HERE... ALONE?
Kyle and Tear walked along the street. The moon brilliantly shone in the sky, however failing to outshine the lights that adorned their paths. They silently admired the scenic view, watching endless streams of cars as series of honks, engines and chats sounded in the air. The night was abnormally cold, and Tear could not help shivering a little. Most people on the streets had on their jackets and long pants that covered most of their skin, and their not-so-ordinary outfit caught the attention of many passers-by.
They had awoken somewhere among a dark alleyway. While Kyle had already transformed back to his Nova form, Tear still retained her pink twintails and Angelic Buster suit. Kyle couldn't find his swords anywhere, but Tear still had her soul shooter and bracelet which, for some reason, seemed to be looser than it should be - Tear dared not shed them nevertheless. With some discussions, they decided it was best to look around with hopes to find hints of their whereabouts first. Tear tried to reach Eskalade but he did not respond.
They headed down the street, trying to study the culture of the place. Oddly, they recognised most inscriptions written on billboards, shops and the large televisions there. They are the writings of the local language in Pantheon, consisting largely of lines and circles. Even the grammar matched too, with all the subject-verb agreement in the right place. Besides, the language other people around them spoke seemed to bear little difference with Phanteose too.
One large advertisement board caught their attention. Their eyes were set upon a few significant words. "Drive safely to celebrate with your valentine. A message from the Korean Ministry of Health and Ministry of Transport."
Aside from that, something in the atmosphere beckoned to them.
"It's so beautiful!" Tear said, out of the blue.
"Sure is," said Kyle.
"I wish Velderoth's here too," Tear sighed.
Kyle spoke nothing, and Tear knew why. The three of them had been best of friends throughout childhood and teenage. Things started to turn when Kyle inherited the Kaiser and Eskalade dawned upon Tear. The shock of Velderoth's betrayal had yet to subside within him, and his guilt remained ever since ending him, even as he and Tear were compelled to.
"Are you still mad at me?" Tear softly asked, after a long, awkward silence. She had to confirm. Kyle's probably still mad at her hiding her true identity, turning Velderoth against them. It was not until the fight with Velderoth that Kyle knew the Angelic Buster was Tear all along. Velderoth sold her out, claiming he witnessed the transformation.
"For what?" Kyle asked, surprised.
"Well, you already know who I am, so…"
"Oh, silly. You never change even after you've become an idol, eh?" Kyle chuckled. "Of course I'm not. It's not even the time to think about that. I mean, look at where we are now, shouldn't we be worrying about this first?"
Tear looked down in embarrassment and kept herself silent.
"Hey bud, we did great back there at least," said Kyle, trying to cheer his friend up. "By the way, are we…all alone here? I'm pretty sure we are not the only ones."
"I…I think so." Tear had never felt so speechless before.
They walked on. As they silently admired the vibrant nightlife of the radiant city, they couldn't help notice one common thing. Every single shop or banner or billboard has the words "Valentines Day" or at least a word "valentine" on them. Also, the lamp posts of this world were all decorated with colourful ribbons and lightings.
Besides, there seemed to be only couples on the streets. They were either holding hands while walking or making out in public. Lovey-dovey, in general. They had never seen such phenomenon back at Pantheon.
They came to a junction where they had to cross the road to head on. Oddly, cars stopped in a rather neat position. Pedestrians hurried across the road where white stripes were marked. At the other side of the road stood a few poles. At the top of them were queer containers of some sort. A green blinking light in the shape of a running man seemed to shine towards them from within one of them, the smaller one of all. Kyle and Tear followed and strolled across, still admiring their surroundings. Before long, the green light stopped flashing and from the container shone a red light in the shape of a man in standing posture instead. Pedestrians started running towards both sides of the road, leaving them wondering why the people suddenly ran from walking.
Then they knew. They were the only ones still left on the street. All went into chaos. Swarms of cars started to rush towards them. They wasted no time trying to run to the side of the road. Kyle managed to reach the side, but Tear was a bit slower.
"Look out!" Kyle yelled as he jerked on Tear's forearm, making her land directly into his arms. A car zoomed behind, narrowly missing her.
"You okay?" asked Kyle.
"Yeah…"
"Are you sure? Your face looks flushed."
Indeed, in the split second Kyle pulled her, her face had turned beet red. "Yeah…I'm…I'm okay…"
"Alright, just tell me if you don't feel well, I don't know what I can do here but I'll do my best," said Kyle, laughing. Tear awkwardly laughed along.
The decorations and promotions in lieu of Valentines Day did not seem to end, and so they continued their sightseeing in awe, temporarily forgetting that they were in a foreign land and enjoying what they saw. As they went on, they noticed a man with a beard in a fancy clothing and a bowler hat. He was smoking a cigar in his mouth while leaning against the wall, and seemed to be waiting for someone.
"Oi you, you there," the man called out in Phantheose as they walked near. Kyle and Tear turned their heads towards him in bewilderment. "You, yeah you, get over here for a moment wouldn't you," the man spoke again. His tone was rather lively and cheerful, and he always smiled when he spoke.
Curious, Kyle and Tear approached the man. He greeted Kyle with a smile.
"Hey young man, I see you are in need of a valentine for this coming Valentines Day! Now what is your name?"
Confused this time, Kyle replied, "Uhh…I'm Kyle, my friend here's Tear…"
"Ah Kyle-ssi!" the man interrupted, before Kyle could finish, "So you do need a valentine! My name is Yoo Saeg-Laeng, but you could just address me as Saeg-Laeng-hyung. Now I just have the perfect valentine for you to happily celebrate this loving season together! I would just need your approval and we shall all be ready to experience the love in the air!"
Kyle looked at Tear, who looked down. He shrugged, not knowing whether to accept or not. They did not really know how things worked in this world so he could be of help, but it was very embarrassing at the same time.
"Aih why wait for approval of course you need a valentine! Please wait for me while I call her," the man took out a strange gadget from a pocket, flicked a few times with his finger while looking at it and then held it to his right ear.
"Hello."
"Wait what?!"
"What? Whaddya mean you can't come?"
"Oh you better arrange for it tomorrow!"
All the time Kyle and Tear stared blankly as Saeg-Laeng seemed to talk to himself while having that thing at his ear, utterly confused.
"Okay, bye," the man finally said before he brought the thing down, flicked a few more times and kept it back into his pocket.
"I am very sorry, Kyle-ssi. But you can still enjoy this moment together tomorrow onwards, since Valentines Day's still 'round the corner. But no worries, I have Plan B at hand!" the man returned to a smile. "Please follow me."
Kyle and Tear blindly followed. After a long walk, they came to a rather grand hotel in the city.
"Two rooms for the night," Saeg-Laeng told the receptionist as they approached the reception. After a few moments, he returned to Kyle and Tear, two cards in his hands.
"These are your rooms for you and your friend," he said as he handed one for Kyle, and another for Tear. "I have told them to arrange a formal suit for you, Kyle-ssi. So I will be seeing you at 9am, and we shall all have a wonderful time feeling all the atmosphere of love! In fact, your room is saved for you and your valentine too, Kyle-ssi!" Saeg-Laeng said before he left, humming pleasantly all the way and leaving the two of them in the lobby.
Tear reached her room, staring at the door. Kyle taught her how to use the lift - he had been on lifts back at the Maple World and knew how to operate them, thankfully it worked the same way here - but not how to open the door. She looked from the rather strange 'lock' to her card then back to the lock again. The 'lock' had no slots to insert the card to, and Tear was baffled. She managed to seek help from a passing janitor. He opened the door in a way that fascinated her - he tapped the card at the smooth surface of the 'lock', a green light flashed, and he pushed the door open. She thanked the janitor and walked in.
Her room had a single bed and bathroom, and it seemed like the simplest room of all types. Very well then, she thought, everything else in the room was fancy at least.
She plopped down on her bed, feeling cold and exhausted from the day, albeit having the heater warming up the room nicely. Her mind wandered to what happened that day. They were neither in Pantheon or the Maple World, but in some place called Korea, somewhere in the alternate universe, which seemed to use Pantheose as the main language. They met strange things, it was Valentines, and Kyle's getting a date.
Kyle's getting a date.
She tossed and turned, thinking about it over and over. She knew she should be happy, but most of her wasn't. She didn't want to know why. Part of her was angry - and jealous - at Kyle being convinced and accepting the date so easily.
At last, she decided to find Kyle. Perhaps it might ease her fluttering heart a little bit.
She took the lift and went to Kyle's room. For a very long time, she felt too nervous to knock, as she didn't have the confidence, which in turn made her lose her words. At last, the door opened by itself, and out came Kyle.
"Tear?" Kyle asked, surprised. "How long have you been standing here? Come in!"
Tear followed as they walked in together. Tear was surprised at Kyle's room. It was a grand suite that not only had a bedroom with a king-size bed, but a kitchen, a living room and a study as well. The lights that shone dimly onto the room added to the atmosphere of pure grandeur, and even a faint smell of lavender could be picked up. It looked as though they're back at the main temple of Pantheon.
"You got this kind of room? What the…" Tear started to pout.
"Hey, I never expect it to be this fancy. Is that how inns work here?"
"You should have looked at my room, then you'll know!" Tear answered, to which Kyle took as a 'no'.
"By the way, you came at the right time. I was just about to head to your room to tell you something."
"What is it?" asked Tear.
"The man that put us here, Saeg-Laeng-hyung is it? Haven't you noticed something strange about him?"
Tear hesitated for a while, then spoke, "Now that I remembered, he looked kinda familiar. Have we met him before somewhere in Pantheon?"
"I'm not sure," said Kyle. "By the way, I kinda feel nervous for tomorrow. First step in here and now out for a date, how's that sound?"
"I don't know…" Tear suddenly blushed again.
"Oh yeah, since I'm getting a date tomorrow, how d'ya think I should approach her? I mean, what do girls like in general? Could you gimme some tips?"
For a good one hour, Tear gave Kyle a lot of tips on the valentine date. She somehow managed to hide her jealousy well.
"Thanks for everything, I knew you'd be reliable!" said Kyle as Tear prepared to leave, "And wish me luck too. By any chance after this it'll be all over and we'll be back at Pantheon."
Just as Tear opened the door, she looked back to Kyle. "Alright well, good luck," she said. Just before she closed the door, she spoke again, "Just, don't phase me out."
She went back to her room and flung herself onto bed. Tears started leaking through her eyes.