Act II: Meeting and Plotting A dark voice calls out, "Did you do my bidding?" "Yes, sir," a familiar voice answers. "The boy's mind is not ready for such command." "Are you sure?" "If you had seen his unsettling appearance, you would have no doubt." "Good." Munenori's ship breaks into Earth's atmosphere and is soon arriving at Shoumu, the city that Munenori once called home. The ship lands and Munenori, against the wishes of those there, breaks away from the group on a hike to what use to be the village of Akari and Naitsuu. As he walks through the mountainside, he admires the nature. He watches the butterflies and the birds fly. He passes a stream with small fish in it. He soon reaches the top of a small mountain and the sight he sees is not one of beauty. He looks across into a valley to see the charred remnants of the village that use to be there. He slowly makes his way down into the valley. He enters into the village. Not a single house was spared. "How could they have done this?" Munenori asks in disbelief. "There was not anyone here that could have harmed them." He walks around and can easily tell there is no human life around. Insects infest the rotting burnt wood and weeds have begun to overgrow. He looks upward and stares at the blue sky. The world continues moving as if nothing has ever happened. The sound of birds chirping and of other animals enters his mind. Amongst them there is a sound more human than what would be present out here. Munenori suddenly notices it to be crying. He looks around trying to find the source. He begins walking around the village following the direction it comes from. He soon comes across a little girl, sitting in the dirt, crying helplessly. Munenori walks over to her. As he nears, the little girl notices him. She stops crying and looks at him fearfully. "Don't be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you," he says as he kneels next to her. He then pauses and thinks to himself, I wouldn't have said that before. I would have just ignored her. Crying is a common thing to hear these days. He shakes it off and goes back to paying attention to the girl. "So, what's your name?" he asks. "My, my name is, is Ami," the little girl stutters out of her fear. "Hi, my name is Munenori." "H-hi," she responds. "How did you end up out here, all alone?" he asks. "I was following my sister," she answers. "I saw a butterfly I thought looked pretty. I followed it here and suddenly found myself lost in this village." "Sister? Where do you think she is?" Munenori asks. The girl begins to cry again and blankly says, "I don't know." "AMI!" a panicked voice calls out from a distance. "WHERE ARE YOU AMI!?" The girl looks towards the direction it is coming from, "Sister? SISTER!" "Is that who is calling you?" he asks. "That's sister!" Ami says happily. "Come on then," Munenori says picking Ami up. "Let's go greet her." She happily lets him carry her over towards where the voice is calling from. They appear at the entrance to the village where a young girl around Munenori's age looks around worried. Ami sees her and cries out, "Sister!" Ami's sister turns towards her and happily shouts, "Ami!" She runs over and Ami literally jumps out of Munenori's arms on to her sister. "I told you not to wander off out here," the sister says. Ami sullenly responds, "I'm sorry." "You know you're all I have left." Ami again says, "I'm sorry." "No harm came from it," Munenori speaks up and the girl suddenly notices him. "Can't blame a young child for being curious." The girl studies him for a moment, "Yeah, well, thank you for helping her find me." "No problem." "Munenori-san very nice," Ami blurts out. "Munenori?" the girl asks looking at him. "Yeah, that'd be me." "Well, thank you, Munenori-san." They turn and begin walking away. "Wait!" Munenori calls out to them. They turn around and look at him, "I only caught Ami's name. What's yours?" "Mine?" the sister aks wondering why he wants it. "Well, my name is Miya. Miya Adachi." "May I ask what it was you were doing out here?" Munenori asks. "Got lots of questions?" Miya asks him. "Just curious like Ami," Munenori playfully comments. "Well," Miya begins. "We sometimes walk around these mountains to get away from the city." "You live in the city?" Miya uncomfortably answers, "Yeah." "I use to live there," Munenori remembers the majority of his life he spent there. "So why you out here?" Ami asks wondering why he's out here if he doesn't live in the city. "Oh," Munenori pauses. "I'm looking for a friend who use to live in this village." Miya looks towards the ground, "Well, I'm sorry, but this village has been was burned down awhile ago. I think the old empire was responsible. Although I don't know why." "That's okay," Munenori says cheerfully. "Okay?" "Yeah, I know the old emperor was responsible. But the person I'm looking for wasn't in the village at the time." "Oh. So why are you looking here?" Miya asks. "I'm just trying to find any place she might be at." "Okay," Miya replies. "I think we should be going. It will be dark soon." "Yeah, gotta find a place to stay." "You don't have somewhere to go?" Miya asks. "No, I just got here," Munenori answers. "Then why don't you come stay with us!" Ami exclaims. "Ami!" Miya quickly scolds her. "He probably doesn't want to stay with us. Our place isn't in the best shape. It's not meant for visitors." "I'm sure anyplace someone like you would stay is good enough." "Huh?" Miya is stunned. "Someone like me?" "Well, you have good taste in places to go for a walk," Munenori slyly answers. "Um, well, if..." Miya stutters while blushing slightly. "...you want, you can stay with us." "Be glad to." "YEAH!" Ami shouts excited. The three leave the village together on a hike back to Shoumu. "Where has the young emperor left to?" the same dark voice asks. "To the Earth colony," the same familiar voice answers. "Is your group stationed near where he is headed?" "Yes, they are. The ship landed at the city of Shoumu." "When he is in a place with few people around...take him out." "Yes, Tsujimoto, sir."