Chapter 2: Something fishy about that clock
2 days earlier...
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" A young brunette woman cried out as she was chased by a boulder that was ready to squish her like a pancake. Carried under her arm was a golden statue of a rattlesnake. She jumped over death pits and nearly avoided arrows that came out of the walls. The exit was so close… she could feel it. "I am not gonna die today! I will get away with this ancient artifact."
The boulder was creeping closer and the brunette put all her energy in running faster. The gate was closing ahead of her, not wanting the intruder to escape alive. She grit her teeth and launched herself to the gate. She narrowly avoided being squished by the gate as she landed outside of the temple, knocking off her square rimmed glasses in the process. The gate closed behind her and the temple shook as the boulder collided with the gate, causing the whole temple to tremble for a bit before finally settling.
The young woman breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat off her brow. That was too close for comfort. And to think that Indiana Jones deals with this shit on a regular basis. She reached for her glasses, dusted them off, and placed it back on. Once that is done, she took a better look at her prize. "Hmm… this will get me a good amount of money at the Snowtramine Museum."
A buzzing sound interrupted her thoughts about the money she will get. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her smartphone, immediately seeing the screen somewhat cracked thanks to her reckless escape. She groaned. "Ugh, that's my 5th one…" The caller's name was familiar to her, so she swiped the answer call and held the phone up to her ear. "Yuna Yume speaking. I'm all ears." She says her usual opening greeting.
"Must you say that every single time?" A male voice groaned out. Yuna frowned in response. "Oh come on, it lets the caller know who they are speaking to right away so that if they called the wrong number, they know right away. If it isn't a wrong number, they may start speaking their business." If Yuna didn't know better, she could have sworn the man she was acquainted with was facepalming.
"That is unnecessary if you know who is calling… Oh whatever, I am not here to listen to your foolish ways…" The man sighed. Yuna chose not to comment on the rude statement he just made and just waited for him to get on with it so she can bring her artifact to the Museum. "I have an assignment for you. I assume you just finished up your own personal job of getting the Golden Rattlesnake?" Yuna responded with a "Mhmmm" as she wondered what he could possibly want now. "Well if you want some more money, you will be hard pressed to ignore this. I hear there is an ancient weapon in the abandoned clock tower of Snowtramine."
Yuna bit her lip. An ancient weapon at the old clock tower? "Um, you do know that place is haunted and no one has been there in decades right?" The clock tower has been abandoned for a long time due to the fact that ghosts have been sighted. It is bad enough for people to avoid or fight monsters, it is another thing entirely to face ghosts. There is nothing you can do against them. The technology to create those weapons the Ghostbusters has had not yet been produced.
"Of course I know that. You aren't scared of ghosts last I checked unless that was a fib." Yuna assured him that it wasn't. Ghosts, while a pain to deal with, wasn't something she was scared of. There is one thing she is terrified of, but she wasn't about to share that info with anybody.
"So, what is this ancient weapon you want me to find? Can you describe it?" While she was willing to do a job for extra cash, there was something suspicious about going into an abandoned haunted clock tower looking for this weapon. From all the stories she heard about the tower, there was not one mention that such a thing was in there before it was abandoned.
"You will know when you see it. Just head to the top, find a secret door, and you'll find it." Yuna scrunched up her face in thought. It is not like him to not describe the targeted item of interest.
"Well, sure. I'll do it."
"Good. Rest assured, you will be paid greatly for your service." He hung up. Yuna put the smartphone back into her pocket and crossed her arms. Something seemed off. Years of experience is telling her that she may fall into a trap… but would he do that? The brunette scratched her head, wondering if she was overthinking things.
"Well, first things first. I have to show this to the Museum and then get my money." She brought the Golden Rattlesnake statue to her face and kissed it. "Oops." Her lipstick got on the statue. She pulled out a cloth and quickly wiped it away. "This should be more than enough to pay for rent this month."
…
Yuna entered the Museum with a suitcase containing the Golden Rattlesnake. She quickly looked around the place. There didn't seem to be that much people here. Just a few attendees and some staff. She feels like whenever she goes to this Museum, she wishes everything comes to life like that movie, Night at the Museum, just for funsies. "Seems slow today. Well maybe this baby will attract more attention later." She patted her suitcase affectionately.
"Hey, you, can I have a moment of your time?"
The brunette turned her attention to a handsome man in a black hat, black shirt, black cargo pants, and finally black tennis shoes. This guy likes black. She thought as the man approached her. Yuna also noted that this man has mesmerizing emerald green eyes. Her favorite color. A small blush formed at how attractive this man is.
"Are you blushing?" The man teased her with his thick french accent. The brunette blushed harder and waved her hands in front of her face.
"No, no, no, I am not! Don't look at me!" She quickly grabbed her paper bag from her pocket and placed it over her head. The bag had eye holes so she could still see what was in front of her.
"Heh. Adorable."
"I AM NOT! DON'T YOU LIE TO ME!" She yelled, embarrassed to no end. There was just no way she was adorable, she was just a plain girl, and plain means bad. Not as bad as ugly, but still bad! The man decided not to tease her anymore as now it was just getting sad and he was wasting time.
"So, you are the infamous Yume Yuna, right? The new brave explorer of the world?" The man asked.
Yuna raised an eyebrow in response. "It is the other way around with my name."
The man shrugged, "Well your name is clearly Japanese. Yume is the Japanese word for 'Dream'. And I believe Yuna, means "Night" in Okinawa. So, since you are Japanese, I referred to you the proper way, last name first, first name last."
"Oh that. I completely forgot about that. I don't personally care which way you call me. Japanese culture aside." Yuna waved him off. It is not everyday in a foreign land that you temporarily live in that you hear somebody address you from where you originally came from.
"Yuna then. And since I know your name, only fair to share mine. Fille Beau, pleasure to make your acquaintance, mademoiselle." He took off his hat, revealing his short black hair, placed his hat on his chest, took a short bow, before putting it back on. Yuna blushed a bit. Good thing this paper bag was still over her head. "Now, back to the matter I was going to address before we got distracted…" He cleared his throat before getting out his notebook.
"Yuna, have you been having any strange dreams lately?" The brunette scratched at her paper bag in thought. Strange dreams, huh? What a weird thing to ask. This man looks to be a detective, so why is he asking about something so… trivial?
"Well I have been having more nightmares recently… does that count?"
"And can you tell me what has been happening in these nightmares…? And can you take that paper bag off? It is hard to take you seriously with that thing on."
Yuna reluctantly took off her paper bag. "Sorry." She crossed her arms over her chest in thought. She doesn't really want to share anything that gives info on her life, so, she'll give him the bare essentials. "Hmm, some strange monsters I've never seen or dreamt about before. That was common in most of the nightmares I had recently."
She had a nightmare just last night that had those strange monsters. There were some big tar covered bumblebees with those crazy swirly red eyes. She has melissophobia. The fact they were even more freaky didn't help matters. Yuna gave this info to Fille to give him some context.
"I see. Bees covered in tar and have red swirly eyes…" Fille tapped his notebook with his pen. "As I thought, you seem to be having similar dreams that others had when I talked to them." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo. He handed the photo over to her for her to look at. Yuna sees that in the photo there were 3 trolls, all covered in tar and has red swirly eyes to boot, similar to the bumblebees in her nightmares. It was taken at night and in the background there was an abandoned shed.
"I spotted these creatures not too far off in the south. I spotted them only a night though." He explained. "I looked everywhere for them in the day but I saw no hide or hair of them." He took back the photo from her and placed it back in his pocket. "These creatures are definitely new. The fact that people have been having nightmares about these creatures is certainly not coincidence, especially when they haven't seen them before."
"What do you think it means?"
"I am not sure yet. I don't have anything concrete. For the time being I am just calling them Nightmares. How and why they show up is anybody's guess. I am searching for the answers myself." Fille placed the notebook back into his pocket. He held out his hand and Yuna reluctantly grabbed it in a shake. "It was nice meeting you, Yuna. I'll be going now. Perhaps we'll meet again someday." He gave her a toothy grin and a wink before heading out the museum.
Yuna blushed heavily and placed a hand over her chest as if to calm it down. "Handsome men these days…" She cleared her throat. "Okay whew, now that that is out of the way…" Yuna picked up her suitcase and headed towards the office where the owner probably was.
…
"1.5 million euros… jesus." Yuna exclaimed out loud to herself as she hauled out a very heavy suitcase containing the money. She definitely has enough for this month's rent for her house in this country. Hell she could pay off the whole house if she wants to and still have leftover money to buy some good stuff.
The curator was ecstatic to have such an ancient artifact brought to his museum. Many people dared to enter that temple but all have perished in there before even touching the statue. Yuna expected to be offered one million euros at most… but 1.5 million euros?! She almost fainted.
A huge limousine pulled up right in front of her, breaking her out of her driver got out and opened the door, revealing the beautiful princess herself, Weiss Shinrai, and 2 of her bodyguards. Yuna was star struck as the princess carefully got out. She appeared to be in a white fur coat draped over a blue sparkly dress and some blue high heels to match.
"Ah, hello citizen." The princess greeted with a beaming smile. Weiss looked Yuna up and down and realized something about the person before her. "Oh. You aren't a citizen. You are the great, Yuna Yume, right? The new famous adventurer?" She placed a hand on her hip, waiting for her to answer. Yuna blushed furiously, while she wanted to hide in her paper bag just like she did with Fille, she wasn't about to do something like that in front of someone of royalty, she'll never live it down.
"Y-Yes. I am Yuna Yume." She replied a bit bashfully, never in her lifetime did she think she would be acknowledged by someone of royalty.
"Hmm… you look a lot taller than what the magazines made you out to be." Weiss noted, "Not that it is a bad thing." Her two bodyguards whispered something in her ear and she scoffed, waving them off. "You two be quiet, I can do whatever I wish. I am a princess, hear me roar."
Yuna felt like she should skedaddle before she does something embarrassing in front of this woman. "Well, was nice meeting you, your highness, but I have somewhere I need to be… toodles!" She tried to flee, but Weiss grabbed the back of her shirt before she made any leeway. Yuna tried to get out of her grip, but the princess is surprisingly strong. Well, makes sense. This princess is known for doing a lot of work that involves manual labor.
"Now hold on… I wasn't done with you…" Weiss pulled her back in. The princess looked at the suitcase she had and then turned Yuna around so she could look her in the eyes. "Am I correct in assuming you just nabbed one of my country's oldest treasures and sold it to the museum?"
"I did… Is that a problem?" Yuna asked. Hoping it wasn't something that irked the beautiful princess. Thankfully, she didn't look bothered by the fact. The white haired woman just smiled and let go of her.
"Well, you certainly have a lot of skill. You are quite… 'legit'... if that is what people say these days." Weiss commented, quite unsure if that was the right word. Yuna just shrugged, wanting to hightail it out of here if she is quite finished. The princess appeared to be in thought for a moment before snapping her fingers.
"I know. I have a favor to ask of you. I could use someone of your skill level since nobody has the gall to bother." Yuna looked at her confused. What could the princess possibly want to ask of her? The princess reached into her fur coat and pulled out a photo. She handed it to her. It was that old clock tower she was just about to go to. "Can you head over there and investigate something for me. Some people have been sending complaint letters about the clock tower being very noisy for the past week and it has been driving me nuts." The princess sighed. Wondering why she has to deal with this stuff. "I'd do it myself, I honestly would, but I just don't have time to deal with every single drivel my citizens spit out at me. Just find out what is causing it and deal with it if you can. If you succeed, I will award you citizenship and a custom-made pickaxe suited to your adventuring needs by yours truly. I hear you are quite fond of pickaxes."
Yuna's eyes widened. A custom-made pickaxe by the princess of Snowtramine?! She definitely can't deny a deal as sweet as that. Her old pickaxe from her childhood is on its last legs and she has been meaning to get a new one, but now, she can get a custom-made one from Princess Weiss herself as she is known for making great weapons all thanks to her late father, King Raymond.
"So, do we have a deal?" The princess asked.
"ABSOLUTELY!" Yuna yelled out excitedly, but then covered her mouth when she realized how loud she was. Tears trickled down her face from embarrassing herself in front of Weiss. The princess looked at her funny, but chose not to comment. The brunette really wanted to hide now, she gone and made a fool of herself.
"U-Um… anyways… this is convenient for me. I was about to head there anyways once I brought the money home as I do have another assignment tied to that place." Yuna told the princess.
"Another assignment? What else could you possibly be doing over there, pray tell?" The princess was confused. There was nothing over there that should garner the attention of this young adventurer. She is only going after ancient artifacts right? Unless her sources are wrong.
"A acquaintance of mine told me that an ancient weapon is being held in that clock tower and he wants me to go fetch it." Yuna explained. The Princess looked at her 2 bodyguards and whispered to the both of them. The brunette watched as the 3 whispered amongst themselves, wondering if there was something wrong with her looking for this thing. In a minute or two, they turned to face her again, the princess still having a confused look on her face.
"An ancient weapon… in that old clock tower? Why would such a thing be in there? There have been no reports in all my father's days of ruling this country and my days so far as the new ruler that such a thing exists." Weiss looked over in the general direction of the clock tower. "All I've heard about that place is death, ghosts, and now the recent complaints of loud noises coming from it. Whoever your foolish friend is, I think they are lying to you."
"Hey! Foolish is uncalled for! You don't know him!" Yuna was offended that the princess would say that about him. Sure it was a little fishy, but that didn't mean she could call him foolish. The princess crossed her arms and looked down at her.
"Look, adventurer. I may not know the guy… but even I know that whatever you are looking for does not exist in that tower. That clock tower was made in 1912 and abandoned in 1924 after a major accident in there resulting in the deaths of 46 people. From my knowledge, no such weapon was put in there for any reason before the tragedy and nobody in their right mind would put a weapon in there after the tragedy when there are ghosts that haunt the place. Face it, your friend is sending you there on some foolish errand that may not even be worth it."
"Well! You never know! Crazy people do crazy things all the time!" Yuna tried to reason with her. The princess sighed and shook her head. She didn't want to waste energy on stupid stuff like this.
"Fine. Do whatever you want. Waste time finding that thing if you so desire. It won't be there… And while you are there, if you still choose to, find the source of the loud noises and eliminate it." Weiss walked to the entrance to the museum. Once she was inside, she looked over her shoulder at Yuna. "Tata for now. I have business I need to attend to here. Good luck."
Yuna looked down the ground, clenching her fist. While there was some logic to the princess' reasoning, it kinda pissed her off that the princess would dare say that her acquaintance is a fool. She raised her right hand out and concentrated. A pickaxe materialized into her hand. It looked to be any normal pickaxe, but this one had an extra blade at the top, good for stabbing forward if the situation calls for it. The whole grip of the pickaxe is green, imbued with the power of wind and earth.
"I'll show you…" She grabbed her suitcase and ran off towards the clock tower. Disregarding to put the money back at her house first for safekeeping…
Sometime later in another world…
"Katsuragi-san… can you please stop groping me so I can make these Futomaki?!" A young woman with dark brown hair that was tied into a ponytail with a white ribbon. She has hazel eyes, about 5'1" in height, sporting a F cup, and wearing a school uniform
Behind her was the current problem of the young woman. A blonde woman with blue eyes, a few inches taller than the other woman, sporting a H cup, and wearing a uniform unbuttoned, leaving the whole middle of her body exposed, just barely covering the important bits. "But when I see these beautiful mountains of flesh, I just can't help myself! I just gotta touch them, Asuka!" She says as she moves the other girl's breasts around.
"U-Uuuguuu… Sometimes I wish my breasts were smaller…" Asuka muttered to herself. She was going to make her friends some of the best futomaki they've ever tasted, but now she can't even concentrate when she is being groped by her friend. "Seriously, stop, you are making me mad!"
"Just give me one more minute and then I'll let you continue cooking…" Katsuragi pleaded, still giving her breasts a rub.
Asuka grabbed a frying pan and was about to smack Katsuragi with it to fight her off, but then she heard something. She looked up at the ceiling, wondering where she heard that sound. "Did you hear something?" The blonde stopped groping her for a second. She looked around, seeing if she can hear what Asuka heard.
There was a faint cry of someone. It was getting more and more loud as time went on and it was directly over them. The two girls looked at each other, alarmed. Someone was about to crash land in here. They quickly separated from each other and went to the corner of the room.
CRASH!
The person slammed into the ground where the two were previously standing, bringing up some dust and other debris, ruining the food Asuka was preparing. The two girls coughed and waved the dust particles out of their face as they neared the person. When the dust settled, what was revealed to them was a young girl about their age with brown hair, square-rimmed glasses, and b-cup breasts. The girl's clothes were shredded, revealing white undergarments. She seemed to be ok, only sporting some cuts and bruises.
"Well… not everyday a cute girl crash lands in your academy." Katsuragi commented. Asuka paid her no mind and simply picked up the girl. She wondered who she could be and how and why she crash landed here.
"Well, whoever she is, let's get her healed up…"
A/N: Wondering what happened to Yuna between going to the clock tower and here? You will find out later, don't you worry. All in due time. Thanks for reading.
