Reality Is Merciless 2

Chapter 7

The ghosts of Yuka and Zena were sitting there, along with Chloe.

They were all holding hands and had a great sense of serenity.

"Oh my..." Chloe speaks up, "You two have been through a lot."

At the same time, they all reach their hands out and produce a dim light.

The aura moves towards us and hug the cuts and bruises scattered all over our bodies. My body is filled with a warm sensation and, before I knew it, all my injuries had vanished.

"Whoaa!!" Scarlet cracks a huge grin, "That's so cool!!!"

"I know, right?" Yuka chuckles at her sister's usual bubbly attitude.

Scarlet laughs in reply, shedding a few tears.

"I really missed you guys..." I smile, trying not to cry too.

"We missed you too!" Chloe giggles, joining in with the cheerfulness.

"You know..." Yuka fiddles with her fingers as she blushes from shyness, "We're so grateful we met you all."

She continues, "Sis, we love and appreciate you, and we always will. Don't forget that."

Zena joins in, "And Mika...we admire everything you've done, truly."

"Lastly, Izzy, keep that chin up!" Chloe grins.

"H-huh?" Isabelle looks up at the trio, startled.

"We forgive you." explains Chloe, "And we're proud of you."

Scarlet brings Izzy and I into a hug, the three of us sobbing uncontrollably.

"Thank you." We say in chorus.

"No worries," Yuka nods, "Things are going very well for us in our world."

"Them two actually live together now!" Chloe laughs. They must be spending lots of fun times together.

"How are things in Tagami?" Zena asks timidly.

"We all have our own homes, families and jobs..." I explain, smiling to myself as I think of it in my head.

"And life is overall never dull and it's full of surprises!!!" Scarlet punches the air, pumped up as always.

"I'm so grateful to be able to keep living in the peaceful town of Tagami." Isabelle explains, "I couldn't be happier."

"That's good to hear." Chloe says, "But why are you all here now? What happened?"

"Well..." Scarlet steps forward, deciding to be the one to tell them the story, "We all went to a meeting with Admin, but passed out and ended up scattered around the place! Lots of scary, threatening things have happened to us on our journey...but we're slowly reuniting again."

She continues, "That reminds me...we haven't found Meeko yet."

"Oh! Not too long ago, I saw Meeko go that way!" Yuka points to one of the paths.

"Let's get going then, shall we?" Izzy nods.

"Okay!" Scarlet is the first one to run toward the path, "Thanks sis!!!"

"No problem!" Yuka waves.

"Safe travels!" Chloe grins at us.

"Farewell." Zena bows politely.

Once again, the three of us make our way down the dark forest path.

~~~

As we walk through the forest we start to relax. We travel in silence (apart from Scarlet's humming.)

The longer I walk, the closer Isabelle seems to get to me. Then eventually, her fingers start to touch mine.

Before she manages to grasp my hand, I look at her.

"S-sorry..." She pulls her arm away in embarrassment.

"Hey, don't worry!" I hold her hand, "We're friends after all."

She stays silent and looks away...I hope I didn't upset her.

"Look!" The awkwardness in interrupted by Scarlet pointing at something up ahead.

I squint and eventually clearly see Meeko, trapped inside a rope cage hanging from a tree. He's trying to cut through the ropes with the sword his master gave him, but it's no use.

We use various different tools and materials from around the forest and in our bags to free him.

He flinches and crashes to the ground, before looking up at us, startled.

"Sorry Meeko," Scarlet helps him up, "You okay?"

He nods, "Yes, thank you all."

Now that the group is fully reunited, we bring ourselves together into a warm hug.

We spend a few minutes catching up and calming ourselves down, until suddenly some footsteps catch up to us.

Chloe, Yuka and Zena approach us and heal up Meeko.

"Nice to see you guys again!" Chloe smiles.

"I'm glad to see that you found Meeko safe and sound!!" Yuka mentions.

Meeko bows at them in thanks.

"We wanted to explain something to you all..." Zena speaks up.

"Yes," Chloe nods, "The dangers up ahead."

Yuka explains for us, "We must warn you that there are much more horrid obstacles ahead, so please be careful."

"We will!" Scarlet reassures her sister, "You can count on us!"

"But that's not all." Yuka continues, " We also discovered that the forest is constantly shifting."

"Shifting?" Izzy tilts her head in confusion.

"Yes. Changing position, changing shape." Explains Zena, "Constantly."

"I see...that's good to know." I nod, "We'll stay safe."

"Well then..." Chloe looks at her two friends, and, they say in chorus...

"Good luck."