Rave Mistress
Chapter 2:
Garage Island
Location: Garage Island. Date: February 3rd, 0117.
Kōri's amber eyes gently fluttered open and she sat up in bed. A wet flannel fell off her forehead and she surveyed her surroundings. She was now in a double bed in the middle of a room that looked like it was for an old lady with lace and frills everywhere. Kōri looked down and unclenched her hand to reveal the Rave still in her palm. Suddenly everything came back to her and she lay back down. Those Shadows had attacked her and Toru's apartment and she fell ill after running through the rain. She barely remembered Ruby saying something about going to a place called "Garage Island" but her memory leading up to this point was foggy.
"Good, you're awake,"
Kōri jumped when an old woman entered with a breakfast tray in her hands. She put the tray aside and put her hand to the teenager's forehead. Since her fever had broken at last, the old woman allowed her to have a bowl of warm porridge with honey swirled in. Kōri sat up straight in bed as she took steaming spoonful after steaming spoonful of the warm breakfast meal.
"I'm Cattleya, by the way," the old woman said "The second Rave Master, Haru, is my little brother,"
"Brother?" Kōri wondered for a moment "TORU! Where's Toru? Where's my baby brother?!"
"Sshh... sshh," Cattleya hushed "It's alright, Kōri, everything's fine. Toru's outside talking to Nakajima,"
"Who the heck is Nakajima?" Kōri exclaimed.
Despite Cattleya's pleads to stay in bed and rest, Kōri got up, ran to through the house to the outside door and threw it open. She held her hand up to shield her eyes from the sunlight and looked around. The grass was lush, the treetops were full and the flowers were in bloom. A gentle breeze came through and she flinched. The countryside was so different from Hip Hop City... Kōri looked around and saw Toru sitting in the grass with Plue on his lap. He seemed stronger with some colour in his cheeks.
"Toru, there you are!" Kōri exclaimed happily.
"Hi, Kōri, it's good to see you're feeling better," her brother responded "You wanna meet Nakajima?"
"Uh... sure. Where is he?" she asked.
Toru pointed at the giant flower situated on the side of the house with a set of hands by it. It suddenly opened its eyes and smiled at her, waving one hand.
"Hello, Rave Mistress, I'm Nakajima! My, aren't you a pretty Rave Mistress? Hmm, indeed... pretty indeed," he said.
"What the HECK?!" Kōri screamed and kicked the literal wallflower with her bare foot "Why the heck is there a talking plant on the wall?"
Toru sighed and stood up with Plue in his arms.
"Calm down, Kōri, Nakajima was just telling me about the second Rave Master's son, Levin Glory, from when he was a kid," he said "Can you take your foot off his face so he can finish the story?"
Kōri looked at the completely calm expression on her brother's face before retracting her foot. Toru smiled at her brightly and sat back down in front of Nakajima. She watched him as he laughed and chatted away. Had he always been this talkative? He seemed worse off in Hip Hop City. Maybe Garage Island's fresh air was what he needed? Kōri let a gentle smile spread across her face and she relaxed her tensed shoulders. If anything, at least Toru's health was improving.
"Excuse me, poyo," Ruby exclaimed as he came waddling up to them "Kōri, poyo, we must talk, poyo. You are the third Rave Master, poyo!"
Kōri sat at the kitchen table with her brother, Cattleya and Ruby. On the wall was a picture of a young woman with black hair standing by a man with a scar and red hair. They seemed happy together with a redheaded boy standing with them. Ruby stood up on his chair and tapped the table with the tip of his staff. There was a flash of light and a sword in its sabbard fell onto the table.
"The holy sword, Ravelt, weapon of the second Rave Master, Haru Glory, and now the weapon of the third Rave Master, Kōriko Luca, the Rave Mistress," he dictated "Take it, it's yours now,"
Cautiously, Kōri stood up and picked the weapon up. She took hold of the hilt and drew the sword for the first time in 10 years. It was so light and the blade shone. It didn't feel like she was holding a sword, more like an extension of herself. Kōri had never held a sword in her life and yet the feel of Ravelt in her hands was like something she had done before.
"Whoa..." Toru awed "Cool!"
Kōri smiled at the blade as if it was an old friend before sliding it into its scabbard again. The thought of being the Rave Mistress weighed heavily on her mind and she sat back down with her amber eyes fixated on Ruby.
"Alright, tell me about this Dark Army you mentioned," Kōri instructed "I want to know everything,"
Ruby sat back, pulled off his hat and shook it out onto the table. Everything from old grocery receipts to a dagger encased in dried blood fell out. He searched through it all before pulling out an old photograph. It depicted the Rave Warriors as a whole group with the Rave Master and Etherion user front and center.
"Darkness is a part of the world that light can't exist without, poyo. It's the job of the Rave Master to keep this darkness in-check, poyo. 50 years ago, Haru and the rest of us defeated Endless, poyo, and the Dark Bring Master, Lucia Raregroove, and restored the balance between darkness and light, poyo. However, poyo, there is always a one who wishes to disrupt that balance, poyo. And 10 years ago, the Dark Army appeared," he began.
"Then how come no one knows about them?" Kōri asked "If they basically replaced Demon Card then shouldn't people know about them?"
"The Dark Army works in the shadows like a secret society, poyo. Any major catastrophe or war that's occurred in the past 10 years, poyo, was their doing," Ruby continued "We knew they were there when they began reviving Dark Brings, poyo. Haru could tell, poyo, but we were all so old by then..."
He looked down at another group photo and sniffed. Plue began to whimper and used his front paws to lift up an old necklace with a charm like three blades. The little dog began to cry and he sat down with the old necklace held to his heart. 10 years was a long time to go without seeing your closest friends.
"Splitting up to hide and protect the Rave, poyo, was the only thing we could do..." Ruby said, sadly.
"I know that part," Kōri interrupted before the pink penguin could start crying "Haru told you to find me, right? Now you've found me, what next? 'Cause if those Shadow things are gonna attack me again, I don't want Toru in the line of fire,"
Ruby wiped the sides of his beak like a nose and he stood up on his chair again. He picked a bell up off the table and it transformed into a sword. He held the sword up as if to strike and he looked Kōri dead in the eye.
"Kōriko Luca, as the Rave Mistress you must gather the Rave Stones, become worthy of Ravelt's ten forms and you must save this world from the Dark Army before it can make its move against the public!" Ruby declared.
Kōri's hand brushed against Ravelt's hilt and she felt the sparks between herself and it. Hearing all this, she only really had one choice. They would be coming after her now but she didn't want Toru getting hurt. If the Dark Army attacked then everyone would get hurt. It was her only choice to take Ravelt and accept her new duties.
"Alright, then," Kōri said, getting to her feet and she held Ravelt closely "I'll be the next Rave Master,"
Well, that's done.