HAHA! So… just about every single one of you have chosen the same option. So I got a head start on it last night. The raffle chose the popular option so my work wasn't wasted. Thus, i'm updating not too long after the 24 hour mark.
Raffle winner: CordiallyYours
[*]OH! So, I apologize that my explanation was likely lacking. So, UNL is only used when you are answering a question for unlockable characters. UNL is just short for 'unlock' ahaha. So, when you are choosing an option to advance the story, you just need to type out your choice. I ask that people type UNL right before their choice for the unlockable characters because it would make things easier for me is all. Sorry for the confusion!
[*]I didn't think about this until now, but if you are a guest user, PLEASE sign with the same name. I am keeping track of who I know has read the rules and those I don't think have read the rules. The same goes for guest users, you are not exempt from the rules of course. So if you have properly read the rules, please keep your username so I can cross-reference with my list and know you read the rules. If I don't think you read the rules, then I'm not counting your choice for the raffle. I planned this out for 2-3 whole years and took the time to make this a fun project. The least we can do is read the rules. That's how I feel.
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer is applied, this is a work of pure fan fiction.
Day 1- To the town!
Haru's eyes fluttered open and she yawned, stretching in her bed. Looking over at the clock, the hand was still pointing at night. She could have sworn she slept for a long time, but perhaps she hadn't? It was still night after all.
Maybe she had one of those dreams which only lasts a few minutes but it feels like it has lasted for a few hours in the very least?
Rolling the covers back over her body, Haru drifted back into sleep. She prided herself in the fact that if she willed it, she could go to sleep instantly. It was only when she had a lot on her mind where she would have trouble going to sleep.
In the time she spent asleep, she managed to have two different dreams. Things started off with one dream and then morphed into another one.
Her dreams normally consisted of her eating a whole mountain full of cake with her friends, or she was busily making costumes for a play. Sometimes she even had dreams about gymnastics meets.
"This time for sure, it should be morning." Haru was confident this time so she looked at the clock to see the blasted clock still pointing at 'NIGHT.'
Stomping herself over to the clock, she dragged a chair over to the wall so she could reach the clock. She held the clock to her ear and it was making a subtle clicking sound. It was still night? Just how long did the people in this world sleep for!? Incredible. She was sure that she must have slept for at LEAST 9 to 12 hours just now.
Even if she willed herself to sleep right now, she wasn't sure if she would be able to do it.
Replacing the pink clock on the eggshell colored wall, she hopped off the bed and returned the chair to where it was before, in front of the desk.
It was unfortunate that her room didn't have a window. She figured it was because towers weren't normally built with a lot of windows for perhaps security reasons? Maybe it was just how towers were made? If you were piling big slabs of stones on top of one another, it would likely be dangerous to make many windows.
It was just something she learned when reading a few books on the architectural feats of the past.
For towers such as this type, stones of similar size were all stacked on top of one another in the same row. The stones grew smaller in size the higher they were placed on the tower. Triangular shapes were found somewhere towards the bottom, possibly near a door to help channel the weight of the stones above. It would be dangerous to have windows.
No matter how much this room looked like her room back at home, she couldn't deny the fact that this place was indeed, a tower. A magical tower, but still a tower nonetheless.
Haru pushed the door open to see Koko standing there with her hand raised as if she were about to knock on the door. She quickly dropped her hand and smiled at Haru. "I was about to ask you if you wished to have breakfast." She asked.
Slowly backtracking her steps into her room, she snuck a peak at the clock. Yep, the hand was still pointing at night. Perhaps breakfast and dinner were switched in this world?
Koko chuckled behind her hand, knowing what it was which was probably confusing Haru at the moment. "The flow of time in this world isn't static. Some nights can last for what seems like an eternity and some nights can feel like it passed by in an instant. Everyone just tends to move at their own pace. Also, our days don't strictly follow the morning, afternoon and then night order. Sometimes it can go out of order. It can go from night, to the afternoon and then back to night." She explained to Haru.
No wonder, no matter how hard Haru tried, she wouldn't be able to lull herself back to sleep. She probably has already slept enough to make her body reject it so strongly. It was weird, but it was time for her to start out her day. This place was definitely going to have to take some getting used to.
It was going to be weird trying to fall asleep when the sun was still up in the sky, but if nature called for sleep, she was going to have to do it.
Digging through her dresser, she pulled out some clothes for her to change into. "Haru will get herself ready to start her day and then head down to eat breakfast." Haru told Koko who curtsied and left Haru to give her privacy.
Using the mental map she created for herself yesterday, she easily found her way to the bathroom she used yesterday and she got herself ready to start out her day.
She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth and dried her hair. After her hair was completely dried, she tied her hair up like she normally did. She was now ready to start out her day!
Making her way down to the kitchen she walked into the center of the room, unsure of how this room worked.
Koko walked up to Haru and handed her a hat. "The food selecting hat."
Haru placed the brown wizard-looking hat on top of her head and waited. "Toast… and eggs." The hat spoke with a raspy, low voice, shocking Haru out of her mind. This hat could talk!
As soon as it finished speaking, a plate full of food floated right up to Haru. Taking the plate, she walked over to a table situated against the adjacent wall, she started eating her food. Everything tasted just like they would at home. The eggs tasted just like how her mother would make them!
Koko stood right next to Haru and held out her hands, making Haru realize that she was still wearing the hat. "Ah! I'm sorry about that. Haru forgot she was still wearing the food selecting hat." Haru lifted the hat off of her head and returned it back to Koko who then placed it on top of a hat rack.
Never would Haru think she would ever see a hat rack placed in a kitchen before until now. Such a peculiar place, but what could you guess would happen if you lived in a wizard's tower?
Koko bowed her head and left the kitchen with quiet footsteps which almost couldn't be heard.
The next shock that came to Haru was when she finished eating her food and the plate and silverware floated away from her and towards the sink and started washing themselves.
"Everything here seems to be automated." Haru spoke with awe.
Now that she finished getting herself ready for the day and having had her breakfast, it was time to go on an adventure!
Using what she remembered from yesterday, she made it to the front of the tower and she pushed on the door but it wouldn't budge. What a heavy door!
"Haru just wants to go outside to venture around. Please open up!" Haru had her body up against the door, trying to push them open with all of her might. Once she asked the door to open up for her, they swung open.
Unable to fix her balance from the shock, Haru fell to the ground with a painful thud. She needed to be more open minded and realize that it was likely that everything was somehow automated. Picking herself up from the floor, she dusted herself off and turned towards the inside of the tower.
"Haru is going out to visit the town!" She announced the course of action she planned to take. There was no answer, but feeling content that someone, or at least something must have heard her, she stepped out of the tower.
It appeared that while she was eating breakfast, morning has finally decided to grace them with its presence. Turning her attention to her right, she could see the entrance to the town. Excited for her new adventure, she made a straight bee-line towards the town.
No matter how much she wanted to convince herself that this was all but a dream, everything around her felt and looked so real.
The grass underneath her feet bent and gave way to her feet. The rock and pebbles that paved the roadway crunched and shuffled every time she took a step.
A gentle breeze would feel refreshing against her cheeks and the calming sound of birds singing in the morning was the same in this world and the next world.
She walked through the entrance of the town and took in her surroundings. The town looked like something you'd find in a fantasy setting. The houses were all made out of wood and there weren't that many colors. The roads were paved with rocks and pebbles. The mode of transportation looked like they were horses and carriages.
Laundry could be seen hanging on wires hanging above the windows of every house. These wires must have been connected to various houses so a few households may have shared the same laundry wires.
Thinking back to Disney movies once more, she could think about how people would hang their laundry on wires and tug on the wire line to move the laundry down the line to allow for more space to hang laundry on.
This town was very rustic, very different from what she saw in Rebo's tower. His house wasn't that different appearance-wise from your modern home in Japan. Well, that is, if you could forget that most of the furniture there was embedded with magic.
Even though the town looked like something you could normally find in the countryside, the main difference was the type of people who lived in it. Haru could see people, animals, and even mystical creatures walking around.
Some creatures must have had special powers and were making use of them.
What she thought was a cute little cat was actually a shapeshifting person who would morph into a human form after her attempt to beckon the feline.
Feeling a little overwhelmed, Haru quickly made her way towards the town square, ignoring everything that was going on around her.
Haru made it to the town square and she looked around.
Just a few feet ahead of her was a grandiose marble fountain.
"Ah, this is the old fountain that Rebo was talking about." Haru ran over to the fountain and looked inside of it to see that it really had dried up. What a pity since it was so pretty.
The fountain had a majestic lion standing tall next to what seemed to be a leopard and the giant bird Haru saw in the sky.
All three stood close to one another and had their mouths open. It would seem that water would have been sprouting from all of their mouths.
"Hah? How do you know Rebo-san? Speak up now you dumb woman, before I claw your pretty face up." A disgruntled voice spoke to her.
Haru knew that voice anywhere. That jerk of a hooligan!
"Gokudera! Haru is not stupid!" Haru raged.
Again, the person before her LOOKED like someone she knew but wasn't that person. She could already tell that this was going to be a tough habit to break.
The Gokudera look-alike was resting in between the three animal where there was a small cozy place for him to take a nap in. She didn't see him at first but that was probably where he was.
He had these fluffy ears on top of his head and a scruffy tail swishing from side to side. The ears were twitching with annoyance with her not answering his question quickly enough but confusion was written on his face.
"The name is Oodera. Not Gokudera." He muttered, curious about how it was that she was half-correct on guessing his name. Did Rebo-san talk about him at all?
Haru was already getting kind of tired of this guy as memories of her fighting with Gokudera flooded her mind. "Okay, Oodera. To answer your question. I'm living at Rebo's tower as a guest. If you don't believe me, you should ask him yourself." Haru answered his question and walked past him. "Haru wishes to explore the area so Haru will bid you a farewell for now." She waved her hand lazily.
Oodera felt a bit jilted with the way she just answered him, but he had just woken up from a nap and he was too tired to care anymore. He laid back down in the middle of the fountain ad went back to sleep.
Haru walked further into the town to see an old well. She looked inside of it to see that it was dried up as well.
"Excuse me miss, if I may have a bit of your time. Let me tell you a story, please." A weak and timid voice spoke.
Craning her neck, Haru could see an elderly man shaking behind the well. He wore old, raggedy clothes.
Feeling some pity for the poor thing, Haru decided to listen to what he wanted. She didn't know if she would be of much help but she could at least try to help him out.
"Haru isn't sure how much she can help, but she can try your best to help out." She said.
The defeated eyes of the beggar shone with a glimmer of hope upon Haru's agreement to help him out to the best of her abilities.
"You see, I am missing a very important item. I had a curse placed on me and only when I retrieve the item, can I return to my original form." The weary beggar started to tell his story. "The longer I am without my item, the quicker I age and lose my memories. Soon, I may die from the effects of my curse."
Haru could see why this man seemed desperate to have people listen to his story. He needed help finding his object and he probably could not do it on his own.
Not being able to find it in her heart to tell him no, she decided that she'd try to help him out. She wasn't sure if she would be of much help but she could at least be on the lookout for his lost item.
"If Haru can ask, what is it that you lost?" She asked.
The beggar lifted himself off the ground with his cane and shook his head, "Due to my curse, I cannot say much more than what I have already said. The only hint I can possibly give is that it has an emblem of a tiger on it."
Keeping that small tidbit of information in mind, Haru was going to keep her eyes peeled for anything that had an emblem of a tiger on it.
Having finished his story, the man shakily started walking away with his cane, begging other people to listen to his story and offer their help in assisting the beggar in finding his lost object.
Haru walked around the town, tossing over stones and searching through the alleyways between the houses. So far, she couldn't find anything that fit the description. Then again, if it could be found so easily, the beggar would have found his object by now.
Maybe it wasn't even in the town? Maybe it could be found elsewhere? She could only assume that he has searched the town multiple times and it was likely that others like her have tried helping him.
If it has yet to resurface itself, then the item was hidden away in a hard to reach place, or it was not located in town but elsewhere.
With this in mind, she figured that moving to another area would yield better results. Just where should she go though? That was the question at hand.
[RED FLAG ALERT]
You have listened to the old beggar's story and have set off the quest to unlock the Hard-level unlockable characters. For a few consecutive chapters, I shall ask you a few questions. If you can answer them correctly, you will gain a letter. Once you've collected all the letters, you must scramble the letters to answer the final question. For the first couple of questions:
1.) Starting easy: Who is my favorite character in KHR?
2) Do you know what country I was born in?
Question: What shall Haru do next?
[*]Continue walking to…
a.) Visit the left mansion
b.) Visit the right mansion
c.) Skip the mansions, I want to challenge the rose garden maze to get to the castle!
[*]I want to visit the sea port.
[*]want to return to the tower, honestly.
[*]I want to visit the forest.
a.) Take left path
b.) Take middle path
c.) Take right path
I'm trying my best. I hope this is getting interesting for you guys. OTL
There are so many options, it's crazy, isn't it? Waooo. Also, I'm surprised you guys managed to set off the beggar's event so soon. Hahaha, if you guys manage to answer all the questions and scramble the letters around, then you can unlock 3 of the hard-level unlockable characters. XD
On another note, I'm laughing because at this rate, the medium-level characters will be unlocked really soon. Y'all are so good at this. Too good at this. The irony if the easy-level character will be the last of the unlockable characters to be unlocked.
Until next time!
-Neospice12