Episode 2
新敵
Who are they?
I ran as quickly as I could, trying to be on time. I was almost at the park where I was to meet up with Tony and Sakura. I was holding my notepad in which I had written the new elements of my dream. I passed a cherry tree, and I stopped.
Since we were past spring, the tree wasn't blooming. But it wasn't the tree that made me stop. I felt watched by someone who was standing on a branch. I looked up to the tree top, but I saw not much as the tree was partially in the shadows. Then, I caught a glimpse of metal reflecting the sunlight, but as soon as I looked where I saw the metal, the feeling of being watched vanished.
I let out a sigh and I continued walking. I was deep in my thoughts. It was the second time I had felt watched since Sakura had arrived and told us she was from Equestria. And the very night of that confession, my dream was longer and had more details. And even though it was still blurry, I think I managed to see some figures in my dream.
"That's unusual."
Tony's comment snapped me out of my thoughts. I smiled and I waved at Sakura and Tony.
"Not really. I was almost late."
Tony laughed at my remark.
"Anyway... Last night, my dream was longer and more detailed. Take a look at my notes." I said as I gave my notepad to Tony.
He took it and opened it, searching through the pages to find the latest entry. He read it several times.
"That's not much, you know. And the figures? What do they look like?"
"Dunno. Sorry Tony, but what's in my notepad is all I got."
Tony let out a sigh.
"At this rate, we'll be dead before we find out what your dream means."
"There might be another way." Sakura said.
"And that is?" Tony asked.
"Hypnosis."
"Seriously? I mean, I believe in mentalist, but hypnosis is just a scam."
"Actually, this might work." I said.
"Come on, Noah. Quit joking." Tony told me.
"What I do is similar to hypnosis. So I'll give it a try."
"Fine. Sakura, could you tell me your story on Earth again?" Tony said with a smile that said 'sorry'.
Sakura glared at Tony before letting out a big desperate sigh.
"Fine. A few days after my parents were killed, I found a way to this world. I reappeared in Tokyo, and a nice couple gave me a place to sleep and food to eat while I learned to use my new body. I also had to learn Japanese. After three months, I was already fluent in Japanese, and I had a good control over my body. So, the couple decided to send me to school, and since I looked like a Japanese teenager, they acted as my parents. I went to the Japanese school I was sent to for nine months before I had to move here because of my 'father's' job. And that's the story of my almost a year on Earth. Happy?"
"Yep."
Sakura let out a sigh. Just then, I felt watched again. But this time, I felt as if an entire crowd was watching me, and not only a single person. I must have shown on my face as Sakura looked at me with a worried look.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes. I feel watched by a crowd."
As soon as I said that, Sakura seemed tense. She shifted from one foot to the other quickly, and she looked around her, almost as if she was trying to find an enemy or something. Tony looked at me in disbelief.
"A crowd? Really?"
I slowly nodded. I began to look around, only to realise that we were now almost in the middle of a crowd. I almost face palmed at the coincidence. I took a look at every single person in the crowd to see if I could find anything that was out-of-place.
Then, something metallic reflected the sunlight right into my left eye. I closed my eyes for a second to protect my eyes, and when I opened them, the woman who was standing where the light had been reflected was gone, and so was the feeling of being watched. I kept looking towards where she stood only seconds ago until I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"We should find someone to hypnotize you." Sakura said.
I shook my head to chase the woman from my thoughts.
"Yeah. Let's go."
We walked to the commercial district of the town. We found someone who could hypnotize me, and we were now searching for his office.
"1012... 1012... Nope... Not there... Aaaaaah... Here we are! 1012." Tony said, showing the door with his hands.
The building was a small and old building stuck in between two newer buildings. And it looked like it was abandoned. The roof was falling apart, the outside walls seemed fragile and ready to break, and the windows of the second floor of the building were almost all covered with a plywood.
Gathering up my courage, I took a deep breath and I went to the front door. I pushed the bell button, and I heard it chime. After a few seconds, a man in his early sixties opened the door.
"What do ya want, ya punk?"
"I'm here to see a certain Victor Porter."
"It's me. Why are ya here?"
"To get hypnotised so I can remember more stuff from a dream I keep having."
"Does it seem blurry and hard to see or hear anything?"
I nodded.
"Then it is not a normal dream. It is a part of your past. Come in, and tell your friends to come in too." Victor said as he walked away from the now wide-open door.
I waved my hand at Tony and Sakura, and they came to the front door. I walked in, followed by my friends. Victor was nowhere to be found. He then spoke to us from one of the rooms ahead.
"Come on. Hurry up."
We followed his voice, which led us to a moderately sized room with several couches.
"Sit down so we can start." Victor told me.
I did as instructed and he began hypnotizing me.
I opened my eyes and saw the discouraged look on Tony's face.
"Nothing new?" I asked.
"Nope. In fact, there was less detail than before."
I let out a sigh. I got out of the chair I was sitting in, and began to walk towards the exit.
"And my money?" Victor asked.
Tony growled and gave him the payment for the hypnosis. Sakura, Tony and I then left. We began to walk around the commercial district with no clear destination.
"Well, that was a waste of time."
"Come on, Tony. At least we tried." Sakura said.
"Still, it was entirely useless."
"Yeah."
An awkward silence then fell between Tony and Sakura. Suddenly, I felt watched. I stopped and turned around. I analysed the crowd, but no one stood out, until I caught a glimpse of metal reflecting the sunlight. I immediately looked at the person wearing the piece of metal.
The person was a woman in her early twenties. She had long reddish-brown hair, and she was wearing a black suit. She turned her head towards me and smiled.
"Who is she?" Sakura asked.
"I... Don't know..." I answered, still looking at the mysterious woman.
The woman then mouthed 'Run and don't stop.' I raised an eyebrow and I mouthed 'What do you mean?' Suddenly, I felt an intense heat near my left ear. I immediately turned away from the woman and I began to run.
"TONY! SAKURA! RUN!" I yelled as I ran.
Behind me, I heard people gasp in disbelief. I also heard what sounded like small explosions. I turned my head, and I saw five men in black suits running after us, and there was no sign of the woman. I turned my head back to look in front of me, and I saw Sakura and Tony gesturing to me. I followed their instructions, and we went to the park, the five men still following us.
Tony, Sakura and I made several turns in the park in an attempt to lose our followers. We stopped in the game modules, and the men where nowhere to be found. Sakura, Tony and I were panting heavily.
"We... Finally... Lost 'em..." Tony said, panting.
Sakura and I nodded. After a few minutes, we were breathing normally again. Suddenly, the ground in front of us exploded, sending rubbles everywhere. I looked around, and I spotted the five men. They were all standing on branches of different trees. I looked at Sakura.
"Now would be the best time to practice magic."
"But I am far from accurate!"
"DO IT, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!" Tony yelled.
Sakura gulped. She looked terrified. She then shook her head and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. After a few seconds, her right hand was surrounded by a pale blue aura. She lifted her hand and aimed at one of the men. I looked at the men. They were all confused. Suddenly, the branch on which the man Sakura aimed at was standing caught on fire.
Sakura let out a moan. I turned my head towards her in time to see the aura vanish. She opened her eyes and fell to her knees. She was exhausted. the man Sakura aimed at fell to the ground and hit his head.
"That was great! But we better RUN!" Tony said before he began to run.
But as soon as he moved, one of the branches on which the men were standing exploded in splinters, disabling a second man. Then the remaining three jumped to the ground, but instead of facing Sakura, Tony and I, they faced someone on our left.
"Kill her." One of the men said.
Then, the man who had spoken turned to face Sakura, Tony and I. Suddenly, a fireball hit one of the two men who where facing whoever 'her' was. The man groaned in pain as he was burned on all his body. The remaining man was looking at his colleague and couldn't see the big rock headed for him. The rock hit him, and sickening sounds were heard.
Then, the woman of earlier walked in my field of view and stopped when she was behind the remaining man. She then cleared her throat. The man turned around.
"Don't leave me hanging."
The man didn't wait for her to say it twice. He ran at her, a dagger now in his right hand. When the man was within reach, she grabbed his right wrist with her left hand, twisting it. The man fell to his knees in pain, and let go of the dagger. Her right hand was then surrounded by a grey aura. The dagger was then surrounded by an aura of the same colour, and it flew to the woman's free hand. The auras then disappeared. She then put the dagger against the man's throat.
"Kids, it would be better if you looked somewhere else." The woman told us.
We all immediately turned around. I heard a body hit the ground, and after a few seconds, the woman came to us.
"Follow me." The woman said.
We looked at each other and then followed her.
The woman had led us to a nearby house. Sakura, Tony and I were sitting in the woman's living room while she was preparing tea for her and Sakura and lemonade for Tony and I. She came back with two empty tea cups, a tea-pot, and two glasses of lemonade. She put the tray on the table and sat down.
"Go ahead. I won't try to kill you." The woman said.
I took one of the glasses of lemonade while she poured the tea in the tea cups. I took a sip of my lemonade and it tasted just fine.
"First of all, what is your name?" I asked.
"My name is Morioka Hikari."
"You are not lying, but you're not telling the truth either. And your pendant, what does it represent?"
Hikari put a hand to her pendant. It was a golden waxing moon crescent.
"It represents what I am good at."
"I see."
"YOUCH!"
I turned my head to where the scream came from to see Tony sucking one of his fingers.
"I should have warned you. That plant stings."
"You look anime-ish, just like Sakura. Your eyes are bigger than normal eyes. Not much bigger, but still enough to give the feel of an anime. You are a pony." I said.
Hikari looked surprised by my guess, but she showed me I was right by slightly shifting her weight out of unease. Sakura, who stayed silent and thoughtful the whole time, smiled at my guess. She then put her tea cup down and went to hug Hikari.
"I missed you."
Hikari hugged back.
"I missed you too, Sakura."
"Someone care to explain things to me?"
"Hikari is a pony. Her pendant represents her cutie mark. Hikari?"
Hikari broke the hug and looked at me.
"Yes?"
"What is your pony name?"
"Silver Light."
"We will continue to call you Hikari, though. Also, w-" "Who were the men that attacked us?" "-ho... Thanks Tony for interrupting me."
"You're welcome!"
Hikari looked angry.
"Those men were part of an organization that seeks a powerful source of magic, or as they call it here, a powerful source of energy."
"What is the name of that evil organization?" Tony asked
"It is called The River. It has two branches: one in Equestria and one here on Earth."
"But that doesn't tell us why they were after us." Sakura said.
"I might have an idea of why they were after you. But I don't have enough proof to say what it is. Once I am sure, I will tell you." Hikari answered.
I finished my lemonade while Hikari, Sakura and Tony finished their respective drink.
"For now, I am going back home." I said.
"Me too."
"Me three." Tony added.
We all went to the door. Tony left immediately, followed shortly by Sakura. I finished putting on my shoes, and I got up. I was about to leave when Hikari put her hand on my shoulder. I turned my head towards her.
"There is no such things as coincidences. And there is always a reason behind everything that happens. Good luck."
I left Hikari's house and went back home. What Hikari had said was troubling me, and it occupied my thoughts for my entire trip back home. It also occupied my thoughts during dinner, and I went to bed with the strange feeling that I had met Hikari and Sakura for a good reason.
Next episode: "Something is wrong. Mr. Thompson seems distracted by something. But wait... Aren't those guys part of The River? And why are they wearing golden pendants similar to those Hikari and Sakura are wearing? Next episode:
Episode 3
真実
Tell me the truth
Don't miss it!"
(c) 2014 The master of the game