Chapter 2 "Danielle Medina"

CHAPTER 2
Danielle Medina

Knapp carefully tiptoes toward his bedroom ever since he gets home. If his mother ever catches him, she will yell at him for sure.

When he reaches the door, he slowly turns the doorknob and then opens the door. He manages to close it as quietly as possible. He heads straight for his bed and then gets down on his knees and hands. He quickly pulls his duffel out from under and tosses it on the bed. 

He wants to get out of here as fast as he can, but he also has to be quiet. He moves as fast and quietly as possible, gathering some of his clothes, some favorite books, and a few necessities, like toothbrush and toothpaste. He also makes sure to put his new sword into the duffel.

“Where are you going?”

Knapp freezes at the tired voice. He sighs lightly and turns to his younger brother. Trying not to show a concerned look on his face, he says quietly. “I was hoping that you would not find out… Well, I’m leaving, Ryu.”

“What? Why?”

“You heard Mom. So, I’m moving out.” Knapp looks away from him, trying to avoid any eye contact.

“But Father is leaving today for South Korea. Don’t you want to say bye to him? And, what are we supposed to do without you? What would Mom think if she finds out that you’re gone?!” Ryu cries, fresh tears streaming down his face.

“I’m sorry,” the older Mitsukai brother says softly. “I have to go.”

“Why?!”

“I…” Knapp says hesitantly. “It’s none of your business.”

“Why not?!” At this point, Ryu is practically yelling, and Knapp does not want anybody to wake up at all.

“Ryu.” The older Mitsukai brother grabs the younger one’s shoulders firmly. “You will understand when you’re older. I will come back in a few years. Until then, please take care of Mom.”

“What if Father dies before you come back?!”

Knapp lets go of his brother with a sad smile on his face. He says again as he turns to grab his duffel, “I’m sorry.”

He runs past Ryu, climbs down the stairs, and then hurries out of his house only to stop when he hears his younger brother screaming out his name.

He bites his bottom lip, trying to hold back his tears as he takes a look at his father’s government card. There is no turning back now.

~*~

It has taken Knapp a few hours before he reaches the U.S. Army base from New York City, but it is still Sunday at this time so he decides to sleep in his own car instead.

It is a Monday morning at nearly seven o’clock, which is a typical rush hour. Everyone is trying to get into the base early so that they can get to work as soon as possible.

Knapp gets dressed up in a nice black suit and manages to get into the traffic of vehicles. When he reaches the gate, he nervously shows his father’s card but it only takes a military policeman a second to check it before nodding his head. Knapp hurriedly takes off before the military policeman realizes that the picture on the card is not him.

He cannot believe that he somehow managed to get onto the base. He is thankful that he and his father look a lot alike, especially with their Japanese looks.

Now, he has an issue. The base is huge. Dozens of miles across the entire base. It will take days… no, weeks before he can find Forgotten. Not knowing her real name is even worse. Out of tens of thousands, how is he supposed to find her?

After a half hour of walking around, he follows one of the federal employees who lets him into the building. He spots a blonde-haired woman at the front desk, so he nervously walks up to her. He asks, “Um. I’m new and I’m a little lost. Do you know where I can find Forgotten?”

“Excuse me?” The receptionist raises an eyebrow. “We do not have a Forgotten. Do you have a real name so that I can help you find his office?” She picks up her phone and asks, “What is your name?”

“Er, I mean… Never mind. I just remembered that I was supposed, uh, to meet someone. Thank you anyway,” Knapp says before he hurries out of the building and then releases a loud sigh of relief.

Every person who walks into the building is being asked by Knapp if he or she knows Forgotten. All of them think he is either crazy or suspicious.

It is nearly nine o’clock, and almost everyone is already at their offices by now. It will be more suspicious if Knapp is alone walking around on the base.

He is about to make his way to his car when he suddenly gets grabbed by someone from behind. A hand quickly covers his mouth so that he does not scream or at least make a loud noise. He gets pulled into a small alley between two tall buildings.

“Who the hell are you? Why are you looking for Forgotten?” A female voice from behind asks dangerously.

“You know Forgotten --” Knapp stops when he feels something sharp poking against his back. Is that a knife?

“Answer my questions!”

At this point, Knapp has nothing to lose. He ran away from home. He came here with a little money in his bank account.  “I… I am Knapp Mitsukai. I was sent by the Fifth Universe.”

Suddenly, the knife is pulled away from Knapp, so he slowly turns around out of fear of getting attacked. He is looking at a petite woman wearing an Army uniform with long black hair locked up in a bun. She has an annoyed look on her not-so-happy face.

“You can’t just go around and ask people about Forgotten!” She yells angrily at him. “You nearly blew my cover!”

“I-I’m so sorry!” Knapp claps his hands together as he bows his head. It’s one of his habits coming from his family being descendants of Japan, and for many generations, they still do this manner.

“Follow me,” Forgotten says sternly.

~*~

They get into their own cars, and Knapp follows her out of the base. Thankfully, the security guys at the gate are only there for entrance, not exit. She did not tell him where they were going, but since she is her only lead that Kawaii gave him, he has no other choice anyway.

He cannot just drop and go home… not when he saw what Earth would have become in the future.

Eventually, they get pulled into a neighborhood with decent family-sized houses. They would have looked more gorgeous if it wasn't for the chains hanging in the sky, blocking most of sunlight. 

They arrive at a simple two-story light blue house. Forgotten gets out of her black car and turns to Knapp who gets out of his own car. She says, “Well, this is my home.”

Knapp blushes a little. He knows it isn’t like that but it sure feels like a girl is bringing him home while her parents are out of town.

“I’ll make tea, okay?” Forgotten says after they get into her house. “To your right, that's the living room. You can sit anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” Knapp says. The first thing he notices is that there are no picture frames on the walls. He begins to wonder if Forgotten is single. But even if she is, she would’ve used her family’s pictures… like her siblings or parents.

He starts to feel warmer than usual and remembers that he is still wearing his scarf. As much as he wants to take it off, he remembers Kawaii warning him about how much power it contains. What does he have on his neck that his scarf is hiding?

He steps into the living room and then takes a seat on a black couch sitting on a dark grey rug in the middle of the room. While he is still waiting, he decides to take a look around. Two large windows across from the facing couch are completely shut with dark and solid blinds, not allowing any sunlight to come in. Between those two windows, a black bookshelf full of thick textbooks is pressed against the wall.

His thoughts begin to wander as he remembers when his little brother was born. He had always wanted a brother, so the day Ryu was born was his happiest ever. He wanted to teach him everything he knew. But then everything changed when Ryu was in fifth grade. All he ever wanted was his own space. Knapp was worried that he might have become boring, but a couple of months later, Ryu finally confessed that his classmates were bullying him just because he looked like one of ‘evil’ Asians.

Knapp tried to reassure him that they were Americans and that their father was an American soldier. It worked at first, but overtime, Ryu began to isolate himself from not only his classmates but also his own family. Sapphire did not make it better either as she always told Ryu to do his best. She did not call school or anything like that. Knapp was resentful at first but one day he overheard one phone conversation between Sapphire and Tokuso. It turned out that Sapphire tried to call school thousands of times when Knapp was in middle school, but nobody ever did anything at all. It would always be the same no matter which school they went to.

“Here’s your tea.” Forgotten interrupts his thoughts as she places the tea cup on the coffee table. “Why don’t you take off your scarf? You’re sweating a little.”

“Um, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea.”

Forgotten takes a seat on the other side of the couch. “Ah, really? You know, even though you know the Fifth Universe, it doesn’t mean that you’re my ally. So, care to tell me why you’re not taking off your scarf? Is a spy camera in there?”

“N-no.” Knapp nervously scratches the back of his head. “I… The Fifth Universe told me not to take it off… and that I am the Universe Warrior.”

Forgotten suddenly spits out her tea. After she hurriedly wipes her mouth, she yells, “What?! Why didn’t you say so in the first place! It would’ve saved me so much time getting you to the spaceship as the very first thing!”

“Spaceship?” Knapp raises an eyebrow.

“I was given a mission by the Fifth Universe… If I ever meet the Universe Warrior, I am supposed to give him a spaceship. It took me ages to find one! Even longer to find you!” Forgotten shifts herself closer to Knapp. “Please forgive me for not introducing myself properly earlier. I was not sure if I could trust you at first. My real name is Danielle Medina. I am a Specialist in the U.S. Army.”

Knapp chuckles softly. “Danielle… it’s nice to meet you. You didn’t have to apologize --”

“I insist! We’ve been looking forever to find you! At first we thought… wait… Is Tokuso Mitsukai your father? It has to be! Holy crap!”

At this point, Danielle is holding Knapp’s hand tightly as she is leaning closer to him… too close for his comfort.

“Y-Yes… How do you know my father?” Knapp blinks in surprise.

“He is the top sniper in the world! Our enemies never knew who killed them at all! That’s how good your father is!”

That’s the first compliment I’ve ever heard about my father… Knapp thinks to himself.

“I can’t believe that I was going to make you forget that you ever met me and all about Forgotten! I would’ve screwed up big time!” Danielle cries.

“S-sorry… you’re kinda all over the place.” Knapp chuckles nervously. “U-um… You said you are a Specialist in the U.S. Army, correct? Why are you called Forgotten?”

“Oh yeah. I am in a special force squad called Sunny Wing Squad. The CIA, FBI, and U.S. Army joined together about nearly two decades ago when the Nuclear War started. Forgotten is my codename. We have been searching for a traitor who might likely have caused the Nuclear War.”

“Didn’t Japan start the war?”

Danielle shook her head. “Impossible. From the angle the missile was flying, we suspected it came from Hawaii… but that was just our theory at this point. But that’s not what started our search. Some of our top leaders and officials died so suddenly. Some had heart attacks. Some had gun wounds… but they all died within the same month, so we believed that there was something fishy going on. The CIA and FBI launched an investigation on those so-called suicides and deaths. Ah, make sure not to ever tell anybody what I just told you. Not even the President of the USA nor Earthling President know. I’m telling you about this because when you come back, I need your help.”

“Why don’t you just come with me?” Knapp suggests.

“I wish.” Danielle chuckles softly. “If I left suddenly, then it would’ve blown my cover. But I’d be more than happy to help you out! As comrades on the same side, you know. As you see… When I said I was in Sunny Wing Squad, my intention was to spy on them. My codename over there is Hummingbird. The leader of the S.W.S is our priority suspect but we just have to catch him in action.”

“Even so… just one guy who started the war… that’s just crazy!”

“I know… I used to think that way too but you haven’t seen the things… that we had seen.” Danielle shakes his head. “I wouldn’t wish any of them on you at all. For now, you focus on finding your team.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They both jump at sudden and loud knocks coming from the front door.

“Um, excuse me,” Danielle gets up quickly and then opens the blind a little bit to find a young woman standing in front of the door. “That’s weird. I never get visitors because nobody’s supposed to know my home address.”

Knapp joins her at the window and almost gasps. “That’s… That’s Sybil!”

“What?”

“She’s…” Knapp blushes. “My girlfriend. I swear I never told her that I was coming to here!”

~*~

“I could’ve shot you!” Danielle scolds but Sybil giggles in return. “It’s a good thing that Knapp knows you.”

Knapp laughs before he glances at his girlfriend. “How did you know where I was?”

“Well… it’s hard to explain…” Sybil is playing with her fingers. “Well… My family… I mean… I am a seer.”

Danielle and Knapp look at each other in pure confusion.

“It’s been in my family for generations. I get visions about the future,” Sybil says. “The thing is… they are random. They come and go. Some of them come true and others don’t. I had the vision of you dying with a sword wound just a few days ago. Then, last night, I saw you at this place. Took me forever to find it on the map on the Internet. My vision just telling me to find a two-story blue house didn’t help either!”

“This…” Knapp stumbles back onto the couch. “I don’t know what to say… A seer…?”

“Sorry… I wanted to tell you but I wasn’t sure if you would’ve believed me,” Sybil says. “Besides… I had known that you were the Universe Warrior for a long time. I knew… one day you would leave. That’s why I wanted to come here and go with you.”

Knapp frowns in concern. “Sybil... I don’t know if that’s a good idea… it’s going to be dangerous --”

“It'll be ok because you’ll always protect me, right?” Sybil gives him a big smile. “So, please… I’ll go crazy without you!”

“Fine, fine.” Knapp sighs. “But when we land on a planet, you’ll either stay at the spaceship or stay with me at all times, ok?”

“Deal!” She says cheerfully.

“Well, then... “ Danielle hands a small tablet to Knapp. “It has all the information. Including the location of your spaceship. It shouldn’t be too far. And with this… we can communicate in case you ever need me.”

“Thank you for everything!” Knapp exclaims as he bows his head. “I’m sorry for the trouble I gave you earlier this morning…”

“Oh, stop it, you! It might not be the brightest thing to scream my codename but at least we found each other.” Danielle waves her hand. “Good luck!”