As Raimon's players gather on the bus, Kaiser sits by the window and scrolls through his texts. Adé's last few texts, made in the wee hours of the night, read: "I've been thinkin' a lot 'bout the other night, and I really don't wanna hurt you again. I think we need some time apart. Sorry."
Snapping the phone shut, he continues to mull over Adé's words until a tiny, French-accented voice speaks. "Excuse me. Can I sit here?" Kaiser, his eyes concealed by his unruly, overgrown bangs, peers in the direction of the voice. JP. As annoyed as he is with his suffocating optimism and obsession with football, Kaiser always found him a bit more tolerable compared to Arion. He nods, and JP hops onto the seat next to him. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but is something going on with Adé and Eugene? They hardly talk to each other, and Eugene…"
"Hurt Adé," he mutters under his breath.
"Ouais. And you might laugh at me for it, but Naga scares me. Whenever I see him in class, I would freeze up or try to run away. He scares me so much."
"I hate Naga. He made Eugene hurt Adé. He needs to pay." JP stares at him in confusion, but nods in agreement. Even if the context doesn't make sense to him, the general sentiment is mutual: as good a player as Nobby is, his behavior has been ruining team morale. It is almost as if he intended for this to occur.
After exiting the bus, the team heads up to the railway, where, standing on the opposite platform, is Almighty Faith. Kaiser's eyes grow wide when he spots some familiar baubles hanging around the necks of three: captain, goalkeeper, and striker. He turns to look at Naga and Eugene, who appear equally shocked. Are they faking it, or are they just as surprised as he is?
"It can't be," Naga whispers. His father told him about the case studies being performed on students past and present, particularly those with connections to Raimon. He further pointed out that, while both are aesthetically similar, the biggest difference between these test subjects and the average consumer is the amount of radioactive energy emitted from the minerals. While the energy is nonlethal, the effects it has on the human body and mind are considered too drastic to thrust upon those unaware of its potential. As a result, the mass-produced variants of the jewelry, such as the ones worn by the majority of the Raimon Eleven, contain far less of the actual mineral, making them less "pure" than their prototypes. However, despite this, there have been recent reports of failed fusions occurring amongst the general population—many which have resulted in death, whether via suicide or forced euthanasia. Though the distance is too great to tell for certain, a strong feeling in his gut tells him these three are on the same page as he and Eugene.
Snapping Raimon out of their trance is Almighty's captain, a boy whose hair resembles a cross between a shark and a skunk. "You're probably wondering why we're here despite you beating us in regionals, aren't you," he asks.
Riccardo says, "It is rather peculiar. We were supposed to go up against Mirage."
"Well, unfortunately for them, stuff happened, and they weren't able to attend. But Dulana managed to pull some strings and got us to stand in for them."
Riccardo's ashy brows rise. "Can he do that? I assumed they would just disqualify them and move us up towards the semifinals. Then again, last year was hardly any less unusual." To that, the Almighty captain can only nod in agreement.
The awkwardness resumes in the rail, as both teams are forced to spend the ride sitting across from each other. After remaining silent for what feels like hours, the bun-haired member of Almighty Faith speaks up. "Yawn! This is so boring! Hey, how about we try to guess the pitch's new gimmick? It's definitely more fun than trying to murder each other with dirty looks. Don't you agree, Aum?" The green-haired goalie doesn't reply. "Aw, you're no fun! Hey, Cappy, you wanna take a guess?"
The captain ponders for a second before answering, "The last two pitches seemed largely inspired by nature, and they seem to be trying to do something different from last year, so maybe something based on the ocean?"
"Really? I was thinking of that pinball stadium from last year, and it got me thinking 'bout power plants! No, wait, wind power! No, they did that last year, too. Darn it! Aum, help me out here!"
The bun-head grabs him by the shoulder and shakes him as he spoke. After letting him go, Aum, completely unfazed by this rough gesture, turns to the young redhead staring at him and says, "You're Naga, correct? I've heard your name before. Your father works for that big company, Garshield, right? I'm willing to bet you know a thing or two about the Park's design."
This statement catches Naga unawares, taking an extra second to process the query before shaking his head. "I don't know anything about the Park. The last match took me by surprise." He grins bashfully as he scratches his head.
"Really? Huh. I thought since you had connections with the Holy Emperor, you would know of the hazards. I suppose it was foolish of me to make that assumption."
As this conversation occurred, the captain, observing the rest of Raimon's roster, hears an odd sound coming from that direction. Skimming the entire row before him, his eyes stop on his target: a dark-skinned boy with wavy raven-black hair falling over his shoulders and halfway down his torso. The sound, he realizes, is the boy muttering barely audible sentences to himself. What little he can hear seem to pertain to the topic at hand. "You seem to have something on your mind. What's your idea?"
The boy, Adé, stops mid-sentence, then brushes his long hair aside. "I was just thinking, since the stadiums are based around nature an' stuff, I thought maybe the pitch could be, like, a graveyard or somethin'. I mean, death's something that happens naturally, right?" Everything turns dead silent for a moment. Realizing what he just said, he chuckles and waves it off. "Not like that'll ever happen."
Almighty's captain's response takes everyone by surprise. "That is surprisingly profound. Perhaps a bit too morbid for an event like this, but still. And creepy stuff like this is nothing new to the Football Frontier; I read up on an old school team that specialized in the occult arts. Heck, even today, we still have schools in that spirit, like Mirage."
Becoming increasingly amused by this shift in subject matter, the bun-head chimes in, "If that creepy occult school still exists, I'd definitely like to play against them!"
Due to the actions of one eccentric youngster, the entire mood of the ride has shifted. Almost everyone, it seems, has a thing or two to say, whether it's speculating the stadium's new quirks or discussing the history of past Frontier contestants. By the end, every other player has walked out of the rail with a smile on their face. Unfortunately, that is not to last, for as soon as they step out to witness what awaits them, that warm joy dissipated into cold fear.
The path before them is dark and dreary, lined by lifeless trees and veiled by a thick, heavy fog. Dotting what little could be seen of the distant grounds are what appear to be tombstones of various shapes and sizes. They trek down the path for a while, then stop at the foot of a river, where a hooded figure offers to ride them across on their boat. After crossing the river, they enter the stadium, where their greatest fears are confirmed: the football field is dead center in the heart of the underworld.
Author's Note: "Sullen, it hasn't even been a week, what the heck, man?" Well, to cut to the point, I'll be updating on Sundays from here on out. After updating mostly on Tuesdays, I've come to realize that Sunday is a bit more convenient for me, as I hardly ever have plans on that day (like many other people), and with that free day at the end/beginning of the week, it means I can just plop a chapter or two and leave the rest of the week to do other things, including writing, without interruption. That, combined with a bit of Twitter input, is what led me to update today.
As for the story itself, I'm sorry that these past couple of chapters haven't been too exciting. I promise there will be more sakka action next week.
