Spirit Chronicles: A New Beginning

S2 EP 4: Complications and the Truth

Rio had caught a huge bear and cooked it so he could get some food to Miharu, Aki, and Masato. The entire way, he worried about the possibility of who or what that could have been in the bushes? Did Latifa follow him again? Was there someone else behind him for some reason? Rio just shrugged it off as he saw the rock house in the distance. 

Knock Knock

The door opened and inside stood a black haired girl with very messy hair and the clothes from the day before on. "Yawn. Morning, Rio. What are you... doing here..." Rio walked inside behind Miharu and sat down on the floor inside.

"Sorry for the intrusion, you three. I just caught some bear and cooked you some for breakfast if you'd like." Aki and Masato nodded while Miharu gave a slight thumbs up. Rio gave them each their portion and he his.

"Thank you, Rio!" Masato yelled. "I was starving!" He started to eat down his meat while Aki punched his head for his behavior.

"Once all of you are done, can we talk?" Rio asked, getting three answers of yes. "Good. I would like to know what happened just before you all were thrown into this world." All three of them set their food down and looked him.

"We would like that answer as well, Rio." Aki sternly remarked. "Miharu and Masato can tell you what happened." She looked a little relieved for once which made Haruto feel slightly better. This was the first time he'd seen his sister not angry at him since she had arrived in his new world.

Miharu took a deep breath and started. "We we're in a place called Japan on Earth. Me and Aki we're talking to an upper class man, Sumeragi Satsuki, and then some sort of light shown on us. Everything went dark for a second and next thing I know, the three of us were in a feild."

"What about you, Masato?"

"I was talking to my brother at our house." Masato said. "Then, everything disappeared and I was with those two in a field." He looked confused to the matter, and Rio could agree. Whatever happened, someone must have brought them here, but why?

"Ok. I don't have all the answers, but do know one favorable thing." Rio implied. "If you three are here... then the two you were with may be here too..."

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Rio walked in the forest, unknowing of what to do. He wasn't in a strong situation and still had no plausible answers to who may have done this. When he had asked Aisha later, she had said she didn't know either, which furthered the problem. All he could do was walk down the dark paths of the forest that surrounded the village. Who could have the power to do something that would physically take the body and soul out of one world and place them in  another? It sure was not Charles since was pretty much weak, but then who? And why? "Why won't the answers just appear to me?"  Out of anger, Rio kicked a rock into a patch of shrubs.

"Eek!" 

A scream came from the bushes and the same rustle from earlier sounded. "So someone was following me earlier, huh."  Rio chased after the sound and while it got louder as he chased, but no physical object was visible. "Hello? I just want to talk to whoever you are, please!" None replied and Rio was forced to continue the chase.

When he finally lost the sound, he saw a huge tent in front of him. It looked like it had been here for some time, and Rio was starting to figure some things out. "I had better check things out. Good thing I still have my robe and the earring."  Rio pressed the earning, changing his hair color to a dusty tan and walked toward the tent.

RUSTLE RUSTLE

"There it is again... Is there someone still behind me?"  While entranced in thought, something jumped on Rio's back and clawed at him.

"I won't have you killing my uncle because I made a mistake, fiend!" the figure shouted from behind. "Leave or I won't let you get away!"

Rio couldn't see the person on his back, so he resorted to a last call. "I wasn't going to kill your uncle, whoever you are. I was just investigating because I didn't know who or what you were. You could have been the kingdom looking for me."

The figure immediately jumped off him when he had said all he needed. "I'm sorry! I thought you were trying to attack me, sir. But still... who are you?" Rio wanted to ask the same thing, but since the figure sounded to be female, he didn't think he should do that yet.

"I had better not lead with my real name just in case. Until I can see who this is..."  Rio knew that one small slip-up could cost him what he had just tiredly worked for. "I'm Haruto. A wanderer who just made a home in a village near here. Who are you?"

"Will you promise not to tell anyone?" the girl asked, getting a small yes from Rio. "Ok. It's..." The girl was stopped by the sight of someone exiting the huge tent. He had blonde hair, ragged clothes, and only a small sword at his side.

"Princess! What are you doing?"

After that, Rio had become lost in his thoughts. "Wait. The girl behind me is a princess? Then why is she attacking me? And why is this guy so ragged looking?"  Rio didn't know what to say, so he remained quiet.

"Uncle, I'm sorry!" the girl cried. "This guy found us, but don't worry! He said he won't attack us as long as we don't attack his village!" Rio almost wanted to just try and run, but he knew that would cause unnecessary problems.

"You still can't just attack someone you don't know, Princess!" the man protested. "For all you know, he could just be someone traveling. This is no way of a princess!"

The girl gave a small sigh which was probably the most confusing thing of the whole conversation. "Uncle, you know that I'm not a princess anymore. According to the kingdom, we're wanted and aren't royalty anymore."

"Wait! So this guy is a royal as well."  Rio thought. "I thought that this guy looked familiar. But I still can't quite place his face..."  While lost in concentration, Rio felt a hand touch his shoulder and froze entirely.

"You can stop with this, good sir." the girl said. "I'm sorry if we caused any trouble for you. See, we're former royalty on the run from our own kingdom. If you could take us to this village of yours, we would really appreciate it, sir." The girl sounded desperate as if things weren't going well, but a strange thought gripped Rio's mind. Why we're these two running? What did they do?

"Better keep quiet for now..."

"I think that would be ok, but we had better run it by the elders first. Can I get your names first however?" 

"My name is George Beltrum." the man said, opening a whole new world of thoughts to Rio. He turned around and there stood a peculiar sight in front of him. "No way that this girl is again standing in front of me..."

The girl looked at him with series eyes and Rio found he could not believe his eyes. "And my name is Flora Beltrum. Ex Princess of the Beltrum Kingdom!"