Chapter 36 - Borders of Power

Borders of Power
There was a sudden crash, causing the ground to shake violently. It was followed by another crash, and then another and then more, fading into the distance with each crash. Then there was a loud screech, which finally woke up. She blinked with surprise, the white ceiling dominating her view. After a moment's pause, Rulia sat up and looked around the room. She was in her bed, the top one of a bunk bed, and in her blue pyjamas. The picture on the coffee table below had fallen onto the floor. Rulia got up from under the duvet and climbed down the bunk ladder, noting the bottom bunk was empty. She picked up the picture and looked at it, displaying Rulia, Sora and their creator in the frame, before placing it back on the table. "Don't fall over again, okay?" she smiled.

"Rulia, you awake?" The bedroom door opened, Sora looking in with radiant pink eyes, "You alright?"

Rulia stood up straight, rubbing an eye, "Y-yeah. Did something happen?"

"Yeah," answered Sora, with a serious tone, "I need to talk to you about something."

Chamber had picked up the job of a game reviewer over The Second Year and was hovering, dormant in the living room. Using his internal systems, he was playing games, essentially blinding himself from the outside world. However, he was getting frustrated with the driving game he was playing and decided to stop to take a walk, or fly, outside. Shutting down the game, he regained his vision of the living room through his green eye to see Solace sitting at the dining table. "Hey, Solace, I-" Chamber stopped mid-speech when Solace looked up at him.

"Hi, Chamber," she greeted with a grin, "Decided to stop playing for a while?"

"Err... yeah. By the way..."

"Yeah?"

"... Why are your eyes yellow?" asked Chamber, seriously concerned. Solace's normally orange eyes were a bright yellow, and were scary to look at.

Solace instinctively put her right hand up to a eye, "Ah, don't worry, it's fine, it'll be gone soon." Chamber was not convinced.

Rulia changed into her school uniform, which was the most convenient outfit to wear at the time. She leaped down the stairs and into the living room to met back up with Sora. She spotted Sora's Black Squad jacket lying front down, the large white star proudly emblazoned on the back. Sora was by the table, tying a belt round her wait with two revolvers in their holsters attached to either side. Rulia knew what she wanted to talk about was important. "W-what's the matter?"

"Rulia, I need you to come with me to Arcania City."

"O-okay? But why?"

Sora walked past Rulia to the living room door, "Power is shifting. Things are getting dangerous. We need to act now before it's too late."

Rulia turned to look at the Black Squad jacket, "You're not taking your jacket?" Sora had never left home without it over the past year.

Sora paused, "... I'm not taking it."

"Why not?"

Looking away, Sora took a moment to think, "There are things people should do and things people shouldn't... I left the Black Squad."

"What? Why?"

"Like I said. There are things people shouldn't do. And Black is no exception."

The front door opened, Solace and Chamber turning to look. Ælious and KC walked in, Ælious noticeably also with yellow eyes instead of brown. KC's eyes, however, were its normal blue. "Welcome back," greeted Solace.

"Hey, Solace, Chamber," greeted back Ælious, happily, the two entering a conversation. Chamber and KC remained silent, having a conversation of their own.

"KC?" broadcast Chamber, via a wireless transmission, to KC.

"Yes?" KC responded.

"Have you noticed their yellow eyes?"

"Yes. That is something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Do you know what's wrong?"

"Not entirely. But I can lead you to people who may know more about this. Head to The Lunar Castle."

"White's home?"

"Yes. There will be a gathering there soon. I cannot go, just in case the cause of this is alerted by me leaving Ælious' side."

"Right, I'll do that."

Sora opened the front door of the house and stepped out, followed by Rulia, who spotted huge black buildings in the distance that were new to the Malaysian skyline and were certainly not there last night. "What are those black buildings?" inquire Rulia, getting more worried by the second.

"You were imprisoned in The Arctic Prison before these were first used," explained Sora, "Those are Sonic Amps of The Yamaha Kingdom, used to create the invisible Sonic Barrier, that can protect from anything outside, including Haruhi's powers. We're on the inside of the Barrier."

"... The Yamaha Kingdom? ... But the Yamaha Kingdom doesn't exist anymore."

Chamber left the house, telling Ælious and Solace that he was going to stretch his wings, which was not an absolute lie. He flew up into the sky over the now huge Arcania City, its borders far away in the distance and its skyline dominated by the Arks of the nearby District 0. While looking around for The Lunar Castle, he noticed the house below seemed to be changing hues. He turned around to see bright colours in the far distance coming out of the grass-covered ground, cutting through roads linking Arcania City with Old Gensokyo. It was the Hakurei Barrier.

The Three Kingdoms were back.

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