#1
Sakura awoke with a cold sweat, short of breath. She looked around and sighed, relieved to find herself in her own room again.
It was just a dream. Just a dream…..
She mentally repeated it as a mantra to calm her down.
It was still dark outside. She looked to her digital clock on her night stand.
02:52 A. M.
Upon seeing this, she sighed as she fell back onto her pillows. At this rate, it seemed like she would never get any sleep tonight.
Especially because since the expedition was today.
However, now with her having nightmares all of a sudden, she was beginning to wonder why she had even accepted, even after taking account of how strange the request had seem.
She played it over in her mind once more, hoping that she'd finally find the answer.
Fortunately, Sakura was able to get several more hours of dreamless sleep. First thing that she did was got out of bed and went into the shower. She began thinking about the dream that she had last night. It had alarmed her that it had felt so real. She raised her hand and stared at it as it trembled. Was it really that frightening? Sakura blinked for a second-
-and the world around her went dark. Her eyes widened at her blood covered hand and at the blood curdling screams in the distance-
-then it was all gone in a blink of an eye. She was back in the shower staring at her hand as water trickled down.
What was that? She wondered.
Though, it was only for a split second, she had seen enough to know that it was from her nightmare. However, this would be the first time that she would have visions of her dreams. It was unnerving nonetheless and it still filled her with dread for what the day had in store for her.
She stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel before stepping out into her bedroom. She looked at the clothes that she had laid out on her bed. She had heard that it was going to be hot today and had settled on denim blue shorts with a red t-shirt with white sleeves. Today, she was going on an expedition trip with Trent Vincent, one of the richest men in the world and the current president of the economical OBORO Corporation. She stared at the clothes she had laid out.
Is this really alright?
A limo had arrived for Sakura later that morning. When she had got entered it, she found it to be more luxurious than the stories had made them out to be. It was a little longer than she had expected. The driver had been extremely courteous and had told her that if she had ever needed anything, she was to let him know. It wasn't long before Sakura found out that their destination had been Trent's large estate. A butler met her at the car.
"Good morning, Miss Haruno," he said with a curt bow. "Mr. Vincent has been waiting for you. Please, follow me."
Sakura nodded and followed the man as he ventured back into the house. The two trekked down a long hallway with Sakura noting the many beautiful rooms that they passed. She was still having some trouble accepting the fact that Trent Vincent, one of the richest men in the world, had invited her, an ordinary high school student, to his mansion. Her mind suddenly went blank when they arrived in front of a white pair of double doors. This was it. She was about to become one of the few people ever to meet Trent Vincent face to face. Pulling herself down to earth once more, she held her breath with anticipation as the butler pushed the doors open. She stepped out onto a stone veranda which gave her a gorgeous view of a garden in the morning scenery.
"Miss Haruno?"
Sakura turned around to see a man sitting a white table beneath a large parasol. He grinned.
"I am glad that you could make it," he said. "Please, come join me."
The pink haired girl blinked at him for a moment before approaching the other end of the table and sitting down in the chair and took a good look at him. He was wearing a white suit. He had a young rugged face though the gray lines in his gelled back hair told otherwise. His eyes were a mystery, concealed by his black circular sunglasses.
"Mr. Vincent?"
The man smiled.
"No formalities, please."
"Mr. Trent then," Sakura smiled. "It's an honor to finally meet you in person."
"Likewise," Trent smiled. "I hope you don't mind, but I was just about to have breakfast and had a meal prepared for you as well."
Just as he had said that, numerous servants came out from the house with a dish of food in each hand. Sakura watched with mild surprise as they placed them onto the table. There was enough to feed a five course meal to twelve people. This was no meal, this was a feast.
"Oh no, I couldn't," Sakura said automatically.
Trent smiled.
"Oh, but I insist."
Sakura smiled nervously.
"No, I mean I really can't eat all of this," she said.
Trent eyed her quizzically for a moment then looked down at the food. He began scratching his head sheepishly.
"Oh, well heh… I suppose I did go a bit overboard."
Sakura sat back in her chair, full from the delicious meal that that had been prepared. It had been a while since she had a breakfast that big.
"Now that that's taken care of, I suppose you want to know about the expedition you'll be joining me in."
"Yes," Sakura replied, leaning forward in her chair.
This was something she had actually meant to ask him about when they had talked over the phone a few days before.
"Well for starters, we are going to Madara Island."
Sakura eyed the man quizzically. At the moment, this expedition was beginning to sound like a vacation getaway.
"I've never hear of that island," she said.
"I'm not surprised," Trent replied. "Not too many people have."
He leaned forward with a smile on his face.
"There's an interesting myth on the island. I'll tell it to you if you're interested."
Sakura nodded. Trent sat back in his chair and clasped his hands together and smiled coolly.
"Long ago, there was a time when demons ruled the earth."
Sakura looked at Trent with a disbelieving eye, but held her tongue so that he could continue.
"Many of the demons were quite fearsome; however none of them could compare to Kyuubi no Yoko."
"Kyuubi no Yoko?" Sakura repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Trent nodded.
"Kyuubi no Yoko, the nine tailed fox demon," he said. "He was the strongest of demons and was known as the King of Demons because of his fearsome power."
Trent smiled when he noticed the awed look on Sakura's face.
"However, there was still hope for the world. A young hero arose to challenge the immortal demon king and defeated him and sealed the demons away."
"So where does Madara Island fall into that?" Sakura asked.
It was then that a butler came out from the house and approached Trent. Sakura watched curiously as he whispered into Trent's ear. A cool smile breached his lips as the butler pulled away and retreated back into the house.
"It seems that we will have to continue this for another time," he said, standing up. "It seems that our ride has arrived."
The man must've had unusual good timing because as soon as he said that, Sakura began hearing a beating sound in the air. She looked upwards to see a helicopter approaching the mansion.
Sakura followed Trent throughout the house until they exited a black metal door and onto the rooftop of the mansion, which turned out to be a heliport. The helicopter that was flying towards the mansion earlier had already landed there. A man in a black suit and red tie stepped out of the chopper and ran towards them. He stood in front of Trent.
"Mr. Vincent, it's good to see you again," he yelled over the sound of the chopper, shaking the said man's hand furiously. He then stepped towards the pink haired girl.
"You must be Sakura Haruno. We've been expecting you."
The man extended his hand. Sakura stared at it for a moment, before looking up and smiling at the man as she shook it.
"They're waiting for us so we should probably get going!"
"Agreed!" Trent responded.
The three of them then boarded the helicopter, and before Sakura knew it, they were in the air. The pink haired girl was sat next to Trent and across from…
"Where are my manners," Trent suddenly said. "Miss Haruno, this is an associate of mine, Dr. Kabuto Yakushi."
The man branded Doctor Yakushi, smiled.
"It is a pleasure Miss Sakura," he said.
Sakura smiled.
To be truthful, she found this to be quite nice. However for some reason, she remembered those glowing pair of eyes from her dream. She couldn't figure out why she had thought about it.
"Are you alright Miss?"
The pink haired girl pulled herself from her thoughts and blinked at the concerned faces that were currently watching her. She smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, I'm fine," she said, waving them off. "I was just thinking about something."
The two men stared at her for a moment, until Dr. Yakushi's attention shifted towards Trent.
"Mr. Vincent, have you told her about the legend?"
Trent nodded.
"Yes, I told her earlier," he replied.
The doctor smiled.
"So, does she know why she was chosen to come with us?"
Sakura looked up at the man questioningly.
"No," Trent answered. "I haven't told her yet."
"So why did you invite me on this trip?" Sakura asked. "You're only going to confirm a myth, right? So why bring me along?"
"Well you see…"
It was Dr. Yakushi who spoke.
"You're the very reason."
Sakura stared at the man, puzzled by his response.
"While researching this subject, we came across a priestess who assisted the hero in sealing away the demons," he said. "As it turned out, you're a descendant of that very priestess."
Sakura's eyes went wide.
"What?"
"It's true."
This time it was Trent who answered.
"When Dr. Yakushi discovered you, we already confirmed the existence of the young hero and the priestess."
"I see."
Sakura gave the two men a long and thoughtful look, before asking:
"Then is it also true that demons once ruled the world?"
Sakura did well to hide her nervousness. She was beginning to remember fragments of her nightmare again.
"That's what we're about to find out," said Trent.
Sakura then stared down onto the floor, thinking about what the two men had said. When she thought up her dream, she had begun to suspect…no, feel some kind of connection. However, before she could dwell on those thoughts any longer, the voice of the chopper pilot invaded her mind.
"Excuse me everyone," he yelled back. "But we have reached Madara Island and will be landed within a few seconds."
Upon hearing this, the trio fastened their seatbelts. Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself.
There's no turning back now.
Sakura stood on the heliport and took in her new surroundings. She noticed the numerous men wearing black fatigues. Most of them were armed with firearms. Sakura raised an eyebrow.
They seem like a friendly bunch she thought sarcastically. I hope they aren't the locals around here.
"Well, it seems that I won't be joining you in your adventure," Dr. Yakushi said suddenly.
The pink haired girl stared at the man incredulously.
"Why not?"
"It turns out that there are some things that I must take care of here."
He smiled ruefully at her.
"I hope you find something in your endeavor."
And with that, Sakura watched as Dr. Yakushi sauntered off towards one of the soldiers that were there.
"Miss Haruno..."
The pink haired girl blinked at the sound of her name. She turned around to see Trent approaching her from one of the soldierly grunts.
"Um, Mr. Vincent, what's with these soldiers?" Sakura asked.
Just then, one of the commandos ran towards them.
"We're ready whenever you are Mr. Vincent," he said.
Trent merely smiled as the man stood next to him.
"Miss Haruno, this is 1st Lieutenant Kakashi Hatake," he said.
The said man gave Sakura a nod of acknowledgment.
Kakashi was apparently a tall man with ash blond hair shaped in a bizarre hair cut. He wore an eye patch over his left eye and was dressed in black fatigues with matching body armor. He was armed down to the knee as if he were going to war.
"He and his men are going provide us with protection as they escort us to the temple," said Trent.
Sakura looked over to a passing commando and noticed him loading a magazine into what looked like an assault rifle.
Protection from what? She wondered.
Sakura began to feel a little nervous as she treaded slowly down the path in the jungle. There were about fifteen commandos traveling with them, but that didn't make her feel at ease at all. In fact, they were the reason why she was so worked up in the first place.
Why are there so many anyway?
Their weapons were purely overkill for any dangerous wild animal that may decide to attack them during the journey. The fashion that they were traveling in reminded her of an incident that had happened to her when she was younger…
…An incident in which she had lost her mother.
Nonetheless, she really hated guns. When she looked at Trent, he gave her a comforting smile, which wasn't working. In truth, she was beginning to distrust Trent, sensing that there were maybe some things that he was keeping from her, like his intentions. Sure he had told her right before, but that didn't seem to be all there was to it.
"Are you alright?"
Sakura nearly jumped at the sound of the voice. She looked over to see Kakashi walking by her side.
"You seem a little distressed," he said.
Surprised at his concern, Sakura let a smile sneak onto her face.
"I'm fine," she said waving him off.
"If you say so," the man shrugged.
Sakura watched nonchalantly as Kakashi marched ahead. Truthfully, Sakura was almost as suspicious of him as she was with Trent, however different. The difference was that she felt she could trust him. It must've been the way he presented himself.
It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on him Sakura mused.
Suddenly, the pathway ended and the pink haired girl found herself in a large clearing, standing in front of the ruins of a large tower that appeared to be halfway buried under the ground.
"Here it is," Trent whispered.
Sakura stared in awe at the tower
The base of the tower was wide and then narrowed towards the top. Vines covered the sides of it around the base. The architecture was a dark ebony color and had various statues of demonic creatures engraved into the tower. For some reason, Sakura began to feel a dark aura emanating from the tower. Her uneasiness began to rise.
"Mr. Trent? What is this place?"
The man smiled at her before answering.
"Some say that this place is where the languages of the new world were believed to be born," he said. "The reality is, this is where the dark age of mankind began. Madara Uchiha, the man whom this island is named after, began a new type of religion here."
"Like a cult?" Sakura surmised.
"Madara's followers built this place and aimed so that this tower could reach the gates of heaven itself, but before its completion, Madara was killed by a man named Namikaze Minato."
Trent then closed his eyes as if he was going into deep thought.
"How ironic that Minato's son was entombed here."
The pink haired girl stared at the man hard.
"Ironic?"
Trent turned to her.
"This tower was a sanctuary for worshipping devils," he said grimly. "More specifically, Kyuubi no Yoko."
Sakura suddenly gained a very bad feeling about this. Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to this after all.
"We'll go in first," Kakashi told Trent and then headed towards the tower with five other soldiers. Sakura eyed him closely. Judging the uneasiness in his voice, Sakura figured that he was feeling pretty much the same way. Now she could give a guess at why the commandos were there. They were to provide protection from whatever was awaiting them in that tower. After a few minutes of waiting around, the ash blonde haired man called for them, saying that it was safe to enter. However, Sakura couldn't help but wonder…
Will we come out?
The air was damp and heavy in the narrow hallway that they were venturing in. She found that it was so dark inside that she couldn't see her own hand in front of her. She grew a little worried when something seemed to have alerted the commandos. They had their assault rifles raised with flashlights attached as if waiting for anything to lunge at them. Sakura almost jumped when a hand latched onto her shoulder. She would've screamed if she hadn't heard the familiar voice that followed.
"Hey, relax nothing bad is gonna happen to you," it said.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief. It was only Kakashi and not some 'thing' attempting to mutilate her or anything. Her imagination tended to get the best of her at times.
"Thank-you," she said to him with a small smile.
"Don't mention it," Kakashi replied.
Although only a few steps ahead, Trent heard the entire exchange between the two. When Kakashi started moving to catch up with the rest of the party, Trent stopped.
"I appreciate what you are doing for her," he said, as Kakashi passed him. "Keeping her calm, that is."
"It isn't a problem sir," Kakashi replied nonchalantly.
Trent watched as he moved further away from him to catch up with the group. He smiled when Sakura glanced at him as she passed him by. His smile then faded once she had her back to him.
"Zabuza," he called out quietly to a passing soldier. The commando known as Zabuza stopped and faced Trent. He was in black fatigues like the rest of the mercenaries, but was one of the few who wore a matching ski mask.
"Sir?"
"I want you to keep an eye on Kakashi," Trent said. "If he tries anything strange, shoot him."
"Yes sir," Zabuza replied.
After what seemed like hours of walking, the group suddenly halted. Before Sakura could question why, she saw it. The commandos were flashing their lights on what appeared to be a giant golden door. It was decorated from top to bottom with some kind of engraving of a language that she had never seen before.
"How the hell do we get past something like this?" one of the commandos asked another.
Distantly, Sakura was wondering the same thing. Surprisingly to her, when the group suddenly stopped, she began to realize how tired she was and placed her hand against the wall for support. When she did, engravings that were on the walls hidden by in the darkness began to glow a faint ominous red color. Upon seeing this, Sakura quickly pulled her hand away and backed up. Soon, the inscription on the stone door mimicked the walls. Just then, the group was taken by surprise by a sudden earthquake.
"Everyone Hold on to something," Kakashi yelled. Being there wasn't much to hold on to, everyone leaned against the wall and grabbed as best as they could. Everyone did except for Trent. He merely stood his ground with a smile across his lips. He watched as the golden door began to part.
And just one final lock remains he thought.
Now that the door was open, the earthquake had finally ceased. Kakashi stared alarmed.
Why did the door open? He wondered, then looked towards Sakura who reeling from the quake as well.
Is it because of her?
The next corridor wasn't as dark or as narrow as the first. Strangely enough, the group's sources of light were the walls, floor and ceiling emitting a faint green light, all of which also had the bizarre engravings. However, the group merely ignored this and continued on undaunted. Sakura however, had become more unnerved ever since they had entered the hallway. This was mostly because of the chanting whispers that seemed to echo around her. She looked around at all of the commandos. Why weren't they wary of these warnings? Didn't they find the disembodied voices somewhat disturbing? She even stared at Trent and even he didn't appear to be bothered by them. Just then it dawned on her.
They can't hear them.
"Is everything alright Miss Haruno?" Sakura snapped from her thoughts and realized that she had been staring at Trent. He sounded concern but she couldn't really tell. Oddly, he was still wearing those circular sunglasses.
"Mr. Vincent, I think we should turn back," Sakura said.
"Why? Is there something wrong?"
"Well, actually…I don't know," Sakura, sighed. "I just have a bad feeling about this."
Trent then, seemed to go into deep thought.
"Very well then," he said. "If it bothers you that much then perhaps we cou—"
He was cut off when the giant golden door thunderously slammed shut behind them. Trent stared somewhat surprised.
"Or perhaps not."
A few of the mercenaries went to tend to the only apparent exit, several small pillars rose from the ground, forming a wall and separating the commandos from the main group.
"C'mon, lets go!" Kakashi yelled, realizing what was happening. As the group ran, pillars began to rise from the floor walls and the ceiling. Suddenly, pillars split the group up and formed a wall. Finding herself one of the separated, Sakura stepped back and frantically looked around for another exit, but to no avail. She and Trent were boxed in with only a handful of soldiers. Just when things seemed grave, suddenly, a narrow doorway formed in the wall beside them. Trent turned to one of the commandos.
"Zabuza…"
Zabuza nodded and stepped towards the doorway. He inspected it before turning back to the group.
"Let's move," he said, before disappearing through the door.
Initially, Sakura wanted to find a different way out. However, now that the circumstances had changed, she no longer had much of a choice. She stepped in line of with soldiers as they stepped through the door. Sakura watched as the commando in front of her descended a spiral staircase. She shuddered as she stared down. She had horribly haunting feeling that there was something waiting for them.
The corridor at the bottom of the stairs was very different compared to the rest of the ruin. To Sakura's surprise, it was much better improved and as she would put it, much cleaner as well. The walls weren't old and dusty and had no cracks in them. She was even more surprised to be able to see her own reflection in the floor. Her first thought was that Trent had been down here before, but after reminding herself of the wall trap made his visit seem unlikely. The group soon entered a hallway through a gargantuan door. However, it seemed larger than the first and also more mechanical rather than golden. Engravings were present on this door as well. The commandos gathered at the door, but formed a path and looked back, eyeing Trent expectantly. He merely smiled and pulled a small red book from the inner pocket of his jacket as he approached the door.
"I'm really glad that you've decided to come with us Miss Haruno," he said, opening his book and studying its contents. "We couldn't have gotten this far without you."
Upon hearing the comment, Sakura eyed Trent quizzically.
"What do you mean?"
Without looking up from his book, Trent began to run his hands along the engravings.
"You were the one who opened the door for us. Not only that, you were the one who guided us here."
Sakura wasn't following.
What the hell is he talking about?
"The walls that revealed this path to us," Trent then closed his book and looked at her with a dark smile on his face. "Is everything beginning to make sense now?"
Just then, two of the soldiers seized her arms from behind.
"What're you doing?! Let me go!" she yelled as she struggled. She struggled in vain as they forced her to Trent's side. Her eyes widened in horror as one of the soldiers handed him a combat knife. Were they going to kill her?
"And now for the final key," Trent said eyeing the knife then smiling at her.
Sakura could feel her heart pounding in her chest as Trent began to inch the knife towards her. She began shaking her head.
"N-No, please don't," she pleaded.
To her surprise, Trent grabbed her wrist and raised her arm, much her surprise and gently wrapped her hand around the blade. Sakura winced as she felt the knife cut her when Trent roughly pulled it from her hand. Judging from the amount of blood that was on the knife, the wound must've been deep.
"Remember what I said?" Trent asked then placed her hand on the door. "It's in your blood."
Sakura watched in astonishment as the gears that were in the door began to move and bars began to slide. Then the door slowly began to part. The room had shook while this was taking place though not as badly as earlier. As one of the soldiers began to wrap Sakura's hand with a bandage, she stared at Trent in disbelief.
"What? You didn't actually think that I was going to kill you did you?" he asked. He then looked into the dark chamber that was ahead of them and looked back to the soldiers. "Let's proceed, shall we gentlemen?"
My blood...
Sakura held up her bandaged hand and stared intently at it as she walked with the group down a narrow hallway.
Everything that happened was caused by my blood.
Sakura then shifted her gaze onto Trent's back. She was still a little shaken from that stunt he pulled earlier and now she was beginning to wonder...
How did he know that?
Trent had known everything from the start. Why the door opened, why the walls separated them from the other soldiers, everything. One of the questions that remained was what was he particularly after. Now that she thought about it, he knew that he would need her to open the doors. What made it even odder were the bizarre locks or spells, not to mention the traps. Everything inside this ruin seemed designed not only to keep people out, but to keep something in. So the other question was...
What in God's name are they keeping down here?
Trent had told her that this was the tomb of the young man who had defeated the demon king, but after everything that she had been through so far, she was beginning to believe that she wasn't getting all of the facts. She narrowed her eyes at the middle aged man. She had grown tired of any surprises that he might have had in store for her. She was soon pulled from her suspicions of Trent when the hallway suddenly ended. She was momentarily surprised to see some of the commandos in front of her fall from view, but then learned that the staircase in front had crumbled most likely from age. One of the mercenaries extended his hand and her to help her down. She was a surprised to land in ankle deep water.
Sakura looked around taking in her new surroundings. The chamber was gargantuan and dark. The only thing that seemed to really be illuminating the room was the strange pillar of light glowing dimly in the center. What made it even more bizarre was that there appeared to be a young man frozen inside. He appeared no older than her. He had strange lines on his cheeks and unruly blond hair. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Suddenly, the pink haired girl began having chills.
I've seen this before.
She was had been getting bad vibes ever since they first entered the ruins and now they were beginning to intensify. She then saw Trent approaching the pillar with a few commandos and began to follow.
"Magnificent," she heard him say as he gazed at the young boy in suspended animation.
"Is that the young hero?" Sakura asked, standing behind him.
"Yes, yes it is," Trent replied. "Miss Sakura, I cannot begin how to show my appreciation for getting us this far."
Sakura said nothing, but continued staring cautiously at the middle aged man.
"I must thank you for your participation."
"Mr. Trent, what are you really after?" Sakura asked suddenly.
"I plan to take this body for further study," he replied. "I'm impressed on how well preserved it is."
"I see."
So he was merely planning to take the young hero's body for research or at least that's what it sounded like. Sakura however, wasn't buying it. The people who built this place went through a lot of trouble to keep people out and to keep whatever was there inside. Somehow, she knew that whatever they were keeping inside had something to do with that boy.
"I don't think that's wise," she said.
Trent turned and eyed her quizzically.
"You don't? May I ask why?"
"About that story you told me..."
"What about it?" Trent asked, sounding somewhat impatient.
"Whatever happened to the demon king?" Sakura asked. "You said that he was immortal so how did the young hero defeat him?"
Trent appeared to be taken aback by the question, but then smirked.
"It's interesting that you would ask such a thing," he said, turning towards the boy. "You are correct. The young hero could not kill the demon king."
Sakura scowled. Something about the tone in his voice set off warning bells in her head.
"So what did he do?"
Trent turned towards her wearing a dark smile.
"He sealed it within himself."
Sakura was shocked.
"W-What?"
"And doing so," Trent pushed his glasses back. "He inherited its powers, thus becoming the new demon king."
Sakura said nothing but stared in disbelief. She looked back towards the boy.
"He's…the demon king?"
"Yes, Miss Haruno," Trent said coolly. "This boy you see before you is the demon king."
"And you want to take him out of here?"
"Yes," Trent answered. "Given the state he's in, he can't do much harm."
Right when he said that, a few of the commandos began gathering around the pillar of light. Sakura stared downward before looking towards the group of soldiers. She had been right about Trent's intentions. She had thought to do something and was about to act upon it and then it happened…
Something moved.
Sakura didn't see exactly what it was. She only saw a shadow of some type a creature speed towards one of the soldiers and then disappeared as he soared across the chamber. Other commandos came running to his aid when he landed.
"Are you alright," one the soldiers asked him.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," the fallen commando replied.
What in the hell was that?! Sakura wondered as she watched the soldiers.
It had already dawned on her that she was probably the only one able to have seen it. Last she'd checked, shadows didn't move by themselves.
…did they?
"Very good," Trent suddenly said, undaunted by the sudden 'interruption'. "Now, could we please continue with the extraction?"
The remaining commandos again approached the pillar of light—
-only to have it happen again; this time rapidly. Commandoes raised their rifles, pointing them in every direction as their comrades were sent flying left and right. None of them knew what was causing this frighteningly bizarre phenomenon. Not even Sakura, who had been witnessing the shadows attacking the soldiers. What in the world was happening?
However before anything could be figured out, something stranger had happened…
The phenomenon suddenly stopped.
The chamber was again as quiet as they had found it. Several soldiers lied lifelessly on the floor in front of the pillar of light. Although, the peaceful atmosphere had returned, the ordeal had left Sakura terribly frightened. For a moment, no one moved; not even Trent.
"S-Sir?"
The middle aged man turned to the soldier standing next to him. Amazingly, he was unable to say anything to the soldier. He was at a loss for words, his mind trying to make sense of what just happened.
"What…the…hell?"
That last comment had came from one of the remaining commandos. All those remaining then saw what the soldier was referring to.
The fallen soldiers were rising.
Each of them was standing up from the ground in such a way that would not be considered normal. Each of them rose from the ground as if pulled up by some unseen force. One of the remaining soldiers stepped forward.
"H-Hey Jirou, you okay?" he asked one of the soldiers.
The soldier addressed as Jirou oddly turned towards his colleague. Instead of a verbal response, Jirou raised his assault rifle and unloaded a barrage of bullets into his comrade until he was riddled with holes.
"Better than ever," Jirou answered as his teammate dropped to the ground.
As Jirou casually began reloading his weapon, the all of the remaining soldiers pointed their guns at him.
"Listen everyone, Jirou is crazed," one of the remaining commandos said with authority. "He is—"
Suddenly, a barrage of gunfire erupted, dropping quite a number of the remaining soldiers. Sakura crouched down in horror with her hands over her head.
Oh God! Why me?!
It was happening, just like her dream. What had she done to deserve this? She was only a regular schoolgirl who got pulled along for the ride.
I should've stayed home!
Suddenly, there was an explosion of light that blew everyone off their feet and onto the watered floor. Sakura, who had landed on her butt, really did not appreciate the fact that she was now soaked from the waist down. Her fear temporarily forgotten, she had begun to stand up, but a realization prevented her from doing so.
There was someone standing in front of her.
Her eyes went wide for she did not recognize this new figure. She slowly traced the form from the sky blue pant legs, to a matching shirt, and finally onto a pair of red iris eyes with slit pupils in them. It was then that it dawned on her that it was the young man who was earlier frozen in the pillar of light that was seemingly no longer present. The color of his eyes told her that he was something far from human. Frantically she began scooting away from the creature in hopes of creating distance. However, he merely smiled sinisterly and calmly followed after her. She had originally planned to turn and run as soon as the chance came, but her plan hit a snag.
She had backed into a wall.
The young man stood in front her with that same smile and crouched down to her level and placed an arm against the wall. He leaned in close enough for her to feel his breath.
"I thank you for freeing me princess," he said in a low voice.
Suddenly Sakura wasn't so afraid anymore. Without realizing it, she had let her guard down and allowed herself to be hypnotized by his gaze.
"To show you my appreciation, I will grant you one wish."