Tsunami

By the look of Nanako, hiding half of her face in both hands while staring at Marly and Mike with horrified, teary eyes, it was obvious that they were seen transforming. How the four managed to get there at the same time the guardians disguised themselves, that was a complete mystery. However, Saitou had a feeling that Darts was behind it.

The image of a devastated Nanako felt unbearable for Chie and Saitou. How could they ever explain to her why it had been necessary to deceive her like that and that it was for her own good? She would never listen now, especially since she saw them in their original forms and recognized them! Even if she was willing to listen, there were things only for her ears, not for the rest of the group.

"I think we need some answers!" began Prince Virgil looking directly into Saitou's thin Mike-eyes.

Saitou made a gesture that suggested he wanted to return to his normal appearance, but Prince Virgil made him a sign to stop.

"No, please! Don't change back! We want to see you exactly as you are now, a reminder for us all of what deceit looks and feels like!" he said in a malicious tone.

Saitou felt outraged, but complied. Chie thought that Prince Virgil was being cruel.

"Besides," the prince added, "I hear that Miss Flemmings cannot stand to see your real forms. We don't want to make her more upset than she already is, do we?" His tranquil yet cold tone gave Chie and Saitou shivers.

"What do you want from us?" asked Saitou with hostility.

"What do I want from you?" answered Prince Virgil, surprised. If he wasn't such a somber person, he would have probably smirked at this moment. "I should be the one asking you this question! You have sneaked into our manga and tried to spy on us! I don't know what your interest in Miss Flemmings is, but you frightened her and we promised to keep her safe from you. I was also told you're accusing her of actions she has never done.

"Now, we don't want to defy Manime's authorities," he continued, "but we cannot blindly obey every decision you guardians take without understanding what's going on. Manime, it's our world too as far as I recall. We are entitled just as much as you to know what's happening! And every character has their right to defend themselves when they're being accused! This world shall not fall to tyranny!" Prince Virgil glared at Saitou while accentuating the last words. Saitou returned the glare.

"We too have Nanako's best interests at heart!" Chie spoke to her and Saitou's defense.

Before Prince Virgil or Richard could protest, Nanako intervened.

"What?" She made a pause, then continued. "Ever since I've got here, you did nothing but hunt me!" she burst out furiously. "And I heard you loud and clear saying that I had to go with you because I had broken the laws, which was so untrue! I had been here for such a short period that I had no chance to learn about any of this place's laws! Besides, from the moment I arrived, I did nothing but run away from you!"

"If you please give us just five minutes alone, I'm sure we can clarify this misunderstanding. You will be able to go home, Nanako!" spoke Chie in a soft tone to calm her down.

The girl's face was purple with anger and abundant tears fell ceaselessly down her cheeks.

"How dare you say that to me? Have you no mercy? If you cared about getting me out of here, would I have remained in this place for so long?" Nanako looked into Chie's eyes, outraged.

"There is a reason—" tried Chie to intervene again with gentleness.

"You've been with me all these days in Hesperia, knowing perfectly well who I was from what it seems, and you said nothing! Instead you pretended to be my friends…" her crying prevented her from continuing her discourse.

Chie tried to approach.

"NO! I don't want to hear anything from the two of you without the others being present!" she shouted threateningly. "They were the only people that took notice of me and tried to offer me some support. Real support, not lies!" she shouted again.

Her body started to shake because of her aggravating emotional state. Saitou and Chie looked terrified at each other. Prince Virgil sensed in the guardians' look that there was danger, a danger that they, the rest, were not aware of. Darts too paid more attention.

"Please!" cried Chie to Prince Virgil. "Someone please comfort her!"

Her words sounded strange for the others as it was she and Saitou who were to blame for Nanako's distress. Richard already held the upset Nanako into his arms but he felt helpless. There was so little one could do when their friend faced treason. She had buried her red face in the curve of his neck, squeaking at short intervals as she tried vainly to keep her weep silent. Richard watched Chie and Saitou with reproachful eyes. Prince Virgil and Darts, on the other hand, followed the two guardians with curiosity. The two took notice of the fact that Chie knew Grace's other name, a name which Grace had told only to Richard and Prince Virgil. But before they could say or do anything, Saitou and Chie's faces suddenly changed.

The small eyes of Mike became as large as could such thin eyes expand. His eyelids seemed close to breaking apart. It was a rare moment that made it possible to fully see his irises. Marly turned pale and her green eyes got a grayish hue. At that very instant, shrieks and cries started to be heard from all over the place. Surprised by the noisy atmosphere, Nanako stopped crying. As the group from Hesperia turned around, they could see a gigantic tsunami emerging out of nowhere. They had only a second to gasp in front of its intimidating grandeur before it fell over the entire break space, devouring all the characters. The shrieks and cries were quickly silenced down by the forceful waters.

As Prince Virgil received help to climb onto a higher solid surface, he looked around nervously in search of the others. They were to his left, but it took him a while to notice them because his eyes wandered over the luscious waters, entranced by the sight. The break place had turned into an immense lake. Some traces of black ink could be seen from time to time over the surface. Though numerous squads of guardians had intervened and rescued the victims, apparently there had been some casualties nonetheless. Prince Virgil shuddered at the idea. He looked at Nanako as if he made a connection between her and the unfortunate event. Entirely soaked just like the rest, she was in total shock. Richard tried vainly to get a reaction from her. She had lost the shine of her eyes, as if her spirit had left her.

The intervention squads asked everyone to return to their anime and manga. The break was abruptly adjourned. They had to restore the place. Saitou and Chie, still in the forms of Marly and Mike, looked penitently at Prince Virgil while he withdrew together with his group. The prince turned around and looked at them surprised.

"What are you standing there for?" he said. "We haven't finished our conversation!" he added in a tone that felt unsettling for the two guardians.

After their cover had been blown off, this was an unexpected occasion to return to The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia. As odd as it may have seemed, the prince had just given them a second chance. It came with a high price for sure, but considering the stakes, Chie and Saitou were in no position to be picky.

*

Saitou had never felt so uncomfortable on a persian soft carpet before. Chie seemed pretty uneasy too. Marly's cheeks were scarlet, just like when she was being scolded by a client because she gave the wrong change or the wrong merchandise. The two were not prisoners, but they looked like they were. Prince Virgil sat in a big leather armchair at his large mahogany desk and prepared a pipe for smoking. Darts was only a few steps farther, at the window, but one wouldn't have said he was there. His thin appearance could have been easily mistaken for a curtain if one didn't pay enough attention. As the prince was looking elsewhere with his whole body and chair diverted toward the right, Saitou and Chie could only see his profile. They watched in amazement the small cloud-like white circles coming from the prince's pipe. He certainly didn't look like the kind of person to smoke, let alone with a pipe. It seemed like Prince Virgil guessed their thoughts. He turned to them and spoke in a casual manner as if they have known each other for ages.

"It helps me calm down when I'm troubled," he began, looking attentively at his pipe. "Even after so many wars, I still can't get used to seeing people crushed like bread crumbs. When I'm on the battlefield, it is different. My opponent fights back, he struggles, I get hurt, and I fear for my own life. I feel his greatness, his ability to stop me from breathing. Killing him makes me more grateful for my life than sorrowful for his. Even then, I hate killing. It feels like tripping—that disgusting gesture that you cannot control when it happens, but you know perfectly well it is your own weakness that originates it. Yet watching a formless, senseless thing turning a whole bunch of individuals to nothingness… that is unbearable. Its absurdness outrages me! Such a waste…"

Richard entered the room. He had left Nanako to rest. Apparently, she hadn't managed to come to her senses before falling asleep. Prince Virgil gave Richard a short look and then returned to Saitou and Chie.

"Where did that wave come from?" he asked, watching them piercingly. The two averted their eyes.

"You know, don't you? There's no way you can hide it from me!" insisted the prince.

The guardians exchanged discouraged looks. They had no choice. If they wanted to speak to Nanako, they had to speak to Prince Virgil and his men first. The time's passing was not in their favor.

"It was the girl who created that wave," began Chie.

Prince Virgil stopped smoking. Richard and Darts turned to Chie at the same moment with keen eyes.

"Is that why you are chasing her?" asked the prince.

"Not really," replied Chie. "We only want to send her home. She's not exactly Grace Flemmings…"

Richard and Prince Virgil had heard that story before, so they weren't surprised. But they still wanted to understand who she was, and most of all what happened to Grace.

"The girl is a human that accidentally got lost here."

The story was still familiar to the listeners.

"Why does she look like Grace Flemmings?" asked Prince Virgil impatiently. "Not only look," he corrected himself "everything she does is done in the same manner like Miss Flemmings."

"Grace Flemmings fused with Nanako Ogawa when she entered Manime. It's possible when a character is made after a real human. Of course, it only happens if the human comes in here, which normally is impossible." Chie pronounced the last words in a very small voice.

"So Grace is still here!" intervened Richard hopeful.

"Yes, but this doesn't make things any simpler," explained Chie. "As you can tell, Nanako's personality is stronger, which is explainable since she's a human. A human's energetic prints are very powerful. They are incomparable to ours. However, the longer she stays here, drinks our water, and eats our food, her spirit is being chased away by Grace's. To put it briefly, her life is in great danger!"

The news alarmed the small audience. The three exchanged terrified looks. They whispered feverishly for a few moments, then Prince Virgil and Richard talked at almost the same time.

"If you save the human girl, what will happen to Grace?"

"Nothing..." Chie hesitated. "Nothing serious I mean. Her existence will not be at risk, in any case… but... there may be some side effects. We never know how these things work."

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked Richard unnerved.

"These things…?" intervened Darts. He had a deep voice and spoke at a very slow pace. "There were similar situations before?"

"I've never encountered such a situation myself," confessed Chie. "But I heard it—"

"It's extremely rare…" interrupted Saitou.

Prince Virgil remained quiet during this time. When Richard and Darts stopped asking questions, he talked again as if he had waited for his turn.

"How can you prove that Miss Flemmings is a human?"

"What question is that?" burst out Saitou. "You saw the wave! Only a human can do such a thing!"

Prince Virgil gave him an inquiring look.

"How dare you blame Grace for that wave?" shouted Richard angrily. "I was there! She did absolutely nothing! She was just as much a victim as everyone else!"

"Strong emotions cause such calamities…" intervened Chie again. "Only human strong emotions," she added.

"Well, you're certainly the ones to blame for bringing Grace to that emotional state!" retorted Richard.

"You didn't reply to my question," asked Prince Virgil one more time in his usual cold, calm tone. He and Saitou glared at each other again.

"We've always known it was impossible for humans to come here," the prince continued. "We've heard that countless times from you, the guardians. And now… you expect us to instantly believe the contrary, just because it fits you and it makes an easy way out of properly explaining things."

"Trust me, telling you about this was the last thing I wanted to do!" responded Saitou, irritated. "This is a critical situation and you are making it harder!"

"Prove it to me and I will cooperate with you!" was the prince's answer. "Prove that humans can come to Manime!"