5: Kaori Shimomura
“You really don’t hate the cold, do you,” said Joel, scratching his head.
“Well,” said Kaori, looking Phantasia up and down several times with a pained look in her eyes, “You’re certainly going to stand out at the club, that’s for sure,”
“Oh, is that a good thing?”
Kaori laughed. She was about to take Phantasia’s arm when Doyle stepped forward, took off his coat, and offered it to her. Her scrawny frame was lost in the heavy material, but Doyle didn’t seem to mind. He kept his hands resting on her shoulders for a few moments, and she began to feel an uncomfortable scratching from their weight. She pulled away from him before the feeling could get any worse. Disappointed, he shuffled off to stand with Byron.
“You came through the slums?” asked Joel, glancing back at the road Phantasia had appeared from, “That’s a dangerous area. Roughest part of town, you know? Dude, you could’ve got hurt,” he paused for a moment and looked embarrassed, “Ah, sorry, I didn’t think, I’ll show you a safer route next time,”
Phantasia shrugged. “It didn’t seem so dangerous. I hardly saw anyone, just traces of people in ruins. It was more a pitiful place, devoid of vitality and hope…”
“Wow, those psychic powers are amazing,” said Kaori, looking at Phantasia with awe-struck eyes, “Could you tell all that just by sense? Is it natural? Like sight and smell?”
“Psychic powers?” scoffed Byron as he flicked a lighter in his hand, “You two’ll believe anything these days.”
Phantasia scuffed her bare feet on the rough concrete and tried not to meet their eyes. Her friends thought far more of her abilities than she did. They were just natural senses, nothing more, and she didn’t even understand them! Hopefully they wouldn’t expect too much of her.
The group made their way down some silent, dark streets. This was the furthest reaches of the town, a grey wasteland sitting in stark contrast to the lush greens that surrounded the school. Stars had started appearing in the sky, but they were soon obscured by tall, oblique silhouettes and columns rising up from the shadows. As she walked, Phantasia attempted to focus her senses as Queen Thetis had advised.
Mana was weak here, she thought. Whatever this place was, its life had been drained away centuries ago, long before the Great Cataclysm ruined the world. Phantasia felt cold and found her breathing became heavy.
After hearing a quiet, pulsating sound on the dry air grow closer, Phantasia found herself descending cracked stone steps into an underground complex encased in dull concrete. Two hefty men stood in front of a large metal door, open enough so that a sliver of light filtered across the passageway. Above them a sign was marked with the words ‘World’s End‘. The guards seemed to recognise the group, shared a few quiet words with Joel, and then opened the large door. They gave Phantasia curt nods as she walked past into the dim light. The soft pulsating turned violent the moment she crossed the threshold.
