Chapter Text
A MIRACLE…
…A FAILURE…
...A NEW ERA
“Ah !” Let’s out a young woman as she wakes up brutally. Her heart is racing and her breath is a bit more unstable than she'd like. She is a bit lost and takes a few seconds to scan her environment. Dozens of people walking, others sitting on seats just like her, some giving her weird looks. The smell of the sea and the faint shaking she feels under the plant of her skin unlocks her memories ‘Oh yeah that's right. I’m on a ferry.’ Her memories come back to her hazy mind as she lets out a sigh. She feels doubt starting to make way inside her brain ‘Maybe I could just stay in the ferry as it turns around and go back home…’.
She takes out her phone, and the first thing she sees as she opens it is the last message she received.
From : Shikawa (therapist)
That’s a great idea Sora ! Going back to the place that causes all those dark thoughts to spring into your mind is the best way to face them. Maybe once there you’ll be able to reconnect from the good part of your past and allow those dark moments to go away !
It just needs to be a few days, nothing more.
I’m really proud of you ! Taking such an initiative is proof of the progress you’ve made.
Good luck out there !
After turning it off, she stares for a few second at her reflection on the screen. Her short hair as brown as her eyes who are underlined by small dark circles. She can see the uncertainty in her eyes, and shakes her head. ‘Just a few days Sora…you can do it’ She takes a heavy breath out to let her doubt be exhaled from her head. ‘Believe yourself for once, this was right call.’
The speakers built into the ceiling start flickering as a message starts to play ‘Attention dear passenger, we are approaching Yoake Island’s harbor. May those that came with their vehicle join them before-’
“Well that’s my cue.” Mutters Sora as she checks that her camera is still in her bag before taking it with her. ‘This’ll only take three days tops. No big deal.’
She rushes towards the stairs to go on the lower levels, but her shoulder bumps into the ones of another guy making him drop his bag, which opens upon hitting the ground
“Oh sorry.” Says Sora as she kneels down to help the man pick up the content of the bag.
“No it’s okay really” he replies, visibly embarrassed
With only a quick glance Sora notices that he’s around her age. She also sees the suit he’s wearing. “Here for work ?” She asks
“I uh, yes !” He replies. His cheeks becoming a bit red
“Lemme guess, here for EsoCorp ?”
“I- Is it that obvious ?” He says, putting his big glasses back in place
“Well you’re wearing a suit, and the place we’re going to has only one place where they make you wear stuff like that. So what you’re here for an interview, or-”
“No ! I was hired already. I am starting today actually ! Been dreaming to work for them for a while now !”
“Really ?”
“Yes ! I mean they are one of Japan’s leading tech companies now, they’re in the same league as Smart-Brain or Yggdrasil. But I always thought that they're going to take the lead soon. And with their latest chip it might very well be soon-” as he takes a look at Sora’s face it’s very obvious that she stopped being able to keep up once he started mentioning specifics “Anyway, I’m really excited to start !”
“And what's your job exactly ?”
“Oh, I’m going to be the assistant of…an assistant of an assistant of one of the lead scientists…yeah said like this it sounds lame.”
Sora chuckles “It's fine. We all need to start somewhere.”
As they finish picking his stuff, the message she heard earlier on the speaker plays again “Really sorry, would love to chat more but I’ve got a bike to pick up. Congratulations on getting your job, and good luck !” Shouts Sora as she rushes away, leaving the guy alone
“Crap… Didn't even get to ask her name…ow.” He felt like a brutal sting in his neck, so strong he felt his heart stop for a second. He looks around for any insects and tries to see if he has any bruises, but nothing. ‘Look at you, so stresses you’re starting to imagine stuff.’ he thinks as he takes his leave
IN THE HEART OF YOAKE CITY
Sora is riding through the streets of the city on her bike, each turns she takes causing her to remember something. When passing in front of the mall she remembers all the hangout she used to do with her friends, still wearing their school uniform as they would go right after the end of their class. She laughs when she sees high schoolers sitting and talking where she used to do the same. She stops for a second, and takes out her camera to shoot a picture of the moment.
She then ride to the city’s park and snipes a picture of two lover sitting under the tree, smiling awkwardly as she remembers the time she invited her crush under there, sadly the girl wasn’t interested at all and Sora spent the evening eating snacks alone.
She takes a break downtown, parking her bike where she used to park her scooter back in the day. She walks through the streets, sniffing the smells of the foodshops, some she doesn’t recognize, and some she never forgot.
‘Oh my god it’s still there’ she thinks as she notices a soba shop on her right. Her favorite one. She can’t help but feel overwhelm by nostalgia as the thousand of times she came here to eat a good meal and cool down a bit flush back to the front of her mind. She walks up to the counter, already knowing her order.
“Welcome !” shouts the shop owner as he gets ready to hear her order
Sora feels a tinge of sadness as she notice that it isn’t the same owner from the time she used to come here, but the man was getting old when she was still a high schooler, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he took his leave. “A tempura soba please !” she answers. She chose her usual by reflex, some habits simply doesn’t die.
“Right !” he answers, putting the ingredients together in less than a minute. “There you go !” He shouts as he puts the bowl on the counter.
“Thank you.” Sora takes it, and at the second she tastes, she can feel herself falling back to her childhood. All the flavors are exactly as she remembered. The owner takes a proud expression as a bright smile forms on Sora’s face. In less than 10 minutes, she had devoured the noodles and tempura, and just finished drinking the broth. “Ah, that was delicious, thank you !” she shouts before taking some silver coins and put them on the counter.
She says goodbye and walk away, but not before snapping a picture of the shoba shop.
After walking a bit more and taking a picture of some other shops she used to go to, Sora goes back to where she left her bike. But as she takes a turn and enter a smaller street than the main avenue, she hears the sound of someone crying, she turns around to find it’s origin, and notices a crying child. But also a young woman, younger than Sora, knelt in front of the child. Sora takes a few step toward them, a strange curiosity forming inside her.
“So you’ve lost your mommy, huh ?” asks the young woman to the child in a really soft tone. The child's nod as an answer “Well sometimes in life, bad stuff happens to us. And it’s okay to be sad about it..” She softly grabs the crying child by the shoulders “But we cannot stop at that. Afterward we have to move, or else we stay in place and we’ll stay stuck forever. You get what I’m saying ?”
“Y-you mean that I should look for my mom ?” asks the kid, tears still rolling down his face
“Exactly !” answers the young woman, giving the kid a thumbs up
The kid starts shouting for his mother, the young woman shouting as well to help him. Sora was about to join them, when she notices a woman rushing straight towards them, as she shouts “Yusuke !”
“Mommy !” shouts the kid back, running in his mother’s arms. They take each other in a hug.
“Thank you !” say both the mother and her child to the young woman.who blushes and scratches her hair before taking her leave.
Sora simply watches as she goes away. For a brief second, her heart clenches as she sees the woman’s red eyes more clearly. ‘She…it can’t be…’ Sora breathes out and calms herself ‘No. There’s no way. Calm yourself Sora. If you think about that again…then this trip will be all for nothing.’
She slowly walks back towards her bike, throwing one last look at the horizon before climbing on it. As she looks at the huge tower sitting in the middle of the city, she thinks ‘The EsoCorp tower looked smaller in my mind…I hope the guy from the ferry is doing well.’
ESOCORP TOWER, ENTRANCE
The man from the ferry suits in the hall, waiting to be called. ‘Why do I have to wait for someone ? I thought I was hired already, usually when you’re hired you just…start…’
He takes a napkin to wipe his forehead, he's sweating bullets, more than he ever has in his life. His breath is short. He keeps feeling shivers coursing through his body. ‘Ugh. Great. I'm sick. Aah. I hate it. Between this and the pain that I feel in my neck ever since I got down from the ferry, I really did hit the jackpot didn’t I ?’
He passes his hand on his neck, at first he thought he got stung by something, but hours later the pain is stronger, yet still no sign of anything that could cause pain.
“Mr. Yoshimori ?” Asks a voice he doesn’t recognize
“Y-Yes ?” he answers standing up, being now face to face with a woman at least 6 foot tall. Seeing her face, he recognize her “You are-”
“Itsuko Okana. The CEO indeed.” She answers, extending her hand.
He wipes off as much sweat from his hand before taking hers “I- It's an honor, but why-”
“I was simply passing by and recognized your face from your resume.” she answers with a soft smile
“Oh. I see… So meeting you isn’t the reason I was asked to wait…”
“No it’s just standard procedure …” she stops herself. Staring at him like she noticed something in his eyes. “Do you feel sick, Mr. Yoshimori ?”
“I- No…I mean nothing I can’t…”
She shakes her head “No it won’t do. The first day is a busy one. It's okay, take the day off and you’ll start tomorrow.”
“Wha- I can do that ?” he asks confused
“Today only, yes !” She answers, giving once again a soft smile “Go visit town. Or stay in bed. Whatever you want.”
“Thank you very much !” He shouts, bowing before her to show his gratitude.
He slowly walks towards the exit, feeling worse by the second. She simply watches as he goes away, her soft smile getting colder with each steps he walks. She takes out her phone and calms someone “Mr. Yoshimori left. Yes sadly…he has more important things to do. Yes. He had it…Yes. No, I was about to do it, but someone already did…indeed…For all of us.”
NORTH DISTRICT’S ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
*Click* *Click*
Sora takes as many pictures as she can. Out of all the places in this town and Island, this is by far the place she hadn’t come by the longest. Even when she lived here, she never passed by here. With the High school being in the west district, alongside the dorm in which she lived, and all the interesting places being in the center and south, she had absolutely no reason to.
‘Memories from when I used to go there are so blurry, it’s barely if I actually remember anything. Feels closer to me having realistic hallucinations than anything else.’ She snaps one more picture, looks at it to make sure the composition is correct ‘Wish I got into photography earlier. Even though the buildings still look the same, the vibe changed. I wish I could’ve captured how it felt back then…’ she snorts ‘Listen to yourself, all those years spent treating this place like a bogey man, and the second you take a step on that island you get all nostalgic’
As she gets in her thoughts, a hand touches her shoulder “Uhm, sorry…can I help you ?” Sora jumps backward, almost dropping her camera. “Sorry ! Didn’t mean to startle you-” starts apologizing the other person
“No, it’s fine. I tend to lose myself in pictures a bit…too much…” Sorry feels herself freeze a bit as she sees the face of the young woman standing in front of her. Her long black hair resting on her shoulders, and her soft and warm black eyes looking at her with a comforting warmth. She loses herself in it for a few seconds.
“So you were taking pictures of the school !” says the woman with excitement before getting closer to Sora “Can I see them ?”
Sora’s cheeks take a reddish tone at the sudden proximity between the two of them “O-Of course !” she musters as she carefully gives the woman her camera
The woman goes over them, not only those of the school, but also those that Sora took of the town earlier. THe woman smiles warmly upon seeing them “It’s funny, I’ve lived in this city for as long as I remember, yet…I never found it as beautiful as it is in those pictures.”
“Y-You’re doing too much, I’m that good…” answers Sora, scratching her hair
“No I’m serious. I’m no expert, so I can’t talk about the composition or stuff like that.. but…” the woman takes her eyes away from the pictures to look straight at Sora “They make me feel like the one that took them loves this world and wanted to capture it’s beauty, if that makes any sense.”
“It…it does.” Sora smiles shyly “You’re the first person to talk about my pictures like that.”
“Really ?”
“Really.”
The two women stands there for a few seconds that feel like an eternity. A beautiful and lovely eternity. The wind softly touching their hair.
“Would you…want to go and take a drink ?” asks the woman
“Yes…I think I would…My name is Sora.”
“Mine is Mei. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
SHOPPING DISTRICT
“As you all know, this month will mark the 9th anniversary of the MysTek lab incident. The tragedy in which the whole lab’s team lost their lives. The reason of their death are still unknown to this day, even if the official theory given by our police department is one attributing the cause to an experiment gone wrong, the event is still shrouded in mystery.
But with all the person present there effectively deceased and most of the lab ruined by the explosion that happened that night, we might sadly never know the truth…”
*thump*
Yoshimori slams against the glass as he trips. The voice of the tv host coming from the tv exposed in front of him make him sick. Just like every other sounds. Just like everything he touches. Like everything he feels.
Getting back on his feet as best as he can, he starts walking again towards the hotel he booked for his first week. Unable to ask someone the way, he’s been wandering in the street, following the indication on his phone as best as he can, barely being able to actually read or even see anything. He can barely muster up a thought.
He has never felt this sick in his entire life. ‘Did..I c-catch a local virus…should’ve-ve do-done some re…search beforehand…”
Unbeknown to him, his eyes take a sickly green tone as his state keeps deteriorating. Each steps he takes making the bright color overtake his iris. He looks like a dead man walking. And he cannot wait until he finds a bed to fall and sleep on.
CAFE L’AROME
“So you’re a teacher, huh ?” asks Sora as she takes a sip of her drink
“Yep. Dedicating my life to giving the youth a proper education !” answers Mei raising her fist to the sky
“It’s exhausting, huh ?”
“Very so.” Mei puts her hand back down “They’re all good kids, but they’re still kids…I’m sure being a photographer is way more relaxing.”
“Oh it sure is…when you’re boss isn’t yelling at you because he wanted the angle to be slightly more centered, or that he would’ve wished that I made the focus on another element of the picture, and so on and so on.”
“Ever thought about going independant ?”
“Need to find a place. And to build a network of people that trust me over the other guy to capture the moment they wish to freeze in time. Would take a lot of time. And I don’t think my pics are good enough to get me enough money to live.”
“I already told you that your pictures are gorgeous ! I mustn’t be the only one to think that !”
“The ones you saw yeah…But I don’t think I’d manage to capture any other place as well.”
Mei looks intrigued by the remark “What do you mean ?”
Sora scratches her cheek as she tries to find the right words “It’s just…I grew up here, then I had to leave and coming back here…makes me feel weird in a good way. And I think that’s this feeling that make those pics you saw that good.”
“I see…Why did you leave then ?”
Sora seems a bit taken back “What ?”
Mei seems to realize she was a bit blunt and coughs before developing “I mean, if that place inspires you so much, then why did you leave ?”
Sora’s eyes turn a bit dimmer, as if dark thoughts were literally coming back to the front of her mind “It’s…complicated…and personal.”
Seeing the change of attitude, Mei feels bad “I see…Sorry. My sister keeps telling me that I keep being too blunt. I mean my boss thinks that it’s why I’m good with kids, but…”
“You have a sister ?” asks Sora, desperately trying to steer the convo away from what she just said
“Yes ! She’s younger than me, but everyone says that she’s more mature than me already.”
“What does she do, in life ?”
“She’s having an internship with one of the local scientists. A friend of our dad. She’s doing good, at least I think she does. She’s very caring, but not very talkative when it comes to herself” says Mei, looking visibly sad about the remark she made at the end of her sentence. “Wait, I should have a recent picture of her.. here !” she says with excitement as she shows her phone screen to Sora.
But Sora’s reaction wasn’t the one Mei expected. Sora recognizes the black hair that both sister share, but also, the red eyes that the little sister has that Mei doesn’t. She’s the girl she saw helping the kid earlier. “...What’s her name ?”
“Akino.”
Sora can feel shivers coursing through her spine. She takes one good look at Mei and seems terrified. “And what’s…your family name ?”
“Why does that-” Mei stops herself. She only known Sora for three hours, but a part of her job consists of reading people’s emotions off their faces. Sora is unwell. “Shorai.” she says “We’re Mei and Akino Shorai.”
Sora freezes ‘Of course. C’mon Sora, you knew it the moment you saw this girl’s red eyes. How could you forget them ? And Mei ? You should’ve remembered as well. There is no escaping it. You were doomed to be caught up by it the second you set foot on that island.’
Sora stands up “Sorry Mei, but I just remembered I have to do something-”
“Is there anything-”
“No. Nothing’s wrong. It was nice. I had a nice moment with you, but I gotta go.” says Sora, sounding sincere despite her voice being shaky.
Sora picks up her coat and take her leave, but right as shes about to leave, Mei grabs her hand and give her a paper “It’s my number. In case you want us to do that again.”
“Yeah…” whispers Sora, putting the paper in her pocket and leaving the place.
Mei sits there a bit dumbfounded ‘First date in months…years. And you manage to fumble it Mei…even though I’m not sure why. I mean why would my family name give her the ick…’ Mei’s eyes widens as she slaps her forehead ‘It’s about that night, huh ? It’s always about that night. Whatever path I walk on, it always goes back to that. Always.’ she sighs and takes a sip of her drink, her eyes saddened.
SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY
Sora’s breath gets more erratic with each step she takes. She’s lucky, it got late and no one’s in the street. She wouldn’t want anyone to see her in this state, not even strangers. ‘No. Come on. You didn't get a single attack in months Sora. You made so much progress. You cannot…’
She loses balance and only prevents herself from falling only by catching her bike’s handle.
Years ago, she had attacks like this every months. At the time the scene played itself clearly before her eyes. Now, even though the memory itself is still carved into her brain, only bits and pièces come back to her. The smell of fire. The taste of her own blood on her lips. The pain coursing her body. The sound of the screams. And the sight of a kid, a little kid, whose innocence was shattered.
Sora is practically out of air, she is barely conscious. If it wasn’t for the breathing exercices her therapist taught her, she'd be already down and reliving the nightmare that haunted her nights for the last few years.
Two words. It’s all that was needed to break her down again. She'd ashamed. So ashamed. She felt like she did so much work on herself, only for it all to crumble in a few seconds. ‘I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have believed I was strong enough to face it all again. I should’ve known by now that I will never be strong enough.’
The rage she feels against herself gives her a bit of power to move her limbs and reach the seat of her bike. ‘Gonna sleep. And then I get back to Tokyo first thing in the morning. I’ll get nothing out of staying here. It was just a stupid waste of time-’
“ARRGGGHHH !!!”
Sora feels chills running down her sound as the Scream she just heard fades into the night. ‘Don’t. Care about yourself. For all you know this guy just stump his toe against a tree and-’ But before she can even gets to the end of that train of thought, her body already instinctively jumped off her bike to rush towards the source of it.
‘If I remember correctly, there’s a small square right near. That must be where it came from…please don’t be what I think it is…please it isn’t happening again…Damn it !’
Running through the streets, she finally reaches her goal and feels her heartbeat going haywire as she notices a man on the ground and realizes it’s that one guy she talked to on the ferry. “Please…help…me…”
Sora feels some sort of voice screaming inside her mind that something is terribly wrong. She takes slow steps towards him “Are you okay ?”
“No…” he growls “It’s…inside me…there’s something…argh !”
A burning green light starts emanating from his insides, piercing though his skin, it causes him to shriek and shake before the light leaves his body. His skin takes a grey shape, his eyes become blank slates, as if his life just left his body.
Sora is shaking, unable to move or even scream ‘What’s happening ?! Is he…Oh my god it’s not-’
But she is pulled back to the horrific reality as the light swirls around his body, turning it into ash. It keeps spinning, attracting the ashes alongside it. It draws a figure, using the poor man’s ashes as material for a new body, one of a monster. Faceless. But with a strong physique and two whip- like appendages coming out from its forearms. The light finished sculpting its form and lodges itself in the chest, making the figure come alive.
The whole process happened in less than a second, leaving Sora stunned as a witness to all of it. Her breath is cut short. She feels herself suffocating. ‘What is going on ?! Should I run ? Or should I…should I…no. I can't do that…But I just saw this poor guy gets turned into dust, then from dust to monster, I can’t’
The monster twitches as it comes alive, it takes a small step, then another. It slams on its whips against the ground, as if it was discovering its own body. It stops for a second, and even though it doesn't have eyes, Sora could swear it's fixating on her. It growls with an otherworldly sound and rushes towards her.
She falls backward, so many thoughts flying around in her head to choose anything. And as it reaches her level, she thinks ‘I should've known. That I would die if I came back here. I was living on borrowed time. Guess the universe grew tired of me. I understand, I’m tired of myself as well.’
As she tries to come up with a thought that would be deserving the final of her life, she hears a sound echoing through the street. The rawr of a bike.
Out of the shadow, a figure on a bike emerges and knocks the monster away. The person riding it gets down and grabs Sora by the shoulders “Are you okay ?” She asks with a soft voice
But Sora doesn’t answer, as she locks on her saviour’s red eyes. “You’re …”
The savior doesn't wait for the end of Sora's sentence and takes something out of her pocket, a high tech looking gizmo with a translucent trigger. “Did you know them ?” She asks
“Barely…” answers Sora “Is he…is he dead ?” Questions Sora, dread sipping though her words
“No. Not yet at least.” Says the young woman in a reassuring tone as she places the gizmo before her waist. A belt surges from it and attaches itself around her, revealing the object's nature as some kind of belt buckle.
She takes the buckle from the left side and opens it by sliding it. She takes a weird green sphere from her pocket “You won't use that poor man as your puppet any longer !”
She inserts the green sphere inside and closes the buckle. The whole belt takes the color of the sphere. “WIND CORE SET. MYSTEK SYSTEM READY TO GO.” shouts the buckle
She snaps her fingers and screams : “Henshin !” At the top of her lungs before slamming the trigger on the right side of the buckle.
Her whole body gets recovered by some sort of black fiber as a wind tornado forms around her. The wind welding into the suit fabric and remolding it into a green colored armor with red accents and eyes.The last gust of wind fusing with the remaining fabric to form a red scarf, the belt shouting “CYCLONE CHAMPION” upon the transformation’s completion.
The hero snaps her finger as she points her targets “Let’s end this quickly, shall we ?”. She shouts full of confidence. The monster growls and throws one of its whips in retaliation to the provocation.
As fast as the wind, she avoids the whip’s strike and even manages to grab it. Using her strength, she pulls it, bringing her enemy to her. In a few seconds the distance between them is closed…then opens again as she unleashes a powerful punch onto where its jaw would be if it had a face. The impact sends it flying and rips its whip in half.
The monster lands on its butt. It gets up, just to be met with a knees to the chin followed by a powerful kick. She keeps applying the pressure on her adversary, landing strike after strike. Sora could swear that she could see the air itself accompanying her strikes.
For every move the monster manages to party, it’s met with at least one other one. If it still had its whip, it would’ve had a shot at building a strategy, but breaking it from the get go stripped it of any chance at reversing the steam. ‘She’s good. Really good.’ thinks Sora.
After a fury of punch hitting it across its abdomen the monster screams in what could be pain as cracks take place around the light in the chest. The hero notices and delivers a kick to push her enemy away.
“Time to end this !” she reaches for the trigger on her belt, and strikes it multiple times as if she was revving something up. On the third strike the belt glows green as it screams “OVERDRIVE !”
She breathes in as wind gathers around her. “Toh !” She jumps in the air, the wind following her. She does a spin mid air to place one of her feet in front the other, her sole facing her target. The wind follows her, engulfes her, and propels her towards her target at an amazing speed.
“TYPHOON KICK !" shouts the belt as her kick reaches the monster. It tries to protect itself, but it's to no effect.
The monster screams as the equivalent of a living tornado strikes it at full force, causing his body to lose its integrity and explode.
The ashes fly away from the burst and land nearby, reuniting themselves with one another, reforming Yoshimori’s body. Sora rushes to his side, he regains his color, and his pulse is beating. “Hey man, wake up !” She shouts, trying to see how he’s doing.
The hero watches before saying ”He won't wake up.”
Sora freezes “W-What ?”
“Those that suffer what he just went through…they never wake up.” Says the hero in a sad tone
Sora’s brain has a hard time following “But…you said…”
“That he wouldn't die. I said that he wouldn't die. And he’s not dead.”
“But he can't live anymore.” says Sora in a voice full of sorrow.
“...An ambulance should be on its way. He will be taken care of. You should go home and get some sleep.” She destransforms and goes for her bike, getting ready to leave
“Akino Shorai !” Shouts Sora
The young woman freezes
“That’s your name isn’t it ?”
“H-how did you-”
“You’re going to tell me what’s going on here. Everything.” Says Sora as she feels in her heart a fire that hasn’t been ignited in years.
Akino stares at her confused, as Sora stares at her intently. Both of them trying to understand the other.
But at this instant, this very second, none of them could've even imagined the envergure of the journey they were taking on, and even less that the very existence of their future, would be theirs to protect.
TO BE CONTINUED…