14 The Disappearance of Hinansho City

"Hey."

He turned around in his bed, the voice distant, but he could tell it was close. It was a familiar voice; that was sure, but he couldn't muster the energy to lift himself from the bed, his body almost pasted to the comfortable king-sized bed.

"Hey."

He continued to lie there, sprawled out in the bed.

"Hey! Icarus! Wake up! We're going to be late for school, and you still have to meet up with Beo."

Icarus finally got up in an instant, rising like Frankenstein as Kem stood beside the bed. Icarus new his jittery expression had always been characteristic of him, so he made sure to begin getting out of the bed.

"Sorry. I'll get ready then."

Kem was already dressed, though. He still wore the cloak he was wearing yesterday, but he wore something new that Icarus hadn't seen before.

Underneath where his sleeves, the ones he lost during his sparring session with Chance, used to be, he wore a tight, black, long-sleeved compression shirt. He wore something similar as well under the bottom of his cloak which he'd obviously cut to display a portion of his left leg. His hair was in a ponytail, revealing his ears and some facial structure but not much since his eyes and mouth remained covered by his goggles and oxidizing mask.

"Where are Nifla and Parisa?"

"I still haven't woken them up. I spent the night but thought I should wake you up first. Beo called-- he's the one who woke me up, saying he needed to talk to you about something."

Icarus had gotten most of his clothes situated, and he started toward the door. He didn't wear much, just a white shirt and khaki pants, but he didn't button them, seemingly disinterested in doing so.

'Beo needs me, huh?'

As Icarus exited the room, Kem dashed over to Nifla and Parisa's room, opening the door swiftly, but he was immediately met with several varying objects from the room. The girls yelled at him in unison, annoyed by his invasion of their privacy.

"Fuck off, buckethead!"

"Sorry! Sorry!! Geez!"

He closed the door as swift as he'd opened it. As he looked toward Icarus, he pointed his thumb backwards toward the door.

"How do you deal with those slobs, Icarus?"

Two voices came from the room, nearly shaking the door clean off of its hinges.

"WE CAN STILL HEAR YOU, DUMBASS!"

Kem repeatedly banged on the door in response, filling the entire hallway with racket.

"LIKE I CARE! They're not worth our time. Right, Icarus?"

Icarus made no response, and Kem turned toward a little boy who sat on the couch, a blue sleeping mask and cap covering his features.

"Owen?"

Owen still sat in front of the TV silently. He made no heed to Kem's rambling.

"Fine. Do you mind if I walk with you, Icarus?"

"No."

Kem pumped his arms in excitement. He visibly enjoyed Icarus's company while Icarus's expression remained indifferent.

"Awesome!"

They headed out the door while Nifla and Parisa stayed inside the house. Since the house was on a hill on the outskirts city of Hinansho, they could see the entire city, the buildings tall yet suburban. Deeper into the city, skyscrapers circled around a lone park, a red mansion at its center. All could be seen from the vantage point.

Kem and Icarus just spoke throughout the duration of the walk. Or rather, Kem spoke to Icarus.

"So… Besides the thing that happened last night, How was your little outing with Miya?"

"Ok."

"Good-- Good. Must've been hard, though..."

...

"Wow."

Kem looked down toward the hill toward the city, taking in the view.

"Hinansho really never ages, huh?"

"It would seem so."

Kem seemed satisfied being in Icarus's company, not minding the seemingly disinterested responses he received from Icarus. His mannerisms were more relaxed, even through his consistent, hyperactive mind as they continued down the hill and into the city.

The streets were empty, and no sign of life made any indication of its presence. Kem walked around in the middle of the street for a bit.

"Hmm... You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes. It's too quiet."

Kem dashed ahead of Icarus to the Lovely Lounge, and Icarus followed not long after. Beo had been sitting there with Honey, rubbing a black cat as she stood beside his chair, but there were no kids around. Kem walked over to Beo, his appearance that of Bo.

"Beo, there's something wrong with the city, not a soul in sight."

Annoyed, Beo sighed, and he stopped rubbing the cat that lie on his lap. His voice was a lot more animated than Bo's, but they surely shared the same appearance, but one thing was different, he held no curse-mark on his brow.

"Yeah. I know."

Icarus locked the door behind him, speaking as the mechanism clicked.

"Where's Fable?"

"That I have no clue of, bud. He wasn't here when I got here, but one things for sure; the Hole's involved."

"Did something happen over night?"

Kem put his hands in his pockets, his foot tapping at astonishing speeds and causing pitterpatter to fill the room.

"Yeah. Th-"

"What happened."

Beo's voice raised abruptly, shaking everyone in the room's bodies with its powerful sound. Honey shivered, shaking the nerves from her body.

"IM GETTING TO TELLING YOU, JACKASS!"

Kem stopped tapping, listening to Beo as he took the stage.

"Ok! As I was saying, last night a bunch of nobodies came out after Icarus and I took care of that punk that attacked Miya. Turns out they didn't take too fondly of that and started trashing the place, and the civilians in the area tried to fight some of them off, leaving the place an absolute warzone."

Kem responded, confused.

"Huh?! How'd no one know this was happening? I'm sure that the police or Headmaster would've stepped in if something this big came around."

"That's what I thought too, but I realized something pretty frightening. There were people outside the immediate area of the fighting who made no reaction to the fighting going on, even as blood covered the walls and buildings collapsed before their eyes. It was like they literally had the things occurring around them blocked from their senses…"

Beo paused, leaving the room completely silent. His eyes slowly turned toward Icarus, wide and clearly distraught.

"The guy we killed yesterday… wasn't the one behind that weird illusion we saw, Icarus."

Icarus stepped forward.

"There was another person helping the guy attack Miya... Is that what you're saying?"

"Exactly, and he must've stayed around when the fighting started happening. The civilians made no reaction to the mayhem, but Dola…Dola could see them!"

Kem's hand rubbed the bottom of his mask.

"That makes sense; she could've blocked the initiating blow... What happened when Dola arrived on scene?"

"Once she joined the fray, the civilians managed overwhelming victory, and everyone became aware of the damage caused to the city."

Honey left the room, walking up stairs after walking through the kitchen connecting the room to the back-most room. Icarus stood there, thinking while Kem continued to push for information.

"So why's everyone gone now?"

"This is the worst part. After the attack, the Warbeasts started appearing in town. People started disappearing one-by-one until no citizens inside the city remained, as far as I know."

Kem jumped.

"The Warbeasts?! What the hell's going on?! Since when did Warbeasts have any reason to abduct everyone in Hinansho?! They're normally docile! This matter is completely out of the realm of just a simple attack."

"That's what's got me worried, Kem. I have a very terrifying idea as to what is happening."

"Spit."

"I think… someone is controlling the Warbeasts."

…

Kem was completely silent after that. He just stared at Beo. His mask blocked any sign of emotion from the room, and Beo began to speak again.

"Yeah. I know it's a really far fetched idea, and you probably don't agre--"

"No, I agree with you. I just didn't want to accept that as a possibility. We-- we need to get in contact with Headmaster immediately. Our friends could be in danger."

"You're right... but 3 people have already been assigned to this mission."

"There's no point in assigning missions! Why don't we just wipe them the fuck out?! This concerns the entire future of the Capital of the Eastern District"

"That's not how it works, and you know that. You know what would happen if we took on the task without authorization."

"This isn't a matter that's fixable with only three people, Beo!"

"Those aren't my orders! They're from the Headmaster himself!"

A strange sound came from the back room, and Honey made out a scream that gave everyone in the room goosebumps. Icarus and Beo fused almost immediately, donning the appearance of Bo as the curse returned to his brow.

The door opened slowly, and a voice immediately made itself known.

"He's right."

The headmaster walked through the door alongside Tip who towered over him. Miya stood beside the two of them, wearing a random assortment of clothes.

"I took the liberty of waking these two. Chance, Dola, and a few others are waiting inside my office."

A portal appeared before them, and beyond the portal was the Headmaster's office, filled to the brim with people. Headmaster's hand motioned toward the door.

"After you."