Chapter 4: Imminent disaster
Credit and thanks Go to Aluxander01 for the new cover image, on Twitter aluxander01. By the way expect infrequent updates.
The bus ride to Karakuma had proven to be a lengthy one as Rosa began to fall asleep, her head lay against the top of the seat. She knew what sleeping entailed but still did it in order to appear like a normal person, everyone would be suspicious if they thought she didn't sleep. Slowly Rosa began to drift off to sleep and nobody noticed this not even Prakasha who was sitting next to her. Prakasha for her part was too absorbed in organizing her notes to pay attention to anything else. Minutes passed by at a sluggish pace but soon enough Rosa left the realm of the conscious and entered the realm of her nightmares. She soon found herself standing in a nearly pitch-black void where the only source of light came from a single ray of light from above. Rosa took several steps forward and noticed the wet feeling of a liquid at her feet, each step sending a small splash and ripple in the unseen liquid. She lifted her foot up to inspect the liquid and was concerned to find that she had stepped in blood, everywhere she went the pool of blood knew no boundaries. Walking in whatever direction she pleased Rosa was anxious with what horrors could suddenly jump out and confront her. Soon she entered a white corridor that stretched on for a good distance before leading to a door at the very end. The corridor itself had practically nothing to speak of, it was simply white and nothing else. Rosa charged to the end of the corridor and slowly opened the door, taking a closer look at the door Rosa noticed that the handle was drenched in blood. This only added to her trepidation as the room beyond came into her view, the room itself was nothing new to Rosa. It was a room filled with blood and entrails to the extent that one would think that a fierce struggle had occurred in this room.
By now such a scene would not bother her in the slightest since she had become used to it, desensitized would be a better way to describe it. Suddenly the electricity within the room cut out, this didn't hinder Rosa as her eyes had evolved to see in the dark. She possessed numerous traits taken from other creatures which would give her an advantage in the dark. Almost a second later and the darkness was lifted however once it was Rosa wished the lights had stayed off. Rosa was now surrounded by a throng of bloodied humans, most of them she recognized but the distinct feature that they all shared was that the skin on their faces had been ripped off. Her name was echoed by the nightmarish entities in a disjointed manner, by now Rosa was sweating bullets and a terrified expression sat on her face. She knew these entities to be the people that she failed to save, during the viral outbreak that destroyed her previous life she would occasionally make the promise to various people that she'd save them. Obviously, she had failed numerous times and now they had come back to haunt her as the wicked could have no rest. The bloodied people shambled in her direction and Rosa wasted no time in backing away, there was another corridor just opposite to the door that she had come in from. The blood leaking faces of the people followed her as she fled, you could see the finer details of their facial muscles and a horrid rictus grimace. Sadly, Rosa was so scared and focused on running that she didn't notice that the corridor she was running down had no door, she was trapped.
The throng of bloody people continued to shamble in her direction, her name forming a ghastly cacophony that escaped their mouths. By now Rosa had her back against the dead end of the corridor that she had gone down. Tears began welling up in her eyes and her breathing became quicker than it already was.
"I'm sorry" Rosa began to repeat these words over and over; she lamented her failures however there was nothing that could be done about it.
Her tears finally began to flow freely and she resigned herself to her inevitable fate as the throng closed in on her. She didn't notice the glowing line behind her that began to form the shape of a door, out of the door came a familiar marebito. Prakasha suddenly rushed in with a concerned expression, her eyes focused solely on the kitsune in distress. "Rosa wake up!"
Prakasha grabbed hold of Rosa's shoulders and began to shake her relentlessly, soon everything began to fade. A sign that the kitsune was waking up which would bring her relief from her nightmare, the bloody figures began to disappear one by one. As the last of them disappeared everything went black and the void that the two inhabited was no more.
In order to pass time Eiden and Dakini began to explore the top floor of the double decker bus, upstairs they were met with a tiny café and boutique. The café and boutique both caught Dakini's eyes, she ran over to one of the tables closest to the counter where she eyed the menu. Behind the counter stood a Panda who was in the process of creating ramen for a mole customer, the mole had a very enthusiastic look on his face. Dakini watched as the panda chef pulled the noodles from each end which caused the uncooked noodles to lengthen, the panda then began to move the noodles in a way not unlike that of a jump rope. After several seconds Dakini shifted her attention back to the menu and turned to Eiden, she pointed at the menu and tilted her head once again in order to pose a question.
"That is a menu, you can order food with it but you have to pay for it" Hearing this got another round of applause from Dakini who was always delighted that Eiden or Rosa would answer her questions.
"Dakini why don't we check out that boutique? I'd like to get you something to wear besides that raggedy old swimsuit" Dakini simply smiled and followed Eiden to the boutique.
Within the boutique there was an admittedly impressive variety of clothes despite the small size of the boutique itself. Everything from party dresses to dress shirts, there was one particular article of clothing that Dakini gravitated to the most. It was a red dress with a gold border, the dress also came with a small pair of shorts which was a relief to Eiden. The dress itself resembled a qipao but only vaguely, looking at the dress himself Eiden imagined Dakini wearing it. Deciding that he had made up his mind Eiden turned towards Dakini in order to ask her if she wanted the dress.
"Dakini would you like me to buy that dress?"
Dakini's eyes began to sparkle and she vigorously nodded her head, Eiden smiled at Dakini's childish enthusiasm since it always brought a smile to his face.
"I'd like that dress over there" The clerk behind the counter, a slim male sheep, nodded and handed the dress in a bag to Eiden.
"That'll be 4500 yen, please"
Eiden reached into his wallet and handed the money to the clerk who directed them to the adjacent changing room. The room itself was just as small as the boutique in comparison however it had plenty of room for someone of Dakini's size.
"I'll wait for you outside, make a sound if you have trouble putting on your dress" Dakini nodded at that statement and quickly entered the changing room, the back of the dress left some space so that the wearer's back was somewhat exposed. There were two thick strings at the back that would hold the dress together when worn, Dakini slipped her legs through the opening in the back of the dress and used the mirror to tie the two strings together. Now that she was actually wearing the dress, she left the change room and came out with her arms raised in the air, a bright smile accompanied her cheerful flare.
"You look good Dakini! I'm glad I bought that dress"
Now that their business had been taken care of the two friends headed back down to the first floor of the bus. Eiden almost immediately noticed that something was amiss, most of the other passengers had their eyes on Rosa. While they weren't directly looking at her, they still had their eyes on her and they all wore concerned expressions. For her part Rosa was sobbing quietly and being held by Prakasha who had set her report papers aside. Taking the empty seat beside Rosa and Prakasha the two friends were deeply concerned for their shapeshifting partner.
"What happened?" Eiden asked.
"She had a nightmare" Prakasha allowed Rosa to continue leaning on her as she went back to organizing her papers and double checking her research. As that exchange ended Eiden gazed out the window near their seat and spotted the city of Karakuma. It was now much closer, so much so that they were nearly in the city proper, the city itself had a large wall encompassing it on all sides in a circle. The bus was entering through one of the smaller gates which had a couple of guards keeping watch but beyond that there wasn't much else.
As the bus moved throughout the outskirts of the city Eiden noticed that they were passing by a plantation of sorts, he recognized the plants being harvested as the base ingredient for GBR. This would be the first step in manufacturing large quantities of great beetle repellent, both for commercial and industrial use. Turning away from the sights passing them by Eiden turned his attention back to Rosa who was still sobbing. He was now both deeply curious and worried about her wellbeing but more importantly he wanted her to open up to him in a conversation, a one on one conversation.
To Eiden much of Rosa's past was a mystery and he only knew what kind of creature that she truly was but everything else was uncharted territory. Very soon they would have to sit down with each other and talk about her past life before she came to this nameless land. As that thought ended the bus was now leaving the outskirts of the city and transitioning deeper into the city through another gate. Everywhere Eiden looked he could see wonderful and culturally enriched architecture, one of the streets looked like it led down to a marketplace. There were hundreds of people out and walking throughout the streets of Karakuma, as Eiden drank in the sights the bus headed into a nearby station.
"Final stop, Karakuma shopping district" The message on the intercom would go on to repeat itself once more in case anyone had missed it.
As the bus came to a stop Prakasha stored her notes within her hand bag and quietly told Rosa to get up from her seat, she did so without saying anything. Steadily each passenger disembarked from the bus and found their way onto the station's passenger pickup platform. There weren't many passengers that had rode the bus alongside Eiden and company, everyone aside from the quartet of friends left to attend to their own business.
"Thanks to all of you for getting me to Karakuma" Prakasha said, she was immeasurably grateful since her timely warning could save hundreds of thousands of lives.
"Although I hope it wasn't too much trouble, I even lost my wallet" Prakasha said, mostly dejected.
"Its alright we'll make our money back by selling these Silver Agito parts" Eiden had hauled the Silver Agito's shell along with all the individual parts hanging from it on his back. They unfortunately weren't able to find anyone with an enticing enough deal; Rosa had insisted that they get a large sum of money due to the creature's rarity. Ultimately Eiden agreed with Rosa and would even go on to let her seal any future deals that she would make with the beetle's parts.
Wiping her tears Rosa finally spoke up. "Its imperative that you inform this city's leaders immediately, go tell the people that'll listen!"
"We will meet again once the evacuation has started!" Eiden meant this as a promise and it was interesting how quickly some people could bond. That being said Prakasha made her way to the authority figures of Karakuma city, her hooves moving with the utmost urgency.
"We should head to the market, perhaps there we can find someone to buy these Agito parts" Rosa headed down the nearest avenue and a sign at the side of the road read Karakuma shopping district, they'd have to take a left.
"Wait for us!" Eiden and Dakini were close behind but they just couldn't match Rosa's long strides, that and her athletic physique made it much harder.
As Rosa walked down the streets of Karakuma she could feel a great many eyes turning towards her, discreetly moving her eyes she could see the desire in everyone's eyes. There were whispers of how attractive she was and it appeared that her disguise was attracting too much attention. In hindsight she shouldn't have made her anthropomorphic form to be so alluring to both sexes, even if she wanted to be beautiful. Unfortunately, she couldn't just change forms in public and in broad daylight since that would cause all sorts of chaos. Rosa would simply have to endure the lascivious and wanting looks that she was getting from almost everyone around her. Eiden had noticed the attention that Rosa was receiving and appeared to be amused by it while Dakini was clueless as to why everyone was either staring or sneaking glances at her friend. Walking further into the shopping district Rosa waltzed up to the first stall that caught her eye and called for the stall owner.
"Hey! How may I help you?" The stall owner could barely hide his wonder at seeing such a lovely person but Rosa saw through his fake smile, it almost irritated her but she didn't really care enough.
"Do you perhaps know where we could find someone to buy these Silver Agito parts?" Rosa shifted her gaze to Eiden who was still hauling the Agito parts around and Dakini who had taken it upon herself to lighten the load on his back.
"O-oh! Well you could probably get some coin from Karakuma's museum, it should be right here!" The stall owner pulled out a map of his own and pointed to an area that was five blocks east of the shopping district.
The trio thanked the stall owner for his help and went on their way, Rosa knew that with her persuasive abilities that getting a deal out of the museum staff would be no problem. There was much to see in the market place which bustled with people of all kinds, people of many species from foxes to avian and lupine creatures. The amount of people that currently stood within Karakuma's market was a healthy crowd, thankfully the location wasn't completely packed and one could still move with relative ease. Rosa ignored all of the wanting looks that she received and continued to focus on the city's pleasant architecture. One building had something that resembled a disco ball fixed above its entrance, various banners hung below it. Her focus was redirected when Dakini suddenly took interest in a small store front that sold a variety of books, Eiden and Rosa momentarily became sidetracked to entertain Dakini's curiosity. Dakini grabbed hold of an artbook and began flipping through it, she became engrossed within a matter of seconds.
"Excuse me! Is it alright if we take a look at this?" The store owner, a cat lady, gave an affirmative nod before going back to reading the local newspaper.
Dakini continued to flip through the pages of the artbook which featured various pictures of the domestic life of random people, she was still interested nevertheless. Eiden looked over her shoulder and remarked about how the artistic talent may have hailed from his hometown, all this happened as Rosa stood there once again lost in thought.
Being in such a bustling city reminded her of her previous life, a time where she wasn't an incredibly dangerous and powerful viral lifeform. A time where she was just a normal young lady but those times were long gone and the more she reminisced the more she longed for the days of the past. While Rosa stood stock still Eiden and Dakini came across a page in the artbook which featured a fireworks display. This particular page caught her attention out of all the other pages and she immediately turned to Eiden for an answer.
"Those are fireworks" In response Dakini did her flower gesture and Eiden simply chuckled in amusement.
"Yes, they do look like flowers" Eiden almost always had a smile when Dakini behaved like this, perhaps raising a child was what he needed to help ease his mental illnesses.
"A ball containing coloured powder is launched into the air where fireworks bloom in the sky" At this statement Dakini did her flower gesture again only this time it was twice the size as she tried to mimic the supposed size of the fireworks that Eiden described.
"Yes, but bigger" Again Dakini increased the size of the flower that she made with her gesture which only caused more amusement from Eiden as he played along with Dakini.
"More!" This time Dakini did her gesture around the backside of a bottom-heavy Panda woman who only tilted her head in confusion as to what was happening.
"S-stop" Eiden said sheepishly.
Meanwhile Rosa was still lost in thought and hadn't noticed the exchange between Eiden and Dakini. She dearly hoped that this land would not fall into ruin much like her previous home, she had decided that she would make this land her new home. She knew her hope was nothing but wishful thinking as with each passing day the threat of the Sky Golems could easily annihilate her hope. She knew that it would be up to her, Dakini, and any other creature like her to defend this land to their dying breath. Rosa refused to let this land become a wasteland like her previous home, to that end she would use every bit of skill and power that she had acquired over the course of several centuries.
"Eiden stay here and watch over her, I'm heading to the museum" Rosa motioned to Dakini who was still attempting to create the perfect sized flower in the air.
"Sure, just don't take too long…" Eiden had finally managed to get Dakini to settle down and they were now both continuing through the pages of the artbook together. Eiden knew that Rosa could take care of herself and she had proven that several times when she built a camp for them.
That being said Rosa began to walk the rest of the distance to the museum where she would make a profit off of Dakini's haul. She wondered how Prakasha was faring in her efforts to persuade the authority figures of Karakuma, should she fail then Rosa would have to take immediate measures to protect the citizens from the imminent attack. In situations where she couldn't be everywhere at once she would produce multiple clones meant to divide the work load. As that thought came and went Rosa began to run at a fair pace, she was hauling the Agito parts that she had taken from Eiden and Dakini along with her. Soon she would arrive at her destination and hopefully her business wouldn't take too long, she and Dakini had an important schedule to keep up after all.
Prakasha had wasted no time in seeking out her teacher who was present for Karakuma's student festival. The festival itself was an art and culture festival where students from all around the continent would gather in one place to show off their creations. Needless to say, if the people within the city didn't evacuate in time it would certainly be the worst bloodbath in the history of this land. In what felt like an unbearable amount of time Prakasha and her teacher had arrived at Karakuma's city hall where the city council resided, this would be the moment that could decide the fate of the city and its citizens. Opening the double doors to the meeting hall Prakasha came face to face with a fair-sized group of experienced individuals, most of them radiated an aura of wisdom. Prakasha was nervous and almost froze up due to the looks that each council member threw at her each time they looked at her. Thankfully Kayoh, her mother, was there to instill confidence in her so that she could deliver her message without fail.
"Your predictions may be assumptions however they are most convincing" One council member said, he was a middle-aged horse.
"Its hard to believe but these beings that face the Straight Thunders…" A scruffy old red panda trailed off.
"Nevertheless, we should take into account that even in over a thousand years of attacks there has never been a pattern. It is possible to avoid this crisis and that is of immeasurable importance." Kayoh's statement and the seriousness of her expression caught the attention of every other council member in the meeting mall.
"But there are thousands of people in this event how will we evacuate the entire city…" This proved to be one of the many stubborn obstacles that stood in the way of their salvation.
"No, it should in fact be possible" All heads turned to an avian council member
"Because of the student festival, Karakuma now has five times as many busses for the students" Everyone in the room listened with rapt attention.
"In addition to the restoration of the bus route in the south, we've gathered volunteers and knights that are waiting in the outskirts of the city" Prakasha was surprised at this statement, why would an event such as this require such a large security detail?
"I see! They'll have an escort if they get away from the signal line!" Another red panda said.
"Trains can also use the southeast route for the evacuation!" A bear council member said.
"First and foremost, secure the train and all the vehicles to the south! Ask a volunteer or knight for an escort, lets begin the evacuation based off the emergency manual!" The one to speak this time was mayor Hoff, he was a red panda who stood at the center of the meeting hall's table. Mayor Hoff had quite the effeminate visage with his pronounced eyelashes and somewhat long ponytail, people were less likely to blame you if you couldn't recognize him as male.
"We insist that this be communicated to the staff of every department as soon as possible!" The horse councilmen from before said.
"Understood!" A resounding and resolute declaration echoed throughout the meeting hall, today would be the day that the Sky Golems tasted their first major defeat. Every council member except mayor Hoff rushed off to begin their life saving work, Prakasha stayed behind along with her mother and the mayor.
"Prakasha, mayor Kayoh! I'd like to make an announcement of the evacuation to the people of the city and alert those in the streets. After that it should be a race against time, its dangerous but please help me!" Both foxes answered with a yes and the trio rushed off to get the evacuation started.
Meanwhile somewhere within the city Dakini walked up a staircase at the train station, she had wandered off unnoticed as Eiden was too engrossed in the art book to do anything else. She perked her large ears up listening to the distant whispers of beautiful melody, her child-like curiosity simply could not resist. Walking onto the train station's boarding platform she came face to face with someone that left her in a shocked state.
There standing near the edge of the boarding platform was a woman that appeared to be identical to her, the only difference being that this person was much older. This doppelganger appeared to be a young adult, she wore a dress commonly found in Karakuma and held a bouquet of flowers. Dakini could do nothing but stare as the mysterious doppelganger turned to the arriving train, who was this lady? Dakini could do nothing as the doppelganger boarded the train and left in a flash, she stood frozen beyond the edge of the boarding platform
At the museum Rosa exited out the front entrance, a large bag of bills sat in a hollow space that she had created inside of herself. The money had been stuffed inside of her for safe keeping, it also helped that the bag didn't affect her appearance so she was fine. As she walked back to the market place to regroup with Eiden and Dakini a loud noise followed by several tremors caught her attention. Rosa quickly headed into the nearest alley way and hopped onto a roof, from her vantage point she could see that an explosion had occurred at the north gate.
Rosa knew what this meant and quickly sent out a viral pulse, her viral sonar could detect the location of any living being. Moving at terminal speed Rosa wasted no time with zeroing in on Dakini's location, rejoining with Eiden would have to wait.
At the scene of the explosion the city's knights were in slight disarray, they knew not what had caused that explosion but as the dust and smoke cleared, they were met with something terrible. A fair distance outside the city limits stood a tall humanoid Golem, along with it stood dozens upon dozens of Spider Golems. These Spider golems had a round body, six legs, and an animal like skull with vacant black orbs for eyes. The humanoid Golem on the other hand stood at two and a half meters in height, many miniature golem heads lined its arm, and it wielded a staff as its weapon. Six spherical devices floated in front of it, each device had two thin arms where a faint outline of clasped hands could be seen between the end of each arm. The humanoid Golem wore another set of miniature Golem heads which hung as necklaces around its neck. The humanoid Golem also had a pair of avian talons for feet, a large knife is strapped to its shoulder and a halo hovered behind its back. Where the typical Golem head sat there was also half the skull of a bird encasing its head, the humanoid Golem's left eye being a chameleon-like eye and the right eye being normal. Now that the enemy had arrived the battle could truly begin, each knight waited with fear and bated breath as they stared down the hoard of Golems.