Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer once again, some of the OC's belong to Scorpion29, the rest to me, and the plot is mine.
No, I'm not dead, I just had to endure my junior year of high school, hence the long wait for this chapter. I really hope you enjoy it, thank you to my loyal followers, you know who you are.
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Chapter Three
(Siven)
I paced around the small underground cavern, waiting for information, any at all. It had been three days…THREE WHOLE DAYS…since Haku and Lin had left, since most everyone had left, and not a word from anyone. There were only a few people left here to endure my suffering with me. Firice was a spirit who had shown up in the last year and didn't talk much, only when he deemed it absolutely necessary. He sported dark flame colored hair and blue eyes the same color, and harshness, of ice. His skin was pale, and he had a gaunt look about him, like a fugitive on the run. His eyes were always darting around, taking in every detail around him, sometimes staring at something insignificant, like a coffee cup, for hours it seemed like, studying its craftsmanship and such. Okay, maybe a coffee cup wasn't insignificant these days, especially when it was full, but you know what I mean.
Mikhail was the other person left with me. He was a bit on the short side, around five feet two inches or such, with short, slightly messy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Even though he was a shape shifter, a denizen of the Spirit realm, he absolutely adored the human world, and would make very frequent trips back and forth between the two. As a result, he appeared in all ways to be human. The clothing he wore now included black baggy pants, which he called "cargo pants", with so many chains hanging off of them that he jingled every time he moved and a black "hoody" that was on the verge of being called ratty and was mainly being held together with safety pins. He also carried a messenger bag, for some odd reason, that sported several plastic rectangle key chains; each had a saying and sometimes a picture inside. These included, but definitely weren't limited to: "A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand", "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most" and "I know I'm not perfect, but I'm so close it's scary." He was much more talkative than Firice, and always had a snide remark, an insult, or a weird nickname for everyone. But don't get me wrong, he's a pretty nice guy, a little weird sometimes, but nice.
Sighing I checked my watch for what had to be the fifth time in the past minute, and proceeded to pace, complaining to no one in particular.
"They should be back by now!" I grumbled, reaching for my coffee cup. Coffee was the sweet nectar these days that kept me somewhat sane, ever since my sake hoard had been confiscated. "I mean, not even sending a message…" Stalking over to the table, I snatched up my mug and took a long swig…only to spit it back out again. What was once a lovely cup of warm coffee with plenty of sugar and cream now tasted of…of something that definitely wasn't coffee.
Hearing a soft snickering combined with Mikhail's wild laughter, I looked up to see Firice staring own at me…and oh my…there was actually a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth! Glaring at him, I went over to the coffee pot, only to find that it was also empty.
"This is just not my day!" I exclaimed to no one in particular, and to top it all off, when I opened the door in order to get another measure of coffee beans, I swear, one of the only worthwhile things that Mikhail has ever brought back from the human world, a girl with brown hair appeared out of nowhere and ran into me, knocking us both to the ground.
(Firice)
It had been worth expending the energy required to turn the strange human drink that Sivan had recently become obsessed with into pond sludge just to see the look on his face. However, the unexpected thrill of seeing Sivan knocked onto his ass by a shrimp of a girl really made my day. Letting a low chuckle pass my lips, I moved so I could see the girl more clearly. There wasn't much to laugh at these days, ever since the onsen had been taken over, so I wanted to imprint this moment forever in my memory. The girl, as I said, was short, with long brown hair pulled back into a disheveled braid, and was clad in what appeared to be a high school uniform. What made the whole thing so much better was the fact that the two had landed in a rather compromising position. Sivan was flat on his back, while the girl basically straddled his waist. Her skirt was torn in several places, and her shirt looked even worse, as if she had been running through a briar patch. This idea was made all the more plausible by the thin scratches I could see through the tears. When she pushed her self up, I noted that her black eyes were very expressive; the only emotions running through them at the moment though were fear and worry.
Hearing a noise behind me, I turned to see that Mikhail had retreated a few paces, and in doing so had tripped over the small table in the middle of the room. Disbelief showed in every move he made, in the way he stared at the girl. Looking back at her, I noted a reason that may have been the cause of Mikhail's behavior; the girl was human.
Storming over to where Sivan still lay on the ground, I pushed the human off of him and hauled him to his feet. Holding him at eye level by the collar of his shirt, I growled, "How did she find us? I distinctly remember you telling us that absolutely no one could locate this place, not even Him, yet here's this pathetic little human traipsing in here!"
"I-I swear Firice, I don't know how s-she got in!" Sivan whimpered, I could smell the fear radiating off of him. "All the barriers should be up, no one can g-get through unless they k-know the way!"
"Then how do you explain this?" I gestured to the girl with my free hand; Mikhail was helping her to her feet.
"Lin told me how to get here; she said you could help Haku!" The girl's voice was strained with the worry her eyes so clearly expressed. I swear, these humans didn't know how to keep anything to themselves. "Please! You have to help him!"
"Who are you anyway?" I snarled, dropping Sivan. I knew that I was being uncharacteristically talkative, but I was pissed off.
"Haku asked me to come here, my name is Chihiro. Please, Haku is in real trouble!"
"What's wrong with him?" Sivan inquired, brushing himself off. I swear, he is so anal retentive sometimes, one speck of dust on his clothing and he would have a heart attack.
"I don't know exactly. All I saw was Haku in a dark place, and he was hurt, really badly. Please! You have to save him!" The girl, Chihiro, was wringing the hem of her badly torn shirt into a knot as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other repeatedly, as if she couldn't stay still.
"And how would you know such a thing?" Mikhail asked from nearby, his voice unusually quiet, as if trying to hide how it sounded.
"Please! Can't you just trust me for now? There's no time to explain! Haku could be dead!" She reminded me of a ten year old throwing a tantrum, trying to get her way.
"Answer his question, girl." I replied, my voice going cold, belying the fact that I would not tolerate any more such nonsense. She seemed to understand that and took a deep breath.
"Haku and Lin came to me about three days ago now, asking me to return to the spirit world. I was trapped here before, about seven years ago, by accident. That's how I met Lin and Haku. When they came to me in my world, the human world, he gave me a pendant." With this she pulled a small silver disk from under her ruined shirt. Looking closer, I saw that it was inscribed with runes of seeing. "He told me to use it if I wanted to see what was happening. I was bored in study hall today in school so I decided to see if he was okay. What I saw was Haku chained to a wall, well I guess it was a wall since he seemed to be vertical, and he was bleeding from numerous wounds. I don't know what is happening, but please, I don't want him to die! I lo-" Before she could say more, she clamped her mouth shut, her face gaining a reddish tinge.
"Here, have a seat." Mikhail offered, pulling out a chair and up righting the table. "It's best that you know what is really going on, unless either of you two have any objections?" This last statement was directed towards Sivan and me, and while I had no qualms about it, Sivan was of a different opinion.
"You will tell her absolutely NOTHING!" He barked, flaring up like a bird making itself seem bigger than it actually is. "You have no idea if what she is saying is true! She could be a spy for Him, sent to rat us all out! Plus, she's human! She would not understand anything going on! Why would she even care!"
"Don't make assumptions just because of her race, Sivan." Mikhail's voice was low, and it trembled with anger. "I highly doubt that she would be working for Him, she…doesn't seem like the type. Now I would suggest that you keep your tongue to yourself unless you want it cut out and force fed to you piece by piece."
I was proud of Mikhail; I was finally rubbing off on him.
With Sivan shut up for the time being, Mikhail turned to face Chihiro again. "If you were here seven human years ago, then you remember Yubaba, correct?" Chihiro shuddered at the mention of the previous owner of the onsen, and nodded. "Well, she has been replaced, with someone far worse than she ever was. He rules with an iron fist, dominating the entirety of this area of the spirit realm, and is spreading His reach to other worlds as well. In time, He may even take hold on the human world. The onsen is now also a house of prostitution, and I must add that none of the people sold there, man or woman, is there willingly. No one with an ounce of sanity dare to oppose him."
"Then what are you? You mean you all serve this terrible person?" Chihiro sounded confused, seeing that Sivan's speech earlier had probably given her the impression that we were in no way involved with Him.
"We are the insane ones who do oppose him." Sivan mumbled.
"We are the Resistance." Mikhail finished.
Well? Whatcha think? Please review; please let me know that I am loved. The position for editor is still open! I have the next chapter all ready, so as soon as 5 reviews are in, I'll post it!