Anime Cipher Chapter 14: Looking for the Last Sight Pt. 2

Rating: M (due to language only) 

Summary: 4 different stories all merge into one great adventure. Kiara Davis, a high school senior has no love greater than anime. But how will she react when some of her favorite anime characters are actually appearing in front of her own eyes? And not only that, but she gets pulled into their world as well! Could it be because of her own private code she created out of pure boredom? What is all this leading to? 

“Ah!” Rikia gritted as she was hit back. Keito stood over her, ready to hit her as she blocked his brass knuckles with her scythe. He hit him back, but he charged again as Ryutaro’s kusarigama cut in, hitting him away. Riki went to strike as an arrow hit her hood, pinning her against the wall. Tsubasa fired another at Ryuu who managed to hit it back and they continued to go at each other. In a few hours, they laid on the floor exhausted.

“Damn it.” Keito gritted, punching the ground. “Come on. We got to keep going.”

“Keito. You’re overworking yourself again.” Rikia panted as she sat up.

“No, I’m not.” he answered, getting up, soon taking a stance. “Come on. The three of you against me.”

“Are you kidding me? Keito, you look like you’re gonna drop dead any second.” Ryutaro gave him a look. He glared, “Oh yea? Try me-” A whack came to the back of his head as Tsubasa scolded, “Keito, what if the Kirst came right now? You’d be screwed. Your shadow would be consumed and you would be eaten. In a snap too.”

“Are you implying I’m weak?” he glared.

“No. I’m implying you’re making yourself vulnerable.” she answered. “No matter how strong you can become, without rest, you’ll be the easiest target.” He was silent, but soon headed off. Ryuu sighed, “You did it again.”

“If I didn’t do it, he would’ve worn us all out and we’d all become Kirst meals.” she answered. “Is that what you want?”

“Of course not. But you know how he gets when he’s moody.” he groaned.

“... Yeah, I’ll get Kyoumi.” she sighed, finally getting up.

“It’s okay. You girls rest up. I’ll find her.” Ryuu said heading to the door faster. HE soon left as Rikia asked, “So… we’re done training. What now?”

“Rest up. Do whatever you want.” she shrugged.

“Like what?” Rikia wondered. “Ever since we’ve teamed up, all we’ve done is run and fight the Kirst. This is like the longest break we’ve had from them.”

“Then we might as well enjoy it while it last.” Tsubasa answered.

“... You... don’t think it will last?” Rikia gave her a look. “I thought I was the pessimistic one.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I mean, the Kirst are still out there. Even worse, the Pipers. And until we stop them, we’ll never get a break like this again.” she explained. She got up smiling, “But it’s only a matter of time. We only need one more Sight and we’ll get that scroll.”

“The scroll.” Rikia thought. “... What do you think it could do?”

“From what they said, anything and everything.” Tsubasa answered. “Can you just imagine? We’ll finally be free of the Kirst. After 5 long years of fighting, running, and loss…”

“It seems almost too good to be true.” Rikia sighed in response.

“Hey, don’t go pessimistic on me. It will happen. The Sights will make sure of it.”

“Are you kidding me?” she groaned. “Majority of the time, it doesn’t seem like they know what they’re doing. I mean they’ve only known about this for a few months!”

“That may be true, but look at Kia. She’s knows so many things about us that we don’t even know about each other.” Tsubasa pointed out. “Think what she could know about the Kirst, Yukio, all the Pipers. If she knew what the Kirst’s weakness is, we may not even need the scroll. They’re the Piper’s entire army. Without them, there’s only a few of them versus our huge group.”

“Yes, but one of them is Yukio. And three of them have abilities beyond our group.” Rikia answered.

“Yes, but we have 8 people who also have abilities.”

“Look, we’ve had trouble with Yukio just as long as the Kirst and he’s still alive. He’s powerful, Tsubasa. And he’s not the one leading the Pipers. Think about how much harder it will be to beat them.”

“It’s harder, but not impossible.” they heard as someone approached. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Tsubasa shrugged it off as Ryosuke soon stood in front of them, “I’ll admit. I can be the same way too. Without realizing it, I’ll think of everything that could go wrong.”

“That’s not help-” Tsubasa gave him a look as he continued, “But that isn’t always a bad thing. For me, I’m the right hand of the knights. I make sure they stay focused and get them everything they need for the mission. I’ve always tried to push my pessimism to the side, thinking it would ruin our chance of success, but Hikaru… That optimist saw past it. Because I always looked at the negative parts to certain things, something he could never do, I was able to see where some of his plans could’ve went wrong.”

“Okay it’s great that being pessimistic isn’t always a bad thing, but we’re not trying to encourage it.”

“I know.” he nodded. “But first step isn’t to think of it as a problem.”

“... It doesn’t matter.” Rikia sighed. “I mean you may be right about it being possible, but what are our chances? They’re extremely low.”

“... Before our last meeting, did you know about the Alvador?” he wondered. She shook her head, “No. Barely any of us knew. I think on Keito did.”

“About the same here.” he nodded. “The late King, Prince Kei’s father believe in the Alvador ever since he was young and although he rarely spoke about it, he always worshiped the Alvador.”

“How do you know this?” Tsubasa wondered. “Prince Kei never mentioned that his father knew about the Alvador.”

“Because my father was the King’s head Knight. And his best friend.” he explained. “My father often told me of a powerful being that watched over us, but he never gave me the name.”

“What’s the point of this?” Tsubasa asked, not understanding where this was going.

“My father always told me, everything that happens, happens for a reason.” he told Rikia. “Whatever made you become pessimistic, it happened to make you stronger for the future. You shouldn’t dread on it too much.”

“... you don’t know what I went through…”

“Have you ever tried to talk to you friend here about it?” Ryosuke smiled to Tsubasa. “It’s hard to take that first step out of the past, but you don’t need to take that step along. It will be huge weight off your shoulders when you get out of the past, and move towards the future.”

“If she doesn’t want to talk about it, then she doesn’t have to.” Tsubasa protected.

“Heh, looks like you got stuff to get off your chest too.” he said taking her by surprise. “Looks like you should talk to her too.”

“Then what about you? Why did you become so pessimistic?” Rikia wondered as he thought about whether or not to answer. He sighed, “... Because I’m a coward… and because I’m a coward, I have no confidence within my own abilities… and I lost everything important to me.”

“Wha-” Rikia gave him a look as he got up, “Well, I should go. I need to sharpen Yuya’s sword.” Before they could say anything, he left the room as Tsubasa sighed, “Man, he wasn’t kidding? How could he leave us after saying something like that…”

“... Come on. Let’s go get something to eat.” Rikia said heading out, not wanting to continue on the subject. Tsubasa following with a smile, “Yeah, that work out really made me hungry too.”

“How is he?” Mai heard as she fixed the blanket on Yuto as he slept. Yuya came in with Hikaru as she said, “Still out cold. But he seems fine. I guess he’s just really worn out.”

“He’s been through a lot…” Hikaru nodded.

“Where were you two?” she wondered. “Were you training again?”

"Scouting the castle. You never know when someone may spot us." Yuya answered as they heard a knock at the door. "It's open." Aoki peeked in, "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"No, what do you need?" Yuya asked as she looked at Hikaru, "Can I talk to you? Privately?"

"Yeah." He beamed following her out, leaving Yuya and Mai with Yuto.

“Hey.” Yuya called as Mai turned to him, “What is it?”

“... Are you ok?” he asked seriously, catching her off guard.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been using your abilities a lot lately. The Sights… Kia, she’s always relying on you to get everyone out of dangerous situations.”

“Yes, because we need to help. And if that’s what I can do to make sure we all get out of there safely-”

“That’s not the point.” he stopped her. “Mai, remember when we first met?” She went quiet as he told her, “There’s a reason why the guardians never ask you to teleport us anywhere. You may be stronger than that time, but you’re teleporting ten times as many people.”

“Don’t worry so much-” she gave a soft smile as he grabbed her shoulders turning her to face him. He gave her a look, “Don’t you think I know you by now? I can tell how exhausted you are.”

“I’m fine-”

“No you’re not.” he answered. “Mai, when we’re in battle, you’re always teleporting. When we’re home, you’re always working. You barely have time to rest.”

“It’s my job, Yuya. Of course I’m working as hard as I can.” she responded. “What other option do I have?”

“Take a break. Regain some strength. It’s only a matter of time before we go against the Pipers again and if anything were to go wrong, the Sights will need your help to get us out of there.”

“And I’ll do everything I can to do that.” she answered. “No matter what may happen.”

“And that’s what I’m afraid of. You can’t put yourself in a position like that!” he scolded as she gave him a look, “Sh! Look, Yuto is trying to rest and if you’re going to be yelling at me, I’d rather not have this conversation.”

“... I’m sorry alright? I’m just worried about you.” he said sincerely.

“I know, but I want to help. You and Hikaru are always doing so much for the kingdom. You both can do a lot and there’s not much I can do with teleportation. So when its needed, it makes me happy that I’m being relied on. It’s work, but I’m glad that I get to help out.”

“... But look what its doing to you?” he stared at her. She was a bit slower than usual today and she had small bags under her eyes. It was obvious she was a bit sore for the last few battles. "It was painful to see you go through that and I don't want you to have to go through anything like that again." She sighed, turning away from him, back to Yuto, “Yuya-” She stopped as he suddenly hugged her from behind. A blush crept across her face as he whispered quietly in her ear, “Please, Mai. Even just for a little while, rest up. It’ll put me at ease.”

“... Fine. But just for a few hours.” she answered as she turned to look at him, Yuya not taking his arms away from her. He smiled sweetly as she told him, “But you have to look after Yuto while I rest, got it?”

“Alright.” he agreed. She was surprised as he suddenly leaned into her, kissing her. But soon, she wrapped her arms around his neck deepening the kiss. After a few more moments embracing each other, they pulled away to catch their breath as Yuya said, still close to her face, "I should let you go... You need to rest."

"Rest can wait." She said kissing him again.

"Is something wrong?" Hikaru wondered as the two walked down the hallway a bit. He flinched as she punched his arm belligerently, shouting at him, "Of course something's wrong! What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you know how worried I've been?!"

"Aww, come on." He sighed. "I'm alive aren't I? Isn't that all that matters?"

“That isn’t the point!” she growled. “Hikaru, I’m your best friend aren’t I? Do you know how much it hurt when I thought you died?” He nodded, “I know, and I’m really sorry about that, but you know crucial this is. I had to guide Yuto by the Alvador’s wish-”

“And why are you being so secretive about this?! Why won’t you tell us anything about what the Alvador told you?” she glared at him as he answered, “You know me Aoki. I’d tell you in a second if I could.”

“... A traitor?” she asked as he nodded. “I suppose one of the other Browsers told you?” She nodded as he said, “Yes, the Alvador mentioned that one person from each group would be chosen to be entrusted with the task of finding who it is.”

“And because you were with Yuto, Prince Kei was chosen for the task. As well as Kota, the detective. It’s just the Seekers group we still don’t know.” she explained. “... How do you think whoever it is got into our group?”

“It’s hard to say… I mean, we’ve all been together longer than I can remember.” he thought. “I mean, Mai is the newest one in our group, but she came long before this whole thing started.”

“... So then… wouldn’t that mean ‘if’ the traitor was among the Guardians, the Pipers would’ve been planning this for much longer than expected.” she thought as he nodded. “This is not good.”

“Not a bit.” He sighed. She asked, "how can I help?"

"What do you mean?"

"With this traitor? How can I help you find whoever it is?" She wondered. "The sooner we do, the sooner you can tell us everything you know right?"

"Yeah. I'm not too sure yet, but it is, they're getting the information really quickly to the Pipers. Lucky for us, the last few victories we had, I believe it to be because we were all watching each other too closely that the traitor didn't get to warn the Pipers."

"... How do you think I should approach this?" She asked. "Straightforwardly hunt some browsers down and interrogate then?"

"No, we can't have the traitor knowing we're onto them. That will make it a lot harder for us." He responded. "Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious." She nodded as the two stood in an awkward silence as she broke it, "Hikaru?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad you're back." She smiled.

"Me too-" they stopped as they heard someone rush out of Yuto's room towards them.

"Hikaru! He's awake." Mai said as he an Aoki quickly rushed to his room.

"So let's see if I got this right..." Hakufu said as she, Prince Kei, and Princess Rena stood over three different maps; one from each of their worlds laid out. She pushed them together as she said, "Here is where the Triad's lair, your enemies. And over there, the Kirst's, the Seekers enemies. As for the detectives... I don't know-"

"Adeth Prison." Kota said, walking in. "Akako is very experienced with hypnosis. She probably has everyone there under it."

"Except you?" Rena gave him a look as he nodded. "Never wanted to see her. Even when she tried to see me, I refused to talk with her."

"Why?" Hakufu wondered.

"Because if I talked to her, that would mean I was admitting I was just like every other criminal in that place. If I went to see her and get all the problems off my chest, it would've meant accepting what got me there in the first place was my fault."

".. And what got you arrested in the first place?" Kei questioned.

"That isn't important right now. I need to have a work with you." He said heading out as Kei followed. Hakufu sighed, turning back to the map, "Anyways, now that we have the three main locations of all the Pipers, we know which areas to avoid."

"... It matches up almost perfectly..." Rena pointed out. They looked at the edges of all the maps to see the rivers, towns, everything on the map matched, as if they were a puzzle to one larger map.

"You're right..." Hakufu realized. "All the worlds really are connected."

"This side..." Rena pointed. "It's all empty. And the farthest from the Pipers. We should head that way."

"Yeah. Do you know what's going on with them right now? The Pipers?" She asked in response. Rena shook her head, "I can't see into their minds unless I'm within a hundred meters of them." Hakufu sighed, looking at her watch, "and of course, Kia's running late."

"Do you think she can do it? Find the last sight?" She wondered as Hakufu shrugged, "I dunno. I mean it's been seven months since she's been seen... But she is Kia's best friend. If anyone can find her, Kia can."

"... So you didn't know about this Rayna?"Hakufu shook her head, "Vaguely. Just the one time when I first got to be in Kia’s treehouse."

"Strange. It really seems like you're her best friend. You two are always together." She answered as Hakufu seemed to ponder it.

"... Kia... Is definitely something special. It's been too long since anyone has been able to climb over my high walls." She sighed with a soft smile. "She's definitely become one of my best friends. But the friendship we have is obviously not as strong as her relationship with Rayna."

"That doesn't mean you can't have the same thing with her. You're allowed more than one best friend you know."

"I know. But I feel like I'll always be second best compared to her." She sighed. "But it's okay. Thanks to Kia, I was able to open up to a little more people. I mean there's Daiki and our other friend Oburi. If not for Kia, I might not have given them the chance."

"What made you build those high walls of yours in the first place?"

"... Let's just say something happened and it scarred me from trusting people." She answered. "And if appreciated it if you didn't read my mind to satisfy your curiosity."

"As long as you don't read mine." She laughed.

"Oh, got something to hide?" Hakufu asked. She rolled her eyes in response, "not that you'll ever find out."

"Hey." They jumped as someone appeared in the room. "Sorry I'm late."

"About time Kia." Hakufu said. "How did it-"

"She's on the run." Kia said looking down at the map. "I tried to help her but she ran to avoid whatever was chasing her."

"Was it the Pipers?" Rena wondered as she shrugged.

"I dunno. I didn't see anyone, but she was warning me to run." She observed the map. "... I've tried to locate her so many times but it is always fuzzy."

"Maybe she's just powerful and she's covering up where she is?" Rena questioned.

"Then we need to even the match. Let's do it together Kia." Hakufu suggested. She nodded as they both focused on the map. "Locate! Rayna Valentine!" The map lit up, but faded, not finding her.

"Damn." Kia groaned. "I thought we had something...."

"Is there anyway she could be more powerful than two sights combined?" Hakufu asked. Rena shrugged, "maybe Yuto should try with you guys?"

"Is he still asleep?" Kia asked as Rena responded, "Mai's been watching over him. We haven't heard anything yet-"

"I'm up." They heard as Yuto came in, Hikaru right behind him as well as Kei and Kota. Kia smiled, "Great timing. Could you-"

"No I can't." He stopped her. "Look... As much as I hate to admit it. You all saved my life. So thanks."

"Don't mention it." Kia answered. "You would've done the same-"

"How would you know that?" He gave her a look. "We don't even know each other so don't be saying things in my name."

"So what? You would've let us die?" She have him a look as he seemed to flinch. He regain his composure, arguing, "Not if I had to risk my own life for your stupid actions-"

"Yuto. I just asked to you to thank them. That's enough." Hikaru stated. He groaned in annoyance as Kia said, "... If you're really grateful, then you'll help us locate the final Sight."

"You know who it is?" He gave her a look as she nodded, "but she's powerful. She was able to cover her trail with both Hakufu and my power trying to locate her."

"...fine." He gave in. "But this is it. I've repaid my debt."

"Alright." She nodded as he scribbled on his arm. "Her name is Rayna Valentine." The three focused on the map as they said, "Locate! Rayna Valentine!" Once again, the map glowed, but faded, not being able to locate her.

"What?" Yuto said in disbelief.

"Kia, if Rayna is this powerful... Than there's no wonder she's on the run. If the Pipers get their hands on her-"

"It's not that." Yuto realized. "Even if she were that powerful, it's not easy to hide from the power of three sights with ease. Even two sights is hard to hide from. She must be using an alias."

"An alias... Like a cover name?" Kei wondered as he nodded. "Yeah. To hide, she gave a fake name do if anyone tried to locate her, they wouldn't be able to be tracked."

"What? No. She's Rayna. She wouldn't lie-"

"Kia, you said she went missing over seven months ago. That means she been in this a lot longer than you and me. Maybe she knew about the Pipers. Maybe she was hiding long before she met you." Hakufu said. "She's still your friend, Kia. She just... Had to hide some stuff from you."

"... Daiki told me that the more I knew, the more I'd get pulled into the anime world and be found out by the pipers." She remembered. "A few days before Rayna disappeared, she was acting strange. And being super secretive. That started when she it's saw me writing the code."

"So she knew. That you were a sight?" Kota wondered. She nodded, "She knew even before I knew what a Sight was... I think she left to protect me. From becoming known to the Pipers. She led them off my trail." She turned to Yuto, "I may know more about the anime world, but you know more to being a Sight. There has to be another way to find her."

"What?"

"Come on. You must know another way."

"Forget it. I've already done my part." He answered. "You can do the rest on your-"

"Come on, we're a team, aren't-"

"No we're not!" He growled. "I told you! I don't work in a team! I don't need you pulling me down."

"Yuto-" Hikaru began as he stubbornly answered, "No! If you want to stay, then be my guest! One less person holding me back." Before Hikaru could respond, he shouted, "Teleport! Grey's Cove!" He vanished as Koa growled scribbling on her arm, "Oh, hell no! Not only did you scream at me but you ditched your own partner?! Teleport! Gre-”

“Kia, it’s alright!” Hikaru stopped her. “... He just… needs some space.”

“Why do you let him treat you like that?!” she asked angry. “You’ve been by his side all this time and he treats you like you’re something he can easily just toss out.”

“... It wasn’t easy for him to do that.” he shook his head. “That’s why he stormed off.”

“What?”

“I don’t know Yuto as well as I’d like to, but I do know him a bit. He tends to hide his true feelings behind harsh words.” he answered as she groaned, “That still doesn’t give him any right to treat you that way.”

“Have you ever thought about why Yuto acts the way he is?” he pointed out, catching her attention. “No one is who they are just because they were born that way. Everyone gets affected by events that happen in their lives.”

“So, you know what made him this way?” Hakufu wondered.

“No. But, I’m not gonna judge him based on how he acts around me. After all, he could have his reasons for being the way he is. No one’s perfect right?”

“I understand that, but you’re his friend. That isn’t anyway to treat a friend no matter what might have happened in his past.” she answered. “Friendship… isn’t something to take lightly-” A sudden shake took them all by surprise as they fell to the ground.

“What the hell was that?!” Rena groaned.

“Did we hit something?” Hakufu asked as Kota answered, “We’re in the sky. What could we hit?”

“It’s more reasonable than an earthquake.” Kia said. The all felt a powerful surge enter their bodies as she said, “Did you guys…”

“Yeah.” they all nodded as they soon heard, “Guys! What the hell is going on?!” Keito rushed in with the other Seekers. The remaining Guardians and Karina came in after as the unsettling feeling stayed with them all.

“What is this…” Karina wondered. “It’s as if… something’s about to happen… something bad.”

“No…” Hikaru realized. “Something’s not about to happen. Something has already happened. It’s the barrier.”

“What?!” Everyone stared at him in disbelief. “No way! They couldn’t have…”

“Yeah. The second barrier must have been found.” he nodded, ominously. “And that powerful surge we all felt as well as the quake. It must mean it was open.” Panic came to all of the Browsers as Rena said, “That’s impossible! Only the Sights could open the barriers!”

“And if you, me, or Yuto didn’t open it…” Hakufu said to Kia as fear filled her body.

“Oh no…” she thought. “Rayna must’ve opened it. Meaning… the Pipers have her.”