Act II. Part I.

[Begins early in the morning, at Toshiko's family estate]

Ryu tells Mila and Toshiko about Ar, and what he had explained to him the night before...

"What does that mean for us now? What are we supposed to do?" Mila asked with a defeated expression.

"Well, the easiest answer: find out what happened." Toshiko answered in a reassuring voice as he looked at Mila from across the wooden dining table they were sitting at. "When Lars dropped us off at the station, I recognized an insignia on one of the decorations he wore. The insignia belongs to the Isochron."

"And, from just that, we know he's either from the church or the royal family." Mila added.

"Exactly. My grandfather said there's a Lars that works under the king, narrowing it down even further for us. That means," Toshiko paused, "someone from the royal family saved us!" He concluded with an upbeat and excited tone.

"Not all of us." Ryu whispered under his breath. He let those last words, ice-cold, hang in the air.

"So the only way to find out more is to find Lars," Mila proposed as she broke the awkward silence. "Coincidentally, we have a school trip today. He'll have to be at the museum showcasing today because the royal family is attending, and that's only if they are the same person. We need to have a plan."

"Why do we need a plan? Isn't he on our side?" Toshiko asked her with a confused expression.

"Whatever we're doing today, if we don't get to school early we'll miss the trip." Ryu said before anything else could be uttered in that room.

The three began to leave the house. Ryu and Mila headed to the entrance to get their shoes while Toshiko called their family driver.

Ryu knelt on one knee and began to tie his shoelaces when Mila asked him a question.

"The voice, "Ar", is he speaking to you now?"

"No, he's been quiet since last night, probably sleeping. He said that he has to constantly sleep or he'll… Speaking of, you've reminded me of something he said last night. It was… odd."

"Odd? How?"

"He said that Aika couldn't speak." Ryu said slowly as he lifted his head and turned to face Mila.

"But she was talking to us last night. What time did the voice stop talking to you?"

"Probably around 3:00 AM, why?"

"Ey, the car is here we have to go!" Toshiko shouted from further inside the house.

"We'll talk about this later. For now, let's try and solve at least one of our problems." Mila said with a somewhat tired expression.

The three stood outside of the main house as a long black car with tinted windows and no license plates stopped in front of them. They quickly got in and headed for their school.

"We have arrived at the desired location, young master." The driver announced.

They got out of the car and walked to where the school gates were supposed to be but, to their surprise, there was nothing there- rather, what was there couldn't be called their school.

A deep crevice was carved into the ground before them. A tall spring of water shot to the sky, sprouting from the center as light reflected off of the stream and surrounded it with a dazzling glow. Looking up, recognizable bits and pieces of their school levitated around the spring in a rotating motion.

"Let's go check it out." Toshiko suggested to the others.

"No," Mila said with a firm tone." Right now we know too little about our current 'state', let alone stuff like this. Let's drive to the museum and meet up with our class there."

They get back into the car and drive off. Moments later, they arrive at the museum and park across the street.

Before they could get to the museum, there were large, white steps that had lion head monuments on each side.

Atop the white steps stood a two-storey, U shaped building made completely out of some sort of white stone. Making it look like it was from an ancient civilization. It had an M-shaped roof that had white tinted glass rectangles spread across it and, below it, were giant pillars spanning from one end of the museum to the other. All the windows around the museum were also tinted white which, considering the fragility of the exhibits, was done to prevent exposure to direct sunlight.

The three walked up to the steps and joined one of the many lines going in. They had finally reached the main entrance that had two large bronze doors with a single lion head engraving on both sides that was completed when they closed.

Once they went in it was like it was an entirely different place. They were greeted with a large hall that was almost entirely white; the ceiling, the walls and the flooring were all a clean, crisp white. The hall was brilliantly lit by the sunlight that came through the glass in the ceiling, giving the room a cold and ethereal ambiance.

"The plan is to find Lars. It'll probably be a while before the royal family arrives. Until then, we split up and look for a place away from the main crowds to regroup and bring Lars." Toshiko tells the others.

Toshiko headed to the second floor and walked up to a window that had a view of the steps outside of the museum. A crowd seemed to form outside, anticipating the arrival of the royal family.

Just moments later, a red carpet was rolled out promptly. Slowly stretching from the bottom of the steps to the door of the museum as Toshiko watches in contemplative silence. With a noise of approval, Toshiko pulls out his phone and starts a group call. Both pick up immediately as the call connects with a click.

"I think the royal family is almost here. Where are you guys?" Toshiko asks in a hushed voice. However, his ear was only met with dead silence.

[Meanwhile]

Ryu walks around the museum and reaches a water fountain that was in the center of one of the corridors within the museum.

He started to look around and across the fountain, instantly spotting the back of an uncomfortably familiar figure.

*Ba-bump*

He recognized the white coat that reached the ankles of the other. The ashen hair and the dark skin were forever seared in his mind. How could he forget?

The figure began to turn around, and Ryu immediately went into a panic, unable to move because of the fear that gripped him. Meekly standing there as a cold wave of terror rooted him to the spot.

He started to feel a tingling sensation on his right leg and knew it was his phone that was vibrating, but even after realizing that, he still couldn't move his body. And, in the same instant, he felt something on his arm. He looked down. A hand had curled around his bicep, trapping him there with a bruising grip. Someone was grabbing him. Oh no.

He slightly raised his head, but because of the angle he had raised his head to, he could only see the hand's chestnut skin. Its owner's curly, long black hair dropped into his field of view and Ryu glanced up. Only to see a wide smile spanning from ear to ear aimed at him.

He raised his head even further to see the face of who was grabbing him. They locked eyes. Within seconds, reality seemed to fall apart at the seams, the room changing as the world bled away in a rush of light.

[Back at the museum fountain...]

Hishe turned around as he yawned. His stomach growled and a little frown pulled at his lips. "Damn, I'm hungry." He thought to himself, leaning against a nearby wall with arms crossed as he waited impatiently.

end