Note: I have nothing to do with Here is Greenwood and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the OVAs a lot. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as seen in the OVAs. I apologize if this story doesn't quite fit in with the manga.
Kazuya felt sick.
It wasn't that he hadn't eaten all his dinner. He was used to missing out on a great deal of food since either Shun or Mitsuru--and sometimes even Shinobu-sempai--was always snatching food from his tray. He'd long become used to getting only half a meal to himself, so his body was completely accustomed to the unsatisfied emptiness in his stomach.
It wasn't even the fact that they were going to face a mummy. He hadn't witnessed Haru's fight with the succubus, but he had met Haru and survived his encounter with him. He had even met the rusalka and thought that, had her circumstances been different, he could even get to like her...or as much as you could like a ghost, and with Misako always around, that was actually quite a bit.
What bothered him was the fact that they were going to face a mummy...but they weren't going to face it alone.
If it had just been him, Mitsuru, and Shinobu-sempai, he thought he would probably have been fine. They'd meet the mummy, find a way to use the book against it and against itself, they'd win, and they'd all go back to Greenwood and wake up in the morning with one burden lifted from their shoulders.
Instead, they had a double-handful of their friends tagging along, residents from Greenwood who had no idea how much danger they'd been in a month before when Shun had first read from the book. If it hadn't been for Haru, they would all probably be dead by now, since the succubus hadn't shared his friend's conscience and humanity.
No, Aoki, Furusawa, and the others were behaving as if they were all going for a stroll in the park, like going to fight a mummy was the commonest thing in the world. It was almost like they were going to a party instead of a battle that could result in their deaths. Did they even know what they were getting themselves into?
It all seemed so familiar. He felt a deja vu feeling sweeping over him. When had they all been together like this? He could almost see the memory...
His eyes widened. It had taken place, only it hadn't. He'd dreamed of this! It had been more of a nightmare, actually, but now that he forced himself to remember, he could see the faces around him. Aoki, Furusawa, Tochizawa...all of them had been in his dream. They'd been with him as he hid behind Mitsuru and Shinobu-sempai, all of them united in their fear and terror.
He frowned. There were differences, though. Shun had been there in his dream, but now he was at home recovering from the tumble he'd taken. Would that cause a change in the events he'd seen? And Haru wasn't here either. How could he have been there in the dream when he wasn't able to move beyond the walls of Greenwood?
"But that was before you knew," Kazuya murmured to himself.
"Did you say something, Suka?" Aoki said, stopping and turning around. "Is it your leg?"
Kazuya shook his head quickly. "Just complaining about this thing," he said, lifting his cane up and shaking it. "It's a real pain having to use this."
"Isn't it, though?" Aoki said. "But you have to admit, it's easier to get around with the cane than those crutches you were using before."
"There is that," Kazuya conceded. He paused. "Ne, Aoki, can I ask you a question?"
The other boy nodded. "Sure," he said.
"Don't you find all of this strange?" Kazuya asked. He waved his free hand around to encompass the whole group. "I mean, all of us strolling down to the school track to fight a mummy? The way everyone's behaving...it's almost like we're going on a picnic!"
"I don't think there's anything to worry about," Aoki said calmly. "It's a mummy after all. And you were there when Misako told Mitsuru-sempai how quickly it was moving, right? Didn't she say it was limping and hobbling along?"
Kazuya nodded. "I know," he said softly, "but..."
"Don't worry about it," Aoki said cheerfully. "I don't think any of us would have any trouble outrunning it."
"Aoki," Kazuya said, "it's not like those monsters you made with the computer for 'Here is Devilwood,' you know. This mummy's the real thing. It can't get tired, but we can. Eventually it will catch up to us, and that's it." He shook his head and stared at the ground. "That's it," he whispered.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up.
"Suka," Aoki said reassuringly, "you know Mitsuru-sempai and Shinobu-sempai won't let you get hurt. They won't let anyone get hurt."
Kazuya tried to say something, but the confidence he heard in Aoki's voice stopped him. It struck something deep inside of him.
He remembered when Misako had first appeared at Greenwood. He and Shun had clung to Shinobu-sempai, who had stood there quietly, allowing them to clutch at his sweater while he calmly watched Misako float toward Mitsuru. They'd hidden behind him again when Misako had returned, this time with three friends in tow. Everyone knew they could count on Shinobu-sempai during situations like those, and like this one now. And, truth be told, since Shinobu-sempai and Mitsuru were such a potent team, everyone felt the same way about Mitsuru.
Still, Kazuya had the advantage--or disadvantage--of knowing something of what they were going up against, and the added knowledge of the fact that the mummy's goal was him.
But he couldn't bring himself to undermine Aoki's confidence. "I guess you're right," he said slowly.
"Don't worry, Suka," Aoki said. "Besides, if worse comes to worst, you can always hit the mummy over the head with your cane."
Despite himself, Kazuya smiled. "I guess this thing might be useful for something after all."
Aoki smiled back. "That's the spirit."
Kazuya started walking forward, then stopped. "Speaking of spirits," he said, pointing at a scene ahead of them.
* * *
Mitsuru striding near the front of the group with Furusawa and Shinobu, was only vaguely aware that Kazuya and Aoki had stopped to talk about something. He did slow to a stop himself, determined to keep the group together, but he did it absently, only barely realizing that he had stopped.
He couldn't think of why they had stopped, but he didn't really care. What he did care about, and what took up most of his awareness, was the fact that a whole group of his friends had decided to come along to face a mummy. How in the world was he supposed to keep everybody safe?
Well, one of the more important things was that they know where the mummy was now. "Misako," he said, turning to look at the ghost who was floating nearby. She drew closer.
"Yes, Mitsuru?"
"Misako, would you find the mummy again and follow it?" Mitsuru asked. "Then come back and tell us when it's about a block away from here?"
"You're just trying to get rid of me again," the ghost said, tears forming in her eyes.
"On the contrary," Shinobu said calmly. "You're the best suited for this task. You can float faster than any of us can walk or run, so you're the most effective scout. You'll be able to keep track of it and inform us of its approach more quickly than any of us could. You can go in a straight line while we'd have to take roundabout routes to get back here."
The tears evaporated, but she still looked frustrated. "All right," she said. She turned to go, then stopped and looked back. "But Mitsuru, there's something I have to tell you--"
"Time's running out, Misako," Mitsuru said. "Please find the mummy again."
The ghost sighed, then moved away. She disappeared among the trees surrounding the track.
"You were awfully short with her," Shinobu said quietly.
"Well, time is running out," Mitsuru said defensively.
"She may have had something important to tell you," Shinobu said, "something about the mummy."
"I'm sure it will keep," Mitsuru snapped. "Besides, we need to decide what we're going to do about the mummy."
"Mitsuru, Shinobu, I'm a little worried a all of this."
They turned to their tall classmate.
"What's the problem?" Mitsuru said.
"Well, don't you think none of them are taking this seriously?" Furusawa said, gesturing towards some of the underclassmen. "I mean, you two and Suka are, but..."
"Did you think we were coming out here just for fun?" Mitsuru demanded. "Did you think we were kidding about all of this?"
Furusawa sighed. "At first I did. But seeing how serious and worried you three are, I can tell that this isn't a joke or a prank. This is real, isn't it?"
"It's very real," Shinobu said quietly. "The mummy's as real as Misako is. Unlike Misako, though, the mummy has substance. It can actually hurt us."
"Then maybe we should all go back to Greenwood," Furusawa said.
Mitsuru shook his head. "Shinobu, Hasukawa, and I have to stay," he said. "But I'd feel a lot better if you and the others went back to the dormitory."
"Mitsuru," Shinobu said, "do you honestly think that any amount of begging or pleading is going to convince all of them to go back?"
Mitsuru sighed. "Wishful thinking?"
Shinobu shook his head. "Ludicrous thinking."
Mitsuru sighed again. "So now what?"
"I don't know what you guys are planning," Furusawa said, "but if I were you, I'd look for someplace out in the open, where nothing can sneak up on us."
Mitsuru nodded. "Good idea," he said. He looked at Shinobu. "The center of the field should give us enough space."
Shinobu nodded. "We'll make our plans there."
The three of them started off again, drawing the rest of the group with them.
* * *
Shinobu surveyed the group of boys gathered around him.
As he'd expected, once the initial excitement had worn off and they were forced to wait, the boys had become bored and frustrated. Furusawa was doing what he could to persuade the others to head back to the dormitory, but everyone seemed intent on staying. Tochizawa, in particular, was keen on remaining.
"Come on, sempai," he heard the boy say to Furusawa, "I can use this for a new movie!"
He was the only one with a clear motive for remaining. The others, to his mind, were just there to see if any of what they'd been told was true or not. A couple of them were staring at him suspiciously, as if they thought the whole thing was a prank. He could even hear one of the other boys starting a gambling pool on whether the whole thing was real or if they'd all been tricked into slipping out of the dormitory.
He supposed it was only natural. After all, he and Mitsuru were the instigators of numerous practical jokes for the sake of gambling pools, like the one that had started the moment Kazuya first arrived at Greenwood. Still...
"Here comes Misako," Mitsuru murmured, coming up beside him.
Shinobu turned and looked in the direction Mitsuru was pointing. Misako was indeed floating towards them quickly. The other conversations faded and died as the ghost drew closer.
"It's almost here," she said quickly. "It's looking for the entrance to the track."
"Any idea which way it will enter from?" Shinobu asked.
Misako pointed behind her and off to the right. "The entrance over there," she said. "That's the way it was shambling towards."
One of the boys gasped. "Look! I think I see it!"
Shinobu glanced at the boy, then turned back.
The mummy had found its way onto the track, and it had turned in their direction.
As Misako had mentioned, the mummy was "shambling" towards them. There was no other way to describe the uneven, limping steps it took. For a moment, Shinobu wondered why the mummy was doing such a bad imitation of the stereotypical mummy movies from America and Europe. Then he noticed that the bandages that had originally wrapped around the corpse's legs had torn unevenly. One of the legs remained completely hidden behind the rotting bandages, and therefore trapped and immobilized within the wrappings; this was the one that dragged behind the mummy. The bandages around the other leg had fallen away and hung in tatters, allowing the mummy to draw itself forward with slow, uneven steps.
More details became clearer as the mummy drew closer. One of the mummy's hands remained pinned to its chest by the bandages, but the other hand had managed to free itself up to its elbow. The result was that it had a very short reach, and as it was the mummy's hand remained trapped in its bandages, leaving it unable to form a fist or claw its fingers.
What was most disturbing about the mummy was the face. The bandages around its mouth had fallen away, leaving brown teeth surrounded by tightly stretched gums and nonexistent lips visible to the onlookers. Its jaw worked constantly, creating a harsh clacking sound as its teeth struck against each other. Its nose remained hidden, but its eyes were free. Even from far away Shinobu had been able to see the red glow emanating from them, but now as it grew continually closer, he could see that the red in each eye was actually a pulsing flame that flared each time the mummy stepped forward, then dimmed as it brought its stiff leg up to its free one.
"It's horrible!" he heard Aoki whisper.
"This is terrific!" Tochizawa cried.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Furusawa choked out.
"Well, it's here, Shinobu," Mitsuru said quietly, but Shinobu could hear the tension in his roommate's voice. "Now what do we do?"
Shinobu took a deep breath. "Now we stop it."
"And we do that how?" Kazuya demanded, coming up and grabbing hold of his arm. "How are we supposed to stop something that's already dead?"
Shinobu could hear the desperation and fear in his friend's voice. He slipped his arm free of Kazuya's grasp and wrapped it instead around his shoulders.
"Kazuya," he said softly, "call Haru."
"What?" the younger boy said. "But he can't leave Greenwood!"
Mitsuru spun around. "He can leave Greenwood if you call him," he said. "You freed him from Greenwood before, at least temporarily. You can do it again!"
"But I--"
"Kazuya," Shinobu said, "you summoned him, remember? Now you can command him to appear here, and the spell that holds him in Greenwood can't hold him any more because his 'master' is calling for him."
"I'm not his master!" Kazuya snapped, but Shinobu was pleased to note that some of the fear had faded from his voice.
"Kazuya," Mitsuru said, his voice intent, "hurry. That mummy's getting closer, and I don't think any of us will be able to stop it!"
"Kazuya," Shinobu said again, "call Haru."
Kazuya nodded.
* * *
Haru paced up and down Kazuya's darkened room.
It had been almost an hour since Kazuya and Shinobu had come up and told him that the mummy was coming and that they were going out to meet it and stop it. He had remained calmly seated for all of two seconds after the door to the room closed before he started pacing.
He was worried. After all, his only three friends in the whole world--vampires didn't count since they were more like rivals or occasionally allies than friends--were putting themselves in great danger by trying to stop a mummy. They might be able to stop it by burning it or drowning it or something, but they'd also be exposing themselves to whatever disease the mummy was carrying with it.
He'd read the newspapers. He'd listened to Shinobu's thoughts on the matter. He knew, as Shinobu did, that the spread of the illness from Osaka to Tokyo were the results of the mummy's passage. But it was unlikely that any of the victims had actually gotten very close to the mummy; they'd probably only stumbled across its path after its passage through the area, and had come into contact with something in the air--dust from the bandages, perhaps--that had made them sick.
How much worse would getting the illness from the source be?
He wanted to be out there to protect his friends, but he was trapped. He couldn't leave the dormitory, except to get to Kazuya's house, and that wouldn't help them. He had to--
"Haru."
Haru jumped. He could have sworn he'd heard Kazuya's voice. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Kazuya wasn't anywhere near the dormitory, right?
"Haru, please, come to me."
Haru whirled around. "Kazuya?" he called softly. "Where are you?"
"Haru, please come to the school track. We need your help."
It was only then that he realized that Kazuya's voice was in his mind. And it was then that he felt the strong compulsion to leave the room, to go to his friend's aid.
"The summoning spell!" he whispered. "Of course!"
As quick as thought he transformed into mist and flowed out around the window into the night air.
"Haru, hurry! Please!"
"Hang on," he thought silently. "I'm coming!"
* * *
"Back up!" Mitsuru ordered. "Don't let it get too close!"
As one the body of boys moved away from the approaching mummy. Tochizawa, intent on continuing his filming, had to be dragged forcibly away by Furusawa.
"Can't we do something to stop him?" Aoki whispered. "Fire? Water? Anything?"
Mitsuru shook his head. "We couldn't get close enough," he said. "The reason Sakaguchi isn't back at Greenwood yet is because he caught whatever illness that mummy's been spreading as it came to Tokyo."
"You mean--"
"The infamous mummy's curse," Shinobu said calmly. Aoki flinched.
Mitsuru glared at his roommate. "Did you have to say that?" he demanded.
"Haru," Kazuya whispered, "hurry! Please!" Then his eyes widened.
"What is it?" Mitsuru demanded. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Kazuya said, relief showing in his eyes. "Haru's coming! He's on his way!"
Mitsuru felt a tightness in his chest loosen. "Thank goodness," he whispered. "How much longer?"
"He's here!" Kazuya cried, pointing up towards the sky.
Mitsuru turned and looked up.
A streamer of mist was reaching towards them, shimmering in a way that had nothing to do with moonlight or starlight or streetlights of any sort. It drifted quickly down towards the earth several yards ahead of the mummy, then wrapped in on itself, slowly piling up until it was as tall as any of them. And a moment later, it coalesced and solidified into a young man.
"Haru!" Kazuya cried happily.
Mitsuru felt a surge of relief. Then he heard the silence behind him. Concerned, he turned around.
Except for Shinobu, all the other boys were staring at Haru in shock. Even Tochizawa's jaw had dropped, though he hadn't stopped filming.
Mitsuru cleared his throat. "Guys," he said, "that's Haru. He's a friend of ours who just might be able to stop the mummy for us. He also happens to be a vampire."
"Mitsuru," Furusawa said in a choked voice, "do you have any other supernatural friends we should know about?"
"Are there any more surprises for us, sempai?" Aoki asked.
"Just one," Shinobu said.
Mitsuru turned to stare at his roommate. "We do?" He watched as Shinobu held the book out to Kazuya. "Oh, that one."
"Hasukawa," Shinobu said softly. "The rest is up to you."
Mitsuru watched as Kazuya slowly took the book from Shinobu. "But I don't know what to do!" Kazuya protested.
"It has to be you," Shinobu pressed. "The mummy is responding to your summons."
"But I--"
"He's not evil!"
Mitsuru whirled around, only vaguely aware that Shinobu and Kazuya had also turned. "What?"
Haru had begun backing away from the mummy towards them. "He's not evil!" he called over his shoulder. "He's one of the good guys!"
"But that's impossible!" Mitsuru protested.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Misako said, appearing beside them. "In life the mummy was a priest of Horus!"
"The Egyptian god of light and heaven?" Tochizawa demanded, lowering his camera for the first time.
Everyone turned to stare at him, including Haru and Misako.
"I was doing research for 'Here is Devilwood,'" Tochizawa explained defensively. "I just remembered it."
"But if the mummy's one of the good guys," Kazuya said, "we can't hurt him! I mean, it wouldn't be right to destroy him when it isn't even his fault that he's been brought back! It's this book's fault!" he pounded on the cover of the book.
"That just shows that book isn't so smart," Mitsuru muttered. "I think it just latches on to whatever happens to be nearest, regardless of where its allegiances lie."
"You may be right," Shinobu said, "and we can use that to our advantage."
"How?" Mitsuru and Kazuya demanded together.
Shinobu gazed steadily at Kazuya. "Listen carefully," he said, his voice low and intent. "You have to focus your thoughts and concentrate on calling the right spell to mind."
"But I--"
"Just listen!" Shinobu snapped impatiently. "We need to call up the right spell in this book, and the only way to do this is to concentrate!"
"All...all right," Kazuya said softly.
"Good," Shinobu said.
Mitsuru slipped his arm around Kazuya's shoulders. "We're here," he told him. "We're right here beside you."
Kazuya smiled briefly. "I know," he whispered.
"Then this is what we need," Shinobu said, drawing closer and slipping his own arm atop Mitsuru's from the other side. "Concentrate on a spell to summon an Egyptian spirit to aid us."
"But that won't work!" Kazuya protested. "We'll just get stuck with another mummy!"
"I don't think so," Mitsuru said slowly. "Remember, trying to send spirits away is what drew them to us. If we try to summon them, we may be able to banish them again."
"Only this time," Shinobu added, "we're going to do what the priests said we would."
Kazuya's eyes widened. "Of course!" He looked down at the book. "Summoning good Egyptian spirits," he murmured, opening the book. "I don't believe it!" he said. "It's right here!"
Mitsuru looked down. All he saw were a series of hieroglyphs scrawled across the page. To his surprise, however, he found that he could read them and understand them. "This book is too much," he said softly. "I can understand it!"
"Of course," Shinobu said. "It needs to be understandable by those it tricks into using it. The three of us are connected right now, so all of us can read it."
"Hey, guys," Haru called to them. "Could you hurry this up?"
Mitsuru nodded. "Okay, Kazuya," he said, "it's show time."
"Right," Kazuya said. He began to read the spell. Mitsuru read silently along with him.
"Spirit summoned from the underworld, dragged from Osiris and the afterlife, return there now! You are not needed here in this day and age. Return to your slumber and let no mortals draw you forth again. Leave this place, this time! Go back to your resting place and let none disturb your eternal sleep again!"
"Kami-sama," several voices gasped.
Mitsuru looked up to see what effect the spell had on the mummy. His eyes widened.
"Kami-sama," he whispered.
The mummy had frozen in place. It had begun moaning and groaning as an evil-looking red aura pulsed around it. Then, the aura began to lighten, and the bandages began to fall away from its body. Soon all that remained before them was a dried, desiccated corpse. Then, as the aura continued to lighten, this time brightening towards shades of blue, the body began to fill out. Fine robes seemed to spring forth from the body's throat, draping its ever-burgeoning body with cloths of white and gold. Suddenly, they were staring at a fully formed man, apparently Egyptian, dressed in what could only be assumed to be priestly raiment. In his hands held an ankh. Then, as they watched, the man seemed to crumble and disintegrate...yet he remained whole.
Mitsuru, watching, suddenly understood. The man was dead, and his body had crumbled to dust. What they saw now was the man's spirit.
The mummy-turned-ghost floated towards them. The other boys drew back, but Mitsuru remained where he was, his arm still under Shinobu's as he held Kazuya.
Finally, the man floated in front of them. "Thank you," the ghost said softly. "Thank you for releasing me to return to Paradise." He bowed, then turned and began floating away. He slowly faded from sight, disappearing completely after about a minute.
"That was incredible," Mitsuru heard Aoki whisper.
"Amazing," Tochizawa said, his voice just as soft.
"I saw it, but I don't believe it," Furusawa said.
"Look!" Kazuya hissed.
Mitsuru glanced at his friend, then followed Kazuya's gaze down to the book. He had closed the book and was looking at its spine.
A line of blue light ran along the entire length of the spine. The book seemed to be shuddering and cringing, but that may have been Kazuya's unsteady hands. Then, the light began to fade. When it vanished altogether, Mitsuru could see a deep gash in the book's spine running from top to bottom.
"'Its spine has cracked lengthwise, and a blue light shines along the edges of the crack,'" Shinobu said softly.
"What?" Mitsuru asked, confused.
"It's what the priests said," Kazuya said softly. "We'd use the book for good, and the first time a crack would appear along its spine, and it would glow with a blue light."
"We're fulfilling the priests' dream," Shinobu said. "Now we have to use the book twice more for good. That's the only way we'll be able to break its power completely."
Mitsuru nodded, then yawned. He suddenly felt exhausted. "Do you think we could wait until tomorrow?" he said, fighting back another yawn. "I'm not sure I'll be able to make it back to Greenwood."
Shinobu nodded. Mitsuru took some minor satisfaction in how Shinobu looked a bit tired himself.
"Come on, Haru," Mitsuru called. "Let's go home." Then he slowly turned Kazuya around and began walking towards the exit from the track.
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