When I began my new road in life, I had no idea what I was in for. Or the trouble I would be in later in the future. I mean, right off the bat, I was given such a dangerous task that would take a long period of time. As I took my last final step for a long time in the Council's dimension, I gave everyone an unsure look hidden beneath an ensuring one.
"One more thing," Shintenmaru said. "If you ever need our help, just use the locket."
I looked at him as the words came out of his mouth and swallowed hard. Would I really need their assistance that often? I thought. "Okay," I told him unsteadily.
I turned back to the portal and stepped up onto the table. It was glowing brightly with its rainbow light, daring me, insisting that I go in. Take a risk, a voice suddenly popped into my head. Who's voice was that? It sounded so familiar… I hadn't enough time to figure it out. I decided to get it over with and jump in. Time for a new beginning, I thought.
I took a last deep breath, closed my eyes, and ran right into it. Leaving my only home behind, I wondered if I would come back differently than when I left. I surely hoped so. In only a matter of seconds did I found myself totally enveloped in an array of golden yellows and neon whites swinging by. I knew where I was. I was in the dimensional pause between the outer world and the Council's world. In other words, the beginning of the new reality I had to get used to.
The colors kept swinging past me, taking me on an exhilarating ride. My hair was flying behind me, my clothes fluttering wildly. I flew past the Judgment, hiding in its own little corner, screeching and roaring in agony, a black blob of empty space with tentacles. It didn't seem to care to see me passing by. I quickly lost sight and attention of it, and saw a white hole up ahead. There was the exit. My heart started racing from the turbulence and excitement. Here we go, I finally thought.
As the white hole grew closer, the gold and whites disappeared, consumed by the incoming white vortex. The portal I was about to go through was shining bright in my face. It was so hard I had to squint. I let go of all control on my body, letting my limbs swing freely as I "crashed" into the portal. I landed facedown, and I was soon consumed by all the glowing light. I felt like I was in another dimension all ready, being unfamiliar with my surroundings.
Soon, I was totally blinded, unable to see anything or feel anything. But a moment later I felt cool air around me, and solid ground beneath me. I felt something hot on the back of my neck. Something I haven't felt in a long time. Was I finally-?
I opened my eyes slowly to find a dirt sidewalk and crowds of people walking by. I turned around to discover the sun in my eyes. The spherical wonder covered in its blinding shield I hadn't seen for such a long time. I breathed in the fresh air and felt immediately calm. My feelings were just pacific as ever. I knew a wide smile was what I wore as I walked down the sidewalk.
I observed the townspeople as I wondered where I was. There were stalls and stores of all sorts selling all kinds of merchandise as I passed by. People were shouting prices and items and having fun. Suddenly, I heard a beeping. A beeping that was very close to me. What was it? I looked around my body to find the large, golden locket's red gem beaming like a piece of technology. I quickly grabbed it around my small fingers and desperately tried to stop the beeping. About ten seconds later did I find the switch that opened the cover.
The shield-style lid opened with grace, slowly rising to reveal what was inside, like a clam did with its precious pearl. I saw a red blinking dot on the face of the locket, saying YOU ARE HERE and an arrow pointing to the red dot. This blinking period was on a map of some sort, a zoomed version of a small island surrounded by the sea. I was near the coast, I realized. That's why I smelled such salty, oceanic air. Next to the red dot, I saw the name MIDGARTS ISLANDS: MIDSCAPE MARKET PLACE.
So that's why so many people are around me, I thought. I looked around and took a quick scan of my surroundings. Lots of sailors walking around, I thought. Lots of fish too, I sensed as I smelled the fresh scent of fried fish drifting around the area.
The large locket began beeping and blinking again, which took me by surprise, causing me to fumble with it, trying not to drop it. The map disappeared now, and all I saw was the twelve-piece pie chart Shintenmaru was talking about, with a green piece of it blinking sharply. I was beginning to wonder what now until the inside of the locket took me back to the map and pointed to where I was, saying in big letters on the top: LOCATION.
I began to wonder. Hmm… what did this pie chart mean again? Shintenmaru said it had to mean something like one of the half spirits was around me. Well, Minors, I guess I should start calling them since they're actually humans now. Teenagers, too. People who are at least 3 years older than me. I looked back to the map. It was exactly where I was. Just as I thought. I gulped. If I found this one, would he or she take advantage of me or act like I was a nuisance just because of my age? They'd better not. I'm trying to help this person after all.
The locket told me that the person was around me, but I didn't know exactly where. I guess that was the hard part. I clasped the locket lid tightly and set it back down to my midsection. This thing was way too heavy to be a locket, I thought. I still hadn't gotten quite used to carrying it around yet. Oh well, I knew It'd get more formal as time passed on.
I guess I should start searching. But where to start? I took a few nervous steps more around the sunny town of merchandise, the people around me still yelling their great bargains and statistics about their products. I took a long look around, trying to decide where a teenager would be. Food stands? Clothing stores? Where?
I made a few more nervous steps when something caught my attention. I turned to my left to find a fried fish stand. The scent that wandered from it tasted wonderful. It was salty and fresh, as expected from a market place so near the sea. I saw fried fish sticks and fish-on-a-stick, fish and chips, and so much more. It was exciting to be in such an atmosphere like this. But I had to keep my mind on what I was doing.
I looked around for more possible stores a teenager would be in. It was hard to choose between all of them, and I began to wonder if all twelve of my searches would be as confusing as this one would be. Hopefully, I would get better over time.
I cleared my throat as I walked on, passing by clothing stands and accessory stalls of all sorts. My apparent window shopping was interrupted by a loud group of people wowing and oohing and shouting remarks like "That's unbelievable!" or "Impossible!" and, "Look at this kid go!" I wondered what the commotion was all about and looked forward-right to find a group of people crowding a ramen shop. I decided to check out what it was all about and began to make my way towards their direction.
I imminently found myself lost in a large group of people, struggling my way through crowds and crowds of people. I pushed and shoved the best I could until I saw what was going on. They were crowding around this one customer who was gulping down what looked like his millionth bowl of ramen! The people were right. It was amazing!
The customer, using his swift craft with his chopsticks didn't seem to notice the crowd of people around him and ate the noodles hungrily to a craze. I wasn't sure if I should feel utterly disgusted or totally amazed, so I just stood there in front of the whole crowd and watched. The customer didn't seem to notice me, either. He kept his whole face in the bowl like a crazy animal. And the bowl was big. Believe me, I know.
The strange thing was the person who was eating all this didn't look obese like other gluttons I've seen. Was it fast metabolism? Was it magic? I couldn't decide. All I knew was that it was the strangest thing I've ever seen laid right before my eyes. This person wouldn't stop moving his chopsticks in a beastly manner and the munching, grumbling noises wouldn't take a breather as well. I soon began to wonder if he would ever come up for air as I watched for thirty straight seconds as he demolished that big bowl. He fashioned an orange headband tied around his forehead with a picture of the yellow sun on it. His hair was pure white, like snow held up against a light. On the side it had a little spiked up portion which made his look original. His body type was fairly average and I couldn't tell how his face looked due to the bowl two times the size of his head disallowing my sight.
Right after I stopped wondering my crazy thoughts, he finished and declared in a loud voice, "That's number nineteen!" He wore a huge smile on his face, his chin and mouth smothered in ramen bits and soup drops. He held his chopsticks high in happiness and crinkled his eyes like the most hyperactive clown you've ever seen. I could finally see his face when he declared his victory, and saw that his face was a teenagers', one with nice, green and wide eyes, and a smile that wore the healthy and handsome grin most teenage boys had. "Let's have another one!!" he shouted to the owner.
"All right!" the owner said, dumping another large-bowl order of ramen into the cooking pot, his expression happy with the business he was making.
This person's ability to eat so fast was amazing, and as I examined the past demolished bowls, I saw hints of red spice tinted all over the cheap china bowl. The noodles he was eating was spicy!? I screamed in my mind with disbelief. No wonder these people were so over-excited watching this kid! He's practically a freak of nature! I soon began to realize that his tasteless tongue wasn't natural. It almost seemed… powerful. I decided to take a closer look when he starts killing his twentieth bowl.
I took a seat next to this "talented" boy and was ready to examine him closely. As the store owner brought him another large bowl that was hot and ready, the noodles hissing with the spice on them, I saw the teen's eyes go crazy and picked up his chopsticks again, threatening the bowl with disaster. I couldn't bear to watch but I had to. What if this kid was a…
He soon began eating crazily like a wild animal again, putting his face forward into the bowl again as I looked for any strange aspect around his body.
Soon after he had begun, I noticed a green glowing light. It was coming from his feet, I realized. A neon green energy was surrounding the bottoms of his feet, the kind of energy that I saw around Minoa or Tsukansu when they used one of their special skills. I took a closer look at his feet, cautious of the others surrounding me that could be watching me as well. I heard a slight hum coming from them, and realized what he was doing immediately. The slight hum could only mean one thing.
It was a skill that Wasabi Kakori, the Botany Council used when he was running out of energy during training. Whenever he was fighting someone like Hanabikai, who specialized in fire attacks, he would be surrounded by heat a lot and get dehydrated. As a skill to counter that ability, he ingrained vines from his own feet and all the way down to underground water sources, where he could re-hydrate himself. The bad part is, he couldn't move. And whenever he used this skill, his feet glowed of a green energy, the same kind of energy this guy right next to me is using!
All of a sudden, I felt strange seeing someone that didn't resemble any Council member using one of their skills. It just didn't feel… right. I returned back from my past memories all together as he finished the last bowl. "Number Twenty!!" he shouted with great enthusiasm. After that, he didn't order anymore and the crowd whined in disappointment. But the customer just paid his bill and laughed. He thanked the owner for a "great" lunch and walked out of the store. I noticed that when he began to walk, he had a hard time, and almost tripped. As he did, he had that look in his face that asked, "Huh? What's going on?" so I assumed that he didn't know that he had the Botany Half powers.
He walked out of the store looking happy, wearing that handsome smile all teenage boys used. I followed him outside as the crowd began to clear away. All of a sudden the owner seemed like he was lonely and tired at the same time. I left the store in a hurry and saw the strange customer walk away. I stopped in my tracks so he wouldn't suspect that I was following him.
Oh, what would I do now? I thought. Shintenmaru didn't exactly tell me what to do when I found one of them. All he said was tell them who they were and they would realize it. But what do I do? I just go up to him and say, "Hi, did you know you have a Half Spirit inside you that was a part of the Free Spirits?" No. That wouldn't work. I looked back to him as he continued to get farther away, and I began to walk towards his direction again, hiding myself to veil my presence.
It was almost sunset, I realized, and the sun was setting in the direction the person was walking towards. I followed him until we were out of the Market Place and into this place on the edge of a cliff with a few trees around. He walked casually, his hands stuffed into his green sweaters' pockets. I hid myself behind a tree and kept watch on him, my back against the trunk. What could he be doing? I wondered as I watched him almost go off the edge of the cliff. Is he going to jump off? No. He didn't. He just stood there, listening to the rushing and roaring of the ocean waves against the shore below, watching the sun as a half circle upon the seawaters, painting it's bright light on the calm waters far away and shining on the azure sky, the clouds around it colored with all shades of purple and orange. It was a peaceful scene, and I felt guilty for following him all the way out here. This was obviously his "happy" place.
He stretched his arms out in the air, letting them get a rest after all the hard work they had just been through at the ramen store. He took in a deep breath and whistled it all out, his chest rising and falling. He took a seat on the cliff and just watched.
What do I say, what do I say? I panicked. I shouldn't bother him now, should I? My heart began racing to a speed not known to the human race as I heard a rustling in the bushes behind me. What was that? I thought. I drew my stare back towards the outside of the area, looking as far as I could for anyone. Surprisingly enough, I saw someone. A figure was nestled into the bushes directly behind but far away from the relaxed Minor.
Then, with a fluttering speed, I saw the figure race out of the bushes, creating a loud rustling from the bushes in which the person was hiding. I took in a sharp breath as I realized that the Minor was in danger. He was totally unaware that there was a person coming right in his direction, his hands still stretched in the air as he was sitting near the edge of the sunny cliff.
The figure soon came to a stop about five yards away from him. I thought it was White Cloak at first, but I began to see clearer and saw it wasn't. It was a girl. A girl with purple short hair with black outlines on the sides, and mean, punk eyes. She wore dark violet lipstick around her sinister expression, and was wearing a black-violet sleeveless top with thick, dark purple and black bracelets. She was also wearing torn jean shorts that went down to before her knees.
I realized fast enough that I was somewhat scared of her. It was not only her look but her stare that she put on at the sight of the Minor laying right in front of her, not having the slightest idea of what's going on.
The girl looked like a teenager as well, and swung her arms crazily in the air in some kind of pattern. She put her hands together in a spherical form finally, and released the hold. It looked like she was casting some kind of spell, but I knew what she as I observed the long and wide neon purple waves come from her palms. They gave a sharp hum and I was sure that the Minor wouldn't survive the attack. He would fall off the cliff!
"Stop!!" I said suddenly, even surprising myself, coming from my hiding place and standing in front of the attack as it was inches away from me.
"Don't let anyone stand in your way," Minoa had told me before. "Whenever you have a goal in life, don't let something ridiculous in your path. Don't let a little trouble get in your way. Cope with it, and resolve it. Got it?" She spoke to me in a quiet manner, tapping my forehead with her finger.
"Yes!" I had replied to her with confidence. Was I about to go back on my words now? No! I haven't even been given a chance to show that I meant what I said. I felt my heart rate pump up again and higher this time as the purple waves neared me.
The girl looked surprised that I seemed to come out of nowhere and tried to block the attack.
"Take this!" I heard a voice behind me mutter. It was the Minor! He had realized that there was someone all along and noticed the attack coming toward him! I looked behind me to see that he had stood up quickly, spun and flashed a parade of light balls at me. I knew that attack. I've seen Kakori use it a million times. Crap! I thought. Now I was caught between two attacks. Was I going to die right here right now? Have I failed my mission all ready?