Invasion

Aiko met Yuuki the next day near the station in Ota, not too far from the scene of Aiko's run-in with the giant bird. Eri had begged to come, but after a drawn-out and exhausting battle, Aiko had convinced her not to. It wasn't that she didn't believe Eri could look after herself, but there was something about the cult they were investigating that made Aiko's skin itch uncomfortably.

The hero of Jel'Almore motioned for her to follow as soon as he caught sight of her, and the two of them walked through winding streets until they were a few blocks away, standing in front of a large three-story building.

The building was old, but well maintained, and had evidently been repainted recently in a creamy white. Hung beside the door, coming down to the ground and anchored by two steel loops, was a thick canvas banner. It depicted a starry night sky behind a photo of a man who seemed to be in the middle of talking to somebody out of frame. He was smiling, holding his hands out in front of him. Emblazoned into the stars were the words A Great King! and underneath that New Paperback Edition - Inquire Within.

"What now?" Aiko asked.

"I suppose we go inside?" Yuuki shrugged.

"And then?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

Aiko closed her eyes for a few moments, reaching around psychically. Just as Yuuki had said, it felt unpleasant.

"Can feel something up there. Big. Shouldn't be in this world." Aiko pointed at the second floor.

"Me too. I don't want to sound cliched, but it feels like a center of power. I suppose whatever it is, if we break it, things should go back to normal?"

Aiko shook her head. "Never that simple."

"I suppose not." Yuuki sighed. "We can't just stand out here forever."

He headed to the door, but before he could reach the handle, it opened for him. A man poked his head out and smiled at them. He had gray hair that curled around his temples, and a pair of small circular glasses perched so low on his nose they couldn't have been much use for anything. He was smartly dressed without looking like he worked at an office or a company. Aiko wasn't sure why, but he looked like what she dimly imagined a math teacher would look like.

"Hello there, have you two decided to come in?" he asked, smiling.

"Ah, umm, that is," Yuuki stammered, taking a step back.

"Don't worry, we don't bite. Are you interested in the Great King?"

"Great King," Aiko repeated.

"Yes! The Great King! Not too long before he arrives, you know! I keep meaning to use up my loyalty card points before then! Just kidding!" He laughed again, his eyes wrinkling up.

"Loyalty card points?" Aiko looked at Yuuki, not sure who else was going to help her with this.

"It's a card where you, umm, look, I'll explain it later." Yuuki shook his head and turned back to the man hiding behind the door. "Um, good sir! Might we come in and have a look around?"

"Good sir!" the man laughed again. "What a refined manner of speech you have there, young man! And who is this, your girlfriend?"

Yuuki's whole face recoiled. "My god. No."

"No," Aiko agreed.

"No, absolutely not. No. Never. No."

"No! Very no!! Enemy! No!"

"Alright! Alright! I get the picture!" The man chuckled. "But there's no need to be so formal, the Church of the Great King welcomes all, even those who are just curious! Why don't you come in for a cup of tea?"

Aiko and Yuuki looked at each other dubiously. Aiko was wondering if they should just kill this man and everybody else in the building, and she wondered if Yuuki was thinking something along the same lines.

No doubt misunderstanding the meaning of their shared glance, the man was quick to hold his hands up.

"Oh, don't worry! Strictly no obligation! I won't try to rope you into doing weird chants or anything. We have a lot of young people that come in just because they think this guy over here looks weird. Anyway it's pretty hot out here, so why don't you come in and have some cool tea?"

"If you put it like that, I don't suppose we have any reason to refuse," Yuuki said.

"Oh! Lovely! This way then!" The man opened the door further, and vanished inside.

Aiko and Yuuki exchanged one last glance and followed him. Before they crossed the threshold to the inside of the building, Aiko felt her skin crawl, and she put her hand on Yuuki's back.

"I know," he muttered over his shoulder, "be on your guard, Deathbringer."

Inside, the building was modestly but neatly furnished. A small sofa and a few chairs huddled about a coffee table upon which a short stack of books and some promotional leaflets had been arranged. There was a small adjoined kitchen, and behind that stairs leading up to the second floor. The man who had greeted them was busy preparing something from the refrigerator.

"You can go ahead and call me Nasu, by the way. Everybody does."

Nasu came out from the kitchen holding a wooden tray balancing a few cups of cold tea, and placed it on the small table in the middle of the room, beside the stack of books. Now that he wasn't hiding behind a door, Aiko could see he was wearing a silver necklace, the small pendant catching the light.

"May I ask your names?"

Yuuki regarded him distantly. "Fortitude Brightblade the Eleventh," he said finally.

"Well! That is quite a name! Have you heard of the Great King, young Fortitude?"

"Can't say I have."

Nasu tapped one of the books on the table. "Our founder says that he will come on the seventh month, to a place our eyes cannot see, and begin the task of awakening the King of Angelmois. Angelmois will awaken on the last day of the ninety-ninth year, and bring with him all his angels, and right all the wrongs that have befallen this world since he went to sleep. Isn't that something?"

"You don't say."

"I know, I know. It's going to be really something else, let me tell you. Things are finally going to get back on track, lickety-split, just like they should be." Nasu took one of the cups of tea and sipped it delicately. "See? No poison. Anyway, it's written right here, but you know what else our founder says?"

"No idea."

"He says that before the work of the Great King is done, there will come those from distant lands who wish to keep him chained in his eternal slumber. Terrible, right?"

Nasu turned to Aiko. "And young miss, I don't suppose you'd tell me your name, would you?"

Aiko looked back at Nasu, and his unblinking eyes, and felt her hackles rising. Just looking at him tugged on every instinct she had. Her toes curled inside her trainers. Who was this man to speak to her of Kings as though they were something you could find on every street corner? She realized, dimly, stupidly, that she was feeling insulted.

"Mathilda val Stattico Deathbringer. Ninth daughter of the Impalian King Evard val Stattico Deathbringer."

"Another long name, I see," Nasu nodded. "Tell me, Fortitude, Mathilda, do either of you come from distant lands?"

Nasu rose up off the couch, levitating in midair while he maintained the same pose he'd had while sitting. His eyes flashed, burning fierce purple, and he spun rapidly in the air, clawing at nothing, before he flung himself toward Mathilda.

Before he could reach her, Yuuki leaped forward and tackled the blazing human rocket, sending Nasu bouncing into the coffee table and scattering the stack of books and tray of tea over the floor. Their host kicked about midair and scrambled back onto all fours.

"You nasty little other-worlders! What are you doing here?" Nasu snarled.

From behind them, Aiko heard the door opening. When she looked, two more cult members had entered the building, their eyes glowing the same vibrant purple.

"Deathbringer!" Yuuki shouted. "I'll hold them off! Go figure out what they're hiding!"

Aiko nodded, and dashed towards the stairs.

"Stop her!" Nasu shrieked.

But Aiko was already past him, and bounded up the stairs. When she got to the second floor landing, a long corridor that stretched out in both directions, the same uneasy feeling from before was even stronger. It came at her in waves so strong that it made her nauseous.

"This way," she said to herself, and ran down the corridor in the direction of the throbbing, uncomfortable feeling, toward a door just slightly open, behind which she could hear something humming, low and constant.

She could hear footsteps behind her. The cult members were close. Was Yuuki alright? Did it matter?

She pushed the door open, and all the wind left her at once. Aiko froze in place, her mouth open, unwilling to believe what she was looking at.

In the middle of the room, a swirling black mess of spluttering dark magic, was an infinity portal: the entrance to a dungeon.

"Sword, come," Aiko said.

And then she jumped into the portal.