PART 1
[The Next Day]
"Hey! Kid!" A voice was ringing around my head
"Wake up! We'll find a job if you don't want to get hungry."
The voice is getting louder. While I slowly opening my eyes, Sun rays are radiating at my face, or so I thought
*THUMP! THUD! THUD!*
*BAAAM!*
I saw a flying right leg which threw me out of the room.
-,-
She locked the door and walk away rapidly like someone is chasing her. Well, the truth is, I am literally chasing her
"It's mean to just hit someone out of the blue like that!"
I said in a low voice. Wow! She just looks at me like, 'Nah, I don't care!' She's kind! Yeah! She's very, very KIND! Hays! I stop walking and glanced down the alley
*GASP!*
"Hey, Milady...! You have to... Save your 'FRIENDS'!"
I shouted it out loud. Well, of course, so that it can reach Kazee out! In a situation, she doesn't want to face. I'll have her face it so she can make her resolve. In the time she can't make one, then I'll guide her to the end.
"..."
Gladly, she stopped walking, she downturned her head, and lowered her shoulder.
"Milady, they took route 51, and you know what's in there."
"Huh!? I remember now. Oh yeah! It happened so many times. When they find out who I was, I will end my act of friendship."
She replied while gesturing her hands here and there. Aw! I never saw that coming. How far you'll hold to that, Milady? But, Nah! I'm waiting for you, Mademoiselle.
"Friends, huh...? I was mistaken" She set her foot forward slowly
"It's the same as all those other times… Well, that girl was just another mark" She sighed and scratch her lower back.
"..."
Aw! You sure about that? I can feel your heart, Milady. You're lying, don't you? This time, it's worst.
"Do you really mean that?"
"Yes! If I care too much, I can't do my job."
Her sudden answer left a needle in my heart. Still, giving up on you won't be allowed in my presence.
"Ahhh… I guess I'll go back to being a larcenist."
Oyyyyy! Milady! Hmmm... I won't let you go down that path again... You're too hard on yourself, Milady.
"You'll die!"
"You think? HA HA HA! No, I won't! A bad-ass girl like me has a long trip to ride! And my first ride is closing that gate."
She confidently answered, yet I can feel her trembling voice, but acting tough, huh?
"Speaking of which, Milady, where would I find one of those gates you were talking about last night?"
"Right there! That's a Gate"
She pointed something up in the sky. Ohhh! It's fascinating. She pointed at the enormous cube above us with a magical purple hollow space spinning. Was it a portal? Then a blazing golden flame is occupying each corner. There are also two stone gargoyles floating around unknowingly; it seems the guardian of it. The doorstep and the land were connected by a visible helix stair decorated by strange iron bars giving bluish-white dim light.
"That one's Sirius, the Sixth Gate. It appeared 5 years ago."
*GASP!*
"Wow!"
"I'm going to close Sirius and all of the other Gates in the world faster than anyone else, and then I'll become the richest person in the world."
She stretches both her arms upwards and her spine backward. Hmmm... Very Determined, huh?
[NOW PLAYING: Fixing a Broken Heart by Indecent Obsession (Acoustic Version)]
~♪♪♪"There was nothing to say the day she left
Just felt the suitcase full of regrets
I held a taxi in the rain
Looking for someplace to ease the pain"♪♪♪~
How about this, Milady?
"You'll die of sadness, and it's happened to you so many times...
..Having your friends lose their trust in you just once makes you so sad, and you want to die."
Her movements stop, muscles contracted, heart slowly beating. She slowly lowered her arms and took a slight glance at me without moving.
"Didn't you change?" I can't see her eyes, but I can sense it became pitch black. She slowly turned around.
"You decide to live…. without telling lies!!" I just reminded her of her words
You know, Milady? I believe in you and in your words. I know that you cherished Caiti that much and the Trailers. You have to let go of your past! Don't make any regrets anymore!
~♪♪♪"Than like an answered prayer
I turned around and found you there"♪♪♪~
Tears forming and spilling out of her eyes while biting her lower lip the time she turned her face towards me; she's sad, grieving, and heartbroken. She needs help!
"It hurts so much!!" She cried out
*SOBBING! HIC! HIC!*
Her legs became weak, and she stumbled down to her knees with 'VV'legs. She's clenching her fist at the ground while supporting her position
~♪♪♪ "You really know where to start
Fixing a broken heart
You really know what to do
Your emotional tools can cure any fool
Who's dreams have fallen apart
Fixing a broken heart"♪♪♪~
A lot of tears came out of her eyes. Oh! Milady, you've permitted yourself to cry. You aren't lying now! I move towards her. You're now my favorite person! Kazee! Fufufuu~
"But it's too late to save them…! We can't catch up with them!!" She punches the ground and cried out loud
~♪♪♪"And now I don't understand
What I am going through
Must be a plan that leads me to you
Because the hurt just disappears
In every moment that you're near"♪♪♪~
"Leave it to me! It's okay!"
I offer my hands to her to get herself back to her feet. I smiled at her while gently caressing her hair.
"I'll make sure we catch up with them! Okay!?"
She suddenly looks at me. Her eyes widened, and her lips were in 'o' like position. She took my hand, and I supported her upper waist to get her up
"O—Okay!"
--Caiti's Perspective--
『Middle of the forest, Route 51』
*DRUM ROLLS*
What's happening!? The Trailer just ceased from moving!
*CROWD CHATTERING!*
*GAAAH! ANGRY NOISE!*
What was that? Do I hear voices and shouts? Have we arrive already?
*CREAK! CREAK!*
Someone is shaking the trailers from the outside. Then the back cover of the Trailer was removed.
"!"
There's a crowd of people outside, holding different stuff of wea—Ohh! No! We haven't arrived yet.
My eyes widened at what I witnessed. They—'re Lar—cenist! We're surrounded—by larcenist and t—there's a lot of them. They're glaring at us and projecting scary grin faces
*THUD! THUMP!*
They pulled us out of the trailer
"Boss! We have some marks."
"What Kazee said..."
"Was true…."Father whispered
We—
*SOB!*
"..."
I'm sorry..! Kazee! I feel my tears flowing!
*SNIFF! SNIFF!*
I dumped a friend— Because I believed—... On what they said about her... I didn't even let Ka—zee have a chance— To explain, to hear her. I am the worst! A group of larcenists walks towards us. They all grab us at our hair and raising us
I—It! Hurts! A—re the—y go—go—going to cu—cut our head—..?
Ka—
Ka—
Kazee..!!
*SOBBING! SNIFF!*
*THUNDER RATTLES*
"WAIITTTT...!" ———That's!
My anxiety vanished after hearing it. I know that voice! I open my eyes and wiped the tears to have a clear view. I look at the south where the voice came from, there's... —a dog? and it's running towards our location
"Tch, who's that!?"
*ZIIIIP!*
*VROOOOSH!*
"I won't let you hurt...
..This lady's precious 'Friends'"
*BLINK! BLINK!*
"GYUUUUUUU! KYAAAA!"
So fast! Just a while ago, it was a dog that's coming to us. Then, in a split second, like a passing wind...
A— Ho—..
—Hound
In front of us was.. a gigantic black hound on its two feet, as big as the mountain. The trees in a single path started to fall after one another. It was the worst, or so I think.
I saw Kenshin on its left shoulder and— th—there's...
Ka—Kaz—ee too...
My eyes are getting wet again; Kazee was there! She's there, waving at me! She's smiling, and her eyes were smiling too!
*SNIFF!*
I'M VERY SORRY! KAZEE! I'M SO! SORRY! I wiped my tears with my arms
"We're saved.."
"I won't let you!!" Kenshin shouted
"'Celestials,' the mystical beings that appear in all the folklores, I'm sure you've at least heard of them."
"B—but I never thought that they were real…!"
"Everyone knows the tradition of sealing them in personal items with high rarity."