Keepers Of The Occult (NaNoWriMo 2024) Chapter 20: Chapter 18: Friend Like Her (Part One)

Read chapter 20 of Keepers Of The Occult (NaNoWriMo 2024) by Mercynarie on NovelPedia.

The night had fallen hard on Oklahoma, more so at the gates of Starlight High. Trees loomed beside the school, casting jagged, spindly shadows that looked like skeletons on the gravel floor. Hazel glanced at the huge clock on the school building. It was nearly midnight. How cliche. On the other hand, Starlight High did not look much different from how it did earlier that evening. The only difference was that the security booth was empty now. Whether it was Komyo’s doing or the guard had simply decided to slack off and take the rest of the night off, Hazel didn’t bother to think further. All that mattered was that she was here now, and no one was going to get in her way of saving the ones she cared about. Nobody dared to use magic to teleport into the school, so Hazel simply walked in through the gates anticlimactically. Ava had taken the liberty to magically sever the lonely padlock barring their path, while Luca mended it right after everyone had entered. Hazel kept her guard up as she approached the entrance to the building, mentally mapping out her school. It was pointless. A cooling wave washed over her as she opened the glass door, and she found herself in some sort of liminal space instead. Vinyl stretched out to infinity beneath her feet, while her eyes caught a glimpse of stacked desks and chairs from far away. Hazel held in a gasp of realisation. It seemed she was in her classroom, if her classroom had somehow been stretched out to an impossibly huge size. She squinted at the small figure ahead, standing in front of what she assumed was the ‘front’ of the classroom. “So, the four of you simply walked in. How very boring,” Komyo spoke with an oddly distorted voice, almost as though he were a woman. “No matter, I’ll liven things up.” Liam walked up beside Hazel, staring intently at the unusually petite figure. A spark of recognition lit up in the back of Hazel’s mind, although she was too focused on the figure to pay attention to it. “This place is under my dominion. It is a place between natural and supernatural, unbound by the laws of order yet bent to the careless whims of anarchy. Celestial energy resonates through the viridescent supernatural realm, while cosmic energy provides nourishing succour to the land you call home. Blessings rain from above, and the bountiful harvest of life springs forth, bringing a beautiful balance to our realms. But that is nought but a foolish dream, never meant to last.” Silence echoed as the group stared blankly at the figure. And then Liam broke it. “The fuck are you saying?” Hazel stepped forward. “Who are you?” “As far away as the scantiest of thoughts, but as close as a friend.” The mysterious figure wasn’t giving up its cryptic persona. “As familiar as your closest neighbour, yet as foreign as the highest of deities.” “I meant your name .” Hazel was getting tired of its poorly phrased riddles. “Are you really Komyo?” The figure walked towards her slowly, allowing the dim light to illuminate its face. Hazel’s jaw dropped in shock. “No.” Tomoko Sanada flipped her silky-looking hair, which looked like it had grown a whole metre overnight. A pure white Kimono draped her body from her neck down to the ground, where eight fluffy fox tails flicked around serenely. Her eyes were also no longer chestnut brown, but a striking green now. “Ugh, guess I can drop the pretence.” The girl rolled her eyes as her voice returned to normal. “So much for the opening act.” Everyone continued staring at her in confusion. “Tsk. You’re such a disappointment, Hazel.” She clicked her tongue at Hazel. “I gave you so many hints, but you still failed to guess my identity. Are you even trying?” Hazel shook herself out of the daze and grabbed Tomoko, shaking her roughly. “What the hell, Tomoko? Has this whole thing just been one big prank? Give me back my grandfather!” Her fingers squeezed the air as Tomoko simply slipped out of her grasp like she had turned temporarily intangible. The girl slid backwards, blo