Not so Ordinary World

[Liddo-kun]

She pulls away from you, taking a seat on the ground and facing you.  "We don't know what they are exactly..." she begins to explain, smoothing out her skirt.  "...I've heard them referred to as many things - Death, the Devil, the Boogey Man.  I don't think anyone knows for sure."

A tired sigh leads way to her rubbing the bridge of her nose.  "This place," she indicates with her hands, "is not the world you and I and every other living person here were originally from."

"This is like some kind of sick mirror world where those things run around hunting us.  None of us who are left, know how we got here, but one thing we've all come to learn is that we can't find a way out."

[Kwokinator]

"So who is this... "we" you're talking about?" Maki asked. "For that matter, who are YOU?  And how did you know to come to my house?"

Since none of them knew how they got there, he figured it would be futile to ask how he got there.  If this was a mirror world, he assumed it must be some freak occurrence in space.  Maybe the world he was in and this mirror world existed side by side, and every so often a distortion in space swallows up certain people into the mirror world without them knowing it.  Or something.

[Liddo-kun]

"The 'we' that I'm talking about would be a small group of us from this very neighborhood," she tells you, before adding, "Like me.  I used to live three houses down from here."

Hm.  That does seem to matchup as you do recall there was some big news that popped up when a girl went missing there.  If you weren't mistaken, the girl's name was...

"Shia Azuma," she says, pointing to herself with her thumb.

...yeah, that sounded about right.  Though you're pretty sure she should've been a lot younger then.

"And how they found you and your house is that when we first get here, we all have this smell and light around us that those guys pick up on.  That's why I made you put that mask on," she says, pointing to the mask that you'd pushed up to sit on the top of your head.

"Every breath you were taking was as easy for them to see as our breaths during cold, winter mornings.  And this house was practically glowing in the dark with life energy and that's why they came here."

[Kwokinator]

"If you're Shia Azuma, shouldn't you be a lot..." he wondered. "I dunno, younger?"

[Liddo-kun]

That stops the girl short.  "Younger?" Shia asks with a puzzled look.  "Now, why would I be younger?"

[Kwokinator]

"I dunno," Maki scratched his head. "From what I remember, you were a lot younger when you disappeared."

[Liddo-kun]

"It has been 8 years," Shia tells you with a shrug.  This factoid as well doesn't quite mesh with what you remember.  Shia Azuma, as far as you know, dissapeared 2 years ago and she was a lot younger - something like 6 or 8 years old.

[Kwokinator]

"Wait a minute... no you didn't," Maki corrected her. "You disappeared two years ago, I know this.  And you were like 6 or 8 when you disappeared."

"Unless... this is mirror for more than one world.  If this is a mirror of our world, it's not a stretch to think there's more than just one normal world.  Maybe there's another Shia Azuma running around."

[Liddo-kun]

She stares at you owlishly.  "If I understood what you just said, I might reply with an answer," she tells you before getting to her feet.

From a small pouch attached to a belt at her hips, she pulls out a dark green, stone necklace - could be jade, you're not sure.  She holds the object out at eye level then, apparently seeing what she wanted, tosses it to you.

"Keep it close.  It'll light up when one of them comes close."

Stepping over the magical scrawling on the floor, she heads for the window and peers out.  "I think it's safe to go," she says.  "Unless you want to stay to..."  She trails off, but her eyes trail over to the next room where your father is.

[Kwokinator]

Maki catches the necklace and puts it on around his neck.

"No," he shook his head, although sadness is apparent in his eyes. "There's nothing more I can do for him, and there's not enough of him left for a proper burial.  Since this is not my world, there'll probably never going to be anyone here again so no point in cleaning up.  Let's go."

"And what didn't you understand about what I said?" he wondered.

[Liddo-kun]

She nods, accepting your wishes, then for your question, "I don't know....  More than one mirror world?  Another me running around?" Shia repeats your words from earlier then pauses to digest the notion, but quickly just shakes her head.  "It's just a little weird, I guess."

[Kwokinator]

"Well, you said this is a sick mirror world of ours right?" Maki explained. "Then there's obviously more than just one world in the universe.  Who's to say there's not more than one world being mirrored by this place?  Especially since the Shia Azuma I know disappeared only two years ago instead of eight, and she was 6 or 8 or something when she did."

"And I'm not saying there IS another you running around," he added. "Maybe the Shia from my world is dead.  She couldn't have been more than 8 when she disappeared, and if no one showed up to save her like you did for me, she could very well be dead."

[Liddo-kun]

Shia mulls over what you're suggesting with an unhappy smile - the thought of another her dying alone in this world seemingly not sitting well with her in the least bit.  She seems to soon push that thought aside though, to address you.  "Is there anything you want to bring with you before we go?"

[Kwokinator]

Maki pondered on bringing the baseball bat he was holding before getting smacked in the head with a frying pan, and tries to think if there is anything valuable or could possibly be useful that he could bring along.

[Liddo-kun]

There are a few things that come to mind.  A change of clothes first and foremost, as you're still wearing a T-shirt and long pajama bottoms sans shoes.  A backpack with some supplies might be good too.  Although there is one thing that you KNOW you have to take with you - the family blade.