Chapter 3: The Truth Revealed

???'s POV

A tall shadow stands holding a book, staring at an old photo. The entire room is covered with shadow. There are no lights. The only thing visible is the eyes of the person reading in the dark. Suddenly, the doors behind him and three shadowed creatures enter.

"You called for us, master?" the middle creature says in a low gruff voice. The master slightly turns his head at them and throws something. The creatures jump and it slightly cuts into the floor and stays there. It's a picture of a young girl with brown hair held by an older girl with black hair.

"The girl has finally awakened. Go fetch her for me while she is in a weak state. Kill all who stand in your way." The master says as they nod their heads. They turn to leave when they are stopped.

"One more thing. If any harm comes to that girl…" the master says as he gestures his hand. Suddenly, one of the creatures is pulled to where the master is. It screeches as its head rests in its master's hands. Then, it screeches even more as the master tightens his grip. Suddenly, the sound of something crushed is heard and the screeching stops. The Encard falls down as a servant comes and takes it away.

"…that will be your fate. Now, go!" he says as the creatures quickly leave in fear. When he is alone, the master walks forward and picks up the picture. He gently caresses the face of the black hair girl.

"Soon, we shall be together again."

Naomi's POV

I. Feel. Horrible. I must have pushed myself too hard. But at least my bed is warm. So warm and soft and comfy… WAIT, WHAT?! I immediately rise up to find… myself back writhing in pain. As I slowly get up again, I can clearly see that I'm in a house. The room seems normal enough with the dresser, bed, window, green eyes… GREEN EYES?!?

"AAAHHH!!!" I say as I move away from them…

BANG!!!

…Straight to the floor.

"Ow…"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah… just fi- hey, it's you from before!" I say as I see the three kittens from earlier. I climb back on the bed as they climb down from the window and land on the bed.

"Yup! Our friends helped you after you fainted." Says the blue-vested kitten.

"Oh… hey, I never asked you earlier but what're your names?"

"I'm Ray!"

"I'm Chen!"

"And I'm Este!"

"Pleasure to meet you all." I say smiling when I hear footsteps coming to the room.

"Hey, we heard a huge noise up here and we were wondering- oh! You're awake." Says Binka, the girl from earlier. Behind her are Sago and the midget.

"She's awake? Good! Now I can get revenge!" says the midget as he tries to get to me. Unfortunately for him, he's held back by Sago. Binka turns and glares daggers at him.

"If you mess with her, you'll die." She says as she raises her bazooka. The midget gulps as he stops struggling and sits down in a nearby chair. Binka sits by a seat next to the bed while Sago stands.

"So, how are you feeling?" she asks me. I put a fake smile to hide the pain.

"Fine. Just fi- ow." I try to say but I accidentally move and hurt myself.

"Just relax. We'll get some food for you if you're hungry."

"No need. I have it." says a voice at the door.

"WHOA, THAT'S A HUGE CAT!" I say in shock as I stare at the Enterran. It was a huge fat yellow cat with the face of those lucky cat ornaments with a green gem on his head. It had pink pants with a pink and white chef shirt and purple shoes. He had a bluish-green scarf around its neck and in his hands was a small dish with soup that had a strong delicious smell coming from it. Then, a loud rumbling noise is heard as everyone turns to me. I blush as I lower my head with my hand on my stomach and the other behind my head.

"Eh, heh heh… I guess I'm hungry." I say as I take the soup.

"It looks good. Did you make it?" I ask as I get a spoon.

"Why, yes I did. This is a new recipe that I'm trying out." He says as the others get nervous.

"Wait a minute you mean the new one you made this morning?" Sago asks as the midget grins evilly and I put a spoonful of the soup in my mouth.

"Yes it is. It's the one with cat nip, cat grass, and a sprinkle of dirt to give it a natural flavor." He says as I suddenly taste the soup. The others look at me as I go a bit pale. Meanwhile, the midget in the back is barely able to hold back his laughter. I swallow the soup which somehow became a big lump in my mouth. I force a smile back on my face as I face the cat.

"Well, how was it?" the cat asked with a smile.

"That was good. My compliments to the chef. However, I think I would prefer something smaller, like an apple, please." I manage to say as I feel even worse in my stomach.

"Alright, then. I'll be back." The cat says as he leaves. As soon as I couldn't see him, I put my hand on my mouth as the midget laughs his head off.

"Aha, ha, ha, ha! Look at her face! I can't believe that you ate that!" he laughs out as he falls off his chair and lands on the ground, still laughing. Suddenly, a shadow looms over him and he stops laughing as Binka stands over him, her bazooka aimed directly at him.

"Uh… now, now, Binka. You can't shoot me here. It'll hurt everyone here." The midget says as he backs away from her. Unfortunately for him, he backs up to the wall opposite to the door.

"That's why I'm going to give you to the count of three to run for it. One…" she says as the midget looks around frantically. He then lunges for the window and jumps out. Then, Binka charges over and sticks out her bazooka.

"THREE!!!" she says as she fires it.

"AAAHHH!!!" he yells from a distance. 'Boy, when he's scared, he sure can run fast.' I think as I silently laugh. A few minutes later, the midget, who is called Mushra, and the giant cat, Kutal, return.

"I just realized, we never asked your name." Binka says as I take a bite out of the apple I got from Kutal.

"Really? Well, it's- uhh…" I begin to say when I realize that I can't trust them entirely.

"Well, what's your name, child?" Kutal asks as they all lean in expectantly.

"You better tell us unless you forgot who you are just now." Mushra says as I slightly glare at him. I stay quiet for a few seconds before I give in.

"Alright, my name's Naomi." I say as I sigh.

"So, why are you here? And how do you know Yakumo?" Mushra shouts at me suddenly. Then, Binka quickly smacks him behind the head, causing him to fall face first into the floor.

"Shut up, Mushra! Well, we're all wondering how you know Yakumo." Binka asks me nicely.

"Yakumo? I don't remember anyone named like that. I'm just a simple traveling performer trying to earn her ends meet." I say as I shrug and smile.

"But you asked Este here about her and even spoke to her grave like you knew her." Sago says.

"What? Oh dear. I believe I may have had a hallucination moment. Oh. Now I'm in the circus." I say as everyone falls to the ground in disbelief.

"Lookie! A circus freak!" I say as I point at Mushra. He lunges for me but is held back by Kutal. I giggle innocently as they huddle together to talk. I listen in on them.

"Dammit, I want to kill her soo much." Says Mushra.

"I don't think this child knows anything so there is nothing to fear." Kutal says.

"Well, I guess so…" Binka says as she doubts herself. I stop listening in as I turn away from them and quietly celebrate. 'Yes! I'm in the clear!' I think happily.

"Well, we'll let you rest tonight and if you feel any better tomorrow, we'll let you go." Binka says as I turn back to them as I nod and smile.

"Thank you. Oh no!" I suddenly say.

"What? Is the elephant going to sit on you?" asks Mushra.

"My bag! It has my most precious possessions in it." I say as I look around.

'Precious possessions, huh?' Mushra thinks with an evil grin.

"Don't worry. It's right here." Binka says as she lifts it up but then, Mushra grabs it and tries to take it away.

"MUSHRA! What are you doing?!"

"Hey, she owes me for the money so I think we should take her cash." Mushra says as he tugs on it.

"No way, Mushra!" Binka shouts as she pulls back. They continue to have a tug-of-war.

"You guys should stop before that bag-" Sago begins when…

RIIIIIPPP!!!

All of a sudden, my bag rips. One of the things I wrapped up fell on the ground with a soft thump. The other was still inside, luckily.

"Look what you did now, Mushra!" Binka shouts at him.

"Hey, I wasn't the only one who-"

CLANK!!!

"Uh oh." I say as everyone looks at what just fell out. 'Things just got complicated.' I think as I see my weapon on the floor. It's a curved double blade boomerang. In the middle where I grab it is a blue gem. I look to see them look confused before they stare at me, seriously angry.

"What's that?" Sago says. The friendly look on his face is gone now.

"It's nothing!" I say as I immediately grab it and turn away from them.

"Where did you get that?" Binka asks as I still try to hide it behind me.

"I-I…" I stutter, making them more suspicious. I now realize that there is no way that I can get away now. They know too much. I only have one option left: get out before I spill everything. As I prepare to escape, there is a big explosion outside.

"What was that?!" Mushra shouts. I see smoke from a distance out the window. I move and try to open the window but hurt myself in the process. Luckily, Sago comes and opens it for me. We all move to the window and look outside… somehow. From a distance, we see fire and smoke coming from the forest… where the lab is! We can see small shadows of Enterrans and a huge one towering over them with a club.

"Where are you, human? We know you're here. Come out and be a good girl." The large creature shouts.

"Oh yeah. That really specifies who it wants." Mushra says as he moves away.

"It wants me." I say as they stare in shock at me. I grab my weapon and try to get up but I suddenly collapse. Kutal catches me and helps me back onto the bed as I struggle.

"You have to let me go. They're after me." I say.

"I'm sorry but you are much too injured to be let out." Kutal says.

"Yeah! As much as I would like to get rid of you, I can't allow someone to do it by hurting others. We'll fight him and his goons and keep him away from you." Mushra says as he, Kutal, and Sago run to the door.

"Bu-but I-" I say as Sago stops and turns to me at the doorway.

"Don't worry. We'll handle things. Binka, take care of her while we're gone." He says with a wink and leaves. I look out the window as I see Mushra get on a silver hover platform, Sago on a pink hover scooter, and Kutal on a blue fish car. They drive quickly to where the evil Enterrans are.

"You have to take me to them. They don't know what they're facing!" I say as I grab her arm.

"Just relax. I know those guys don't look like heroes much but they have overcome any situation thrown at them. Especially Mushra…" Binka says as she stares at where they left. I notice a familiar glitter in her eyes that I've seen so many times in my life. I smile softly before I focus back on the situation.

"Please Binka, you have to." I say with tears in my eyes. Binka stares at shock at me.

"I won't have any more innocent people die because of me!"

"…alright. But you can't let yourself be known."

"Yay! We get to help Uncle Kutal!" shouts Ray.

"Thank you, Binka! You won't regret it." I say as she helps me to her hovercraft, which is a yellow turtle with a purple shell and orange underside.

Binka's POV

This person... She's so strange. First, she steals, then helps others, talks about Yakumo, later lies about her, and now wants to fight in a weak condition? She's so confusing that I couldn't even tell if I should trust her… that is, until what she just said. I know, I still shouldn't have let her out nor should I be taking her to the area where they are fighting but… she reminded me of Yakumo. Her love and care of others is so similar to Yakumo's that I almost thought that Yakumo was talking to me. Well, as we approached to where the others were, we could see that they had just arrived. The Enterrans were searching inside of an old laboratory that was once where Yakumo was sealed… wait. Why are they looking there?

"How did they know…?" I turn to see Naomi shocked. She's knows the laboratory?!? Who is she?!

Sago's POV

The Enterrans were just searching randomly around the area. Apparently, they've yet to see us. We jump off our vehicles and quietly move around them. As we were going to ambush them, Kutal suddenly turns around.

"What's up, Kutal?" Mushra asks.

"We've got company." He says as he points behind us. We turn and see that Binka, the kittens, and Naomi arrive.

"What're you doing here?!" Mushra shouts.

"I couldn't just let you fight for me. If they're after me, then I should face them rather than cower." Naomi says fiercely as she gets off Binka's hovercraft.

"Yeah, but you're hurt. We won't let you fight." I say as I grab her shoulders and force her to sit down on my scooter. She struggles to get up but I won't let her.

"I'm not going to let you go and fight." I say as she glares at me.

"And I'm not going to see people die for me again!" she yells back. I stop as I realize what she said.

"Heh, heh, heh. Lookie here, boys. We found her." We all turn to see that the Enterrans had surrounded us, including their leader. He was a pig Enterran but that's not what bothered me. He was humongous! He was probably twenty feet tall. He had brown, wrinkled skin and a snout with two tusks dripping with saliva. He had leather armor that covered him entirely. He had yellow eyes filled with malice as he stared down at us. In his hands, he held a club with spikes sticking out.

"Ugh! He stinks worse than Grendal!" Mushra says as he covers his nose and tries to wave the smell away. It gets angry at his comment.

"Quiet, you shrimp! I'm the feared Ashal, killer of hope. Now, hand over the girl if you want to live." he says as the soldiers surround us.

"You'll have to kill me first!" she says as she holds her weapon out. He laughs at her.

"Please! As if you can fight. My master has informed me that you are weak right now due to your awakening. Plus, you're nothing but a frail human girl." he says as she becomes shocked.

"Awakened?" Binka asks her. Naomi doesn't respond but she stares at Ashal with anger.

"How does your master know this?" she asks. He laughs at her again.

"You don't know? Ha! My master really does know more than you. He's been observing you ever since you began to help Yakumo." He says as she gets angry.

"Y-Yakumo?!" Mushra says as he turns to Naomi. Suddenly, the Enterrans come closer as we put ourselves between them and the girls and kittens.

"I won't say this again. Give us the girl and maybe you'll live." Ashal says menacingly.

"Never!" we shout. He snorts as he snaps his fingers. The Enterrans all jump, weapons aimed at us. Binka and the kittens scream in fear as Naomi tries to cover them. We raise our weapons as we hyper formed.

Naomi's POV

Man, why did I have to act so tough. He was right. I am still weak… for now. But I'm useless for mean time. I try to cover Binka and the kittens as the Enterrans lunge for us when I see the guys charge at them and glow.

"Hyper Flame!"

"Hydro Power!"

"Eye of the Lion!"

Suddenly, there's a flash and the guys vanish and in their place… are three warriors! Where Mushra stood is now a guy with long purple hair covered by a red helmet shaped like a phoenix. He has red armor all over him and in his hands is a lance similar to original staff, only now with an extra blade on the side and a longer one on top. On his back are yellow and orange wings. With Kutal, a yellow and green armored human lion stands. It has a ferocious face with a long yellow mane with two metal pieces sticking out, which I assume is his ears. He has four green metal thingies on his back which I think are wings. He has a sword attached to his waist. And, finally, Sago, who was standing right next to me, was replaced by a tall, slim, cute… get your head in the game girl! Don't lose your head now!! Okay, like I was saying he was tall, with a blue jumpsuit, and light blue hair with two white horns sticking out. In his hands he held... my weapon! … No, wait. I'm guessing that's his… from his back are two blue reptile wings, dragon wings. I'm shocked as I hear Binka and the kittens cheer. The guys lunged and blocked the enemies attack. They pushed the enemies back toward their leader and began a not-so-epic battle.

"They…they hyper-formed…" I said as I kept staring.

"Sure they did. They're warriors, Yakumo's warriors." Says Binka. As we continue to watch the fight I noticed that as they leave to fight the next opponent, the Encards remain in the air. As the others defeat the enemy to only 3-4 warriors with the boss, the Encards suddenly fly and head straight towards Ashal. Ashal absorbs the cards and he glows with a black aura. I gasp as it suddenly turns into black metal armor. He raises his club towards Mushra, who is occupied with an Enterran.

"Mushra, watch out!" Binka shouts.

"Huh? Gyah!" Mushra says as he struck by the club. The Enterran is also destroyed and absorbed by Ashal.

"Mushra!" I hear the others shout as they cover for him from the charging Enterrans.

"Ha! What's wrong? You seemed so confident in beating us." Ashal laughs as he strikes at the others. They dodge as Kutal moves in behind him.

"Earth Crusher!" he says as he punches the ground and causes a big crevice to grow towards Ashal. Yet, somehow, he dodges and hits Kutal. He crashes into a nearby tree as Sago and Mushra charge at Ashal.

"Aqua dragon!" Sago says as he raises his hand and a jet of water sprays out and turns into a dragon. Meanwhile, Mushra is surrounded by flames.

"Solar missiles of flame!" he says as they leave him and strike at Ashal's head. But, when the attacks subside, he's still standing and uninjured. Not good.

"What?! But how?" Sago says when he and Mushra are struck by the club.

"No!" Binka shouts as she rushes over to her hovercraft.

"Binka, wait!" I say as she rushes over. 'Dammit!' I curse in my head.

"Stay here!" I say to the kittens as I quickly follow Binka.

Sago's POV

This isn't good. This guy's as tough as those Kadrians that worked for Lanancuras. As we struggled to get up, Ashal stood before us, caressing his club.

"Puny Enterrans! Did you think that you could penetrate my armor? Ha! Since I had absorbed the energy from my soldiers, it had increased the strength of my armor. Nothing can defeat me!" he says as he laughs maniacally. He raises his club when suddenly…

Boom!!!

"What?!" Ashal says as he turns. Behind his is Binka, her bazooka still smoking from the attack.

"Leave them alone!" she shouts angrily at him.

"Binka, get out of there!" Mushra shouts as Ashal raises his club.

"Foolish girl!" he shouts as he swings his club. Binka moves her hovercraft just in time and fires another shot. Yet, this time, Ashal swings and hits the bottom of her hovercraft. A small explosion erupts as she's launched from it and hits the ground.

"Binka!" we shout as we try to get to her. But, a giant club lands in our path.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Ashal says. Meanwhile, Binka slowly sits up as she holds her head.

"Ugh… my head." She mutters when another Enterran appears next to her. It brings down its claw at her as she tries to cover herself.

"Aah!"

"Binka!" mushra shouts as we hear a slash. Yet, we don't hear Binka scream. Instead, the Enterran suddenly becomes an Encard and falls to the ground. In front of Binka, is Naomi, who has her boomerang blade out.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" she shouts at Ashal. He laughs as he faces her.

"Or else what? You are nothing but a helpless human girl, lost in a world of monsters and chaos. You can't defeat me!" he says as he laughs. Naomi glares at him. Then, she smirks and smiles.

"So I'm just a helpless human girl, huh? Your master is stupid. And, you are even more stupid than him."

"what?!" Ashal says angrily.

"So your boss only told you that I awakened, was weak, and human? Either he doesn't know me much or he just wanted to get rid of you." She says smiling.

"How dare you say this! You think you can beat me?!"

"I don't think it; I know it. your master has forgotten to tell you something." She says as she places her weapon against her chest. We become shocked as she glows blue.

"I did help Yakumo in the past. I was still weak from my awakening. And, I was a weak human girl. But now, I have most of my strength back and I'm not a weak human girl!" she says as Ashal gets angry.

"Be quiet!" he says as he brings down his club on them. then, she is surrounded by an orb of water.

"Hydro Power!" she says as a bright blue light flashes. Her shadow grows as Ashal's club lands where they are.

"Binka! Naomi!" I shout as a cloud of dust blocks my vision.

"What a foolish girl to have-" Ashal says when he looks in front of his face. Then, he is launched as he crashes a distance away from us. We all look up to see a beautiful woman flying with blue reptile wings like mine while holding a stunned Binka. She had a blue flowing dress that reached down to her ankles. She had long sleeves that changed from a shade of baby blue to white where it ending in a gold ring on her middle finger. The dress wrapped around her neck that revealed an odd looking blue tattoo on her left shoulder. She had ankle high boots that had a medium sized heel. She had blackish-blue hair with two small bangs that went past her shoulders and the rest of her hair tied in a braid with a blue ribbon. her face was slim and angled which gave her the face of an elegant woman. She had pointed ears which made her seems like an elf. She also had stunning blue eyes.

"What?! But how… who-"

"I am the one whose power can create or destroy in an instant. I am the hope and love of all. I am Yakumo's guardian and lady knight of water, Naomi!"