Close Encounter

"Are you sure, Saitou?"

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

"But you said you would never ask for Konoko's help!"

"And I won't! I will just allow Prince Virgil to cross to the other side and see her once we have your confirmation that it is okay to enter her room."

"Why do I feel this is not going to be as easy as it sounds? Konoko will most certainly ask questions again."

"How long has it passed since Nanako came to Manime?"

"Today is the sixteenth day."

"That means sixteen hours in their world." Saitou's face darkened a bit. "They might have already discovered that she's missing."

"Pfff! She will definitely ask questions!" concluded Chie in a hopeless tone as if she was talking more to herself than to Saitou.

"Only if she makes any connection between Nanako's disappearance and Manime."

"True! But even if she doesn't, Prince Virgil's presence will still make her suspicious. We did tell her that such travels were forbidden. She knew that we were sealing the passage between our worlds. And now we're bringing her character into her room?"

Saitou remained silent. By the look of his face, he was deep in thought.

"Besides," continued Chie, "I'm not sure what he's up to either." She glanced shortly at Prince Virgil, who came toward them.

The prince walked slowly at a fair distance, completely uninterested in their conversation. He only wanted to see what he had been promised: the evidence that humans could travel to Manime. Despite Richard's and Darts' protests, Prince Virgil consented to come alone. Just as Saitou knew he could not obtain the prince's collaboration without answering his request, the prince too was aware that it was not wise to force his luck with the guardians. Both Richard and Darts had been witnesses to the negotiations between Saitou and him. If something went wrong, they knew where to start from. If it came to it, the two could have addressed Chie and Saitou's superiors.

At the end of a long gray marble corridor, lined with majestic marble columns, Prince Virgil could perceive a black shadow in the form of a door entrance. It seemed like the shadow's borders waved. Did they really wave or was it just an illusion caused by the dim light from that large hall? As he approached, the entire environment suddenly changed. He was now in a dense forest with abundant hanging plants pendent from the trees' branches. The trunks' large circumferences gave testimony of the trees' old age. So that was the famous antechamber! He had heard of its frequently changing environments, though he had never been there himself until today. The prince had to navigate carefully, removing the vines from his path to be able to see Saitou and Chie. Come to think of it, the guardians too changed their appearances quite often. Before becoming Marly and Mike, they looked like some sort of cyborgs. Now Chie was a tall distinguished woman with incredibly long pink hair caught in a ponytail, wearing a tight glossy cyclamen suit and shiny high-heels boots of the same color. And Saitou was a tall well-built man with black pointy dark hair in a black suit covered by a matching black, long cloak with iridescent silver tints.

The grass was luxuriant, making the advancement difficult. He was almost there. The two guardians already sneaked inside the cave of an imposing rock. The cave's edges did not wave as the door's borders did, yet a floating black smoke seemed to encircle them.

*

Konoko woke up on the couch the next morning. She had slept in her outdoor clothes. She didn't quite remember when and how she fell asleep. After she had finally stopped crying, she remained still in Ichirou's arms, feeling exhausted. She no longer tried to break free from his hug, as it felt to her like her only source of energy left. She must have fallen asleep standing like that and Ichirou placed her on the couch. Konoko looked around her. On the other side of the couch was Kenji. He slept with his feet on the ground and the upper half of his body flexed toward the right, his head leaning on his right elbow on the couch's right arm. Ichirou laid on the carpet with his head near Kenji's feet. The boys too were dressed exactly like the previous night. Konoko raised from the couch while the sour memories of the other day started to creep inside her mind again. She felt nauseous. Moving slowly toward her room, her head hurt because of her emotional breakdown last night. She had to prepare for a new investigation to look for Nanako. Konoko decided to wash up and get changed first. Then she would check Nanako's room again, though she doubted that her friend returned without a single sound or leaving no sign at all. As she approached her room and entered, she realized she had forgotten to lock it when she went with Ichirou and Kenji to search for Nanako. Manime, Saitou, and Chie seemed like distant memories now.

Her room was as messy as usual, yet she only noticed now that her drawings were placed in order on her desk. Tears began falling again from her eyes as she pictured Nanako carefully arranging them when she had brought the tea.

"Hey, Konoko! I'm so glad you're here!" exclaimed Chie agitated as she popped out her head from the poster.

Konoko was startled at the sudden sound of her voice and turned around. Chie was struck by Konoko's devastated face: her eyes were swollen, her eyelids pink, and her cheeks still wet. The two stared at each other for a few moments. Then, Konoko quickly wiped up her face with her hands and rubbed her hands against her jeans.

"Hey!" she replied. Despite wishing to say more, she blocked while trying to recollect her memories of Manime and its guardians.

After seeing Konoko like that, Chie had become shaky and the lights in her eyes trembled.

"I'm sorry if I came at a bad moment..." were the only words she could say.

Konoko saw that something bothered her and that the little pink-haired girl was struggling between conflicting tendencies.

"What happened?" asked Konoko, becoming a bit alarmed.

Quite some time had passed since her last visit inside the poster when the guardians were supposed to finish mending the barrier. Since she had no sign of them the next day, Konoko assumed that whether the whole story had only been her dream or that they had finished their work and her poster became just a regular one. But now Chie stood before her with a troubled look as if she was under pressure, which meant the barrier was not ready yet.

"Can we please come in?" Chie finally replied. "It is really important and I promise we won't take much of your time!"

Hearing that it was a short visit should have felt reassuring since it meant there were no major problems, yet Chie's desperate tone made Konoko's mind fill with a myriad of questions and disturbing scenarios. Her heart sank.

"Sure!" she answered in a faint voice.

Konoko leaned her back against her desk, taking support from both hands. Her increasing level of anxiety made her body weak. Chie made a sign to Saitou. Upon entering the room, their size shrank.

"There's someone here who needs to see you," spoke Saitou directly without any prior introduction.

Konoko blinked in bewilderment and Chie started chewing her right thumb nervously while staring at Saitou with a scared face. There were a lot of things that Konoko wished to ask, but every question that popped into her head died before she could put it in words. Saitou took advantage of her confusion and made a sign to Prince Virgil to come inside. Unlike Chie, he didn't seem to care much about Konoko's condition, but rather hurried to get over with the whole business.

Upon seeing the prince, Konoko immediately buried her face in her hands. Then, she separated her fingers only to be able to take a peek at her new guest. It was no mistake! It was definitely HIM! He didn't shrink like Saitou and Chie when he arrived into her room. He had the size of an adult man. Everything about him was exactly as she had always pictured him. No! It was even better! He was more alive than she ever imagined him! Her heart pounded forcefully and her face became red. She felt her ears burning. She didn't dare say anything as every tentative of speaking choked her. It seemed that Saitou's approach succeeded in preventing Konoko's uncomfortable questions. Prince Virgil's presence radically shifted all her focus to him. Chie, on the other hand, was on guard. For her, the spectacle she witnessed was like a grenade without its safety pin.

"What happened to you?" asked Prince Virgil the two guardians, watching them in astonishment.

"What do you mean?" retorted Saitou in a grumpy tone.

The prince could not find his words to describe it, yet he made a gesture with his hands, suggesting a small size.

"It's for preserving our energy and also to decrease the impact of anything we may do in this world," explained Chie who was the first to understand what the prince meant.

"What about me?" asked Prince Virgil worriedly.

"It is something that only guardians can do." intervened Saitou. "But don't worry, we won't stay too long! To be on the safe side, just avoid any quick movements as much as you can!" he added.

"Virgil?" Konoko finally reacted, speaking in a whispered tone.

"That's so rude!" came his reply.

The girl remained dumbfounded upon hearing those words. It was the first time in her whole life when she actually experienced what Prince Virgil's aloofness and arrogance felt like. Though, as his creator, she knew that he was not cold-hearted. Now she felt incapable of getting past the appearances. She didn't care nonetheless! It was really him! Those disagreeable traits only made him more Virgil! Konoko felt like shrieking in excitement, but she knew it was completely inappropriate. Instead, she kneeled before him.

"I apologize Your Highness! I've gotten myself completely carried away by the joy of being granted such an honor as to receive Your Grace in my humble home!" she pronounced all the words in a precipitous manner without taking a single breath. It was a text she had often rehearsed while imagining what it would have been like to meet him. Of course, she never expected that such a thing would have actually happened. It made her feel like she was part of her manga. One of her oldest and more ardent childish dreams had come true! She remained with her face to the ground. Looking at him made her too nervous.

"May I know your name Miss..." asked the prince in a gentler tone than previously.

"Konoko Asada, Your Highness," she answered, looking at him again. Her face was flushed and her eyes sparkled with sheer excitement. Though her eyelids were still pink and swollen, her spirit had changed. She even expressed a discreet yet genuine smile at the corners of her mouth.

"Miss Asada," began the prince.

"No, please call me Konoko Your Highness," she interrupted him while keeping her face to the ground.

"Miss Asada," he repeated in a slightly offended tone, "I must apologize for visiting you on such short notice. Was it not for very pressing matters, I would have never acted in such an inappropriate manner..." He wanted to continue, but when she looked at him again, her inquisitive eyes broke the flow of his thoughts.

Konoko wondered what pressing matters could bring Prince Virgil to her. She immediately returned to her thoughts about the barrier, though she was not capable of seeing a connection.

"Please rise, Miss Asada," the prince addressed her in a soft tone. Konoko got up without a thought.

"There are some questions I need to ask you. Your answers are of capital importance for a critical matter not only in Hesperia or The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia, but also in the entire Manime and, perhaps, in your world as well." He pronounced the last words with some reluctance.

Listening to him, Konoko could not understand why the prince had to come here and the guardians didn't tell her themselves. Recalling her last discussion with the two, it made no sense to her. At the same time, Saitou and Chie became alarmed by Prince Virgil's conversation with Konoko. It sounded like trouble.

"Your Highness," interrupted Saitou, "I'm afraid there's no time for this. We must head back at once!" His words were firm and he had a suggestive look.

Though the prince understood what Saitou meant, he wouldn't comply.

"This is also important, guardian! I didn't come all this way to return without the answers I need."

"Miss Asada,—" he turned again to Konoko, but Saitou interrupted another time.

"You have already seen what you wanted to see!" The guardian's voice sounded desperate.

"Do you know who Grace Flemmings of Leer is?" continued the prince without paying attention to Saitou.

"Of course," replied Konoko, a bit confused by the question, but also distracted by Saitou's last intervention. How did the fact that she knew Grace Flemmings helped in a critical situation? And why did Prince Virgil need to see HER? "She came to Hesperia to seek her missing fiancé," Konoko finally completed her sentence, yet in an uncertain voice.

"If we don't leave now, you know what will happen," Saitou warned Prince Virgil. Both Konoko and the prince could see the apprehension in his eyes. The latter became concerned as well, while Konoko's feeling of confusion intensified.

"Miss Asada, I have to leave, but before... Does the name of Albert Heiss Baron of Nan tell you anything?" His tone sounded a bit desperate.

"Grace Flemmings' fiancé, but wha—"

"Your Highness, NOW!" shouted Saitou with a savage look.

His irises shrank and lost their sparkles completely. Chie too had a terrified look. Konoko regarded all of them befuddled.

"Not yet!" retorted Prince Virgil in a commanding voice.

Saitou pulled out his weapon. While his stick became a staff, the prince also drew his sword. Konoko stopped breathing with her hands on her cheeks and her mouth open.

"Not here!" Chie intervened forcefully between the prince and Saitou.

By Saitou's look and Chie's panic, Prince Virgil knew that something bad would have followed, just like in the wave's case. He put his sword back and Saitou did the same with his staff.

"Nanako Ogawa, Miss Asada, what about this name?" asked the prince again with a gaze as if his life clung onto the answer.

Saitou and Chie froze upon seeing Konoko's face changing.

"What?" was the only word that Konoko could pronounce.

The prince did not need her to speak. Seeing her expression remodeled by torturing feelings while her whole body lost its steadiness and started to tremble, he knew that Nanako Ogawa was someone dear to her. At that very moment, he jumped and caught her by the shoulders before she lost her balance and fell.

"I'm taking Miss Asada with us!" he announced to Saitou and Chie.

"You what?" reacted Saitou. "That's completely out of the question!"

"You know the state Miss Flemmings is in now! I think Miss Asada could help her!"

"We can manage without her," insisted Saitou. "We have to!" he added as if he wanted to make clear there was no room for plan changes.

"No! I must go!" intervened Konoko who seemed to rapidly regain her strength as she became aware that the three characters knew Nanako's whereabouts. "If you know where Nanako is, I must go there!" she spoke in a desperate, pleading manner.

"You can't!" Saitou addressed her with a fierce look. "We have talked about this before!" he added, appealing to Konoko's judgement.

"You said you wanted to help Miss Flemmings!" the prince reminded him with the eyes of a person who felt deceived.

"Not like that!" retorted Saitou with a grave look.

"Nanako is there, is she not? She's in Manime!" intervened Konoko again with a burning gaze. "Then the balance is already severed! Please! I need to—"

"You would only make things worse!" Saitou cut her short.

"Oh, really?" came Konoko's answer. She glared angrily at him. "I doubt it! Since you are here, but Nanako is not, it's obvious you couldn't handle things on your own! Besides, it is you who came—"

"We didn't come for your help! You can only bring more damage given your current emotional state!" Saitou accentuated his words. "Not to say that if you hadn't entered the poster in the first place, we would have mended the barrier on time and none of this would have happened!" Saitou was clearly frustrated.

Chie looked at him frightened and then turned her eyes to Konoko. The girl remained speechless and her expression betrayed the feeling of a low blow.

"You can't blame me for not completing the repair on time," she finally retorted in a small trembling voice. Her eyes became watery again.

Without a word, Prince Virgil took Konoko by her wrist, drew her to him, and assisted her to jump into the poster. Saitou and Chie had no choice but to follow the two. She gave him that look that said "I told you so!"

They could not advance much though as a significant group of guardians surrounded them. At a short distance, Prince Virgil was already fighting two of them.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" began a small girl who looked just like Chie, but with short straight purple hair. Her eyes were sharp-edged just like Saitou's, yet of a light violet. "You look really cute in this form, Saitou!" she laughed.

Saitou gave her a threatening look. He felt really pissed to be seen in that super deformed style appearance, yet the discovery that all guardians looked the same soothed his bitterness.

"Let us pass!" he addressed his fellow guardians. "As you can see, we have to retrieve a human trespasser."

"Oh, do you?" asked the purple-haired little girl in an ironic tone. "And here I was thinking that you and Chie were the girl's accomplices." She laughed.

"I doubt the girl could have come in here without help." Intervened another guardian with long black hair covering half of his face. He wore a pale blue bandana on his forehead.

"You'd be surprised," muttered Saitou, "though on this occasion it's true she received help; only not from us as you wrongly assumed!" he finished in an offended tone.

"Do you really want us to believe that Prince Virgil from The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia came here on his own?" spoke the purple-haired girl again.

"I wonder what the commander will say upon hearing this," said another guardian with spiky white hair and pale-blue eyes.

Saitou moved his eyes from one guardian to another with a condescending look. They acted so high and mighty as if they did better than him or Chie. However, were they not tricked by Darts' ability when they didn't notice Saitou, Chie, and Prince Virgil entering the human world? Though Darts hadn't joined them, Prince Virgil had arranged with him upfront to prepare a decoy for the guardians. Darts' technique allowed them to pass unnoticed, yet only for a short period. When Prince Virgil delayed his stay in the human world, Darts' maneuver lost its effect before the three could return to Manime. The guardians were aware that they had missed the moment when the portal was breached, so they were now desperate to amend for their mistake. The commander would have been very disappointed to hear that twelve full-fledged guardians had been fooled by two common characters and only two other fellow colleagues. But if they brought the culprits to justice and removed the human girl from Manime...

Despite their chibi looks, the guardians were to be feared as Prince Virgil acknowledged upon starting a fight against them. He never intended to oppose the Manime authorities, but he felt the current situation could not be handled by the book using traditional methods. Konoko stayed close to him, but she was incredibly scared. Her Virgil had a really hard time facing the guardians and she was wondering what harm he might have encountered. At the same time, she feared for her own life! Last time when she confronted Saitou, she was almost sure it was a dream. Now she knew it was real. If bad things happened to humans and characters alike when someone went to the other world, it meant that the fights too were harmful. Konoko's ears felt pain at the sharp sounds of weapons clashing. The techniques the guardians used had a physical impact similar to a powerful wind blow. Even if she was lucky enough not to be in their range so far, she did feel the force that passed near her. It was thanks to Prince Virgil that no attack got its target since he successfully dodged them all. But he quickly became exhausted. To make matters worse, she noticed that Saitou and Chie had also engaged in battle. It pained her to see the guardians attacking their own comrades, though the situation qualified Saitou and Chie as traitors. Recalling Saitou's words before Prince Virgil took her into the poster, Konoko realized that one more reproach was to be added on Saitou's black list: she was now responsible for damaging their reputation too.

As these thoughts passed through her head, a round blinding light almost hit her. Prince Virgil forcefully pulled her by her right shoulder and threw her behind him. His grasp was so strong that the skin on her shoulder hurt. Her fall was impactful too. As she got up again, she felt dizzy. Because of the shock, she didn't feel any other pain except for her shoulder. Barely on her feet, another attack came right toward her. This time, there were swirling flames in groups of six. Konoko crossed her hands in front of her, moved her face away, and closed her eyes tightly. At that very moment, she felt she was holding onto something. A shield, a real shield was covering her and her hands clutched onto its handle! Where did it come from, she had no idea! Even more surprising, she no longer had real arms. They were drawn! She had turned into an anime character! The shield was too heavy for her, but somehow she managed to hold it in the appropriate position. Each hit pushed her a little farther. The muscles of her legs ached as she was forcing them to keep her on her feet. Prince Virgil came near her.

"Can you make more shields? If I had one as well, I could take your burden."

Konoko looked at him with her mouth open. Where did he get the idea that she could make shields? She didn't even know how that one appeared in her hands.

"Hurry, Miss Asada! We won't be able to hold them back any much longer at this rate!"

Obviously, Prince Virgil was convinced that she could produce shields! While staring at him hopelessly with her hands frozen on the shield's handle, she watched the prince struggling to dodge some blazing crescents raining over him. Some of them hit against her shield, their force quickly tiring her arms. As she started feeling overwhelmed by the blows, she drew closer to Prince Virgil, but averted her eyes. The blows decreased and she looked again. Prince Virgil now had a shield even bigger than hers and he could clearly put it to better use than she could. Relieved that the attacks seemed to have weakened, she took a peek beyond her shield. The guardians that fought Saitou and Chie presently charged at her and the prince. Konoko's eyes grew big with horror watching the army of cute characters approaching. At that very moment, a large group of soldiers with swords like Virgil's and shields like hers appeared to their defense.

"Wait, stop!" screamed Chie trying to catch up with the rest of the guardians. Saitou was with her.

"You're only provoking her more!" shouted Saitou.

Even if the newly appeared soldiers seemed to not stand a chance against the guardians, it still gave Konoko and Prince Virgil enough time to escape.

"Come!" he shouted at Konoko, stretching his hand out to her, "we have to leave now!"

"We can't leave Saitou and Chie!" pleaded Konoko.

It was too late. The prince was fading away. A character could not stay out of their manga or anime for too long. When time was up, they were immediately transported back to their story.

"If you want to see your friend, come to The Lost Kingdom of Hesperia as fast as you can! I'll be waiting..." were his last words before completely disappearing right in front of her.

The group of soldiers had been defeated by the guardians. They looked like shapeless strokes of charcoal now, though from a distant view, one could still guess their stances before being destroyed. The guardians surrounded Konoko and looked at her as an imminent menace. Saitou and Chie managed to catch up, but they were out of breath. Saitou quickly placed himself in front of Konoko in a defending position and addressed the other guardians.

"Don't touch her!"

"She's an AUTHOR!" one of the guardians retorted as if being an author was a terrible thing.

"We're all going with you to the commander, but please..." begged Saitou.

His words seemed to have had a certain effect. The guardians exchanged some agitated looks and engaged in an intense whispered discussion. During this time, Chie approached Konoko and took her left hand in both hers, holding it gently.

"Play along with us!" she said in a secretive voice.

After failing to go with Virgil, Konoko felt deeply in her heart that following Saitou and Chie's lead right now was her best chance to see Nanako again.