Chapter 2 One Step Further!

 

 

In the highlands, Emi hoisted herself against a soaring pinnacle of cobble, her cohort in feathers by her side. The soil was flattened into a mushy dough-like substance by rain pellets descending down from a dreary azure.

The demi-human craved to go south and explore. Her fingertips pressed into tiny crevices, her boots pressed into stones and scraps as she scrambled higher up on all fours, keeping her pointed hat in place.

“Must we do this late at night, Emi-sama?” Porote grumbled.

For a decade, the feathered beast kept a watchful eye on the long-lived feline. That would mean being a part of her intermittent hijinks, her darkest hours and topsy-turvy misadventures. Since it emerged in a summoning circle, she may have fought against the bird, but Porote had been her most faithful friend so far in her quest.

“Perch yourself on a branch. I’ll tell you when I overcome the cliff.”

“Why don’t we do this in the morning?”

The clouds combusted white flashes of light every few seconds.

“A little water scares you? What a familiar. Mighty applause, be good and scout out the area for me while I climb.”

Afteward, Emi dusted off her jeans, checking if the two swords tightly locked at the back of her waist were untouched, so they got up faster than planned. Fortunately, nothing bad happened. Behind her, Porote scrambled.

“See? Easy as pie. Try living more than complaining,” Emi whistled, surveying the harsh environment. The rain wasn’t going to die down. No signs of storm yet. “We came here because you told me this was a dangerous place. You saw anything?”

Emi’s familiar never lied.

“This is your idea of living?” Porote cawed.

"It's over if you die. Yet your life becomes more precious if you live through it. Humans view it as development when they become bigger than their impediments. I am not frail. I know what I'm doing.”

“I’m sure you do. Keep saying whimsical words straight out of a book. We’ll see who gets the last laugh,” As they pressed on, Porote scolded her, the bushes around them hid enigmatic qualities of sparkling essence.

Emi transcribed these anomalies to be linked to a fairy’s excrements when they intrude on the woodlands on distinct days. How she knew that was beyond her understanding. Emi made a point to visit buildings of education in every municipality she set foot on.

Then she’d drink their finest refreshment, speak to the scholars about her discoveries under a different mask and leave when she pleased.

“You’ll miss me, that’s for sure now tell m-” Emi froze in place, pushing a leaf twice the size of her arm out of the way to gain better vision of a spacious clearing. “Porote! Do my eyes deceive me?!”

Emi could see a black mass of nothingness float at the center of the grasslands. It seemed to sweep the greenery with a gentle breeze. Droplets of rain entered it, assuring Emi it wouldn’t go away.

“Alright, I have to prepare for this.”

She checked her bag, tentatively netting out a small box with her fingers in a nimble manner. Crouching down, Emi placed it on the grass, inspecting its gold outlines to be unscathed.  

“Despite appearing for centuries, no mere human has gotten close in knowing what’s behind the other side,” Porote nagged at her. “For all that research, this could very well be opposite to a portal.”

“I’m no mere human,” Emi unsheathed her blades from her scabbards, a shiny blue hue scintillated around Haru and Kiri, her two main weapons, sharply aware that unneeded noise would cause the abyssal supernova to vanish into thin air. “This is a sign. I knew south was a good choice to make.”

“You still haven’t briefed me up with the specifics.”

Emi could cook this bird if she wanted to. Instead, she entertained it by answering its question, “Black holes were rumored to be gateways to death. If one supposedly reveals itself to a person, it pulls them in without remorse. However, that premonition is false.”

She continued on, “Like a certain flower, a black hole closes up when someone approaches it. I’ve seen two in total my whole life.”

Porote tilted its head to the side, “So, in a roundabout way, you’re saying this black hole is the key to meeting ‘The End’? Is that the gist of your lengthy explanation?”

“Precisely, I knew you weren’t that knuckle-headed!”

“Look who’s talking,”

Emi paid that comment no heed as she slowly crawled towards the black hole. She wanted to apply what she had written. Best to do it than be reckless.

The rain was now weakening, the sounds of crickets filled the air eventually. Emi sighed a breath of relief knowing she could dry her clothes faster now with the weather becoming tame. What was that about the Dog Clan? Here she was now making history by being the first ever to cross over a black hole.

Her mother was too soft.

“Aaaaaaah!”

A scream erupted from Emi’s left direction, her ears pointed upward, detecting the rushed footsteps crunching against dirt followed by the upper half of a man’s torso flying out of a bush. He was alive and anxious.

Porote blinked out of existence, sent back into its cage in another dimension.

“G-guh?” He groaned in pain, getting up from the ground, the rest of his body exited the leaves. Blonde hair, red eyes, pristine skin, he looked like a noble if he weren’t dressed up untidily. His clothes suffered gashes so it was burdensome to identify as parts of his skin exposed themselves to the wilderness.

The black hole burst like dying waterworks as a result, fading and becoming one with the world due to the racket.

Emi yelled back in frustration, stomping her foot, the tail of her fur sprouted out like needles, “No! Who the hell are you?!”

The man covered his body with his arms, toppling back to the grass at Emi’s canine-like expression. His voice contained shaky trepidation like losing an arm in the tide of battle. “I-I-I-I’m nobody?! I’m afraid! Someone save me, there’s a vampire with cat ears wanting to kill me!”

“You sure as hell are somebody if you got guts in destroying what could’ve been the greatest accomplishment of my life!” Emi marched straight ahead his way, prepared to raise him up in the air with one hand. “I ain’t a vampire, bub! Quit making a fool of yourself! You’re… You’re peeing your pants.”

He curled up into a ball, effectively silencing Emi.

“Whatever I did, I didn’t m-mean to!”

A vein appeared on her forehead.

“Screw you! Do you have any idea how long it takes for another black hole to appear again?! Good God! This is-“

The man was crying like a child.

Emi’s face turned pale, she gripped his cheeks, pulling it to the ends of the earth, “Oi, quit bawling schmuck, I’m the one that should be crying a waterfall here.” She stretched it further, “If it took a hundred centuries to fully explore 55% of the world, what do you think the probability is to meet a black hole? Huh?!”

“Sho-sho-shorry…!” He said through an elongated mouth. She let go, wiping her hands clean. Who knew what kind of place this man came from? “Cause cause, I was being chased by strange people and they said… they were going to kill me if I don’t tell them about the black stuff popping up here and there… I fled but my family’s still being held hostage…”

“Black stuff? You mean the black holes? What’s your family got to do with it?”

He raised his voice at her, “I don’t know! This is all confusing to me! I just want to live my life, woo my neighbor’s daughter, and sing songs till my hair turns gray! I didn’t mean to upset you either! I didn’t think my father loved anything more than cooking. We don’t have that much food to begin with so chances of him becoming a renowned chef are scarce. I also hate my sister too but in a life-or-death situation, it’s hard to ignore her cries but I ran and ran and I-”

“Shut up,” Emi clicked her tongue, feeling sorry for this poor excuse of a man. “Tch, get up already you sissy. Where’s your pride? You said your father knows a thing or two about empty circles?” That’s what she got from his incessant rambling.

He obeyed her, standing up, using his elbow to wipe the green snot lodging itself near his nostril, finally being serious, “It was taken away when I couldn’t be brave enough to save the love of my life...” He hiccupped.

She laughed, shoving him back so she could depart from this place, “You actually ran away? And who are these people that got you running into the highlands? I can pay ‘em a visit if it’s not too late.”

“They didn’t say… They were…”

As soon as she heard the words come out of his mouth, she stopped, grabbed his forearm and pulled him along with her as they ran.

 

“W-where are we going?! Don’t tell me you want to go there?!”

“I know the people who is holding your family hostage!” she said through gritted teeth but she was smiling, “They’re stupid for thinking force is the answer. What’s your family anyway? Are they any important?”

“OF COURSE THEY’RE IMPORTANT. THEY’RE MY PARENTS!”

Dashing in the forest, her claws sunk into his fabrics as he dangled in the air like a flag.

“Whatever! What do they do for most parts that’d attract the attention of an infamous brigade?!”

This human was really uninformed of his family circumstances.

“Black hole research I guess?!” he said, the wind blowing his face away the opposite direction.

“Who are you then?!”

“Zen Jugendel! It’s Zen Jugendel!”

Emi stopped running, Zen fell down from the momentum, her hand was still clutching onto his shirt, “A Jugendel. I’ve been looking for you.”

 

End of Chapter 2

 

Sketch of the Day! (^0^)/