Rating: T+ (so far, apparently)
Warnings: OOCness, OCs, inconsistent updates, death, grammatical errors and no beta.
Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own No. 6 or Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. They belong to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.
Dedication: To spooky-time. Because October is perfect for horror stuff.
Anime: Hey, late update. Uhh. Sorry. I got stuck with this chapter. Hopefully, the next one will be out soon.
~~~TAT~~~
2: Voices Pulling In
Four years later
Nezumi did not want to be in a rundown town like West Town. First of all, the lack of an original name proved how dull it was. Inukashi told him that it used to be called Lucifenia and was the supposed city of one of the infamous rulers of Evil but he called bullshit on that.
His mother told him to give the place a chance, to "not judge a book by its cover" and his father agreed, as they wanted to have a fresh start. Eve and Inukashi were both excited about moving to "a place rich with history" but Nezumi wasn't sure. As it turned out, Nezumi's instincts were right.
West Town – or Lucifenia, whatever – was the drabbest place that Nezumi had ever been in. The small town was so small; Nezumi would have missed it if Eve hadn't pointed it out to him because he was too busy listening to his music. The town consisted of at least thirty homes, one library, seven government buildings, six stores, one elementary school, one middle school and one high school. The colors of the city were brown, beige, black, gray and other boring colors that annoyed Nezumi a bit.
"Well, it's quaint." Their mother said.
"What an amazing forest!" Eve yelled, pointing at the forest the covered the surrounding small town, "Do you know how much I can sketch in that place?" She seemed to be excited, a direct opposite of Nezumi who looked bored.
"Do you think people still have the values of the 17th century?" Inukashi joked.
"Inukashi." Their father chided, grinning back at his only adopted daughter. His wife rolled her eyes before they reached the town that had a beat-up sign that read Lucifenia and some graffiti that read "Don't follow the voices".
"Wow. Psychotown, much?" Nezumi muttered to himself, putting on his headphones because the town was way too quiet compared to the usual sounds of the city.
". . . pulled in by a voice so sweet . . ."
Nezumi frowned, that melodious voice not being the same as the song he was listening to. He paused his song and the voice had gone silent. He sighed, staring at the window and seeing that no one was outside. What a boring place to live in."
". . . run as fast as your legs can run in the dark . . ."
Nezumi now understood why the sign said to not follow the voices. And the reason scared him.
This place just gets creepier and creepier.
~~~TAT~~~
After spending some time in Lucifenia, Nezumi discovered some things about the town that he hadn't found out at first glance. The more he discovered, the more he regretted moving to this rundown town.
One, the woods surrounding Lucifenia were prohibited. For unknown reasons, there was always someone that stood watch over the woods, yelling at anyone that ever neared the forest. The Hosoya family had found that out the hard way, when Eve had decided to have a picnic in the woods and an old man yelled at them to go away. Nezumi noted that peculiarity and continued to notice there were more peculiarities in Lucifenia.
Two, the kids never played outside. If people could avoid it, they never left their homes. Nezumi found this out when he went exploring the town by himself and he could see the little kids watching him as if he was a weirdo from their spots by the window.
Three, there were not a lot of kids in this town. When Nezumi had started high school, he had expected the hallways to be crowded as usual. Instead, only a handful of people roamed the hallways, speaking in low tones. They all stared at him funny when he waved at them, greeting them in a normal tone.
Four, everyone avoided the girl known as Safu Yasuno. He noticed this the first day, where everyone sat down in one side of the cafeteria and the girl known as Safu sat as far away from the others as possible. Something that confused Nezumi because she didn't seem to be an oddball.
"Stop staring."
Nezumi hummed in question, turning to the only 'normal' person he had met in Lucifenia. The boy was named Megumi – Nezumi didn't bother remembering his last name because Megumi said it didn't matter – and he was the only one that bothered to talk to Nezumi. Then again, Megumi was an outcast, just not in the same level of Safu Yasuno.
"Why?" Nezumi asked.
Megumi frowned, "Safu isn't someone I'd recommend talking to for reasons obvious and not obvious. Obviously, you two are very different. She frowns down on all forms of artistic expression, something you like. She isn't a talkative person and doesn't like to associate themselves with 'free thinkers'."
"How boring." Nezumi yawned, playing with the bento his mom had made him. Nezumi had already been labelled a rebel in school as he made snappy retorts at teachers and at other students. Not only that, he didn't follow the flow of the other students, which had drawn Megumi to him.
"Not obvious, she's the one that summoned the demons of the Eerie Forest." That caught Nezumi's interest. He turned to Megumi in confusion before the raven-haired boy elaborated, "The rumor started because the first victims terrorized Safu. She's also the only one that can get near the forest without being pulled in and she's even been inside."
"Demons?" Nezumi asked. This was the first mention of why the forest nearing Lucifenia was forbidden. Megumi nodded, shivering slightly. Nezumi leaned forward, "What kind of demons?"
"Have you ever heard someone singing in your head?" Megumi asked. Nezumi was silent, remembering the first time he had heard the singing in his head. Megumi must have seen something in his gaze because he nodded, "Everyone hears them. Those are the demons, beckoning us to enter the forest. Once you're in, you never return."
"Do you really believe in that? I mean, is it real?" Before he could answer, the door slammed open and Megumi's face turned pale at Nezumi's question. The slate haired boy's eyes widened before he heard the loudspeaker screech, everyone covering their ears. One girl began to cry suddenly, making Nezumi really confused.
". . . kagome, kagome . . ." A voice sang from the loudspeaker before dissolving in a fit of laughter. The singer was no doubt a boy, judging by the pitch of the laugh, " . . . please don't run away from us. . ."
"Kagome . . . kagome . . . what games will we play, can I guess?" Another voice sang. The two boys began to laugh and everyone started screaming, rushing to the windows while others tried to open the closed door. Nezumi felt a shiver run down his spine as the voices began to speak a foreign language. Those voices weren't human, that was for sure.
"They're getting stronger." Megumi muttered, sinking to his knees and covering his ears, the demons singing their melodies in a tongue none of them recognized, taunting them, "Soon, they'll be able to leave the forest and kill us all."
"Stop it!"
Everyone hesitantly turned around and Nezumi saw it had been Safu Yasuno that had spoken. She was glaring at the loudspeaker, which had gotten silent when she had spoken. She yelled, "Aster, Shion, you're both in big trouble! Stop it!"
"Shut up!"
"You're no fun, Safu!"
The voices overlapped, like little kids trying to talk at the same time and trying to explain something to an adult. Safu took in a deep breath before screaming, "Enough! Go back to the forest and don't come out or else!"
The voices were silent. The loudspeaker turned off and everything was quiet. Nezumi helped Megumi get up while others comforted the crying girl. Megumi nodded at her, "That's Hikaru Amiya. Her brother and little sister were taken and she was almost taken. She was stopped before they took her into the forest, though."
"Really?" Nezumi asked, staring at the sobbing girl. Megumi nodded. Nezumi was silent, thinking about everything he had learned from Lucifenia so far and things that were still a mystery.
One thing was for sure: Safu Yasuno knew something about the demons.
~~~TAT~~~
"Go away."
"Why do I have to?" Nezumi asked, Safu ignoring him. She rolled her eyes at him before walking away, the male following her persistently. After the incident during lunch, people had given Safu a wider berth, as if they remembered that the demons were somewhat under her control. That gave Nezumi the opportunity to approach Safu. The girl, however, was being a pain by not trying to talk to him.
"I am not telling you anything about Aster or Shion, okay? That's what everyone wants to ask about." Safu muttered. She left the school, Nezumi tailing behind her. She turned around to glare at him, "Quit following me. I know that you're new here so you'll eventually learn that being around me is dangerous."
"Listen, I'm stubborn and you are too. Eventually, one of us is going to crack and it's not going to be me." Nezumi replied. Safu looked at him with a very annoyed look before huffing and continuing to walk away, "If you won't tell me, I'll go and ask Shion and Aster myself."
That made Safu stop and stare at him with fear in her eyes, "Don't go into that forest, Nezumi. Don't make that mistake, the mistake so many before you have done. The twins are demons. Stay away." She ran off, in the direction of said forest. According to Megumi, though, she lived close to the forest.
"Weird." Nezumi thought before heading home. He paused when he felt the wind stir and he turned to the direction of the forest. He felt the wind pick up and he closed his eyes as it whipped around him like a vortex.
"Come meet me, Nezumi. . ."
Why did that voice call out to him . . . ?
~~~TAT~~~
"Demons of Lucifenia." Nezumi typed out in his search engine. Predictably, nothing came out that was important for Nezumi's search. He groaned, leaning back to stare at his laptop with an annoyed look in his face. No one wanted to talk about the so-called demons. Megumi said he had errands to run when he brought it up, Safu flat-out told him that she wouldn't say anything and they were the only people that he had talked to in West Town.
"What can I do?" He muttered, closing his laptop and laying down on his bed. Why was he still up, anyways? It was two in the morning and he hadn't slept for hours. So why was he still alert? He closed his eyes, trying to sleep, but it just wasn't working. He groaned, hearing a branch from the tree near his window knocking on said window.
"Was that a goodbye kiss?"
That voice again! Nezumi sat up, pulling at his hair. Why was it so familiar? He made his way to the window, opening it to take in the silence of this small, cursed town. He closed his eyes, hearing nothing for the first time. He opened his eyes to see the forest and gave a start when he could see light coming from the forest.
"What the-?"
"Eventually, the end will come but until that final day-."
"Let's keep partying, shall we?"
The demons twins again. He leaned forward, determining the light was from a campfire. He looked briefly at his door, listening if his parents or sisters were awake – of course they're not, idiot – before getting out of the house via his window. He jumped out, heading towards the forest. There was something about those demon twins that seemed familiar and he wanted to know why. What better way to find out than by going to the demons themselves?
~~~TAT~~~
"No!"
Safu bolted upright in bed, reaching out for someone that wasn't there. She panted, looking around. Her clock read 2:07 a.m., too early for her to be waking up from a nightmare. What had her nightmare been about again?
The twins, obviously, she thought. They always haunted her dreams, making them into nightmares. They were twisted, demented people that she had once seen as friends. Why had that been, again? Ah, because they had actually been nice to her, something no other living being did.
The strange thing was that she hadn't had nightmares in three weeks. It was so odd, she never thought to herself why they had stopped because it was a relief to be rid of them. Thinking about it now, though, she realized that the nightmares had stopped as soon as the Hosoya family – a happy, carefree family with its beautiful daughters, a kind mother, a doting father and a rebellious and artistic son – had moved in.
The Hosoya family had been the first family to have moved into Lucifenia-West Town in almost eleven years. They had brought some joy to the inhabitants of this thrice accursed town, however brief. Megumi actually talked, having been mute for almost two years since his two older sisters had been taken by Shion and Aster.
So, what had brought upon the nightmare?
"You lose, Safu."
Safu's eyes widened, those words being very familiar. She bolted out of her bed, not bothering to change from her pajamas or putting on shoes. She ran out of her house, not flinching when she felt rocks sticking to her bare feet. Of course the nightmares had returned; they were always warnings that another person had been drawn into the forest by the twins.
And she knew who had been the target this time.
"No, don't take Nezumi Hosoya! Stop!" She cried out, even though she knew that those empty words would reach deaf ears.
~~~TAT~~~
From all the terror everyone had over the forest, Nezumi actually expected it to look scary. It, in fact, was not. The forest was calm and peaceful, the nocturnal animals out and about. He looked up, the foliage of the trees covering the light of moon and the stars. It was a shame. In Lucifenia, the stars were actually visible.
He paused in the middle of the road, wondering if the demons existed. Maybe this was all an elaborate prank that his family was playing on him and everyone in West Town was an actor/actress. He looked around, wondering if the camera crew would be visible if he paid attention.
A twig snapped, making Nezumi look forward. He saw a blur rush to hide behind a tree. He frowned, hearing a soft laugh coming from behind said tree. He was about to turn around when he heard someone speak into his ear.
"Welcome into our forest of Eldoh." Nezumi was about to turn around when someone with cool and soft hands grabbed his left hand, their fingers slim and feeling frail. He turned his head slightly to the side before feeling someone grab his right hand, those fingers just as cool and soft. These didn't feel like the hands of a demon.
"I am Shion," The voice from his right said, lifting his hand and kissing it, making Nezumi flinch.
"I am Aster," The other voice said, repeating the same action.
"And I am Nezumi. Can you let go of me now?" He asked. The cool hands released him and the two came into his line of vision. They were both white-haired boys with different colored eyes – the twin on the right had red eyes while the one on the left had green eyes – and an odd fashion sense.
They were wearing identical clothes that consisted of black breeches, dark brown boots, a long sleeved black shirt with red stripes that started from their shoulders and a white cravat. The clothes just made them look more like twins.
"What brings you here?" The green eyed twin asked, turning to face his brother.
His brother's lips curled up into a smile, "No one willingly comes in here."
"Your voices are familiar to me. I wanted to know why that was," Nezumi replied. Even now, memories that he was certain weren't his surfaced, confusing him.
The twins looked at each other meaningfully before turning to him, "We'll tell you if you beat our game."
"Game?"
They nodded in unison before the red-eyed twin continued, "If you win, we'll tell you everything we know and let you leave the forest. If we win, you'll stay here with us." He hugged the green eyed twin, hanging on him as if he was a child, "Is it a deal?"
Nezumi wanted to say no. He really did. But, on the back of his mind, he knew that wouldn't be a wise move. Even if they looked harmless, he knew that he shouldn't underestimate the 'demons'. So, ignoring his thoughts, he nodded.
The twins smiled, their eyes flickering orange before the red eyed twin walked behind him and the green eyed twin stood in front of him. They joined hands, trapping Nezumi in the middle of their arm circle, "Let's play Kagome, kagome."
Great. Nezumi sucked at that game. He sighed, closing his eyes. The twins smiled at each other and did the same, in case Nezumi cheated. They began to chant:
"Kagome, kagome
Kago no naka no tori wa
Itsu itsu deyaru
Yoake no ban ni
Tsuru to kame ga subetta
Ushiro no shoume dare."
Nezumi opened his eyes halfway but cursed when he saw that the eyes of the twin in front of him were closed. There went his plan. He just had to guess if it was Aster or Shion that was behind him. There was a fifty-fifty chance on that. He opened his eyes, "It's Aster!"
The twin in front of him opened his eyes, revealing green orbs and Nezumi's heart sank at this. He had lost the game. He couldn't say anything before a black blindfold covered his eyes, Shion's eyes glowing bright orange as another person fell on their web.
Aster grabbed Nezumi's hands, smiling at Shion, before addressing Nezumi, "Don't take it off, okay? Once it's off, there will be no more pleasant creations. And dreams are better when you're surrounded by hallucinations."
Nezumi felt himself being dragged through the forest, the twins laughing as they pulled his arms. He heard them laughing and singing, Shion sounding excited as he sang about them finally being reunited. What the hell did that mean? He could think no more as he slipped into darkness.
As they laughed, the twins heard the distant sound of Safu's scream. She had been too late once again.
~~~TAT~~~
Anime: Sorry for the lateness. I'm a piece of shit, I know. Comment your thoughts and I'll see when I can update next.