Wisteria

Chapter 2: The Wisterix Festival

The day of the Wisterix festival came quickly and so did the people. The festival was named after Scarlet's right hand woman and best friend who died a noble death protecting the city during The Grieving years ago. So this was how they all remembered her brave sacrifice. Each year they would adorn the statue of the woman with wisteria plants and white roses because they were her favorite.

North and Chai had hung out all day and waited until the evening came to go to the festival because it was better when it was darker due to the lights that shone all kinds of beautiful colors. They really made the flowers shine more than they already did. When the two actually arrived they stood there in shock. This year's festival looked more spectacular than the last. There were tall flowers that had these small glowing bulbs that hung from the end of vines in all sorts of colors. Newly arriving people also were astonished at the beauty of the new flower. The two friends looked at each other excitedly before running in. They planned to have the night of their lives.

It got darker and darker, showing how late it was. People began to head home when suddenly the whole sky flickered. It was strange since the sky doesn't flicker. Why would the sky flicker? That's absurd. Not many people seemed to notice so others who thought they seen it decided it was nothing and went on with their lives all while North stood next to Chai, who was eating a honey apple, stunned by the flickering. At first she was going to ask Chai if she had seen it too but decided against it, wanting to have fun instead of worrying about strange happenings. They had fun the rest of the night and went home, planning on returning the next day for the contests.

North was now laying in bed wide awake and still thinking about the sky flickering. Was it really real? I mean... it could've been the sugar or something. Oh well. She closed her eyes. I should get some sleep. Gotta get up early in the morning. And just like that, she had fallen asleep within a few minutes.

The next day she awoke to her phone ringing and darkness. She sat up groggily and answered her phone in a tired voice only to have the sleep slapped out of her when Chai began to question her in a loud, panicked voice.

"Woah, woah. Calm down. What do you mean its still dark out? It's 08:00..."

"Yes! Look outside! And I'm coming over so be ready to let me--" Chai was cut off my static.

"Eh? Chai?" She got up. "Chai?" She sighed and hung up. Probably bad signal but she sounded scared. North turned on her light and got dressed before going downstairs and to her door. Just as she unlocked and opened it there was a large explosion from somewhere above her. The dark sky flickered yet again which caused more and more people to be drawn from their homes. Another explosion went off and the sky remained dark again.

"NORTH!" Chai had ran up to her.

"Chai! What's going on with the sky?!" North met her on the sidewalk. "Why is it flickering again?"

"Aga--" This time Chai was interrupted by the sky breaking and beginning to fall down. A woman in the distance screamed that the sky was falling. The chunk that fell was somewhere off in the center of the city which allowed light to shine through the gap. It was deathly silent as the the hole seemed to move but it was actually shifting. Cracks appeared in what used to be the sky and soon enough, it shattered. People ran to cover as shards crashed to the ground. Once again, it was silent which made people start to come out of their shelter. Their relief was short lived when multiple silhouettes were seen circling above them, the shadows of the figures gliding across the ground.

Smaller figures zoomed down from the sky and began to gang up on the older civilians which made others start to panic again and flee. Within a few minutes, pure chaos had broke out. North and Chai had fled back into the house to hide.

"Are those what I think they are..?" Chai whispered to North as they hid in the laundry room from the disaster going on outside.

"Yeah.. it's definitely those feathered beasts..."

"This is bad. So, so bad! What are we going to do?!" Before North could give her an answer there was a thump from above them which made them go silent. A window breaking from upstairs could be heard next along with the sound of pitter pattering. More sounds of things being broke or knocked over continued until it got downstairs where it was silent.

We need to get out of here. North looked at the door that led out to the backyard where the garden was. If we're quiet.. whatever's out there won't hear us... Okay. We have to try this. North gently touched Chai's shoulder which got her attention. She pointed at the door and shushed her while slowly standing up. Chai caught on quickly and joined her. The two crept to the door as the crashing resumed but unfortunately the sudden break of the silence made them both yelp which brought back that silence, a much more unsettling one. A shrill noise came from the living room and got closer quickly.

"GO!" North yelled out as she pushed Chai to the door who quickly unlocked it and rushed out, North following just as the Terror burst into the laundry room. The two were long gone, running through the streets ignoring the blood that was pooled, splattered, and stained around them. Chasing after them was the young Terror from the house which caused more fear and adrenaline to course through them, pushing them onward. The Terror was now on their heels, running through anything they had to run around. With another loud screech it jumped into the air and flapped its wings to carry itself higher, without giving up chase. It was now above them, its talons ready to snatch both, if not one, of them up. Just as it was about to snag North a sudden force blew it off to the right, sending it crashing into a building. 

Chai tripped while gasping for air. North quickly helped her up as they both looked for the source of the force. "Don't worry citizens." A calm and smooth voice came from behind them. "We've got this under control." The duo swiveled their heads to the left and were met with none other than Scarlet Wakashi herself.

"Now head to city hall where its safe." She sent another Terror flying. "And try not to get eaten on the way." She cracked her knuckles as a swarm of hatchlings came at her. The two didn't need to be told twice and hurried to city hall. As they got closer, a whole crowd of people were running the other way and screaming to do so. Someone had yelled that the safe haven was no longer safe and was now under attack. Fleeing with the crowd, the two managed to get to the super mall which surprisingly wasn't being swarmed by the terrifying beasts. A security guard who had been working that day closed off all the exits as soon as people stopped coming.

Chai pulled North off to the side to converse with her. "North.. I have a really bad feeling that we shouldn't be here. At all."

"But we're safe here and after everything," she trailed off to collect her thoughts before deciding to continue, "we should just wait a little bit because I don't think they're going to let anyone out anytime soon."

"Mm.. alright." Chai sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest, burying her face in her knees. North sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around her shoulder to form a side hug.

"Don't worry. We'll get through this together. I promise." North closed her eyes with a small smile and soon the two had, somehow, fallen asleep.