Beyond the End-chapter 1

Next Chapter: [link]

This is one of my newer stories...It's going to be a novella, only about one hundred pages long. This is the intro.

About the picture...Yes, I used the Kingdom Hearts 2 font. Copyright to Disney and Square Enix. I just thought that the KH2 font fit the feeling of this story.

Please comment!

It starts...


Miyuki sat on the bench, waiting for the lunch hour to end. He ignored the passing girls and guys of Itadaku High School. He had given up trying to befriend them long ago, after years of harsh treatment by their hand. Through his whole life, people had beaten him up on the playground. What was worse, he was the only one. Everyone else was accepted, coupled, happy. As far as Miyuki could see, he was the only one who wasn’t.

He didn’t like having to think like that. He didn’t like the situation at all. But that was the way it had always been. He had avoided the beatings and the teasings for the past six months. He knew that the reason for this was his behavior. He had stereotyped himself into the “emo” category, and worked hard to keep this image. His hair was long and straight, but short in the back, and formed an upside-down triangle in front of left eye. It was ocean blue, and the rest of him…he was completely pale. His clothes consisted always of tight black cloth, with looser black and blue draped over it. He wanted to repel society, and this both helped and expressed his distain.

Class would start again soon. Miyuki stood, embracing the scene. It was a semi-cloudy day, and the students of Itadaku headed slowly toward the doors as they anticipated the oncoming bell. She walked slowly inside, bracing her books in front of her, with a cute look of concentration on her face. Miyuki grimaced. He had hoped that she knew. He wanted her to find out a long time ago. He was in love with her. But like everyone else, she ignored him. She was nice to his face, in class, whatever. But that was all. She wasn’t interested in anything more than acquaintance.

He was seventeen, and had never experienced a relationship. But he craved it. He craved it so much that it was all he could think about half the time. He wanted to hold her, to feel her, to create a connection that would not be broken by war, poverty, or time itself. He wanted to share everything with her, but he couldn’t. He was not accepted. He would never be loved, even by someone as sweet as Yukira.

He moped toward the double doors. It wasn’t worth trying. She’d never even notice him. No one ever had. He was tired of it all. The only guy in his school without love, the only kid without a friend. He was alone, completely alone. And home, if you called it home, was no better. He might as well be at school all the time- the orphanage was the same thing. He wanted to leave, to live on his own, to swim in his own bubble in anti-social nothingness and ignore the world, but he couldn’t. It was a year still until he turned eighteen.

He sighed. Class would start again soon. He did not look forward to history. They tended to tell him the same thing over and over in different ways, and he didn’t care much for history in the first place. He’d rather just-

Something told him to shift his gaze to his left. The sun was hiding behind some of the clouds, but it was strange. It was setting. The students in front of him, whoever wasn’t already in the school, stopped. It had been rising steadily until now, toward the center of the sky, but now it was inching behind the clouds it had come from, casting an orange glow all over the place; an eerie twilight. Miyuki hopelessly checked his watch: 12:30 PM.

It didn’t look like twelve thirty.

The whole school was bathed in orange. The clouds, painted softly on the sky, became blue and purple, softly adding to the overcast like an ancient painting. The sun was slowly gaining speed, reaching into the horizon as it slowly gained speed. It crept further, and Miyuki squinted. He must be dreaming. This wasn’t possible. He pinched himself, but felt the pain. He turned to one of the students.
“I don’t know what’s going on.” He said simply. He seemed dazed, confused, and stared blankly into the sun. Miyuki jumped as the rest of the students met the glare of the sun with their eyes, and dropped their books, all at once. They walked to the edge of the platform, and gazed deeper, deeper into the red setting sun.

It wasn’t right. It wasn’t possible. Miyuki ran to Yukira. Her books were scattered all over the ground, and her mouth was open as she gawked blankly at the sun, as if it was enticing her, mesmerizing her. He shook her shoulders with both hands.
“Yukira! Wake up!” She didn’t even groan as she rocked back and forth under his grip.
“Yukira!” He yelled, scared witless, confused.
Still no reply. She swayed her arms gently with the breeze, and then, even the breeze stopped. Miyuki looked up to see that the birds had stopped in their tracks. Their wings held still in the air, stuck in an exact position. They didn’t fall, nor did they rise. It was like they were frozen in time.
“What’s going on?!” He yelled, and no one answered. No one moved, blinked, nothing. The sun had stopped setting on the edge of the horizon.

He looked over the edge of the balcony. The people in front of the school had stopped completely, some of them jumping, walking, running, talking on their cell phones. It was a complete freeze, as if time itself had stopped. The many signs that lined the sides of the skyscrapers around him held still, usually flashing. The televised billboards had stopped. It was all completely still.

Miyuki pushed his way through the students, and through the school, past the still janitor, the walking teens in mid-step, the half-shut lockers, everything. He went for the front doors of the school, skipping three stairs at a time.
Locked.
He frantically strangled with the metal handles, but they didn’t budge. He rose his fist to pound on the window, but stopped.

Just a moment ago there had been people, he could have sworn. But there was no one. No cars, no people, no kids. No living thing. He smacked the window with his fist, hard, but it didn’t break. He pounded it again and again until his hand was bloody, but nothing happened. He yelled, infuriated. He ran back up the stairs to the balcony.
He stopped breathing. No one was there. All the students were gone. Only their books lay where they had just stood, staring into the everlasting sun. Miyuki looked up in panic, but the birds were gone, too.

GWWOOUAAAA!!! He jumped. Where the Toyota building was, just in front of the school, was something unbelievable.

It swarmed around, throwing its black, tar-like substance into the air, bubbling and frothing like a pot of over-cooked rice. Bolts of blue lighting slithered out the sides, smashing into nearby buildings. A soft blue glow radiated from the center of the portal, and seemed to stare at him. He ran, but he only reached the other end of the balcony. It was growing, larger and larger now, casting wind every which direction with such force that it blew the text books around. It sucked in the signs of the skyscrapers around it, and the massive buildings curved into it spiraling into it slowly. Miyuki’s eyes widened as it got closer, demolishing everything in its path. It was going to swallow him like the many signs it had already taken in.

It reached the edge of the balcony now, tearing it to shreds, and bringing it into its relentless blanket of black. Miyuki screamed as the portal grew, and it got so close to him that he could feel the heat of the lightning. He had been looking away, sweating, closing his eyes to avoid it, begging it to go away.

And then, he changed. The portal was no threat. It was a portal. A portal into something unknown, something outside of this world that hated him so much. He felt the black lick his ear, and he turned around with a malicious smile. He wanted it to come. He wanted to leave. He looked down, casting an angry, yet excited look into its center. He was daring it. He was challenging it.

It engulfed him, and he saw everything go black, and violet, and blue. He was covered in thick darkness, and there was no escape. But he didn’t fear it. It felt right. For some reason, it made him feel good to be sucked into this black hole. He closed his eyes with pleasure as he felt his own consciousness leave him, and fell back, relaxed, into nothingness.


* * *


The green lights faded away slowly. Miyuki stood, wary of the absence in the room. There was nothing here, save for an eerie music issuing from the corners of the corridor, singing in a soft chorus, in a language that he didn’t recognize. It sounded like a thousand souls, trapped, but rejoicing. They sounded terrified, but somehow, glad to be terrified, as if they were enjoying the thrill.

The room was sharp. There were no corners, but black, metallic spires swooping into each other in a large circle, meeting each other in the center, casting more spikes to the center. Alternatively, some of them became white as they curled in. The green lights that had surrounded Miyuki melted into nothingness, and no longer afraid, he stood straight. There were no doors in the room. However, a soft light formed a semi-rectangle just in front of him.

He was a little uneasy about traversing to the door. Whatever had brought him here had left him, and only his natural self, to wherever he was. His clothes, his jewelry, everything was gone. It wasn’t cold, but not warm either. His pale skin greeted the temperature with indifference. He only hoped that he was the only one there. He didn’t mind being nude in front of other people, but he wasn’t used to being so around girls. He was used to the onsens, public baths, of Tokyo, but was never allowed to enter a mixed-gender one. However, judging by the room, he was pretty sure that there weren’t many people around. He elected to go ahead and try the door.

When he took his first step, his foot sank a little into the ground. Surprised, he pulled his leg back. The ground was covered in solid marble, but his feet were going through it, like they would in water. He took another step, one after the other, and noticed that white ripples formed with each one.

He stopped abruptly as a huge spine shot up in front of him, curling just as it met another straight above him. It was like a smaller version of the room was gathering around him, trapping him. He tried to get out, but soon, he was completely encased in a metallic, black and white cocoon. He covered his face with his arms as an orb of light, magenta in hue, descended into him. It knocked him to the ground, and as he panted, the spines fell away, back into the floor.

‘What’s going on?’

Miyuki came to the door, but there was no handle. He reached his hand to knock, hoping someone was on the other side, but his heart jolted with surprise as his hand went through the door. He pulled it back, and walked through. A soft wave of cold swept over his body, and his eyes met the scene outside.

The ground sank a little lower under his feet, and he looked on to see that the marble came to a halt at an edge, with the spines jetting out of the sides like the spikes of a great war tower. After the edge was black, interrupted only by the soft, yet bright addition of the stars. There was nothing else. No ground, no trees, just stars, and the moon was nowhere to be seen.

In front of him, huge towers jetted up into the endless sky. They were all sleek in shape, and the entire structure was crawling with spires of changing brightness, between black and white. A large sphere above one of them caught his attention. It was rotating slowly, and a large chunk was missing out of one side. A bridge connected two of the larger towers on the other side of the structure. There was no wood on this bridge, but instead, shifting plates of marble that floated high above everything else.

Directly across from him, where only a horizontal wall should have been, was one large spike, smoothing itself from the ground sleekly into the sky until it came to its tip. This spike was so huge that he probably could have fit a Japanese castle or two into it.

He looked behind him at the room he had just come out of. The spikes were there, just as they were on the inside, but a strange symbol was above the rectangular light that was the door. It looked like the symbol of Japan, but odd dashes and marks made it unique, and it seemed to have a specific style. It reflected the sci-fi movies that he had watched in his spare time.

A set of stairs faced him. He eyed them hesitantly, then descended. They all had odd black and white designs around the edges, and he couldn’t help thinking that whoever lived here was their own culture. Not that he cared much.

As he descended, he looked again over the railing. This time, he looked down into what he expected was going to be some type of garden or something else rich people liked putting into their homes. Instead, several dozens of staircases wound around each other, with doors in every which direction, and all of them had a sub-course heading to the main spire.

A door, this one open, with no rectangular light, stood empty, with only a silhouette of black inside, coming closer to his right. Miyuki peered at it as he approached, cautious. Under his confused position, and without necessary clothes and armour, he was particularly vulnerable. He wouldn’t be surprised if some creeper jumped out of the empty room.

A sword lay on the ground, next to the edge of the cliff that stared into the rest of the castle. This sword radiated a soft light around it, and had two blades, intertwining with each other until they met at the tip, jetting out the sides, making a particularly dangerous weapon. Other than these two larger blades, several smaller ones came from the hilt, making it dangerous to even cross paths with it.

He picked it up, ready. Whoever owned this castle knew that he was there, and was testing him. He’d pass the test, and take it out on whoever was messing with him.
He heard a deep-throated growl, and saw large glowing dots come from the doorway. He could run now. He could just keep going down the stairs just beyond the steady floor he stood on. But that wouldn’t solve anything. He was pretty sure he’d have to deal with whatever this was eventually.

The sword became a part of him, an extension of his own body as he held it steadily by his side, facing the creature in the dark. It exposed itself, a hairy, insect-like beast, with glowing yellow eyes and small grey fangs in front of its mouth-less face. Out of its fly-like face shot two antennae, green until it came to the center, where it glowed yellow, and then red at the end. It clicked its eight legs excitedly, and lifted its bladed tail, readying itself for battle. It lunged, and Miyuki dodged, rolling to the side. He brought his sword to its back, only to have it recoil violently. The creature swiped its bladed tail at him, and he ducked just in time, and rose, not expecting the next strike from the creature. It hissed, and struck again. This time, Miyuki blocked it, and swerved around to stab it in the side sharply. It screamed, but it wasn’t a fatal wound.

The strike had done nothing but anger the creature. He punched it, and ducked under another blow. He had to back up. It was going too fast now, too desperate, too confused. He ran down the stairs to the next landing, and the creature lunged at him from a distance. Miyuki held his sword fast above him, and the weight of the creature landed on the blade, making Miyuki stumble over. He brought his sword out quickly, before the creature met the ground, and watched it tumble onto the marble. It was dead.

Miyuki glanced around, alerted, ready for another one, but none came. He held the handle of his blade tightly, took in a deep breath, and got ready to walk. Suddenly, everything flashed white, and he fell back, bemused. He stood up, regaining his vision, to see a girl, with pretty blonde hair drooping beyond her shoulders. A black tarp came from one shoulder to her lower waste, leaving one arm mostly bare and the other completely covered. She had a pretty waste. Miyuki could tell, because the tarp left her stomach completely uncovered. She wore an elaborate black dress, covered in intricately designed pieces of cloth held together with buckles and belts. A headband covered one eye, and her long blonde hair almost covered the other.

He lay there, confused for a moment. Then he jumped up, throwing his arms out in front of his middle, hurriedly trying to censor himself. She laughed at his clumsy attempts of decency. He snarled, and glared at her upwards as he doubled over. He would do anything right now for a simple towel, something to cover himself up.
“Shut up.” He said, blushing.
“It’s okay. It’s not like I’ve never seen a guy before.” She said, hiding a smile. Her spunky attitude only made Miyuki’s anger “Besides, you’re cute. You shouldn’t worry about it.” She continued in fluent Japanese.
This only made it worse. He turned around. He’d rather have her see his backside.
“Ah, even better. Nice one.”
He was silent. He was going to kill her someday.
“What do you want?” He smirked.
“I’m only here to help.” She said.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“What? And leave you naked? That would be rude.” He turned his gaze, and saw her draw out a black bundle of clothes from her back. It must have been strapped there, because Miyuki had not seen it before.
“Come get ‘em.” She teased.
“What?!”
She laughed. “Ha ha. Just kidding! Jeez, so serious.” She tossed the bundle next to him, and turned around. “I won’t look anymore.”
He hurriedly thrust the outfit on. It was multiple-piece. There was a skin-tight undershirt, completely black as night, and a jacket that went over that, ending just past his stomach. The pants reminded him of American, skater boy style punk velvet. They were extremely baggy, and different sections hung over each other decoratively. Hanging from these sections were thick chains, dangling on top of each other elaborately. The entire outfit was black, in different shades and lightings, except for the silver zippers.
“What is this?”
“It’s a uniform. Duh. Looks pretty standard, doesn’t it?”
Miyuki looked at her, shooting a emo-stare in her direction.
“What?”
“Uniform?”
“Yeah. Ah, you wouldn’t get it. You don’t even know where you are, do you?”
“No.”
“Wow. Looks like you killed a Klenchion. I hate those.”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. Not the talkative type, are ya?”
“…”
“Okay, I get the point. Look, I’d tell you what’s going on, but I’d probably get in trouble. I’m not that great at explaining things. Besides, the boss likes to do the explaining. Sick pleasures, I’ll tell ya, but-”
“Take me to him.”
“Tch. Fine, come with me.”
She turned around, giving up the conversation. Miyuki wasn’t in the mood. Then again, he was never in the mood. He followed her down the marble, his boots clicking on the mysterious ground, their zippers flailing, cooly making the sound of a soft wind-chime.

“We built Never-land as a means to watch over the project.”
“…”
“No, I can’t tell you what the project is. The boss’ll want to tell you.”
“…”
“But I can tell you that we had a hard time building it. We needed telekenesis, and a lot of willing people. In fact, many of them died…”
“Died?”
“Yes, they died in the end. We knew it was coming, but we weren’t prepared enough. That’s their souls you hear, by the way. They pipe up sometimes, singing in Latin. I have no idea what they’re saying, but I think that they’re proud of us.”
“roud?”
“Again, I can’t say anymore. Ah, here we are.”
She lifted her hand, and a huge spire shot up rapidly, her outstretched hand resting on it.
“You speak a lot of Japanese.” Miyuki said, noting that she looked more American.
“Well, I have to know every language. Otherwise, I can’t get anything done.”
“What?”
“Let’s go.” She said, and took his hand, walking him through the semi-transparent door in the spire in front of them.

Cold swept over his entire body again, and he opened his eyes to see an older man, with wrinkles showing his age and blonde facial hair. He had plenty of hair, but it was dirty and scraggly, and his whole appearance suggested a lot of stress, and even more pressure. A strange kindness seemed to flow from him, however. He sat on an intricate throne, made of more white than black, but still of the spines and spikes, jetting out of the arm rests and the top of the throne. It was part of the wall, and it melded in, reminding Miyuki of the folds of a messy sheet, inching their way into the perfect shape of his throne, and he leaned his chin on one arm, concentrating on Miyuki, scanning him, looking for the deepest roots of his soul.
“Miyuki Takahashi.” He said.
“What’s going on? What was that black thing that swallowed me? Where are my friends?”
“You don’t have any friends.”
“Who asked you, old man?”
The old man rested his mouth on his fingers, and continued to stare at the wall behind Miyuki. Miyuki turned to see what he was staring at, but there was nothing except the spikes that made up all the walls.
“What are you staring at?” He asked impatiently.
“Nothing, in particular.” The old man mused, half-focused. “I wonder. Do you understand English?”
“I’m studying it.” He said in English.
“Good,” Hue replied in the same language, “I’m more accustomed to it than Japanese.”
“What’s going on?”
“I could tell you, but I think I’d better show you something first.” he said, and grunted as he lifted himself from his throne.
“My name is Hue.” He said, throwing a half smile at him, and walked forward, his hand outstretched. Miyuki folded his arms and glared at him, ignoring the hand, throwing off as much anger as he could.
“You are an ignorant fool, you know that, right?” Hue asked him. He couldn’t tell if he was serious, or kidding. He didn’t care, either.
“You really shouldn’t have done that.” She said.
“Arrow…”
“I know, mind my own business.”
Hue drew his hand back, and stared Miyuki in the face. He was examining him again, and Miyuki threw his head to the side, aware that he was disrespecting him. He didn’t want to respect anyone.
“Follow me,” He said. He turned to a large opening to the left of his throne, overlooking the vast nightime sky.
“Where am I?”
“If you’d come out here, I could show you,” Hue said patiently, and exited the room, onto yet another platform with spines jetting out of the side. Miyuki joined him, and taking no heed of Hue’s kind gestures, stared over the edge. What he saw, however, was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

More stars. There was nothing but sky below them. He looked up at the stars, and back down at the stars.
“Where…?”
“You really are a fool. This is not in Japan. This is not Earth. This is Never-Land.”
“Never-Land?” He said, gazing off into the distance.
“Not like the fairy tale.” Arrow piped up. “I’d prefer that Never Land.”
“Never-Land is a castle. The castle. The only structure left.”
“Where did it come from?”
“I have no idea.”
Miyuki jolted away from the edge, and brought his face to the old man’s, tossing a threatening glare into his eyes.
“Stop speaking in riddles. What the ---- is going on?”
“Get out of my face, boy.” Hue breathed.
“I’d listen. Last guy who challenged him ended up…dead. Well, I think he’s dead. A guy can only survive so long in slow, flesh eating acid.” Arrow warned.
“You don’t sound like someone I’d like.” Miyuki sneered.
“I do what I have to. The end of the Earth called for a leader, and I took the position.”
Miyuki backed up. “The end…of the Earth?”
“What, you thought everyone disappeared for no reason?”
“You mean, that black thing…?”
“No, the portal was ours. The Earth ended about two-thousand years after that.”
“What?”
“We brought you here to help. And if you don’t help, you’re out of luck. I’ll get rid of you.” Hue threatened.
Miyuki yelled. “THIS ISN’T HELPING!”
Hue sighed, and giggled, watching a shooting star over the cliff. “Ah, the mind of a teenager. I almost forgot what it’s like.”
“THE WORLD IS GONE?! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?!”
“Look, the world ended in the year four thousand and two. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but it happened. And we are all that’s left.”
Miyuki took in a deep breath. “All that’s left?”
“Every living thing on Earth is dead. The planet’s still there, but it’s completely uninhabited. Everything died that year, four thousand and two.’
‘I woke up out here. Seems this castle has been here the whole time, and was empty when I got to it. In fact, I came in from the same room you came from.’
‘When I got here, I was fascinated by the spikes, the towers, the sphere…I wanted to learn more about it. Over time, I realized that within this castle…” He held his hand out, and a stream of fire shot from his palm into space. “…I could use magic. Soon after that, I found the portals, and learned how to gain control over them.”
“How do they work?”
“I can send them to any time, and pick up any person I want.”
“If you can do that, why don’t you just go back and find a way to prevent the end of the world?”
“I said I could pick up people.”
“Just incoming. Once you come through, there’s no going back.” Arrow said.
Miyuki closed his eyes. It wasn’t like he had much to miss.
“We have a theory, however.” Hue said, holding up a finger. “There is no one else in this castle. Whoever built it can’t have drifted off into space, because there’s a field of some kind around here. It gives us gravity and oxygen, and though I’ve tried, I can’t fall off.” He said. “Arrow, show him.”
Arrow winked, and jumped off the ledge. Miyuki ran to her, but saw her head pipe up over the edge. She was floating, and slowly drifting back to the castle. “It’s automatic,” she said, “You jump off, you just come right back.”
“And there were no bodies here.” Hue added.
“Which means, whoever built this castle left through a portal.” Arrow said.
“And we can’t figure out who or how.” Hue ended.
Miyuki sighed again. “Why me?” He mumbled.
“There are various people in the history of the world that we have come to believe ended up building this castle. Arrow was a possible candidate. She came from the year three-thousand, five hundred and one. But, as you can tell…”
“It wasn’t me!” She grinned.
“I’ve picked up a few more, but they’re…downstairs. They like to keep to themselves, mainly.”
“So you think I built the castle?”
“Only way we can be sure is if you try to go into a portal.” Hue said.
Miyuki growled. “I don’t want anything to do with your ------ portals!” He said.
Hue sighed. “You have no choice.”
“Then why don’t you go ahead and kill me?!”
“Don’t be a fool. The planet depends on us to find the one who can use the portals.”
“So now the worlds on my shoulders?!”
“Essentially, yes.”
Miyuki growled under his breath. He had never thought that he’d want to be back at the orphanage. But now, he just wanted to be rid of these ignorant people. They told him the world was gone, but it was too much, too fast. He didn’t want to believe them. He didn’t want to hear any of it.
“Sir,” Arrow came to Hue, and whispered into his ear. The old man grunted, and closed his eyes in consideration. “He needs to think,” Arrow said, and Miyuki wasn’t sure if she was addressing him or the old man. He folded his arms, impatiently waiting for whatever they’d throw at him next. Hue opened his eyes, and a warm, patient smile spread over his face.
“There’s a room for you downstairs. Arrow will show you.” He said, and pointed toward another flight of stairs just next to them.

* * *



“Quick! We’re gonna need your help.”
“Help?”
“They’re fighting again. Well, actually, Terlyx is fighting. And we’re fighting against him, but he doesn’t want to fight us, but we gotta or we’ll lose the castle-”
“What?”
“It’s complicated. They’re at the Platform.”
Miyuki followed her slowly, hesitantly. This castle, this uniform…it all had an eerie feeling, like he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Arrow was already up the stairs, and Miyuki considered running off. No, there wouldn’t be much point in that. He’d end up lost, and then have nowhere to go. He had to follow her.

He brought his sword up. Apparently, someone was threatening the castle. He didn’t know whose side was on the right, but he was in uniform with Arrow. She was the first person he’d seen since the portal had dropped him off, so he figured it’d be best to follow her, at least until he found out what was going on…

Until, that is, she betrays him. That was typical. He could see it already. He’d get along with her, just like everyone else he had ever known. Maybe they’d figure things out together, and even go out. It could even turn out to be a relationship. But then, just like everyone else he had ever trusted, she’d turn her back on him. That’s the way people are. Gain trust, then stomp all over it. In that case, Miyuki didn’t want to choose a side at all.

But if he didn’t, he’d never know exactly what was going on. He didn’t want to be stuck here without a clue as to where or why he was. He wasn’t even sure if he was awake. He headed up the stairs. He wasn’t going to get close to anyone. If he did, his feelings would be wasted upon an uncaring soul. He grimaced. This was the type of anger that would help, when he fought. He could lend that.

He ran up the rest of the stairs, and observed the platform ahead. The ground was not marble upon its surface. It was a long stretch of overlapping spires, one on top of the other, and looked somewhat like overlapping trees, except for the fact that they hugged each other in odd positions. They were all shiny, metallic, and black, and reflected only the starlit sky above them. A young man stood in front of Hue around the center, and both had different men backing them.
“So you would have me give you the castle?” Hue demanded.
“It’s over. Embrace your destiny, Hue, and hand it over to me.”
“What of They?”
“They are of no importance. You will discontinue to exist. Know only that your existence contributes nothing to the unbalanced world as it is.”
“My people will not cast their lives aside. Not for you.”
“Really? And secure your race’s extinction? How selfish.”
“Leave this place, Terlyx!”

Terlyx was young. Judging by his looks, only a year or two older than Miyuki. He had medium black hair, and bright blue eyes. He wore dirty, ripped up clothes, and had an appearance of an American bum, though Miyuki could not quite place his personality. He stood in front of a small group of people, all several years older than him, but they were battle hardened, ready for anything. They brandished old, rusty weapons, and compared to the men behind Hue, seemed amateur. As for Terlyx, all he had were two old samurai swords. While they were both long, Miyuki doubted their sharpness judging by their bland and rusty appearance.


“The portals are open. We can go wherever we want on the planet, and you can’t. You’re stuck on your sad little castle, while we roam free on the surface.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Terlyx. It’s thanks to me that the portals exist.”
“And yet you cannot control them.”
“We can get to any place you can-”
“And you can’t travel time. Pathetic.”
“You can’t either.”
“We can once we have him.” Terlyx thrust his hand towards Miyuki, who had been listening from the other end of the platform.
All the color ran from Hue’s face. He looked at Miyuki, appalled. His face changed from shock to anger, and he glared at Miyuki with such fury that Miyuki had to turn his face away to avoid it.
“I told you to stay inside.” He gritted his teeth.
“You know, I think I’ve changed my mind, old man. You keep the castle, and I’ll take him.”
“You can jump off the edge and die.”
“Oh, so stubborn. You’re reputation precedes you.” Terlyx smiled. “It’s you’re choice, really. Give us the castle, or give us him.”
Arrow jumped in, brandishing what Miyuki guessed was where she got her name. An intricately designed crossbow, with the same spines stemming with it as covered the entire castle. Inside was an arrow that seemed to be made of pure light, and it glowed violently. She aimed it straight at Terlyx, and aimed carefully.
“You can leave now.” She said.
Terlyx laughed. “Dictatorship. That’s all you people want, isn’t it? Save the world and then take it for your own. It’s typical, actually.” Terlyx stared straight into Miyuki’s eyes from across the platform. “Can’t trust anyone.” He finished, and walked toward the edge. A spine jumped in front of him, with another glowing rectangle inside it.
“Till next time.” He said, and his group followed him into the portal. Once they were all through, the spine jetted back into the ground.

Hue turned on Miyuki, glaring again. “I told you to stay inside. What were you thinking? Does my order mean nothing to you?”
“No,”
“I’m getting up to here with your attitude, Miyuki. Now they know you’re here. They know what we’re doing.”
“So what?”
Hue stomped. “They CAN’T know what we’re doing!”
“They’re rebels,” Arrow said, “A godless band of relentless wrecks. They want to stop us from restoring the world.”
“Why?”
“They’ve come to the idea that the end was supposed to happen, that’s why.” Hue snarled.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“You’re the only one who can achieve our goal! The only one who can travel time!”
Miyuki took a deep breath. Might as well play along.
“Why don’t I just go back and fix the world now?”
“I hate this boy! No idea what he’s talking about-” Hue rambled off, throwing his arms around and walking to the other end of the platform. Arrow walked after him, but after he threw a rude hand gesture, stopped in her tracks. She sighed, and slumped her shoulders. She turned to Miyuki.
“Because we don’t know when the world ended.”
“Well, its got to be after 2010.”
“Maybe, but it’s not as easy as that. You can’t just guess.”
“It’s not a guess. It was fine when I was there.”
“No, no. The world ended before it ended. Something happened in the constraints of time that wasn’t ever supposed to happen. We have no idea when or where, or even how. We just know that something happened that destroyed all life on the planet. Could have been the day after we picked you up, could have been millennia beforehand.”
Miyuki sighed. “I didn’t want to be involved in this.”
“Face it, Miyuki. You’re involved. There’s no going back.”
“I don’t need determination.”
“No, I mean, we can’t put you back. You’re stuck in this year, with us, until the world is restored.”
“What?”
“Forget your old life. Forget your friends, your family…forget them now, and it won’t be as painful later.”
‘ainful? I’ve never had friends, nor family. I have no one to miss. No one cared about me.’
Arrow must have misinterpreted his blank face. She came to him, got all too close, and whispered.
“Don’t worry. I’m here.”
Miyuki grunted and shoved her aside. She folded her arms, pouting, as he made his way back to Hue.