*~ Fifth ~*
Back on the first day…
A typical school bus tended to have several layers in its atmosphere. The bottommost layer was filled with the stale and stinky air of sweaty footwear and whatever unappealing objects had slipped out of backpacks, populated with stray pencils and several pounds of lint. Only the bravest and boredest dared to look down there, and few came back without pinching their nostrils shut.
The next layer, ranging the length of the seats, had different variations of breathability depending on the season. Fall, for instance, meant that the chilled air slipping through the windows mercifully granted seat-huggers a breath of fresh oxygen.
And the final, top layer was always full of conversation; greetings and phrases being thrown from seat to seat, always loud and always ringing against the metal. It was like a mobile lunch room, with all the groups gathered and chatting and what-not.
All three layers changed depending on the amount of passengers, from incredibly lonely to densely packed. She, however, was unfortunate enough to have boarded the bus with fifty or so other students heading home; how she managed to find her own seat was a miracle.
Ena Julies looked out the window at the gathering storm clouds, pondering how bad this one would be. She happened to live in Elkin, and if the storm was looking this bad from a distance, it surely meant that she and her uncle would need to pack into the basement.
She sighed and shoved a lock of black hair out of the way, one not threaded with blond strands, surveying it once more with disbelieving hazel eyes. If it flash-flooded, she'd be late to school without question—and if it actually flooded, how would she make it to anything else? These thoughts and more entered her mind, and she ignored the girl standing next to her seat completely.
"Excuse me?"
The timid call drew Ena from her own flood of misfortunes, and she looked to the girl skeptically.
"Do you mind if I sit here…?" she asked.
A few moment's registration of the girl's strange outfit, but she finally answered, "Yea, sure."
The girl flashed a smile gratefully and plopped down next to her, sliding the prop fencing sword she held under the seat. She was wearing a red shirt with a white skirt, as well as gold-colored shoulder armor and a white cape. Her long, cyan-colored hair looked dyed, evident by a few dirty blond strands. There was no mistaking it; a cosplay.
And if Ena could recall, the person she was trying to mimic was Eirika from the fire emblem series. She might have actually heard of this girl, though; the shy thirteen-year-old no one asked about but the teachers (who were much in favor of the girl giving up her habit).
"…so…are you a gamer?" she asked after an awkward silence.
"Yea, I'm kind of a Nintendo geek…" the girl answered.
"'Kind of'?"
"If 'kind of' counts as only having a GameCube and GBA," she explained. This girl tended to be less shy in cosplay, evident by how she ignored the other kids' stares. It gave her bravery to be someone else. "What about you?" she asked.
"Me?" Ena confirmed. "I'm a wiki stalker. Curiosity, you know?"
The cosplayer grinned a bit, her eyes wandering down Ena's light blue dress. "Hey, not that there's anything wrong with your outfit, but…don't only girls wear dresses?"
Ena shot her a surprised look before letting out a slightly agitated sigh. "I happen to be a girl…"
"Oh! Oh gosh, I'm so sorry," the cosplayer whimpered, blushing in embarrassment.
"It's alright, it actually happens often," Ena sighed. Fourteen years old, and still mistaken for a guy. The long hair and dress should give it away, I mean, seriously…
Such was the reason she tended to be an overachiever. It didn't really help that she was an avid gunner, the skill taught to her by her uncle often working against her when she was joined by 'fellow' guys. Maybe it was just her figure…?
"I'm Olivia, by the way," the cosplayer introduced. "You can call me Eirika!"
"Cool," Ena smiled. "I'm Ena. Say, where are you headed?"
"The library, I've got to study up for a report," Olivia answered.
"That's weird…I'm headed there, too," Ena's eyebrows lifted.
"Uh…destiny?" Olivia offered.
Now it was Ena's turn to chuckle.
Suddenly, the bus was jerked upwards, startling several as they passed the speed bump. On the way, something fell from Olivia's backpack and hit the floor. She gave an alarmed hum and plucked it back up again, holding it in the flat of her palm and dusting it off.
Ena noticed, asking, "Is that Marth?"
The prince was carved expertly into the…concrete, or whatever the gray material was; every cape fold and shaded color was made expertly, and it was fastened to a gold base like a figurine.
"I found him on the school steps," Olivia explained. "It didn't look like anyone's, so I picked it up, and then I heard this weird sound…"
"So that's why you were late on the bus?"
"Yea…I mean, I AM a pretty big nerd for Fire Emblem…"
"Well, it looks pretty cool," Ena whistled as Olivia tucked it back in her bag.
"Thanks," Olivia smiled.
Elkin's public library was cozy yet somewhat large, pressed between two buildings that towered over its two stories. For that reason, only the front wall had windows—as a back alley isn't very appealing to the eye. It had plenty of material, however, from the children's books downstairs to the rentable games to a fair share of junior novels, educational books, and biographies. It was quiet and clean and very homely, the three reasons Olivia loved it dearly.
She and Ena were both dropped off at the stop, and continued chatting about games until they were through the library doors and thus in its whispering-only range. Unfortunately, the two sections each were going to happened to be apart; while she was looking for enough books to fill in a blank project, Ena was only stopping by for some reading material.
"I guess I'll see you later, then?" Ena murmured.
"Yea…see you!" Olivia chirped quietly back. She* sped-walked to the wildlife section while Ena wandered off to find some good reads, not giving a second look to the people who gave her outfit odd looks. The librarians themselves were mostly used to it—either that, or were too engrossed in their work to care.
She had actually stopped by here often to research how to make most of her cosplays, learning how to thread unique stitching or fake metal objects and the like. She'd learned the hard way that looking things up on the computer like that only lead to weird ads about sewing clubs…
Skidding to a stop, Olivia noted that she had the whole alley to herself. In fact, the rest of the library seemed pretty sparse guest-wise; the regulars must be at home, preparing for the storm. Actually, she should probably snatch these books and head out while she could as well.
But oh, the reads! Only a select few can get in and out of a library without books they hadn't planned on, and she was definitely not one of those select few.
Searching on the provided computer turned up results about good novels somewhat related to her project, prompting her to go and have a look, prompting her to see all the other stuff they had available. And when she finally got back to the wildlife, there were all those good books as well, and forking through them for facts about stuff she should know. Then back to searching, and getting distracted by the books they had on display…
Time seemed to have sprouted a Pegasus's wings as it sped past, minute after minute, page after page. The skies faded darker and darker, from both the incoming half-hurricane and the natural dusk.
Olivia hadn't noticed; she was in the middle of a good raccoon book before something from reality brought her out.
CLANG!
The initial metal-on-metal contact made her jump, her heart pounding even after realizing it was just something that had fallen from a shelf. Something…metal? Metal books aren't common in the library…if they exist.
Sliding a makeshift bookmark between the next two pages, she walked over to have a look-see.
It was a statue about half the size of her hand, large enough to be considered a toy but small enough so it wasn't an actual bookend. Olivia plucked it up and observed it; a recreation of Ness, but stone and with a metallic base.
…wait a minute…
Strolling back over and setting the Ness figure on the table she had been sitting at, she briefly went backpack-fishing for the Marth statuette. Setting them side-by-side, she made comparison: both were made of the same material, and were just far enough apart in size that they appeared the same way they would if they existed. Evidently, both made by the same fan/nerd/brand/whoever.
"A fanatic…?" she hummed.
Suddenly, a light went out.
Then another, this one closer.
She looked up worriedly as they continued to black out, one after the other in a row. What was this, a power outage? Kidnapping? Robbery?!
Finally, they were all off—and a door closed in the blackness. Add that to a key's slight scraping, and she could deem one thing…
The library had closed. And she had just been locked in.
Great, my second-to-worse fear. Being locked up in a creepy building at night.
Introducing Ena and Olivia, PikaloverNYA and Twilight Joltik's OCs! *Applause*! But what does Ena wield? How will they get out of that library? What will happen next? Why do both their senders incorporate Pokemon in their names?! All this and more found out next Wednesday…except maybe that last one. A lot of people use Pokemon…*glances at penname* I should know.
*= ONE THOUSAND WORD MARK! Maybe there's hope for this fic after all!
Thanks for reading, guys! Be sure to review, follow and favorite on your way out, keep an eye out for the next chapter, hug an Eevee, and meet me back here next Wednesday for another chapter of Heir—I mean, Childish Dreams!
…you know you have too many SSB fics when their names start getting mixed up…