Hope

Imai and Rei flew through the floating islands while Uta was being flown by the bird. Imai assessed the environment between the floating islands and took the safest bet.

"Let's go down to the village, there seems to be actual people residing there." Imai said, pointing to the village.

"Roger, captain!" Rei exclaimed as she dropped down.

Kuu the yellow bird dived down and safely dropped Uta off. It was receiving threatening glares from Imai if it tried anything funny. Kuu did not want to be struck by Imai's lightning again.

Around them were houses made of bricks, woods, and hay for their roof. Something they all noticed about the houses was that it wasn't modern at all, it seemed like they were back in time.

"Captain, you said there were people around. Where are they now?" Rei asked, nudging Imai's ribs with her elbow lightly.

Imai pushed Rei away and said, "They must've gone inside to hide when we arrived. They probably think we're enemies of some sort."

"Then to make sure we aren't enemies…" Uta muttered.

"Don't worry, I got this." Rei said with a confident smile. "Everyone! We're not enemies! We're just looking for people to answer some questions!"

Imai facepalmed, seriously contemplating what actually does go through Rei's head.

Suddenly, an old grandma appeared before them.

"Quickly! Get inside!" the old grandma said as the three followed her.

"Jeez, grandma. Why are you in such a hurry?" Rei asked.

"I'm wondering the same thing, I didn't see any enemies." Uta added.

Imai leaned against the wall waiting for an answer from the grandma. She furrowed her eyebrows and frowned when she noticed something off about her. There were feathers throughout the back of her arm.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you a human with the attributes of a bird?" Imai asked.

"No, but the people of the village seem to have feathers on their arms. Although it's strange, we were born like this." she replied.

"Wow, they're pretty cool." Rei muttered. "I wonder if she can fly with those."

Uta poked Rei's ribs.

"Yah!"

"Don't say such stupid things."

Imai ignored the pointless bickering of the two and focused on what's important.

"Are the people of this village short on food?" Imai asked as she studied the grandma's figure. "Your figure is quite frail, are there others like this too?"

The grandma widened her eyes in shock before looking down at her arm and back at Imai who's eyes stared back as if she was trying to peer into her soul. Grandma quickly hid her arms.

"Haha, that's because all men and maidens are summoned to the royal palace. The remainder of us are unable to work, so we just manage the village." Grandma said nervously.

"That sounds like labor, are you sure you want to do this?" Uta asked with pity in her eyes.

"There's nothing we can do about it. If we oppose Shiki, it's the end for us all." Grandma said while staring down.

Rei's eyes perked up hearing the sound of a familiar name.

"Hey, captain. Isn't Shiki the one that's coming after us?" Rei asked.

Imai nodded, "That's him. So for the past twenty years, he's been forcing people into labor, and tossing them aside when they aren't of use anymore."

"Such cruelness, I suddenly want to completely erase his existence." Uta said.

"That's the spirit, Uta! Let's go beat him up right now!" Rei said as she started walking towards the door.

But before Rei could even get the chance to open the door, Imai grabbed the back of her coat, and forced her to take a seat.

"Not yet, we still don't know about his whereabouts." Imai said.

"Did you say Shiki was after you?" Grandma asked, fear shown in her eyes.

"Yes, but don't worry, there's nothing to be scared about." Imai reassured her. "With the three of us, we can defeat his entire crew."

"...really?" Grandma asked, doubt laced in her tone.

"Of course, we're the strongest crew in the world even if it's just the three members!" Rei boasted.

"That's right, so rest assured Grandma. We'll defeat him and save everyone on the island." Uta said.

For the first time, Grandma genuinely smiled, and wiped the tears threatening to drop.

"Huh? Look out the window." Uta said, pointing to the large snail. "I recognize that. Although it's huge, it still has the same appearance of the self propelled image transmission den den mushi."

"Shiki uses those snails to monitor us, any images captured by them are directly sent to the royal palace." Grandma sadly said. "We're constantly being watched."

"And what happens if any of you are caught doing something you aren't supposed to do?" Imai asked.

"We're killed immediately." Grandma replied.

The atmosphere in the room had turned grim, there was a heavy tension in the air.

"As I thought, we need to kill him immediately." Rei said.

"Such cruelty doesn't fit with my ideals." Uta said as she turned to Imai. "Let's get rid of him immediately."

Imai sighed, "Like I said, we're not going to make any rash decisions-"

"HEY! YOU STUPID SNAIL! TELL THIS TO SHIKI!" Rei yelled. "Tell him that the hunter is about to become the hunted."

"Uh…" Uta was left in disbelief, she didn't even notice Rei leaving the room. "What are we going to do?"

"I knew something like this was going to happen. Shiki should be here any time now knowing his top priority is to get rid of me." Imai said.

"That will never happen." Uta said.

"WAIT! Is Shiki coming here?!" Grandma asked.

"That seems to be the case." Imai replied.

"The people! They're all going to be in grave danger! I need to warn-" before Grandma could continue, Imai placed her hand on Grandma's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Shiki won't even be able to lay a hand on everyone here."

For the first time, Grandma finally had hope for herself and everyone that resided in this village. She kindly smiled and prayed for Imai and Uta who walked out of the door.

"Please return safely."