Chapter 4
Rude awakening

"Why...Why are you…so unimpressive compared to your siblings…"

I woke up with a silent jolt from my slumber, inhaling air to my nostrils like it was the first time I had experienced the sensation of having oxygen in my body. Sweat coated my entire body as I shivered under the drenched covers of the couch. My muscles ached with soreness and my mind was filled with static. The infamous curse of waking up after a nightmare, I suppose.

As I stared at the white void that was my ceiling, my thoughts wandered to the words I heard before waking up. They still haunted me despite my endless attempts at rationalizing my fear. I wasn't affected by it anymore...but the younger, more naive part of me was still fragile over them. Their heart was in pain, shattered to pieces as every syllable struck with intensity. I had no reign on them, and their actions were unpredictable. I couldn't stand their unstable emotions and constant tantrum over the past.

I hated them.

My loathing came to an abrupt halt as blue crossed my vision, contrasting the current white background. A shark tail waved around above me, my eyes following its movement as it swayed around before suddenly getting incredibly close to my fa-

SMACK SMACK SMACK

"AARGH!" I immediately stood up with a yelp of pain, the sheets on top of me scattering to the floor. Tears blinded my sight as I furiously rubbed my features as a futile try to make the pain go away.

"Wake up, sleepyhead! Today is a brand new day!" A familiar voice rang out in my ears, my head turning toward the signal by instinct. As the pain finally faded away, I blinked a few times to see who had viciously attacked me. White hair, sapphire orbs, and a razor sharp toothy smile welcomed my view.

"Can I get a reason as to why you'd slap me with your tail, Gura?" I greeted the shark girl in front of me as I sent her my best glare in my arsenal, my tone promising revenge if I didn't like the answer. Her face scrunched up as she was calculating the best plan to evade my counter assault, before she simply shrugged with a small grin.

"You were staring at the ceiling like a weirdo. It was creeping me out." She replied as if she was stating the obvious, walking away from the couch. I could only sigh, my previous anger dissipating away. How was I supposed to stay mad when she was right about me acting strange?

"How about you grab my attention like a normal person next time?" I offered as I lifted myself off the olive colored couch, stretching my arms in the air to get rid of the remaining daze. Gura, who was now in the kitchen just beside the living room, simply waved off my demands as she sat on one of the creaky chairs.

That's right...I had almost forgotten that I had met a stray yesterday and decided to welcome her in my small and humble apartment. I was actually surprised at myself for failing to recall the chaotic events of last night. The meeting in the alleyway, the arcade, the robbery, and the discovery that the girl I was treating like a lost kid was in fact a real citizen of the lost city of Atlantis that was ancient in terms of age.

My brain hadn't fully processed the information of unknown species of people capable of controlling water and wielding trident made out of liquid...but then again, I didn't have much time to process such info when my head only demanded sleep out of me at the time.

"I'm surprised your room was so organized." The subject of my thought decided to speak up, crossing her legs like a child where she sat. I raised an eyebrow at her remark as I picked up the covers from the ground, rolling it in a ball as I headed toward the washing machine.

"Implying something, shrimp?" I challenged with a threatening tone, shoving the blanket in the pile of laundry next to the machine.

"Well, look at the living room, it's a complete mess!" She exclaimed as her hands launched forward to demonstrate her point, my eyes following the accusation she was pointing at.

The kitchen and living room were connected to each other, the hardwood floor connecting the two spaces together. The cooking area itself was in a decent shape, looking like what'd you'd expect out of a kitchen with a few dirty dishes in the sink. The living room, on the other hand, was in absolute disarray. Boxes of various food companies sat beside the couch, books and CD cases abandoned on the ground. The whole place was a safety hazard, yet, I could always find my way in and out without falling on my face. The only spot that seemed out of place was the giant wooden shelf filled with books and cases. It was tight, neatly placed, and well ordered...the complete opposite of the space it occupied. Behind the couch, a few feet apart, were the washing machine and the dryer, awkwardly placed against the wall where the bathroom door stood.

Then...there was the door of my room. The place I had absolutely no memory of. I've lived in this apartment for 9 years now and somehow, I had only set foot thrice in the bedroom. The shades of the paint, the furniture, hell, the colors of my bed sheets. All of these things were left to rot in the forgotten labyrinth of my mind. I had no knowledge of what lies beyond this door...and I did not want to gain any whatsoever.

Maybe I was scared, maybe I liked the mystery, or some other convoluted explanation but I was sure of this: This wasn't my room. Even when I told Gura that she could use the room, I did not bother to sneak a peek. I knew that nothing important was in there at the very least, so there was no reason to check.

"Then, you enter the bedroom and there's only a bed and a drawer with nothing in it! What gives?" Gura continued, raising her arms to express her confusion. Welp, there goes that mystery.

"Don't know what to tell you, my clothes are in a bag on top of the washer and all my books and CDs are here. I've got no reason to set foot in there." I explained the previous lingering thoughts to her, walking toward one of the chairs to sit down. The Atlantean simply stared at me before sighing to herself, like a mother who was disappointed in her child.

"Looks like me calling you a weirdo was me being right." She responded with a hint of superiority etched in her words, smirking at me with a look that irritated me at my core. If I could sock Past Hunter in the face for inviting this girl in my home, I'd gladly invent the first time machine to add a dropkick to the combo.

"Alright, Normal Person, what do you plan on doing about your situation?" I asked with a small glare, tossing a question her way to throw her off. My tactical strategy worked wonder as her face morphed in an expression of sudden surprise, panic invading sapphires as her mouth formed a circle.

"W-well...I was thinking of gathering information…" She started while slowly rocking back and forth on the chair, her eyes looking somewhere more interesting than mine apparently. After a few seconds of silence, I shook my head with raised eyebrows as to signal her to continue the tale of her epic plans. "...and I'll do that...by asking people on t-the streets!"

"Wow, nice going there Shrimp, that's a really good plan...if we were in the medieval age, where myths and legends were still treated with an ounce of credibility." I groaned out in exasperation, massaging my temple with one hand. "Try that in modern times and you'll get people looking at you like a freak."

"Wow, really good plan Goora." Mocked the shark girl with a low pitched voice, clearly trying to do an impression of me. My comeback was a snort as I got up from my chair, heading for the bag of clothes to find a clean shirt to wear. "Got a better idea, grandpa?"

"Grandpa?"

"You keep calling me Shrimp like I'm some kid, it's only fair I treat you like an old man, grandpa." The girl shrugged, the previous annoying smirk back on her face as she regained the control of the battlefield.

"Ignoring the miscalculation of my age, I'm gonna suggest we get you some new clothes." I replied to her prior question, grabbing the new set of clothes as I headed for the bathroom.

"What? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?! What about your work?!" She yelled off at me as I entered the bathroom, taking off my wear from yesterday. I didn't even bother changing when I arrived home last night, being too busy with accommodating Gura with her troublesome situation. Taking one whiff at my arm, I recoiled back from the stench. There was no way I was going out like that.

"Because you look like you're going to an anime-con or some weird event. Plus, the shark tail doesn't help your case. As for my job, I called to ask for a couple of days off." I rattled off mindlessly as I closed the door of the restroom, locking it immediately. Turns out being a diligent worker has its perk, especially when you haven't taken a day off ever since you got the job.

"Hey! I did my best but I don't understand human fashion! Beside, they were the only thing laying around!" I heard her muffled voice coming through the wooden gate, resisting the urge to slam my hand on my face.

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that and will enter the shower. You should take one after me and then we'll head for a clothing store." I mouthed off to her as I turned on the shower, swiftly getting in despite the freezing temperature.

As the cold water rushed down my skin, I couldn't help but sigh in a mix of relief and fatigue. Hectic mornings were not part of my routine and dealing with Gura's unending energy was definitely a toll for the mind. I still appreciated her company, however, the endless assaults on my pride were hard to retaliate against. Maybe she was right, maybe I was old.

A cold shower would help fix my tired state. After all, the day had just begun and trying to pick an entire wardrobe for a girl was certainly gonna take a lot of patience, determination...but most important of all, courage…

Surely, it wouldn't be that bad...right?

"God, what a horrible experience…"

After Gura and I took a shower, we adventured outside for a store that would sell clothes for girls. A difficult task, considering I never had any reason to go there in my life before. After we finally achieved our goal, our perilous quest wasn't over as we had to pick something that would look casual and normal.

Unfortunately, a 27 years old man entering the store with a girl that was short enough to be mistaken as a child sent the clerks on alert, interrogating me like a detective trying to catch any dirt on a suspect. When she asked for her age, I was gonna respond that she was around the same age as me, that she was just a friend with the curse of being very short. However, fate decided to mess with my perfect plan and threw the Atlantean stating that she was 9753 years old to the clerk, who proceeded to stare at the two of us with intense confusion.

I had to rely on the last plan in my line of defense before I ended up in jail for dubious reasons, which was to call the shark girl my little sister. The clerk easily accepted the answer, not seeing any danger. However, I saw the threat when I took a glance at Gura, who was probably wishing for the god of thunder to strike me down numerous times till I was nothing but ashes...at least, that was my theory judging by the shade of scarlet decorating her face.

That was only the beginning…

"Like you can talk, you didn't have to be treated like a little kid by the employees…" The reason for my troublesome morning, spoke beside me with heavy venom enticed in her sentence. I turned my head to face her, narrowing my eyes at her stinged reply to my whining.

The Atlantean was now wearing an oversized blue hoodie with a black skirt that stopped above her knees, keeping her white sneakers despite me offering to buy her a new pair. It was a pretty common look among girls her height but it definitely helped her blend in the crowd a bit more. Too bad we couldn't do anything about her shark tail peeking out but we weren't magicians. People would throw looks at her from time to times but surprisingly, most wouldn't notice it.

"It's not my fault, if you hadn't blurted out your age, I would've come up with a less embarrassing lie." I retorted back while staring her down, using my free hand to point at her. My other hand was busy carrying the bag with her old outfit in it. Gura did request to keep them as; and I quote: a trophy of me making it to the surface.

"I wasn't lying..."

"Need I remind you that humans don't live as long as you? Next time, just say you're 18 or something." I sighed, ignoring her grunt of annoyance over me scolding her...and her imitating me in a bad impression...and her sticking her tongue at me like a chil- "Knock it off already."

"Where are we anyway?" The shark asked, switching the topic to avoid another scolding. We were currently standing in an enormous hall, decorated with chandeliers and fancy looking tables, giving a royal feeling to the place. On the right were massive wooden shelves filled to the brim with books of various width and length, people digging and combing through them to find the right one. The sun shone down through the windows placed high above the roughen stone walls, the entire place being almost as bright as the outside world. A few students occupied the chairs as they were either reading or working. I stopped walking and turned my body toward her, raising my hand like a guide would on a tourist trip.

"Welcome to what we call a library." I replied with the voice of a TV host, doing my best to not be too loud. It wasn't like talking was completely forbidden but disturbing others would definitely get you a couple of mean looks. Thankfully, Gura had caught the hint and had watched her decibel level when chewing me out earlier.

"Ah, it's very different from ours." The Atlantean noticed, scouring her surroundings as she spun around. Seems like Atlantis had libraries too, which could explain her surprising knowledge of the surface. The fact that she knew what an arcade was should've clued me in, but now, it was practically confirmed. "I suppose this is the librarian?"

I followed her line of sight to the counter near the entrance, books and papers scattered on top in a giant clutter. An elderly man with a white shirt and tie was placing piles of books on a chariot, quietly humming to himself.

"I guess so, why do you ask?"

"I don't see a weapon on him, is that normal?" She asked with genuine curiosity, squinting at the man to see him better. I slowly turned my head to her to see if she wasn't messing around, but shockingly, she wasn't.

"Are books that important where you live?" It was now my turn to ask curiously, gaining her attention as she looked at me. For librarians to have weapons, it must mean that knowledge was considered crucial in Atlantis.

"Yeah, we don't have much info on the surface so any book, paper or rock with evidence of the outside world is treated with utmost care." The white haired girl in front of me looked so serious when speaking about her world, her features losing the playful attitude she usually had. Looks like my guess was right. Knowing how old Atlantis is, historians would kill to get a sliver of the knowledge hidden in those libraries.

"Well. over here, everything is almost stored digitally now, so physical literature has lost a lot of their values over the years...Sad, considering nothing beats the feeling of a good book but you can't fix idiocy." I mumbled to her, anger seeping through my lips as Gura's firm expression swiftly shifted to one of mild-surprise.

"Wow, what's up with you?" She questioned as she followed my lead toward the enormous shelves, sticking behind me. I simply took a deep breath and started scanning the rows of tomes.

"I just...don't enjoy how willing society is to give up on libraries because we got the internet. I speak from a biased perspective but I still think there's merit in keeping physical copies of stories, research and documents." I explained as I looked through the myth and legend sections, grabbing a few volumes here and there as Gura closely paid attention to my words.

"I think it's the first time I've seen you passionate about something." She muttered with a bit of astonishment hidden in her voice. I couldn't blame her, my emotions were always hidden in the crevice of my heart, always escaping at the worst of times.

It's not like nothing affected me, I was just too busy overthinking matters rather than reacting to them. Lots of events and situations could bring up unwanted emotions, however, I always had time to rationalize and reason with them before they could wreak havoc. Naturally, I wasn't perfect, so sometimes, they would escape without me being aware of their jailbreak.

"Like I said, I'm biased. I enjoy literature of any kind, so it's only normal that I feel a bit heated about what we're talking about." I continued as I finally grabbed the last book for now, turning my body to face Gura, who had a small smile adorning her features. "What?"

"Ah, nothing. What are all these for?" She shook her head before nodding at the pile of paper in my hands, her vision carefully reading out the words on the spines. I headed for one of the free tables, the girl following me behind.

"These are books about myths, legends, folklore and tales that could be related with the lost city of Atlantis." I reported to her as I dropped the materials on the surface, getting a few looks from the smacking sound it did. "The internet may have a lot of info digitized but sometimes, a book can have interesting tidbits that were ignored. They might be fake but we can have you confirm statements and that way-"

"-we can see who truly witnessed Atlantis and who didn't!" Gura finished for me excitedly, getting a few glares from the citizens of the library. We both cleared our throat and sat down awkwardly, embarrassed of our behavior.

"Anyway, I'll pick this one…" I whispered carefully to her as I grabbed a volume on the pile, the girl in front of me simply nodding shyly as she did the same.

And so, the search for clues began…

"Liars...all of them…"

I couldn't help but think the same thing as my head became a victim of gravity and promptly smacked on the hard surface. Gura laid defeated in her chair, her limbs sprawled over as she looked like she was gonna drop to the ground at any second. A heap of books were the signs of a failed clue hunting session. The aura around us spelled despair and sorrow, members of the library passing by with worried looks.

We spent a total of 3 hours rummaging around papers to find any believable myth about the cursed city and somehow, we came out empty handed and defeated beyond any hope of recovering. Everytime a mention of Atlantis was brought up, it was quickly followed by a ridiculous amount of lies. The only common truth all of these fake stories shared were the name of Atlantis, which only meant two things: Somehow and someway, someone witnessed the city but forgot or didn't bother writing down their experience and only told of it...or the Atlantis Gura was talking about wasn't the same one as the human legend.

The former seemed more possible than the latter but with all these dead ends popping up and ruining our motivation, the second option felt more appetizing.

"At this rate, we'll never find a single clue whatsoever." My companion moaned with anguish, her head joining mine on the table as a thump resonated on the wood. She was demoralized and honestly, I felt the same way. Luckily, I couldn't allow myself to wallow in pity alongside her as I promised I would help her.

"You know, this is just one of numerous libraries. There's other places like this in the world and hey, if all of them fail, we can always rely on online forums as a desperate attempt." I tried my best to comfort her, but alas, my words didn't have the power to heal her lack of determination at the moment. Sometimes, it was better to let the other person think.

"I just don't get it...I know I saw others of my kind float up to the surface before...there's no way I'm the only one who made it…" She whispered with disbelief creeping up in her tone, her eyes lost in the void of her anxiety. I could only look away, useless to do anything to relieve her from her worries.

"I don't know...maybe it's not the same Atlantis?" I tried proposing weakly, despite the fact that even I found it hard to believe. In a sudden shift of mood, Gura slammed her hands on the table, the loud sound echoing in the hall of the library.

"How the hell would that be possible?! That makes no sense! It can't be coincidence that humans AND Atlantean named both of their cities the same thing! Plus, both have mentions of being sunk under the ocean, so you know it can't be that!" She cried out in frustration, showing me books after books to prove her point. She did make a point and I know she was right...but how to explain the lack of hint?

"Calm down, you're being too loud." I tried calming her down before we received any more death incantations from angry readers in the room. My eyes scouted the area to make sure the librarians weren't coming over to kick us out...but no one was coming...and no one was watching us.

No one was in the library anymore.

"Wait...where's everyone?" I whispered in shock and confusion, the Atlantean in front of me getting up from her chair to look at any sign of life. I slowly did the same, the screeching of my chair grating against the floor resonating in the silence as we carefully took a step in the middle of the room.

"This isn't normal, right?" Gura asked for confirmation, checking toward the counter to see if anyone was hiding or playing a prank...but nothing could be seen nor heard.

"N-no...it's only 3 pm, people should still be in here, the librarian at the very least...what is going on?" I responded as I did my best to not let fear get a hold of my control. It's almost as if the entire population had been snuffed out in an instant, everyone fading away leaving just us in the empty building...and we hadn't noticed because we were so focused on our current task.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your current hobby…" A voice cut through our musing, both of our heads turning to the source. A woman dressed in a white office blouse and short black pants combined with dark stockings appeared in our sights, standing in front of the entrance. A pale aqua strap with a name tag, loosely hung around her neck, the letters "Staff" written on it in black sharpie. Piercing crimson stared down at me and Gura, the glasses on the tip of her nose giving her a stern and menacing look. Her dark short hair somehow had a red accent underneath it, being in the same shade as her eyes. She almost looked like a regular office worker...if it wasn't for the shadowy katana scabbard she was carrying in one of her hands.

We had never noticed her presence until she spoke, which was odd considering we were looking everywhere for any signs of life. She just...appeared out of nowhere.

"Uh...c-can we help you?" I stuttered despite my best effort to remain calm, my instinct telling me that messing with this woman was a terrible idea. The sound of heel clacking against marble caught up to my ears as she approached us slowly, her pupils never leaving ours. Gura seemed more tense than usual, her body posture signifying that she was ready to defend herself in any sign of a threat.

"My name is Enma, I am a manager of Cover Corp. and I am here for the two of you. I inform you…" She responded with a strict and direct tone, her other hand reaching for the black and white hilt of the weapon. A clicking noise made itself aware as she unsheathed the blade from its cage, the katana being of a luscious red reminiscent of the color of blood. A swift motion of the arm and the deadly steel was pointed directly at us, the rays of the sun reflecting a dangerous hue against the metal.

"...That you are under arrest."