"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I don't know who you are talking about." Tsuna's mother says to the many men and women standing at her door.
"Ma'am, we have a reason to believe that you are harboring a witch in your house." a man says.
"Eh? How so?"
"Someone saw the witch we were looking for around his area. If you are really innocent, then please give us the permission to search your house."
"Well…"
"Mom, I'm back." Tsuna says as he runs up to his mother. He then looks curiously at the people she was talking to, "U-Uh, who might you be?" he says and looks at them shyly.
"We are looking for a witch who escaped from our town last night. We heard that she was around this area and would like to check your home." the man who spoke to the woman earlier says.
"I see, f-feel free to come in then."
"Thank you young man, your help is appreciated."
So the group of people enters the house and start searching for the witch. Tsuna and his mother went outside to have the chat in private in the meanwhile.
His mother had a worried look on her face as she asked for the whereabouts of Nagi. Tsuna reassures her that the girl is safe inside the house. Now all we have to do is hope she doesn't get caught. thinks Tsuna as he looks at his house.
It was a little hard to breathe in the space Nagi was hiding in, but it was better than nothing. So far, nobody had entered the room yet. Most of the people were too busy checking the kitchen and Tsuna's mother's room. Then, the sound of footsteps became louder and louder. The door to Tsuna's room opens and the voices of two boys talking to each other could be heard. "Who knew hunting for witches would be this tiring? We've been searching for so long with no luck at all." a boy says.
"We can't expect a witch to come running to us can we? Just be patient, the fun part will come soon." another boy says. This boy sounded more mature than the other one. Nagi could hear the sheets of the bed being removed. "Check under the bed not the blankets. They aren't dumb ya know?" the older sounding boy says. The younger one scoffs and moves the bed, the scraping of wood against the floor sounding throughout the room. When nothing could be found under the bed, the younger boy mocks the elder one, "They aren't dumb ya know?"
"Oh shut up."
The two boys' footsteps then got closer to Nagi's hiding spot, making her heart beat faster than before. Please don't find me. she says in her head over and over again.
"This closet looks big enough to fit someone inside." the younger one says.
"So it seems." says the older.
The two of them stand in front of the closet and stare at it nervously.
"You take one handle, I'll take the other."
"All right."
After a moment's hesitation, the boys open the closet, only to have a mountain of clothes fall in a pile in front of them. "What the hell?! This is way too messy, even for a guy!" the young boy says. He stares in disgust at the clothes on the floor. They were all rumpled and looked so…cheap. "Well, she isn't here. Let's go." says the older boy as he walks out of the room. The younger boy tries to stuff all the clothes back into the closet and rushes out to catch up with the rest of the group.
Nagi heaves a sigh of relief when the two boys had gone. She did not want to leave her hiding space however because she feared that other people would come into the room and find her. So the girl stayed as she was. Minutes passed and another set of footsteps were heard entering the room. It then stopped in front of Nagi's location. Please don't open it. she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her could feel her heart beating wildly and sweat formed in her hands and forehead.
"You can come out now." Tsuna's voice calls out. Nagi sighs in relief and opens the lid of the chest she was hiding in. She took in a deep breath of fresh air, happy that they were finally gone. "Th-Thanks for helping me." she says to Tsuna. She steps out of the box, and rushes to exit the room. "Wait!" Tsuna exclaims. He hands Nagi her bag and a now refilled pouch of water, "We promised, didn't we?" he says. The girl smiles and takes the items, "Thank you."
"Do you have to leave so soon?" Tsuna's mother asks, standing at the room's door.
"I don't want to put you in anymore danger than I already have." says Nagi. The woman smiles sadly and hugs Nagi, "I hope we can meet again." she says. She then lets go, still grasping the girl's shoulders, "Not all of you are bad after all."
Nagi felt happy yet sad inside. There were people like this who existed. The kind where they would do no harm to those who were different.
Once she said her final goodbyes, Nagi journeyed on into the woods in search of her sanctuary. The only problem was there were no stars to follow in the day. What do I do now? she thought in despair. Nagi stops in her tracks. It would be hours before the skies became dark.
"Follow the path."
Suddenly, a bunch of the white glowing flowers from before bloomed beside her feet. Nagi jumps back in surprise. The purple gem she wore was now glowing as well.
"Go on, don't be afraid."
Nagi hesitates for a second but decides to follow the flowers. With each step she takes, more flowers started to emerge from the ground, leading her closer to her destination. As she followed the flowers, Nagi noticed that she was walking into a dark part of the woods. The sound of birds was no longer there and barely any sunlight touched the forest floor. Sure, she felt scared, but Nagi had to keep moving. The flower petals now stood out in the darkness, like little orbs of light guiding her to safety. Their soft glow calmed the girl as she walked; it was like everything was going to be fine.
The sound of a twig snapping reaches Nagi's ears. Her eyes widened in fear, "Wh-Who's there?" she asks. Had someone followed her here? The sound of leaves rustling made her even more scared. It felt like every part of her body was refusing to move when her mind desperately told her to run or do something. In the corner of her vision, Nagi saw a bush move. She whips her head in the direction of the plant and tightly clutches the strap of her bag. A few seconds later, a tiny dog with pointy ears emerges from behind the bush and makes its way to Nagi. It's only a dog. she thought, feeling embarrassed.
The dog sat in front of her, its short tail wagging excitedly behind it. "W-What is it?" the girl asks, crouching down to the dog's level. She scratches it behind the ear, earning a cute look from the canine. Then, it suddenly started to growl and bark wildly for some unknown reason. "Is something wrong?" Nagi asks as she tilts her head in confusion.
A hard object hits the back of Nagi's head, making her fall unconscious.
Where am I? Just a moment ago I was following a path of flowers and then I suddenly blacked out.
Nagi tries to move her arms and legs, only to find that they were stuck to her body. What?
"Hey, she's awake!"
Nagi's eyes open at the voice. She groaned from the throbbing sensation and pain coming from the back of her head. Looking around, she sees the faces of the people who visitied Tsuna's house before. She then looks down to see that she was tied up against a wooden pillar with a pile of logs beneath her feet. She was captured. Nagi panics and squirms, hoping that the ropes would miraculously come loose. "You think that you could get away did you?" a man who must have been the leader of the group says, "Well you thought wrong." He and the people around him started to laugh at the girl, calling her names and throwing insults at her. Nagi tried to use her powers to get her out like the last time with her mother, but nothing happened. Her powers came at the most unpredictable times. Sometimes it worked, but sometimes it did not.
"A little predicament we have over here." the all too familiar voice rang in Nagi's mind
Who are you? Nagi thought in an attempt to communicate with it.
"You'll know soon enough."
The leader raises his hand, signaling for everyone to stay silent so he could speak. "Sorry if it isn't fancy enough like the other witches. We're in the middle of the forest and all so there's nothing much we could do." he says, "Maybe if you didn't run, it would be a whole lot easier."
Nagi felt like the rope was biting into her skin. She could barely breathe because they were tied so tight. "I didn't think that we would capture you right on the second day to be honest, you can thank your dog friend back there for that." the man continues. That's why it was growling.
"I think that you are a really sweet girl, Nagi. But unfortunately, I have to do what's right and get rid of you for the safety of others." the man says. One of his friends hands him an already lit torch, making the people cheer on happily. This only made Nagi panic and thrash within her bonds even more. She soon gave, feeling hopeless. I'm going to die here. she thinks as the torch got closer to the wood pile. I'm scared. It was over now.
As the man was about to set fire to the logs, hundreds of crows suddenly flew out from the trees and came swooping down upon everyone. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed as some of the crows pecked at him. The birds then started to attack the others as well. "It's that witch! Burn her!" a man yells as he waved his arms in the air wildly.
"This should be impossible, we already put a seal so she wouldn't use her powers!" a lady shouts.
"JUST KILL HER ALREADY." someone shouts.
The whole place was in utter chaos. People were running everywhere and bumping into each other. Some were lying on the ground covering their faces to protect themselves. Screams of pain started to echo through the forest.
I'm not doing this. Nagi wanted to say. She could only watch with fearful eyes at the scene unraveling before here. The leader was too busy swatting away crows that he failed to notice that his torch had fallen out of his grip. The flame rolls over to the pile of logs, making Nagi terrified. The wood started to gradually catch fire as she tried to move away from the flames. It spread so fast that it started to burn parts of her feet, making the girl cry out in pain.
"Don't worry little one."
The ropes binding her to the wooden pillar suddenly became loose, like something had cut them from behind. Nagi took this opportunity to escape the burning wood and run. Her cloak had caught fire while getting out so she quickly discarded it. Now left with her white dress and pendant, Nagi ran as fast as she could while everybody was still distracted. In mere seconds, the execution ground had become nothing more than a blur of black and orange.
The girl's heart was pounding and she felt like her lungs would explode at any moment. Only complete darkness enveloped her as she entered an unknown part of the woods.
Even though she was sure no one was following, Nagi kept running. It felt like her life depended on it. The voice in her head was not there to guide her anymore, and the only source of light was the pale glow of the moon.
After a while, Nagi slows down into a walk. She was breathing heavily and sweat had now formed on her back and forehead. There were no signs of the white flowers anywhere since the pendant did not glow anymore. Nagi walks over to a tree and leans against it. "Where do I go now?" she softly says, sighing in exhaustion. The sky was cloudy so it was impossible to follow any stars. Everything just seemed so hopeless. She felt like all the things that happened up until now were just because of luck.
"There you are you little brat." a man's voice says. Nagi turns to the side in surprise. All of them were supposed to be distracted by the crows and fire right now. "You think that little trick back there was enough to stop me eh?"
Looking closely, Nagi noticed that it was the leader. Only this time, his clothes were charred and skin black with soot. The man's hair was all messed up and he looked really pissed off. There was something in the man's hands that shined in the darkness. Nagi's eyes widen when she realized what it was, earning a sadistic grin from the leader. "If burning you is not enough, then I'll take care of you myself!"
Nagi dodges a swing of the axe-wielding man. The blade gets stuck in the tree trunk she was just leaning on, giving her a little time to run while the man tries to pry the weapon out. "You can run little girl, but you can't escape your fate!" she hears the man shout. The girl ducks under tree branches and climbed over a fallen tree as she tried to escape the man. She did not care about what part of the woods she was travelling to, just as long as she was safe, it was fine.
Since it was too dark to see anything, Nagi could not really see where she was going. In the midst of her confusion, Nagi lost her footing and tumbled down a steep hill. She then lands on her side and continues to roll down the hill until she hit a rock.
The force of the impact knocked the air out of Nagi's lungs and she gasped in pain. Her vision started darken, but she could still hear the yells of the man who was chasing her. It seems as though he had no clue where Nagi was and ran past her location. Thank goodness…she thought as her eyes slowly start to close. Her entire body ached and she could not find the strength to move.
"Kufufu. Rest for now little one, you're safe."
Nagi could barely make out the faint glow of the purple gem that hung from her neck and the shadow of a person standing a few feet away.
Nagi shifted a little in her bed. It was just a dream? she thought. The bed she lay on was soft and comfy, unlike her old bed. The smell was different too. Nagi's eyes slowly opened. This was not her home. It was not any place she was familiar with in fact. The girl tries to get up, but falls back from the pain that surged throughout her body. Her head was what hurt the most. Where am I?
"I see you're awake."
Nagi slowly sits up this time, resting her back on the headboard. To her right, there was a boy who looked slightly older than her. He had eyes each of a different color, one blue and one red. His dark blue hair was tied in a strange hairstyle, sort of like a fruit Nagi once saw in the market the other day. "Wh-Where am I?" Nagi stutters. When she looked down, her bandages were replaced by brand new ones.
The boy chuckles, "We don't actually have a name for it, but it's a place for people like you and I." he says.
"You were the one communicating with me."
"Indeed I was."
Nagi felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She made it. She was safe at last. "Thank you she says to the boy."
Suddenly, the door to the room bursts open, revealing a blonde boy with a scar across the bridge of his nose, a boy with dark blue hair wearing glasses and a hat, and a girl with short red hair. "Hey, I told you not to eavesdrop on them!" the girl exclaims.
"I told to stay out of it byon!" the blonde says.
The boy in the glasses stayed quiet. Now that she looked at him, the boy had strange markings on one of his cheeks.
"I can't believe I saved a puny girl like you for the sake of Mukuro-sama." the blonde says as he stared in disgust at Nagi. He did not see how a girl like her could have superior powers like his leader.
"You were the one who cut the ropes for me?" Chrome asks the blonde.
"Who else would it be?" he spat back.
"Thank you." the girl says, ignoring the boy's rudeness. Her words made the blonde blush a little, "Don't get too confident, I was only following Mukuro-sama's orders."
"I think Ken has taking a liking to her." the boy in glasses says.
"Shut up Chikusa! I don't!"
"It's fine as long as she doesn't steal Mukuro away from me." the red headed girl says.
"Kufufu, welcome home, Nagi." the boy who is known as Mukuro says while the other three were arguing at the door. Nagi smiles a little, "Thank you, Mukuro-sama."