"Wybie...!" groaned Coraline Jones, rubbing her head as she sat up, hearing a slight crack. "What exactly made you think performing that ritual was a smart idea!? The last time we got involved with the supernatural-"
"I know but since the holidays were gonna start up and pretty much nobody was gonna be around for the whole month; besides, it said friendship ritual and none of the other ones ever went wrong...!" Wybie responded, fiddling with his hand. "But hey; it hasn't done anything to kill us-"
Coraline seemed to be too busy taking in the scenery, near by a peaceful river in a quiet graveyard without a disturbance anywhere at all...
The blue-haired girl breathed out. "Wybie...we are in FEUDAL JAPAN...!" she told him, looking at him and grabbing the boy's shoulders. She exhaled, almost seeming to laugh a bit - but it was clear she was trying to hide any other emotions that were running within her. "We are stuck! In Feudal...Japan. JAPAN, WYBIE. JAPAN."
"Well yeah, but come on! If there's a way to get here then there's a way to get back."
Coraline blinked in an unamused manner before sighing. "Touche then." she retorted, folding her arms. "And how exactly do we plan to do that...?"
"Perform the ritual in a different way?"
"Will that bring us home? Or will it take us somewhere worse where all our friends are waiting with another group of ghosts wanting blood and only two or five of us will get out alive? Whether we do this right or not?"
Wybie went silent for a second. "Well that was specific. Was that a reference to something?"
"No. Course not." Coraline retorted, sarcastically. What game had that specific plot line was for Coraline to know and Wybie to forget about.
She looked around, seeing people in kimonos looking around nervously. In case they were to be seen as evil, Wybie pulled Coraline behind the trees, letting them observe.
"Daddy, where do you think he is? Nothing bad's happened to him has it...!?"
"I am sure that he is not far, after all, he wouldn't leave without any reason."
The little girl, wearing a pink kimono with brown hair adorned with decoration was silent, only to shout out. "Kubo are you here...?!"
Coraline turned her glance to three women, two of them rather young while the other was a small but old lady. One of the younger women was wearing a kimono the same shade as Coraline's dyed hair, the same colour as a dark sea. The other had a light red, as if she was bleeding a bit. The third was wearing a general blue with gray hair pulled into a bun, hands on her hips but glancing around with a nervous disposition, as if she was looking for someone. It reminded Coraline and Wybie of when a child would be lost in a shop, and the parent would be looking around for them desperately trying to find them.
Wybie looked at Coraline with a mildly confused expression, but Coraline's eyes as brown as the trees that they were observing these people from were filled with one emotion, wide and raw with it as if it dug down straight to its core.
Curiousity.
"Oh, his grandfather's been worried sick."
"Well if someone harms him then they're going to need to answer to this lady right here...!"
"Kameyo, think realistically here. You're a woman of old age-"
"I may be just 89 but that doesn't mean you need to underestimate me, Maho!"
"Maho, Kameyo, may we please calm down-"
"How am I supposed to help it, Misao? Kubo could have been kidnapped, but we aren't able to say a word about it."
"That's just for tactfulness, Raiden's already worried sick as he is, saying that will make things even more nerve-racking."
"I guess. But somebody's going to have to check."
"It can't be you at your age, Kameyo."
The old woman sighed, turning towards the trees and briefly seeing a curly brown lock of hair peeking out from behind it. She raised an eyebrow with a slight smile, before walking over to it and seeing the two children behind it. Strange in appearance, but strangely enough she didn't seem to give it much notice. "I assume you two heard all of that?" she said, smiling a bit at them in a half wry and half ever so smug manner. It wasn't irritating however.
Wybie glanced at Coraline, before nodding. "Question; who's...who's Kubo...?" he asked.
"He's a boy who lives here, very special though. I know for a fact you can't be from here."
"Why?" Wybie replied, though it was pretty obvious. Whoops.
"As he's probably one of the most well known people in this entire village; a little hero in his right, if I do say so myself...!" Kameyo continued, whispering the last part with a grin.
"So...what happened?" Coraline questioned, though it may have seemed it on the blunt side.
"Pray if any of us know." Kameyo answered, sighing a bit. "No one's been able to figure it out."
Coraline thought hard to herself, Wybie briefly mumbling, "Without a trace...?"
He spoke up before Coraline could even acknowledge what she was thinking about, "Hey...! Maybe we could check out the woods, see if he's just stuck somewhere."
"Now hooooold on there. We don't know what this kid looks like; any kid could just say they're him...!" Coraline pointed out, arms folded as she tugged on Wybie's shoulder.
"He's easy to spot." Kameyo tapped underneath her eye.
"What...?" Coraline muttered, only to figure something out. "So he's got an eye patch or something?"
"Spot on..."
"I'm Wybie, Wybie Lovat." Wybie held out a hand, nudging Coraline.
"Coraline, Coraline Jones.
"Wybie. Coraline. I was right...!" Kameyo said, smiling a bit.
Coraline and Wybie glanced at each other, before the blue-haired girl finished the conversation off, "But anyway; we'll see if we can find...Kubo." she said, as smoothly as she possibly could. What a strange woman, she thought to herself.
Soon enough, the two found themselves walking through a forest that never seemed to end.
"Well, this forest is endless. Nothing but stumps and rocks on a path to nowhere." Coraline commented, folding her arms, jumping over a small wooden stump that made the path an exigent one.
"But hey; maybe we'll figure something out. And man do I wish I had-"
"Your motorcycle so you can stalk somebody else?"
"Hey, I-" Wybie was about to argue, only to see a ball of light, glimmering in the never-ending woodland.
Coraline walked towards it without fear, only for it to fade away, appearing further away, almost out of sight - but it slowly transformed, instead of just being a glowing ball of light, it was more in the shape of a person without their top half.
Coraline couldn't help but follow it, running in the direction of this strange new light. Wybie looked around, sighing a bit before following as well.
Soon a silhouette of a person was created, and by the time they were in a completely new location with a large stone in the shape of a rectangle, seeming to be a gate of sorts, Coraline stopped in front of it as she stared at the figure the colour of gold, more like a gold the colour of the sun rather than the colour of a spirit as opposed to the colour the ghost children had been once they had gotten their eyes back. Coraline noticed a silhouette of a circle near the glowing figure's eye - it was the figure of Kubo.
Wybie put his hand through the gap that the stone made, only for him to disappear.
"Wybie!" Coraline shrieked in horror, running through it before the portal shut behind them.
The two children screamed slightly as they were thrown out of the portal the colour of dark gold. Coraline's arm twitched on the ground, looking around this new area.
Instead of a never ending forest, they seemed to be in the courtyard of a Japanese home which seemed to hold an eternally cold aura in it. Coraline went stiff as she heard something.
Squelch.
Raising her hand, she saw her hand almost be painted in red. Coraline moved, hearing another squelch. Fresh blood.
Wybie got up. "Why is there blood here-" he was about to ask, only to see a gruesome sight ahead of them.
One seemed to be a monkey with white fur, which was dyed with blood. The horrible thing was that it seemed to be as if a sword had cut it, right through the middle. The second seemed to be a beetle, stabbed right through the chest.
Two objects lied on the ground, one was a wooden bow beside the dead beetle, a wooden charm cut in half beside the monkey.
Wybie turned around as Coraline looked at this sight. He could hear something like...children talking. "What the heck is that? Like some horror movie."
Wybie stopped abruptly as he saw a group of people, sitting inside. The first two appeared to be nothing like the decaying and rotting corpses that were lying outside, instead, they were in the form of two humans.
One was a rather attractive lady with a tall stature and a gangly frame with hair that went just down past her shoulders. Wybie couldn't really say the colours, due to the fact that she was golden as well as transparent. Like a ghost...!
He slowly stepped out of the room, returning to Coraline just as she was asking, "Who did this?"
"Uh Coraline? Don't know if you've noticed, but there's a bunch of ghosts in the next room. Just wanting you to know...wait. There's ghosts!?" Wybie said, not truly realizing what was going on until he mentioned the ghosts.
"Duh; you just-" Coraline said, only to fully process it and enter the next room. Three familiar children were sitting there, along with two rather unfamiliar ones.
"The Ghost Children...?" she muttered, watching them talk to these two spirits.
The Sweet Ghost Girl turned to her. "There she is...!" she said, smiling a bit. Coraline noticed that they still had their eyes, but the only question was why they were here as opposed to in their own time.
The two remaining spirits turned in her direction, the tall male rubbing the back of his head. "I wasn't expecting blue, but alright. This is Coraline - the one who got your eyes back?" this figure seemed to be impressed with Coraline's accomplishment.
"Yes!" the three Ghost Children chirped in unison. "But..." they seemed to be sad about something, like they knew something everyone else didn't. Which was most likely the case.
"But...but what...?" the female asked, gently.
"When we lost our eyes...again...someone else helped us. He said his name was Kubo-"
"Kubo!?" the two spirits cried out, clearly stunned and also...fearful.
"But...we think...we think something terrible happened."
Coraline felt a cold breeze brush past her arm, as if to try to pinch it. She looked behind her, seeing Wybie trying to get away from a black smoke.
"Uh...what is THAT!?" Coraline questioned out loud, eyes going wide.
Wybie was too busy trying to catch his breath. The Ghost Children stuck together, the tall ghost girl exclaimed, "Sariatu...! Hanzo...! Why are they coming for you!?-"
"But we aren't~..." two figures appeared from the smoke, both looking identical - they were also transparent, "Dear sister, we're just looking for your precious little nephew...!"
The spirit known as Sariatu was able to recognize the Noh masks almost immediately. It was her Sisters. Wybie looked at the Ghost Children - then at a photo he still had in his pocket, the one with his grandmother and her sister. This sweet little ghost girl resembled his grandmother's sister to a T. Wybie couldn't help but want to speak, but right now they were dealing with two ax-crazy ghosts, so now really was not the time.
"You stay away from him, you witch!" Hanzo shouted, taking out a sword. Sariatu had one of her own. The Ghost Children seemed to be confiding something to one another, and before the Sisters could even get close to Sariatu and Hanzo, the Ghost Children put their hands out, making a small force field, knocking them back. Wybie's eyes widened as he noticed one about to hurt his great aunt, making him make a pretty bad mistake - punching the bottom part of the mask off.
The Sister screamed at him, slapping him hard and about to attack him.
"WYBIE!" Coraline shouted. She saw one of the foundations shaking, clearly it had been knocked into before. Coraline thought of something, she ran behind it and saw a long stone pole. She grabbed the pole, as knocking the foundation down could easily crush Wybie, if it even hit the Sister at all. Coraline thrusted it at her, seeing it barely did a thing. She was suddenly grabbed by the hair, kicking and shrieking angrily at her. She reached desperately into her bag, nothing. She suddenly saw a black bundle slashing at her face, thrown off a few moments later.
Coraline couldn't help but smile with a touch of relief - it was that cat. The Sisters screamed as they were knocked to the side.
Sariatu was trying to get Wybie and Coraline to return to their own world, only for the ground to shatter, Sariatu and Hanzo out of sight.
It was as if they were trapped in a void. Wybie and Coraline stood back to back, the Cat curled around their shoulder. They were in a desolate village once again, the silence ringing through their ears. It made their blood run cold. Wybie saw one of those...things, round the corner, coming at them. Coraline's teeth gritted, glaring as she grasped onto the pole. She wasn't an experienced fighter but she could pack a punch, she slashed the Sister across the arm with the pole, only for a burning pain to punch her in the chest, making the blue-haired girl collapse. Her side stung horribly, thin cuts crossing her back as the Sister pulled the blade out of from her side abruptly with the chain.
Wybie wasn't having much luck with the other sister either. He was being knocked into walls by the minute, but the Cat was by his side, slashing at each one with his claws.
Jumping to her shoulder, the Cat questioned her, "They must think that is meant to hurt me." he remarked with a deep and resonant voice.
"Guess you've been through worse?"
"Of course; after all, I possess nine lives."
"Or is that just because you haven't got one of these in your side!" Coraline blocked another one haphazardly, stumbling a bit as she winced due to her side. Wybie was clasping his arm, running over to her with a limp.
Wybie, trying to be of some assistance to her, glanced at her. "Maybe it wasn't a smart idea to anger ax-crazy ghosts...!" he muttered.
Coraline grinned slightly at him, responding, "And who's the one who did that?"
"Well you don't encounter the ghost of your great aunt every day now do you...!?"
"Guess not!"
Unfortunately, this distraction caused another injury, knocking the three back into a row of pillars. Well, the Cat got off scot-free.
"I must ask, why do you find the need to fight?" one of the Sisters questioned them - though it was more like a taunt, confirmed by the laugh that came after.
Coraline gave Wybie a fierce look - don't mention Kubo.
"Why should we tell you? You attacked us!" Coraline retorted, rolling her eyes.
"After all...you are just mortals."
"Just mortals - what the heck does she mean by that...!?" Wybie turned to Coraline, confused.
"Were you paying attention at all when we were talking about Japanese mythology!?" Coraline replied, sighing and shaking her head. Don't mention Kubo.
The Sister who had harmed Coraline's side suddenly chuckled a bit. "Oh, were you maybe trying to stop us from seeing our nephew?"
Coraline and Wybie were caught on a line here - they both knew that. Neither of them were really the best at lying. Something told them that Kubo was the nephew - seeing how they seemed to be searching for him and how he had conveniently disappeared.
Though if Kubo was kidnapped, it couldn't have been these two, or else they wouldn't have been here searching for him in the first place.
Coraline suddenly seemed to flash in and out of reality - she was seeing something. She saw a boy, exactly like the boy with the golden silhouette that had lead them to the fortress in the first place. He was crawling around a horrifically familiar location - another world.
"Oh no." Coraline mumbled, finally awake. She knew where to go to bring this boy back - but they needed to get out of this situation at first.
Wybie seemed to be thinking of something. "Guess who's got an idea to beat these two?"
"And guess who's got an idea of where to go next?"
The two got up to their feet, only for the three Ghost Children to be trying to come to them. The Sweet Ghost girl reached out, Wybie grabbing her hand best he could. She turned, before putting her hand out. "You know, miss...sir...I didn't realize I could do this until we were brought here."
"Quick question; who did bring you here?"
"I'm not sure who...but after we lost our eyes once again, trapped in that room, he returned them to us. I think you'd like him, miss."
As they were protected by this force field, something seemed to be subduing the Sisters' power, making them return to the spirit world. It was the Ghost Children.
Coraline never would have thought that they could have had this much power, but here she was, looking at it happening right now. It seemed their hits had meant something, as it was likely if she and Wybie had just taken a beating they would have been able to overpower the three ghost children without fail.
A bright light began to appear, blinding Coraline and Wybie. Staring flatly as the two children covered their eyes due to the radiance before them, he muttered, "Now only one more thing."
At first, Coraline and Wybie were unaware of where they were, Wybie especially. Coraline recognized it a few seconds after she regained her grip of reality.
"The Other World..." Coraline whispered, getting to her feet.
"Is...is this where you ended up?" Wybie turned to her.
Coraline nodded, but she began to question more. "But...why is this still here!? We dropped the hand into the well, remember? So this shouldn't be here-"
Wybie heard heavy breathing, someone round the corner. A boy suddenly leaned on the wall at the end, as if he'd been running for his life.
This was when they realized who this was - Kubo. He seemed to be slightly drowsy, as if he had just woken up. His one eye scrolled up, taking in these two. To him, they looked extremely strange. To Coraline and Wybie, Kubo looked normal in Feudal Japan.
For a few moments, they just seemed to be looking at each other. Coraline was the first to speak, now irritated by the silence. "Are you...who...we've been hearing about?"
Kubo seemed slightly confused. "Hang on, who are you...?!"
"Coraline. Coraline Jones." the blue-haired girl announced, putting her hand out, ignoring the red that stained her usually bright yellow raincoat. "That's Wybie by the way."
"I'm...I'm Kubo." he said, walking towards her.
"And yes; I'm aware of the red on my side," Coraline confirmed - seeing Kubo was about to open his mouth to bring her attention to it. If anyone was aware of it, it was her. She could still feel that wretched stinging there, but she had to put up with it, no mater how much it burned.
"Cora-line. Wy-bie." Kubo muttered, not used to names like that. It did make sense, of course, seeing how his world was much more different than Coraline and Wybie's.
Whatever thoughts they had were cut short however by a loud, ear-piercing and furious shriek. Kubo's eye went wide with fear - he may have managed to escape that sleeping prison, to escape his powers being used against him, but he still wasn't out of this world.
"It's her." Coraline said, firmly. She went to the forefront, but Kubo stood beside her after she heard a little pluck. An instrument, a shamisen.
Kubo had a small smile after doing so, before getting ready for the creature they were about to face.