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1 - The Search
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Mercy
Miyamoto Tower, one of Japan's biggest libraries, was about to hit closing time. The crowds of students and scholars had dwindled down and only a handful remained, noses still buried deeply into books. Some staff darted around them, going from bookshelf to bookshelf and occasionally stopping by a storage room to drop off a few things. By this time, the study rooms and the hall in which they were located were deserted aside from one girl of about thirteen who leaned slumped against the wall, her brow wrinkled with frustration. She knew they would soon announce the closing of the library and tell those who remain to leave the building, but she didn't want to give up her search. She slid to the floor with a sigh and there she sat, lost in thought.
The book she searched so desperately for was a rare find in Japan, but could easily be found outside of the country. In truth, the government had labeled the book as dangerous and had banned it from libraries. Miyamoto Tower, however, was rumored to still have a copy hidden somewhere within it. The girl had begun to search earnestly as soon as school let out and had continued up until closing time to no avail. Closing her eyes, steadying her thoughts, she calmly began to decide on her next move. "I could stay and try to hide from the staff... No, that's too risky. Maybe I'll just leave and come back again tomorrow." A sudden thought struck her. "What if the rumors are just that- Rumors- Or what if it's some kind of trap?" The thought of those cloaks- those radicals- crossed her mind and she was reminded of what happens to those who go looking for this infamous book. A chill ran up her spine and this fear led her to her decision. "Maybe it would be best if I never find it. Maybe I shouldn't have even tried in the first place..." She didn't hesitate to stand up, head down the hall, and open a door to a well lit staircase. The girl counted the steps as she sluggishly descended to the first floor. Her disappointment was overshadowed by anxiety, but it was still there nonetheless. The danger of this book was never truly explained to her. Had she found it, she hoped she would finally have the chance to understand why people fear it. However, the thought of running into those cloaked figures made her blood run cold.
She felt a sudden jolt of panic upon noticing the figure waiting at the bottom of the steps. He was covered head-to-toe in black and a hood partially covered his pale, scared, face. "Speak of the devil!" she thought to herself before darting up the stairs. To her horror, he darted after her. She turned and ran down the hallway, but he was quickly catching up to her. "It this it?! Is this how I die? Captured by them?!" Her heart pounded in her chest and skipped a beat when she felt his hand wrap around her wrist. She turned back to get a better look at his face. The man was as pale as a corpse! Ghostly white hair hung loose over his bright red eyes. A scar cut across his smile, from his cheek to his chin. A black spiderweb tattoo on the left side of his pale neck caught the girl's attention for a millisecond. "Where are you running off to, little girl?" "Let me GO!" She jabbed her elbow backwards and into her attacker's abdomen causing him to collapse and release his grip on her arm. Knowing that he will need a moment to recover, she took this opportunity to run to the end of the hallway. "You can't take me- I won't die like mom!" Hearing her own words stung a little bit, but she smiled proudly. She made it to the library's main section. Rows of bookshelves lined either side of her, occasionally broken up into little areas for reading. Simple but comfortable couches were placed here and there and between them were small wooden tables. Tall windows lined the walls on either side of the room. The dim sunlight shining through made it clear that it would be dark soon. Near the center of the room, an old elevator's machinery was whirring to life. Perfect timing! The girl stood ready to enter before the elevator even arrived, and once it did, she ran right smack into a very smart looking man attempting to leave the elevator. He was dressed sharply and had an aura of wisdom and confidence about him. He smiled down warmly at her as she awkwardly reached over and pressed the button for the first floor. Before the elevator descended, she turned and got a quick glimpse of the hooded man just a few feet away from her. Bright blue eyes stared straight ahead, frozen in fear, until they reached the ground floor.
The elevator doors opened to a carpeted hallway with green panels along the walls. The girl stepped out and assessed her situation. The hall didn't look familiar to her, but she knew there must be a way out on this floor. Her eyes were eventually drawn to a sign on the wall. "Employees Only." She considered going back to the elevator, but she turned to find that the man had already pressed the button to go back up to the second floor. She turned her attention to the other end of the hall. A double-doored entrance labeled "Storeroom" was front-and-center in between a staircase and a smaller winding hallway. She wondered if she could get away with searching through any books stored in there. After all, it seemed that she was already in deep trouble. Fear changed her direction once more and she started to head for the smaller hallway, but stopped in her tracks. A shadow moved across the wall of the staircase and she began to hear footsteps coming from just above her! The fearful girl retreated to the safety of the storeroom and managed to dive behind some boxes before she heard the door open.
A voice echoed through the storeroom. "I thought this place was supposed to be kept locked... Are you hiding away in here?" The girl was on the brink of a real panic attack, but held her breath in complete silence. "Faith?" His call was instantly answered by a woman's voice from somewhere outside the room. "Yes! I'm over here! I could use your help with something!" The librarian turned on his heels to face the open door. "How many times have I told you to keep this door locked?! I'm the one that always get's lectured about it! And where's your hat?! It's part of the uniform and you must wear it at all times-" The lecturing continued on even after he had shut the door and walked away. The girl peeked over the boxes to be sure that she was truly alone, and to her relief, she was. She was still a bit shaken, so she had to take a moment to calm down before looking around.
The room was mostly filled with boxes and old paintings. A few other decorations were scattered about, as well as a couple of bookshelves. On the other side of the room was an impressive old bookcase that curved around in a U shape. A bust of someone she didn't recognize was placed on it's very center shelf. What instantly caught her attention was the big, brass, bell in front of it. Some kind of serpent was carved intricately around the bottom. After taking a closer look, she saw that the serpent had wings. Four needle-like fangs curved out of it's mouth and some kind of fin jutted out from the top of it's head. "It's a dragon!" The more she stared at it, the more alive it seemed. For a moment, it almost looked like it was staring at her- breathing, even! As she walked around the bell, the carving seemed to follow her until it suddenly lunged, breathing a high pitched hiss. She instinctively jumped back, but hit her head against the bookcase and collapsed to the floor. She stared, dumbstruck, at the bell, which didn't seem as alive as before. Her fall had disrupted a top-shelf-book's center of gravity and it broke the stillness by landing on her head with a thud, then falling onto her lap. She glanced down, and did a double-take upon realizing that the very book she's been searching for was right there in front of her. Golden letters on the front read "The Holy Bible."
She remembered a soft voice reciting pieces of this book to her in her childhood. Someone often sat across from her, trying to get her to understand the words. The attention span of a five-year-old made this very difficult. She remembered this person reciting something from Philip... something-or-other. "I can do all things through Christ, which strangthenest me." The fact that she could remember these words to this day surprised her. She strained to remember what this voice said after reading it. "This doesn't mean that every wish you make will come true, or that you won't ever struggle to reach your goals. If you ask for something selfish- pray for money or new toys- the prayers will be answered... with a no... What's wrong? Are you bored, Mercy? I have a gift for you!" Mercy remembered her excitement when her mother showed her the trinket; a thin chain with a silver flower. In the center was a pearl fastened above an onyx gem. The necklace had a hidden meaning, she was told. While at first glance it looked like a simple flower, it was designed to match the description of an angel. Put together, the jewels take the shape of a simple human figure. The sixteen petals that encircled the figure resembled the shape of wings. "When you look at this flower, remember that there is more to this world than what we can see. Never lose faith." Mercy had memorized every detail of the necklace, so much so that she could almost see it right in front of her. She snapped back into reality. She was seeing it right in front of her! The hooded man was holding it right in front of her eyes!
Louis
Through the grated doors, the elevator could be seen descending to a lower level. The hooded man still felt a little winded from the girl's attack but it didn't hurt him as much as her reaction did. At first, he thought she was just playful and that running away from him was some kind of game. A closer look at her face revealed that she was terrified. He tried to calm her, putting on his best smile, but it didn't work. It only seemed to make things worse. While he had hoped that a friendly-looking face would alleviate the situation, he didn't actually expect it to help. The man's smile rarely cheered anyone up- it mostly just scared them. This time the girl ran away so fast that he couldn't even explain to her why he approached her. He felt in his pocket to see if the necklace was still there, and to his relief, it was. He sighed and began mumbling to himself. "I don't mean you any harm, I just wanted to give this to you..." He figured if he was going to try to find her again, he better think ahead instead of just speaking his mind. The hooded man looked around, hoping people weren't paying too much attention to him. There was only one person left in this section of the library- a staff member from the looks of it- and she seemed to be preoccupied, focusing on a textbook. He decided to leave before he somehow finds a way to scare her, too.
He dashed through the rows of bookcases and back towards the hall. The elevator could faintly be heard re-surfacing, but it would've costed the hooded man more time. He continued on back to the staircase and studied the first floor's layout, making a guess as to where the girl ended up. He was drawn to the sound of a passing argument- or was it a lecture? It seemed very one-sided. "Do I have to do everything for you?! Yesterday, you forgot to re-shelf the returns! I know you have exams to study for, but do you have to do so while on the job? You know, I'm starting to think you're just lazy-" The man stepped aside, let the employees past him while trying not to bring attention to himself, then continued on once they were out of sight. He somehow ended up in a restricted section. The staff must have been too distracted to notice. He could see the old elevator down the wider hallway and assumed the girl must be around here somewhere. The hooded man stepped quietly, hoping not to frighten her away if she was. It was quiet as the grave until a thud echoed through a set of doors. He managed to open them slowly, without making a sound.
The wide storage room contained many lost treasures from times past. Ancient swords in displays, dusty paintings on the wall, boxes of old books from around the world, these were all hiding away in this room. It seemed that the girl had chosen this as a hiding place as well. Messy, black, bob somehow seemed messier than before. The poor thing must have really been in a panic to get away. She sat near the back, staring unceasingly at an old bell and didn't seem to notice him. "Please don't get scared and run away this time." He thought to himself while stepping around boxes and tables. Even as he got closer, she still didn't seem to notice him. She was spaced out, sitting up against a bookcase. He finally stood right in front of her, but still didn't get a response. Worry began to cloud his mind. What did the girl mean when she said she didn't want to die like her mother? "Please don't be afraid. I only wanted to give you this..." He held the necklace out in front of her face, and for a brief moment, she smiled, but then she suddenly snapped out of her daydreaming. "Don't hurt me!" She screamed. The man swiftly covered her mouth with his hand and held her against the bookcase. "I mean you no harm. I saw you drop this necklace and only wanted to give it back to you. Please don't scream, or we're both in trouble." He placed the trinket into her hand and released his grip on her mouth. He attempted a friendly smile, but still managed to make it look unsettling. "See, that wasn't so scary. I'm just glad you didn't hurt yourself." The girl reached up to rub her head, indicating that she did indeed hurt herself somehow. With a long sigh, he looked down and finally noticed the book laying in the girl's lap. He was caught by sudden realization.
"The Holy Bible? Is this what you-" "N-no, it was an accident!" She cut him off. "I didn't mean to- I mean it just fell on me. I didn't read it, I swear!" She attempted to toss it away, but he pulled it out of her hand before she could. "So there actually was a copy hidden here, after all. What a find!" He inspected the cover and skimmed through some of the pages. This was clearly well taken care of. "You can take it, if you want- You can burn it, if you want! I don't care..." Her words stung like a dagger in his heart. "Burn it?! I'm not going to burn something so... valuable! What do I look like, one of those anti-christian radi- Oh!" He glanced down at his outfit. The girl must have mistaken his foodie and black pants as one of their cloaks. "Did you... think I... was one of them?" The girl looked up at him as though actually seeing him for the first time. Her eyes widened and she grew red from embarrassment.
He felt a little offended, since, while his outfit did resemble what the extremists wear when they commit violent acts, there should have been enough differences to keep anyone from assuming he was with them. While his foodie might look like a cloak at a glance, anyone should have noticed that it wasn't after a brief amount of time. Another major difference was the white stripe around the extremists' hoods that usually contain a large red dot in the top center. This design that looked similar to the Japanese flag served to remind people of the extremists' goal; to preserve Japan's culture and beliefs and to defend it from foreign influence. They usually go to extreme means to reach this goal. Violence seems to be encouraged among st the group and they don't shy away from kidnapping, torture, or even murder to get their point across. "I'm not that scary, am I?" He pulled his hood down to be sure.
"Sorry, My name's Louis. Louis Zeno. What's yours?" He reached his hand out to help pull her up onto her feet. She accepted his help and after staring at him in silence for a moment, she finally answered his question. "Mercy Mochizuki." She glanced down at the book. "And, yes... I was here looking for... that." "Mochizuki?! Mercy?!" Louis looked at her, mouth agape. "It's a weird name. I know..." She fiddled her thumbs and looked down at her bare feet. He gave a gentle laugh. "I think it's one of the best names I've ever heard." In truth it was, but there was something else about it... An announcement started playing through the loudspeakers. "Minamoto Tower Library is now closed. Anyone found loitering will be escorted out. Thank you for visiting!" Mercy pointed to the doors. "What if they come back?" She had a nervous expression and started shifting her weight back and forth. "We have to move. Maybe we can leave without being seen." He started to head towards the doors and turned back to see Mercy still standing in the same place. She had her eyes fixed on the book in his hand. "Don't worry." Thinking quick, he shoved the book into his foodie pocket and stuck his hands into them to keep it hidden. "They won't even know it's gone."
She followed him out through the doors and they headed down the winding hallway. Louis thought, once again, of the statement she made about her mother. What horrors had this girl gone through for her to be so jumpy... And was he really scary enough to make her run away? He had questions and wanted to ask them right away, but this just wasn't the time for them. Louis paused to listen for any footsteps around them, but could only hear their own faint breathing. Mercy finally stepped closer and gave him a look that urged him to continue. Following through with this suggestion, Louis finally took a few steps out into the front office. She followed closely. The exit was ahead, and they had almost made it to the doors before someone stood up from behind a computer monitor. "Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" Louis spun around to face him and tried to think of an explanation. "We lost track of time-" The staff member narrowed his eyes. "Excuses won't help. It's after hours. Only employees are allowed inside at this time." He stood tall with perfect posture, arms crossed over his uniform. He was strictness and punctuation personified, an upstanding citizen doing his job perfectly, and exactly the opposite of what they needed at the moment. "I know, but we were just-" Louis started to talk, but was interrupted again. "Rules are rules. They are made to be followed. If you cannot respect rules, you cannot respect authority, are we clear?" The man started pacing behind the desk. "Yes." Louis had just enough time to say this before the man started speaking again. "And what of that girl? What has she to learn from your actions? She already has enough disrespect to walk around with bare feet, do you think she'll-" There was a commotion behind an open office door. The man gave a long, frustrated sigh. Another staff member sat on the ground in the doorway and pages were scattered around her. "I'm so sorry, Yuuto. I was trying to fix the printer, but I might have made it worse." He turned swiftly to assess the damage. "Might have? It's on the ground- in pieces, no less! Did you even manage to print the fliers?" He started to help her gather pages and pieces of the printer. "No, but I did manage to make papers fly." The man groaned at this statement but the woman laughed. Mercy was already at the door and waving urgently for Louis to follow. He wasted no time and the both of them finally made it out of the library. They ran down the sidewalk, made a sharp turn into an alleyway, and stopped to catch their breath. There was a faint tobacco scent in the air. This must have been where employees take smoke breaks. "Do you think they'll come after us?" Mercy kept looking over to the sidewalk, then back to Louis. "... No." He was unsure, but wanted to settle her nerves. "But I think we should stay here for a minute before moving on... just in case..." Louis pulled his hands out of his pockets and looked down at the book, only to quickly jam his hands back into his pockets. Just seeing the book gave him courage. Mercy seemed to have a similar idea. She pulled the necklace out of the side pocket on her shorts, held it close to her face to search for damage, then put the chain around her neck. Both stood in silence, waiting for a safer moment to speak again.
Yuuto
"Honestly, how have you kept your job all this time?" Yuuto placed the collected papers into the printer. Sure, it had a few dents and dings in it, but it should still work just fine. His coworker stood behind him, dusting herself off. "I mean, you can't even manage a simple task like printing some fliers." After brushing blonde strands back into place with her fingers, the young woman placed her uniform hat back over her shoulder length hair. She attempted to speak. "I know how to print fliers, but I couldn't find the file-" He searched through the folders and instantly found one labeled 'Fliers.' "I'll ask again..." After clicking on the folder, be began scrolling through the images. "How do you still have this job?" He stopped on the one in question, a flier that gave details about a calculus study session in the library. "The job I got you." He selected the correct print options and the printer started up. "You need to be more careful. If I wasn't looking out for you, Mr. Miyamoto would never tolerate someone like you working here." The fliers finished printing and Yuuto placed them on the desk for tomorrow. He turned and looked at her with real concern in his eyes. "I know you could do better than this, Faith. You've got to believe it, too." Faith sighed and nodded solemnly. "You have a point..." She grabbed her book bag and started heading out the door. "Well, I better get going! See you tomorrow!" Yuuto waved at her. "I'll finish up here. Good luck with your exam!" Faith was already out the door.
Yuuto logged out of the computer and turned off the light before walking back out into the main office. "Now, where was I-" His words echoed in an empty room. Where did those two delinquents go? He hurried over to the glass door and looked out, but there was no sign of them.
 ScribeEzra · Wed Sep 06, 2017 @ 11:30pm · 2 Comments |
