A/N: hey everyone! I apologize to all of you who are itching for the next chapter of 'the person behind the mask', but I'm suffering from a mild writers block regarding that story. I'm trying to work on it but it only goes slowly; very, very slowly.
That said, I have to admit this one is a bit experimental. If you've read any of my other stories you'll notice the style is a bit different, but I hope you'll like it anyway. Enjoy!
WARNING: all mentioned biotechnology has been subjected to my imagination and is therefore incorrect and most likely impossible.
You know, in this area, there are many legends about one and the same building: the Black Bell, as it is nicknamed. It's quite strange that it's so famous considering this is a huge city, housing more than ten million people and known for some of the greatest achievements in architecture and technology of the last decade. We have built things that where thought to be impossible a mere hundred years ago. Entire villages are packed in one single structure that balances on just two square meters and it is, despite what you might think, as stable as a coin lying flat on it's side on the floor. We have vehicles that fly without wings or propellers for they defy gravity on such a deep level they're truly floating in thin air. We have robots built from bone and muscles, instead of the old traditional materials like metal and plastic, intelligent enough to function properly without supervision for months, or even years.
So why this particular building? It's not that special. It's just a big, black dome made of glass and steel in one of the more remote areas of the city. It's one of the older buildings and it's quite a bit smaller than most. I mean, it's just about as big as one of those old stadiums from the past, where they played the most important matches of that one game. What was it called again? Ah yes, soccer, I believe. Anyway, according to the history books, it used to be really popular, with worldwide championships and all, so the stadiums were supposed to be 'big'. Ha! Well, I can tell you, the flat I live in is bigger. I guess people really thought differently back then.
Hmm? What legends, you ask? Well, some say it's a special greenhouse, which harbors all kind of plants that have gone extinct in the rest of the world. 'Now why would that be special?', you wonder. It's clear you have no idea how special and rare plants have become. Ever since we no longer needed them for oxygen they have been steadily disappearing from our daily life, only to remain on vast agricultural plots for food and other recourses. In the cities however, you won't find a single blade of grass unless you go to one of the parks they kept for their historical value. It's so bad, some kids my age have never even seen plants before, except in textbooks. In the entire world, only a few forests remain and those are constantly swarmed by tourists and school classes who go there for an educational day out.
Another legend is that within that building all kinds of secret experiments are done, and that it houses all the strange creatures scientists have created. Some people say they've heard the most bloodcurdling screams come from inside, muted, but not completely silenced by the thick walls. Others say that instead of screams, they heard the most beautiful singing, so soft you had to strain your ears and concentrate very hard in order to hear it. Then, there is that one person that once told me about ghostly lights he had seen on the other side of the dark glass during a power failure. According to him it had been so dark at that moment that even the black walls couldn't hide the faint glow of the flickering lights.
There are many more stories about that building, like the one that says it is a storage for dangerous waste products. Funny thing is, that one might have been true because every week, something was brought inside. However, if it really contained something deadly, they would have put up a lot more warning signs and it wouldn't have been so easy to slip inside.
Which is exactly what we did.
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It was an ordinary Saturday evening when this all started.
The gang and me were hanging out in Ryu's restaurant, simply talking and having fun. Ren was having one of his many arguments with Horohoro, annoying his opponent by throwing in Old Chinese swearwords. Naturally, the blue haired boy didn't know any so he had no idea the other was actually calling him a fat, stupid and ugly blue-haired barbarian, whose ancestors must have mated with pigs to reach that level of idiocy. I know what you're thinking, Ren is surprisingly creative when he's angry. And no, I won't be telling you how I know what Ren was saying. I promised not to.
Anyway, the rest of us had already moved to the other side of the table, knowing how violent and dangerous their fights could become because of the powers they wield. The last time there was quite a lot of collateral damage.
You, as a stranger, are probably wondering what 'powers' I mean. Well, I'll tell you. You see, in this era 'normal' humans don't exist anymore. Every family, every person, has been changed one way or another in order for them to do their jobs more efficiently. I'll give you a few examples:
I am a 'Shaman', a human whose genetic make up was altered so I can see the souls of the dead that are among us. A Shaman's job is to help those who've died pass on, and help those that are left behind cope with their loss. Most of the time I like my work, but sometimes it can be really depressing, for instance when people had an accident or committed suicide. At those times, I wish I could turn off my abilities like some others can.
Ren is a 'Warrior', specialized in traditional weapons. Long ago, scientists made his family into a group of supreme fighters to act as soldiers, bodyguards and the like. He's strong but unfortunately, he also has quite a temper and is really stubborn. Despite that, he's a very good and reliable friend. He won't admit it though.
The one he's fighting with, Horohoro, whom we call Horo most of the time, is an 'Ice Elemental'; subgroup: 'Ainu'. He's a person that can create and manipulate ice at all times, though he says that it's a lot more difficult when it's warm. His kind was created to successfully function at extremely low temperatures. I guess Fire Elementals could do that too but apparently, it takes way too much of their energy to keep their body temperature right so they're rarely used in cold places. Other Ice Elementals can turn themselves into ice or are capable of merging with it and moving it as if it was their own body. It's really awesome to look at.
Chocolove, sitting opposite of me, is a 'Collector', someone that constantly gathers all kinds of information about anything and everything he comes across. For some reason he really likes jokes. Most of the time it's funny, but it can be annoying too because he pops them up at the strangest moments and his timing can be quite bad. Like right now, as he's unknowingly adding more fuel to the fight with some misplaced pun.
The green haired boy sitting on my right is Lyserg. He's a 'Tracker'. You can compare their function to that of the detectives from the past, but they're a lot better at their job. With their superior senses they can find nearly anything and their enormous intellect allows them to solve almost any mystery. Sometimes we Shamans are paired with them to help solve murder cases and such. He's probably the calmest and most levelheaded of my friends, not to mention the kindest. However, he can be quite mischievous and has a bit of a mean streak when angered.
Manta, whom is sitting on my left side, is an 'I.S.', an Information Storage. Beside the seemingly endless amount of knowledge he contains, he's pretty normal. Well, if you ignore the fact that he still is the size of a five year old kid and can be connected to the computer that is. It is a bit sad he only grows when a sufficient amount of data is added to his data library, cause he's really insecure about his size. His kind is often teamed up with Collectors and scientists to make sure no scrap of info is lost during whatever they'll be doing.
The last one of my friends here is Ryu, an odd womanizer who's addicted to a legendary pop artist called 'Elvis'. Whoever this Elvis-guy is, he really had no sense of fashion and for some reason Ryu still doesn't know that little fact. But, despite his clothes, Ryu is a nice guy and a 'Supply Supervisor'. His area of finesse is food, so, in other words, he's a cook and a damn good one I might add. Unfortunately he's trying to break up the fight right now to save his restaurant, but got caught in the crossfire. Ren and Horo's fights always bring him to tears, poor guy.
But I was telling you a story so I can't dwell on that. Anyhow, when Ryu finally managed to get the fight to end we got at the topic that would cause so much trouble in the near future.
Oh, how impolite of me, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Yoh. Pleasure meeting you.
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After his yelling competition with Ren, Horo had been in deep conversation with Chocolove concerning one of the practical jokes they pull from time to time, before he suddenly addressed everyone.
"Anyway guys, now that we are all here we have something important to discuss. Tomorrow will be boring since everything will be closed, so the question is: what are we going to do about it?" He grinned, pausing dramatically in his little speech. Obviously, he wanted us to guess.
"Uhh…" I said after the silence became to long. "… Cloud watching?"
Horo did a completely over the top anime-fall at that. Well, seems I was wrong then. Too bad, I like watching the clouds.
"NOOO!" he yelled, clearly frustrated with our lack of response. "We should totally try to sneak into the Black Bell and check it out!"
Stunned, we stayed quiet. The Black Bell, the most notorious building in the city, the one that was at the center of so many urban legends… and he wanted to 'sneak in'?
"That is the most stupid thing I've ever heard from you. At least today." Ren said snidely. This, of course, immediately caused another one of their infamous arguments.
With their racket in the background, the rest of us discussed Horo's idea more quietly. Lyserg, known for his quick thinking, immediately pointed out all the flaws of the plan.
"Well," he said, counting his arguments on his fingers "first off, we have no idea what's going on in there and the building is marked as 'off limits'. I'm quite sure here's a lot of security based on the time it takes for three men to bring three to four boxes inside every week, and the fact there's security means that whoever owns that building doesn't want anyone to enter without permission. Secondly, it might be dangerous. Although I'm not inclined to believe them, some people swear they've heard strange noises coming from the inside and, assuming those stories have some form of truth in them, that in combination with the fact there's security I'm quite sure it isn't save in there. Third, if you get caught you'll be in serious trouble since everyone can tell you you're not supposed to go in there, not to mention the signs 'keep out' at the entrance."
We nodded, completely agreeing with him. However, despite the fact we agreed, some of us still wanted to go, Chocolove being one of them. Not that I blame him. After all, collectors are supposed to be some of the most curious people in the world and I myself kind of wanted to know as well.
"Ne, Manta, what do you think?" I asked the blond boy. "Do you happen to know anything about it?" The others, wanting to know what he had to say, turned their attention to the little guy as well, who immediately became a bit nervous.
"Well… I don't have that much data on it. All I know is that the Black Bell was build approximately sixty years ago in relation with some secret government project. All the other info I have is things like height and the materials used on the outside. And the fact that, as Lyserg already said, it's off limits."
"Hmm, I see… thanks Manta."
He smiled at me "No problem, Yoh."
In the mean time Ryu had come over and was now adding his own piece to the conversation, in a quite theatrical way, I might add. "Ahh, yes, the Mystery of the Black Bell." he sighed dreamily. "When I was your age, me and my gang wanted to go in as well because it seemed like the ultimate challenge for us young delinquents. However, in the end we never worked up the courage to go and now we'll never be able to since going would mean risking being thrown into jail for trespassing, if not worse. But despite that, the enigma of the black dome remains and keeps calling to the brave souls of this city!" He ended his little tale with a dramatic wail, which was just so much Ryu I had to laugh.
Of course it hadn't helped in the slightest to convince us not to go but it was still funny. The downside of it was that Chocolove seemed even more temped to ignore rationality and I had to admit I felt the same. The Black Bell was just to interesting a safe not to try and crack.
"So… what will we do?"
The sort silence was only broken by the screams and crashing sounds in the background, as everyone thought about an answer.
Lyserg, was the first to decide. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going." At that he stood up to go home, waving goodbye and walked off in the light of the lanterns outside.
The rest of us didn't get the time to think of our own answer because at that moment, Horo came skipping back to the table. "And, and? Are you guys going to come? Come on, it'll be awesome!" He was jumping up and down in excitement, an adventurous twinkle in his eyes. It was obvious he would be going no matter who came along, probably willing to even go alone if no one came.
I sighed. Somehow I had the feeling I was going to regret this…
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It was early in the morning when we were led towards the dome by a hyper Horo. "Come on, come on, hurry up guys or we'll miss the chance to get in along with the delivery!" he yelled, despite the fact that we weren't supposed to let other people know what we're up to.
"… Idiot." Ren muttered behind me. Luckily Horo didn't hear him or we would have lost even more time. I yawned. The sun had barely risen and I was still very sleepy. Maybe having Ren and Horo fight again wouldn't be so bad… at least I would get the some time to take a nap.
Looking up I realized it was already too late for any napping. We had arrived at our destiny.
"Wow," I heard Chocolove whisper next to me "it sure is gloomy…"
I nodded, feeling uncomfortable under the looming shadow of the Black Bell. Being so close finally made me understand where all the horror stories came from. The dark building was really intimidating as it barely reflected any sunlight, making it seem as if an enormous demon had nestled itself in the city here. It towered above us in a frighteningly threatening manner and I decided I really didn't want to be around here at nighttime. Even in the bright morning light it was easy to imagine all kind of monsters trapped inside, quietly waiting for someone foolish enough to walk through the door-
"WOAH, AWESOME! They're not here yet!"
… Well, at least someone didn't catch the foreboding vibes the building gave off. I shook my head, smiling at Horo's obliviousness, and joined my little group of friends as Horo was telling everyone the plan. Although 'telling' might not be the right word. Rather, it was yelling and waving wildly with his arms, irritating Ren as he hit him nearly every time he moved.
"So everybody gets it, right? Right? We'll go in right after the delivery guys and hide in every corner we come across! Once inside, we wait till they're gone again and then we're free to explore!" the last part he shouted so hard Chocolove and I were forced to clamp our hands over his mouth not to alert anyone.
"… Idiot…" Ren muttered again.
"SHUT UP, REN!" Horo yelled, wrenching himself free of our hold. "Why are you here anyway?! You're just sore because you couldn't come up with this awesome plan! Admit it!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! DARE TO REPEAT THAT IN MY FACE, YOU IDIOTIC POPSTICLE?!" Ren's spike lengthened almost comically along with his anger.
"… Guys… please calm down. You're causing a scene…" I said, trying to avoid another explosive battle.
"But he called me an idiot!" "But he insulted me!"
I felt a big sweat drop run down my face. "… Guys…"
"WHAT!"
"… The delivery-people are here…"
"WHAT?!" Horo yelled. "OH CRAP! Come on, we gotta hurry!"
With a collective sigh we followed the now slightly panicked bluenette towards the entrance, where a small white bus was parked in front. Running after the three men, we got through the double doors just before they closed. Inside we had to wait a few seconds for our eyes to adjust to the dim lightening. Once my sight cleared the deliverymen had already disappeared through one of the many doors lining the hallway.
"… Aaand what do we do now?" Chocolove asked hesitantly. Standing still in the middle of an empty hallway was a good way to get caught so we had to move fast before the men returned. The question was: where would we go?
Suddenly, Horo sprinted forward and grabbed a random door. Pulling it open, he quickly peered inside before signaling us to follow.
"Come on, hurry!" he said, before disappearing through the doorway.
Ren sighed. "Lets go before that idiot gets lost." he said and started walking. I hesitated but had no choice but to follow after my friends into the next hallway.
I paused when I noticed that this one branched of at many points. Horo, clearly not worried about getting lost, was already running down the corridor trying to find something interesting. Chocolove had opened one of the doors to the right and was exploring the room behind it. The only one still standing next to me was Ren, who was clearly suppressing an angry outburst for the sake of protecting their cover. It was quite obvious he wanted to smack the others because this was the perfect behavior for setting of some kind of alarm.
"Uhm, guys… lets stay together okay?" I called to their backs.
Horo clearly wasn't listening when he yelled, "Hey guys, come and see this!" With a sigh Ren and I slowly walked to whatever room he had disappeared in. Coming through the door I had to gasp at the room's content, and a shiver made it's way down my spine. Big glass pillars filled with a strange liquid filled the enormous area and the walls were lined with shelves packed full with jars. It would have looked more innocent if each jar wasn't filled with the remains of some kind of animal. Some held just organs and other's contained complete embryo's. The most scary, however, where the pillars. Inside, all wired up and seemingly asleep, floated human bodies. Beside the obvious fact that it were bodies, most of them where deformed in unimaginable ways. Some had horns, some had extra appendages and others lacked certain features altogether.
I was horrified as I took a closer look at one of them. This one lacked lips, and most of his fingers and toes where grown together so that at each hand and foot only two remained. The entire creature was completely out of proportion, with big, bulky muscles on long, thin bones. He had a short stump at his tailbone and various horn-like structures at his joints. The back of the head –could you even call that a head?- was swollen to the size of a big watermelon and covered with thick blackish-blue veins. All in all he looked more like an alien or some kind of horror movie-monster.
"Damn guys, this place is sick," Chocolove said, looking slightly green despite his dark skin. "Look, this one is marked 'test subject 1473, gender: male, age: 11, weight: 71,4 kg, height: 1,2 m, brain mass: 34,8 kg, IQ: 98, cause of death: veins collapsed under weight of brain tissue.' I mean, they blew up this guy's brain! It's crazy! And this one says 'test subject 2852, gender: female, age: 15, weight: 40,2, height: 2,3 m, brain mass: 5,4 kg, IQ: 156, cause of death: heart failure.'"
"… It's a monster cabinet." Ren whispered.
"… Lets get out of here, okay?" I said. I wanted leave right now, this whole place was creeping me out.
"Whoa, whoever did these experimentswas one sick motherfucker." Horo said, looking at a creature with way too many eye sockets that would never open or even contain an eye. Even he was a bit freaked by the room's content. "I wonder why they did this."
We looked around wondering the same thing. What had been the reason for mutilating human beings like this?
"… Well," Ren said slowly, "it was probably a continuation of the experiments they carried out on people before. They managed to artificially change every single human on the planet and afterwards they probably continued looking for new abilities. These might be the results of their search."
"But we already have all abilities we need now don't we? So why look for more?" Chocolove asked.
"That might be true, but you need a lot of people for the more complex jobs because everyone has only one special skill. Looking at these creatures I guess they wanted to create a human who was able to have multiple skills." Ren answered, looking around warily.
"So… they wanted a sort of super human?" I asked.
"Probably."
"… Damn." Chocolove whispered, voicing my feelings exactly. I couldn't even begin to imagine what their lives must have been like, locked in a lab under the eye of some mad scientist, forced to watch your own body grow towards it's death… I shuddered. "Guys, I want to leave, now." I said firmly, before simply walking out of the door. No one protested as they followed me, all of us spooked by what we had seen.
"… Sooo, which door shall we try next?" Horo said, rapidly recovering from the horrors of the room now that we were surrounded by ordinary hallways again. In fact, he looked eager to continue exploring.
"Idiot! We're going back before we get caught! We'll be lucky if we get through the door without activating an alarm anyway, so there is no way in hell we go 'try' anything again! Idiot!"
Horo had completely ignored Ren's outburst and had already opened the next door. Expecting another horror scene I was pleasantly surprised when the room revealed only barren steel and a few raised platforms on which a couple dozens of transparent orbs rested. Looking closer you could see within each orb a colorful mineral floating. Horo and Chocolove already stood with their noses just mere millimeters from the glass, both transfixed by the hypnotizing light of a pinkish crystal.
"Alright, no one touches anything. They're most likely rigged." Ren said with a commanding voice. He was interrupted by a soft but rapid bleeping. He nearly exploded when he saw the others stand there with one of the mysterious orbs in their hands. "YOU IDIOTS! YOU SET OF THE FUCKING ALARM! DON'T YOU HAVE BRAINS IN YOUR HEADS OR SOMETHING?!"
Startled by his shouting Chocolove dropped the glass ball, which shattered upon hitting the cold floor. For a moment a shocked silence reigned us all. Then we all broke out in a panicked dash to the door. Already we could hear running footsteps coming our way.
"RUN!" Horo yelled, sprinting towards one of the halls that was still silent. Ren was the fastest of us, running ahead and disappearing out of sight when taking a corner. I was breathing heavily already and was quickly falling behind on the others. Right now I hated my job with passion since it barely included any physical exertion. Suddenly, I was all alone, lost in the labyrinth of halls and doors. I didn't know how long I had run but I didn't hear any sound of my friends or our pursuers anymore.
I stopped, completely lost. "…Guys?" I called hesitantly. "… Where are you?" Silence. I sighed. Great. I'd lost my friends, I had not the faintest idea where I was and there was no one around to help me either. How was I going to get out of here?
Some movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Was someone there? I didn't really want to get caught, but wandering around forever was equally unappealing. Quickly, I started to jog in that direction at the same time calling out to whoever was walking there. "Hey, wait! Please, I need your help! Wait!"
Running around a corner I suddenly stood face to face with a woman. Or rather, the spirit of a woman. She seemed completely out of place in the modern hallway with her ankle length, pale blond hair and flowery kimono. She smiled kindly at me and beckoned me before continuing her way down the hall.
"Uhm, excuse me but… I want to get out. Can you show me?" I asked. Again she beckoned me and after a few moments I decided to follow. It was not like I got a better option anyway.
The walk was silent and long. Unlike many other spirits she wasn't talkative at all; she simply led me to whatever destination she had in mind without saying a single word. After what felt like hours she stopped in front of a pair of big double doors. Moving nearer I saw her standing at a small panel with a computer screen and some scanners. I looked at her confused. Obviously the door was locked. However, the spirit simply waved a few times through the machines and all red lights jumped one by one to green. I was stunned. Never before I had met a soul with that much influence on the physical world.
I was pulled out of my musings when the doors started to open. The woman gestured with a smile. "… You want me to go in?" I asked. Again she smiled. I hesitated, not sure if it was safe. I had met a few spirits who seemed nice enough but who had ended up bringing me to the place of their deaths and trying to kill me there.
I looked at her. She didn't give me the uncomfortable feeling of a hostile spirit so I probably would be okay… I hoped. "Thank you." I said to her, before taking a deep breath and walking through the doors.
The sight that met me nearly made me choke. Green. Everything around me was green. Never before in my life did I see this many plants, but from some old history lessons I knew what the area looked like. Tropical Rainforest. Everywhere around me where big leaves, high trees and long, windy ranks of various climbing plants. From high above came glistering rays of light that scarcely managed to penetrate the dense canopy. I turned and turned trying to look everywhere at once and with every second I saw more and more details. Small flowers strewn like living jewels between the leaves. The flashes of bright-colored feathers as birds rapidly made their way through the labyrinth of branches. Fruits. Seeds. Insects. The whole place was filled to the brim with life.
I started to walk down the sandy trail that lead away from the doors and into the forest. Was I outside? I couldn't tell and at the moment it didn't really matter. I was too curious to be worried. For now I just wanted to explore this strange, seemingly prehistoric place. I looked down. Underneath my feet was soft sand, dark dirt and dry leaves. I took of my shoes, wanting to feel the textures. The earth was pleasantly warm and a bit moist.
I felt laughter bubbling in my chest. This place was amazing! I could feel the joy and satisfied feeling from all the living things around me and I couldn't help but act like a child, running around and taking a curious look at everything I came across. The horrors of the other room, the fact that I was lost and would be in deep trouble once out of here, all was forgotten for the moment. I would deal with it later.
After a short walk (or long one if you counted the time I spend indulging my curiosity) I came across a small river. In the water I could see fish swimming and dragonflies danced above the surface. Close at the edge where some big flat rocks and I sat down there, completely overwhelmed by the colorful foreign sights. With a pleased sigh I laid down, smiling happily at the trees as the warmth of the stone beneath- and de heat of the sun above me lulled me to sleep with a completely unexpected swiftness.
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I woke up with the feeling of being stared at. When I opened my eyes I was quickly jolted out of my sleepy state; and I couldn't stop a scream from escaping at the sight of the dark red face and big lime-green eyes, mere inches away from my own.
"HOLY SHIT!" I shrieked, for once finding one of Horo's usual one-liners appropriate. The sudden adrenaline rush that flooded my body with frightened energy, threw me of the rock and landed me on my ass. I scrambled backwards as fast as I could, while still keeping my eyes on the… creature.
What I saw oddly reminded me of the creatures from the monster cabinet. It had a small head with strange, flat, sideway… horns? Antlers? Whatever. A broad neck and gorilla-like arms with white triangular markings on bright red skin. It had a heavily muscled chest and thin waist and hips. Its legs somehow reminded me of the hind legs of a rodent, with thick thighs, slender heels and a wide, elongated foot with long toes. It was hard to see which joint was the knee when it leaned forwards on his toes, like it was doing now. Its expression was oddly intelligent as the big cat-like eyes stared at me with curiosity.
"His name is Fire and you don't need to be afraid. He's really nice unless you manage to make him angry."
I whipped around as fast as I could, considering I was sitting on the ground. Behind me stood a dark eyed boy about my age. His tanned skin was covered with tiny scars and his deep brown hair reached past his waist. He had a kind, open smile on his face and a slightly mischievous twinkle in his eyes. The only clothes he wore where wide, dark red pants and, for some reason, big earrings shaped like round, red shields with golden stars on it.
"You don't look like you're supposed to be here. Are you lost?" his voice was pleasant and warm and made me feel more at ease now the shock had worn off.
"Uhm, yes, I kind of am… could you tell me how I can get into the city again?"
"The cit-ey? What is that?" he said, sounding curious.
His question shocked me. How could someone not know what the city was when living this close to it? Was he playing dumb? Looking at his face that didn't seem to be the case. Somehow he honestly did not know what I meant. How was that possible?
"It is where I and a lot of other people live." I said. Maybe he just didn't know the word but only the place…
"A lot of other people? I don't know but it's not around here. The only ones here are us two and maybe four or five other people that sometimes visit. That barely counts as many, ne?" he shrugged apologetically. "If I have to guess I'd say it's outside but that probably isn't helpful?" Mutely I shook my head. How was I supposed to get home now? The other didn't seem to share my worries as his face brightened when he got an idea. "You know what? Since you're lost you can stay here until Meene comes. She brings Fire and me our meals and she knows a lot more about outside than I do. In the mean time I can show you around if you want, okay?" he was obviously excited by the idea of having a new companion.
I nodded. What other choice did I have? It was at least better than anything I could come up with. "Okay, lets do that."
The other beamed and grabbed my wrist, immediately starting to drag me into the forest. "Great! Now come on, we got a lot to do before she comes!" he said happily.
Despite everything, I smiled. This boy seemed like a nice person. "Ne, what's your name? Mine is Yoh." I asked, curious about the other.
"Yoh, eh? That's a nice name. I am Hao."
We smiled at each other. Seemed like I had unexpectedly found a new friend. He surprised me by turning around and calling out to something in the bushes. "Fire! Come here and meet Yoh!"
It was strange to see such a massive creature acting all docile and obedient at the call of a young teen as he appeared from between the foliage. From this close I could see he was easily four times bigger than me, with talons the size of my lower arm and muscles that suggested a bone crushing power. Despite his size he barely made any sound as he slowly crawled towards us.
"You don't need to be nervous, Yoh, Fire is real smart and won't harm you. He always listens to me." Hao said. He had easily noticed my wariness of the big beast. I held out my hand towards the creature, ready to pull it back when needed. Instead of sniffing like an animal would, Fire gently grabbed my hand with his enormous ones and looked at it, making soft whistling and peeping noises as he gave it a throughout look-over. Then he looked me straight in the face and made a few humming sounds towards Hao.
The other boy laughed. "He says we look alike but that our scent is completely different, though he does like yours." He looked at me with an approving smile. "That's quite a compliment 'cause Fire rarely likes anyone."
"Uhm… thanks, I guess?" I said, not sure how to respond. How where you supposed to respond anyway, when someone told you a big, monstrous-looking creature liked you? However it seemed I'd said the right thing, because Fire nodded and silently disappeared in the forest again. How he could hide with those colors I couldn't understand but with two steps into the bushes I could no longer see him, though I had a feeling he was still close by to keep an eye on us.
"Come, I'll show you our home." Hao said, before leaving the path in favor of a barely visible trail. After a few minutes we arrived at something so huge, I couldn't believe it was a real, living tree. My two-room apartment could have easily fitted in its trunk without any danger of the tree collapsing under its own weight. A tug on my wrist pulled me from my awe-induced musings as Hao pulled me towards an actual curtain of veins and leaves of various climbing plants, that wrapped their way around the tree reaching all the way up to the top crown of the gigantic plant.
When I returned my attention to my new friend I realized he was already several meters up, climbing the green curtain with the same ease as a monkey. "Come on, Yoh! You better start cause it's a long way up and we're not gaining time!" he laughed. To the left I noticed Fire clinging to the immense trunk like a big, grotesque squirrel; he didn't even need the veins to get higher up, I noted.
With some hesitation I grabbed the lower ranks, not sure if they could carry my weight. Slowly I started to climb up towards where Hao was smiling down at me, and in no time my arms where burning, not used to the exercise. Relieved I noted that the plants where cool and smooth under my hands and the leaves didn't get as much in the way as I had expected. Luckily the plants had firmly attached themselves to the tree so after a few meters of climbing I lost my fear of falling and actually started to enjoy it.
"Keep going, Yoh! You're doing great!" Hao called, not even sounding a little bit out of breath despite the fact he was rapidly scaling the gigantic trunk.
Finally, after what felt like hours, I reached the place where Hao was lounging on a branch as broad as two cars together.
"There you are! Come, it's only a little further." he said cheerfully, ignoring my labored breathing and sweaty face. At first I thought he had grabbed the next bunch of liana but then I saw it was actually a rope ladder. With a tired sigh I followed after him and, true to his word, we soon reached a wooden tree house, which was almost completely hidden by plants.
"Welcome to our humble home!" the other said theatrically while I was admiring the scenery. From where I stood on the wooden balcony I could look all the way down through the web of branches beneath us. At this height, countless flowers where blooming in all the colors of the rainbow. Bright–colored birds played hide and seek between the foliage, allowing me only a glimpse of their beauty. On top of the broader branches it was as if the forest floor had climbed up with us and it took me a moment to realize that on those branches, a miniature version of the forest grew with it's own animals and plants living in it. All in all it was as if the tree had its own little gardens lifted in the air.
"Aren't you coming inside?"
Suddenly I realized that I'd been standing there for a while. Quickly I followed the other inside. The home consisted of one big room and a small one with the toilet. Well, said toilet was just a hole in the floor but up here I could imagine it functioned well enough. After all, dragging water up would be too much of a chore and looking all the way down through the hole I could see a flourishing little air garden, as I had dubbed the miniature forests on the branches. The main room contained a few cabinets, a fireplace (the only stone thing I could find) and a huge pile of pillows with a few blankets. I assumed Hao and Fire slept there, though now Hao was pulling some free to sit on.
"Want something to drink?" the other asked with his back turned towards me while rummaging through the cabinets.
"Yeah, sure." I said. I wondered what Hao could have up here. That question was quickly answered when he pulled a big stone jar from out of one of the cabinets and filled two bowls with some honey colored liquid. Of course, letting Fire carry some jars up was easy, I supposed. Giving one of the bowls to me, Hao pulled a basket with fruit out and seated himself next to me.
"Sooo… that city of yours, tell me about it." he said. Though surprised by his sudden interest, I did as asked. I told him about my friends, my family, my apartment and everything else that came to mind. I also told him about my scary fiancée, Anna, who is a 'Manager'; someone that overlooks, directs and/or trains a group of people. Her kind is often called 'Barker' because they 'bark out' orders so often. Hao laughed when he heard that and even Fire, who was sitting close to us, let out an amused rumble.
When I told him about my ability however, he suddenly shot up straight, startling me. "You can see spirits?!" he gasped out. I nodded and told him about the spirit that had brought me here. He got a longing look in his eyes when I described her to him. "… So she's still here…" he whispered. I was confused, even more so when I noticed his eyes glistering with tears despite the small smile on his lips.
"D-did you know her?" I asked hesitantly. Hao let out a small laugh before saying "something like that." Now I was even more confused, but seeing how it got to him I decided to let it rest.
"Ne Hao… do you know something about an experiment around here?" I asked with the monster cabinet in mind. Immediately Hao's face darkened with anger and Fire shifted, letting out a low growl that vibrated through the room, making the walls and floor tremble. "… Yes, I do." Hao whispered, hatred coloring his eyes a near painful black. I was almost too scared to ask but a morbid curiosity forced me to do so anyway. "W-what happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it." was Hao's clipped reply.
"O-okay." quickly I raked my brain for a different topic, sweating slightly in sudden nervousness. I couldn't help but think that Hao's angry face was really frightening and unsettling. That, and Fire's growling wasn't helping me feel at ease either. "Uhm, uh… hey, Hao, how big is this place?" I asked. A lousy try but it seemed to work since the other's happy attitude returned instantly.
"Oh, it's not that big, but the thanks to the trees you can wander around for quite a while. Well, not really if you only walk, even though you still get lost if you don't know the place. However, the trees and all other plants make for a good climb. You can spend days exploring and even we still discover new places and hiding spots from time to time. Partly it's because plants grow and die but sometimes we find a spot that has been there from the start. That's very rare though, ne Fire?" he asked, patting the enormous arm of the creature. He got a soft snort and a nod in return.
I smiled, but on the inside I was a bit stunned by the creatures intelligence. Clearly Fire was a lot smarter than he looked like if he could understand what Hao was saying. I suddenly realized how easy it was to underestimate Fire and decided to be careful with what I said in the future. No need to accidentally upset something that could probably crush me in a heartbeat.
"You know what, Yoh? I can show you one if you'd like. Only thing is, you need to climb a lot and seeing how well you do that…" he paused with a snicker. He didn't need to finish, I already knew what he was hinting at. I pouted. It wasn't my fault I wasn't good at climbing. The only thing you could climb in the city where stairs unless you went to special climbing halls, but those where expensive and no one in my group was interested. If only I would have known I'd end up here, I surely would have gone then!
"Don't worry Yoh, you can ride on Fire's back. He's more than strong enough to carry you." Hao said with a grin. I felt he had a bit too much fun teasing me, but I guessed he didn't get the chance often. Fire sure didn't seem fun with the danger of him getting a bit too annoyed and deciding to show it. With a almost inaudible sigh I resigned myself to a lot more teasing along the way, and answered his question. "I'd like that, if he doesn't mind."
" Oh, he doesn't, now do you Fire?" he asked. The red beast only grumbled. His grin grew a big wider at that, but there was a strange glint in his eyes when he whispered something to it. For some reason I got the feeling he was up to something, but I was distracted when Fire's big head nudged me in the shoulder.
"Yoh, you do realize you need to get on to ride him, yes?" Hao laughed. I blushed and looked up at the creature, having no idea how to do so. "Hao…how am I supposed to ride him?" I asked.
"Oh, it's really simple. Fire, get down." When he obeyed Hao continued. "Look, you just sit behind his head and hold on to his horns." He said, demonstrating it with practiced ease. I was a bit doubtful but hesitantly climbed the red shoulders to give it a try. I was really happy Fire stayed completely still and after a few nervous minutes I was seated. I shifted a bit, not at ease on the massive beast. The red skin under me was almost uncomfortably hot and smooth to the point of slippery. Already the fear of falling of was presenting itself.
Said fear increased at least tenfold when Fire got up. I lurched forward and my heart logged itself in my throat as I was suddenly lifted two meters into the air. "Hao-"
I was cut of when Hao happily called "Okay, let's go!" and jumped forward into the labyrinth of branches beneath. Fire followed him without a pause, making me scream in fright as I felt gravity immediately start to pull us downwards.
The breath was knocked out of me when the red beast landed heavily in a nearby tree and I almost lost my grip as he fluently made the next jump before I could even recover.
A few tense, nerve-wracking moments later I started to get a hang of it, to my immense relief I might add. Now I was no longer flying around with every landing I started to actually enjoy the exhilarating ride, even going so far to let out an exited shout every time Fire's strong limbs catapulted us forward. Next to us Hao laughed along. He himself looked like he was actually flying alongside us, touching down on the branches so lightly that I barely saw it.
A few trees later we came to a sudden stop and I whined in protest. Oh, how I wanted to see more of the forest flash by in a blur of dazzling colors. "Hey, why did we stop?" I asked, not fully able to keep the disappointment from my voice.
Hao looked at me dumbfounded and then nearly toppled off the branch, laughing. "Because… we were going here… remember?" he gasped between laughs, making me feel incredibly foolish.
I blushed. Luckily, the other didn't give me the time to be embarrassed for long as he almost dragged me off of Fire's back. it was when my feet touched the rough bark of the tree, I realized I was actually shaking with adrenaline and almost incapable of something as simple as standing. With unsteady knees I carefully sat down for a moment, not trusting myself or my treacherous legs to have enough balance left to stay upright.
When the rapid beating of my heart calmed a bit I started to notice that my whole body stung and ached. Wondering why I was hurting so much, I looked down and gasped. Every inch of skin that hadn't been covered was scratched and bleeding where little branches and leaves had whipped against me during the ride. My clothes hadn't fared any better, as they where torn and smudged with dirt and something green I couldn't really identify.
I jumped but quickly relaxed again, when Hao kneeled next to me and grabbed one of my hands to study my injuries. Again there was that strange glint in his eyes, but I didn't get much time to ponder it as he suddenly swiped his tongue over one of the bigger scratches, licking off some of the blood. I yelped and pulled back my hand on reflex, immediately feeling uncomfortable under his expressionless stare.
For a moment there was an uneasy silence between us, but then he grinned brightly. "Well? Feeling better yet?"
I stared at him and hesitated, but slowly nodded anyway. Suddenly the pleasant atmosphere was back as if it had never left. I smiled at him. Maybe licking had just been his way of taking care of wounds, he lived pretty primitive after all. Quickly I banned the incident from my mind and concentrated on where Hao was leading me instead.
Following after the other, I crawled through a dense web of branches, vines and leaves, while in the mean time having to watch my footing since we were still high above the ground. When I finally pulled myself over a branch as thick as my middle, I nearly choked on my own breath at what I saw.
From above, misty rays of sunlight came pouring down, illuminating the colorful wonder in front of me. From higher branches came bright rivers of all kind of flowers streaming down, to pool in what looked like a small meadow, where the living jewels grew in all shades of white, yellow, pink, red and purple. Awed, I carefully stepped forward into the sea of flowers that reached past my knees. A small breeze made the plants sway and surrounded me with a dazzling display of dancing colors.
I laughed and turned around, not able to truly grasp the sheer beauty of this amazing place. Never before I had experienced the miracle that was Nature as strongly as that moment. Compared to this, everything that was considered beautiful to the people of the city dulled to the point it could even be called heinous and ugly.
Looking more closely at the gorgeous scenery, I suddenly noticed that the whole place was literally buzzing with life. Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, they all fluttered around and danced along with the flowers as they lavishly drank the golden nectar from the depths hidden by the delicate petals.
"So, what do you think?" Hao said cheerfully, startling me. I had been so caught up in the moment, I'd almost completely forgotten his presence. I smiled back. "It's absolutely amazing!" I said with a grin. "I wish I had something like this at home!"
Hao looked at me thoughtfully. "You don't? Meene mentioned something like that too, but… you really don't?"
I shook my head. "I have only one tiny plant at home. That is really nothing compared to this forest you have here."
"Well, you can have one of these if you want." he snickered. "But not to many 'kay, cause I'm quite fond of them."
I laughed and sighed wishfully. "I'd like to but I think I'll pass. They're probably better off here. That, and they're way to pretty to pick."
Hao looked around thoughtfully. "I guess…"
I smiled and carefully stepped forward, attempting to avoid squashing the flowers. I almost forgot to watch out for gaps between the branches, but got a frightening reminder when I put my foot down only to discover there was nothing beneath it to support my weight. If Hao hadn't managed to grab my shirt just in time I would have probably ended up proving that humans that don't have the right ability should never attempt to fly, accidental or not. Instead I ended up flat on by back between the flowers, my heart hammering and stuck in my throat, staring up at Hao's worried face.
"You okay?"
I nodded, unable to get my heart dislodged just yet. Hao looked thoughtfully for a while. He smiled. "Well, guess this is a good place to sit down anyway." He said cheerfully, plopping himself down next to me.
It took me at least a full minute to get myself together enough to distance myself a bit from the hole I almost fell through. Next to me Hao was humming a happy tune, completely at ease despite my barely avoided painful meeting with the forest ground. His slender fingers were rapidly weaving a wreath of white and pink orchids, mixed with some trumpet shaped, yellow flowers I didn't know the name of.
At last I managed a calming, shuddering sigh. To get my mind of my recent near dead experience I started to pay close attention to the liquid movements of Hao's fingers. Suddenly I realized something.
"You never told me what your ability is."
The tune stopped and the fingers paused before slowly resuming their work on the wreath. "I know."
I hesitated. "Will you tell me?"
Again he paused, longer this time. "I don't know."
I frowned, but before I could open my mouth he continued. "I don't know. Maybe. But not now."
I mulled over his answer. "Is it because of the experiment?" I asked without thinking. The next moment I was pinned by his sharp glare, feeling as if he had nailed me to the ground with daggers. His dark eyes where hard and cold like icy shards of obsidian. Hastily I stuttered apologies. Good grief, where his eyes scary.
Finally he returned his attention to the flowers and I took deep grateful breaths as the sensation of being pierced by those eyes disappeared. We sat in silence for a long time, the tension hanging like a veil between us.
In the end the silence was broken by Hao, who finished his wreath and called Fire from the shadows to put it on the creature's head. I sighed in relief when I heard him laugh. Looking up, I couldn't help but laugh too. Fire looked positively ridiculous with the flowers on his head. That, and the pink horribly clashed with the red of his skin. Luckily Fire didn't mind.
"Come Yoh, Meene will be here soon." Hao called over his shoulder. I shivered a bit. He hadn't forgiven me yet for asking about the experiment. That knowledge saddened me.
"N-ne, Hao-"
"Come on, get on. We still have a little way to go and she's almost here." He interrupted me. Instead of looking at me he focused on directing Fire in the right position so I could climb on his back.
For a moment I hesitated, but then I grabbed his arm and turned him around. He resisted but though he could have easily shaken me off he did turn. "Hao, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." I said, silently pleading him to forgive me.
For just a moment he looked me in the eye, before his eyes darted back to Fire.
"Hao-"
Again he gave me those cold eyes and I froze. I didn't even dare to breathe. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, his gaze softened and I immediately filled my grateful lungs with some much needed air. He sighed.
"Yoh, I-" For a moment he struggled with himself. "Yoh, will you promise me something?"
I stared at him, not entirely sure what he wanted. "Uh… okay?"
"Will you come and visit us again?"
I hesitated. "Well… it's really difficult and dangerous…" I trailed of, seeing the pleading look in his eyes. "I'll try."
He smiled. "That will do for now." He said, suddenly cheerful again. Before I had time to collect my thoughts he had already shoved me towards Fire and took a terrifying leap down one of the openings between the branches, towards a small air garden located at least sixty feet below us.
As fast as I could I clambered on Fire's back and in no time the massive muscles hurled us through the dense canopy to catch up with Hao. I sighed dejectedly. Because I was worried about Hao's strange moods I couldn't enjoy the ride as much as I wanted and all the unanswered questions kept gnawing at me, lying like a solid weight on my heart.
All too soon, the ride was over and we were standing at the edge of the forest in front of the two double doors I entered through. At least, I believe it were the same doors.
To my surprise instead of 'Meene', the spirit that led me here entered through the doors. Literally. She floated straight through and smiled at me. Next to me I felt Hao tense. I quickly glanced at him and something about him caught my eye. I looked a bit better and suddenly realized that it seemed as if he was looking at the spirit instead of the doors. My eyes widened, but before I could say anything someone else entered, and this time the doors actually opened.
Another woman with blond hair entered, though this one looked younger than the spirit and her hair only went past her shoulders. Her white uniform looked way to official for just the job of bringing food.
I was distracted when Hao grabbed my arm. I looked at him and then back at the military looking woman.
"Is that Meene?"
He nodded without looking at me. I wanted to get up and step out of the foliage but Hao stopped me. I gave him a confused look. "Hao-"
"You'll visit us, right?"
I nodded. "I'll try. But Hao-"
Again he interrupted me. "If you promise to return then I'll promise I'll tell you my ability next time."
I stared at him, startled.
He gave me a pleading look. "You promise?"
I nodded slowly. He smiled and nodded back. "Then I promise too."
And just like that he was happily dragging me towards the stern looking Meene, completely ignoring the spirit he passed mere inches away from him. Guess I was wrong when I thought he could see her.
XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX
At this point in the story, I guess I won't have to tell you what happened next. It wasn't really interesting anyway. After giving them their food, Meene dragged me through the building without saying a word besides the warning never to speak with someone about my meeting with Hao. I'm not sure, but it was as if she had a hard time believing that anyone could come out of meeting Hao unharmed. She really had seemed terrified when she looked him in the eye, but maybe that was just my imagination.
Anyway, she quite literally kicked me out. Without saying anything about me getting prosecuted for trespassing or something. In fact, after that day I've never heard anything about it again, except from my friends. They had managed to stay out of the hands of security long enough to get outside and especially Horo was quite proud of that.
It as been almost two months since then, and I haven't had the courage yet to take the risk of returning. Still, I promised Hao so one day I'll have to.
Oh, but even if I hadn't promised my friends would surely try to make me go. Within our little group, the enigma that is Hao has already become a legend of his own. It's funny actually. We solved the Mystery of the Black Bell and now know what's inside, but instead of being satisfied with the answer we wish to dig further and want to know more. More about the Black Bell and the strange creatures living inside. More about Hao.
Legends sure are strange things. The more you know the truth behind them, the deeper you wish to dig. I wonder if we should. What do you think?
A/N: Holy shit, it's finished after spending months on my computer. And in time for the deadline too. I would have loved to tinker a bit more but, well, a deadline is a deadline. Unfortunately.
That said, what did you guys think? It's a far more serious oneshot than 'wasting time waiting'. I know I left a lot of questions unanswered, but maybe, if a lot of people ask I'll write a sequel to answer those, but only then. And in that case I'll need some ideas for the sequel. Yes, that is an invitation. I also take suggestions for a multichapter story if you have them.
I'm curious what you guys think of Hao's ability. Tell me if you have a good guess.
Thanks for reading and see you next time!