Okay, I finally finished my exams, so here's chapter three, and thanks to everyone who reviewed, and before I start I'm going to answer your questions:
Hikari&Takeru4ever: well if you mean that it has all the characters from the four seasons, then my answer is no. it only has Izumi, Kouji, Mimi, Yomato,
Rika, and Ryo. I'm sorry if that disappoints you but maybe ill write an all season fic when I'm finished this one for you, but no promises.
CrAzY-SiLLy-Me: they'll show up soon, as the story develops, I think maybe by chapter six they'll all be in it.
Okay now on with the fix!
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Watching Over You,
Chapter four: Preparations
You may not know,
I'm there with you,
Protecting you,
…Watching over you…
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That night, Izumi had a hard time falling asleep. With Ayame haunting her thoughts, and her being in an entirely strange and different world, who could blame her.
Even when she did finally fall asleep, she didn't find rest there. Instead she found that strange nightmare waiting for her, only this time it was so much more realistic
to the degree that she began to scream in her sleep. What she saw and felt was so terrible that she would never forget it ever. Or so she thought…
"Ahhhh…!" Izumi screamed as she woke up the next morning. Tear were in her eyes, her head was pounding, her heart was racing, and she felt great pain in her
back. She could hardly even breathe now. She had never felt so scared in her life before, but to her dismay, or maybe to her relief, she couldn't remember what she
had seen in her dream, or should I say her nightmare.
She stayed in her place for a while to calm herself down. As soon as she felt okay she looked around her a noticed a breakfast tray on the table beside her bed. It
looked delicious yet very strange, and was accompanied by a glass of water. She picked up the glass, took a small sip, and then immediately swallowed the rest
down. 'It tastes so pure. If the water tastes this good then I cant wait to try the food. Maybe there really is magic in this world…'
(FLASHBACK)
-"Hey Izumi, do believe in magic?"
-"Oh come on Ayame, we both know that there's no such thing."
-"You're wrong for once Izumi, there is magic. I just know there is. I wonder what food would taste like if it were made of magic."
-"Probably not so good. Don't put so much faith in magic though Ayame, because it could… eat you…"
Izumi began tickling her and then she tickled her back and they laughed happily together until they no longer could.
(END FLASHBACK)
That memory brought back her inner pain, and made her lose her appetite. She stared at her food and thought painfully, 'I don't deserve to taste this. Ayame
does, not me. But she never will, and it's all my fault!' She began to cry again. She felt so weak and powerless. She got out of her bed, wiped her tears, and
approached the door. 'So I'm here to solve these weird people's problems. Why does that sound so ironic? As if I don't have enough problems of my own…'
She opened the door to go look for the princess, and said, "Please forgive me Ayame.", and stepped out the room. "Who's Ayame?" a deep male voice asked
her.
"Auron! You scared me! What are you doing here?!"
"You didn't answer my question yet", he replied.
Izumi frowned and looked away before answering, "She's my sister. She had a little time left to live, and I was on my way to see her for one last time, but then I
found myself here! I promised her she would be alright and that she would live, but now she's dead! And it's al my fault!"
There was silence as she fought back her tears of both sadness and anger. Then after a while Auron said, "She's not dead."
Izumi turned her head to face him and asked him in an almost harsh way, "What, how can you say that? There's no way she could still be alive!"
"One year here in Memo is one hour on earth, so one month here would be about five minutes there. That means if she was still alive when you were on earth
then there's a 99.9 chance that she's still alive." he replied calmly, avoiding her eye.
Her face began to light up as soon as his words focused in her mind. 'So there is really a chance that I'll see Ayame again! Oh yeah! I better fore fill this
prophecy of theirs fast, for the faster I do, the sooner I'll get back to Ayame again!... Wait a sec…'
"You said earth! I thought that you never heard of it."
"I wasn't the one who said that. Enough questions now, the princess is waiting for us." he said as he began to make his way down the long corridor.
"Wait!" Izumi shouted to him, "Just answer this: How come you know about earth, but everyone else doesn't?".
He stopped, kept his back facing her, closed his eyes and answered with a hint of sorrow in his voice, "Because I'm from there." He stayed in his spot for a brief
moment, and then he opened his eyes and continued walking.
Izumi, clueless of his background, was confused by both his answer and reaction, for they made a thousand questions race through her head like: What was he
doing here, how he got here, why he seemed upset about it…etc. She was driven out of her thoughts when he turned around and said, "Aren't you coming?" She
quickly nodded and followed him down the hall. She decided to question him later, for now he didn't seem in the right mood.
Izumi followed Auron down long staircases, some of which were spiral, past many rooms, and through great halls. She marveled the place as she walked past
portraits, plants, and statues. It was beautiful. Too beautiful for her to believe it was real. It was like the dream palace she had always dreamed of. She snapped
back to reality as they reached their destination.
They stopped in what seemed to be a large arena. The place was somewhat dark, so Izumi had to slightly squint in order to see what was ahead of her.
"You made good timing; we will be leaving in about half an hour."
Izumi recognized the voice to the princess. She walked closer to make out her figure. She wasn't wearing a dress as she had been the previous day, but a pair of
girl's army pants and a green t-shirt. She wore her hair up in a neat ponytail.
"Where are we going anyways?" Izumi asked.
"My plan is to go to Prince Ryo's palace first, and then to Prince Kouji's castle where Princess Rika and Prince Yomato with meet us. Then after that we'll all
decide what to do next."
"Uhh…, exactly how many princes and princesses are there anyways?"
"No time for questions now. You can ask all you want when we start our journey."
The princess walked over to one of the dungeon walls and took a sword and strapped it on her back. Then she took something out of her pocket and handed it
to Izumi.
"Take this and keep it with you at all times, because we never know when we will be attacked."
Izumi looked at the object she had been given. It was a small 5 inch black metal bar.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" she asked.
"Defend yourself with it, what else?" replied the princess.
Izumi looked at the piece of metal that lay in her hands confusedly. 'How on earth can you defend yourself with a piece of metal? Well I'm not exactly on
earth am I? There's probably some kind of trick to it I guess. But what is it?' Auron must have guessed what she was thinking, for he then told her, "Put it out
in front of you and give it a little squeeze."
She gave him a questioning look, but did as he ordered. As soon as she did that, the piece of metal expanded into a 3 foot bar. Izumi gasped and threw the bar
out of her hand in surprise. The princess began to laugh and Auron smirked at her sudden reaction.
"That wasn't funny." Izumi said folding her hands and turning her head to the side.
"Whatever you say, oh chosen one", Mimi said handing the bar back to her.
"Oh cut it out", she replied.
"So do you know how to use it?" Auron asked her.
"Huh? Oh this. Yeah I took a few self defense classes last year, so I shouldn't have any problem in using it for defending myself, but I'm not so sure
about attacking.", she replied.
"Well that's good enough. Maybe Auron can teach you some attacking moves on the way. Think you can handle that Auron?"
"Of course. But I think it's best if we leave now, since she already knows how to use it in defense."
"Yeah you're right. That saves us more time. Go get the camouflage cloaks so we have less risk to be seen."
"Affirmative.", he replied before heading back up the stairs.
Izumi began to look around the dungeon now that her view had focused. It looked like a very big room made out of rock. There was moss between cracks in the
walls, and there were all kinds of weapons and armor either hanging on the wall or on shelves. She stopped her gazing when she felt a set of eyes on her. She turned
to the princess and found her staring at her in an odd way.
"What? Is there something on my face?" she asked while pointing to her face.
"Huh?" the princess asked in surprise then quickly said, "Oh no, there's nothing!"
"Then why were you staring at me like that?"
"Oh uhh, it's just that uhh…" she stammered nervously, "…Your clothes! Yeah that's right!"
"Huh?" Izumi asked confusedly. She looked at herself from top to bottom. She was wearing a purple sweater, white Capri pants, white socks and purple
sneakers. Her long blond hair was tied up in a high ponytail with two chin-length strands lying astray to outline her lovely face.
"What's wrong with my clothes?"
"Oh um …nothing. I mean will you be comfortable wearing them?" she asked rather awkwardly.
'What?! What's wrong with them? Why wouldn't I be comfortable in them? It's not like I'm wearing a skirt or something fancy!' she thought still
confused.
When she never answered the princess gave a sigh that sounded relieved and then said, "Never mind."
Izumi looked back up at the princess and was going to question her again, but then the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs was heard.
Auron emerged into view wearing a camouflage cloak and approached the two young teens. He handed each one of them a cloak and then waited for them to put
them on. When they both had them on, the princess went over to the center of the room and opened a trapdoor in the floor.
"We will go through here first. It will give us a good start without being spotted by the queen's followers."
Izumi and Auron walked over her and looked down. It was some kind of deep tunnel.
"Wait. How am I supposed to make this bar small again, because it will be a lot easier to climb down there without having to carry it in my hand.", Izumi asked.
"Tickle it softly in the very middle", replied Auron.
Izumi raised a brow but did it anyhow. The bar automatically returned to its formal size once again.
Mimi looked at her smiling and said, "Your journey begins here oh chosen one. You will face many dangers and difficulties on the way and maybe other things
both good and bad. Do you except?"
Izumi looked at the smiling princess. 'So this is where it all begins. I have to go through with it for everyone, especially for Ayame. I will do it no matter
how hard it will be'. She smiled back at the princess and replied, "I do. This will be the promise I will not break."
And with that they all entered the tunnel. The trapdoor slammed shut as their journey began.
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Returning to the beginning again,
To make the promise again,
To make it come true,
In order to make it up to you…
Watching Over You…
Well that's it for this chapter. In the following chapter most of Izumi's questions will be answered, so stay tuned…lol! Well see you next chapter, and tell me what you think so far, cuz you opinion really matters to me. C ya!
