Chapter 1: Part One: Savior
A world just like our own…
Yet different in every way…
You will become our savior…
...
"Sir," a girl with glasses and navy blue hair said, holding a clipboard. She appeared to be quite panicked. "We've just received word that Kanata-san isn't at her home!"
"So, not even the heavens are safe…" a middle aged man pondered, folding his hands as he leaned forward in his chair, "What's going on with them…?"
...
Ito Nozomi woke from his short doze, wondering where he was. He checked the digital clock near his bed. 12:00 A.M. 'Wow, I was out for that long?' he pondered, quite astonished. He rubbed his eyes, put on his black-framed glasses, and checked his phone. It displayed a "No Service" message. 'Wait, what?' he thought, 'Is something wrong with the Wi-Fi?' Still somewhat confused, he looked out the window, opening the curtains. What he sees definitely woke him up, and it's a sight he'll never forget. Twisted trees devoid of life, dark cloudy skies, and red grass covered in gray sand were just a few of the horrifying sights he peered at through his window. Nozomi's breathing became more rapid and unsteady as he gazed at the place he found himself in. "W-what the hell…?" he said to himself, blinking a few times to make sure he wasn't imagining things. He closes the curtains, still in shock. Many thoughts raced through his head, but he decided he had to investigate, no matter how scared he was of the predicament he was in. He gulped, opened the door, and after much deliberation, took a step onto the red grass. He shuddered, then continued forth, hoping to find someone or something to aid him.
The more he travelled through this twisted world, the more he wanted to go back into his room. Enigmatic rock formations and what looked like blood splatters on the mangled trees spread throughout the path spurred Nozomi's fight-or-flight, but he pressed on, determined to find an explanation as to what's going on. Before long, the teen reached a small shack. Curious, he went inside, hoping to find something of use. Hell, maybe someone's taking shelter in there. "Hello, is anyone there?" he knocked. No response, as expected. He checked a nearby window, and no one appeared to be home. He twisted the doorknob to the entrance of the shack, and it was loose. He enters the shack, finding a small bed, a wardrobe with a few changes of clothes, and a computer with a cracked screen. 'Nothing useful,' he thought to himself, as he turned to continue on his trail. Just then, Nozomi heard rustling in the nearby bushes outside. Puzzled, he went to take a look, peering over the jet-black leaves. As soon as he did, a creature with red eyes, black fur, and a white mane pounced on him. He gasped, as the lion-like beast bore its fangs at his flesh. 'Is this it…?' Nozomi asked himself, quivering at the thought of his death and closing his eyes.
Fwing!
A sword sliced through the massive monster, sending its head flying. Nozomi quickly opened his eyes, realizing he had been saved from certain death. He took a good look at his savior. He was a boy looking to be not much older than himself, with pure white hair, orange eyes, and a blank expression. He wore a green kimono and brown sandals, and had a sheath for his greatsword on his back. He looked down at Nozomi, who still looked quite astonished that he was able to evade death. The white-haired boy offered his hand to Nozomi, not saying a word. Nozomi reached for and grabbed the hand, helping him regain his balance. However, the boy didn't let go of his hand. He looked at Nozomi, dead in the eye.
"The contract has been sealed."
Burning pain seared through Nozomi's hand, travelling through his arm and permeating his entire body. As it slowly reached his brain, he lost consciousness. 'God...damn...it…'
...
GASP!
Nozomi abruptly opened his eyes, panicked and lying on his back atop the crimson red ground. Putting his hand to his forehead due to a headache, he got onto his feet. That was when he realized what he was wearing. 'Wh-what?!' he questioned, as he looked at the green kimono he was wearing. 'This is what that boy was wearing…' he thought to himself. He then looked around to find the corpse of the lion-like creature said boy had defeated. Nozomi shuddered, looking at its decapitated head, the white mane now stained red from blood. As he was doing so, he heard the gut-wrenching sound of snarling coming from behind. A pack of around five of those beasts that the white-haired boy defeated could be found behind Nozomi's back. He opened his mouth in fear, realizing that he likely wouldn't be as lucky this time. He looked around for anything to protect himself. "U-uh…" he stammered, as he looked around. He eventually felt something heavy weighing him down. He gasped as he realized what it was. 'That boy's sword…' he realized, unsheathing it to take a look at its finer features. Its pearl white hilt glistened in the moonlight, and the bloody iron hilt had the Japanese characters for "Pearl" and "Samurai" engraved on it. "Pearl...Samurai?" he questioned out loud. Before he had time to contemplate this new development, a monster lunged towards him. He held out the blade and sliced through it.
"H-huh?" he said. How odd. Slicing through that creature felt like second nature to him. Why that is, he wasn't sure. But not wasting another breath, he began to advance towards the other four beasts. One began to make its attack, running towards Nozomi. Again, he took out his sword and decapitated it. He caught up to the group of creatures and performed a sort of spinning technique, revolving around in place with his sword outstretched. This took out the remaining creatures. He sighed, sitting down in the pool of blood. "What was that…?" he asked himself. Suddenly, a jolt could be felt in his head. He groaned in pain, as his vision went blurry, dropping his blade and going unconscious.
...
He woke up in a pitch black room. He could, however, still see himself, as he looked at his hands. As he looked around, he noticed a small light. Desperate and without any other options, he ran towards it, eventually catching up to it, finding a coffee table with a teapot and twin teacups resting upon it, as well as two large reclining chairs, one being used by a certain white-haired boy. He took one of the teacups and took a sip from it.
"Y-you!" Nozomi exclaimed, realizing his identity, "You're that boy…!"
He chuckled, looking up to Nozomi. "Yes, that's right," he said, reaching out his hand to greet the black-haired teen, "You can call me Tamashi. It's good to meet you."
Nozomi grimaced, looking at his hand. "Oh! Haha, can't blame you for that," Tamashi laughed, as he put down his hand, "Last time you shaked my hand, you passed out."
"Just…" Nozomi shook his head, confused, "Who are you?"
"I'm the savior of the world," Tamashi said nonchalantly, taking another sip from his teacup, "Or, rather, I'm the power that the savior needs."
"What do you mean by that?" Nozomi said, taking a seat in the opposite chair from Tamashi.
"Sorry for saying that. You're actually the savior of the world," Tamashi said, taking the teapot and pouring the hot liquid into the other teacup.
"What do you mean? What's going on?" Nozomi interrogated, somewhat agitated, "What's up with that weird place? Why did I wake up there?"
"Oh, that, I actually summoned you there," Tamashi said, "Magic isn't really my strong-suit, so it took quite some time to learn how to open a wormhole. Well worth it, though."
"Why the hell did you do that?!" Tamashi shouted.
"Relax, Nozomi," Tamashi said calmly, motioning the freshly-poured teacup towards him, "It was necessary. We can't have the world ending, after all."
"E-ending?" Nozomi stuttered, taking the teacup, "Why would that happen?"
"You're not the only one stuck in that world, you know," Tamashi claimed, "Other people are stuck in there. Although it wasn't my doing this time, of course."
"You're making it quite hard to trust you," Nozomi said doubtfully, taking the teacup and sipping from it, "But I'll hear you out."
"Good," Tamashi smiled before taking another sip of tea, "Basically, that world and your world are connected. They're like brothers. They were formed at the same time and came from similar places."
"I see…" Nozomi said, sipping from his teacup.
"Good," Tamashi praised, "Now, I'm a native from the world opposite from yours, got it? I look fairly normal, right?"
"I mean, you look human, I guess," Nozomi said.
"Exactly. We look human," Tamashi nodded agreeingly, "Except recently, some of us haven't been looking human. We've taken inhuman forms. Why that is, I don't know. But what I do know is that it's a real issue."
"Inhuman forms…?" Nozomi asked, intrigued, "You don't mean…"
"That's right," Tamashi said, putting his teacup on the table and taking the teapot for a refill, "They've been turning into those creatures you and I fought. The survivors used to call them Malice."
"Used to?" Nozomi questioned.
"That is correct," Tamashi said, pausing, with a somber expression adorning his face, "The only survivor left was me."
"O-oh," Nozomi looked down, "I see…"
"Ah, you're good, don't worry," Tamashi smiled, taking another sip from his teacup and then immediately putting it back on the table, "Ack, hot."
"So, what does that have to do with my world?" Nozomi asked.
"I already said your world and mine are brothers, right?" Tamashi said, looking at Nozomi, "What happens to my world will inevitably happen to yours. Unless we find out the source of what's going on and destroy it, the people in your world will probably turn into Malice as well."
"Wh-what?!" Nozomi panicked.
"Haha, you're funny, you know that?" Tamashi giggled, taking a sip from his tea, "Don't worry, man, I merged with you so that our power could be greater."
"Merged?" Nozomi asked, "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Tamashi said, "I live inside you now."
"Huh?! Who gave you permission to do that?!" Nozomi panicked, standing up.
"Relax, Nozomi," Tamashi said, "I'm not the talkative type. I'll only pipe in if I have something important to say. You'll barely notice I'm there."
"I-I see…" Nozomi said, sitting back down, "So, what now?"
"You're the only one who can open wormholes between the two worlds now, except for whatever brought the other people there," Tamashi informed, "We have to get in contact with people who can help and find out the source of what's going on around here."
Nozomi thought for a little while, then nodded. "I agree," he said firmly.
"Good," Tamashi said, smiling, "See you soon, partner."
A sudden jolt could be felt in Nozomi's head, as his vision got blurry.
Nozomi woke up in the pool of blood he fell asleep in before. He got to his feet and looked around.
'I should probably get out of here,' Nozomi thought to himself, 'Tamashi said I can open "wormholes" between worlds. But how do I do that…?'
"Oh, that, sorry for not explaining that earlier," a familiar voice echoed through his mind.
'Wh-what the hell?' Nozomi panicked.
"Relax, Nozomi, " Tamashi's voice said, " Remember, I live in you? When I'm not talking to you in the void, I live in your mindscape."
'Ah, that's right,' Nozomi recalled, 'So, how do you open wormholes?'
"Glad to see you get straight to business. All you have to do is direct your energy towards the tip of your sword and slice the air. "
'I'll give it a try,' Nozomi thought, 'Thanks.'
"Anytime," Tamashi's voice said.
Nozomi unsheathed the pearl sword. Looking at it with fire in his eyes, he focused on the tip for around 2 or 3 minutes, and then swung the steel. As expected, a white hole appeared in midair. He sheathed his blade, and walked into the wormhole, ready for anything.
...
The wormhole was surprisingly chilly, and Nozomi shivered as he fell through the blinding white portal. The exit eventually arrived, and he wound up falling into an office building. Many men and women in business suits looked over at him, very confused. Suddenly, a middle-aged Japanese man came up to him. Behind him was a girl with navy blue hair and glasses.
"Hm… you're not one of our talents…" the man pondered, then reaching out to help the boy up, "I'm Motoaki Tanigo, CEO of Cover Corporation, but most call me YAGOO. Now tell me… who are you?"
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