Epilogue

6 years later...

Ayumu

     Everyone was happy. It was now 6 years after our incident, and Sari, Hemu, and Muri were now 19. I however, was still 17. Things had changed a lot. Sari and the other two had their driver's license, and now drove around themselves. I also knew that Sari and Hemu were secretly going out. I heard them talking about a movie they saw around midnight as I passed their bedroom. And midnight was about the time when Muri and I went searching for the two, who always went "missing" together. Eventually, they'd turn up two to three hours later. 

     I groaned as I rode in the backseat of the car. Sari and Hemu were holding hands, Hemu driving with his free one. I prayed silently in my head. Please don't crash, please don't crash, don't crash, please! I braced myself as we swerved around the corner. I still didn't know where we were going. All I had heard was that it was going to be a surprise. I didn't think Muri even knew. I looked at him now, trying to read his face. He stared ahead, frowning. His head swiveled around to face me and he caught my eye, smiling. I grimaced back and turned to face the road. 

     "The airport!?" I screamed, gasping. "We're going to the airport? What for?"

     No one answered. I looked at Muri and gave him my best pleading look. He snickered and leaned out his window, sighing. We got out of the car, and walked into the airport. It was huge. I had never been in an airport in my entire life! Hemu and Sari each had their own personal luggage, and I realized with shock I didn't have one. 

     "I forgot my luggage!" I gasped, racing for the door.

     Muri caught the collar of my coat, pulling me back. He frowned. "We didn't pack your luggage, silly. Only Sari and Hemu are going to California!"

     "California? What for?" I asked, mystified. I was confused.

     "For tomato's sake, Ayumu!" Hemu turned, grinning at me. "College! We're attending college in California!"

     "Ooo-ohhh!" I breathed, nodding. "College." Everyone nodded, relieved that I got it. "Wait!" I said, looking at Hemu and Sari, then Muri, "Why isn't Muri coming?"

     "'Cos I'm gonna watch over you, silly!" Muri grinned, ruffling my hair. 

     I smoothed it out, smiling. "Thanks!" 

     "Well," Sari said. "It's time to say good-bye."

     "Not for forever." I whispered as she squeezed me tight.

     "No," she grinned, "Not for forever."

     I smiled up at her as Hemu swooped down and picked my up in his arms, snickering. I frowned playfully. "I'm not so little anymore, Hemu." I giggled.

     "Nope," he said, pretending to struggle under my weight. "You're as light as a feather!" he grinned, putting back on the ground with a peck on the cheek.

     I hugged them both smiled. "Remember my smiling face, okay?" I said, smiling as big as I could.

     "Of course," Sari responded, Hemu nodding in agreement. 

     "You just remember to keep smiling!" Hemu said, patting my head.

     "I will! Bye!" I said, giving one last hug before taking Muri's hand and heading to the car. Tears flowed down my still smiling face I turned around to see Sari and Hemu walking around the corner, hand in hand.

     

   

Chapter 14:Trapped and Cornered

Ayumu

"We're lost," I said to Sari, trying to show her my disappointment. "What did I tell you?"

"No we're not," Sari said, giving me a look that clearly said: quit complaining and help me find a way out of this stinkin' forest.

I glared back, then too looked around for some kind of path. "We never had a chance of finding them in the first place," I mumbled, crossing my arms. "They were two hours ahead anyway."

"Stop it!" Sari shouted so suddenly that I jumped. "Y-you can just go home if you want, but I actually care for them. And if you don't really care after all they've done for you too, then I can't believe you're my sister!" she screeched in disgust.

I stared at her, and suddenly realized how important this mission was. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "I care about them too..." I trailed off. I took Sari's hand and started walking. Five minutes later, we came to a sign.

"Eh?" Sari said, "What in the world is this?"

"I have no idea..." I said, shaking my head.

I slowly read the sign. The print was tiny, and I leaned closer, squinting.

Up ahead,

You are almost there,

Follow the path,

To the land,

Of sweet affair.

-Hemuri

"Woah," I said, turning to Sari. "That was easy."

"What?" Sari said impatiently, "What was easy?"

"Finding them," I replied, smug.

"Finding who?"

"Hemu and Muri, of course! Who else are we looking for?" I sighed. I then gestured to the sign, and she took her turn at reading it.

"Okaay..." Sari said after reading the sign. "Fishy..."

"Huh?" I said, trying to conceal my excitement, "What's so fishy?"

"A lot of things," Sari said, looking down at me. "First of all, how do we know Hemu and Muri really wrote this? Would they even have the time to etch it in neatly like this? Also, this sign, it's like they knew we were coming. Like a set up... a trap."

"Damn it! We've been found out!" Someone cursed in the trees above.

Sari

I whistled, and Charismi landed on my shoulder.

"Plan B! Switch to plan B!" someone yelled in the trees. Ayumu and I both looked up, trying to spot out mysterious trap planner.

Charismi growled, tension rising.

"Ahhhhh!" people jumped down from the trees, landing gently on their feet. They all had armor on, and masks concealing their faces. Ayumu and I went back to back, staring at the three strangers. They suddenly moved in closer, forming a circle arounnd us. One pulled out its sword, and the other two followed suit.

Charismi growled, then shot a sudden burst flame toward the closest stranger. His mask melted, and his face was revealed. The man had a long scar from the left eye all the way down to his chin. The man frowned for a split second, then charged. I dodged instinctively, pulling Ayumu with me. Then the other two charged at us.

Everything went in slow motion. I tried to pull Ayumu out of the way, but the man with the scar blocked our escape. I stepped in front of Ayumu, crossed my arms against my chest, and waited for the blow to come.

Chapter 10: Night Meeting-Hemuri

Sari lay in bed, smoothing her hair out against her pillow. It had felt good to take a real shower after so long. Sari smiled, she liked the way her hair felt against her fingers. So fine and smooth, long and silky. She stared up at the bed above her, thinking about Charismi, who lay on top of a pillow next to her. Charismi opened one eye to check on Sari, then closed it and went back to snoring peacefully. Sari sighed, trying to roll over and close her eyes. The door creaked open and a head poked in.

“Still awake?” a voice fluttered in. It was one of the twins. His blue eyes pierced the darkness, bright and curious.

“Yeah.” Sari whispered back, turning to look at the boy more closely.

The boy walked over and sat on the edge of Sari’s bed, next to Charismi; who opened both eyes and snorted, tongue flickering.

“Hey! He’s just here to talk!” Sari said, scolding Charismi. Charismi looked at Sari, then the boy, then closed both eyes again and went back to sleep.

“Nice dragon you got there.” The boy whispered, staring at Charismi, “Sure a feisty one.”

“Yeah, I found Charismi in the woods not far from here. She has been with me ever since.”

“A girl, huh? Wow, must be cool.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh, sorry for not introducing myself earlier, I’m Hemu; my brother’s name is Muri. Together we’re Hemuri. You’re not the only ones with superpowers, when me and brother are together, we can morph into anything and anybody we have seen. Also, we know everything and anything our object might know. All their knowledge, tactics, crime fighting skills, everything. So you better watch out, I’ve seen you know. You can’t hide.”

And with that, Hemu got up and walked out the doorway, closing the door softly behind him. Sari thought hard about what Hemu had said: morphing powers? Knowledge stealing? And what had he meant by “you can’t hide”? It was too much to think about. Sari sighed and muttered to herself quietly.

“Are you okay?” A tiny voice floated down to her ear. It was Ayumu.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Don’t listen to him. He’s joking.”

“About the morphing part?”

“No, about the last sentence. He doesn’t really mean it.”

“Mean what?” Sari asked, her voice rising with concern.

“Nothing, go back to sleep.” Ayumu whispered, and Sari heard her lie down and roll over. She put her head back on the pillow just as Charismi opened her eyes again, this time with questioning.

Sari looked deep into Charismi eyes, knowing she was thinking the same thing as her: “What?” Sari shook her head, sighing deeply. “I don’t know Charismi, I don’t know.” Then Sari curled up, and went to sleep.