Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure (one or two, sadly) and any historical paragraphs seen in this story are fictional. I don't own anything else you may recognize, such as Chanel, Ratchet and Clank, or Star Trek.
A/N: I got a bit bored with writing anime fics, so I'mma post this National Treasure fic I wrote several months ago… :3 Review!
"Ben, we've camped out in this library for hours, can I at least go to the science-fiction section?" Riley Poole whined tiredly.
"Alright, Riley, go on. Go," The older man said, waving his hand and not breaking his concentration on the library book titled Hidden Historic Treasures in front of him.
Riley took off as soon as the words processed, and Abigail Chase-Gates chuckled.
"Why, again, is he here?" She questioned.
"If we run into technical difficulties, who better to fix them than Riley Poole? Besides, I'm not going to send him back to his windowless cubicle…ah," Ben muttered when he came across a paragraph that read:
"Ronald Reagan's wife, Nancy Davis, owned a particularly famous necklace known for centuries in several countries, predominantly in Japan and North America. The necklace, through legend, was supposedly the most treasured possession (other than her flute, Suteki) of the wife of Godaime Daimyo (Fifth Feudal Lord) of Japan. The wife's name was Itami Yuki. The picture below is of the locket, and the picture next to it is Yuki."
A silver, oval locket engraved with several small diamonds and equally-white jewels surrounded a large, oval amethyst, that was a lovely shade of deep violet.
The picture of Yuki contained a very, very pale Japanese woman in a white kimono. She had long, raven-colored hair, and was playing a long, red flute, with a fob* attached to the end. The picture showed that the woman had almost a luminescent glow around her… (A/N: A fob is the thing sometimes attached to a pocket watch. I'm guessing it applies to flutes, too.)
"Nancy apparently had the amethyst engraved, because now there is an 'R' on the front of the jewel. Even more surprising, Nancy apparently bought it at a yard sale! Though when the First Lady died, the necklace was sold to a miss Marion Ravenwood and eventually lost. It's said, though, that Marion put a clue on its whereabouts inside of the locket and welded it shut!"
Ben's brow furrowed slightly, and at that moment, Riley returned with an armful of books on aliens and other assorted conspiracies.
"Find anything?" He asked.
"Yes, actually…here, look…" Ben said, pushing the book to Riley and Abigail.
"Oh, cool! Does this mean we're going to Japan, Ben?" Riley asked excitedly, nearly dropping his books.
"No…we're going to track down this Marion Ravenwood…or their descendants," Ben replied.
A girl with brown hair and eyes, no older than sixteen, sauntered toward them in her library uniform; a black pleated skirt and a white business shirt with a red tie.
"Ben, the library's closing soon…I see you found a book," The girl said.
"Yeah…is there, by any chance, any way that I could keep this book for more than the one-week deadline?" Ben questioned.
"Yeah, sure! I can hack the system. Just bring it back when you're done," The girl said, smiling brightly.
"Thanks, Lauren…say hi to Amanda for us, how is she?" Abigail said.
"Amanda's fine, her and Risu are doin' great! They had a small rough patch but it's all in the past, y'know?" Lauren replied.
Abigail nodded, smiling and glancing at Ben quickly before resuming small chat and then exchanging goodbyes.
"Hey, wait!" Lauren called, running after them as they walked through the parking lot.
"What's wrong?" Abigail asked.
"I forgot to give you guys my phone number if you ever need information or help! And…Riley, you forgot one of your books," Lauren added, handing the bespectacled geek a Star Trek novel.
"Thanks," Riley said, flipping through it excitedly, when out fluttered a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Abigail asked, picking the paper up and reading its crossed-out writing:
If this book is found, please return to:
Aiko R. Chance
865-920-6384 :3
"Hmm…I wonder…" Ben muttered, taking out his cell phone.
"Ben, this is an 865 number…this Aiko person is probably asleep by now," Lauren said, letting out a yawn herself, and looking at her watch that read 11:46 PM.
Ben sighed, nodded and pocketed the slip of paper.
"I wonder if this Aiko person knows about my book…" Riley thought out loud, earning a pat on the head from Lauren.
"Unlikely," She said sweetly, and ran inside, laughing maniacally, before Riley could retort.
Riley just pouted.
"Well, I guess this means another adventure…"
"I'm in!" Riley and Abigail chimed simultaneously, and the trio took off to Tennessee, where the 865 number was supposed to be.
It was just an average summer day for the two girls, Aiko and Tenshi.
The sun was blazing; they were in their tree house/loft, just hanging out.
Tenshi sat near an open window, reading a few magazines and attempting to tan more than she already was.
Aiko scoffed when she saw this and sat to play Ratchet & Clank Future: a Crack in Time eagerly, flipping her blue-and-purple-tipped black hair out of her face.
"You're gonna get fat if you keep being a couch potato. Those cookies don't help either," Tenshi said boredly, blowing a gum bubble and popping it again, and glaring affectionately at her sister through Chanel sunglasses.
"Just cuz you're all fashion-ish and stuff doesn't mean I have to be. Either way, you know I'm a twig and nothing will change that…Jump, JUMP!" The younger of the two shouted at the TV screen and finally, the virtual character Ratchet jumped; she rewarded herself with a chocolate chip cookie.
Tenshi sighed, tucking her blond hair behind one ear and going back to her magazine.
Their "loft" was spacious and two-storied, and where Tenshi was sitting there was a floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door that leads onto a panel with a rope ladder and "spotlight" (A large flashlight duct-taped to a post).
Aiko sat on the carpet in front of a 32-inch TV with a PS3, and Wii; they had beds up there, Tenshi's hung from the ceiling by several cables and Aiko's was a net attached to the high ceiling, near a fan.
A silver chandelier hung from the ceiling, and posters of things ranging from magazine clippings of purses, boys and jewelry to assorted videogame characters and anime drawings.
The floor above them was the kitchen, bathroom and a room filled with tinkering objects that whirred and jingled.
There was a silver plant growing in the corner, growing a strange silver fruit that looked like miniature apples all clumped together like grapes.
There were paintings, DVDs, videogames, a pair of kimonos, a few hand-fans, and a large pile of soft, fluffy pillows ranging from plushy and yellow to fuzzy and black.
"Okay, what's the deal?" Aiko sighed, pausing her game and turning toward Tenshi, who was now attempting to hug her sister while the younger attempted to keep from the affection and play games at the same time; it's not easy.
"I'm bored," Tenshi whined, hinting at a DVD player.
"National Treasure," Aiko muttered tiredly, more a statement than a question, and before her sister could reply, she popped the disc into the player and hit 'play'.
The two sisters watched, hissed at Ian, cheered for Ben, and Aiko laughed at Riley's immaturity and sarcasm.
Eventually the movie ended and the sisters went to sleep, and the next day, at about 7:30, they heard a loud chime.
Aiko squirmed slightly and yawned, then climbing down her net-bed and ambling toward the sliding glass door.
She nearly fell over the railing when she saw who it was.
"TEENNNSHIIII!" She whisper-screamed, for shock knocked her voice right out of her; she took off back into the loft and pounced on her sister.
Meanwhile, the people on Earth stood, confused at her strange behavior.
"I told you that they'd recognize me, I wrote a book," The youngest of the three, a boy with glasses said.
"Yeah, a book that no one reads." The blonde woman retorted casually.
The last of the three simply stood there, rubbing his chin in a gesture of thinking.
Suddenly a thin rope ladder fell, nearly hitting the bespectacled man on the head, and another rope followed.
"M'comin' down!" A feminine voice shouted, slurring slightly, and down slid Aiko, wearing her black tank top and jean shorts, and brown leather fingerless gloves that protected her from rope burn.
She fixed her white-rimmed glasses and waited timidly for her blond sister, who climbed down the rope ladder quickly.
"Uh, hi! I'm Tenshi Chance, and this is Aiko, my little sister…"
Aiko waved from her hiding place of behind Tenshi, and the older-looking man spoke.
"Benjamin Gates, at your service."
"I'm Abigail Chase." The girl spoke up.
The guy with the glasses smirked again and spoke.
"I'm Riley Poole. It's nice to meet you," He said.
And that's when Aiko fainted.
Aiko awakened an hour later, back in the loft with two pairs of blue eyes staring at her; one was Abigail's, and the other was Riley's.
"Are you okay?" Abby asked worriedly.
"I'm fine…but how are you guys here? I thought—MMPH!"
Aiko found a tan hand over her mouth quicker than you could say moo.
"Aha, what Ai meant to say was that we haven't seen you around, are you new here?" Tenshi said nervously.
Ben eyed her suspiciously while Riley went for the pizza the group had apparently ordered while Aiko was KO-ed.
"…Yes, we are. Do you girls, by any chance, have a locket with little silver clips around an amethyst with the letter 'R' engraved in it?" Ben asked.
"Oh, yeah! Aiko's favorite locket!" Tenshi said, and poked Aiko, who was busy conversing with Riley about nerd stuff over pizza.
"What? I'm eating!" The raven-haired girl said angrily, holding a slice of the pizza in her hand.
"Gimme your locket," Tenshi announced, and Aiko grunted and unclipped it, handing the locket to her sister irritably.
"Could you ever open it?" Ben asked when Tenshi handed it to him.
"No, actually…we've tried everything from pliers to a hammer…it's virtually indestructible." Aiko piped in from where she sat.
"Oh, really? Have you tried the Riley way?" Riley asked smugly.
"What's that, talking it to death, therefore it'll open?" Aiko replied nonchalantly, fixing her glasses again.
Riley shot her a glare and sighed, "No, kill it with fire!"
And….cue group facepalm.
Either way, Aiko and Tenshi found a flamethrower in a pile of random objects Aiko used to invent things, and Aiko precisely torched the rusted lock.
After a moment, it snapped open to reveal a slip of yellowed paper.
Tenshi picked it up and it read:
"A people free to choose will always choose peace."
Find this true although you may,
This statement might be leading you astray.
Is it fame or fortune for which you long?
Or the splendor of Suteki's song?
No matter the cause, whatever the find
You're looking with no map,
Searching, blind
Aiko's face lit up when the first nine words left Tenshi's mouth and she nearly attacked the paper.
"The first line's a Ronald Reagan quote! Ah, he was the best president ever~!" She sighed happily.
"You like history?" Ben questioned.
"Yeah, it's almost as great as anime!"
"Oh yeah! Anime rocks!" Riley said, and the nerds began an animated conversation about…well, anime!
The group sat, conversing about how the quote related to any sort of location.
"Maybe it's talking about the Tuckaleechee Caverns, it has a room with no lights, it's darker than black. That would lead the reader to search blindly, as it were," Tenshi supposed.
"That's a good idea, we'll keep that on our to-do list…" Ben muttered approvingly.
"Searching with no map…guide, plan, atlas, plot…two of those are schemes…no scheme means no blueprint or building instructions…naturally there. It has to be the caverns," Aiko thought out loud.
"Okay then, we'll go first thing tomorrow," Ben said officially.
"But Ben, we don't have anywhere to stay!" Riley announced, before quickly covering his mouth with his hand.
"What do you mean, nowhere to stay, Riley? We put you in charge of booking a hotel," Abigail said, with a quiet tone that spelled out Riley's impending doom.
"I d-did! T-they called before when w-we were on the jet, and left a voicemail s-saying th-that they had a c-celebrity staying l-longer than expected," Riley explained quickly, stuttering quite a bit.
"You guys can stay here if you don't mind sleeping on nets and pillows, or suspended by cables…" Aiko said quietly, and Riley looked at her with a 'thanks-for-saving-my-butt' look.
"We'd hate to impose," Abigail said kindly.
"No, we insist, you came all this way and because Riley messed up you have nowhere to stay," Tenshi said, smiling warmly, and Riley pouted.
"Oh, alright…" Ben said finally, and Aiko grinned sleepily.
"I'mma go sleep now…Tenshi, tell 'em our rules…" The raven-haired woman yawned, heading upstairs and changing into a black, green and white pajama set and crawling up the net, making it halfway before just clinging to the net and nodding off right there.
"Okay then…well, she's right. There's a few rules we have…one, don't steal anything and two, if you're an early riser, please don't be loud when you wake up. There's a big pile of cushions and pillows and blankets upstairs, so you and Abby can stay there, Ben… hmm…" Tenshi said, when a deviously devious thought popped into her head, and she grinned evilly, letting out a tee-hee, before…
"Riley, you're staying on the net bed with Aiko~!"
Aiko was awoken by the scent of fluffy chocolate-chip pancakes and bacon, but she refused to open her eyes.
The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't half-way up the net ladder, no; she was lying on her side.
The second thing she noticed was the shift in weight, not for her own but for another's, and the scent of a soft cologne that tickled her nose.
She opened her eyes to reveal dark hair, ridiculously blue eyes and a very large, very red blush crossing the object's face.
Riley was next to her!
This was a dream come true for the young heroine, but she questioned immediately why he was in her net-bed.
As she thought, she could feel a blush mixing with the red crisscrossed marks that, unbeknownst to her, were already on her cheeks, nose and forehead.
"Uh…I—you—bed—Tenshi—confusion—hotel—failed—celebrities—potato!" Riley stuttered out, and Aiko giggled a bit, very nervously, and rolled off the bed and onto the ladder.
"I smell BACON!" Aiko said in a creeper voice, and sauntered toward the table happily.
"Oh, please tell me there was no midnight fun yet," Tenshi said worriedly, grabbing Aiko by the shoulders.
Aiko turned a shade of red as bright as the cherry on top of her French toast and she made an indignant noise, and she sat, poking at her toast with her fork.
Riley sat next to her, and Tenshi decided to make the silence more awkward.
"At least you can say you slept with him~!"
Aiko nearly collapsed into her toast and jumped up, redder than before, and took off to her closet and put on a red t-shirt and jeans.
XxXxXx
Yes, my best friend/sister DOES act and talk like that.
All the time…
HELP. ME. :U
Really though!
Even though it's particularily short…
Very interesting, da?
In spite of the pervy comments made by Tenshi…
Eventually there will be adorable fluffy romance~!
When that happens, Aiko will threaten me with a piñata and a hat…