Chapter 3

.

.

.

.

Don't you agree that school is an intellectual wasteland?

It's a place where they gather teens and mess up their lives. Nothing more, nothing less. Oh wait, there's more; they brain wash you and insert your empty brain with pointless mathematical formulas and other unimportant things that won't be needed in life, then they send you out to the real world to fend for yourself.

Oh the joy.

Not only that, it's also the place where apparently every teen will be judged and placed according to what the public thinks they will be in the future. Which I think is absolutely stupid.

And if you're unlucky like me, then all those years of school will be a waste of your precious, precious life. Because trust me; no one needs to know calculus to live like a backpacker.

Cherry Red

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles © CLAMP

Felicia Levitt

Only after the wind die down did I regain my senses.

Droplets of water are pouring down on me, seeping into my hair and clothes. The sound of those droplets hitting the ground continuously, and the smell of wet earth—it's raining.

I open my eyes.

We are standing in the rain and we aren't alone. There are others; a boy on the ground, holding on to an unconscious girl, a man clad in black, and a woman in front of us.

I don't… What?

The rain is pouring hard, drenching us. The pitter-patter of the rain drowning out any other sound. Fai moves his arm from around me, and I let go of his coat, stepping away from him. I didn't realize I had been clutching onto him so tightly.

Fai and the man clad in black addresses the woman—the Dimensional Witch, I hear Fai call her. I keep my mouth shut, choosing to only listen to the two men bicker, and the woman occasionally explains things that didn't make much sense.

This is Japan?

A wish granting shop?

Fai wants to…never go back home? And the man wants to go home…?

What's going on?

Everyone turns to me. I blanch, realizing that I might have said that out loud.

"And what is your name?" the woman addresses me, her red eyes piercing right through me. She seems so intimidating, so otherworldly. Are eyes supposed to come in that shade of red?

"I-I'm Feli," I choke out. "Felicia Levitt."

The woman narrows her eyes just slightly at me, just enough to let me know that I need to take her seriously, "And what is your wish?"

I blink. My wish? I… I want to go back home. "H-ho—" I pause. But where is home? Back to that empty house, and that school filled with people who hate me? I'm as good as expelled now anyway. What good is going back? No one cares, no one needs me there. I…

What is my wish?

I had wanted it all to disappear didn't I? Is this it?

My eyes sweep over everyone, finally landing on Fai.

"I want to be able to run away." I said it, there. My wish, that's my wish; I want to run away—leave behind everything when I want to. To not have any…ties—to anyone, or anything.

The woman rubs her chin as if in thought. "That's a hard thing for you," she pauses. "No, for all four of you." She turns to each and every one of us, "Those wishes you have, if you pay separately, you won't have enough. But if you four pay together, it might barely be enough."

"What?" I can't help saying out loud. I don't understand, what is she talking about… And I wasn't the only one confused, everyone seems just as lost as I am. The man clad in black has made it quite clear that he's not willing to give up his sword. By now I'm too lost to even make sense of the woman's words. We're going to travel through dimensions? What?

I see the man thrust his sword at her, seeming to agree to hand it over. Fai's price is some sort of marking that I just can't fathom. The woman turns to me, "Your price is your home."

"What?" I blink.

"The most important thing to you is your home, in a sense, a place where you belong," she explains.

I furrow my brows, "And you're going to take that away from me how…?"

"You can never stay in a place for too long. Once you find a place you can call home, you have to leave." The woman's eyes were hard, staring me down. A lump caught itself in my throat. To never have a home? That's too high of a price… How can I ever give away something like that? I don't understand.

"A-Are you being serious?" I ask. "You can take that away from me?"

"I can." She nods. "And I will if you agree to it."

I bite my lip. "What if I don't agree?"

"Then you won't have your wish granted, and you'll have to stay in this world." She looks down on me. "Possibly forever."

I look around, the realness of the situation finally dawning upon me. My eyes meet Fai's and I realize that he's the only real anchor I have here. He's going to leave, and if I don't go, I'll be left here. Alone. I… I don't have anyone here, in this unfamiliar place. Japan? I don't understand, I don't…

"I-I agree," I croak out. "I don't fully understand what's going on, but I don't want to stay here for the rest of my life."

The downpour is starting to settle, but the cold has seeped into my bones. My hair is plastered on my face, and I have to constantly move it away to be able to see. A boy in his teens suddenly comes running towards us, two contrasting stuffed animal in his arms. He hands over the white one to the woman.

"His name is Mokona Modoki. He will take you to different dimensions," I hear her say. This is all very hard to grasp, I decide. I can't tell anymore if this is reality or just some very messed up, very vivid dream. "Mokona can take you to another dimension, but he can't control where you'll land. Your with becoming true is only by luck."

She lifts the "Mokona". "But there are no coincidences in this world, there is only destiny." Her eyes meet each and every one of ours, "You were all destined to meet each other." I hug myself tight.

The boy's price is his relationship with the girl he's holding. I don't understand. How is it possible for the woman to take that away? Why would she want to take it away? What good will it do for her?

As I continue to look down, lost in my own track of mind, I fail to notice the wind unnaturally picking up around us. The "Mokona" suddenly sprouted wings that really had no business being that big. Before I knew it, the wind picks up its pace and I grabbed Fai's coat tightly, closing my eyes.

I really hope this is all just an expired food induced dream.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 3/END

Sunday, 17 May 2015

Author's Note:

That's 3 chapters in 1 day. I'm really doing it!