Run IX

Right-side-Rust started to growl which made left-side-Rust look up and see her. He, too, growled and they both slowly stalked towards May, blocking any exit she could possibly make. The nice cool air around her suddenly chilled. Rusts' drools were dripping, his eyes were glowing. They were licking their mouths like they were looking at a delicious piece of a tasty treat. May was now frightened. She couldn't move her body at all. She screamed to herself 'MOVE! RUN! JUMP! GET OUT OF HERE!' but nothing happened. For the first time since she met Butú, she really wanted him to appear and take his dog away from her.

Both Rust started to snap at each other for first dibs on her. As they were snapping away, she took a step back. She forgot for a moment she was on the wall of the fountain. The moment her toes landed on the edge and the rest of her foot hit thin air, she knew she screwed up. Without a sound, she landed into the water. She would rather die drowning than get eaten alive. But wait, she didn't feel wet nor is she underwater. It feels like that dip in water but not getting wet. It then clicked, she went through a portal! She opened her eyes to see where she was.

It was somewhat dark. Faint light came through the top and from what looks like a door. All around her were mops, brooms, boxes of things, mop heads, more boxes and bags. This is a storage and cleaning room. 'What the heck… A portal from a beautiful fountain takes you to a dark and mucky storage room? Ok…'

She got up and went towards the door. She peeked through the tiny square window, no one in sight. She felt for the door handle and slowly pried it open before poking her head through to see if anyone or anything was out there. Nope, no one. She left the storage room and looked at the options before her.

'Left, right, straight left, or straight right? Why are there so many hallways?'

She ended up going straight right. As she walked forward and towards who knows where, she heard some commotion. A buzzing and murmuring noise. Sounds familiar. As she got closer, the noise became louder. She opened the double door ahead and gasped. Appeared before her were many folks walking to and fro from one location to another. Reindeer heads, goat heads, bird heads, feathers, talons, tails, scales, wings, dark colored skin, light colored skin, red skin, blue skin, all mythical and fantasy creatures. She had portaled through to Butú's world! Overhead came a loudspeaker of a lady in a foreign language but the tone was the same as that of an airport or train station. A group of people got up from their chairs and headed in one direction as if their flight had been called. 'This is the airport-ish?!'

They had all kinds of outfits, from traditional outfits from all over the world to modern outfits along with outfits she had never seen before. Decades of years in the human world all appeared here. She was utterly at a loss at what to do. She didn't see what looked like a human in her world in sight. She quickly walked to the edge of a stand in hopes to blend in but also peeked out enough to see more of this world. It was beautiful here. The ceiling was open yet it didn't seem like it was. It was like a magic sky. The station was clean and very much different from the one she worked at before.

*Buzz* !@#$%^& *Buzz*

That sounded like a walkie. Two tiger looking figures in human form walked over in her direction quickly. They wore a white long sleeve with a black vest over it along with black pants. They had on an arm band as well but she couldn't read it. On their waist was a series of bulges that she couldn't make out from where she was. She had a feeling that they were either the police or security. She instantly hid behind a flap of curtain by the stand nearby. She could barely make out what one said as it passed by but it was also in a different language. They both entered the double doors she just came from.

A bad feeling came over her. 'I don't think I'm supposed to be here.' She stepped out and went over to the other side of the stand when someone started to shout. She turned to look at what was going on. A male tengu in the same uniform as the two tigers came walking quickly over to her. He grabbed her harshly by the arm and continued to speak his language in an angry tone.

May just looked at him confused and scared. She didn't resist either since she didn't want him to be even more mad than he already was. A female voice could be heard shouting somewhere nearby. She came over and stopped him and then looked at the terrified May. Her features were most similar to a lizard. Her eyes were yellow with vertical shaped iris, and although she wasn't fully covered in scales, she definitely had scales along the edges of her face and bits on her neck and hands. She spoke to May but could tell she didn't speak their language. The man had calmed down but he looked at May with deep hatred. They proceeded to take her elsewhere. They entered the double doors that May walked out from and instead of going straight to the room she came out, they made a right turn and many more turns and some stairs and then had to go through a badged gate before arriving at a room.

May sat down on the chair in front of the table. This is an interrogation room. The female officer then started to speak in several different languages to see which one May knew. She could tell it was different languages because the way she said it had almost the same tone of asking "who am I?". May told her "I speak English" in hopes that maybe she'll understand her instead but the lady didn't. It seems this is a language they are not familiar with. The guy angrily slammed the wall and then on the table and started to say something while pointing at May. It seems like he believed her to be part of something bad.

The lady calmed him down and on her walkie, she called someone over. A few minutes passed by with nothing happening. May just stared at them and they stared back at her. Suddenly a sheep looking girl in a white coat with glasses popped in out of breath. She looked like she was apologizing. She kept saying the same words and bowing. The guy scoffed and said something. He must just be an angry guy. The female lizard then pointed at May and said something. The girl looked at May up and down. She shifted her glasses and got really close to her. May backed away as much as she could on the chair. Once the sheep was done examining May, she handed her a blue bottle. May looked at it questionly. Suddenly a loud POOF noise filled the room and a green puff of smoke covered May fully. She had a coughing fit after inhaling the smoke. The smoke left on its own after a short time. Once she stopped coughing, the sheep girl spoke proudly.

"There! She should be able to understand us now."

May looked at them in confusion. 'What just happened? Is that green smoke a language understanding thing?'

The lizard lady spoke next, "Your look of confusion means you understand us, yes?" May slowly nodded. "Good. This sheep here is a mad scientist who is able to create smoke that will allow anyone who inhales it to communicate."

May nodded in understanding and spoke, "So what language am I speaking now? This isn't English but I'm speaking it fluently?"

"Who cares what the language is! State your name and reason for entering the Transport!" The tengu shouted.

The female lizard shook her head, "This is not the way to talk to someone, Yoen. You will scare her way more than she already is, and we will get nothing out of this. I apologize for my partner. His name is Yoen and I am Nivaet. What is your name?"

May opened her mouth to speak but ended up clearing her throat first. "May and I don't know why I am here. One moment I am facing a two headed dog, the next I'm in a closet, and then here."

"Hmm. Closet you said? Near where we found you?" Nivaet questioned.

"Yes."

"That portal hasn't been used in a very long time. In fact, no one seems to be able to activate it. Are you a Royal?"

"A what?" May scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.

Nivaet explained, "A Royal of Mirium. Dark skinned with two horns, and a terrible sense of humor. They always lie and diguise themselves as others to play their stupid pranks and cause commotion."

May shook her head, "No, I'm a human."

"I don't believe her! Only a Royal can open that portal!" Yoen shouted again.

"But I am not from this world! I came here by chance!" May defended herself.

"Lies! That is what they always say!" Yoen grabbed a dagger from his waist and pointed it at May.

"Stop your nonsense, Yoen!" Nivaet angrily snatched the dagger from him in one smooth move. "The only way to prove one is a Royal is with the DNA matcher, not a portal opening!" She shoved him out of the room. "Calm yourself and clear your head out there. Not every Royal will be guilty of killing your former partner." He pushed her hand away and glared at May before storming off.

The three females watched him walk away punching the walls.

The sheep girl turned her head towards May. "My name is Triangle, Tri for short."

"My apologies for his behavior. Ever since his old partner was killed in combat a few years ago during the feud, he has been angry at everyone," Nivaet apologized on his behalf.

"It's alright. It's hard to lose someone close to you," May sympathized.

The three of them went back to the table. May sat down.

"My ancestors created the DNA matcher. Actually they didn't but some other genius scientists did. Let me see your hand." Tri excitedly pulled out a compass looking thing, full of gears, and grabbed May's hand. A hole opened in the middle of the compass, expanding it to look like a giant ring. Tri grinned and pulled May's hand through it. "When ready to use, push this button and wa-la, it opens up like a ring! Truly one size fits all." The device settled on May's wrist. Mechanical twirling noises could be heard as the gears shifted. Parts of it expanded out to cover her whole hand. After a few more clicks, it paused."This is the fun part!" Tri's nose twitched excitedly. Nivaet only watched quietly.

"Ow!" May yelped. Sharp small needles pierced her fingers. May jerked back her hand but couldn't do anything as the thing covered her hand. Nivaet and Tri both flinched at May's sudden movement. Suddenly the noise dwindled down and everything quickly shifted back to its original form. May tilted her wrist down so that it fell onto Tri's hands, completing its cycle. Once off, May examined her fingers. No blood was seen.

They stared at the DNA matcher for a moment. May looked at the two of them who just went quiet. Tri was lost in thought.

"Well, she is not a Royal, but I've never seen it react this way before," a confused Tri finally broke the silence. "It never goes back to its original form unless the release button is pressed. It didn't recognize your DNA." Tri looked up at May. In a quiet voice, Tri said, "You're not one of us."

"That's what I've been saying!" A glint of anger flickered in May's eyes. "I don't belong in this world! I came here by mistake, and I am definitely not a Royal. I don't have dark skin or horns." May mimicked two horns on her head.

"That goes without saying then. The DNA matcher has not been wronged all this time identifying who one is. Stay here for a moment," Nivaet said as she motioned Tri to follow her out.

May sat back down and sighed, examining her fingers again. 'I've been getting finger pricked a lot since I've met these people… My poor fingers...' May pressed a finger to see if blood would squeeze out. After a few moments of hard presses, nothing. May sighed again and looked around the room. One big window that doesn't show the other side, bright lights above, a table, and two chairs. A boring room. May continued to wait for Nivaet to return, but it felt like an hour had passed and no one came back. May was getting restless. She was patient and did her best to keep quiet and still, but the long wait only made her think something wasn't right. She had completed four rounds walking around the room and counting the steps from one wall to the next, seventeen steps, and twenty push-ups. She was that bored to do push-ups. Finally she decided to open the door.

No one was outside. "Hello? Nivaet? Tri? Anyone?" May called out to the hallway. Silence filled the air. 'I have to pee now…' May glanced at both directions before taking the right side in hopes a bathroom was nearby. She continued to wonder until she finally found what looked like a bathroom. She couldn't tell if it was gender neutral or not but she went in anyways. Shortly after she entered the stall at the end of the room and relieved herself, a few folks entered and talked among themselves as they used the restroom. May decided to wait them out before exiting.

"That girl is not from this world. The DNA matcher didn't know what to do!" A high pitched female's voice said.

"Yeah, it has never done that before. I wonder if it was broken," a raspy voice said.

"It can't be broken. I just used it the other day to test the vampire out who turns out to be a Royal," Tri's voice answered. "She is something else. Not a Royal, not one of us, but not one of the Tinters either."

"Definitely not a Tinter. Their horns are magnificent but the most defining features are their hands. Bigger than others. The girl's were small weren't they?" Tri murmured an agreement before the raspy voice continued. "The Tinters are the current rulers. Royals will perish the moment they are found. This feud has been going on for a long time."

'Tinters? Bigger hands? Like Butú's family? They mentioned 'feud' again. Did I just get caught in something I shouldn't have?'

"The girl may not be a Royal but could actually be of the ancient kind. I have heard rumors that only the ancients can make the DNA matcher retract on its own," Tri said. "Everyone is looking for the ancient ones. I wanted to keep her for research, but the higher ups are saying to kill her to avoid any conflicts between the two bloodlines."

May's heart started to pound at the mention of "kill her". They weren't planning on letting her leave after all.

"I've heard the stories! Both Royals and Tinters are searching for ancients. Apparently an ancient's blood will give them great powers. More so if a child is born of ancient blood," the high pitched voice added. "The poor girl though. She seems so young to be killed. What are you going to do, Triangle? Fake her death and use her for experiment or actually kill the evidence?"

"Faking and using for testing sounds great. Yoen is here though, so I would have to be very careful if I fake it. He will kill her before I get my hands on her. He knows." Tri's voice faded away as they left the bathroom.

May shivered at the thought of being used for experiments. Definitely not something she wants to be a part of. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a rustling noise enter the room again. A shimmering noise filled the room and then bright lights popped out before dimming down. May held her breath.