the time she was losing.
Ah, mou! she thought to herself. If I'm late again, they won't let hear the end of it. I need a shortcut! Wait, that's it!
Yotari hit her brakes and stopped her bike as she looked around. Brooke look at her with a questioning expression, tilting her head to the side and causing one of her tiny ears to flop as she did so. Yotari looked around and there she saw it: the entrance to Red Leaf Forest. Red Leaf was bit of a local legend around Sheami, the small neighborhood on the outskirts of Tokyo that Yotari called home. The forest was aptly named because of its namesake trait, that being that the trees there constantly had blood red leaves all year round.
Some called the place cursed or haunted, alleging that centuries ago a poor young woman had her life tragically ended by the man she loved. Her blood soaked into the surrounding trees thus giving them their current color and allowing her spirit to still be anchored to the world of the living to torment those that entered the woods. While the authenticity of the legend was up for debate, one thing was for certain was the woods provided a clear cut path towards the city. Yotari wasn't one for ghost stories, plus she was running late; ghost or no ghost, she was going through those trees. She hopped back onto her bike and rode off into the unknown.
Sure, the woods were a bit creepy… alright, they were really creepy. But Yotari had wandered too far into them now to just turn back… mostly because she was lost. Now before you start thinking that the poor girl is an idiot or something, the path had seemed really straightforward at first, but suddenly she found herself enamored with the trees. Next thing she knew, she was lost in a haunted forest with no cell service and a flat tire that had met its fate at the hands of a pointy rock. At this point, Brooke had been placed on the ground and was walking alongside her human companion. Well, at least that's what Yotari thought...
"Oh man, this is exactly what I get for going into a haunted forest," she muttered to herself. "Great job, Yoseihime. You're such a genius! At least I have you to keep me company, Brooke. Brooke?"
Yotari looked around and couldn't find the puppy anywhere until she noticed a small fuzzy shape running amongst the trees. She threw down her busted bicycle and gave chase to the pup. Thankfully, the dog wasn't the fastest thing in the world, so Yotari was easily able easily catch up to her pet. When she got closer, she noticed Brooke was barking and yipping at something rather loudly.
"Brooke! You scared me half to death! What are you even—"
The teen then noticed exactly what it was that had garnered her dog's attention. It was an electric blue flame somehow formed into a perfect sphere of writhing, living fire. Yotari was petrified by it, yet she was also somewhat curious. She slowly moved bit by bit, grabbing the growling puppy up off the ground, but never taking her eyes away from the flame for even a second. The instant her hand approached the sphere, the flame vanished only to make itself reappear a few meters deeper into the woods.
"Does… does it want me to follow it?" Yotari whispered under her breath. She slid Brooke into her hoodie pocket and cautiously approached the entity again. Once she made it to the exact spot, the pattern was repeated with the flame appearing even deeper into the forest. Yotari was sure she was crazy. After all, most people don't chase balls made of fire into a haunted forest, and yet there she was. The pursuit of the fiery orbs continued for what seemed like eternity. Yotari was starting to get convinced that all she was accomplishing was getting herself even more lost this terrifying forest. Eventually, the balls of flame had brought her to the mouth of a small cave. Obviously, she couldn't see inside of it, but the flames continued to beckon her onward into the cavern's gaping shadowy maw. Considering she had come this far, and also that there was really nowhere to turn back to otherwise, she took a big gulp of courage (or perhaps insanity) and journeyed on. Upon entering the cave, Yotari grabbed her phone and used its flashlight to navigate her way through the dank and damp darkness. She followed the wisps of flame all until they stopped at a pile of rocks. The flames vanished, but didn't reappear this time. End of the line.
"All those things led me to was a bunch of ROCKS?!" Yotari screamed in frustration. "You've got to be kidding me! I'm gonna die in these woods!"
Yotari fell to her knees in sorrow. Brooke pushed her way free from her owner's hoodie and walked over to the rocks. The curious animal sniffed the stones with an intense curiosity, knocking some of the smaller rocks away. Yotari opened her eyes enough the see the outline of something underneath all the rubble. With no options left, she started dig away at the pile and moved away a majority of the larger stones until she uncovered what looked to be a book. It was bound in an olive green covering, golden etching on the back and front, and a title written in the same style as the etching. Yotari had never seen the language before and it certainly didn't resemble any alphabet commonly seen in Japan. Considering it was a book buried underneath cave debris for God knows how long, the thing was in surprisingly pristine condition.
Yotari flipped the cover open and suddenly a massive plume of light burst forth from the pages! She closed her eyes to avoid going blind and when she opened them again, the cave was gone. She and Brooke found themselves in a large room. It was clean, ornate, and filled with a large number of portraits and paintings of scenery. In the center of the room stood a woman with snow white hair and fair skin and her back facing Yotari. Brooke ran toward the woman, curious as to who this new person was, but when she attempted make contact with the woman, she simply phased right through as though the woman were a ghost.
"W-What is this? Where am I?" Yotari asked, her fear beginning to rise and the hairs on the back of her neck started to stand on end. The entire situation was becoming too much for her to process. The woman turned around to face Yotari, but her eyes weren't really focused on the teenager; it was almost like she was aware of Yotari's presence yet also unaware of her at the same time. Now that the woman was facing her, Yotari got a much better look at her face. She had freckles on her cheeks, a button nose, and… purple eyes? Yotari had never seen someone else with purple eyes! The woman was clad in a periwinkle silk dress with a bejeweled silver crown resting neatly in her hair; she also seemed to possess the same green book Yotari had found, clutching it tightly to her chest. Then she began to speak.
"I'm sure that when you open this book, you'll have so many questions…"
Her voice was soft, but powerful, yet also full of kindness. Yotari couldn't help but feel a stabbing sense of familiarity, but she'd never even seen this lady before! Just what the hell was this!?
"You'll wonder why you're different from all the people around you. Why you seem to be so much more creative than anyone, or why animals always seem to gravitate towards you. Or why you can never quite be on time because time passes differently in the human world. I'm creating this diary to… to..."
The woman started to choke up, tears streaming down her cheeks as she struggled to form her words.
"My name is Queen Titania and I am your mother. Your father is my husband, King Oberon, and together we rule over the land of Utopia. Unfortunately, Utopia is at war with a powerful cabal of sorcerers who call themselves "The Authors". We are losing, and this exactly why we had to send you to the world of the humans. It's too dangerous to keep you here and if the Oracle's visions are true, then you are the only hope for both worlds. I pray that whoever raises you will ensure you are kind and brilliant, and that they let you become aware of your true potential."
Yotari's mind was racing, "Queen? King? No, that can't be right. I'm not adopted, I'm not a… a princess. I'm hallucinating. That has to be it! This is just another weird dream… her voice. That's how I know her voice! It's from my dream! BUT IT CAN'T BE! IT JUST CAN'T!"
The woman continued speaking as if she ignored Yotari's outburst, "Enclosed within this book will the keys to unlocking the magic power inside you. You won't learn of magic in the human world, so I have enchanted this book to lead you here when fate requires it. Be safe, my child. And take great care to remember: you are crowned Princess Rhiannon and the savior of Utopia, and nothing can stop you."
Yotari tried to reach out and touch the woman herself, but another burst of light sprang forth, and she found herself standing in the cave once again. The magic book was on the ground and the back of it had been opened. Yotari knelt down and saw that attached to the inner wall of the back was golden key and a ring. The key was extremely ornate and looked to be made of pure gold; it was much larger than a house key and looked more like the kind of keys used in movies to unshackle iron chains or dungeon doors.
The bow of the key was in the shape of a pair of butterfly wings with a hot pink gemstone in between them. The ring was much more basic compared to its elegant partner, consisting of a rose gold band with a sizeable iridescent stone that contained another wing identical to the pair on the key. Yotari slipped the ring onto her finger and it fit perfectly; it was like it was made for her.
"This can't be real. It has to be a dream or a nightmare or… how am I supposed save the world?! I can't even be on time for a club meeting! I just wish I was out of this forest and with my friends!"
The ring began to glow, eliciting a whine from Brooke, and soon she and Yotari both vanished in a flash of light.
Spiru, Sansu, and Jaykei stood atop an old apartment complex overlooking Tokyo. The sights and sounds of the modern metropolis were a lot to take in at once.
"Disgusting," hissed Sansu. "This world is corrupted. It's completely devoid of any kind of magic."
Jaykei chimed in, "I wouldn't say that. But it's evident that metal takes the place of magic in this world."
"Then it's a good thing we gave up our pathetic humanity to serve the King as opposed to being stuck in this hellhole," Sansu replied.
"Needless to say," interjected Spiru. "What the humans do or do not do is not our mission, we are here to kill the princess. Sadly, I feel we're too late to stop her from learning of her heritage."
"Perhaps," Jaykei said. "But it's never too late to kill her. That's the fun part. Now, both of you, be quiet. I'm listening to see if I can find a target capable of becoming our puppet."
She scanned the horizon, tuning her ears to search for the worst humanity had to offer. Hatred, fear, misery, prejudice, anything would do. AHA! She found something truly delectable: heartbreak. It was time to work some magic.
"You dumb pig!"
SLAP!
"You really thought you ever had a chance to get with me?"
Haruko Shimizu was never a bold girl. She was always quiet and meek and kept to herself. Her parents doted on her constantly for excellent performance in school and how she was going to be absolutely drowning in scholarships, but never cared about her interests outside of academics. When you don't have any friends to speak of then what else is there to focus on? It's not like Haruko was friendless for lack of trying, but the other girls always made fun of her because of her weight.
Boar-Girl was their favorite insult to use, but her tormentors also loved the names: Whale-Bitch and Human Boulder. Haruko never let them get to her, at least she never let them see the insults get to her, and went on about her business. Eventually, young Haruko went looking for love and she found her target of affection. Sure, it may have taken months to work up the nerve to finally ask him and it cost her a whole two months worth of salary to buy him the perfect gift: a red glass heart with their names engraved on both sides.
It would all be worth it because he would realize how beautiful, intelligent, and great Haruko really was. He would see all the things everybody always overlooked when they made fun of her… if that was the case, then why? Why would he called her a pig? Why would he hit her? Why would he snatch away the gift she had put so much thought into and treat it like some trashy paperweight?
"You fat bimbo!" he cried. "Do you not know just who the hell I am? I'm Katsu Kobayashi! I am the student body president and football team captain! And yet, Boar-Girl has the nerve to ask me out? Do I look like I would wanna date some living garbage disposal?"
Haruko couldn't even bare to look up at him. The pain on her face was nothing compared to the one in her chest. He was supposed to love her! Why didn't
"And not only that," Katsu continued. "But then you want to try and present me with this piece of shit and act as if I'm supposed to like it? You're a dumber cow than I thought!"
Haruko managed to glance up and her eyes widened in horror. Katsu lifted the glass heart above his head, the glass glinting in the sunlight, and smashed it on to the pavement below. He had both literally and figuratively broken her heart, but despite that Haruko was not giving up. After all, the heartbreak isn't real if you just ignore it.
She picked up the glass fragments and attempted to piece the shattered gift back together. The shards were cutting her fingers, but that didn't matter. He loved her. He had to love her. After all the Hell she'd been through, his love was going to make every single ounce of it worth it. Katsu was having none of this and walked up to the girl as she frantically tried to pick up the remainder of the destroy gift, and kicked her square in the chest. Haruko was sent backwards, some blood managing to seep out through the corner of her mouth.
"You really are pathetic, you know that?" Katsu demeaned. He began to walk off until he was suddenly blasted high into the air, then landed back onto the pavement with an ear-piercing CRACK! coming from his back. Jaykei walked past the injured football player, and made her way over to Haruko. She kneeled down and placed a hand underneath the young girl's chin, tilting her head up so that the Author could look into her eyes. With her free hand, Jaykei opened up her King's Tome and flipped through the pages. Meanwhile, Spiru and Sansu examined the athlete's body and it didn't take much to see that he was dead.
"Was that really necessary?" Spiru complained. "We didn't come here to create collateral damage."
"Get the stick out of your ass, lapdog," Sansu mocked. "Eventually we'll conquer this world too. You might as well get used to crushing these spineless roaches.
Spiru scoffed and responded, "Judging by that sound, I don't think he was spineless."
"Poor thing," Jaykei muttered out. "You're so desperate for love and acceptance that you'll even tolerate that abusive trash because you refuse to face a world where everybody hates you. I can see your whole story, you know? Past, present, and future all laid bare for me to see and it's quite a shame what happens to you."
She mystically transmitted the vision of Haruko's future right into the young woman's mind. Haruko could see herself standing on bridge, before taking a deep breath, and then a jump. It was quick, but it got the message across.
"I-I just want him to love me," Haruko murmured. "Please, I just want… love."
"Oh, don't ye fret, bonnie lass. If ye promise to give me the control over yer story, then I promise to ensure yer happy ending. What do ye say?"
Without hesitation, Haruko screamed, "YES!"
"Now that's magic!" Jaykei exclaimed with a psychotic joy.
The pages of her tome began to flip about wildly, as if they were some kind of animal, until they stopped on a page. A word began to be burned into the paper as if some hellish nightmare was using its claws to bring the word into being.
MERMAID
"I promise you, Haruko. With the kind of power I'm going to give you, you'll get all the love you want and then some!"
The word floated free from its paper bound prison and floated over to Haruko. It burned itself into her thigh and fused directly into her leg. Haruko's body became overwhelmed with excruciating pain as it started to twist and warp into something inhuman. Her skin became a sickly seafoam green covered in reflective scales, her hair turned from short and black into an unkempt azure mane that extend well down her back, and her eyes became glossy and white like a pair of ghostly pearls.
Her fingernails extended into sharp claws, the area between her fingers became webbed, and her legs had been completely covered in scales (much more than her arms) and lengthy fins jutted out of her calves, thighs, and ankles; the fins were identical on both sides, making it seem as if her legs had been fused together to create a fish-like tail. Haruko's face wasn't left unscathed either; her nose was now gone, as were her lips, replaced by massive, overlapping fangs that looked like organic hypodermic needles jutting from her monstrous mouth and two more huge, blue fins sprang forth from the sides of her head.
"Will you look at that?" Jaykei said, glowing in the pride of her twisted actions. "What an incredible power we've been given."
"That it is," added Sansu. "But we didn't come here to simply gawk at the King's power. We are here to enact his will and we've wasted enough time already. It's time to kill the princess."
All three Authors nodded in agreement as the Mermaid let forth a powerful wail that sounded as horrifyingly disgusting as it was hauntingly beautiful; it was like the pain of death integrated with the untamed, majestic beauty of the sea.
Yotari opened her eyes and noticed that she was no longer inside the cave. Nor was she still in the Red Leaf Forest. In fact, she had somehow managed to end up right in the middle of the city directly in front of the café she was supposed to have met her friends at. At this point, Yotari was all but burnt out. All of her weird dreams were because she was some kind of princess, her entire life as she had known it was a lie, and she couldn't decide whether or not to scream to the heavens or fall to the ground and cry. Everything around her was like a fantasy as she tried futilely to make sense of all of it at once, but she was dragged out from inside her head when she noticed Hikaru and Tomoko walking out of the café.
Hikaru was best described as a gentle giant; he was 6'2", had a shaggy jet black hair that he kept in a neat ponytail a majority of the time, and was pretty well built. His father desperately tried to get the young man into sports, but Hikaru definitely enjoyed spending more time in the library than a locker room. Tomoko was the complete and total opposite of Hikaru; she was outspoken, loud, bold, and combative despite only standing at 5'1". Her hair, naturally a chestnut brown, was dyed a bright blond and cut into a cute and neat pixie bob style.
"I can't believe Yotari missed another meeting!" Hikaru complained. "I guess we should've expected it. That girl's always been late."
Tomoko snickered and replied, "You got that right. But she's also our best friend and it would be hypocritical of us to point at her issues when she constantly overlooks ours."
"What are you talking about?" Hikaru asked. "I don't have any issues."
"You like Sword Art Online."
"It's a good show!"
"Yeah, if you're blind and deaf!"
"Don't you two ever agree on anything?" added in a new voice.
Hikaru and Tomoko turned around to find Yotari standing behind them, puppy in her pocket, and an embarrassed smile on her face. Yotari instantly bowed her head to beg for her friend's forgiveness.
"Please forgive me!"
"And just where were you for the past hour and a half?" Tomoko demanded in a joking manner, tapping her foot as if she were impatient.
Yotari's expression changed to one that was much more somber.
"I… it's a long story. And I'm not even sure if I believe it or not."
"Try us," stated Hikaru.
Yotari took a deep breath.
"Would you guys believe that I'm a… fairy princess?"
The Mermaid wandered in search of love, leaving a particularly disgusting slime trail as she meandered down the street. A group of guys who just finished up a game of basketball were in the middle of a conversation until one of them noticed a green figure slowly dragging itself up the street.
"What the hell is that?" he screamed, pointing a finger to get his friends' attention. They all turned in unison and began to scream in absolute terror. They started to run away, but she wasn't going to let them get away. They were going to love her! The monster opened its fang-filled abomination of a mouth and let forth her spellbinding song. To the group of men the song was irresistible; they were powerless to the sinister song of their scaly songstress. Their bodies became engulfed in white energy as they were transformed into large, white pearls that flew over attached themselves to the Mermaid's chest. Now they could never leave her. Their love was hers! But just six wasn't enough. She needed more! MORE!
"... And so that's all of it."
Yotari, Tomoko, and Hikaru were now sitting at a local park. Yotari told them everything about her dreams, finding the book the forest, and the ring that was now placed on her finger. The three sat in silence for a moment or so until Tomoko finally decided to speak up.
"That's… a lot to process."
"You're telling me," Yotari replied. "I just discovered my whole life is… fake."
Hikaru decided to chime in because of that remark, "Wait a minute. Just because you found out all this stuff doesn't make you any less of who you are. You're still Yotari and you're still our friend. Nothing could ever change that."
"Hikaru's right," added Tomoko. "Fairy princess or not, we're still your friends and your family is still your family."
Brooke added in her own two cents with a series of barks coming from Yotari's pocket. Yotari grabbed the pup out of her jacket and nuzzled her tightly. Some words of encouragement and support from her friends was exactly what she needed at the moment. After a brief group hug, she felt much better yet some thoughts still lingered inside her mind.
"Thanks you guys. I really needed that," Yotari said gratefully. "But… how am I supposed to save the world?! I can't even make it to club meetings most of the time! Plus, I've got to fight an enemy I've never seen before. It's not like The Authors are just gonna drop out of the sky."
Upon Yotari finishing her sentence, the trio's attention was transferred over to the large number of screams echoing from the other side of the of people were stampeding away, their faces gripped in absolute panic and horror. Reluctantly, the three teens fought against the current of people to see what the problem was and what they saw was nothing short of horrifying. Some kind of fish-like monster covered in scales and fins; its chest was coated in a thick layer of pearls. As she stared at the pearls, Yotari noticed that she could make out the faces of screaming men, women, and children. The creature let out a sickening, watery hiss from the back its throat.
"What the hell is that thing?" Yotari asked, disgusted.
"She'll be the one to end you, Princess," a gruff voice menaced. Its owner was nowhere to be seen until three bright orbs of light suddenly appeared in front of the teens. Hooded figures with their faces obscured and holding books. This had to be them: The Authors.
"We've found you at last. I'd recognize the Ring of Titania anywhere," Sansu continued as he pointed at Yotari's hand. "Make it easy on yourself. Surrender, and I will grant you a quick death.
"Now wait a minute!" Jaykei interrupted. "I wanted to make her suffer first! This beast is my creation after all. The King promised m—"
"Be silent! Both of you!" furiously cried Spiru. "You have been warned, Princess of the Fairies. Your very existence threatens the rule of our King. Therefore, we cannot permit you to live. What little magical power you possess will not be enough to save you. Give up, and mercy may be shown to you in your final moments."
Yotari was afraid. She was more scared than she had ever been in her entirely. She didn't want to be a savior or a princess or a fairy! Just this morning, she was just a normal girl with weird dreams and an annoying little brother. And now was expected to save the world?! This was too much! She was totally paralyzed.
"If you won't make a choice, we'll make it for you," Jaykei told her as she snapped her fingers. "Mermaid, attack!"
The Mermaid let forth a blast of sonic power from its mouth that was aimed straight for Yotari. Hikaru and Tomoko jumped in front of their friend and pushed her out of the away. The blast struck and turned them into two more pearls to be added to the Mermaid's collection. Yotari's eyes widened with shock and rage as anger-fueled tears began to run down her cheeks.
"Tomoko! Hikaru! NO!" she screamed. Any trace of fear in the girl's heart was gone, replaced with a deep, burning anger. She closed her fists with pure fury burning in her eyes. She was supposed to be the savior of two worlds, but the two people who meant the world to her were the only things she could think about. As her righteous anger grew, the ring on her finger started to glow brighter and brighter. Instinctively, she pointed the ring at The Authors and their monster and the energy from the piece of jewelry blasted all four of them backwards.
"Impossible!" yelled Spiru as tried to pick himself up from the ground. "Her magic should be nowhere near that powerful without practice!"
The ring continued to the glow, this time emitting a stream of golden light that wrapped itself around Yotari's waist. The light dissipated to reveal a shiny golden belt with black straps; the front portion of the belt was a segmented, gold heptagon with what appeared to be a keyhole on the right side. Yotari reached into her pocket and pulled out the key she had received earlier. The gemstone on the key started to glow in conjunction with the keyhole on the belt.
"I may not understand this entire magical princess destiny stuff, but I know that there's no way in Hell that I'm letting you hurt my friends or anybody else! Tomoko, Hikaru! Hang in there! I'm going to save you! It's now or never..."
Yotari stuck the key out in front of her before quickly moving it into the keyhole. Once the key was firmly in place, she cautiously turned it. This caused the belt to suddenly spring open, turning the heptagon into a heptagram, and revealing the crystalline interior of the device. A pair of fairy wings etched in pink light appeared in the crystal, then turned into a large hologram that projected itself in front of Yotari. Without warning, the projection suddenly slammed itself over Yotari's body as she was completely covered in white light, and the belt began to speak in a light, bubbly voice.
Batatsuki! Kagayaki! P-I-X-I-E! Let's Go… PIXIE!
Yotari looked to find herself now wearing some kind of armored suit. It was mostly white armor on top of a black chainmail-like material. The chest armor was adorned with a metallic gold floral pattern that started at the bottom of the abdomen and then spread all throughout the upper chest; the armored gauntlets on her forearms and gloves on her hands also presented with a similar pattern. The boots resembled those worn by a medieval knight; they had golden trim and small golden wings on the sides of both ankles. They also possessed a small heel, adding two inches to Yotari's height.
The most remarkable part of the suit was definitely the helmet. It, much like the rest of the armor, was largely white and covered the entirety of Yotari's head. The front portion of the helmet was colored a shade of light orange and in the shape of butterfly wings with long tails that extended down the cheeks. The visor for the helmet came in the form of two big hot pink "bug-eyes" that were faceted like a pair of stunningly beautiful diamonds. Over the area of Yotari's mouth was a shiny platinum plate and the top of the helmet seemed to have a tiara mixed into the design, the centerpiece of which was a bejeweled heptagram with another pair of shiny, gold butterfly wings; that same shape also incorporated itself into the suit's shoulder armor in the form of gold etching.
"This is… incredible!" Yotari excitedly whispered to herself. Not only did the suit look cool as hell, but she felt like she could take on a bullet train and still have energy to spare. The Authors were completely caught off guard by the teen's transformation, but they weren't about to let up on their attack.
"To hell with it if she has magic or not!" yelled Jaykei. "Kill her!"
The Mermaid got up and instinctively followed her mistress's directions. She ran straight for Yotari, but the monster was confused when the strike she had intended to deliver missed before she even noticed. It turned around to find Yotari now standing behind, so it tried to hit her again. But the attack still didn't hit its target. This pattern repeated for several more instances until the Mermaid suddenly received a kick to the face.
"What's the problem, fish-face? Too fast for you?" Yotari mocked. Even without trying, she moved like the wind and hit like a semi-truck. At this point, Yotari's aquatic opponent was beginning to become irritated with her speed and decide instead to opt for one of her screaming attacks. This one actually did manage to hit Yotari, slamming her into an adjacent tree, and surprisingly not doing as much damage as Yotari thought it would. Damn, this armor was something special.
"Looks like I'm not faster than the speed of sound," she said to herself. "Her voice is her most dangerous weapon, but I can't get close enough to do anything about it!"
As if on command, the belt began to glow and another stream of light shot out. It landed firmly in Yotari's right hand and took the form of an elegant crossbow. It was white with slight gold accents, the handle, which closely resembled that of a handgun, was wrapped in a metallic red pattern that looked like blooming roses with thorny vines. On the back of the trigger was another keyhole, one identical to the one on Yotari's belt.
PIXIE CROSSER!
Yotari took aim and started firing repeatedly. The crossbow was seemingly automatic and its ammo pool infinite. The pink energy bolts endlessly blasted away at the Mermaid, giving Yotari enough room to run in and continue to rough up the monster. The Mermaid began using her claws to try and slash, but Yotari was too fast to hit. When the monster tried her trusty sonic blast, she found herself on the receiving end of a mouthful of crossbow.
"Time to shut you up!" Yotari exclaimed as she pulled out the key from her belt and inserted into the crossbow. The entire weapon lit up like a Christmas tree as Yotari held down the trigger.
UNLOCK THE MAGIC! FULL CHARGE!
Yotari released the trigger, which in turn released an extreme burst of pink magical energy into the Mermaid. As the monster was blasted away, the pearls coating her body flew off and turned back into people. Tomoko and Hikaru reformed just in time to see Yotari standing triumphantly in her armor. Meanwhile, the Mermaid's entire body began to crackle and spark as she being destroyed from the inside out. She exploded into teal flames, reverting back into Haruko, and breaking the spell that had turned the young girl into a monster.
She was… human? Yotari thought as she rushed to the unconscious girl's aid. Thankfully she was breathing, but Yotari was still surprised that such a horrific monster had just been a girl the same age as her. Things only got stranger when Yotari's belt started siphoning off some kind of residual energy from Haruko's body. After a second or two, the belt produced a new key nearly identical to the one Yotari already possessed, but the bow was in the shape of a mermaid's tail and the gemstone was cerulean in color.
Yotari could sense a great sadness in Haruko's heart. She witnessed everything the girl had gone through prior to becoming a monster and it made her shed a few tears underneath her helmet. Taking advantage of a broken girl's sensitive heart… those Authors were bastards!
"Where am I?" asked Haruko as she slowly regained consciousness. Yotari grabbed the girl and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Everything you've gone through, everything you've felt…" Yotari whispered into her ear. "You'll find love one day. But until then, you need to learn to love yourself."
A orange ripple of magical energy surged from Yotari's body into Haruko. The two separated and, oddly enough, as she walked away Haruko felt something she hadn't felt in a very long time: happy about herself. Hikaru and Tomoko ran up to the transformed Yotari and it didn't take long for the trio to embrace each other.
Yotari could barely talk between her tears of relief, "If you two ever try to save me again… I'm just so happy you're all right."
"All thanks to you, Yotari! Look at you! You're amazing!" Hikaru praised. "You saved us and all these people."
"What about that girl?" Tomoko asked. "I saw you hug her. What was that about?"
"I… don't really know. But I think I gave her the love she was looking for," Yotari explained. "That monster wasn't her fault. It was..."
Yotari and her friends turned around to find the three Authors had vanished. Yotari pulled the key from the Pixie Crosser and deactivated her transformation. She looked over the two keys present in her hand and the ring placed on her finger. She could only stare off into the horizon, unsure of what all this meant for her future.
Hours later…
Yotari's family was currently clamored in front of the TV. The latest news of a masked heroine fighting a monster in the middle of a Tokyo park was the night's biggest story. They were all caught off guard when she suddenly walked in, brandishing her ring, and looking very no-nonsense.
"We need to talk. And boy, do I have a story for you!"
THE END
A/N: Now a young girl must embark on her quest to save two different worlds. Including one she's never seen or heard of! YIKES! Let's hope she can handle it and I'll see you all next chapter.