“BUSHIDA, YUKIO!” Mamoru yelled into Yukio and Haruto’s ears. The two flinched, Yukio fell off the bed, landing on Haruto who was on the other side of him.
“CRAP! SORRY BUSHIDA!” Yukio got off as quickly as he could.
“D-don’t worry..-” Haruto coughed, trying to sit up. “Damn you’re heavy.” Haruto joked as he tried to catch his breath.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!” Yukio felt insulted, but Haruto did have a good point.
“We should get going while we still have some light, but maybe you guys should get some warmer clothes.” Mamoru easily ripped a piece of fabric off of Haruto’s school uniform. “Yup, you won’t survive at all with these clothes.” Mamoru dropped the fabric, helping Haruto up. Taiyo was already out of the other part of the room, dressed and ready.
“You guys ready?” Mamoru asked.
“We haven’t even changed or showered or–” Haruto was cut off. “You two could do that later once you’ve got better clothing.” Mamoru poked Haruto’s forehead. Mamoru and Taiyo clearly got ready long before they woke Yukio and Haruto up. The four walked out of the room, going down the elevator.
“Thanks sir, have a good day!” Mamoru tossed the man at the desk the keycard. The man in return waved goodbye.
“Did you guys get good sleep?” Mamoru asked as everyone walked out of the hotel.
“Yeah, though I’m surprised I even got any sleep.” Haruto said as he looked around, amazed at the amount of people who lived in just one city, considering the dangers of this realm.
“So, how many people live in this realm? Or at least your best guess. ALIVE people.” Yukio inquired.
“My best guess would be around ten million?” Mamoru said.
“ONLY TEN MILLION?!” Haruto became surprised once again, it was such a small population of a whole realm.
“Are you sure you don’t mean ten billion..?” Yukio wanted to confirm.
“Now that’s a lot of people. There could’ve been that many people thousands of years ago. Maybe less. Not sure.” Mamoru shrugged. “Ah, look here! This has got to be my favorite place for new clothing!” Mamoru stopped at a small building, swinging the door open. It was a small shop, but it carried weapons, clothing fit for a warrior, along with simple clothing that would keep an individual warm.
“Mamoru! Nice to see you again, what can I get for you today?” The woman seemed older than many other people, at least in her fifties so it seemed.
“Some warmer clothing for these two, but I think you’d enjoy hearing the fact that these two are humans too.” Mamoru said happily after giving her a hug, the lady seemed to be a mother figure to him.
“Is that so! It’s so nice to meet you two, my name’s Kiko. I’m sure you may have been wondering why I look so old compared to everyone else– there’s only one answer to that. I’m a human as well! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone like myself.” Kiko shook both Yukio and Haruto’s hands. “My, my! You won’t get anywhere without freezing to death in these clothes! Come, come, let me get you some nicer clothing.” Before Yukio and Haruto could say anything, Kiko pulled them over to the side with nice clothing and immediately began asking tons of questions.
“Well, that’s taken care of.” Mamoru laughed. As he turned around, he saw one of the mirrors. Mamoru was clearly in distress at the sight of the mirror.
“Mamoru, are you ok–?” Taiyo turned around, realizing why Mamoru was breathing heavily. “It’s ok. The phantom won’t haunt you anymore.” Taiyo put a sheet over the mirror, hiding the reflection from Mamoru’s sight.
“We don’t know that. There was something off about that phantom. It was able to pass right through the force fields, through the mirrors… and even manage to kill..” Mamoru looked down in despair.
“They’re in a better place now.” Taiyo hugged Mamoru, comforting him.
“Thanks, dad.” Mamoru said.
“Did you just call me dad?” Taiyo smirked.
“WHAT? No! I said Taiyo! I swear!” Mamoru quickly pushed away from Taiyo, shaking his head no. Taiyo began laughing. “Whatever you say, kid.” Taiyo patted Mamoru’s back.
“Here they are! Much warmer and comfier clothing!” Kiko brought Yukio and Haruto over, the clothing looked very similar to their school uniforms, but it was modified to protect them and keep them warm.
“Are they comfortable?” Mamoru questioned.
“Not only are they comfortable, they also look great!” Yukio uncovered the mirror, taking a look at himself. Mamoru simply looked away, not wanting to view the mirror.
“Thanks Ms. Kiko, this looks amazing!” Haruto glanced at the mirror. Haruto noticed something at the corner of the mirror, it seemed like there was lettering at the corner.
“What’s that..?” Haruto looked closer, bending down to the bottom, reaching his hand out. ‘Escape… is.. something…–’ Haruto lost his train of thought as Mamoru stopped Haruto’s hand from touching the mirror. That was when Haruto noticed a smile in the reflection of the mirror, resembling that of the puppeteer.
“The mirror phantom.” Mamoru muttered, pulling Yukio and Haruto out of the building. “We have to get out of here right now.” Mamoru said urgently. Haruto looked back to see Kiko waving goodbye, but there was something off. She had an unsettling smile.
“Damnit.” Taiyo gave a hand signaling for everyone to follow him. All four of them continued running until they were out of the city.
“What the hell was that?!” Haruto immediately questioned as soon as they all got out.
“The mirror phantom.. TAIYO! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU AND THE OTHERS KILLED IT FOR GOOD.” Mamoru yelled. Taiyo simply turned away, looking far into the distance.
“How did you even know it was that mirror phantom or whatever?” Haruto asked.
“... the sentence you were going to finish, I made the mistake of reading it fully and allowing it to pull me in. It’s a miracle that I’m still alive.” Mamoru said as he sat down on the ground, looking at the necklace he wore.
“Oh.” Haruto put it all together, it finally made sense. “Your team members… they..” Haruto sat beside Mamoru, looking at the necklace. It had a picture of Mamoru when he was younger, along with four other teens.
“Yup. They were all great people. This one right here is Tsuki, she was like an older sister to me.” Mamoru pointed at the girl next to himself. ‘Tsuki?! Don’t think about it too much, my sister and his friend only shared a name, nothing special!’ Haruto thought as soon as Mamoru said the name ‘Tsuki’.
“We don’t have that much time to waste, let’s continue on while we have some light.” Taiyo began leading the way. Mamoru and Haruto helped each other up, following Taiyo. It was a silent journey to the next city. ‘The silence became so loud…’ Haruto began pondering about things back at home, missing his mom, siblings, Yume as well. Haruto became lost in thought, worrying if Yume was still alive and well. Yukio groaned, getting tired from walking.
“Damn, I feel like my legs are gonna fall off..” Yukio grumbled. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there. See?” Mamoru pointed at the buildings in the distance. Haruto looked at the buildings, examining the area.
“Where’s the force field?” Haruto paused.
“What do you mean? Me and Taiyo have been through this city way too many times to know that there is a force field protecting that city.” Mamoru tried to explain, until he looked back to see that there was no force field anymore.
“..crap.” Mamoru stood there, looking at the city. “We have to avoid going into the city. Listen, this is going to be a much harder route and longer one, if you see ANYTHING out of the ordinary, you have to tell me or Mamoru.” Taiyo grabbed his claymore, getting into a defensive position, ready to attack a phantom anytime. They all slowly began walking into the forest.
“Here, hold this. I have to stay on guard” Mamoru handed Yukio a flashlight, as he got out a gun. Haruto noticed that Mamoru actually had a variety of guns, he thought they were pretty cool. It was pitch black in the forest, despite the white snow.
“Hey Yukio, while we’re walking, wanna look through the book? Even though there’s no phone service, I’m sure we could still use the flashlight on my phone.” Haruto suggested. Yukio nodded, taking the book out. Haruto took his phone out of his pocket, turning on his flashlight and pointing it at the book.
“What should we research?” Yukio asked as he flipped to the table of contents. “More research on the other mirror beasts?” Haruto pointed to the second, fourth, and fifth mirror beast chapters.
“Let’s check out the second mirror beast. ‘The Watcher’ is what this one is called.” Yukio looked at the illustration, but it was just a mirror with an eye on it. He was expecting some large monster instead of whatever that was.
“Weird, there isn’t much information on this beast, all it says is that ‘he’s not the same anymore, avoid at all costs’.” Haruto examined the page, puzzled.
“You two! Focus on what’s ahead! Anything could catch you off guard in phantom country!” Mamoru snatched the book out of Yukio’s hands, shutting it and putting it in a bag of his own. “I’ll give it back when we get to the city.” Mamoru zipped up his bag, putting it back on. Yukio and Haruto sighed, having no choice but to continue walking.
“CRAP!” Haruto slipped on something, but Mamoru caught him before he could fall.
“Be careful, in these areas, it could get pretty slippery” Mamoru made sure Haruto was standing properly.
“You might want to be more cautious as well, the chances of coming across a phantom is even higher.” Mamoru stopped in his tracks, listening to the sounds of his surroundings, very carefully. Mamoru saw a note on a tree and he carefully approached it, reading the words written on it. ‘Death is the only true escape from this hell’, it was written in blood, Mamoru quickly moved away.
“GET DOWN!” Mamoru said in a whisper-yell as he took Yukio and Haruto down to the ground with him, trying to get out of sight. Taiyo was nowhere to be seen, the atmosphere was tense, fear filled the air.
“Whatever you do, do NOT make ANY loud sounds, there’s a phantom on our tail.” Mamoru whispered. Yukio and Haruto nodded, following Mamoru on the ground. Despite all the snow, because of the well-designed clothing that everyone wore, they didn’t feel too cold. Yukio looked around, wondering where Taiyo went.
“Wait, where’s Taiyo..?” Haruto turned his head, looking behind, only to see the pitch black forest.
“Hey, eyes forward.” Mamoru warned. Since everyone was in a danger zone, they had to keep their eyes ahead. In this case, it was best not to look back, considering the kind of beast that was following them.
“Hey, uhm.. Mamoru?” Haruto asked.
“What is it?” Mamoru stopped moving, focusing on Haruto’s words and his surroundings.
“Do you know which phantom is following us..?” Haruto questioned, trembling from fear. He was not scared of the dark, but rather what was in it. Yukio shrieked when the flashlight ran out of battery, everywhere around the group became pitch black.
“Everyone.. stay right where you are..” Mamoru’s expression was not visible, but fear in his voice could be heard. Escape is what’s been on everyone’s mind recently, escaping a place back to a comfort zone. But not everyone has the same perspective of the word escape. There was a strange sound, like there was someone breathing heavily. There was a thud, right before the breathing stopped. ‘Wait! My phone! I could use it for a light source, how could I forget?’ Haruto immediately took his phone out, turning on the flashlight setting. The flashlight illuminated the area, but it was only Haruto and Yukio, and a bloody pistol. Haruto’s heart skipped a beat, blankly looking at the blood stained snow and pistol.
Haruto looked off into the distance, he saw a light source.
“Yukio, we should g-get going.. before my phone dies.” Haruto got in front of Yukio, leading the way to the lights he saw. Before the two continued, Yukio snatched the pistol just in case they came across a phantom face-to-face. It had already been an hour since Mamoru went missing, Haruto and Yukio became tired, but in order to survive the two had to continue. That is until the two heard someone running through the snow, it was someone big.
“BUSHIDA! BRACE YOURSELF!” Yukio turned Haruto around, flashing the light towards the other direction. It came as a shock to them, as Taiyo caught up to them and kneeled over.
“QUICK! ON MY BACK!” Taiyo had a large wound on his arm, and his head was bleeding. Yukio spared no time, immediately hopping on, helping Haruto as well. When they both got on, Taiyo began running again, from who knows what.
“What’s happening?!” Yukio shouted out, but to his surprise, they were already approaching the city entrance. Taiyo was a pretty fast runner. Yet, Taiyo didn’t answer Yukio’s question. After a few minutes, he came to a stop at the city border, letting Haruto and Yukio get off his back.
“Here, take this. Show this to the security guards, they’ll let you in.” Taiyo bent down, putting an ID and keycard in Haruto’s hand moments before he took off into the dark forest.
“WAIT!” Haruto cried out, tripping over his own foot. Yukio helped Haruto up, but Taiyo was absolutely nowhere to be seen.
“Bushida.. we should probably get in the city before some phantom ambushes us.” Yukio tried pulling Haruto to the gates, where soldiers kept watch.
“Fine.” Haruto stopped resisting, following Taiyo’s brief instructions. As soon as they got inside the city, Yukio asked around to find out where Taiyo lived.
“Oh, Taiyo? He and Mamoru are such sweethearts! Come, come. Follow me.” A middle aged woman answered.
“Thank you so much! You have no idea how long we spent searching for someone who knew where Taiyo lives.” Yukio let out a sigh of relief as he followed the woman. “No problem! From here, you make a right, his building numbers are 207. Have a good day.” The kind lady left the two, letting them find their way over to the house.
“Here! I think this is it. Can I see the keycard?” Yukio pulled Haruto’s arm and ran to the building with the numbers 207 on the front. Haruto nodded and handed Yukio the card.
“You think Mamoru was able to make it back safely?” Yukio asked Haruto and he scanned the keycard on the scanner next to the door. It unlocked the door, the two stepped in, it was a very nice home. But after looking around the whole entire house, there was nobody else home.
“Huh. I guess not.” Haruto walked out of one of the rooms he had finished searching.
“Maybe that’s why Taiyo went back into the forest! To look for Mamoru!” A lightbulb lit up in Yukio’s head, he was glad that Taiyo went back for Mamoru. “I guess all we have to do is wait for both of them to come back.” Yukio sat down on one of the couches. He seemed relieved, but deep down, Yukio knew that it was pretty hopeless. Positivity was an escape from negative thoughts, an easy way around the storm. But the thought will always linger.
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–CHAPTER 10 END–
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