"Bell, dearie, wake up! You'll be late,-" My mom's voice resounded as I dug my head deeper onto my pillow, "-today is your camping trip, right? You'll miss it if you don't wake up right now!" I snapped my eyes open at that and rose quickly from my bed, maybe even too quickly as I started to feel dizzy while holding my head. As soon as I had my head straight again I snapped a look left at my younger sister, Jenny. "Hey! Why didn't you wake me up?" I yelled as she was buttoning her shirt, she looked lazily at me and without even batting an eyelash she said, "Because you always complain how it feels like someone just struck your bed with an earthquake..." I glared at her and wanted to argue more but time doesn't wait for anyone so I went off my comfy bed and rushed to the bathroom.
After I locked the door behind me, I looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed my hair. My face was pale and I had bags under my eyes, my hair was also flying off in all sorts of weird angles, "Yeesh! I look as if I just came back from the dead!" I stopped moving at that and stared longer at my mirror reflection. I put my hand over my right eye and opened it slowly to reveal a silver colored eye. I looked at my reflection a while longer before I closed it and washed my face with cold water, 'It has already been a whole year hasn't it?' I thought as I looked sullenly at the flowing water...
The shock I had that day. Waking up to the thought of being alive, I couldn't believe it for some reason. That day, I thought, was the same as any other day, but I was gravely wrong. With my mind being muffled by a dark cloud I went to school dazed and doubtful of the existence of this day itself, though I wasn't sure why. After I reached school and saw a blonde being bullied, I unconsciously called out her name that I strangely knew, "You're Trisha...aren't you?" Her head slowly turned around, shock painting all over her nature green eyes, "Bell?" After that, the strangest thing happened, I had regained my memories that I didn't know I lost, and one of those many memories was the memory of being dead.
However, before I could even process my thoughts well. Trisha started crying and jumped on me, crying her eyes out, begging Mega that this wasn't a hopeful dream. I then later on found myself crying with her, hugging her tighter than I ever did to someone before, crying out my apologies over and over again, not caring at all for the weird gazes of the people around us.
Chris then ended up joining us, hiding his teary eyes with his hand, a large thankful grin on his face. I also remember after that the words that my sisters gave me, "We don't know you if anybody asks." I wonder why I remembered that now. After Trisha and I let go of each other, rather very reluctantly, someone covered Trisha's eyes with their hands. "Guess who~?" A chorus of three resounded. Trisha shook as I knew her eyes were about to cry out again after they just dried away, but she held back putting out a bold front.
"Ronald, George, Ultrich! Arrêter cette stupidité tu de suite!" Trisha said in a beautiful firm French accent. She turned around and tried to glare at her brothers only to fail miserably, her brothers' eyes too were welling up, "S'il te plait, don't tell me we have to group hug again." Ronald said, tears already falling off his face, "Just get over here..." Trisha said as she pulled onto her brothers' arms, embracing them in a hug as she cried. Dusting myself off as I stood up, I watched their reunion almost crying myself again, before the moment was interrupted by Yuri who kept on hitting me on my head several times with a ruler yelling, "Baka!" over and over again as much as I was apologizing.
There was one more thing that I remembered about that day, it was one of the greatest miracles I ever saw. The bystanders around us, that watched us with weird glances, one by one, tears started spilling from their eyes. At that moment several gasps and 'why's resounded as everyone wondered about the reason to their crying outbursts. It was a very sad sight and yet it was also very beautiful for some reason. School, work and all activities that day stopped.
Going home that day I remember seeing in the news that most people all over the Middle East, South Africa, Europe and even Southwest Asia cried all of a sudden that day; they were all the places Mega's influence reached. Seems that even though close to none remember the miseries Mega gave them, they still all remembered the pain they felt taking part in that living nightmare, and so as soon as they woke to the faces of their loved ones and comfy homes, cried their eyes out to their relief and to gush out all of their desolation.
That was a very shocking day to most, especially for those who didn't remember, and this very day was marked in history as 'The Day Where the World Cried'. Finally after that, last thing I remember was plopping on my bed thinking if this was really the happy ending we were hoping for. Looking up at the azure sky painted with faint white clouds I thought that that was the bluest sky I ever saw in my life, also about the things we take for granted and their real beauty once you notice them.
I hurriedly picked off whatever clothes felt comfortable and pretty, them being a short long-sleeved purple dress and a pair of black pants, and then hurried off to the door with a carton of milk in my mouth and a cupcake in my had as I wore my brown shoes on. "Bell, it's not good to eat in a moving vehicle so finish quickly before you go on the car, okay?" "Yeah!" I yelled back to my mother as I finished wearing my shoes, flipping my big black backpack over my shoulder, "Oof! Heavy..." I said straining to keep my back straight under the weight of my bag.
Just as I was about to head out of the door, I heard my mom call over, "Honey, are you sure you got everything?" "Yeah!" "Rollers?" "Yes!" "Extra clothes?" "Yes!" "Glasses, extra lenses and an extra eye patch?" "Yeah, yup and yes!" "And-" "Mom, I'm fine. I totally have everything I need."I said laughing as my mom hugged me from behind, "I know sweetie, it's just that I'm your mother and so I worry. Have fun on your camping trip and don't fight okay?" She said as I nodded. She gave me a peck on the forehead and then sent me off as I ran to our car, hoping that I'm still not late.
Our car stopped after we drove on for a while. I looked up at the red light, which reminded me of two certain redheads...
I suddenly got a phone call from Chris, a few days after the crying incident. And the words he told me shocked me even though the news weren't that extraordinary.
"I met the Renocks at the mall today..."
Turns out that Chris and Naruda lived in the same neighborhood and accidently met when both families went out shopping. The sadness and relief Chris felt that day seeing both of them, especially a certain little redhead, was something I could never imagine. I wouldn't be surprised even if he told me that he cried then and there, but I guess he had too much pride to do that. They gave each other their phone numbers and e-mails and prepared a day for all of us to meet up. "Thanks." Was the simple word I muttered, the only one I could as I felt my heart stuck in my throat as it beat loudly. I silently cried as relief swept through me, 'Polly...'
That day we all met up at a nearby park. We were all there: Naruda, Trisha, Chris, I, even some of my and Chris's friends decided to join the festive, refusing to let us go alone, and finally also a certain redhead that we all gave a bone crushing hug to. Our families joined us too,, for the worst or best. I remember one particular thing that I regretted about bring our families over with us which is the dangerous gleam in Iris's, Raphael's, and, I think his name was, Mark's eyes as they keenly looked at Chris, Naruda and I, making us feel completely uncomfortable. 'Oh sh*t, the elder siblings' alliance really does exist! And I thought it was just an urban legend!' Was the thought that coursed my mind at the time.
"Okay, our parents and siblings are busy talking to each other, so let's get to it shall we: First, what is going on?" Naruda asked as we all looked at each other, confusion lacing all of our faces. "Well for one, we know that whatever the explosion was, it had the effect of turning back time." Trisha summarized up what happened, "Yeah but one, what caused the explosion, and two how? How can that have turned time around?" And three, was this whole time thing really in our favor? I asked the question mentally, not out loud, not wanting to ruin everyone's good mood about seeing each other again.
Our group fell silent again until Chris broke it, "I don't really know why we're thinking about all this. It just happened, we should be happy! What we should ask is: if what's happening really real or just a dream?" Everyone looked confused at Chris, "I think you too know Chris that this whole situation is too great to be just a dream created by Mega." "I meant it the other way around. Not that this is a dream and we're still fighting Mega, but what if the whole battle was a dream and right now we just woke up? I mean come on! I don't think that the dead can come back to life no matter how much of a miracle that explosion was." Chris's question struck a bolt of revelation in most of our hearts, well all except mine.
I shook my head and took out of my bag a weird type of dagger, it had the handle of a flash memory and the dagger was almost like the metal head but reshaped and longer, my flash dagger. Everyone looked wide eyed at it, "Well that clears the suspicion that our adventure was nothing but a nightmare." Naruda said as I opened my mouth to speak, "Well there is this and then there are Warmy and Mahawa-" "There! Hold it! Now explain who the heck are those two and from where did they bring the glowing weapons?!" Chris yelled interrupting me, and now everyone was eager to hear the truth about that as well.
I sighed as I mumbled a few words quickly in an inaudible whisper, "Hah?" I repeated this time a bit louder but still not enough, "mynimagirneryfghends..." "Your what now?" "My Imaginary Friends! There I said it!" I yelled as the others jumped back from the sudden rise in my tone. "Bell? Are you alright?" "Yes mom!" I said and then glared at the others for making me say something so embarrassing. "Then the glowing weapons..." "They got them from their world..." I looked down embarrassed at my feet as our group grew silent, "Okay so what were you about to say about those two?" Trisha asked and I looked up surprised that they all just accepted it so easily. Chris came up to me and ruffled my hair, "Honestly we've seen and heard much crazier stuff not to believe this. Plus it makes sense, since after you died they both disappeared." I looked up at him and smile, he does have a point.
I sighed as I continued, "I woke up a few days after the crying incident thanks to Warmy and Mahawa, even though nobody can see them now like always but somehow they kept their consciousness." "So do they know about-" "-the explosion? No, they find it weird as well, but aren't really questioning it and putting it off as a thankful miracle." Naruda nodded his head processing the new information. Reilla, Hailey, and Jack stared dumbfound at us and our conversation, not even sure if we were kidding or not. Though from the evidence they gathered, they realized that we weren't.
We all kept chatting on when I noticed how down Yuri looked. I crawled up to her and asked her why she looked so sullen, "There was this guy I met during the adventure, but now I can't find him anywhere. I'm kinda worried." I looked at her, sad that I couldn't really bring up any reassuring words to tell her, "You should've seen him! How he used his hands to manipulate snow magically and..." I trailed off at the word 'magic' and smiled which caused Yuri to look at me weirdly, "If he uses magic, then that means that he's another Imaginary Friend. Mega grants us the ability to see it's misfits but not magic powers, so he must be fine." Yuri brightened up at that, relieved.
My final memory of this encounter was all of us talking happily about everyday stuff, making me think about how nice it is to have friends as I closed my eyes feeling a nearby breeze blew by.
I opened my eyes as the car started moving, we were almost there and I was very excited about the school camping field trip. As soon as we reached the school, I rushed outside running towards the entrance, turning back only to thank my dad for the ride. The camping trip was a joint field trip for all sections for middle to high schoolers of MEIS, Resonantes, and Titan Academy schools. As soon as I entered the school grounds, I was greeted by Yuri and Akira, "You're late!" "Seriously Bell, any later and you might've missed the trip!" I nervously laughed as I rubbed the back of my head, panting from exhaustion. Turns out that Akira, the girl who accompanied Yuri on her Journey, was a student here as well. What a coincidence, but again, this school is quite famous in this region.
"Yo!" Chris yelled from behind me as I turned around. I smiled at the grinning Chris, forming a fist with my hand, hitting the top of his fist, him doing the same, then we fist bumped and finally clapped our hands together, intersecting our thumbs, forming a bird with both our hands. "You're still a bit sloppy, even after a whole year." Chris commented and I shrugged.
That was our group's secret handshake. After having gained our lives back, we one day, around three months later, joined up to form an official team with a title and all. I mean, it was a bit kid-ish of us, but after all we've been through together, we thought that it was appropriate. Obviously, Naruda became the leader. Polly seemed to have been thinking about this moment for so long because she immediately said that we should name our group 'Parody Fly~'. It was a weird name, but also unique and had a nice ring to it, so we all agreed.
After that we all planned on what our logo was going to be with Trisha drawing, since she was the best out of us. The end result was a blue phoenix bird with purple flames as its base, with three blue bell flowers hanging on a vine on top of its head. We were all pretty proud of our work. Chris even made up this 'secret' handshake of ours. Though we keep using it whenever we meet up, so I'm really starting to question its 'secrecy'.
Anyways, Reilla and Hailey then came up to us telling us that the teachers told us to line up as we were about to go inside the bus. 'I'm so excited for this!' I yelled in my mind as we went to stand in our respective class lines, each class going on a different bus. Suddenly my happy mood was crushed to pieces as I met face to face with Tabouk. I quickly hid my cherry blossom hair pin with my hands as to not let him steal it. My eyes flashed of fearful caution as his shown with hatred and scorn. Multiple disturbing memories came to mind about earlier this year as I shook my head to let me forget them. From the look in Tabouk's eyes, though, I could tell that I wasn't the only one who remembered that incident, both of us angry for different reasons.
Sadly though, seems that Lady Luck wasn't on my side this time as the teachers were the ones who assigned us to our bus seats, and I just happened to be the one to sit next to that psycho-sadist. I looked away to outside the window, removing my hair pin and clasping it in my hands, protecting it, as the bus started moving along. Seconds turned to minutes as Tabouk strangely didn't try anything weird or hurtful, so I took a sneak peek at him to see the most ferocious and scary look ever given to a human being on Tabouk's face. I honestly almost yelled from fright. Seems that unlike me, he was unsuccessful in forgetting the memory and now he is even too pissed to even do anything! For the remainder of the trip I was too afraid to even look at him or anywhere else, so I had to keep on staring at the sky.p, not that I was complaining. The sky today was a beautiful azure too.
"Hey you, WHAT IN THE *BLEEP*!"
"Hey, hey, hey someone eavesdropped on us. What shall we do~?"
"Kill 'em!"
"What the *bleep*? My body' glowing?!"
"Yuri! Akira! Catch!"
A hand twitched beneath a large tree in the middle of the backyard of what seemed to be a small school. The unconscious body, surrounded by many people, started to slowly open his eyes. He blinked once then twice and even thrice, before he could fully open them only to see his surroundings in a blur. "He's alive! Quickly! Call the paramedics!" The once unconscious body heard someone yell, just realizing that people were surrounding him. One of the younger ones approached him, "Hey you, what are you doing here looking like a porcupine?" "Ugh, dumb headache in a dumb time. And you, shut it, idiot!" "I didn't understand what you just said, but I know that you just insulted me!"
"Uh _, that's the normal reaction when you bombard someone with questions right after they wake up, knucklehead." Someone else said which sounded like a girl this time, the name of the first person was muffled as the injured person was still a bit dizzy. After a few more seconds, his eyesight became clearer as he saw a blonde boy and pinkette fighting together, or more like the pinkette was insulting him and he was swooning over her.
Unconsciously, the person muttered, "Naruto?" But it was loud enough for him to hear, "Huh? How do you know my name?" 'Impossible!' The person thought ignoring his question. His eyesight was now 20/20 clear as he looked over his surroundings. He was lying on a tree in the garden next to the entrance to what he knows as the Ninja Academy, and all around him, he was surrounded by the teachers and students of that academy.
The person grit his teeth, 'What sort of sh*tty joke is this?' He looked over the faces of every and each one of them and indeed they were the characters from Naruto except that they all didn't look animated but like really, and I mean, really good cosplays of themselves which was probably why the person was confused at first as to whom they were. 'Am I in some sort of dumb convention?!' He thought angrily. He tried to stand up only to find out that his whole body was numb and pierced by multiple small black needles, and yet even with that, he didn't care and forced himself to stand up. The teachers around him trying to stop him but he ignored them.
He then walked up to one of the teachers who he recognized as Master Iruka and glared up at him, "Give me your kunai." He ordered without one ounce of respect, "What now-kunai?" Iruka said not understanding at all what he said. 'Ugh, right, these buffoons are ninjas so they speak Japanese. *Bleep*! Now let's see if I haven't forgotten it yet...' The person looked at his feet and then sighed as if he was dealing with a bunch of insolent kids which really only served in pissing everyone off even more. "Ok so, I said: Give me your kunai." He repeated again only to see Master Iruka's flabbergasted face, "Why would I do that?! Ninja knives aren't toys, understand? Plus, you need immediate medical attention!" The person looked bored at Master Iruka's scolding as he stole his kunai anyways and stabbed his arm hard with it.
Everyone looked shocked at him and before anyone could even say anything he muttered, "Tch, the pain felt real, so this isn't some weird dream after all..." Master Iruka looked pissed, "Just because you want to know whether you're dreaming or not, doesn't justify or give you the right to stab yourself! Isn't the pain from the needles enough proof?!" The person looked again bored at Master Iruka and threw back at him his kunai bloodied as he whispered to himself, "Sh*t, I said that in Japanese." He looked at his needle-filled body and started ripping them off without flinching even once, the other ninjas' and students' faces twisting in his place at how harshly he pulled them off.
The person, after pulling all the needles off, started climbing up the tree to get a better view of the place albeit the protests of the others and through the numbness of his body. Reaching the top, the person surveyed the place sharply with his eyes seeing a large mountain with faces, of who he knows as the Hokages of this village, carved in it. There were also multiple small houses and buildings as far as the eye can see until it stops at a wall where beyond it was an even vaster lush green forest. 'This looks way too extravagant to be a prank and too real to be fake or a convention,-' The person smirked as he descended the tree, '-which means that I'm in the real freakin' Konoha, Leaf village!'
He looked up at all the other ninjas and students, who were either looking at him worriedly, cautiously, or scared, a twisted dark smile on his face and a sinister look in his eye, making many students shudder. He covered his face with his hand as he slowly licked his lips, 'This is going to be fun~'
At that point, all who watched him knew and thought of the same thing which even the airhead Naruto had to agree on, 'This guy is dangerous!' And of course they would be thinking that, after all, we're talking about Tabouk Tenmore over here! After that, finally the paramedics team arrived and tended to Tabouk, who strangely didn't resist as he started to plan in his head about his next move.