Castaway

STRANGE

Cart was carrying a bag of groceries. He never went to a grocery store before and only ate takeouts or home meals when he's with a friend. He took out the piece of paper with the list of what he needed to buy.

"Scissors, colored paper, and glue? What the h*ck is this? Are we high schoolers now doing projects? Where am I supposed to buy this?" he asked himself in the middle of the road. Some people are looking at him.

He put the piece of paper in his pocket and took the bag of groceries he put down. He continued to walk until he reached a coffee shop and saw two familiar faces.

He turned around and walked back to where the grocery store was before they could see him.

"Luckily, Calyx is not with them," he mumbled.

-0-0-0-

"Are you sure he's going to meet us here?" Amaron asked his twin.

"Yeah. Dad wrote his phone number on that invitation when he went home last month," Baron replied while sipping his cup of coffee.

"Ugh, this tastes really bad," Baron grimaced.

"You're just fond of your own brewing," Amaron laughed.

"I'm better," Baron remarked.

They stayed there for a few more minutes before seeing a man wearing a khaki suit, red necktie, round black shades, blonde hair combed and waxed sideways, and wearing brown leather shoes. He was holding a leather briefcase while looking around. Amaron and Baron are quite not sure if this was the man they were meeting and stayed at their table looking at him, saying, "we might be who'd you're looking for" in their eyes.

The weird-looking guy took a turn and headed their way. He took off his eyewear and took something from his pocket. He showed his ID and introduced himself at the same time.

"Ronan Okazaki, you may not recognize me because of my hair in which my cousins were the culprit, but I'm Runette's cousin. We've seen each other quite a few times before," he smiled and sat on a chair.

They were quite amazed that his accent made him more unrecognizable.

"Yeah, Ronan. I remember," Amaron said.

"So, where's your father?" Ronan asked them.

"Well, he's not here, but we were told to settle this as soon as possible. He's expecting us to confirm my presence at the selection," Amaron explained.

"Okay, I just want you to sign this." Roman took a pen and a folder from his briefcase and opened it in front of Amaron, a waiver.

Amaron read it and got no problem with what's written on it except for one thing. 

"So the winner gets to live in one of the Takubami's mansions?" Amaron asked.

"Yep, the Takubami are, you know-- well off. She belongs to the head family, quite the royalty as we could say," Ronan said with a glint of sarcasm in his tone.

"I hope they could prepare so much for the wedding, seeing how they prepared for her selection," Amaron said.

"I hope I could still see you before her wedding," Ronan smirked.

"I'll see you at her wedding." Amaron made it more like a possible thing that could happen in the future.

"You've got quite the confidence, Feidon boy. I wish the curse won't hold you back."

Amaron stopped himself and forced a smile. Baron took the paper and read it to make sure they won't have a problem later. Amaron took the pen and signed it when Baron was done.

"And here's the first task. The selection will begin next month. I hope you're already prepared for it as I can see you're holding back your true strength," Ronan told them and left.

They watched as the man went out from their vision.

"We can't back out now, can we?" Baron asked his brother.

-0-0-0-

The dust fell off from the knob when the door slowly opened. It revealed a room with furniture covered in white cloth. The stranger walked slowly as he scanned the place. A light came in from the old tinted window when he parted the curtain. He coughed as the dust entered his airway. He looked around and tried to search for something. His eyes stopped at a tall square thing next to a plastic indoor plant. He walked towards it and pulled the white cloth. There he saw an old cabinet with a small mirror that reflects almost nothing. He opened it, and a pile of dust greeted him again.

"Glad someone gave me a warm welcome," he sneered.

He took the only thing placed inside the cabinet, a book.

He smiled as soon as he saw what was written on its cover, a bunch of letters from an unknown origin. An old alphabet only a few could read, but he knew what that means. He knew what does that old book was called.

"The Book of Historia," he smiled.

He took his phone and dialed a number. Fastly, the other person answered it the first time it rang.

"I got it," the stranger reported to his contractor.

-0-0-0-

“So, if Amaron happened to win the selection--”

“Which is, I doubt,” Calyx interrupted.

“Why would you doubt your brother?” Amaron appeared on the door with Baron behind him carrying a basket of fresh leaves.

“That’s not what I meant. Well, you told us before, I mean, you’re so against father about having you join this selection,” Calyx cleared.

Amaron raised a brow and cupped his chin for a moment before saying, “Change of heart.”

Calyx watched him while he walked towards the staircase and went up to his room.

“What happened?” Calyx asked Baron.

Baron took a piece of paper from the basket he was holding and handed it over to Calyx before heading to his storeroom.

“What the hell?” Baron heard Calyx gasped after he closed the door. He was always that loud.

-0-0-0-

Devanna was on her way to their cabin from training in the woods when she heard something flap. She looked above her, guessing it was a bird but saw nothing. She continued to walk when she heard the leaves were rushing above even though there’s no wind. She readied her bow and took her arrow behind her. She scanned the whole place, looking for something unusual. She heard wings flapped behind her and shot it immediately when a black thing surprised her the moment she turned around.

-0-0-0-

They saw birds flying over the trees while they heard a loud squeak echoed in the woods. Limo felt his heart skipped a beat and fell into a moment of anxiety and darkness. Limo ran downstairs, where he found them having their own business in the living room.

“Devanna,” he said, holding his breath. His golden eyes gleamed, stealing their attention. They stared at him for a moment before they rushed to the backdoor, holding each of their weapons. Limo went after them.

“Did you smell that?” he asked when the air carried a scent of a daisy mixed with something unpleasant.

“What is it?” Amaron asked him.

“There was a nice smell earlier, but now…” he stopped when the smell deepened and crawled under his nose.

“That’s nasty,” Limo grunted.

“We can’t smell anything, but I had a bad feeling about it,” Baron remarked.