Disclaimer: I do not own anything!
Another chapter with mostly just Natsumi. Geez, I'm sorry about the slow pace. Usually my stories get off to a quicker start.
Does this count as an AU? I don't really know, it's just mostly kind of classic fanfiction about non-canon stuff happening, so I would think maybe it's not an AU? But also it feels so weird that it is kind of? I'm not sure.
I don't know what I'm rambling about. Uhhhhhhhhhh...Well, this chapter is a thing.
Special thanks to my beta, runwithscissorsXXXbattlescars. She's getting so sick of betaing me. Please. Somebody save her.
All Natsumi knew was that her beloved planet was in danger. That was her only truth. The only bit of knowledge she knew about this new world.
The Harvest... What is it? she wondered. The man she had encountered had only called it a nightmare, so it must have been bad, but this whole situation felt like a bad dream to her, surreal and confusing.
She sat down on a bench, trying to figure out what she knew and retrace what had happened to her. A few pigeons flew down to eat some bird seed by her feet while she thought.
At least pigeons haven't changed in the thousand years I was away, Natsumi thought to herself, looking at the birds fondly. They were her only connection to what her life used to be.
Okay... Thinking time now. She needed to figure out what was happening, what was going on. She knew she was on Earth, probably thousands of years from the time she previously resided on the planet. She also knew that something called the Harvest was coming up that caused humans like her to be frightened.
That's the only thing left for me. To defend Earth. That's my only purpose now without my family. She just felt so lost. So alone.
She couldn't just feel stuck forever, though. She knew she needed to keep moving forward, and this "harvest" was her way of doing so. It gave her something to fight, a reason to become the defender of her planet again.
That was all that remained of her former life. I... I can't believe I contracted a disease that almost killed me. She knew she should be angry, mourning her lost time, but honestly she was still in shock over what happened to her.
It was like she was trapped in the moment the first needle had gone into her arm. It was just constantly repeating in her head like a bad memory.
Limply, she stood up.
She needed to get over the shock, not dwell on it. Part of her mind could be stuck in the previous moments, but she needed something to occupy the rest of her body.
She needed to figure out what the latest threat to her planet was all about - this Harvest. After all, she couldn't fight it properly if she didn't know what it was.
"Now... Where would I get information...?" she wondered to herself. The streets didn't seem as crowded as they first were when she had left the hospital, so she walked by her lonesome on them.
Eventually she came to a building that read in big letters "Library." "Bingo," she told herself. A library might supply her the information she needed about this mysterious Harvest.
Entering the Library, it looked very tidy and comfortable. Lots of computers were everywhere, and some robots darted past, cleaning the floors.
Fuyuki would have liked this future, Natsumi smiled, to herself thinking as she walked in. She couldn't dwell on the gadgetry around her, though. She had a mission.
She headed straight into the section of the library where she hoped old newspaper clippings would be and information on what this Harvest thing was.
In actuality, the first known Harvest was not referred to as the "Harvest." At the time, it was recorded as a murder spree by two unnamed teenagers. In the middle of the night, on November first, the two went out into town and killed about twenty victims total.
Nobody knew at the time who had done the killings. The only known information on the individuals were reports on their silhouettes in the darkness suggesting that they were teenagers. But this soon became a ritual every year, the sacrifices of people for reasons we know not. The people adopted the name "the Harvest" for these ritualistic sacrifices.
Today, the Harvest sacrifices more than thousands of people verses the twenty that were killed in the beginning.
It occurs every year on November 1st.
Natsumi tried not to vomit as she read the newspaper article that she had found. So the man she had spoken to had meant that people were being murdered when he said that the Harvest was a nightmare.
She felt nauseous. So this was what happened to her world while she was away. But why had the people not revolted and overthrown whoever put this on?
When had these Harvests - harvests of real life humans - started, she wondered? Flipping a few pages, she tried to get a date of the first Harvest, knowing that she'd be frightened of what she saw because it would show her how truthfully long she'd been asleep.
Natsumi's jaw dropped open when she saw that the first Harvest, surprisingly enough, only had happened a year after she had been put to sleep!
This... This happened during my time... I would have lived through and witnessed the first one... She tried not to shiver, holding the newspaper in her hand.
Nobody I knew died to these, right? She was scared. Had Fuyuki lived a long and wonderful life like he deserved? Had Koyuki? They both deserved happiness, and she was frightened for them now.
They could take care of themselves, but at the same time, she was honestly scared.
She needed to find out, though. She wanted to make sure Fuyuki had lived a happy life. But Fuyuki probably wasn't around anymore due to old age, so...
The frogs... Maybe they're still around. I don't know how their lifespans work, but maybe I can find them. Or maybe some of my friends are just really old and still alive. She needed to hope. To catch up on what happened.
She rushed out of the library, making sure not to steal any books on her way out, and desperately searched around town. She knew she should be hiding, running, so she wouldn't be chosen for this Harvest thing that was coming up, but she needed to find her friends.
I only know three things for certain about this new world I'm in. One, it's Earth. Two, humans still exist. And three, a massacre known as the Harvest is coming up. If she was chosen, she would fight. She wouldn't just let herself be taken.
She didn't look much at the architecture around town and the new sky trains surrounding her, but she did look all around town at various posters and the small amount of people who were on the streets. She didn't seem to notice the various "NPG" logos on many of the buildings.
"So you off work for today, Bob?" A worker sat down with a sandwich next to his friend. Natsumi didn't take much interest in their conversation, until Bob spoke loudly and proudly.
"Yep! Got some extra vacation time. I'm telling you, the best place to work is the Nishizawa corporation. They pay well and have some great benefits. Like not being Harvested as much. Nice for me," Bob smiled.
The Nishizawa corporation? That was a name she knew all too well. She smiled broadly as she turned to the worker named Bob and looked behind him at a factory with the NPG logo on it.
The Nishizawa corporation was still going and running smoothly. At least there was something about this world that she knew. She casually walked up to Bob and his friend.
"You work for the Nishizawa corporation?" Natsumi asked. Maybe they're the ones inventing all this futuristic tech in this world. Well, maybe they're mass producing it.
"Yep! I'm so proud to have a steady job! Fred only works as a grocery cashier. I'm so much luckier than him!" Bob smiled.
"Who... Who runs the Nishizawa corporation...?" Natsumi asked hesitantly. She was happy to know the corporation was still alive. At least that was one remnant of a friend of hers left.
Bob looked confused, like she was stupid for not knowing. "The Emperor. The ruler of all, obviously. I mean, he kind of owns everything. What, have you been living under a rock for all your life or something?" he jeered.
"The ruler of all...? You mean a dictator of this world?" She looked disappointed. Of course it was an evil dictator who ran this world. They were probably the one in charge of this Harvest thing, too.
She wondered if it was a Nishizawa descendant and the Nishizawas now owned the whole world or someone had taken over the company. She didn't know which was worse, the Nishizawas going evil, or being bought out.
"Well, of course he's a dictator!" Bob's friend, Fred, spoke up. "And a mean one at that. Those scary Harvests... Ugh, he keeps them running."
"Well, he's not that bad," Bob piped up. "Better than that other dictator he works with."
"So this world is run by two dictators?" Natsumi tried to keep the story straight.
"Yeah, and the Emperor... He started out as a good guy. He was pure and just. We were all happy to be ruled by him. He's the one who owns the Nishizawa company." Bob smiled.
"He wasn't pure and just! He just appeared that way! In reality, he was the manipulator of the whole ordeal!" Fred complained. "Took over the planet easily by appearing smart and nice. That other dictator that he works with is nothing compared to him."
Bob looked shocked at hearing his boss being insulted.
So... The ruler of this world is probably the descendant of Momoka... and maybe even Fuyuki, if they got married or something, Natsumi thought. How could their descendant be so cruel to be okay with these killings? This seemed wrong.
"What about the other dictator? Are they just as manipulative as the other one?" Natsumi asked. She was still confused about this whole situation, but the only way she was going to keep sane was by having an enemy in her head to fight.
That way, she didn't have to think about how alone she truly was.
"Our judge, jury, and executioner. Unlike the Emperor who rules from the light, staying in the public eyes and appearing kind, she is no such thing. She rules more from the shadows and is incredibly scary." Bob shivered.
"Agreed," Fred nodded. "You new to this planet? Are you an alien?" he asked, wondering why Natsumi didn't know all this common knowledge.
"No," Natsumi admitted. "I'm human. Just like you two. I was just in a coma for a long time and very sick and missed all this happening." There was no reason to be dishonest with these two.
They didn't really understand.
"A piece of advice, then," Bob offered. "The Emperor loves the Harvest. I'm assuming you know what those are...?"
"The massacres that happen every year," Natsumi said in a hushed voice.
"He prefers the term 'ritual sacrifices,' " Bob corrected.
"They're stupid. I mean, he's plain evil for putting them on. I can't believe things turned out like this in my world." Natsumi frowned. Fuyuki and Momoka's descendant needed a butt-kicking.
"SHUSH!" Bob shushed her. "That was my piece of advice. Don't diss them! Yeah, they're scary and we can all be scared, but don't you dare diss them." Bob's voice lowered to just a whisper. "He kills anyone who shows that they're against him."
"That's untrue," Fred corrected. "Sometimes people will be sent to the coliseum to fight for the rest of their lives for entertainment... Wait, those ones are pretty much dead, too... Well, I mean, some don't die. You could still have a pretty good chance of either being sent to the coliseum or being sent to the Executioner's servant!" Fred tried to stay on the optimistic side.
Bob shuddered. "But the executioner's servant is even worse than death. That guy will put you through all sorts of cruel experiments, I've heard."
Natsumi wanted to vomit. These people were living in such constant fear over this terrible fate that speaking up against their ruler just didn't seem possible.
She needed to defend them, to protect them. Even if it seemed hard or impossible to diss the Harvest, she needed to be the strong one.
"Thank you for telling me all this." The future world she was in was terrifying, but she wouldn't forget her mission. She would stay strong.
Bob and Fred nodded and Natsumi left.
Trying to gain contact with the one in charge of the Nishizawa company seemed unrealistic. They were probably a psychopath, after all. But they were also her only lead to what had happened to her friends during her sleep.
She walked on the sidewalk, trying to think of ideas on where to search next for any leads on what had happened to her friends. She had theories, like Fuyuki and Momoka had gotten married and had an evil kid... but that was about it.
She tried to take a break on her quest by looking at posters on the walls she passed and their promotional pictures of art.
Maybe I'll find a good picture of that dictator. That jerk who loves this Harvest thing so much and I should eventually kick the butt of. Dictators liked putting their faces places, and it was easy enough to spot a poster with the Emperor looking down on her.
Natsumi was shocked to see what greeted her eyes.
The emperor of planet Earth, an older version of someone who was unmistakably her brother glared down from a metal throne with his fingers crossed.
"Don't act to the best of your abilities. Act to the best of what Emperor Fuyuki Hinata wants your abilities to be. Be pure in spirit and rewards will come your way," the sign read. It was supposed to be motivational, but Natsumi was just shocked.
Fuyuki... My brother... He's alive and the evil emperor I heard about? That... That can't be... That would mean... Her mind whirled to all the information she had learned that day, the newspaper article with the murders, the manipulitive nature of the emperor... Fuyuki is a murderer. And he had murdered someone quite soon after she had gone to sleep.
Natsumi's knees buckled under her and she collapsed on the sidewalk. The shock settling into her gut.
This can't be true, she begged.
Maybe she wanted to be thousands of years in the future, and not... however far in she was. She didn't want to see her brother like this.
Not like this at all.
I would love to hear your thoughts, so please review!