Somewhere in China
"Are we there yet?" Tobe exhaustedly asked Cross.
"Shut up, brat. We'll arrive there soon." Cross replied.
They arrived in a large brothel.
"Wooow! This place is huge, man! Old man, you might not have a taste for women but you sure know how to pick a place to stay at." Tobe said while rubbing his two hands as if plotting something.
A huge, muscular lady appeared. "Waaaa! A monster!" Tobe ran behind Cross. "Gramps! Gramps! Help! There's a monster over there!"
The woman got irritated and spoke in Chinese. Cross replied to her in Chinese. Tobe stared at them and said, "Hey gramps, I never thought ya would be that desperate to flirt with a man just to find a place to stay."
Cross hit him on the head really hard. "Don't randomly insult people, annoying brat. She's a woman and a friend of mine on this country."
"Oooh~ A 'friend' of yours~" Tobe giggled teasingly.
They went inside a room at the back of the building. They met a beautiful woman. Her hair is black colored and half of it was tied to the back of her head forming a ribbon, decorated with a golden clip.
"Welcome back, Cross-sama." The woman said.
"Hello there, pretty lady. I'm Tobe, son of this wretched womanizer." The lady was surprised at what the child just said.
"Don't mind that crazy brat. He just made it up." Cross said.
"Except for the WOMANIZER part!" Tobe added.
The woman giggled. "Hello, Tobe. I am Anita, the Mistress of this establishment. I am pleased to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet ya too, pretty lady." Tobe said wearing his cutest smile.
"Enough chit-chat. Anita, I have come here to ask a favor from you." Cross stated as he shoved Tobe out of Anita's view.
"Anything for you, Cross-sama. Mahoja, please take Tobe to a room."
"Yes, mistress." Mahoja answered. Tobe frowned but still obediently followed Mahoja.
-Tobe and Mahoja-
"No fair! Why can't I listen to their conversation? Hmph." Tobe crossed his arms.
"They'll just talk about something a kid like you shouldn't be meddling with." Mahoja replied.
"Huh? I could be like a grown up too, ya know?"
Yeah, right. I hope so. Mahoja just thought to herself. "Here's your room, child."
Tobe went inside and Mahoja watched him until he fell asleep before leaving the room.
Meanwhile, Cross and Anita's conversation.
"Are you sure you're going to leave Tobe with me, Cross-sama?" Anita said.
"My journey from here on will be a dangerous one. I'm not planning to bring that annoying child with me. He's a handful and such a pain in the neck," Cross said.
"Oh, is that so." Anita said worriedly. "Well then, I'll take good care of him. Just please be careful on your journey."
"Of course, I will." Cross replied.
Anita looked at him for a moment. "I think you should rest now. I'll lead you to your room."
"Ah, sure" Cross followed her.
Cross stayed in China for a couple of days while waiting for the preparation of his ship to be finished.
When the preparations are over, Cross went to the shipyard early in the morning. Anita followed him. "Cross-sama, please take care."
Cross smiled at her. "Don't worry too much about me. I should be the one worrying about you because you're going to take care of that annoying brat."
"Mistress!" Mahoja interrupted their conversation. The woman looked like that something bad happened.
"You look so pale. Why? What's the problem?"
"It seems that Tobe has gone missing. I just saw this note in his room," Mahoja said while handing the piece of paper to her mistress.
Anita looked at the inscriptions on the paper.
"Cross-sama, it's for you." She gave the paper to Cross.
"Hmmm… and what trickery could this be again." Cross said while boarding the ship.
"Don't worry about that damn brat. Maybe he just got bored so he went with another man that he could annoy." He said to Anita to make her stop from worrying about them.
When Cross boarded the ship, he went inside his room and read Tobe's note. The note has a lot of weird scribbles and at the middle of the note, there's a poem.
A two-faced man shall journey to the East,
To a land of darkness and monsters of steel.
Their sail shall halt in a wave of steel.
In defeat, the man shall survive,
To finish his quest.
A young lamb's lullaby shall ring
throughout the Wolf's Ark.
Wolf shall sneak in its manger.
A steel monster shall change to new form,
Destruction, death and grief
shall follow the wretched beast.
The young lamb shall find out his identity.
The Jack of Hearts preys on the lamb,
And wish to unite his soul with it.
He shall kill the two-faced man
who holds secrets not to be discovered.
A fierce dog shall lose its way,
and the lamb shall run away.
Beware! The warning has been given.
Their fate has been set in motion.
What the-. What kind of note is this?
Cross read the note again and try to decipher the meaning of the poem. He knew that it's impossible for that kid to do those kinds of things like coded message but there is really something strange on the poem. He worked on it for three days until he decipher the poem. This is what he got:
CROSS shall journey to EDO.
Their sail WILL BE ATTACKED by A SWARM of AKUMAS.
In defeat, the man shall survive,
To finish his quest.
A YOUNG BOY'S MELODY WILL BE HEARD
throughout the NOAH's Ark.
A NOAH WILL RAID its HOME.
AN AKUMA will EVOLVE to a NEW LEVEL,
MANY PEOPLE WILL DIE
'The YOUNG BOY shall find out his identity.'
'The Jack of Hearts preys on the lamb,
And wish to unite his soul with it.'
HE WILL KILL CROSS
'A fierce dog shall lose its way,
and the lamb shall run away.'
BEWARE! THE WARNING HAS BEEN GIVEN.
THEIR FATE HAS BEEN SET IN MOTION.
What the-? I'm going to die? This child really wants me dead.
"Look! Akumas!" one of the shipmates shouted.
Cross went outside of his room to check. He spotted a swarm of Akumas heading towards their ship.
-END-
Extras
Tobe: Aww. Come on. Why does the author always cut my sentences off? Hmph! I'm going to finish my sentences in the next chapter. *determined look*
Cross: Sorry, kid. This is just a one-shot story.
Tobe: Awwwww. I want more! I want more!
Cross: Tell that to the author.
Tobe: Hey, miss author. Will ya make a story that focuses on me? I want it to be entitled as "D Tobeman". And I want to have power, and, and, and…
Author: … *SLEEPS* zzzzZZZZzzzz
Tobe: We would gladly appreciate it if you would leave your reviews and comments! Please and thank you very much!
