Hi. I don't own Shugo Chara, all rights go to Peach-Pit. Enjoy the chapter!
Magic.
It was woven in the ground, sparkling behind every tree, blazing through me like a forest fire. The magic I had longed for for three years was back with me...and I wanted nothing more than to escape from it.
I thrust myself against the net that the demons had caught me in. They were eyeing their surroundings suspiciously. It would have been their first time in the Guardian world, anyway.
Tiraldae. Home. The word was foreign yet familiar on my lips. The ancient Guardian tongue, Yue, had slipped from me the moment I stepped into Earth, but now the whole language was coming back to me.
I struck out with my sword, but just as it had on Earth, it had no effect on freeing me. My palms found the ground, and I prepared to gather its magic. But it wouldn't let me through, wouldn't let me tap into its endless stores.
The mark on my back seared with pain, and I realized what was going on. The imprint the demons had placed was one to limit my magic, though it couldn't stop me completely. It would be enough to stop me from breaking free, though.
The head demon grabbed the net, and I rocked to and fro inside it as I struggled to get free. They were probably taking me to the prison, where Guardians would be waiting to take me and give the demons their pay. The Guardians must really hate me, I thought wryly, if the were willing to ask for help from their utter opposites, their worst enemy.
But prison was where I would die. And now that I had something to live for, I would not let myself die. Utau, Nagihiko, Ikuto, you've all been so kind to me. I promise that I will come back to thank you, to tell you the truth about...me.
I drew my blade, and instead of striking at the net, I whispered words to the metal.
"Metal, dance to my command." The sword seemed to come alive, sparks dancing up and down the blade.
"Cut away the imprint on my back."
The sword wriggled out of my hands and hovered over to my back. I braced myself for the pain.
The blade snapped at my back, and I cried out in pain as metal met skin. It sawed away at the mark, and I could feel its clutches lessening. After nearly a minute of agony, the sword fell to the bottom of the net and the cutting ceased.
Though my back stung like fire had burned it through, I was free. The magic that I had worked with years ago was back in my hands.
"Power of the Amulet!" A giant amulet appeared above me. But as I glanced up at the familiar four-leaf clover shape, I realized it was the exact same shape of the amulet that I got from Utau and the rest. I had no idea what the connection was, but the Amulet was waiting.
"Heart!" Red and pink swirls of fiery magic danced up one arm.
"Spade!" Blue whorls of magic soared up my other arm.
"Clover!" Green vines of magic interwove with Heart.
"Diamond!" Golden magic, bright as the sun, joined with Spade.
"HAAAAAAAAH!" I released the energy, and the rainbow of colors burst from me in a storm of fury. I brought my palms together, channeling the explosion until it was expanding in a sphere of destruction. When the colors had finally subsided, I found that I had completely destroyed everything within a quarter-mile radius of me. The demons were nowhere to be found. I was free.
But now, I had a bigger problem. One, I needed to get back to Earth. Here in Tiraldae, my world, I was no longer welcome. Sure I had longed for home for three years, but not as a captive. Second, portals home existed only in homes of Guardians who had a Character, or human, to protect. And third, I was a top wanted criminal.
Wanted criminal. With a jolt I remembered Nadeshiko's words from two days before, in my mind. She...had predicted this. All if it. They were supposed to be hallucinations, but yet she had accurately predicted the future. So it was either a force infiltrating my mind and trying to help me, or I had unknown prediction powers taking the form of my dead past friend, or...Nadeshiko was alive. Merely the thought made me shudder. I had lived with the hallucinations for so long, but what if they were actually real?
"Amu!" It was none other than Rima. Wow, the wonders never cease. "Are you okay? What was that explosion? I'm sorry, Amu, if I had gotten to you quicker this never would have-"
"Be quiet, Rima." I shushed her. "You know, this isn't Earth."
"What…?"
"It's another world, Tiraldae, Land of The Guardians."
"Guardians? But, they're supposed to protect us!"
"Guardians aren't just human guards, Rima. They have a life of their own." I held her gaze, which had turned from stone cold to guilty, pleading, nervous in the span of simply minutes.
"Rima! Amu!" I whirled around as Utau sprinted towards us, closely followed by Ikuto, Tadase-kun, and everyone else. The demons must have overdone the world-transfer magic. That was the only way they could have followed me here. It was bad, most definitely, but it was also slightly pleasurable to know that I wouldn't have to find my way home alone.
"Where are we?" gasped Yaya.
"Amu says its the Guardian's world." Rima replied, rushing forward to meet her friends.
"Amu? How do you know?" Kairi questioned.
"I…" I trailed off, knowing that this was the time to tell them about my true identity as an ex-Guardian, and how I got banished because Nadeshiko took Guardian magic and attempted to switch our places. But looking at their curious, open faces, I couldn't bring myself to. I couldn't lose the only people I had.
"...overheard the demons talking. Apparently, they want to capture me for some reason. Anyway, they're after us. I also picked up that people here can use magic, even if they're human. As long as they have Guardian weapons." It was the perfect lie, pretending that I eavesdropped on the demons. And they believed me so easily.
"We all have our weapons. We heard you scream, so we grabbed them." Tadase-kun concluded, producing his own scepter. Ikuto had his claws (as well as his violin case…), Utau had her trident, Kairi and his samurai sword, Kukai his golden sphere and Nagihiko his blue sphere. (Why they had the same weapon I had no clue.) Only Yaya and Rima stood empty handed.
"Yaya's sorry, she didn't think…" she sniffled and I rushed to comfort her before she started bawling and alerting the whole world to our location.
"It's okay, we'll get you one. But Rima?"
"No...you know I didn't bring my ropes."
"Whatever the case, we're going to have to find a way home soon. If what Amu said is true, if she's being tracked then we're all at risk." Utau said briskly. "Any ways home that you know of?"
"Well, there's the ones in Guardian houses, but there's absolutely no way we can get there without getting caught."
"We're stuck?" Yaya gasped.
I set my mouth in a grim line. "Yes. But we're also being tracked down. They want to obliterate us, remember? And that explosion will have alerted the Guardians to our presence."
"And the demons?"
"They probably would have returned home, seeing as they let us escape. They know they're not getting paid." I mused.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's set up camp somewhere secluded and find out more about this world. And maybe experiment with this magic stuff, too."
I stared into the fire as Utau and the rest played around with their weapons, creating miniature explosions of magic now and then. I didn't bother helping them. I wasn't supposed to know much about this world, after all.
These lies would only cover me for so long. Eventually they would find out about me, and my cover would be blown.
Depressing thoughts. I was lost once more in darkness, unhappiness. Why? I just wanted to be happy. I was so self-pitiful, but I had good reason, right? I mean, Nadeshiko was the one who stole Guardian magic and attempted to become a Guardian.
Nadeshiko's fault.
I am just unlucky.
Why me?
I'm so unhappy.
The thoughts played in my head like a violent song on replay. I hated it. I was the one trapping myself in sadness. And yet, I didn't bother to get myself out.
Over the past three years, I had cried myself to sleep. I had lived in fear of the Nadeshiko hallucinations which may actually be real. I only relived the past and dreaded the future. I had forgotten about living in the present, and the friends I had now.
"Hey, guys, there's some stuff I forgot to tell you about magic."
So yeah, Amu's been to tragic and crying for the past few chapters. And Amu is not that pitiful of a person. She isn't one to sit around crying for the whole story.
ReachForTheSky is out.