I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!!!! Thank you. I have nothing to say, so you can just read on…
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Spirit. What an appropriate name for this town. A haunted ghost town, devoid of all life – in the poetic definition of the term. The houses look abandoned. The paint is chipped, the stone clearly visible through it, the plants are wilting, and I even saw a couple of loose dogs wandering the streets. And the scariest thing of all… the army of terrified eyes glued to us as we make our way to the center of the village. I've never been one to shy away from people's stares, but this is plain creepy. You almost expect them to come out of their houses as flesh-eating zombies and eat us alive. This could be one of those moments when I wish I'd be used to a more offensive type of weapon. Whips are great for fighting, especially if you don't want to get too close to your opponent, but it's impossible to kill somebody with that. Not that I've ever tried. But still. If I was ever fighting man-eating undead creatures, I'd like something I can slash them open with. Just a thought. Moving on to the matter at hand.
"I feel like we're not welcome here," Fai says as a door that was slightly ajar when we passed is slammed violently.
"Oh, you feel it too?" I reply in a sarcastic tone. Kurogane looks at us like we're a couple of idiots.
"It's not 'feel like'. It's the truth," he says gruffly. I roll my eyes and look around some more. Ever since I yelled at him he's been particularly intent on stating the obvious. Maybe it's what he does when he's unsure of something, who knows? My eyes finally catch something other than stone and dirt from the road. A little girl is standing in front of one of the smaller house's doors, a cat in her arms. She stares at us with wide eyes. I smile widely at her.
"Hey there, sweetie," I say. She just keeps on staring curiously at me.
"Hello," Syaoran has noticed her also. Both he and Sakura give her sweet smiles. "I'd like to ask you a question about this town…" The door behind the girl creeks as it opens to show a panicky woman, her frightened eyes locked on us. A protective arm quickly presses the little girl to her mother as the later exclaims:
"Didn't I tell you not to go out!" before closing the door on both of them. A few seconds later I can feel two more eyes staring at us from the upstairs window. Well, that helps us a whole lot, thanks lady! I've never seen a mother be so overprotective. Then again, if children really are disappearing… even if it's only a rumor, I'd be scared for my daughter too.
"I guess that has something to do with what we heard at the bar," Fai deducts.
"How are we supposed to confirm anything if no one will talk to us?" I sigh in frustration. Sheesh, there's a limit to being scared.
"At least tell us where the golden-haired princess is…" Syaoran echoes my thoughts. At that moment the air is filled with the thudding of heavy boots on the ground and the heavy breathing of those who run but aren't used to it. I barely have the time to look around to see where it comes from before the street in front of us is blocked by a line of shiny riffles. At the sight of them Kurogane's horse gets up on his hind legs and bumps into Silver, who starts panicking. I muffle a yelp as she turns in tight circles, alternatively kicking with her front and hind legs. I cling helplessly to her mane and bring my legs up to support myself on her back, but I know I won't last long if I can't calm her down. She kicks again and I find myself falling down with no support. I grab her neck at the last second, and my face falls inches from her moving leg. I try not to scream, but sound still escapes my lips as I'm forced to look down to the hard street below and the even harder hoofs swinging back and forth. Then, as suddenly as it started, the rocking ends. Both Fai and Kurogane had grabbed Silver's bridle and found a way to calm her. I glance upwards to where Fai is sitting. My position makes it awkward; I'm practically hanging on the side of my horse, the only thing keeping me there is my left arm and leg hooked onto her back and neck.
"There, there, girl. You're alright," Fai says in a soothing tone. I can't be sure weather he's talking to the horse or me. I manage to climb back on Silver and glare at the men in front of us – the ones with the riffles. Kurogane is already doing the same. It's probably because they made his horse almost throw him off as well. He didn't seem to have any trouble stopping him, though.
"Who are you?" the man in the front, the one obviously in charge, yells in our direction.
"We are traveling around the world to investigate old legends and architecture," Syaoran answers without a second's thought. It almost sounds as though he rehearsed it.
"Oh yeah? And what are you investigating for?" the man replies skeptically. I'm about to say something not very nice, just because he's starting to piss me off, but Syaoran is faster.
"We want to write a book," is his surprising answer. The men with the riffles were not the only ones astonished.
"We do?" I whisper, not loud enough for the others to hear me.
"A book?" the man asks again.
"Yes."
"A kid like you?!"
"Of course not. It's this person," Syaoran points towards Fai. I sigh and shake my head. If Fai is the one writing the book, I don't want to hear what stories he'll make up for us.
"That's right!" Fai chirps happily, automatically taking control of the conversation. There he goes… He gestures to Sakura first. "This is my sister, this boy here is my assistant, the girl beside me is my translator, and this one-" he shows them Kurogane, "This one's my servant!"
"Who's the servant, you –" Kurogane can barely utter those words before two things happen. One: Mokona jumps from behind and redefines the meaning of the word head-butt. Literally. And second, I reach for his ear and twist it harshly towards me. I do feel bad for him; I wouldn't want to be the servant, but this is our cover and if he dares to blow it… well, we'll just see.
"Calm down and stop whining," I order him in a whisper. "I'm not too thrilled about this either, but we have to go with it." I mean, what was Fai thinking calling me a translator? Does he know how many languages I can speak? One. Uno. Mine. And that's it. What are we going to do if I actually have to translate something? I swear that guy has air between his ears. Not even dust or lint or spiders. Just air. He's not even worthy of dust. Besides, his story didn't do much to help us. The men in front of us still refuse to drop their guard.
"STOP!" A man's voice yells. I turn to find a lanky man with long dark hair and glasses run towards us. He's carrying a doctor's bag, and seems to be somewhat powerful; the men all point their riffles down as he makes his way to us. He plants himself in front of us in a protective stance.
"How dare you point your riffles at innocent travelers!" he exclaims to the men in front of him.
"But at times like these, these foreigners…" the man who questioned us before tries to explain.
"Precisely because they come from another land, we should not be impolite!" the nice man then turns towards us. "I apologize for our rudeness, travelers," he says. He scans over us quickly, his face not denoting anything but polite greeting until his eyes meet mine. He needs to do a double take and his jaw slightly drops in what seems like surprise, but he quickly reverts to his previous expression.
"Welcome to Spirit," he concludes.
"I really do apologize for that welcoming party," the man says for the tenth time as he hands me a hot drink. He has led us to a large building with a common room and many bedrooms, which looks like an old inn.
"That's alright. I…We've been greeted worst," I answer politely. I am trying to make him feel better, but I'm not lying. I was once welcomed into a dark alley by twenty guys, kudans at the ready, and they were actually firing. Not exactly what I was planning for a Friday night, but… what do you want? That's what life is when you're part of a gang. People you don't even know try to kill you. Some areas of the city become out of bounds. Everybody assumes you're a teenage delinquent. You get stuck in awkward situations. (Remind me to tell you about that time with me, Ren and the cops. I'll probably get to it later, when it makes more sense. And when it's funnier.) Most of your weekends become training days. And then, once in a while, you get a good fight with lots of action and –
"I'm sorry, but I don't recall having heard your names," the doctor notices. Fai – obviously – answers.
"I apologize for not having introduced ourselves. I am Fai D. Flowright. My lovely sister's name is Sakura, and my assistant is Syaoran. As for our servant…"
"The name is Ku-ro-ga-ne," the ninja interrupts, arms crossed and his glare defying us to contradict him.
"Yeah, but we like to call him Kuro-tan," I continue, a satisfied smile on my face. The death glare sent my way by the ninja only makes it grow wider.
"So states our marvelous translator, Aisha," Fai concludes.
"Flattery will get you nowhere," I tell him, distractedly looking at my nails. It's an old trick – don't look at a guy when you diss him. Otherwise, most of them think you're flirting. The others actually get the message and leave. And then there's Fai. I could openly insult this guy and he still wouldn't get the hint.
"A man can try, can't he?" he answers, his dumb smile shining. He slides closer to me on the couch. My hand stops him before he gets too close.
"Back off," I hiss. The man who greeted us here laughs softly.
"My name is Kyle Londart. I am a doctor in this village," he introduces himself. I give him a polite smile, but am quickly distracted by Fai leaning towards me despite my warning. His face quickly meets my open hand, which sends him sliding back a few inches on the couch.
"Thanks for letting us stay here," Syaoran tries to distract the others from Fai's silent mock weeping.
"Please don't mention it," the doctor says. "This used to be an inn. There are many vacant rooms." Suddenly, the door opens with a large crash.
"What is the meaning of this, doctor?" a very upset man enters the room, followed by an elderly balding man. "Bringing outsiders here at a time like this!"
"Mr. Glosam, please calm down!" the elderly man begs him, but this Glosam dude doesn't seem to cool off.
"How can I be calm, Mr. Mayor! We haven't found any of the missing children yet!" As if to emphasize his point, Glosam taps his cane on the floor. I freeze. So it's true then. Children really are disappearing. And as strangers, obviously we are suspicious. I half-expect the doctor to get upset, and either ask us to leave or defend his own actions with great emotion, but he does none of that. Instead, he calmly faces the man.
"That's why," he says simply. "These people are doing research on legends around the world. They might be able to help us in this occurrence."
"These vagabonds that came out of nowhere?" Glosam snickers with disgust as he quickly scans us. "What do they know?" My eyebrows arch in disbelief and then knit in anger as he insults us.
"Wait a second, you…" I hurriedly shush the insult I was about to utter. Instead, I decide to continue my tirade, insult-free. "What makes you think you can just order us out of here? You're not more important than us, as far as I'm concerned. And besides, how could it be our fault children are missing if we only arrived twenty minutes ago? Can you answer that, oh! Mighty one?" Kurogane sends me another death glare, which manages to shut me up, but Glosam and I keep staring at each other for a few seconds before he turns back to Dr. Kyle.
"I do hope you are sure of this," he says finally, glancing in my direction. Kyle supports his gaze.
"They know things that are unknown to people living here," he repeats. Glosam glares at all of us.
"If anything happens again, it will be too late by then," he warns before swiftly turning on his heels and disappearing through the door, leaving the balding man stranded in the middle of the room. He seems confused for a while, looking everywhere in the room, until he finally decides to move.
"Just make sure they leave in the morning," he mumbles to the doctor before departing on the heels of Glosam. Kyle slams the door himself after he leaves. He stays there a few seconds, head bowed and shoulders dropping from frustration.
"Excuse me for not introducing them to you," he finally says, turning back to us. "They are the mayor and Mr. Glosam. is the owner of most of the land here." Oh, so he is more important than us. My bad. I still meant what I told him, though. Fai gets up from the couch, his expression serious now.
"Looks like we have come troubling you at a bad time. We have heard of the legend of Spirit in the previous town-"
"I believe it's just an ordinary legend as well," Kyle starts, as if he feared we would think otherwise, "Who would have thought that children really started vanishing…" he looked down, an expression of intense sadness on his face. "We looked very hard, but we weren't able to find any of them. Twenty children are missing as of now." Twenty? Twenty kids? That can't be… How can twenty kids disappear in a remote area like this and not one can be found? I would understand in a large city, but… here? The guy who does this is clever. Clever and perverted. Who kidnaps kids just for the fun of it?
"How can this be?" Sakura asks, voicing my thoughts.
"No wonder they were on their guards when they saw us," Kurogane adds. What kind of person could possibly be doing this? All those children, lost and scared somewhere in the forest… if they're still alive. A shiver makes its way up my spine. They could be dead, their little corpses rotting in a ditch for all we know. My hands ball into tight fists. The image of Hisho and Hinata lying, lifeless, in the blood-covered snow forces itself in my mind. My knuckles are turning white. White as snow. Cold, barren, unfriendly snow. Twenty children are somewhere out in that snow, dead or alive, nobody knows. But even if they are alive… they better be alive, I tell myself. If they aren't, I swear I will find whoever has done this and make him pay. He's going to wish he never had the idea to come to this town in the first place. It could have been them. The phrase never leaves my mind. Maybe not in this world, but in Hanshin even. Even then, something could have happened. What if it was them? Would I still be in this room, waiting for the morning to come to do anything?
No. I would be out in the woods, searching and yelling their names, never resting until they were found. Kento would be with me. He'd be right by my side, he'd pick it right up where I had left it if I was too tired to go on. Together, we'd find them. We wouldn't stop until we did. We would go on until our voices gave out, until we could no longer walk, until our frozen fingers could no longer move. Then we would fall asleep under a tree, warming each other with our bodies, hoping we would have better luck the next day. And we would find them, and they would be okay, and we would all go home. But… do all the missing kids' parents feel the same way? Maybe they want to find them, but they don't have a Kento to help. Or maybe some of them don't want to find their kids. Maybe they just don't care. Would Mom care if the twins went missing? What if they did? I won't be there. Would Kento and Etsuko care enough to go out looking for them? What if… What if…
"Pinky… Are you alright?" Fai's voice snaps me out of it. I feel his gentle finger on my cheek and realize a tear has found its way out of my eye. I brush it furiously away, along with Fai's hand.
" 'm fine," I mumble, rubbing my eyes to suppress all signs of upcoming tears. I don't know why I'm crying. Or rather… I know why, I just can't believe it. Me, Aisha, the girl who never cries no matter what happens to her, just let a tear escape because of something that doesn't even concern her? Because of something that hasn't happened – and probably never will? This time-space travel is really messing me up, big time. I really hope weird things are going to stop happening soon, or else I'm going to burst. But for some reason, I think the weird stuff is yet to come…
"At least we have a place to stay for the night," Fai tries to see the bright side as we make our way upstairs.
"But…" I counter, just for the hell of it, "we still don't know anything about the golden-haired princess, we have to leave tomorrow morning which means we won't get to learn anything new, and this hoop is giving me a rash," I emphasize by bending down and attempting to scratch my leg. (Attempt that miserably fails. There is simply nothing that goes through this puffy hoop skirt!)
"Sensitive skin much," Kurogane chips in.
"Oh, shut up Kuro-muy," I say as I turn to face him. "And if you don't let go of Mokona soon, he'll turn into a rash." The ninja glares as I call him by one of his many nicknames, but still won't let go of Mokona, whom he is stretching like an elastic ready to burst. The little white bun is turning redder by the second, and if this doesn't stop he's going to end up being as red as the jewel on his forehead.
"You're pretty good at making stuff up, Syaoran," Fai says, referring to when we were surrounded by the gunmen. Syaoran blushes a bit at the compliment.
"My dad and I used that excuse a lot when we traveled," he explains. Oh right, I remember hearing something about Syaoran traveling with his father pretty often. I wonder where his father is now… Probably back at his country, wishing his son to be back as soon as possible. I wonder if he even knows where Syaoran is. The way he was telling us about it, it sounded like he had to leave in a bit of a hurry.
"Things are getting pretty serious," Fai notices, glancing over his shoulder through the window, to the scene below. The villagers are gathering, lanterns glowing in the night, ghostly figures crying names I don't know. I offered to help, but the man who was in charge of the gunmen swiftly pushed me aside. We had a bit of an argument, but he won. So here I am, forced to stay inside while the entire village is out in the cold. I guess I wouldn't have made a difference anyway, since they wouldn't have looked anywhere they hadn't looked a hundred times before. I guess…
"Anyway, it's already very late," Fai says, opening the door to mine and Sakura's room. Sakura passes out at that instant, into Syaoran's arms. Turns out she needs to sleep much more than she actually does. I smile tenderly and help carry her into our room.
"Good night then," I tell the others.
"Sleep well," Fai answers as the guys enter their own room, right across the hall. Kurogane mumbles something like 'G'Night' when he passes me, and I wink at him.
"Sweet dreams, Kuro-wanwan," I tease. He doesn't turn back around to face me, but I can see just the tip of his ears turning red. Ah, teasing… What would we do without it?
The first thing I do when the door closes is to hastily unlace my corset. Thank God or whoever is up there that it laces at the front! I remove it just as hastily and throw it on my bed. The splash of red looks odd over the white sheets. Like a pool of blood someone left there in testament of a bloody murder. I chuckle.
Night tends to have that effect on me; I scare myself with creepy stories. But nevertheless, the sheets do look unwelcoming as I stare at them, undecided weather to lie down and sleep or not. I can't tell if it's simply the fact that I'm not all that tired or my fear of nightmares that makes me think like that. I haven't slept well at all since I began this journey, and the only time I managed to fall asleep okay was punctuated by a haunting nightmare. Not exactly an experience I'd like to repeat. Plus, I can feel a nightmare creeping up on me now, just waiting to happen. The image of the twins lying dead in a snow-covered ditch still haunts me. Well, there was a nice fireplace down in the common room. And a library. I can't read the writing from this country, but it's something to keep me from falling asleep at the very least.
I manage to slip off the hoop from under my skirt and throw it on the bed next to my corset. It stays there like a beached whale, still keeping its shape. I can't believe women here wear these all the time. After three days I would burn it, and dance around the fire. Who cares if my dress isn't as puffy as it should be? I sigh, steal another glance at a sleeping Sakura, and leave the room. I carefully close the door behind me, hoping I won't wake up the guys – given that they're already sleeping, that is. It wouldn't surprise me if Fai and Kurogane would be having an argument, with Mokona jumping everywhere and Syaoran trying to stop them from hurting each other. But not a sound is coming from the other side of their door. Good. There's no one in the common room, since all the villagers are outside, searching. Without me. The fire is almost dead, but just a poke from a metal rod makes it roar again. I quickly scan the library, grab a random book and slouch on the sofa with a satisfied grunt. I can finally curve my back! The book open on my lap, I try to decipher the strange symbols. They don't make much sense, but just the effort keeps my mind occupied. That is, until my wandering hand finds a small bump that I had hidden in my boot. My wallet. I gulp. Should I look at them? What will I see? The warm fire now makes me think of a roaring beast, waiting for a moment of weakness to attack. The silence is threatening, engulfing me in its web. Fears come back. What if I never go home again? What if this is my only chance to see them? But more importantly…
Will I be able to look at them?
Suddenly, a strong magical energy enters the room, right behind me. It sends shivers down my spine. I close my eyes, try to calm down. The room is menacing, eerie.
"Our little sorceress is alone at last, is she not?" a strange voice asks behind me. Grabbing the book firmly in my hands, I prepare myself to strike.
"You know it's not very smart for a young girl to be alone, especially at this time of night," the voice continues, as it gets closer. The voice is the source of the magic. Not the source itself, but they both come from the same place. I am now clenching the book so hard my knuckles are turning white.
"Not very smart indeed," the voice concludes. I feel a hand come up behind me, stroke my hair. The magic gets stronger. Giving movements to my paralyzed arms, I swing around and strike.
"Ah, I thought you wouldn't ignore me for very long," I hear the voice say.
