Magic within the City of Beasts
Here is chapter 2 of my crossover story. I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter two
Night slowly gave way to morning within the land of Japan as the sun slowly began to rise up above the mountains. Its light bathed the land in its warmth as the waters of the ocean reflected the bright rays of light off its surface. As the sun's light stretched out across the land, its rays revealed a sandy beach with the ocean's small waves lapping up against its shores. Yet there was one thing out of place upon the beach. On the sandy shore lay a figure with their body half in the water and half on the sandy shore. The figure was none other than Kagami, who was once again unconscious. She was lying on her back with the right side of her face tilted to where her cheek touched the sand. Kagami's clothes were drenched with sea water, and her hair was spread out upon the sand.
For a while she didn't move, but after a moment Kagami's right hand began to twitch. Kagami let out a groan as she slowly opened her eyes to the world around her. Her vision was slightly blurry at first, but after a moment it stared to clear and Kagami saw the bright blue sky above her. She frowned as she stared up at the sky for a moment before she felt something cold and wet splash up against her hands. Kagami quickly became alert as she shot up into crouch and jumped into the air. She jumped ten feet away from what had been touching her before landing in a crouch on the sand again. Kagami turned to glare at what had touched her before she blinked in surprise when she saw water lapping up against the sandy shore. She then slowly stood up and gazed outwards to that the water was actually part of large ocean.
'The ocean?' thought Kagami with a befuddled expression upon her face. 'How did I get here?'
Kagami frowned as she began to take in her surroundings before turning to look behind her. When she did, Kagami's expression turned to one of astonishment when she saw a giant city standing behind her. Yet it wasn't the same city that Kagami knew for she could sense that something was different about it. Kagami blinked as she stared up at the city before she started to walk towards it. She only got about six steps before quickly stopping when she sensed danger. Kagami's expression turned serious as she looked to her right, and saw a group made up of ten men, who were all pointing handguns at her. She only had a second to look at them before jumping again when they started shooting at her. Kagami backflipped through the air before landing twenty feet away from the group of men. She glared at them as she started to feel anger rise up inside of her.
'Come on! Do I have to go through with being shot at again?' thought Kagami furiously.
She heard the sound of guns being fired as the men shot at her once more. Kagami quickly raised up her right hand to conjure up a magical barrier to block the bullets. The bullets bounced off the barrier and scattered about on the sandy ground. Kagami growled in frustration as the men kept firing at her without so much as a pause.
"This is getting old really fast!" exclaimed Kagami as she began to build up mana within her body. "It's time to end this now!"
Kagami clenched her left hand into a tight fist before she punched it forward towards the men. What happened next was something the men weren't expecting. When she had punched her fist forward, a powerful wind spun and twirled around her knuckles before it blasted forward. As it did, the wind kicked up a huge amount of sand from the beach, which became a large wave that rose up thirteen feet above the men who were shooting at Kagami. The men stopped in their firing as they stared up in horror at the sand wave that was towering in front of them before they got buried by it. Once the men had been buried by the sand wave, Kagami turned and ran towards the city. She dashed across the street and headed towards an abandoned alleyway. She ducked into the shadows before coming to a stop behind a large dumpster. Kagami quickly knelt down behind the dumpster. She quietly panted as she listened to hear the sound of feet coming towards her hiding spot. After a moment, she caught the sound of running feet heading towards the alleyway she was hiding in. Kagami calmly closed her eyes and lifted up her right hand. She held her index and middle finger up in front of her face before calling upon her magic once again.
"Magical Technique: Shadow Concealment," whispered Kagami in a low voice.
Kagami's body shimmered in a silver aura for a moment before her whole body vanished from sight. She lowered her hand and quietly watched as three of the ten men that had tried to shoot her ran passed her. They got about a few feet before stopping at the other end of the alley. She listened intensively as they began to shout at each other.
"Where'd she go?" questioned one of the men angrily.
"She couldn't have gotten too far. You saw the blood on the side of her shirt didn't you? That girl has a serious wound that'll slow her down, and that will make it easier for us to catch her."
"Hopefully we'll catch that human before she causes any trouble for us in Anima City!"
Kagami frowned when she heard what one of the men had said. 'Anima City? I've never heard of a place like that on Midchilda before.'
She watched as the three men turned right and disappeared around the corner of the alley's entrance. Kagami released her concealment spell while letting out a sigh of relief in the process.
'That was close,' thought Kagami to herself as she stood up from the ground. 'But I don't think its safe for me to be walking around on the streets of this city without knowing where I am first. I guess I'll have to get a birds eye view.'
Kagami turned her attention upwards before calling upon her magic once more. She focused all of her mana into her legs before leaping upwards. She flew high up into the air before flipping and landing feet first on the roof of one of the buildings that made up the alleyway. Kagami walked towards the other side of the roof before coming to a stop near the railing as she stared out at the city before her. She frowned when she saw how large the city was before looking back towards the ocean. Kagami raised a hand up to protect her eyes from the sun as she gazed out beyond the ocean. Across the water, she saw another city standing over the horizon with the sun bathing it in its bright light.
"Okay...I definitely know that I wasn't anywhere near the ocean when I was being chased by those two TSAB Enforcers." Kagami muttered with a suspicious frown upon her face before she turned her attention to one building that stood out within the city.
The building was a trident-shaped tower with the top separating into four prongs. The building was white with a blue shading upon its surface.
"And I definitely don't remember any towers looking like that on Midchilda either," said Kagami as she lowered her hand down to her side. "Hmm...Something tells me that I'm not on my planet anymore." Kagami let out a sigh as she scratched the back of her head. "This is so troublesome."
Kagami then remembered what those three men had said about her having a serious wound on her side. Kagami turned to look down at her left side and saw the dried blood stain on her grey shirt. She placed her hand there and pressed down on the stain, expecting to feel a jolt of pain. When no stinging pain came, Kagami pulled up her shirt and what she saw had her blinking in surprise. Instead of seeing the stab wound that had been inflicted on her, Kagami only saw a faded scar on her side. She frowned before raising her left hand up to press against the wound on her right shoulder. Like before; Kagami felt no stinging pain coming from it.
"What in the world..." started Kagami before she quickly became quiet when she sensed danger approaching.
Kagami groaned in anger and frustration as she turned around to glare at where she was sensing the danger. She was able to deduce that the danger she was sensing was coming from the westside of the city. Luckily it was still far away from her location, so that gave Kagami enough time to escape it. She quickly turned her attention away from where the danger was coming from, and turned her eyes to a part of the city that looked abandoned.
"That looks like a good place to gather my bearings," muttered Kagami before summoning her magic once again.
The same silver aura appeared around Kagami's body, and she started to float up from the building's roof. She was soon hovering about ten feet in the air before she shot forward, and began to fly towards the abandoned part of the city at top speed. Kagami made it to the abandoned part of the city in under less than a minute before landing in an empty street. Kagami stood where she was as she took in her surroundings. She saw a few broken down buildings, with some that were barely standing, while other's looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Kagami let out a sigh at the sight of the buildings. "Well this place has seen better days, but at least I should be safe here until I can figure out what to do next."
Kagami then began to walk down the street as she started to look for a building that was strong and still standing. It wasn't long before she came across an old warehouse that was made of grey and red bricks with a door size hole in its right side. Kagami could only guess that someone had used some kind of explosive to get into the building a long time ago. She cautiously entered the building, while using her magic to detect anything that might be a danger to her. After a moment of scanning, she confirmed that it was safe to step into the building.
"This look's like a good place to hide in for a while." Kagami said as she began to relax a little bit. "Also; this isn't one of the worse places that I had to live in either."
Kagami walked further into the building as she started to look around. She came to stand in the middle of the building before turning to glance up at the roof to see a small hole in it. Kagami frowned at the sight as she placed her left hand on her hip, while glaring up at the hole in the roof.
"Well I don't think that hole's going to be a problem but..." Kagami trailed off when she suddenly sensed that she wasn't alone within the warehouse.
Kagami's frown deepened before she closed her eyes, and let her magic pulse outwards to find the intruder that had been hidden to her. After a moment, Kagami discovered that there was more than one intruder within the warehouse. She could sense three life signals hiding behind a few abandoned crates, but she didn't sense anything dangerous from them. Instead she sensed fear and nervousness from the figures that were hiding from her. Kagami opened her eyes and turned towards where the crates stood. She then began to calmly walk towards piled up crates, while making sure that she didn't scare whoever was hiding behind them. Kagami soon came to stand in front of the crates before she slowly began to push one out of the way. What she discovered when she moved the crate out of the way surprised her. Hiding behind the crates were three kids, who huddled close together as they stared up at Kagami in fear.
One of the kids was a seven year old boy with short dark brown hair, light brown eyes and fair skin. He was wearing a ragged long sleeved grey shirt, blue jeans and white runners. The other child was a girl that looked to be around six with long blonde hair that grew to her shoulders, blue eyes and light tan skin. She was wearing a pink short sleeved shirt, a blue skirt and white sandals. The last child was also a boy who was the same age as the girl. He had short black hair with the bangs covering his forehead, green eyes and the same light tan skin. He wore a blue short sleeved shirt, brown shorts and dark brown shoes.
Kagami stared down at the three children in befuddlement before she knelt down to be at their level. The three children cuddled closer together with the younger two kids clinging to the older boy. The sight of them being afraid of her made Kagami feel sad, which was an emotion that she had been accustomed to throughout all her life.
"It's okay," spoke Kagami in a soft voice that she hoped was comforting. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything."
The three children looked at her in surprise before the older boy spoke in a timid voice. "You promise?"
Kagami smiled softly at him before answering. "I promise. Besides I've always had a little bit of a soft spot for kids."
Her words were true to that confession, for she had always been gentle around children who had been orphaned at a young age. Whenever she saw an orphan on the streets that were starving, and had nobody to look after them, then something would pull painfully at Kagami's heart. So she would take the orphan she found off the street, and deliver them to a good orphanage in hopes that they would find a family who will love them. Kagami never wanted any child to feel the same loneliness she had gone through, when she had been stripped of her childhood by the scientists, who had experiment on her like a lab rat.
"My name is Kagami Kage by the way. Do you three have names?"
The children were hesitant at first, but after a moment the older boy spoke in a soft voice. "M-my name's Kaito…Kaito Hamato. And these two are Kiki and Akira Shinrin, the twins."
"H-hello," the little girl, Kiki, said in a shy voice.
"Nice to meet you," said Kagami with a smile before she asked them another question. "Where are your parents? Are they around here somewhere within the city?"
Kaito looked up at Kagami sadly before shaking his head 'no'. Kiki and Akira looked away from Kagami as they began to quietly cry against Kaito's sides. Kagami felt a stabbing pain within her heart when she saw this action. She started to think that something bad must have happened to the parents of the three children.
"Can you tell me what happened to them?" asked Kagami gently.
Kaito once again hesitated but soon answered in a sad voice. "We were all being chased by some bad men who wanted to hurt us because we were different. Anima City was the only place where we would be safe. Our parents were able to sneak us onto a boat that would take us to this city, but they weren't able to get on because they had to lead the bad men away from us. We don't know what happened to them after that."
Kagami had a sinking feeling that whatever had happened the kids' parents had not ended well for them. She decided not to voice those thoughts to the children.
"What happened next after you and your two friends came to this city?" asked Kagami curiously.
Kiki was the one who answered the question. "We came to Anima City with a group of other kids who got separated from their parents. But after the boat docked, a group of scary women appeared, and began to gather up the children."
"The woman were herding the other kids into this scary black truck," added Akira as a look of fear appeared on his face. "We would have been next if Kaito hadn't told us to run and hide in another truck that was at the wharf. We rode the truck until it stopped at an apartment store, but we had to run again when we saw a group of scary men standing near the store."
"We ran until we came to this abandoned part of the city. We've been hiding here ever since," said Kaito as he finished the story.
"How long have you been hiding?" asked Kagami with a light frown.
"A coupled of hours I think," answered Kaito in a small voice.
'Well at least it wasn't a couple of days,' thought Kagami with relief. 'Otherwise these kids would have been forced to come out of hiding to look for food.'
As soon she thought that, Kagami heard the sound of hungry stomachs growling. The three children blushed as they looked down at their stomachs' pitifully.
"I'm guessing you guys haven't eaten in a while, huh?" Kagami murmured as the children nodded their heads before she stood up from the ground. "Alright then. You three wait here and stay hidden for now. I'm going to go look for some food for you."
The three children looked up at Kagami in surprise and confusion before Kaito spoke. "But...how are you going to do that? You're a human and beastmen don't like humans wandering around Anima City."
Kagami paused when she heard what Kaito had just said to her. She had heard those two men talking about her being human, and became slightly curious as to why they called her that when they were humans themselves. She now grew even more curious to what Kaito had just said to her about there being other beings that she was not familiar with.
"What are beastmen?" asked Kagami gently.
The three children stared up at Kagami like she had grown a second head before looking at each other in nervous concern. Kagami saw this and decided that maybe it was a question that she shouldn't asked them…at least not right now.
"It's okay," said Kagami with a reassuring smile. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Also, don't you worry about me being spotted by the people of this city. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and I know how to sneak around without being noticed."
The three children looked up at Kagami again in surprise at what she told them before Akira spoke in a curious voice. "Really?"
"Yep," replied Kagami with a wink. "So there's no need to worry, but I want you three to promised me that you'll stay hidden here. Do not wander out in case those scary men or women are still searching for you. You think you kids can do that?"
Kaito, Akira and Kiki nodded their heads at Kagami, which earned them a smile in return.
"Alright then. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay," echoed Kaito, Akira and Kiki.
Kagami nodded before she turned and made her way towards the hole of the building. She pause at the entrance as she cautiously looked around outside to see if the coast was clear. She didn't see anyone suspicious walking around the area, but Kagami took up extra precaution as she used her magic to sense if anyone was nearby. After a moment of not finding anybody within the wider area of the abandoned city, Kagami decided that it was safe enough to leave.
'Still...I think it would be best if I put up a protective barrier around this building,' thought Kagami as she walked out into the open. 'I don't want to come back, and find that someone had come and stolen the kids while I was away.'
Kagami turned the corner as she disappeared from the children's sight before she gently placed her right hand on the side of the building. She closed her eyes, and began to summoned her magic. The same silver aura appeared around her body. Once she had summoned the right amount of mana from within her, Kagami began to muttered an incantation in a soft whisper.
"Oh magic that flows within the depths of my soul. Come forth and protect the ones within this building from the dangers of the outside world: Iron Barrier."
After she spoke those words, the warehouse glowed in a silver light before a giant domed barrier appeared, and surround the warehouse from top to bottom. It gleamed for a moment before it became invisible to those who don't have magical powers. Kagami let out a sigh of satisfaction as she opened her eyes and looked up at the barrier with a smile.
'That should stay up until I come back with some food for the kids.' Kagami thought before she turned and began to walk down the abandoned city's streets.
Once she was a good distance away from the warehouse, Kagami called upon her magic and floated up ten feet from the ground. She then flew twenty feet up into the sky before she headed towards the busier part of the city in hopes of finding a market. It took about half a minute for her to reach the more active part of the city before landing in an abandoned alleyway. After her feet had touched the ground, Kagami quickly activated her 'Shadow Concealment' ability. Once that was done, she walked out of the alleyway and began to walk down the sidewalk with no one noticing her presence. She hoped that she would be able to find food for the three children, and come back to them without having to worry about any problems along the way.
To be continued