Gloom Comes For Us All

“If humans have any sort of weakness… it's that they're too reliant on their fancy tools.”

Zhang Guìyīng, 1399

It took no time for Kenta and the cat girl to make their way to the downtown district of Wakkanai. Their destination was a laboratory under the care of a Dr. Yoshida, one of Kenta's teachers. Coming along with them were a few samples of the once proud Japanese black pine that had fallen suddenly and inexplicably just half an hour ago.

“Dear God,” Dr. Yoshida told them upon examining the samples through a microscope and various other lab equipment. “I've never seen such… rapid deterioration of the cellular structure. If you're telling the truth about what happened, it's almost like the entire tree simply forgot how to be a tree.” Even already, the samples they provided resembled less a tree and more a random pile of sludge. Removing himself from the microscope, he added, “Kenta… Do you have any idea what you and your friend have just discovered?”

Melody's little cat ears perked up at the sound of the name Kenta. Not wanting to give herself away, she simply stood and listened to the ongoing conversation, hoping to learn more about the boy who just rescued her.

“I'm not actually sure,” Kenta replied. Pointing to the cat girl, he added, “She, uh… What's your name?”

“Melody,” the girl answered. “Fairies don't have surnames.”

Dr. Yoshida immediately began to take notes, on Melody as well as on the Gloom. He must have thought it odd that a fairy like Melody would not introduce herself as the daughter of so-and-so. Focusing more on the task at hand, though, the doctor didn't think much of it.

“Melody here calls it The Gloom,” Kenta explained. “It sounded very dark and ominous, so we decided to see if you knew anything about it.”

“Indeed I do know about it,” Dr. Yoshida replied. “Not very much, mind you, but yes, I am aware of it. I do want to know, though… How does your friend know about this? And what does she know?”

“It's been slowly spreading through Japan for the past few weeks,” Melody answered. “Other than that, I know about as much as you do.”

“And it's already here in Hokkaido…” Dr. Yoshida said to himself.

“Doctor? Do you know what this is?” Kenta asked him.

“All we know is that it's a disease affecting trees all over the world,” Dr. Yoshida answered. “Seemingly striking at random, The Gloom hits hard and it hits fast. We… I believe it has something to do with the world's supply of Mana, but I have no way to prove that right now.”

“If we don't know what's causing it, then we can't know how to stop it,” Melody said.

“If I could gather more samples,” Dr. Yoshida began to reply, but stopped himself once he came to a realization. “Wait… I have an idea.”

The doctor waved his hands over what used to be tree bark while chanting a haiku:

“Sight beyond eyesight,

I wonder what I shall see.

Grant me your guidance.”

His hands trembled immediately. Something was horribly wrong.

“It's just as I feared,” the doctor said. “Usually, even the dead carry a residual mana signature. There's… nothing… here.” Turning back to Kenta and Melody, he asked them, “I need to examine all the trees.”

•

“So, what brings you out here to the middle of nowhere?” Kenta asked Melody as they wandered the streets of Wakkanai. “We don't usually get tourists, except for skiers, at this time of the year. Too much snow.”

“Oh, you know, the usual,” Melody answered. “Climbing all the best trees and trying not to stand out in a city full of humans.”

“I'm not sure if you've noticed,” Kenta replied, “but you dress like a fan of Doctor Spacetime. Not to mention, you have blue hair, cat ears, and a tail with ribbons tied to it.”

“That is an ancient art unique to my culture,” Melody quickly answered. “Show some respect.”

“Sorry,” Kenta told her. “I'm just trying to figure out what a fairy is doing out here. They usually aren't seen in Hokkaido, especially in winter.”

“Are fairies not allowed to explore unfamiliar environments?” Melody asked smugly.

“Oh, absolutely they are,” Kenta nervously corrected himself. “It's just… you're an awfully strange fairy. You appeared out of nowhere, stuck in a tree. Then, you showed you know about something that's been stumping one of our best scientists. And also, you didn't introduce yourself as the daughter of… whoever. All fairies do that. Have your parents done something wrong? Have you done -”

“I'd prefer it if you stopped asking me questions,” Melody told him.

“Alright, alright,” Kenta admitted defeat. “I should at least tell you my name, since I know yours. My name's Kenta. Kenta Kimura.”

“I'm sorry, what?” Melody asked plainly.

“Uh… Kenta Kimura?”

“You have absolutely no idea how much more valuable you just became to me right now, Kenta Kimura,” Melody told him.

“What are you talking about? How valuable?”

“About two hundred million yen,” Melody answered. She then threw the boy over her shoulder and started running.

“What are you doing?” Kenta asked her before shouting, “Help! Help me!”

“Shut up, if you know what's good for you!” Melody told him.

Kenta's cries immediately alerted everyone within earshot of him. Most of the people who heard him were capable of performing at least some magic. Many, however, were afraid to see what all the commotion was about. Some saw what was happening and simply whipped out their phones instead of their wands. They all just sat and watched, hoping the proper authorities would settle this matter.

Kenta Kimura had just been snatched off the street by a fairy.

And nobody came to help him.

It was several minutes straight of Melody running through the city while carrying a crying boy over her shoulder before the local police decided to intervene. First, one police car pulled up next to them, then two. The windows of one of the cars rolled down, revealing an officer armed with a wand.

“Restraining Iron Chain!” the officer shouted, sending chains out of her wand and towards Melody.

However, Melody was much more agile than the cars were, even with carrying the extra weight. She began running up the nearest wall and onto the rooftops. The police, unless they were able to fly, would not have been able to catch her at that rate. Just to make extra sure, though, Melody continued to run across the rooftops, hoping to shake off anyone who might still be pursuing her.

Kenta, however, was not very fond of all the shaking and bouncing around.

“I think I'm going to be sick!” Kenta cried out.

“If you throw up on my coat, you're buying me a new one!” Melody threatened in response. Within minutes, her destination came into view, Wakkanai Station. There, one train each day would take passengers directly to Sapporo, and two would take passengers to Asahikawa, about two-thirds of the way to Sapporo. From Sapporo, Japan's extensive railway network, including the shinkansen could take Melody and her capture nearly anywhere in in the country. But where she was planning on taking Kenta, only she knew.