🔥 Fires of Hokkai – FinalB

Enough is enough – with the burn festival on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to finally get some answers.

Characters: Beck, Arael, Daichi (who is actually Id)

Warnings: N/A

Wordcount: 2,140

Vibe: time to get some answers (gone wrong)

FINALLY……. THE TRIFECTA IS COMPLETE………….
admittedly  ive been struggling a lot between writer’s block and my own self-esteem  when it comes to my writing, so this took… way to long to get done

but i’m just glad its done!
this trifecta sort of serves as the pre ‘shit gets real’ sequence of events hehe

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The wormhole closed behind Diana and Isa, and the room returned to its more subtle, warm lighting.

It was just Arael and Beck now.

There was a pause between the two, with Beck being the one to break it.

“You think they’ll be okay?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Arael replied, raising an eyebrow.

“I… dunno.” Beck sighed.

“Maybe I just got too many conflicting thoughts, and it’s setting me on edge or something. Too many questions for the old man.”

“That’s fair.” Arael nodded.

“I’m personally wondering… what the hell Daichi is thinking.”

“Guess there’s only one way to find out?” Beck said with a stretch.

“Where’s this house at, anyways? I can drive if it’s too far to walk.”

“We should be within walking distance, I think.”

“Alrighty… I guess we’re good then?”

Arael nodded reassuringly, and waved back to her grandmother before making her way to the front door – Beck following in suit.

As Beck exited the building, she was quickly able to figure out the neighborhood they were in. Not far from the town’s main avenue, surprisingly close to where Isa was staying…

The sweet-tinged smoky smell filled the air, indicating that the festival wasn’t too far off.

The duo made their way in silence for a bit, with the streets being a lot lonelier than usual because of all the activity the festival had drawn.

Ultimately, Beck felt the extended silence was too awkward for her liking.

“Hey, uh… Arael. Question?” she said curiously.

“What is it?”

“So, like, I can ignore whatever… weird… divine-adjacent levels of nonsense you may be on. I’ve had enough of that with Isa’s weird fuckin’ cat.” Beck explained.

“How is Daichi your aunt, though? Far as I know, she doesn’t have siblings or kids or anything.”

“She’s like… a really close friend of my mom’s. Whenever I went here because my parents had work, she’d be the one watching me pretty often.” Arael answered.

“So she’s like, not blood related but pretty much family, yaknow?”

Beck nodded along.

“Where are you from, anyways? Not from around here, right? Because I figure if you were, I would’ve met you earlier, or something.”

“Waterfall. Most of the time, anyways.”

“You’re kidding me. Who the hell even lives in Waterfall?! I mean, besides outlaws, and all.”

“You’re not gonna like what my parents to for a living, heh.”

“…I’ll just pretend they’re only there for free real estate, then…”

There was some snickering as the two went back and forth, only for it to be eventually drowned out by the pounding of drums as the duo arrived at the festival.

The streets were blocked off from traffic and teeming with various vendors and food trucks, while the town’s central park was where the burn itself was taking place – a pillar of smoke visible above the crowd.

While one would expect for the smell of smoke to be oppressive, it blended rather nicely with the savory scents of all the food cooking.

“Damn… it’s busy, huh?” Arael said with a groan.

“Guess it’s because the weather is a bit more agreeable this year? Usually it’s too hot.” Beck nodded.

“But I guess that only makes our job harder…”

“Dunno, aunt Daichi is pretty tall, and her horns usually stick out pretty well.” Arael said as she scanned the crowd.

“Though I’m not quite sure what… the plan is. Assuming the keycard Diana and Isa have isn’t a dud, we don’t have to do any distracting or stealing, do we?”

“Well, I got questions for gramps about this whole mess. You said you had some too?”

“Yeah… but I’m sort of realizing now that if this Id person is gonna be with aunt Daichi, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do anything without being shady.”

“You literally told me all about how she’s a family figure to you while we walked here! I doubt she’d see you as shady, she’s family.”

Arael sighed.

“If… you say so.”

The summer heat was beginning to die down as the evening rolled on – a small gust blew in Arael and Beck’s direction, briefly interrupting their conversation with a brisk feeling.

Beck looked around a little more as she scanned the surroundings for anything noteworthy or out of place, before turning back to Arael.

“We can split up to find our people, then. If anything crazy happens, we’ll meet up here, alright?” Beck said with a nod.

“Alright.” Arael responded, nodding back.

So, the two went in opposite directions to try and find the individuals they needed to question.

Beck sort of had a vague idea of where her grandfather would be… he liked to get dinner from a particular food truck, before heading over to watch the burn from the crowd barrier.

So, the food truck was the first stop. It was run by an older couple that’d been serving at the festival since Beck was a kid, and though it may have faded with time, the paint job on their truck was still the same.

Beck figured that she must’ve walked fast with Arael – because as she approached the foodtruck, she could see her grandfather was still waiting in line, talking with a short woman with long hair.

They were facing the opposite direction, so Beck tried to sneak up behind them to eavesdrop. But…

“Order number 32!”

As the order was called, Beck’s grandfather perked his ears up and turned around – directly into Beck’s face.

He gave a surprised yelp, as did Beck – though Beck’s grandfather was quick to laugh it off.

“Ahaha, you sure spooked me there! I didn’t think you were coming, Beck!”

“Some, uh, friends really wanted to drag me out, hah…”

Beck had been in some sort of ‘stealth’ mode all evening, that she wasn’t quite sure how to shift her gears back to normal… especially upon a direct confrontation like this.

The pounding sound of drums echoing in her head didn’t help matters much either.

“Really? I don’t see ‘em, heheh!”

“They’re… uh… they went looking for a bathroom.”

“Geez Beck, you’re sure out of it this evening, huh?” Beck’s grandfather chuckled as he put an arm on her shoulder.

“Everything alright, sport?”

“I’ve just had a busy week, I guess…” was all Beck could muster in reply. Quickly, she looked to change the subject.

“…Who’re you talking to, anyways?”

“Oh!” Beck’s grandfather exclaimed.

“This ‘ere is Hazel! Hazel, this is my eldest granddaughter beck – she’s usually a bit more of a wild one though, haha!”

Hazel sort of just nodded. She seemed to have a very collected air to her, at least from Beck’s perspective.

“Was a bit of shock seein’ her round here again, I remember her from when she was small!” Beck’s grandfather continued.

“The big man didn’t like seeing her, heh… guess that’d be why she blew him to smithereens! Good riddance, I reckon.”

In an instant, Becks expression grew cold – as did Hazel’s, though in a more aggravated manner.

The statement caused an awkward pause, but Hazel was one to interrupt it – her voice so sharp that it seemed to slice cleanly through all the background noise.

“You’re sure as hell nonchalant about something I had to go into hiding for.” She huffed.

The… ‘original sin’, so they called it. A stain on the space program’s record.

A perfect sabotage that resulted in the death of Atticus Vostok…

Suddenly, a lot of things were starting to connect in Beck’s mind. The resemblance between Hazel, Atticus, and Arael’s grandmother…

And the resemblance with Arael herself.

The sky grew darker as the light faded, and the fire only grew higher. As her heart seemed to sync up to the rhythmic drum beats, Beck’s mind did as well.

One thought after another… the noise seemed to cancel out the crowd, as Beck truly realized how deep this whole mess seemed to go.

Meanwhile, Arael wasn’t having a lot of luck finding Daichi.

She looped around the crowd barrier once, twice… nothing. She’d haphazardly push her way through festival-goers at times, not even mustering a ‘sorry’ as she continued her search.

It was weird. Usually she’d be front and center… but among those in the group of individuals wearing space center jackets, Daichi was absent. Id was too, for that matter… which only worried Arael.

Everyone seemed to be having so much fun, without any sort of care that their supervisors were absent.

She wasn’t quite sure what she was up against, despite her relation to the Skymother – because Skymother was kind, and would never display the true extent of her power…

Could an individual of her power level that had a malicious nature be capable of reading minds? Of sensing that Isa and Diana had a plan?

Maybe she was overthinking it. Surely… an entity like that would just get it over with instead of playing around.

Right?

Arael looked up at the crowd once more, after shaking herself out of her pondering. Now that it was darker outside, the warm glow of the various lanterns strung around telephone poles was on its full display – that, combined with all the delicious aromas wavering around, was starting to make Arael a bit sleepy.

She figured she’d give things one last look-over before just calling it quits – but after scanning the mass of busy people, they finally caught her eye.

The grand antlers that could belong to none other than Daichi, overgrown with the vines they usually were.

In a rush, Arael got up and wove her way through the crowd, trying to not lose sight of her aunt.

She was much more pushy of the other attendees in this pursuit, leaving glares and even some shouting in her direction as she continued the chase.

Daichi slipped past a corner, and Arael quickly followed.

It was… an alleyway behind a pasta restaurant – and nobody was there.

Arael was nothing short of confused… but even if the sounds of the crowd and drums had become only slightly muffled, the overwhelming feeling of silence was almost nauseating.

Arael felt frozen. She… didn’t want to turn around – as it felt something was fundamentally wrong on some existential level.

“Arael, there you are.” Daichi said.

Her tone was… off.

Was it the smoke? Was she sick?

Arael didn’t say anything.

“I was looking for you.” Daichi nodded.

Her affect still felt uncomfortable… like a food that was always the same suddenly tasting different.

Why would Daichi be looking for her? Arael didn’t tell any of her family she’d be there, and she didn’t normally attend the festival otherwise.

Arael was quick to draw her own conclusion on the matter, but wasn’t sure how to act…

She hesitated in silence for a moment, before choosing her next words carefully.

“You’re not Daichi, are you?”

Daichi looked shocked for a moment, before chuckling with a smile.

While Daichi’s laugh was normally a restrained yet warm one, this was very, very different. Like a cheese grater against Arael’s ears.

She crouched down, as to match heights with Arael – before lifting the heavy bang that covered her right eye.

Normally, it was blind, without a pupil. But… there were three here. Blue, green, purple… all seeming to stare through Arael’s soul.

“You’re smarter than I thought.” She chuckled. Her voice was completely different this time. It was not Daichi’s voice.

“It’d be better for both of us if you didn’t-”

Arael didn’t let her continue. She’d already made up her mind on her next course of action.

Because Daichi was her aunt, her family… and whatever freaky body snatcher or doppelganger had taken her was going to regret trying to corner her.

Charged at a speed that left ‘Daichi’ no room to react, Arael unleashed a loose cannon of light that sent the imposter flying back – out of the alleyway, and into the crowd.

Arael quickly ran over, and as the crowd stared at her, she proclaimed proudly…

“That’s not Daichi! It’s an imposter!!”

Daichi struggled to her feet, but hadn’t sustained any injuries from the blast – Arael had held back considerably, with the worry that it may have been Daichi’s true body, just hijacked.

From the crowd, Hazel ran over – her face twisting into one of horror as she turned and saw the culprit was Arael, of all people.

Hazel helped Daichi up, as the taller woman seemed to look disoriented and unsteady.

Finally, Daichi met Arael eye to eye again – but this time… Arael knew it was her aunt. She looked scared, confused, horrified…

And so did the crowd.

While Arael didn’t notice her, Beck was pretty quickly able to assume what had happened from watching among the crowd from seeing how Arael’s expression changed…

This was definitely some kind of bait-and-switch.

And Arael and Beck had become the distracted, instead of the distractors.