Invasion

> Organization <

Chapter 13

Kaori's Pov:

Everything was frozen still, not a sound to be herd. Until a gentle yet irritated voice spoke. At this I was released and able to move again. As I turned towards the sound of the voice I saw a familiar flame, soon enough it flew to me and stopped at my shoulders. It was Zenix! I smiled and hugged him tightly not minding his flapping wings. He then cawed loudly making me release him. He then flew in the direction of the voices making me follow. As I made a turn around a robot who was still frozen still, I saw Nanami and Tadashi come into sight. They -along with the trio- watched as Atsuko laughed nervously. As I turned to see her I saw she was facing a taller male. He had light brown hair that looked smooth and soft. He wore some under shirt over lapped by some vest -and once again- over lapped by his navy blue long sleeved coat -though it was folded at his wrists- in which also had lighter blue designs here and there. He also wore white jeans, with navy blue boots in which were folded -right below his knees- and had lighter blue designs. To be honest it looked good on him, seeing that it matched his brow hair and possibly his power?

I snapped out of my daze by Tadashi and Nanami's snickering. I sighed as I listened to Atsuko trying to come up with an excuse. The taller male then sighed and said, "Whatever let's go" Hitomi quickly said, "Hold on, we ran into these people on our patrol mission here and-" He glanced at us as Atsuko cut off Hitomi and said, "Oh god please don-" He smiled at us and said, "My name's Natsume. You're welcomed to come along if you wish to" Atsuko shook him as she semi yelled, "But they're the reason why we couldn't evade that simple robot ambush! We can't just-" Nanami didn't hold back as she said, "Say what?!" Atsuko glared at her making Natsume ruffle her hair as he said, "It'll be fine" Atsuko narrowed her eyes as she scoffed, "Sure, sure it will" She then walked on ahead without glancing at us. I already didn't like her, it wasn't out fault we were ambushed.

Masaru laughed softly as he turned to us and said, "Shall we go?" With that we followed behind the trio as they followed behind Atsuko and Natsume. I watched the trio, they seemed some what distant from each other compared to Atsuko and Natsume. Wait.. what are they to each other? Just as we got some distance between us and the robots we herd the crushing sound of the building that was originally going to fall on me. That reminded me, if it weren't for him who knows where we would be. Atsuko and the trio would have probably evaded, maybe... we do hold them back. As we continued walking I noticed the place here was wrecked but not as much as the West. Maybe there was some other type of attack here? I decided to ask, "What happened here?" Masaru smiled and said, "What do you think? It's the same as any other district" "But the West was.." Nanami nodded as she said, "Yeah it isn't as wrecked as the West" Hitomi then spoke, "I'm sure all districts were attacked differently" I looked around as I said, "Well, it's pretty quiet around here" Hitomi nodded as we continued walking. I could hear Atsuko still yapping at Natsume about who knows what about us. We were led into an building of.. umm clothes? We walked in and under the carpet by the register was some door leading underground. Natsume jumped right down to who knows where. Atsuko stood by it and waited for the trio to go on in. When it was our turn she just glared at us. Before I went in I asked, "Where does this lead to?" She sighed and said, "Why don't you find out?" I nodded and said, "R-Right.." I jumped down quickly followed by Atsuko.

As I opened my eyes it was completely dark, except for Zenix. I was going to ask when small lamps on the walls began turning on as they led farther down. I looked around to see they were ahead of. I sighed as I walked besides Nanami the silence was only broken by our footsteps. She turned to me and said, "What's wrong? Still shook by what happened?" I nodded, "I guess so." As we walked farther down I noticed the ground didn't look like many have been here, just then we made a turn and now stood in front of some weird circular thing. Natsume looked at Hitomi as she walked over and placed her hand on it, electricity sparked causing it to turn on. It made a low rumble as the lines on it all glowed a light blue. Ah, it's a teleport device. She then walked to some sort of control panel next to it and typed something in. Then she looked Natsume and said, "All set." He turned to us and said, "Get on" We walked onto the teleporte as the rest of them got on. Hitomi and her siblings stood in front of us, Hitomi then said, "And we're off" With that the teleporter began glowing and in a blink we now stood on another teleporter. This time we were on some sort of white flooring. It was still cracked though. They all got off letting us know to also get off. Atsuko yawned and said, "I suppose this is where they part?" I narrowed my eyes at her as she simply laughed at me. Natsume then said, "Mmm no. They can come on over to the organization if they wish to" Organization...? Before they all walked towards the exit, Atsuko and Kioshi checked outside first before they all went out. Nanami looked at us and said, "Shall we go? I'd want to get more information on what exactly is going on" We nodded and followed behind them. I noticed Kioshi and Atsuko continued to be the ones ahead checking as they went. I then asked, "Are we far?" Natsume shook his head, "No, but it's best we don't lead any unwanted things to our base" I nodded. Now that I was beside him I could see he had purple eyes and two piercings that went around his ear. The third piercing was like a normal earring though it was shaped as a cross. Suddenly we all stopped. I looked ahead to see why, Atsuko and Kioshi stopped moving. Atsuko then said, "I'll go" Kioshi shook his head. "If we fight we'll bring unwanted attention" He turned to see Natsume as he said, "We can go around" Natsume looked at the rest of us as if thinking about the possibilities. He nodded and said, "Sure, though let's make it quick before it reaches noon" I wanted to ask why but I instead just followed behind them.

After a short while of silently walking we reached some other cracked place. We walked in as they all still seemed cautious. They once again went underground. The tunnel seemed just like the one underneath the clothing store, though this time there was a door. Atsuko opened the door and walked right in, we all followed behind.

As I walked in I looked around. The flooring was.. neat. Something I haven't seen in a long time. They were white just like the walls. The white lights on the ceiling was almost blinding since my eyes were still getting used to it. I looked around to see there was more people, the space here was huge. Some sat down with groups while others looked at maps? Some were even eating! I noticed how some greeted Natsume and Atsuko, the trio as well. A few waved at us while the majority just watched us walk by. Zenix flapped his wings, making me question if he knows some people here. We continued walking straight down, Masaru turned to see us as he smiled and said, "Welcome to our organization."

Nanami's pov:

So this was an organization. I looked around but didn't see anyone familiar. I turned to look forwards, Masaru opened the door for us to go on in. I walked slowly in when he chuckled and said, "Don't worry. It's just our boss" I nodded and walked faster right behind Tadashi. The trio didn't go in, only Atsuko, Natsume, Hasuki, Zenix, Tadashi, Kaori, and me. We then stood in front of a desk where a man sat. He had black hair and yellow eyes, well.. that's rare. He then smiled and said, "Well, this is our organization.. Imperial Essence" He got up and walked around and in front of his desk. He then said, "My name is Kashuu Adachi" The three of us took turns speaking, "Nanami Yamada" "Kaori Akiyama" "Tadashi Hashimoto" He walked over to the table in which I just noticed was there and poured himself some wine? He sipped it and spoke, "What brings you here? Are you guys interested on joining us?" I spoke first, "I want to know more about the attack." He chuckled and said, "The Invasion? Oh yes, I herd it hit the West the hardest though they aren't there" I couhed, "They?" He nodded as he took another sip of his wine, "Yes them. Now I can't spill it all out without knowing if you'll stay here with us or not" I nodded and said, "Let's say I do. Can you help me find my sister?" Hasuki brushed himself on me. I lightly pet his white soft fur. Kashuu then finished the rest of his wine in one gulp as he looked at Natsume. "Your sister?" "Yes she was a patrol officer and was sent to the South, I'm sure she's out there somewhere" "I can't guarantee but we can help you and your friends get strong enough to look for her on your own." Tadashi then spoke, "I'm interested" Kaori looked at me as she pet Zenix. I nodded and said, "Me too" Kashuu looked at Kaori as she simply nodded. He then smirked as he looked at Natsume and said, "You know what to do. Send me the results when they finish." He sat back down as Natsume walked passed us and to the door. He signaled us to follow in which we did, with Atsuko glaring at us while she followed behind us. He led us down some stairs making me wonder just how far underground we are. I mean no outside sounds could be herd from here. We were on some final floor. Only one medal door and long black windows were here. Although the windows were on one side I got an idea that it was a room with one way windows. He opened the door and let us all go in. As we did I noticed the whole room was white. Completely white. Just then Natsume clicked something on the wall we were facing and there appeared the trio along with Natsume and Atsuko. Some ranking was on there giving me an idea of what this all meant. He then said, "Choose your challenger wisely"