Hello everyone and welcome back! I'm here with chapter one where we get to meet our protagonist Megumi! I hope you find her to be an intresting character! As always let me know what you think with a review. I really do appreciate them as they help me to grow as a writer! I have opened it up to anonymous reviews so don't be afraid to leave one!

With that said let's get right to it!

Chapter 1: Awakening

Megumi Ishida walked in silence down the street as she did every other day. The other students from Tomoeda Jr. High walked in groups with their friends talking loudly, but Megumi was all alone. She preferred it that way really. As far back as she could remember she had never been very comfortable around other people. It was something she could never really put into words. Somehow, she always felt like she never really belonged, that she was out of place. A good analogy would be that she was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. Yes, that summed it up nicely she thought. A piece that didn't fit in. Why she felt that way was another matter entirely, a question she had never been able to find a satisfactory answer for. She chose not to dwell on it though, instead just settling on the notion that it was just her nature.

She did her best not to stand out at all. At home it wasn't very hard, being the middle child with five older and younger siblings combined she was usually forgotten about. At school she kept to herself and only spoke up in class when asked a question directly by her teachers. While her marks weren't in the top ten or anything she did good enough to remain under the radar. Gym class was a bit of a different story, she never really tried there. She supposed if she put in a little effort she would do better. But that could lead to people trying to get her to sign up for one of the sports clubs. No thank you, not her. The last thing she needed was the kind of attention being an athlete brought. During lunch breaks she had a quiet, out of the way spot beneath a tree where she could eat her food in peace. When other students approached her she was as polite as possible, but always refused their offers to join them. Truthfully though Megumi couldn't remember the last time anyone had tried. What she knew of the term introvert it fit her pretty well and if that was how others chose to categorize her that was fine.

A beeping noise on her holo-cell caught her attention she lifted her arm as she pushed the display button. A holographic beam shot out of the emitter on the front and a weather report came up saying that a heavy rain storm was about to start. Sure enough, a few cold drops of rain began to fall and splashed against her face. Megumi pulled her umbrella from out of her bag a popped it open. Around her several of her fellow students cried out as the rain started to come down in full force. Obviously they didn't have their holo-cells set to deliver weather alerts or paid any attention to the morning weather reports as some of them didn't have umbrellas even though they were entering the rainy season.

Those students who had them threw up their umbrellas, while those that didn't began to run, throwing their bags over their heads in a futile attempt to stay dry. A gentle hiss filled the air as the rainstorm hit its full stride and water cascaded onto the now mostly deserted streets. Megumi didn't mind at all. In fact she liked the rain. The rainy season was her favorite time of year. The sound of it made her feel relaxed and cleared her mind so she could think. She would often sit in the alcove in front of the window in her room. She would just close her eyes and listen to the patter of the rain on the glass, the howling of the wind and the rumble of thunder if it was there and just let everything else melt away.

A few hover cars glided by going in the opposite direction, but Megumi paid them no mind. That was until a black limo came slowly sailing past her towards the school. She was a little taken aback to see such a swanky car in this part of town. She stopped walking and out of curiosity turned her head to watch it as it went by. As she did time suddenly seemed to slow for just an instant as Megumi looked into the interior of the car and locked eyes with a dark-haired girl her own age. There was a strange feeling in the air for the briefest of moments then it was gone. It was so quick Megumi was certain she had imagined it. She mentally shook herself as the car sped away and she continued her walk home. However, she couldn't help but turn her head for one more look at the limo, but it was already gone. She shrugged her shoulders and continued on her way, convinced she was imagining things.

The sky seemed to be growing darker by the second as the storm clouds gathered over Tomoeda and the rain grew even heavier, growing from a steady rainfall to a torrential downpour. As she continued on her way Megumi could hear the sound of horns blaring and could see the glow of several taillights up ahead of her. Curious as to what was going on she quickened her pace a bit. The cause of the traffic jam was soon apparent. A roadblock had been set up, barricades with flashing red lights and holo-projectors that displayed stop symbols floated in the middle of the street and the sidewalks. Police officers in yellow raincoats manned the barriers. Beyond them a road crew seemed to be dealing with a downed light post.

"Sorry, the road is closed." A police officer said to Megumi as she approached the barricade. He wasn't really looking at her, instead was more focused on the backed-up cars. "You'll have to go around." She didn't bother to argue and turned away. With the main road blocked she was going to have to backtrack almost all the way back to school and take the long way home. She turned, somewhat annoyed by the situation and was about to start back when she remembered the woods. She had never been through there herself, and far as she knew no one else had either. But supposedly you could pass through there and get to her street. At least that was what she understood. She called up a street map and projected it in front of her so she could study it. She knew it was an abandoned part of town that no one had used in a very long time, which was confirmed by the map. She zoomed in and saw that in fact there was a whole neighborhood that had been cut off from the rest of Tomoeda. It only took her a moment to decide. Trekking through the woods was better than having to spend an extra hour getting home in the rain and the dark.

She only had to go back a block to find the trail she remembered seeing dozens of times before. A flash of lightning and a sharp clap of thunder a moment later told Megumi the storm was getting worse. The entrance to the woods looked to be a dark hole into nothing, but staying out in the storm any longer than necessary was an even worse idea. Turning on the flashlight function of her holo-cell she stepped onto the trail and began to follow it into the woods.

The thick tree cover above her kept most of the rain off, but it also kept any lingering light out as well, making Megumi's holo-cell the only source of illumination. Overhead she could hear the storm continuing to rage on. The surrounding darkness was making her rather nervous, but she just kept telling herself that there was nothing to be afraid of. The trail continued for what seemed like an eternity and Megumi was beginning to question if she had made the right decision when she saw the woods opening up in front of her.

She stepped beyond the tree line and found herself in what appeared to be an overgrown field. The grass went all the way up to her knees and hissed faintly in the wind and rain. The trail continued on through the grass so she followed it. Feeling a bit better about being back out in the open and on a trail that was obviously in use she moved on. Ahead of her she could make out the faint outline of what looked like a strangely shaped boulder. The trail led toward it and when she got closer she realized that it wasn't a rock, but a slide in the shape of a giant penguin with a crown. That's when Megumi realized that this wasn't a field, but an overgrown park.

Sure enough she spied a few other dilapidated pieces of equipment. Her curiosity getting the better of her Megumi decided to take a quick look around. The rain and the growing darkness made it hard to really make out any details, but one thing she did notice was that the penguin slide was in much better shape than the rest of toys, many of which were heavily rusted and full of holes. Wondering why that was she got closer. Seeing an opening on the side of the slide she crawled in order to get out of the rain for a few minutes and found a possible answer to the riddle of the slide's condition. Stored in the opening was several cans of paint, tools and other construction supplies. It had to of been placed there recently, she could still smell the fumes from the paint cans.

Curious she pulled the map back up. Both to see if she could get some information as well as to check on her progress through the area. She easily found her position thanks to the GPS function of her holo-cell. From the look of things she was roughly in the middle of the area. The trail wasn't marked on the holomap but her best guess was that it ran straight through. At least she didn't remember taking any turns along the way. She zoomed in on her position and found the park. It was listed as being called 'King Penguin Park'. Obviously named for the giant slide that dominated the area.

The info entry for the park did nothing to answer her questions however. Apparently when the area had been inhabited the park was a popular destination for families. But the park had obviously been forgotten about when the area had been abandoned. There was nothing saying that any kind of construction or restoration work was being done. But that didn't make any sense to Megumi, what were a bunch of construction supplies doing there if nobody was working in the area. Going back to the map she did find one more entry that had been added just recently. It appeared that the entire area just been purchased by a company called Diadouji Toys and Electronics.

"Well, that explains it." Megumi said to herself. "They must be planning to develop the area. Fix it up and all that. They probably want to preserve the park as a landmark or something." There was another flash of lightning, followed instantly by a huge thunderclap told her that the storm was right on top of her and that it was time to go. Being inside a giant metal structure in a lightning storm was probably a very bad idea. She climbed out and just as she opened her umbrella again a sudden, forceful gust of wind tore it from her hands and carried it off into the woods. Megumi almost started to go after it, but another lightning flash made her rethink that decision. She was soaked in seconds as she ran down the path through the second half of the park.

The dirt path suddenly ended at a sidewalk. The street she was now was no longer a strait shot towards her home, but it did go in the general direction she needed to go, so she followed it. The roads weren't in the best of shape. The ground was littered with debris, the road had several potholes in it, as well as numerous cracks that had plant life growing out of it. She had to carefully weave her way around several obstacles so she didn't trip and fall. Most of the houses that she saw were nothing more than piles of rubble, their skeletal frames all that were left standing. The road began to curve and was beginning to angle away from where she needed to go. Megumi knew she needed to find some shelter so she could check the holomap again and figure her way out the ghost town she now found herself in.

That's when she saw it. A two-story house nestled back among some trees that was still relatively intact. Megumi quickly ran up the concrete steps to sheltered front porch of the house. Up close she saw that a couple of the windows had broken and that a part of the roof had caved in on the second floor. Otherwise the house was in decent shape. She pushed on the front door and it creaked open. She walked in cautiously, unsure of how safe the building really was. As she took her first hesitant step inside she heard a crunching sound at the same time she felt something under foot. Looking down she saw she had stepped on what looked like a wooden nameplate. She leaned down and picked it up. It was faded and rotting, some of the letters having completely vanished, even so Megumi could still make out part of the name.

Kin m to

She sounded it out as best she could. Obviously it was the name of whatever family had lived there last, not that it mattered. They were long gone and well past caring if someone just walked into their former home. Besides, this was kind of an emergency. She swept the inside of the building with her flashlight. Cobwebs and dust covered everything. A few broken pieces of furniture seemed to be all that remained of the former occupant's belongings. An intact table near the door held a couple of picture frames. Megumi picked one up at random and dusted off the glass. The picture was surprisingly intact, it showed a beautiful young woman, appearing to be in her early twenties. She stood facing the camera, her hands clasped in front of her. A huge smile crossed her face and her green eyes shone brightly. Her light brown hair was cut short except for a couple of longer strands that were draped along both sides of her face. Megumi shuddered a bit when she realized that the person in the photo probably died a very long time ago. She quickly put the frame back on the table. The whole house was giving her a bad case of the creeps. The place was the perfect setting for something like a ghost story. Normally she wasn't scared by such things, but there was a vibe in the air that was unsettling to her. So when she caught a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye she nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun around towards the source.

"Wow, I'm a mess." She said after a moment, her heartbeat slowing back down to normal. The movement she had seen was her own reflection in a dirty mirror. It was no wonder she thought she had seen a ghost. She looked like a drowned rat. Her long red hair had gotten completely soaked and was now sticking to her head. And the glasses that framed her sapphire blue eyes had been knocked askew. Time enough to worry about that later. Right now, she needed to find a way out of the area and get back home. She was about to call her holo-map back up again when a strange sound came from beneath floor, like something was moving below her.

"Hello? Is someone there?" She called out in fright. Her fear began to rise again. She had no idea what the noise she had just heard was. Whipping the light around she spied an open door near the back of the room. She could see a staircase that went down beyond the doorway. Whatever she had just heard it had to have come from the basement. She knew she should turn around and leave right then. Who knew what was down there? But something was nagging at her, pulling her to investigate.

"This is a bad idea." She said to herself as she went to the door and began to descend into the basement. Whatever she had expected to find down there it sure wasn't a bunch of bookcases. They seemed to be empty, a thick layer of dust covered the bare shelves. Several of them seemed to be near collapse. Whatever books had been on them had long ago been removed or had rotted away. There was nothing down there that could have made the noise she heard. Perhaps it had been the foundation settling? Or maybe a rat moving around? Megumi shook her head and started to chastise herself. There was nothing down there. She had let her fear and imagination get the better of her. She was about to leave when her flashlight beam caught a glint of red and gold in the farthest corner from the stairs.

"What the?" She went to get a closer look and found a large red book bound in gold colored metal. On the cover was a picture of a large lion like creature with a golden sun just above it. On instinct she picked it up. The book was obviously very old, but despite being left in a dank basement it was in excellent condition. There was no sign of any kind of rot or decay. She turned it over in her hands, but couldn't find a title, a name of an author, or any kind of description of the contents. The back of the book was completely blank. Growing even more curious about the book she returned to the front cover with the winged lion. The cover was secured with a latch. Perhaps it was a journal of some sort? Wanting to see what was written inside the book Megumi undid the clasp. As soon as she did a strange sensation seemed to wash over her, a feeling she didn't know how to describe. It was like a wave of energy washing over her. Opening the book confused her even more.

There were no words inside. Instead, it seemed someone had cut out the center of the book and put what looked like a stack of cards inside. That's when Megumi remembered reading about books like this before. People would use something like this to hide valuables in plain sight. But why hide a bunch of cards inside it? And if they were so valuable why leave them behind? She pulled the first card out of book to look at it. The back was pink and white. The most dominating feature was a large yellow five-point star. To right of the star was a smaller pink sun and on the left a pink crescent moon. Behind the three symbols was some sort of geometric pattern in a circle. She flipped it over and was even more surprised at what was on the front.

The card was bordered in gold, in the center on a purple background was a portrait of what looked like a woman. She had insect like wings with crossed tips, she had her arms crossed across her chest, her hands resting on her shoulders. Her eyes were closed and her hair rose up from the sides of her head, bent forward and tapered out into two long strands that crossed below her neck and ended in pointed tips at the bottom of her wings. Another yellow star sat near the bottom of the picture and in the bottom of the frame was a scroll with two words on it. She guessed it was the name of the card. The whole thing reminded her of tarot cards that were supposed to tell your fortune. Without even thinking Megumi spoke the name out loud.

"The Windy." The second those words escaped her lips the card instantly began to glow bright yellow and it was if a hurricane had just sprung to life in the basement. The rest of the cards in the book began to fly out of it, all of them glowing as well. Instead of stopping when they struck a solid object they just passed right through whatever they hit and vanished. Megumi could only stand there as the windstorm raged around her, her hair whipping around her face. The winds slowly died down and the book closed itself. She gasped as the book began to glow and floated out of her hands.

"What now!?" She took a step back, she was more afraid than she had ever been in her life, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. But something was keeping her from running for her life. Some voice in the back of her mind that was telling her that she wasn't in any danger. A beam of light shot out of the cover and something began to rise out of it. It looked like some sort of stuffed yellow animal to Megumi. At first she thought it was a bear, the head and ears looked like her teddy from when she was a little girl. But then she saw that it had a tail with a white tuft on the end and she figured it was supposed to be some sort of lion with small white wings. The light began to fade and the book gently settled down on the floor. The stuffed animal creature just hung in the air with its eyes closed. Megumi stepped forward, hesitantly reaching out towards it. She jumped back and let out a squeak when it suddenly let out a huge yawn and stretched its limbs.

"Now that was a good nap." The stuffed animal said as it rubbed its eyes. It blinked a couple of times and looked at Megumi, its mouth curving up into a smile. "Oh hey. You got anything to eat? I'm starving."

And that is where we'll leave things for now! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll be posting the next chapter in two weeks on Thanksgiving so look forward to that!

Next Chapter: After an initial freakout at the sudden appearance of a talking stuffed animal Megumi is quickly recruited to capture the now freed Sakura Cards and without much of a chance to come to terms with the situation has to capture her very first card!

Till next time, this is Shocklance, signing out.