Ch10-
Since the prior incident, Aqune had been resting in her room. He knew it wasn't entirely appropriate, but Buguese had opted to retract the curtain and watch over her. It was partially out of worry, and partially out of the fact that he simply liked to watch her. Even though he hated humans passionately, she was always the exception. There were times when he couldn't really hide it.
It was early the next morning, and Aqune was tossing and turning in her sleep.
"Aqune!" Buguese called. Was she having more visions? He remembered the last time, she had woken up afraid.
"Huh?" Aqune opened her eyes, and saw him staring down at her. "Uh… good morning!" she spouted awkwardly. Of course, in this world she could easily tell it was morning by the light coming in from outside.
"Are you alright?" asked Buguese. Once he came closer, he could see her forehead was wet from sweating.
"Oh, I think so," Aqune answered, with a nod. "I saw him again. That man." She reached out her hand, taking hold of his. "This time, I felt something different. I think I may have met him once before. I must have."
He was shocked to hear this, and let go of Aqune's hand. How could she have known a human, if she never even left the Insector lands until now? Unless it was someone from her past. In which case, then she wouldn't remember him.
"What does this man look like?" he questioned. Maybe if he knew who it was exactly, that could answer his questions.
"Umm… he had short hair," began Aqune. She never really saw him in too much detail, though. "It was dark colored. I think… he wore it in a thin ponytail. He was an adult. Average height and weight…" Aqune couldn't think of anything else in particular which stood out. That description didn't even make him sound as particularly ominous as he was to her.
"I see," said Buguese. The man didn't sound familiar to him. "Aqune, I believe we need to step up our search for the Oracle Keys. Whoever this man is, we can't allow him to interfere. I fear he may show himself, as the rest of your visions were true."
"Yes, I understand," Aqune answered.
"Meet me immediately after school, by the front entrance," Buguese instructed. "We will begin a new operation."
"Right," she replied.
"Hunter, can I tell you something weird?" Corona's voice sounded nervous.
"Uh… yeah," Hunter replied, curiously.
"I had this dream last night," she spoke. "It was really scary, but I don't even understand why I felt that way."
"What was it about?" the boy asked.
"A man," said Corona. "Or that's what it looked like. I think he was human, but the only thing I could see was his shadow. But… I was shaking when I woke up."
"Huh? That is weird," Hunter agreed. "You know, there's been a lot of weird things happening lately. We'd better stop the Insectors before it's too late!"
"Yeah," Corona agreed.
Classes that day were as close to usual as possible. Only math was cancelled. The teacher was out sick, rumored to be in the hospital, as were many of the students. The classroom itself was under police investigation for toxin leaks.
As for the hole in the floor Buguese had made, it was miraculously covered overnight, although there was yellow tape around that area.
Of course, once the day was over, Aqune headed towards her scheduled meeting place with Buguese. Or, that was her intention anyway.
As Aqune turned down a hallway she'd been through many times, the girl froze. Standing before her was the principal. More rather, she recognized him as the very man she'd been seeing in her visions.
For a minute, the two just stared at each other.
"So, we finally meet again," the man said.
Aqune had no idea what to think, or how to reply. Never before had she been this terrified. Once more, visions flashed through her head. It was the worst possible timing for her to black out again.
Naturally, Buguese was kept waiting by the door.
'Where could she be? She wouldn't forget, would she?' he pondered. 'Of course not. That isn't like her. Perhaps… the Spider Riders? Did she go with them instead?' That he was willing to believe, bothersome as the thought was to him.
Frustrated, the human-disguised Insector left his spot by the door, going in search of his hated Riders. He had a good idea of where Aqune went to study with them. Well, she said she was studying, but he dreaded to know what really went on.
When Buguese peered through the window, Corona and Hunter were indeed in the room. But Aqune was not.
He threw the door open without knocking.
"Where is Aqune?!" he demanded.
"Huh? Brandon?" Corona wondered. "She's not here."
Hunter nodded. But thinking about it, he was rather concerned. He had seen her that day during classes, but was still hung up over what had happened the day before. Especially now that she didn't join the two of them for studying.
"When I saw her yesterday, she was with Buguese. She claims that he saved her, but… I don't trust him."
"Don't be absurd!" Buguese exclaimed. "That's simply your own bias." But Hunter's insinuations about her disappearance also brought him a disconcerting thought. Obviously it wasn't his own doing, but what if that man had something to do with it?
Buguese tried to calm himself, before he accidentally revealed his own identity to them. "Tell me," he spoke. "Do either of you know of a man with short dark hair in a ponytail?"
"Uh…" Hunter pondered. Actually, he did. "That sounds like the principal!"
"The principal?" Buguese wondered out loud. "Then I'll find him." He ran out of the room without another word.
"Hey, Hunter," Corona said, worriedly. "Somehow, that reminds me of the figure I saw in my dream."
Maybe he was just as ridiculous as Hunter to jump to conclusions, Buguese realized. But if there was any chance Aqune and that man met, he couldn't wait idly. Even if he was wrong, at least he could deal with this potential enemy. The Insector quickly sent out some messenger bugs to search.
Aqune was slightly dazed when she awoke. She was lying on a bed, she realized. The furnishings she could see were actually similar to those of the room she'd been staying in on Earth, though not exactly identical.
"Where is this?" Her memories of earlier started to come back to her. The man she met in the hall was…
Aqune left the room she was in, and once again found herself face-to-face with him.
"Who are you?" she asked, trying her best to stay composed, which was difficult.
"It's so good to see you again," he responded. "I've waited a long time to have you back… my daughter Aqune."
"Wh-what? You're…" Aqune was at a complete loss for words. She'd never had a family… well, not that she remembered. Was he telling the truth?
The man was just standing there silently.
"I… I'm really sorry," Aqune said. "I don't remember anything about my past." Yet, it almost made sense. That could have been why he seemed familiar. And her blacking out… was it because of her head trying to deal with the blocked memories?
"I see," he said. "Well, that's all well and good. Because now, we can just start anew."
"Wait," Aqune said, feeling more than a little uncomfortable, and not ready to start anything. "If you're my father, why are you in the Outer World?"
The man simply smirked. "I do suppose I should explain to you."
Aqune nodded, curious.
"This was the world I was born in," the man began. "Although I later came to yours. In other words, that makes both you and your sister half-Earthen."
"I… have a sister?" Aqune replied. That was perhaps enough to counter the shock of the 'half-Earthen' part completely.
"Indeed you do," he replied. "And she too is a handmaiden. But let's get back to the point. This story is about me."
"Alright," she said, not that she had much of a choice but to listen.
"Before I took the role of principal, I was in fact an archeologist," he explained. "A prominent and wealthy one. In my work, I discovered an ancient temple, dedicated to a being called Spirit Oracle. Someone who, I learned, was the goddess of another world."
"A temple in this world?" Aqune wondered. "Then, that explains the shrine that Buguese and I found."
"You mean the one beneath the school," he answered. "Though I have not ventured inside it myself, I was aware of it. When I came to this town, I heard legends that the school was cursed by an ancient spirit. No one truly believed it, but I knew it must have had some connection to that land. Indeed, the Inner World may be an obscure legend in the eyes of Earthens, but not one which can't be proven real. And after I found the temple in the mountains, I was transported to that very world. It was a fascinating world. One with a grand sun, and a color-changing sky. I almost thought of it as a paradise. But there was just a little issue."
"What was that?"
"Insectors," he answered. "Monstrous creatures, who made a peaceful life in that world impossible. As long as they existed, there was no paradise."
"Wait!" Aqune interrupted, rather upset by this. "It's true that the Insectors have done wrong. But they're fighting for an important reason. They-"
"Have no sunlight. So I've heard," he answered. "But I still have no pity for them. It was my goal to erase them."
"No!" Aqune exclaimed.
"Yes," he argued. "And I even found a means to do so. The Oracle Keys. With the power they possess, I could destroy them. But I learned that this power could not be freely wielded. Not without an Oracle handmaiden, who was capable of channeling that power. Thus, I had two daughters. I sent them both to train as handmaidens, so they could one day help me carry out my wish."
Aqune was tense, Of course she couldn't agree to help him, regardless of who he was.
"Oh, but sadly there were more obstacles in my way than that," the man stated. One day, I met with your leader Mantid, while in pursuit of an Oracle Key.
The man was hyperventilating with anger. The Oracle Key… it was so close, yet it was in the disgusting hands of that Insector.
"That is mine!" he shouted. He pulled out a handgun, which he had brought with him from his own world, and fired at the Insector. Mantid simply sliced the bullet in half with his pincer, before it could reach him.
"An Earthen weapon like that cannot defeat me!" he declared. Mantid appeared to be taken aback by his own words, however. "An Earthen?! What use could you have for the keys?"
"What use could a monster like you have for them?!" the man spat back.
"They could be used to save the Insector people," answered Mantid. "We live in a world with no sunlight."
"For an amicable reason like that?" He scowled. "I think not!"
Mantid began to laugh.
"I didn't say that was the only use for them. You interest me, Earthen" he spoke. "I propose we make a deal."
"A deal?!" he replied angrily. "What kind of deal?"
"Once I use the Keys, you may have them," Mantid replied. "Then, you can do whatever you like."
"Mantid fled with the Key after that. As for me, I couldn't trust him at all. And I couldn't take living in that world of dirty Insectors. I discovered a way out, and instead chose to live out my life here. However, I brought back one relic from my journey." He pulled from his pocket an Oracle Key.
"The last Key!" Aqune exclaimed.
"It was truly ironic that two of the Keys were in this world all along," he said. "I got the strangest message the other day, from Mantid himself. He told me to provide shelter for the entire Insector army, and that the Keys were here. While that was a most ridiculous request, I agreed to it. You could say it sparked hope into my life once more. And to learn that my daughters were here as well? Ideal. I was bound to win. Now, you can finally help me."
"No!" Aqune shouted. "I can't betray the Insectors."
Then, suddenly the ceiling began collapsing. From a giant hole above, Buguese crashed in.
"Buguese!" Aqune exclaimed, running to him.
The Insector rested his hands on her shoulders. "Are you hurt?"
"No," Aqune said. "But I'm glad you came."
The principal, being witness to this, looked outraged.
"Insector! You will not interfere."
"Interfere with what?!" Buguese asked. Then, he noticed what was in the man's hand. "The Oracle Key!"
Buguese pulled from under his belt Aqune's manacle, and handed it to her.
"Huh?" She put it on, confused.
"Now is the time to fight. Charades are needless if we have the Keys."
"Buguese, first… you should know something," Aqune said. "This man is my father."
"What?!"
"That is true," the principal said. "And that is why I won't surrender her to you. My daughter is a key to wiping out Insectors forever."
"Even if you're my father, I will never do that!" declared Aqune. "Oracle's Kindness!" she was then transformed.
"Not so fast!" the man said. "I was afraid you wouldn't be willing to listen."
He pulled a switch on the wall. A section of it opened, and wires came out. Before they could do a thing, both Aqune and Buguese were caught and pinned to the wall.
Although Buguese couldn't move, he was glaring fiercely at the man. He hasn't been so angry in a long time.
"Buguese…" Aqune said. "I'll definitely get the Key."
"But how?" he asked.
"Thanks to what you just gave me. Portia, spider out!"
"That's…" the man started, stepping back.
"Bind him," Aqune said. She was cringing internally. If he was her father (she was almost sure he really was), she wished they didn't have to be enemies.
Portia followed instructions, and the principal was trapped in webs. The Key had dropped to the floor beside him.
"What good will this do you?" asked the man. "Now we're all trapped, and no one has the Key."
Portia proceeded to cut through the wires around Buguese and Aqune.
"I'm sorry," Aqune said. She bent over and took the Key from the ground, which she handed straight to Buguese.
"We have the third Key at last," Buguese spoke. But he didn't sound completely happy. The Insector wanted to gloat. But what stopped him was the hurt which showed on Aqune's face. "Aqune, let's go," he said.
"Right," Aqune replied. She climbed on Portia, as did Buguese. Aqune clutched the man with one arm, leaning her body on him.
"Human! If you dare try to harm Aqune, you will pay," Buguese declared. Then, Portia leapt through the hole, onto the roof.
"That's Portia!" Another surprise instantly awaited the pair. The Spider Riders stood outside.
"Aqune?!" Hunter shouted. "What's going on?!"
"That isn't any of your business!" Buguese spat.
"Yes it is!" Magma said. "That spider is my business!"
The Riders had followed messenger bugs they saw around out of suspicion, and came to this site. But they never expected to run into Portia.
"Wait…" said Aqune. "I… I can't lie anymore." Any attempt she made at lying would be clumsy, now that she was atop a spider with a manacle on her wrist. Knowing this as well, Buguese saw no reason to stop her. "Portia is my spider," she admitted, sadly. "And all along, I was Buguese's ally. Still, I enjoyed being friends with you, Hunter, Corona. Please be careful of the man who lives here."
"Hold on!" Corona said, trying to make sense of everything.
"Now that we have the Key, we will not stay around," Buguese declared. He fired a blast to distract the Riders, and Portia took off before the smoke cleared.
'What will happen now?' Buguese wondered, as he held the trembling Aqune tightly.
AN: I have definitely wondered what Aqune and Corona's parents are like, and what happened to them. Odds are, they were on the transport that crashed and died. But what if one or both of them did survive, and why wouldn't they try to find their daughters if they did? Aqune might be hard to find, but Corona is one of the famous Spider Riders. It makes for some interesting potential.