The woman stopped, slightly opening her mouth. She turned to Kye slowly. Giving Kye a warm smile, she was about to say something… something a mother was wishing to say to her child before the winds blew harshly, causing her to disappear. That moment, a whisper can be heard in the winds of the Gardens.
”You came back… you really did…” the voice of a middle-aged woman said with warmth and much happiness.
Kye stood like a statue for a moment. Not sure of what had happened, just then. After what seemed like forever he understood, and a wave of bitter sadness hit him. He bit his lip in an effort to not let out an anguished cry, and closed his eyes. His hands in fists at his sides. Taking in the moment he stood in silence before finally taking in a slow breath and looking around. "I love you mom, if you can hear me. But you were only the first person I wanted to find. And I can't stay here, I have to find her and get us both home," he whispered. Then he turned and started walking back towards the entrance of the garden.
Hinata was fidgeting the entire time, watching but not saying anything. She'd been yelled at enough by her sister for stuff like that to do it now. She was extremely relieved when Shinrin woke up, smiling softly.
"Welcome," she said. She stepped forward. She winced a bit but refused to say anything about it. "You terrified me."
She blinked in confusion. "Are you sure you're okay? A moment ago you were bleeding, seemingly half dead, and shouting something about your shin. What was up with that?"
As Kye approached the entrance, a figure of green stood near. They had jet black hair which covered parts of his neck. Though long, their hair was straight and was tied neatly. The clothes they wear were long and beautiful designed.
They turned to Kye and revealed their brightly lit eyes and a soft beautiful smile.
”Good afternoon” they said, smiling with their eyes closed and a slight friendly grin. They seemed peaceful.
Shinrin laughed nervously and he sat up straight.
”Since when were you here?” Shin asked the doctor.
”Well… I’ve arrive in the Labyrinth yesterday…” the doctor took off their glasses and wiped them clean before putting them on again.
”Oh, right—“ the doctor brought up ”—I’m Eisuke Okita, assistant Doctor at the Aurora Hospital, and a member of the ‘Jewelry Hunters’, hunter name ‘Diamond’” the doctor introduced himself to Hinata.
Matthew breathed heavily before slowing down.
”Yeah… yeah… I’m fine” the Nature Messenger smiled softly. He slowly stood up, leaning against the wall as he did.
”One of my… life shards was harmed but he’s fine now…” Matthew answered.
"Because I know what that is," Adara muttered, sounding slightly irritated. She had asked a lot of questions, and was no closer to finding out anything about this place, except for the fact that it would take a lot of time to get out of here.
Matthew giggled slightly.
”Sorry, let me explain” he leaned against the wall fully.
”I am a host to six creatures which are called ‘Life Shards’. This host and ‘Shard’ connection lets me communicate with them through my mind as well as allow me to use some of their abilities. Four of these ‘Shards’ are elemental foxes, one is the cat you met before, and the last is a parrot. Thing is, when they are harmed, I will be harmed as well which is why they tend to stay away from danger as much as possible. Though… I think one of them, the fox named ‘Shinrin’, was harmed quicker than he could reflect on, which was why I was acting like that” the man tried to explain the connection he has with the animals he takes care of, though it might’ve made it more confusing.
"I… see," she said, only half getting it. "And so… can't you protect them or something?" She shrugged. It didn't matter, anyways. Now that it didn't look like he was dying, she was less interested. "Wait… you said a parrot, right? Why a parrot? Of all creatures?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hinata Hayashi, Balance Keeper." Hinata nodded to Eisuke, thinking for a moment before putting her hands in her pockets.
"Thank you," she said.
As Kye approached the entrance, a figure of green stood near. They had jet black hair which covered parts of his neck. Though long, their hair was straight and was tied neatly. The clothes they wear were long and beautiful designed.
They turned to Kye and revealed their brightly lit eyes and a soft beautiful smile.
”Good afternoon” they said, smiling with their eyes closed and a slight friendly grin. They seemed peaceful.
Kye gave a smile to the figure. "Afternoon," he gave a nod. "Can I do something for you?" By this point he wasn't sure where to go, but he had one other person to find. He was determined to bring her home. He just didn't know where to start.
Well I can tell you where not to look for her.
And where is that?
Any cave that may be here. You know how much she hates caves.
Noted. Back when I met her.
Just being a reminder.
”Well, for two reasons. One, he’s quite a quiet parrot which is surprising and two, he has an ability which is rare for mythical beasts. He’s basically able to transform into a human form and several vehicle forms. He’s a great method of transport is what I’m trying to say” Matthew explained. He wasn’t really minding the questions thrown at him.
(ship alert…)
Eisuke nodded with small, warm grin.
He was about to walk out the door when it swung open and knocked the doctor down on the floor.
”Oi, what the he—“
Ichika was the one who came and slipped forward almost immediately as he came in, falling on top of Eisuke.
”E-E-uhm…” the doctor froze, his face a fresh red.
”Sorry, sorry” the draconian stood up and helped the doctor up.
”Hey Hinata, I’ve got some… not so great news”
”That should be my question. You’re looking for someone, right?” the figure in green asked, skipping closer to Kye and standing around two inches away in front him.
”If you need a companion to explore with you, I’m more than willing to go” they claimed with a genuine grin.
Hinata watched with mild amusement, but became serious again when Ichika spoke to her.
"What is it?" She asked, not liking this.
"…….." None of this made sense. Parrots that could turn into vehicles? Weird life shard things? Other people with fire? Two people she would rather not see? This was all so confusing, and she wasn't sure what to make of it.
”The Viscount I kinda… wrecked earlier. He wasn’t the real one. That was decoy” the draconian sighed after he finished.
”Which one are you talking about?” Eisuke asked, tilting his head slightly.
”Julian”
The doctor froze a bit.
”Let me guess, you want me to help with taking care of him?” Eisuke asked.
The draconian nodded.
With a moment of thought, the doctor sighed and shook his head.
”I’ll have to say no due to personal reasons”
Matthew noticed the confusion he had placed upon Adara, slightly amused by her expression. He headed towards the door, about to open it when a fiery figure came in; the same one as earlier.
”Guys, we’ve got a problem!” the fiery figure claimed, looking outside into the hall.
A faint laughter can be heard coming from the semi-lit hallway.
"Ah, shit," Hinata mumbled to herself. Now the Viscount, if he hadn't before, knew they wanted him dead, so that aspect was gone. And they're time just went from three days to any moment, not to mention that he would be much harder to take in now.
"Understandable," she said to Eisuke's words, mostly to keep herself from blowing her top.
Great. Now what? She wondered, going over to stand beside Matthew. She tensed at the noises from outside of the room, glancing at him, then at the fire guy. "What kind of trouble?" She asked carefully.
Shinrin grew a bit frustrated at those words.
”G-Give me a moment to comprehend this…” the Nature Fox gestured to the door, wanting the others to leave the room.
Eisuke and Ichika nodded, opening the door and were about to leave when they waited for Hinata.
”You won’t get in trouble but—“ the fiery figure said to Adara then turned to face Matthew ”—we have some Phantom Hunters in here” the figure said as bullet that barely missed him came from the hall.
The man of Nature cursed under his breath, making his way to the hall and rushing straight in without listening to warnings coming from the doctor.
Some bullets came from the hallway then stopped…
"Some what?" She glanced back and forth between the two of them. Based on Matthew's reaction, he gathered that they were bad, but what were they?
When the bullets stopped, she moved over to inspect them, wondering why they had stopped. She reached out to touch one, curious.
Hinata hesitated, getting a bad feeling about leaving Shinrin alone, but she left with Eisuke and Ichika as he had asked. She stood in the hallway, hands in pocket with a grim expression.
"I dont like this," she stated plainly.
The bullets were all golden with a white, shiny tip. It seemed like some sort of liquid was painted on the bullet to give it its white tip. There were three around Adara, none of which were damaging her in the slightest. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the bullets themselves.
”No one does” Ichika spoke up, closing the door.
”Look, Naoki’s going on vacation, I can’t get in contact with Sora, and I have no idea where the hell Kazumi might be so we’re at a disadvantage unless the five of us can meet up” Eisuke brought up to the draconian.
”Hm… true. Sora might be the easiest to find though—“ Ichika turned to Hinata ”—‘cause she’s here” the man mentioned with a small smile.
”Oh! Right!” Eisuke scooted over to Hinata.
”You might not know him well but Sora works at the bar which stands in the center of the Multiverse. Perhaps you might be able to contact someone you know to go there and tell him to come back ‘home’”
As Jade left the hallway scattered with corpses, she would come across a purple hallway. It looked quite beautiful as it was decorated with golden furniture and dark violet carpets.
As for now, this hallway seemed safe.
Jade shuddered as she remembered the corpses then continued on into the purple and gold hall her confusion was wearing off as frustration took over and the urge to let out a scream came over her but she kept quiet and walked on.
”That should be my question. You’re looking for someone, right?” the figure in green asked, skipping closer to Kye and standing around two inches away in front him.
”If you need a companion to explore with you, I’m more than willing to go” they claimed with a genuine grin.
Almost instinctively Kye took a safety step backwards, even though he didn't need to. He was pretty sure this person meant well, but most of the locals of the Labyrinth had seemed a bit loco. "I have nothing against you tagging along," Kye gave a smile. "My name is Kye, may I ask what yours is?"
Other than the golden furniture, the purple hallways were quite empty. Lack of further decoration, and were definitely lacking signs of life. As Jade would walk down the hall more, she’d come across a door.
”Hm? It’s Kazumi, nice to meet you Kye” they declared with a semi-high pitched voice as they extended their hand, perhaps wanting Kye to shake it. They seemed naturally friendly this one, giving off yet another truthful grin. They had a vine growing out from their elbow down to their arm, one that Kye would spot when they extended their hand.
Other than the golden furniture, the purple hallways were quite empty. Lack of further decoration, and were definitely lacking signs of life. As Jade would walk down the hall more, she’d come across a door.
Jade cocked her head to the right as she looked at the door Should I go in? she was naturally curious but never knew the consequences for thing like this even so she went through the door and looked around "H-hello?" she called out but hoped for no answer
Hinata blinked when Ichika spoke of her, then chuckled softly as she pulled her phone out.
"Might I just say that I never thought my drinking would ever come in handy." She dialed, waiting as her connection too their time answering.
"Yeah?" They said, occurred with something else.
"It's Hinata. I'm wondering if you could go t to the bar and get in contact with someone named Sora, tell em they need to come home."
"… I'll see what I can do. No guarantees, though. I'm busy with a meal." Hinata sighed.
"Please spare me the details, Krystal. See ya."
"*Okay. Bye~" the woman hung up. Hinata turned to the others.
"My friend will see what she can do."
As Jade hoped, there was no answer from the other side of the door. The coast was cleared it seemed. The only thing that would stand out would be the metallic Knight statue in the room.
Ichika and Eisuke nodded.
”Now for Naoki, I think we can—“ as Eisuke started to speak, a yellow portal opened beside them as voices came from it.
”Oi— don’t touch me yer bastard—“ a drunk sounding man’s voice came from the portal before a man dressed in a black suit with a yellow necktie stepped out and fell on Eisuke.
”Ei-chan~~” the man said drunkenly.
”Okay… we found Naoki…” Ichika blinked confusingly as he spoke up.
Hinata watched with mild amusement as the scene unfolded, but she wasn't by any means in a good mood.
"Okay then," Hinata said, looking at the two men currently pressed together.
"Then there's just one other person we need to get in contact with, right?"
”To get my group together, yes” the draconian confirmed.
”Get— off— me!!” Eisuke pushed the drunk man away from him as that particular man hiccuped when he reached the wall.
”How many drinks did you have…?” Ichika asked the drunk man.
”Twelve jugs… and I’m not drunk yer bastardddd~~”
"Only twelve?" Hinata said, raising an eyebrow. "Lightweight." Hinata… Hinata wasn't often affected by alcohol unless she wished to be; she was really good at drinking competitions thanks to that. Sometimes she'd assume another identity and go around, challenging others. She found it slightly amusing whenever she would get her opponents drunk as a sailor before revealing herself. No one was ever sure if it was really her, and it was funny to watch people theorize about her in that aspect.
”Hey—“ Naoki pushed himself off from the wall and walked towards Hinata, now standing in six inches front of her ”—that’s rude to me but that’s true unfortunately” the Knight accepted which shocked the others around him.
”Speaking of which…” Eisuke turned to Ichika ”…have you received your ‘treasure’ back?” he asked the draconian.
”No, not yet. I’m not sure where it is either… my eye is not the same without it” the draconian answered.
”Yeah… guess so” the doctor replied.
(Introduce yourself to Naoki?)
(What are these ‘Treasures’?)
(Eye?)
Hinata raised an eyebrow at the others' shock, figuring what Naoki had said was something he usually wouldn't. "Eye?" Hinata asked. Naoki was drunk, so she wasn't exactly going to waste the time introducing herself. She allso didn't want to pry much, but she was curious.
