(You may be wondering what I'm doing here, at sixty feet high, standing on a... "flying bridge?", face to face with a mysterious person, with his face covered by a hood and holding my sister in one hand and in the other hand, a shining sword with a blue blade pointed at me... well how all the adventures have a beginning, mine started like this.)
[2h ago, Japan, year 2018, A small town near a forest]
My name is Nakamura Eric, I'm 17 years old, just an ordinary high schooler. I said ordinary because nothing is too special about me. All my life I lived under my older sister's shadow. She is better than me at everything. From sports to studying or social life, she has anything that I don't. My parents always complain about how can I be so incompetent and how she had so much better results at school than me but for their complaints, I can say a single thing... WHO CARES!!!
It's not like my results are bad but hers are ridiculously high. She is with two years older than me and we were in the same middle school. All the complaints from my teachers about how can I not be the same as her annoyed me so much that I almost punched some of them... Ahem, anyway, it's not like I care too much about what people say, I am me and no one else. When I was little, I thought I was special and wanted to be a superhero, a secret agent, or a powerful fighter but the world is not as kind as how I tough. The reality is more painful than anything and soon I discovered that. I wasn't strong or smart and everything about me was average, in the face of real talents like my sister I was nothing, and that's why I started to isolate myself a little bit but soon I accepted who I am. Who said you need to be special to live a good life? There are a few geniuses and a lot of normal people but the world is still fine. Now I just want to live a normal and peaceful life... or that was what I thought.
It's summer right now and I'm currently on a tree near my home, looking at the sunset over the forest. I like to come here because is peaceful and I can relax. I don't feel really good in my own home so I usually spend my time outside. I like the clean air and all the beautiful sceneries outside. I simply can't understand the people who like to stay indoors. As I was admiring the beautiful sight of the sunset I heard an annoying sound that distracted me.
"Hey, Eric... Eric, the dinner is ready!"
At the base of the tree, looking up at me was my older sister. Is not like I hate her and she doesn't treat me so bad(well, she usually ignores me) but to eat food in this family is a pain so I'll pass.
"I will eat later!"
"No, come now, do you want mother to be madder at you?"
("And who's fault do you think it is!")
"Don't worry, just go!"
While I continued to look at the almost set sun at the line of the horizon I saw something like a human-shaped shadow over the trees.
("What the...")
I turned my head to look at my sister for a second opinion.
"Hey, did you see that !?"
"See what?"
I pointed my finger to the place where the human-shaped shadow was just to see that there was nothing.
"That..."
" Hmm? All I can see are trees, did you hit your head or something?"
I turned my head to give her an annoyed look but I lost my balance and fell hitting my head on the hard ground losing my conscience.
I found myself in a pitch-black world and felt like I was floating in the middle of the ocean. I looked around but the only thing I could see was my body. I just floated there like like a broken ship until I saw a beautiful white light appearing above me. I was mesmerized by it. I looked at the light and then I reached my hand to touch it. The black world disappeared and I could feel my conscience coming back.
My body was numb and I had a slight headache. My eyes were still closed but I could feel the hard ground under me.
("Seems like I'm still outside but... why do I feel something soft under my head?")
I slowly opened my eyes and they were welcomed by the darkness of the night. My eyes started to get used to the darkness and I could now see a familiar face above me. It didn't take me too much time to understand what happened.
("So this is the popular lap pillow that I heard so much about... it would be much better if it wasn't my sister who did it...")
"How much longer do you plan to stay here? If you're fine then just get up already!"
In that instant, I jumped on my two feet staying with my back at her.
"Sorry about that..."
"You sure should be!"
("That sounds like an angry voice, I don't dare to look at her, maybe I should change the subject.")
"So... how much did I sleep?"
"Around 30 minutes."
"Oh... I thought it was longer. Well, although I don't know why did you stay here to help me... I should say thanks!... I guess..."
"..."
No answer come and that wasn't surprising so I turned to look at her expecting to see her leaving but it wasn't anyone there.
("Hm? Where did she go and how didn't I hear anything?")
I looked around but I was the only one there. What was weirder was that near me were some blue ice-like stairs that were going up, around several meters. Near the end of the stairs was a person climbing them with someone that seems to be my sister on his shoulder. I didn't have enough time to think about what was happening because the base of the stairs started to disappear. I jumped on the stairs instinctively before it wasn't too late and started to climb after the person who abducted my sister. I quickly climbed the stairs and on top of them was a bridge or more like a path that was going above the trees in the direction of the forest. I ran after the kidnapper of my sister for some time before he noticed me. He stopped running and turned towards me. He muttered something, and suddenly a shiny sword with a blue blade appeared out of nowhere. I stopped about ten meters away from him and he pointed his sword at me.
And we are back to the present.
("I'm dead... now what should I do?")
I didn't know what to say and the person in front of me didn't say anything either. After a long silence, the person in front of me finally spoke.
"You shouldn't have followed me, Eric, now you're an extra hassle."
("A girl?")
The person in front of me had the voice of a girl and now that I looked better, under the hood was a half-masked face but some long wait hair could be seen falling like a waterfall.
So many questions come to my head and now that she called my name the situation became weirder.
("How did she know my name? No, more importantly, since she took the leisure to talk with me means that she is not planning to kill me since words with a dead person are useless. Should I try my luck?")
"Who are you and why did you kidnap my sister?"
"Don't worry, your sister is safe! We will not harm her."
("Wouldn't you worry if you were sitting on a FLOATING BRIDGE with someone who made a sword appear out of nowhere?)
The mysterious girl didn't waste too many words with me and made a bridge that was going down appear.
"Get down right now!"
"First of all, you're not helping me if you keep making things appear out of nowhere, and secondly, I don't go anywhere without answers and by no means I will leave without my sister!"
("That, and we are in the middle of a forest and it's pitch black down here, go there yourself!")
" You complicate things more than you should! Don't make me take you down here by force!"
"That's an option... or you can let me come with you."
"And what makes you sure I wouldn't choose the first one?"
"... well... my intuition?"
For several seconds we looked into each other eyes and finally, I could hear a sigh.
"Haaa... fine... you can come but remember that I won't wait for you if you can't keep up with me."
After finishing her sentence, she ran away again, and I followed her. I ran for a mile or so, I was tired but the mysterious girl didn't seem to slow down. Eventually, we reached the end of the bridge. Here we descended the stairs and came to what seemed to be a camp. We entered in a huge tent that was located in the center of the camp.
In the tent were around five people at a circular table and all of them were teenage girls except one who looked around in her early twenties. None of them seemed too happy to see me.
("Why do I always keep receiving this look?")
As I entered the tent, the twenty-or-so years old girl asked immediately.
"What is he doing here?"
"Well, long story short, after I took Yuki, he followed me and refused to go home without his sister, so I had to take him with me."
After the finish of that sentence, one of the girls in the tent burst.
"Ooooww, how sweet!"
The one who exclaimed was a girl dressed in light clothes, a yellow T-shirt and shorts, and surprisingly her hair was pink.
I didn't notice up until now, but they all had the hair color quite unique. One had purple hair, another one had blonde hair, the twenty-or-so years old girl, dressed in a blue long skirt, had her hair white and the last girl had the hair green.
The girl who kidnapped my sister put Yuki on a chair and took down her hood and mask. Under them was a very beautiful girl, with blue eyes, and pure white skin. After throwing all of them she turned her look at the twenty-year-old girl.
"Irra, don't you know any spell that can wipe memories?"
("You want to do WHAT?")
Irra laughed softly at her question.
"My dear sister, you should know more better than me that there is no such thing. Also, we will need to tell his family the truth anyway so he'll find out sooner or later."
"Uh, fine but can I hit him hard enough to at last forget about the last hours?"
"Hey, I'm still here!"
("Why do I feel like it was a mistake to come here? No, wait, I'm sure now that it was a mistake to come here!")
While telling myself all of these, the girl with green hair got up from her seat and come near me.
"Hey, is alright, don't take Alice seriously, that's how she is. She won't really do that...probably."
"Probably?"
I started seriously to regret coming here. I swallowed my saliva and prayed to be able to see the next day.
"Don't think too much about it. Come, take a sit. I will make you my special crystal flower tea while we wait for your sister to wake up and then we will explain everything to both of you."
The girl with green hair had a soft voice and apparently a good personality which made me think that there are still kind people in this world.
I took a seat and while I waited for my tea, the girl named Irra started the presentations.
"Well, that's a good idea, until then, Eric, I'm Irra, she's my sister Alice..."
"Hmph."
Alice puffed her cheeks and looked away from me.
"...and they are Clarissa...
She pointed to the girl with purple hair.
"Yo!"
"...Lyna..."
She pointed to the girl with the tea.
"Nice to meet you!"
"... Ari..."
She pointed at the girl with blonde hair.
"Hello!"
"...and Iris."
She pointed at the girl with pink hair.
"Hey!"
"Nice to meet you all... I guess."
"Wel, I know that you have many questions but please be patient until your sister wakes up."
"And how much time will take that?"
"I don't know... Alice, what did you do to her?"
"Nothing, she just fainted when I appeared near her."
"Oh... well... we just need to wait for her to wake up then."
"The tea is ready!"
While Irra explained to me all of that, Lyna's tea was ready and she served it to us. The tea looked like a suspicious phosphorescent green liquid and although it looked like that, the floral scent filled my nose. I took a sip and that tea was the best thing that I've ever tasted.
I took my time drinking the tea but eventually I got bored of waiting and asked Lyna.
"Can you give me a glass of water?"
"You didn't like my tea?"
"No, it was the best thing I ever tasted. I need the glass for other reasons."
"Ok...?"
She didn't asked more, in a minute I received the glass with water. I took it and went in front of my sister.
"It takes too long, just wake up already!"
Without any hesitation, I threw the water in her face and Yuki woke up suddenly and surprisingly she looked much more confused than me.
("Suddenly, my night is much better!")