Petrified | Dr. Stone

04.

This story will follow the manga and will contain spoilers.

I do not own anything except for my oc. Enjoy! :)

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Inoko warily looked at the person in front of her. "Seiji... Inoko. It's nice to meet you." She dipped her head down, never forgetting her manners.

Silence dominated the whole area as the two of them continued to assess each other. Shishio Tsukasa held an expressionless face which crept Inoko out. The atmosphere suddenly felt colder than before even though she's already clothed. She fidgeted her bare toes, feeling nervous with the stranger in front of her.

Shishio Tsukasa is far from dumb. He knew what the look on her face and what her small actions meant. Judging from this alone, he can already see the big difference between Inoko and Senku. Is she really as smart as others makes her appear? Willing to take the risk, he finally decided to break the silence. "It's been over 3700 years since the sudden petrification."

He can clearly see how shock and disbelief slowly showed on her face. She may be proclaimed as a genius, but he already met someone who can easily outsmart her. He would like to think that she's not a threat to his plans, or else he'll have no other choice but to retort to the other way.

"...3700 years?" She whispered, unbelieving. "That's impossible!"

Inoko could not believe her ears. If it has really been 3700 years since then, wouldn't that mean that she's been talking to herself, trying to fight insanity for thousands of years? She doesn't know what to feel. This must be a dream. A nightmare.

"After over 3700 years, we have now been given another chance to bring peace to earth." Shishio Tsukasa continued, making sure that Inoko is listening. "The old corrupted world should never be brought back again. You understand why, right?"

She flinched at the sudden question. What is he trying to say? She doesn't like where their conversation is going. What does he mean by never bringing the old world back?

Not waiting for her to answer, Shishio Tsukasa slowly walked up to her. "This is Stone World. My plan is to create a paradise... An untainted world, with only the people with pure hearts living on it. We will create an ideal world. Don't you agree with my plan, Seiji Inoko?"

As he is moving closer to her, Inoko is stepping back away from him, bringing herself closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Don't you ever want to just live your life however you want? Nobody is going to force you here, not anymore. You can do whatever you want, go wherever you want. No one is going to judge you." He said. "In this world, everyone is free."

The wind blew again. Shishio Tsukasa finally stopped moving closer and Inoko sighed in relief. She doesn't want to look back but she can feel that any movement will cause her her life. She can practically feel how the path she's standing thinned out, with only a few inches of ground to stepped on.

"Why... are you telling me this?" She asked. "Why me of all people?"

Shishio Tsukasa did not answer. He only looked at Inoko, thinking about something that she doesn't know. Feeling conscious under his gaze, Inoko looked down her feet as she fiddled with her thumbs. She tried her best to contain the fear from showing on her face but she already knew that she failed at it, badly. Her heart pounds, threatening to jump off of her rib cage. Her current place is not helping at all, knowing that a single mistake can kill her. What does this man want with her? Why can't he just go straight to the point?

"Do you want to join our kingdom?"

The question caught her off guard. What kingdom?

"I'll be truthful with you. I never planned to revive you. If you were revived under different circumstances, I will have no choice but to kill you."

...what?

Inoko gulped. Is he really serious about killing her? No no no no no. This is too barbaric and totally against the law. But he said it with a straight face and with a serious tone.

"What will you choose? To live or to die?"

Inoko was barely given time to think. "No, it's not that I totally agree with his plans." She thought. Her legs are stiff and she's scared to move them. "I swear..."

The wind blew, causing the leaves on the trees to rustle; some leaves broke free from the branches and swayed along with the wind. Down at the very bottom of the cliff, laid a group of lions. Some of them are fast asleep and is relaxing under the shade while the others are sitting, looking directly at her.

"I don't really have a choice, don't I?"

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Inoko walked a few steps behind Shishio Tsukasa, barefooted. She winces every time she stepped at something as she is not really used to not wearing anything for her feet. Almost every step is painful; the rocks, the grass, the roots, etc. She did not dare to complain though. It's not that she can't, she just doesn't want to.

Tsukasa has given her a mission; one that she still can't quite understand the reason behind it. It was to observe and spy two of their men. Inoko is conflicted. Why? Could this two be suspected to be traitors? What if they were? What will they do to them? Tsukasa never got into details. He just said to observe and tell him their every move.

The walk lasted for over thirty minutes. She immediately sat onto a small boulder as she tried to catch her breathing. Her legs felt like jelly and she just wants to lay down after having the longest walk she's ever had.

"How..." she panted, "...how much further away are we?" Her throat is dry as a dessert, her feet are sore, and her stomach is rumbling. It's a good thing that Tsukasa gave her a break but she doesn't think she can go any further. It sucks when there are no other way of transportation.

"Don't worry, it's not too far. It's just a few minutes ahead."

It's true. She can see a cave large enough to house a lot people not too far away from where they are. Seeing that Tsukasa is really telling the truth about the place being just a few minutes away, Inoko stood up and ignored the aching of her thighs.

It's a good thing that the whole place is being shadowed by the trees or else the exhaustion she's feeling will be ten times worse. The freshness of the air also helped her and despite taking a really long walk, she still feels fresh because she doesn't sweat that much. Soon, their surroundings has a lot less green and was replaced by mountains of rocks.

Upon reaching the entrance of the cave, Inoko can already see a lot of people guarding the outside and the inside of the cave. Almost every head turned to their direction as they came into view.

"Welcome to our base." Tsukasa said, his voice low enough for the two of them to hear. "Don't forget your mission." And with that, he proceeded to enter the cave, leaving Inoko standing alone in front of it, not knowing what to do.

She scanned the whole area, grimacing when she noticed how buffed and strong looking the residents of this kingdom looks like.

"Did I make the right choice? Am I going to survive in this place?"