Heroes of the Past

Friday Autumn Quarter 2015 Week 3

Ten at night. We arrived at an abandoned building near the university. Rumors were the building’s original use was for secret government research. Officially, the building was recognized as a multidisciplinary science research lab. Cla.s.srooms on the first two floors and everything above that, research laboratories designed for both undergraduates and professors.

But sometime in 2001, the building was decommissioned. Recently, the plans was for it to be torn down so the computer sciences department could use the s.p.a.ce. Approval for it hadn’t been voted on yet but chances were that the department would get their wish.

The building itself wasn’t anything special. Typical university hall except more dilapidated. Paint falling off, stained and broken windows, and moss growing on the outside. I expected the front door to be locked but yet it opened with ease.

“I can’t believe I’m actually following you on this idiotic quest,” I said, peering into the darkness.

“I told you that I would be fine myself. This is the chance of a lifetime,” Ichizen replied.

I sighed but continued along the dimly lit path. My name is Tomo Yuki and I’m currently a first year university student. The person b.u.mbling in front of me is Michi Ichizen.

I’ve known him since I was eight. He’s always looking for adventure. And that was the motivation for why we were sneaking around like this.

“You know that you can’t just trust a message sent to your phone,” I admonished, placing my left hand on the wall to steady myself.

The path we walked along was narrow and to my immediate right, I could make out a jagged edge. Ichizen looked fine, walking ahead with a determined expression.

“Yeah, it might be a little suspicious but I’m telling you that I know something good will happen. I looked around on some websites and this place isn’t that dangerous,” he said, shining his flashlight around.

Shaking my head, I continued following him until we reached an area illuminated by flickering lights on the wall. I reached out to grab Ichizen but he dashed far ahead of me.

Not good. How did this place still even have electricity? I reached for my cell phone. I glanced at the battery level on the upper right corner. It still showed green with a 70 % charge.

I glanced back, wondering how far away we were from the entrance. Still time to leave but it meant leaving Ichizen here. As much as I was annoyed with his antics, leaving him here alone might make things worse. Who knows what trouble he would get into?

“This should be good enough to light up the path until I catch up with him,” I muttered, using my phone’s camera light to check the dark spots.

I finally caught glimpse of Ichizen after walking for ten minutes. Running up to him, I saw him gasp. I looked ahead but saw nothing of interest.

“Hey, what do you see?” I questioned.

“You finally caught up with me. Sorry about that. I got a little too excited. Hmm, these lights are fascinating, don’t you think? This really makes it cool,” he replied, pointing at the wall.

“That was it? Look, we haven’t found anything and it’s almost been an hour since we entered this place,” I said.

“No, listen, I think we’re getting close. I’m sure that if we just go forward a little bit more, we’ll find the thing the message talked about. You know, the cool treasure,” he suggested, looking at me with pleading eyes.

“Alright, I’ll go with you but if we don’t find anything in the next thirty minutes, we’re leaving,” I imposed a condition.

Ichizen nodded and we continued on. As we headed deeper in, I regretted my decision. Not only were we trespa.s.sing on private property but it was getting late. Only an hour before it was midnight. And there was homework to do.

“You know, I wonder what would happen if somebody found us? We are breaking in and all. Hey, Yuki, I wonder if you would be smooth enough to talk us out of trouble?” Ichizen suddenly asked.

I said nothing, amazed he even asked that ridiculous question. I felt like smacking him in the head but refrained myself. The more important thing right now was getting out of here.

“C’mon, don’t ignore me like that. Okay, fine, that was a sh*tty question. But seriously, I really wonder if you could just talk your way out of it? I know for sure I would suck at it,” he asked again.

“Please, Ichizen, let’s not talk anymore,” I suggested.

Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at a large circular area with doors surrounding us. Okay, something was wrong. Maybe the rumors were true about this being a secret research lab. Ichizen spun around, unable to contain his excitement.

“Let’s just get this over with,” I demanded, shining my light at the doors.

“Oh man, so many options! I wonder where each of them lead to. Should we check all of them? No, that would be too hard. Maybe based on their color?” Ichizen exclaimed.

“Idiot! Are you crazy? Look, I’m getting tired of all of this. Pick a d.a.m.n door and peek in. If you see anything, go in,” I declared, smacking Ichizen in the back of the head.

“Ow, that hurt, you know? Yuki, this is why all of our cla.s.smates were scared of you in the past,” Ichizen said, rubbing his head.

I ignored the last part of his comment and stormed over to the first door. I tried the doork.n.o.b and found it locked. Shaking my head at Ichizen, I headed over to the next door.

We tried every door until we reached the last one. More than half of the doors were locked. Those that opened were bare inside, nothing except a thick layer of dust.

“Okay, this is the last one. We find nothing in there then we leave. Got it, Ichizen?” I snapped, frustrated by the doors.

“Yuki, I know it. Something is definitely in here. Let’s do this!” Ichizen exclaimed, reaching for the doork.n.o.b.

He pushed down on the doork.n.o.b and it swung open to my surprise. Ichizen rushed in before I even had a chance to check inside. This kind of recklessness emerged whenever he was excited.

“Oh, I was right! I knew it! What did I tell you, Yuki? Something was definitely in here!” Ichizen yelled out.

Ichizen was correct. I saw a furnished office inside. In the back, there was a wooden table with a large, bronze statue on top of it. To our immediate front, there was a nice sofa with a beautiful coffee table placed in front of the seat. Ornate, expensive bookcases lined the walls on either side.

“What the f*ck is this?” I muttered, surprised.

“Wow, can’t believe we found something like this. This is freakin awesome. Yuki, Yuki, look over there!” Ichizen pointed at a safe in the back.

I walked over to the coffee table, examining the contents on top of it. A dirt colored teapot with four tea cups of matching color sat in the middle. I noticed the lid of the teapot slanted, steam wafting up from it.

Something was wrong. I happened to glance at the floor and saw the carpet fading.

“Ichizen, hey, something..,” I warned but stopped mid-sentence.

Ichizen glanced over, expecting me to finish my sentence. As he turned around, my friend came face to face with a dark slithering shadow. I expected the shadow to devour Ichizen but it stood still. I glanced around the room, searching for a suitable weapon.

“Uh, Yuki, I think it wants to speak to me. Maybe it’ll tell me the combination to the safe,” Ichizen said.

Ichizen reached out to the shadow, his right hand trembling. The shadow made no noise and remained motionless. Ichizen’s right hand pa.s.sed straight through the shadow. He then retracted his still trembling hand.

“Nothing wrong yet,” he reported.

“F*ckin idiot,” I commented.

The shadow then dashed straight at Ichizen. I shouted but watched a strange scene unfold. The shadow pa.s.sed through Ichizen, heading for the safe. Ichizen patted his chest and stomach, relief on his face.

“Heh, I’m okay. Maybe it’s our friend?” he questioned, returning back to the safe.

For now, the shadow appeared harmless. Still, I could not take any chances. I found a broom leaning against one of the bookcases. I raised the broom at an angle and swung it. It felt fragile but it would suffice for now. I walked over to Ichizen.

“So, now what? I can’t believe this sh*t,” I asked, tightening my grip on the broom handle.

“I think the shadow is our friend. Let’s just see what it does,” Ichizen remarked and stared at the shadow with curiosity.

The shadow once again paused but this time in front of the safe. It lacked depth, thin as a piece of paper. It stood maybe six, seven feet. I found it hard to believe such a creature remained upright.

Whatever, I wouldn’t question this thing’s existence after seeing Ichizen’s hand pa.s.s through it. This entire situation right now was preposterous. As I stared at the shadow, there was a bright flash. I shielded my eyes and a piece of paper took the place of the shadow.

“Sweet. That was cool. Man, I knew that mysterious message would lead me somewhere good,” Ichizen said.

F*ck it. Too many strange things. Might as well accept it like everything else. Ichizen picked up the piece of paper, inspecting it.

“Looks like the combination to the safe. I can’t believe our luck,” he said, bending down to input the combination.

Really? Things were too convenient and I knew we were being manipulated. Actually, no, I take that back. Ichizen was being manipulated and I was just accompanying him. Too late to convince Ichizen to stop.

“So, does it work at all?” I asked, peering down at the safe.

“I think it does… and bingo! Got it, let’s check out what’s inside!” he said with excitement as the safe door swung open.

My expectations for the interior of the safe were non-existent. Ichizen was crazy for expecting treasure. And of course, the interior of the safe disappointed once we checked it.

“There’s nothing inside. This has to be the most waste of time I’ve ever experienced. It’s like seeing a d.a.m.n present under the tree on Christmas and there literally is nothing inside,” I said in anger.

“Wait, wait. Yuki, look!” Ichizen countered, pointing at the safe.

I directed my glance over at the safe but still nothing. I shifted my gaze to the left and saw the bookcases disappearing. The carpeted floor underneath us broke apart into small gla.s.s pieces. An intense light then flooded the area and I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, everything changed.

“Wow, that was quite an adventure,” Ichizen commented, blinking rapidly.

I checked our surroundings. The office and everything around it was gone. A link fence was behind us. I glanced up, seeing the night sky. A small spiral bound notebook lay near us. Ichizen picked it up, flipping through the pages.

“What’s it say?” I asked, peering over his shoulder.

“Uh..it says that `Whoever pursues the path which I have provided will be granted great power. You are the one who must take it. Now embark with your friend to finally obtain it. You will indeed be a hero.’ Hmm, sounds kind of suspicious,” Ichizen read off the notebook.

“Now you say that?” I asked, exasperated by his imbecile behavior.

Before I could say more, I heard the sharp beep of my phone. I checked the text message sent to me. I didn’t recognize the number. Ichizen’s phone also beeped as well.

“That’s a coincidence,” he remarked.

He looked at his screen and once again an excited expression appeared on his face. He showed his phone screen, pointing to the message. The sender’s number matched the one I received moments ago.

“d.a.m.n, someone is f*cking with us,” I commented, reading the message.

The contents mirrored the notebook message. It contained a few additional details as well. At the bottom of the text, I saw an attached picture labeled “Map to Heroism”.

“Yuki, Yuki! This is it! I’ve finally found what I’ve been looking for all these years!” Ichizen said, his face beaming.

I ignored him and looked at the message again. I opened my web browser, pasting the unknown number into the search bar. I scrolled through the results but nothing.

“Ichizen, let’s get out of here. It looks like we’re still near the campus,” I suggested.

I saw no other way out but to climb the fence. What a ha.s.sle. Ichizen scampered upward, beating me to the top. We dropped back down on the other side. I saw the words “Construction” written on a sign.

I walked up to the fence, peering in. The building we originally entered was not present. In its place was a pile of stones and construction equipment. Impossible.

”Ichizen, don’t. None of this happened. We found nothing, we’re going home!” I pointed at him.

For now, I would drive him back home and figure the rest out later. None of this was real. There definitely was still a building here. And I was just returning home with Ichizen after a night at the arcades.