24
by Aspirator
At the Sixth Hour
5:01
Chiharu sat with her chin in her left hand as she observed the man in front of her.
Takashi sat with his arms crossed behind his head, completely relaxed despite the curious gazes. Instead, he kept his dark brown eyes trained thoughtfully at the cavern ceiling.
The comfortable silence was broken when Chiharu blurted, "You don't seem like a pathological liar."
"Hm?" He lowered his chin, clumsily erecting his body into an upright position. Takashi scratched the back of his head with a frown. "Why do you say that?"
Chiharu shrugged, rubbing her soft fingertip against the smooth table. She averted her eyes when she said, "You just...don't. I just feel like I should trust you."
"You've known me for five hours."
"I've known people for five minutes and they've told me more lies than you have."
Takashi shrugged. "Maybe because I've been asking more questions than answering them."
Chiharu shifted her left elbow forward so she could lean forward and still keep her chin in hand. She scrutinized Takashi's tan, structured face. Chiharu tilted her head. "I don't usually feel like I should trust people."
"Does that mean I'm special?" Takashi broke out into a grin.
"Hmm." Chiharu murmured, still scrutinizing Takashi's deep brown orbs. They remind her of warm fireplaces and hot chocolate with marshmallows.
Her insights were interrupted when those deep brown orbs flickered away from her. Chiharu looked up to see Naoko shuffling back to them.
The bookworm plopped down grumpily beside Chiharu, who glanced at her without much surprise.
"Welcome back!" Takashi exclaimed cheerfully. To Naoko's surprise, there was no trace of sarcasm, no mocking smile, no smirk, no smug glint to the eye. Just an open grin.
She grunted, flipping open her book with a huff.
"I have to ask," Takashi's deep voice interrupted, "What brings you back?"
Naoko didn't respond so Chiharu did. "This is our table." Chiharu nodded down at the smooth white table. Takashi looked down, too, as if it had some answers. He glanced back up at her with a raised eyebrow. Chiharu glanced sideways uncomfortably. "We're kind of the rebel outcasts."
"Outcasts of the outcasts of society." Takashi quirked a small smile at that. "They don't like Ms. Dictionary?" Takashi jerked his head at the other rebels congregating at other tables.
Chiharu shook her head. "Or a lie detector hanging around them."
"Hm." Takashi settled more comfortably in the chair. "Well, since we have lots of time, and apparently we don't sleep, tell me that Renege story." After a quick pause, he added with a flash of a smile, "Don't worry, I'm sure Naoko will define any words I don't understand."
Naoko glanced up, blinking at the fact that someone - aside from Chiharu - had actually used her real name. When Takashi caught her eye, he grinned. She looked back down at her book with a huff.
"It was a joke." He quietly amended.
Silence.
"I'm allowed to joke, right?"
Again, she didn't respond, so Chiharu trudged on. "I was part of the founding people. See, I was friends with Yukito." Chiharu looked over at the tuff of silver hair and Takashi followed her gaze. Yukito stood in the middle of the cavern, scratching his head with one hand, holding a half-eaten croissant in the other, and puzzling over a holographic screen with a crowd of rebels. "Yukito was honest enough to tolerate me. And nice."
"I'd agree if only I ever get to see that side of him."
Chiharu let out a breathy laugh. "Most of the time. Anyway, we didn't have a name at first…"
5:01
Tomoyo rubbed her wrists, the faint texture of rope now visibly purple and red against her pale skin. She frowned at the slumped bodies of two enforcement officers. Tomoyo got on her hands and knees.
Screech. There was a sudden jerk that almost threw Tomoyo to the side - but she kept a firm grip on the carpeted bottom.
"Do you copy?" Faint radio noises fizzed out of the Enforcer uniform. "012, do you copy?"
Tomoyo pawed at the carpet, speeding up. If the driver thought something was amiss -
She reached the door just as it swung open, coming face to face with an blue and white Enforcer helmet. The jet black eyes of the Enforcer driver widened at the sight of her.
Tomoyo spurned into action first, jumping out of the vehicle and bolting for the road.
A strong blue and white clothed arm grasped at her arm, pulling her back. Tomoyo wriggled, kicking and even biting. The Enforcer hissed at her, "Oh no you don't." He kept his thick, muscular arm around the base of her neck, the other around her waist.
Tomoyo stilled, breathing deeply. The spot between her brows wrinkled when she focused her magic.
"I should've put this on you first." The Enforcer growled, taking advantage of her stillness and clamping a thin metal bracelet onto Tomoyo's wrist.
Tomoyo focused on her surroundings, trying to feel for oxygen molecules to manipulate - but a pang of electricity shot through her veins.
5:12
"So let me get this straight," Takashi, too, was leaning his elbows on the table now. "You all believe in the same cause, but you never act on it."
"We plan." Naoko sounded defensive.
"It just never gets carried out." Chiharu shrugged, "something just gets in the way, a new law that passed, it's too dangerous out there...something."
"There's always risk associated with these things." Takashi leaned forward, an irritated wrinkle in his forehead. "You just don't want to take the leap."
Neither ladies answered.
Chiharu finally spoke up, "Anyway, someone said we should be called Renege as a joke. Because we always say we're going to hold a protest, start a movement, but we end up taking our word back. Then Renege just kind of caught on."
5:21
"How'd they get you?"
"Magic suppressant bracelet." Eriol frowned, sounding nonchalant. "The government practically gave us plain magic. We shouldn't be surprised they know how to take it away too."
Suddenly, the door open with a loud clang! and a tall, stiff man marched in. The insignia on his uniform quickly denoted him as the commander.
Yue's cold silver orbs swept over the three captives quickly. "Three." He muttered in annoyance, frowning irritably. The commander turned to leave, opening the door just in time to interrupt another's knocking.
"Sorry, the fourth was being difficult." Came a female voice, whom Yue identified as Nakuru. "She was trying to escape - did actually. Knocked out two of my Enforcers and the driver. Good thing I caught her as soon as she tried to run away."
The commander didn't respond, only opening the door wider to let the newcomers in.
Nakuru sidestepped, pulling in by the arm a petite figure. Her hands deftly snatched the black cloth covering the figure's head, unveiling the newcomer. Tousled auburn hair, a scrape of dirt on the cheek, and bright Emerald eyes.
Syaoran's cool gaze immediately turned into a hard glare, Meiling's eyes widened, and only Eriol kept his placid expression.
"That's not her." Yue's reaction was also immediate. "She's not Cavalry, but cuff her anyway." Nakuru did so with a puzzled frown.
Sakura shuffled past the three other Cavalry members, her wrists and ankles already bound by thin aluminum wires. She avoided their stares. She was guided to the empty shackles laying beside Meiling.
As soon as the heavy metal clamped on Sakura wrists and ankles, Nakuru whirled around and marched back towards Yue, in which quiet murmurs, annoyed hissing, and irritated retorts ensued between them.
While their captors were distracted, the Cavalry too talked amongst themselves.
"I told you to stay out of the way." Syaoran growled deeply at Sakura, glaring hard at her.
Sakura stared back stubbornly with a scoff.
"Out of the four of us," Meiling quietly whispered, "why Tomoyo? She can't even fight."
"Exactly." Sakura returned easily, her eyes roaming the prison cell, noting every interior decoration. When her gaze returned to Meiling, she stated confidently, "She'll use her brain instead of force."
"They knew us." Eriol spoke up quietly, and the other three turned to him. "They knew to suppress my magic first, to use sniper guns against Syaoran, and to hide from Meiling's good aim. They knew to separate us."
"It's no secret our abilities." Syaoran returned.
"But to identify us by sight?" Eriol asked, his gaze turning towards the commander. His sharp azure orbs narrowed.
All too soon, the two Enforcers finished their discussion, with the commander issuing an order; get her. Nakuru stomped off with a picture in hand.
5:33
"Maybe we should start small." Takashi suggested, now sitting with his spine straight and a twinkle in his eyes.
Naoko had forgotten the book in her lap altogether and Chiharu's attentions were arrested on him. "Small." Both repeated dumbly.
"It doesn't always have to be a big movement or a flashy protest." Takashi nodded convincingly, "something small. Like an article."
Naoko scoffed at this. "Look where yours went." Down the sewer, and so did his reputation.
"So it can't be from me." Takashi was undeterred. "But we have lots of good standing journalists here. We can get proof." He glanced at the screen-filled walls. "Looks like you have a lot of it."
Naoko and Chiharu glanced at each other, then at the research-filled screens on the walls of the cavern.
"So? What do you think?"
5:33
"Who are you?" Yue asked.
Sakura kept her face cool. "Concerned citizen."
"I'm asking nicely." The commander of the global police force wasn't going to take that. "Who are you?" Yue jerks his head at Syaoran. "His girlfriend?"
Sakura remained silent. Syaoran scowled. Eriol had the audacity to snicker at a time like this.
Yue stands up impatiently. "Just remember, I asked you nicely." He warned. With a flick of his hand, the cuffs holding to the wall opened with a loud clank!
Gripping her arm tightly, Yue pulled her roughly towards the door. Now that she was closer to him, he narrowed his silvery eyes at her. "I've seen you before."
"I don't think so." Sakura answered quickly, turning her head and stumbling towards the door.
"What are you going to do to her?" Meiling blurted out.
Yue paused just before the door. And, in his grasp, Sakura turned her face towards them, locking eyes with Syaoran. Their gaze told of unspoken words.
The commander answered emotionlessly, "use your imagination."
"What about us?" Meiling pursued, in desperate hopes to divert his attention to the Cavalry members.
"You can't torture us." Eriol spoke up, half-smirking. "We won't tell you anything."
Yue opened the door, shoving Sakura out - and by her yelp - into another Enforcer's grasp. "I don't need to torture you." Then he turned to a control panel by the wall, levitating the cover open, and flicked a switch.
Out the wall extended five thin metallic tentacles for each captive. Like a wire helmet, they wrapped themselves around the back of each Cavalry member's skull, despite their dodging and wiggling.
Now it was Yue's turn to smile smugly. "I've got technology to do that for me." Yue put in as a last word before he, too, disappeared out the door. It shut behind him with a loud clang.
But none of the captives heard it.
Their breathing started to shallow and a horrified expression crossed over all three faces. Their eyes were faced forward, but they were not seeing the black, dark wall in front of them. They were seeing something else entirely.
A long, high-pitched shriek escaped out of Meiling's mouth. She turned and twisted her body, jerking her head as if fighting off demons. "GET THEM OFF! NO! NO!" Another screech.
Eriol gasped for air as another shovel of dirt fell onto his chest fell onto his chest. He tried to wriggle, to shout - he wasn't dead! Don't bury him! A handful of dirt and soil came flying at him. With his mouth firmly shut, he began to breathe desperately through his nose - wait...if he could breathe through his nose..
Eriol was the first to come to his senses.
"It's a simulation." He thought aloud. He shook his head, trying to ignore the pounds of soil trying to fill up his vision. Painfully, he averted his eyes from his greatest fear, raising his voice over Meiling's frightened screeches. "It's A SIMULATION OF OUR GREATEST FEAR!" But when he glanced over, he caught sight of Syaoran's expression.
He was as pale as a sheet, his amber eyes clouded over. Eriol opened his mouth to repeat what he said to Meiling, but he swallowed it down when something in Syaoran snapped.
5:42
The moment Yue walked out the door, all he managed to glimpse was something large and silver before it hit him across the side of his head. He flew, sprawling across the ground from the force of the blow. Seeing the object of attack, a 5 pound barbell, Yue levitated the weight away from him and at the petite figure.
Sakura easily swung the levitated weight from its trajectory towards her and into the other Enforcer, who was beginning to get up again. The second Enforcer groaned heavily at the impact.
Sakura whirled around just in time to see the commander get up. Using her momentum, she aimed a sharp kick to the side of his head. He caught the kick, but stumbled slightly. In the same split-second, Sakura quickly raised her other leg. She pulled at the leg Yue caught, so that he stumbled forward, then slammed her free heel directly into his forehead.
Yue's head crashed backwards, head colliding heavily with the wall. He left a smear of blood as he crumpled to the ground, letting go of Sakura's foot.
The commander clawed at the ground, trying to shake the throbbing from his head. He squinted up, trying to regain his senses. Through sideways, blurry vision, he saw her small figure quickly fading smaller and smaller in the hallway.
Yue rubbed the back of his head with his left hand, his other hand gripping the wall to try to retain his balance. He glanced at his left hand, caked with blood, and scowled darkly. "How the hell -" He glared hard at the subordinate, wringing out his left hand in disgust. "I told you to put restraining cuffs on her."
"I did!" The Enforcer, too, was groaning. He held an arm to his waist as he tried to get up on his feet. "She had them on both wrists!"
"Then what the-" Yue cut himself off abruptly, getting to his feet. Restraining cuffs don't work on pure magic. "The Variant." He wasn't so upset anymore.
5:49
Syaoran struggled violently against his restraints, jerking his body forward - as if to stop something. A deep, rooted fear set in his eyes. A wild look on his face.
Meiling flashed her frightened scarlet orbs between the fear simulation in front of her and her Cavalry companion. "Syaoran? Syaoran?!"
He struck violently against the wall with his cuffed hands and cuffed ankles. Again and calls of his teammates weren't reaching him. He kept his eyes trained forward unseeingly, barbarically trying to break his cuffs.
"It's not real!" Both Meiling and Eriol were more focused on him than their own fears. He struck his handcuffs at the wall again, and the friction of the metal scratched his skin so sharply, it bled. "Syaoran, stop, it's not real!"
Clank! He struck again - his handcuffs shattered to pieces. The force of release caused Syaoran to slump, taking his head out of the thin metal simulator wires. He breathed heavily, blinking at the dark wall in front of him.
Meiling gaped open mouthed at the remnants of rusty metal on the floor. Eriol quickly spotted the traces of ice, then looked at his own cuffs.
Eriol grinned in realization. "Sakura froze our cuffs! So we could shatter them, like ice!"
Consecutively, the three Cavalry members shattered their handcuffs.
Syaoran's jaw clicked, standing up slowly. "She shouldn't be using magic. She's still recovering from teleporting us all."
Eriol didn't respond as the three ran out of the prison cell - pausing to stare bewilderedly at the injured Enforcer on the ground and the smear of blood on the wall.
"Now what?"
5:57
Sakura peered through the small window, a smile lighting up her features when she spotted a large golden-haired lion resting peacefully on a lab table. She reached for the doorknob -
There was a tight clicking sound behind her. Sakura cursed under her breath as she slowly turned around, spotting a yellow laser dot on her chest.
"And here I thought I had to ransack the city for you, descendant of Clow." The global police force first-rate commander really was having a good morning.
6:00
For future reference, was the fear simulation part a little too graphic? Or was it okay? I want to know if I should tone down the scariness.
I didn't tell you this, but my goal with each chapter was to keep the word range between 2,000 - 3,000 words. Took me five tries, but I managed to reduce this chapter down to 2,999 words. HOLLA.
Credits to the book Divergent by Veronica Roth for the fear simulation idea. My version is not at all like hers, but the inspiration was from her.