For a moment, something inside the [Anomaly] shifted. Like the fluttering of a butterfly's wings. It was fleeting. But not unnoticeable.
The gods assembled felt the rumblings of a familiar yet foreign power. The familiarity was like when one forgets what to say, and it's just at the tip of one's tongue. They knew it, but at the same time, they don't.
The [Anomaly] or whoever was control of it didn't do a very good job of being discreet.
Despite that, progress prove to be difficult because the gods were at an impasse with what to do next. The Buddhist's actions were fruitless too. The Priestess was already in the background, her years of training as an attendant showing.
"If only…" The Buddhist began, punching and arm through the anomaly, "If only we had a means of breaking this barrier."
Kenta checked to see if Drew was okay.
The girl in question, who fell face-first into the ground, groaned before sitting up right. "Damnit!"
Of course, only Drew (in Kenta's circle of friends) could make cursing in English look cool and not… Engrish and borderline racist. "Drew, are you okay?"
She wasn't wearing her school uniform, opting for an orange shirt that had a print on it.
"I'm okay, Ke-Kenta?" She looked at him, and then around. "Where are we?"
"At school, what are you doing? And what are you wearing?" Kenta extended a hand and helped her up. She noticed that she was wearing jeans and a deep orange shirt that had a print on it. "Camp Half-Blood." He whispered, reading the logo on her shirt.
Earning a viscous glare from Drew and her crossing her arms. "My eyes are up here, pervert."
At least Kenta had the audacity to blush. "Sorry about that."
Ahem.
Both looked to the side. Mayu, in her prim and proper uniform, was standing between them. "Who's your friend Kenta?"
"Mayu?" Odd, why doesn't she recognize Drew?
Just earlier, they were all hanging out earlier.
Drew smiled at them both before standing upright, massaging the ball on her back while going up. "Sorry about that…" She looked apologetic. "Anyway, gotta go!"
She turned around and left the room…
…only to reappear a second later by the door frame.
Drew followed Kenta as he guided her through the school corridors.
"You sure you don't recognize where we are?"
His stride was wider than hers, by being half a foot taller than her, so she had to run a little to catch up to him. "Of course, Kenta, this isn't our school."
"What're you talking about?" Kenta turned to her.
Drew tilted her head and looked at the boy. Tanned skin from being an outdoor athlete, tall, athletic. It clashed with his posh-looking, upper-crust school uniform that he wore. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, are you?" There was a slight haze in light of his eyes too, like he was looking at things through a filter.
Her question was met with a raised brow. "Please, explain."
Drew looked around. There were students, but she didn't know any of them. The also appear to not notice her despite being dressed inappropriately for school. Once, she wore a somewhat printed leggings underneath her school uniform (whose patterns wouldn't be discernible unless you looked at the fabric straight on), and the moment she stepped into the school, she received weird stares from some students at school. It was odd that no one was giving her any looks with her denim skirt, camp shirt and sandals.
Grabbing his arm, she pulled him into the nearest room she could find.
She slid the door open and dragged him in. A classroom for home-ec. There was a guy there too, with blonde hair and non-Japanese features, but he was keeping to himself as he fussed over a mannequin.
"Hey, we're gonna talk here for a bit."
The non-Japanese guy, without looking at them, raised a thumb.
Drew then pulled Kenta's arm towards the farthest point of the room from the non-Japanese person.
"Tell me, Kenta," Her voice was low, hushed, almost a whisper, "Didn't school just end a while ago?"
"Huh?"
Drew sighed, "I'm going at this wrong." She looked him in the eye and place a hand over his shoulder. "After school, we ate out with everyone and…"
There it was, the sharp sensation. It was different from a headache because it didn't hurt physically. It was more like an annoying feeling, like the scent of nostalgia. Or the bittersweetness of a memory made fresh through recollection.
"After school, we ate out with everyone and-"
Yes. Kenta recalled that. And hurriedly wanting to go home. But… why?
Drew didn't want to push it, but she needed to locate Arisato-san. There was a nagging suspicious that all of this would end if she were able to wake him up.
Kenta, someone who should be outside the sphere of the Supernatural, was unwittingly being dragged into this mess.
But what choice does she have?
Not many allies in… whatever pseudo-school this place was. Besides, Kenta felt human here. Like he was real.
Kenta was finding it hard to breathe again but, "-then the playground."
That's right. Yokai. The playground. And then the running. Shadows. There's was Drew. Dagger in hand, ethereally beautiful. Delicate yet sharp. Her smile: the survivor's smile.
"Drew…" He exhaled.
He'd closed his eyes because all of it was rushing into his pace a lightning speed.
He'd chased after her. Because whatever it was that was needed of her, she didn't need to do. She was self-absorbed (but not conceited) out of necessity. She placed focus on herself because what can you do when danger lurked at almost every corner?
She was proud and rash, and sometimes insensitive, but she was just her being herself.
The flower at the summit.
That was her if asked to describe her. If anything, that was what made her, her.
And that was what endeared her to him.
He opened his eyes.
"What's going on?" Kenta's eyes were back to normal.
Drew shook her head, "I don't know but we need to get to Arisato-san."
"Minato-kun?"
She nodded. "I can't explain in detail, but the key to ending all this," she twirled her finger in a circular motion, "lies with Arisato-san."
"I doubt he's here though." Kenta looked at her, crossing his arms.
She shrugged, "Doesn't hurt to try, we could try asking aro-"
"Ano…"
The two eyes turned to their intruder: the non-Japanese student.
Magic seemed to have little effect. Rituals were rendered obsolete. Brute force left them merely exhausted.
The Moon looked at the work of Takamagahara. Not that he could blame the others, this was an [Anomaly], an existence that should be an impossibility.
With an exhale, the Moon wanted to interject because the gods, the Buddhist and even the yokai were starting to do random things.
Brrrrrrrrrrr~
The rumblings of a vehicle's engine caught everyone's attention.
The Moon turned towards its direction and found three people riding a motorcycle (and sidecar) nearing them. They wore helmets that hid their faces, but just on presence alone, they were not normal.
The Mist was so thick that most of the Mundane would've been avoiding this place like the plague.
The motorcycle slowed down when they neared the assembled group and stopped when they were a few feet from the god Tsukuyomi.
"Is that… a baboon?" the Priestess asked, tilting her head. On the sidecar, seated on the lap of one of the people in the sidecar, was indeed a monkey.
Having caught the attention of everyone, everyone watched as the driver of the motorcycle parked his bike at the edge of the street and slowly descending from his ride.
The two who were in the passenger seat both stood up and stepped down from the sidecar.
With great ceremony, the three took their time removing their helmets.
It amused the god of the Moon knowing that these three had everyone's attention, so he kept his silence. No need to speak when someone would be asking the obvious questions later.
The Buddhist appeared to have recognized them because he cursed under his breath.
"The House of Life's here…"
The blonde non-Japanese student led the way.
"Iz theez your firzt time 'ere?"
He spoke Japanese, but it was with a heavy accent.
Kenta followed the boy, right behind Drew. The boy didn't introduce himself, but he did say that he knew Minato-san.
"Yes." Drew answered. "Are you sure you know where Minato-san is?"
"Oui!" he turned around, his bowl-cut hair swishing with movement. "Minato-sama is just around the corner."
"You speak French?" Drew asked amazed.
For someone who was supposed to be in the background, this NPC stood out too much.
"You speak French?" As a daughter of Aphrodite, she has a certain degree of affinity for the language – something to do with French being the language of love.
"Of course, miss."
She understood it, thanks to her affinity for it. Also, "Interesting. And how are you related to Arisato-san?"
The boy didn't skip a beat. "He's my most precious person. In Japan, of course."
She recognized the affection in his tone. It was nuanced, and too special to be given a word, because to call it 'affection' just wouldn't do it justice. Whatever Minato and this boy experienced together, it was something words couldn't describe in detail.
Too real to be considered a fake. This person was real. Too real. This wasn't some weird, alternate reality, fever dream because this person – this person was a person.
"What are you?"
The boy paused, almost for half a second – her demi-god training saw that moment. "A friend?"
They stopped on the school's entrance, to where the lunch lady was located. The boy turned around.
Actually…
Everyone was looking at them.
Kenta wanted to take a step back.
All the people around, who were supposed to have been people in the background, who were supposed to have been just another face in the crowd, looked at him.
But their stares weren't hateful. Not in any way.
To be honest, to Kenta it was quite the opposite of it.
"Minato-sama… iz zomeone trapped in ze pazt."
"Huh?"
For a moment the boy shifted. His non-Japanese body and frame shifting into something shiny. Rainbow? But it reverted.
The three House of Life magicians were also stumped.
"Any idea what's going on, Zia?" Said a caramel-haired teenage girl with a thick British accent.
"If I didn't then we wouldn't be having this conversation with demons, Sadie." Zia was this dark-skinned beauty that had jet-black straight hair.
The other one, the third magician was a Japanese male currently talking to a baboon. Interestingly enough, the monkey wore a Laker's jersey.
The Buddhist, who is a passable English conversationalist, leaned a little to the Priestess and whispered, "Unfortunately that guy's a-"
"I can hear you, you know." The sole male Magician said, giving the baboon a high-five.
"Good. You should just return back to Shibuya."
The Priestess could only shake her head. She knew that there was some rivalry between the Buddhist faction and the House of Life – especially since they were encroaching on their land.
Well, the Shinto faction tend to be less pronounced as them, but that doesn't mean she holds the House of Life in any high regard. Tensions between all three factions present were high, especially since the House of Life was currently undergoing reforms (read: they have a new Chief Lector). In fact, the only thing keeping their factions in check was their pact of non-interference.
"Have you tried asking Isis about what's going on?" Zia's voice cut through the noise.
Tsukuyomi, who kept to himself, turned to the girl. With great ceremony, he stood up from his cloud-seat and walked towards the Sadie girl.
Zia stood defensively between them, but the god only stared at Sadie. Later, when Zia would ask if Sadie was okay, she'd describe the gaze of the god as unnerving, like he was peering into her soul with Isis' presence enveloping her protectively. Having satisfied his curiosity, he brought out a fan from his sleeve. "My, my, a medium." His English was impeccable.
"A what?" Sadie's stance was defensive, a hand going to her back pocket. A weapon?
"Host." Zia said, also keeping her guard up.
"I don't think you should be antagonizing the Isis' host." The Magician said, also in English, stand between them.
"Who said I was antagonizing?" The Moon god unfurled his fan and turned around, walking back to his seat. His subordinates, though unassuming, were also on-guard. Not that Tsukuyomi was a god that couldn't defend himself, but he was their leader. Any slight on him is a slight to them.
Sitting back on his cloud, Tsukuyomi asked. "Well, can the [Goddess of Magic] enlighten us?"
"Tell me, how does a hero's tale end?" The question was asked to Drew. "Can you tell me what happens to a hero at the end of his journey?"
The non-Japanese boy turned to Kenta and repeated his question in his accented Japanese.
"They live happily ever after, right? They are heroes after all." Kenta's reply was innocent as it was hopeful. A naiveté born from shonen manga and sentai shows.
The non-Japanese boy nodded, smiled too. A sincere smile. "Quite so, a hero cannot be called a hero if they aren't victorious after all."
He turned to Drew. "What do you think?"
Drew didn't want to answer because she knew all too well.
Heroes, whether born one or through happenstance, are those who die for their beliefs.
"Quite a morose line of thought there, but I don't disagree with you."
Drew realized that she was thinking out loud. At this point, Drew has gotten desensitized about it.
When a demi-god reaches a certain point in his life where he outgrows the Camp, he leaves. When he outgrows the need of security, outgrows the Camp's activities, or becomes disillusioned by the gods, he leaves the nest. It varies from demi-god to demi-god, but it's something most of the older kids go through.
Chiron has seen to it that they have been prepared for the [World], so it was the culmination of their time in Camp. But…
When was the last time Drew's heard from the older kids? What happened to Luke Castellan's generation? Or the generation after them? All she's ever heard were...
"Heroes are those who's tragedies are remembered until time immemorial."
The Japanese boy tilted his head but chose to keep quiet.
"Let us go."
And just like that, the crowd became the crowd again, and the unsettling but not hateful aura was gone.
"She says it feels familiar." Sadie stood at the precipice of the Anomaly a not-barrier that kept everything outside while keeping them safe.
"We can infer that whatever it is controlling the field is not antagonistic since we aren't getting hurt if we try to enter." Zia said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"What about those already inside?"
Zia tilted her head, "Well, this is just my guess, but I think they're still fine."
"We know that already," the Buddhist said, crossing his arms. He realized his tone and looked apologetic. He turned to the Magician, "Well, at least we are all equally confused."
jingle~
"Hey, do you hear that?"
It was the Priestess who heard it first. "Music? I hear music."
"…a festival? Can't be." The Buddhist said. But there was something that can be described as festival music nearing them. He turned to the Yokai.
They were already bowing.
Only a few beings could make Yokai bow.
"Nurahiyon."
The boy led them through the infirmary. Drew felt uneasy. It may have been just her nerves, but she knew something was about to happen.
"Minato's inside." The non-Japanese boy said as he slid the door open.
Inside the room, however, was total black.
The non-Japanese boy hissed. "Minato!"
A tendril of blackness shot out from the room and hit the non-Japanese boy straight in the chest.
Drew's reflexes weren't fast enough and that they too got pushed by the strength of the black tendril.
When she came to, they were outside.
The hospital? No it was the same school.
"Urgh… Is everyone okay?"
Kenta fell on the ground. The non-Japanese boy…
"You! Get out!"
The few students who bore witness to the scene fled in fear. But a few remained, with their phones capturing the moment. The teachers, where are the teachers? Well this isn't a real school anyway.
"I said, get out!"
There was a flash, reality cracking, but the boy was still a boy "Minato-sama, is not a plaything!" From his pocket, he brought a fan.
A wave from his fan produced a wind so strong that it peeled the wall apart.
Drew kept her body low, fearing that the strong gusts might drag her up. She felt something fall on her, and realized that Kenta's draped an arm around her, keeping her close.
"It would appear my help is needed." Nurahiyon said after emerging from his palanquin.
The Moon god looked at him before sighed, "I guess it cannot be helped." He stood up and clapped his hand once. "Everyone: prepare! We are entering the [Anomaly]."
"Wait, I don't get it. What's that bald guy gonna do?" Sadie said in English.
Zia looked at Sadie before muttering a translation spell. A glowing hieroglyph appeared on thin-air. "This should work."
"I'm dumb, aren't I?" Sadie tried to pass it with a laugh, "Anyway, what's this about Nurahiyon? What can he do that three factions could not?"
The Japanese Magician spoke: "It's because of his legend."
"Huh?"
The Buddhist moved towards them. "The supernatural aren't as static as most would believe them to be." The translation spell apparently worked because while they were able to understand what they were saying, the words coming out of their mouth was different from what their ears were hearing.
"As much as I cannot stand this guy, he's right. Modern interpretations of the Supernatural can affect their abilities. For a culture that takes folklore and gives them interpretations through different mediums, legends are born the more those interpretations are accepted." The Magician said.
"Which is why Son Goku, the [Monkey King] has can shoot beams of light now."
Zia turned to Nurahiyon, who retreated to his palanquin. "I don't understand. Is his legend really that powerful?"
"Not really: individually…" the Magician said, looking at the being in question.
"What are those legends, then? I'm curious." Said Sadie.
Zia said, "You sound like your brother."
"Hey! I take offense to that!"
Sadie still looked hopeful to the two Japanese people.
"The first: 'the Nurahiyon would enter people's homes in the evening when the people there are busy and then drink tea and smoke like it's their own home.' The second: 'While night is still approaching, the Nurarihyon comes to visit as the chief monster.'"
"I guess the translation spell isn't doing it's job properly. I don't get it." Sadie's head deflated.
Zia shook her head, "No, it's simple actually. Nurahiyon has the power infiltrate any secure area, has the power to immediately have an affinity for the area he's entering, and his powers get boosted when it's nighttime."
"The ultimate antithesis to the [Anamaly]'s structure."
After a few minutes, the assembled procession of Tsukuyomi and Nurahiyon were ready. The instrumental music started and the carriers of Nurahiyon's palanquin lifted it up.
With the buzz of the festive music, Sadie felt a dizzying sensation. Especially when they entered the Anomaly. But unlike earlier, where entering was like exiting, this time…
There was a sensation of passing through a membrane. Of breaking into something. It was getting hard to see. Too much Mist!
She felt something being placed on her head. "Khufu?" She grabbed what he was placing: it was a pair of rider goggles.
With it on, sight felt bearable. She was unable to see anything, but unlike earlier, she was going somewhere now.
When they broke free from all that Mist… they were… still inside the city.
But…
Sadie could see it was night time, the Moon glowing every so brightly. But it was bigger. And it's hue was eerie.
From the distance: explosions? Are those explosions?
They entered a battlefield. The buildings were in disarray, fires raged throughout the land, and every area, there was fighting happening.
The Yokai stopped their procession when everyone's entered.
From as far as the eye can see, battle raged on.
"Is that…?" Figures, creatures, other yokai, demons, angels and monsters fought what appeared to be shadow-like creatures.
Sadie felt Khufu place his hands over Sadie's eyes through the goggles. He screeched something, feeling Magic coursing from his hands and into the googles before letting go.
"Khufu? What did you do?"
Zia too was being handled by the baboon. "I think… I think he's making us see."
"I can see just fine."
She shook her head, "That's not what I mean." She pointed at the sky, where a floating chariot pulled by two big cats broke formation of not-bird-like creatures. "I think that's a goddess." She pointed the charioteer of said chariot: a blonde beauty that hailed magic at the tip of her fingertips.
Freyja. Isis whispered in Sadie's head. Khufu was probably giving them a blessing that let them see a god without evaporating: something about Zeus' legend with that one lady...
The most concerning thing above it all was the backdrop of the entire battlefield. A tower that reached high, almost to the Moon.
Mayu opened her eyes. One moment she was having her lunch peacefully inside the classroom when the earth suddenly rumbled. Then the floor she was standing on gave way and she fell.
"What happened?" Her body aching but not injured, she tried to sit up.
"You okay?" She turned and a teen wearing a strapped green jacket. He wore orange tinted glasses, and he looked at her with concern. "This the girl you're looking for Īsan?"
Īsan?
Yeah. She knows a guy with that name.
A guy with bandages on one of his eyes.
Yes. She knows that guy. She met him in the… hospital? That's can't be right.
"Mayu-san! Are you okay?"
Shuhei just finished doing his business in the male's lavatory when the earth rattled. He felt the building collapse and when he came to…
Oh, it's that fairy.
"Dia!"
Fairy? Huh? He sat upright.
Drew dared to peek. Reality has broken down again. The veil of illusion that cloaked the area was again gone.
They were indeed in the same hospital. But the hospital was now in ruins.
The non-Japanese student fought against the black blob-like entity that shrouded Minato's sleeping form.
"Bebe!"
A new voice came from behind.
Other students appeared: a boy with slicked-back hair, a girl with long hair wearing glasses, a brunet boy wearing glasses, a tanned girl with short hair, two boys wearing a jogging outfit (one in blue, the other in grey), and an obese boy with unkept black hair. Leading them was an adult woman with short hair.
"Sensei!" Bebe, the non-Japanese boy called out. "That shadow's got Mianto-sama!"
A wave of his fan created strong gusts of wind. It made short work of the tendrils that threatened to hurt them. But it didn't harm the-
The assembled gods and yokai regrouped.
Sadie had, more than once, double checked if the wand that she had tucked on her back pocket was still there.
Zia was currently studying the many coffins that littered the battlefield. "It's probably impenetrable." Earlier they saw one of the gods hurl impressive lightning bolts that unfortunately landed on one. Didn't leave a scratch.
"Any idea what's inside?" the Magician asked.
"Best leave sleeping dragons alone." She said.
"Good point."
"Hello!"
All eyes turned to a newcomer.
A little girl with her braided into two buns. The red backpack she wore was unmistakable. An elementary student. "Are you here to help Minato-niichan?"
