Chapter 1

The Strange Village of Atimatt

            “Where am I?” Aoi opened her eyes, still laying on whatever was beneath her.  “Ah itai.” Aoi said as she got up to her feet.  It turned out that she was lying on a bunch of spiky twigs.  “What the?  What is this?  It feels like I’ve been dropped from the sky.”

            “Pura!  Pura is it really you?  Oh I’ve been looking for you since…since I don’t even know when.” A fat lady ran towards Aoi at an incredible speed and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her tight.

            “Ah!  Suffocating…can’t breathe.  Oh she’s killing me.” Aoi managed to slip out of her arms just in time to catch her next breath.  “Who the heck are you?  I don’t even know you.”

            “What are you saying…hey, who the heck are you?” The fat lady looked at Aoi like she was some kind of strange new species.

            “That’s what I asked you!!” Aoi screamed in her face.

            “Oh I’m so sorry, please forgive me.  You must be here to save our village.” The lady went on her knees to apologize.

            “Who me?  Save whom?  What are you talking about?” Aoi gave a weird look. “Why would I save a village?  By the way, where the heck am I?”

            “What, aren’t you here to save us?” The lady stood up.

            “Why would you think so?” Aoi asked curiously.

            “Because you’re holding onto a kendo stick.” She pointed at the weapon in Aoi’s hand.

            “What kendo stick…whoa!  I do have a kendo stick.  But where did it come from?” Aoi placed her hand on top of her mouth. “Say, can you tell me where I am?”

            “You mean you came here and you don’t even know what this place is?” The woman looked at her strangely. “Miss, you’re in the village of Atimatt.”

            “Atimatt…hmm…  Never heard of it before.” Aoi looked around.  Old stone buildings were built everywhere, but most of them appeared to be too damaged to live in.  “I can see why you need help, but did someone do this?”

            “Oh it’s horrible!  Just a few months ago our village was as normal as you can imagine it to be, but then a group of Night Stalkers came and trashed our homes in less than an hour or so…” The fat lady started to sob in silence.

            “Aw…don’t cry, I’ll help you…if I can.” Aoi comforted her.

            “You will?” The woman looked up with a hopeful glitter in her eyes. “Aw! We’re saved!  So the prophet is not an old, useless, nonsense-speaking man after all.”

            “You have a prophet in your village?” Aoi asked “And he foreseen that I’m going to come one day to rescue your village from destruction?  This sounds like some kind of a game.”

            “Well he didn’t really say specifically who, but he did say there are three of them and one of them carries a kendo stick that secretes thunder.” The lady explained. “And you match the description perfectly.”

            “Well it could be just a coincidence.” Aoi tried to make an excuse to get off the hook. “And who says this kendo stick gives off electricity?”

            “Well whack something with it and see!” The woman commanded.

            With a swift movement Aoi swung her arm and hit the woman lightly on the head.  A spark appeared at where the kendo stick touched the woman’s head and she immediately fell to the ground with black smoke coming from her mouth.  Aoi dropped her jaw.

            “I didn’t do that on purpose!  Please forgive me!” And with that she ran away as fast as she can. ‘This is the weirdest thing.  First I appeared in this place which I know nothing about, then I have this women telling me that they’ve been expecting me to save them and now I have a kendo stick that zaps people.  TOO WEIRD!!’

            As Aoi was thinking she wasn’t looking at where she was going and she crashed into someone head on.

            “What’s the problem with you?!  Watch where you’re going!” The person on the ground shouted at Aoi.

            “I’m so sorry!  I didn’t mean to!  Aw…nothing is going right today.” Aoi apologized. “Hey Richard!  It’s you and Lucy too!  Wow I found someone that I know!”

            “Would you mind helping me up?” Richard asked without saying hello.

            “So you’re here too?” Lucy said “I wonder how we got here.”

            “I don’t know but this lady told me that this place is called Atimatt Village and she also said that me being here is not a coincidence.”

            “What do you mean by not a coincidence?” Richard asked as he tried to get the dust off of his clothes.

            “It’s getting dark I’ll tell you while we find somewhere to settle tonight.”  Aoi told them as she started to walk.

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