Hello~
I would like to thank my first reviewer, andre-95! XD For putting plenty of confidence and inspiration in me! What you said, really meant a lot to me.*gives u bear hug* ;3( I too, adore OC stories, but *sighs* so few to come across)
And without further adieu, I don't own CLAMP or any of its characters, blah blah.... to the story:
"Eh? Her? Who the heck is her? And you know about the quest?" I grabbed her shoulders and shook her a frantically.
Masumi looked up dizzily and then smiled teasingly," Aha!~ I actually have no clue! You were talking in your sleep about some journey or something and all, I thought a little joke wouldn't hurt!~"
I glared at her. I tried punched her a little in the side, but it got easily dodged,"Don't do things like that, you freaked me out for a second."
"Aw~you have no sense of humor, Aya. You should have seen your face!", she poked me in the cheek.
I sighed and pushed her hand away,"Enough of the silly stuff for now. Masumi...what's been bothering you?"
She was smiling still, but I could see it faltered a little," What are you talking about?"
"You...agh, never mind." I sighed. Now that she knew that I noticed, the truth would never be revealed and she'd keep the little façade. My fault.
She quickly changed the subject."Oh, alright then. Anyway, I was wondering, now that you're up, if you wanted to come to the store with me. We need to stock up the fridge."
"Ah, sure," I grabbed my shoes in the corner of the room," Are you bringing the umbrella? I heard it might rain tonight."
"Yep, got it right here."
On the way out, Masumi hugged her grandmother. I did the same.
As we walked out the door, she wished us a safe trip and to make it back home safely....someday. Did I hear her say someday!? Maybe the Alzheimer was getting to her or something. I turned to look back at the old woman, but she was already gone. Heh...she was fast for her years...strange.
Right when we walked out from the supermarket, the downpour came. It reminded me of my father a little. One of the things I could still remember about him was that he always enjoyed a nice refreshing rain. That brought me back to the dream earlier....my mother had been pretty worried about whoever that was that spoke to me earlier. I'm still traumatized by the very fact that a fat hand from another dimension had been talking to me. I sulked my head a little, the strange things always happened to me.
Masumi looked over,"What's wrong? Hate the rain?~" She tried to let the umbrella cover my side more.
I shook my head,"No...I just...earlier, I had a dream with my mother in it, she- whoa...."
"She what? Why'd you stop? 'whoa?'...", she turned to where I was staring,"...oh."
It was the fence we had passed earlier today. Nothing had changed really except that now there was a house behind it. No empty lot. I hadn't even noticed that we'd walked on this street again.
"I could have sworn when we walked by earlier, it was empty...am I wrong?"
She shook her head,"No, I looked too, it was empty earlier..."
I suddenly felt this urge to walk past the fence and to the house.
"Something...I have to go there..."
Surprisingly, Masumi didn't object and followed me past the fence. Maybe it was pulling her in too? Freaky...
It was a unique looking house, but it also had an old feel to it. There were two small girls standing by the door, one had short pink hair, the other had long blue hair in pig tails. Sisters I was guessing....the hair colors were strange though, probably dye. My mother would never have let me dye my hair when I was that young. They both chanted happily in unison.
"Cus~to~mers! For Yuu~ko!" They held hands and ran into the house. I suppose that was an invitation for us to follow? I just guessed that, since Masumi followed them pretty calmly. Me? I'm freaking out already.
When we walked inside, we were greeted by a very tall, slender...but beautiful woman. She had long, silky black hair and crimson eyes. Her skin was as pale as the moon. She was wearing a black and white dress. She grinned a little and spoke up.
"Ah~Thank you Maru, Moro, for escorting the guests in."
I gulped and gave into a little courage to speak," Um....excuse me um..."
"Yuuko will be fine."
"Er....Yuuko. Where exactly are we?"
"You are both in my shop, that means you both have a wish you want to make."
"Eh? A wish?"
"Precisely. For people to enter my shop, they must have a wish in mind. I can grant that wish, if it is within my power"
"Hnnnn.....is that why we couldn't see this place earlier? We had no wish?"
"Indeed. I placed a magical border around this shop."
"Whoa! Magic is real?!"
Her creepy grin got wider, I backed up a little," You who has contacted the dead through a dream, spoken to someone of another dimension, refuses to believe in such a thing?"
"...well when you put it that way....wait! How did you know about those things!?"
"Not-tell-ing~" she said teasingly. Masumi chuckled in the back. Great, its like being 5 again, when no one takes you seriously.
"Whatever. So now I have a wish? I don't feel much different about anything."
"Ah, but a lot has happened these past few hours. That is fine if you don't know there-"
"But....but there is something I want to learn!...What the person behind the portal was talking about and what my mother means by my fate. If my mother is suggesting it, I must do what I can. It is after all, an issue she was so worried about that she came out of her rest to guide me."
"Very well then, to grant that wish....we will just have to wait a few moments. Is that truly what you wish for?"
"....Yes."
"I shall grant that wish then. And you?" She looked around me at Masumi.
"My wish...."Masumi stared at Yuuko intently.
Yuuko nodded."That will be fine.....I shall grant that wish as well. Please, both of you, follow me, the others are about to arrive."
There are others???!!!
She led us through the shop and into the backyard, which was pretty much a grassy lawn. She stared up at the sky.
"Huh? What are you staring at? Why are we just standing here?" I sweat-dropped when I looked up. Coming from the sky was this violet-blue blob. When it hit the ground, it bursted like the bubble. Out came a young boy looking no older than sixteen with brown hair and brown, determined eyes. He was holding a motionless girl with light brown hair. They were both wearing strange clothes. Like they lived in a desert or something...the girl's clothes were fancier though....
The boy looked around confused at first, but then noticed Yuuko, "Please.....please save Sakura! I beg you!", he pleaded.
Yuuko stared at the boy calmly and then looked at the sky again. Great, two more scary blobs came down. With one, a man with a head...mask...band thing on his head, black hair, tan skin, and red eyes came out of one. He looked like a ninja from a manga. I guess it was the katakana he was holding.
The other person from the other blob was wearing a fur coat with a beautiful embroidered design. He had blond hair, and his eyes were an icy blue color. He was holding a long staff. He smiled widely. I twitched. It resembled Masumi's pasted-on-smile closely.
"P-people...f-from the sky....not possible....", I said in disbelief. The brown haired boy seemed just as surprised.
Masumi just clapped next to me,"Woo~that was amazing~Again, again!~"
The ninja spoke up," Ah? Where the hell am I? Who are you people?!" He pointed at Masumi and I. I frowned a little bit. Pointing...how rude...not that I probably wouldn't have reacted in the same fashion after falling from a blob in the sky....I'll let it slide, Naruto wannabee cosplayer.
Yuuko answered,"They are just other customers of mine. You are in Japan."
"Huh? But the place I just came from is Japan."
"This is a different Japan,"she looked at us all,"I'd like names, starting with you." She pointed at the ninja.
"Me? I'm Kurogane.
"Syaoran,"The boy answered.
The blonde bowed a little,"Fai D. Flourite, a wizard of Celes Country, you are the Dimensional Witch, correct?"
"Indeed I am. I can grant your wishes if they are in my power."
"A wish? I wish to be sent back to the place I just came from,"the ninja answered
"And I wish to never return to the world I just came from," the blonde wizard said right afterward.
They both stared at each other awkwardly.
Yuuko nodded at the two and then proceeded over to the boy known as Syaoran, carrying the girl named Sakura. She placed her hand on the girl's forehead.
"This girl...has lost something very precious to her. Her memories, in the form of feathers....they have scattered to different dimensions. If you wish to save her, you must gather them."
The boy answered,"Or else?...."
Yuuko looked at him,"She will die."
The boy's eyes widened, I could see his arms wrap around her tighter.
She glanced at us all,"Although each of your intentions are different, its all the same. You all wish to travel different dimensions. The payment for that wish is high, therefore I can each make you pay something to add onto the total payment. You can all travel dimensions together."
I laughed sarcastically,"Ha! I knew there was a catch! No free wishes, huh?"
"The worlds must keep in balance. To give something for something of equal value is just a way of keeping that balance."
Masumi spoke up,"Wait....you are going to send us with them?"
"Yes. Your wishes are the same as theirs. To fulfill them, you must travel across dimensions as well."
I sighed,"This dimension stuff still isn't clicking with me. Its hard to get used to."
"Well, just look at the people before you now. Just by looking at their clothes, you can tell they obviously are not from this world."
Well I couldn't argue with that.
"Anyway, for the payments," Yuuko stared at Kurogane,"Your payment will be that katakana you're holding."
"WHAT!? No way in hell! Ginryuu is my life!", he yelled, taking a step back.
"Oho~? Very well then. There are no other people in this world who can travel to different dimensions."
Fai nodded cheerfully, "Yep, that's true."
Yuuko smirked, "You can stay here if you want, wandering around aimlessly like some loser of a costume contest, lugging around a sword, only to be arrested by police for illegal weapon possession, and shown to the world on television news."
"Poli....Tele....," he mumbled confused. He looked down at the ground angrily and held out his sword.
"When this curse is over, I'll be back for it!" he growled.
The sword floated from his hands, and into the Maru girl's arms.
Yuuko then looked at the wizard,"Your payment is that tattoo of yours."
A tattoo? Is it magical or something? hmph...
He looked surprised for the first time," I guess this magic staff won't suffice?"
"It must be something of equal value to your wish."
"Very well then....there's no helping it", he answered in defeat. I saw the tattoo float from his back, to the Moro girl.
"As for you Syaoran, your payment is....your Relationship."
"Relationship?"
"Even if you find all her feathers, the memories of you will not be in any of them. That is your payment. It is the most important thing to you."
I could see him thinking it over.
"What is she to you?" Yuuko asked.
"She....Sakura is my close, child-hood friend, I won't let her die. I will pay."
I was a bit taken back by the boy's abruptness. He truly cared for the girl.
Even Yuuko brightened up by this,"Determination and quick resolve, you will need that on this journey. I like your attitude."
She turned to Masumi,"Your payment, shall be the ability to return to this world outside the shop barriers."
Masumi gasped, she looked absolutely terrified. It was the first time in a while I saw her like that.
"Why so shocked? Is it not your most cherished thing? You love this world very much and are bound deeply to the people you've met here."
She looked down solemnly, "That is true....but...I accept that payment."
I looked at Masumi sadly. She would not be able to see her grandmother again...her only family she had known...
Before I could ponder more, Yuuko turned to me," Your payment will be the memories of your father."
"What?!"
"They are your most precious item. You care about your mother, but you treasure the memories of your father more because there isn't that much to remember to begin with."
I thought about it for a moment. If my father were still alive....he would have probably told me to pay that price for mother's sake. He was an unselfish person as I remembered...I would be the same.
"I will pay that."
She closed her eyes and smiled,"The last payment has been made....Watanuki, please hand me what I asked you to get."
"Oh, yes."
The boy from earlier Masumi had said she saw with the glasses and our uniform, appeared from behind Yuuko. He was carrying two furry looking creatures. One had black fur and a blue gem on its forehead, the other had white fur and a red gem on its forehead. He handed the white one to Yuuko.
Yuuko held out the creature,"This little one here is Mokona. It will take you to different dimensions, though, the world you land in will be varied. So the chance that you will end up in your own world will be 50/50 chance."
Kurogane grumbled in disapproval,"If that's how its gonna be, can't I just take the other furry thing and be on my way?"
"The other Mokona cannot travel to dimensions and will only be used as means of communication between us."
The ninja scowled and looked the other way.
"Traveling through different dimensions will be more difficult than you imagined. There are many worlds. There are worlds full of criminals, full of hate and lies, worlds on the brink of war. In one world you may find the same person living in a different one, leading a different life. You may even bump into other versions of yourselves. The very fact that we are all here is 'hitsuzen'. It was inevitable that you would all meet here today."
Hitsuzen....my mother used to say that very often. Same with Masumi's grandmother....I never really wanted to believe that there was no coincidence, but...this situation called for me to believe just a little now.
"The journey is only just beginning, don't forget that. Now go forth."
Mokona jumped into the air, wings sprouted from its back. All around the 6 us, colorful waves were sprouting from the creature's mouth.
Suddenly, we were all sucked into a hole, traveling to the next world.
My day had changed for tediously normal to dreadfully abnormal.
Woot! I have to say, this chapter was very difficult in the way I had to sort of transition from their daily lives to joining the adventure. Then I had to sort of follow the dialogue, of course, I changed it around a bit to fit in the OC's. It took me a couple hours instead of a couple days since I just now feel so into the story XD
I'm gonna take a really big nap now. -__-'