The girl moved like water, painting a picture noise alone could never achieve. Every step was airy and light, there was no sound of footfall nor of a stumble. Even when they made it to a rocky hill she still walked as if she were floating a few inches off the ground - no pebbles brushed against her feet or were accidentally kicked down the edge. Barry, on the other hand, had tripped almost five times just trying to climb up the damn thing.
The stranger's dark brown eyes glanced back at him as she came to a halt, shining like two beetles under the moonlight. In front of her was a cave mouth of impenetrable blackness that seemed to carve its way deep into the earth. Barry made a face of distrust, though beneath the mask he wasn't entirely sure if she had seen it. Either way, the girl didn't appear too bothered about whether he intended to join her or not, because her gaze was soon forced straight ahead again and she disappeared into the cave.
Flash grimaced at the whole situation. For all he knew that woman could have been a fire breathing monster, and this could have been her nest. The idea was ridiculous, of course, but when your daily life consisted of flying aliens and shape shifters nothing was impossible.
Barry groaned, trying to remind himself that outrunning her should be easy if she was planning something horrible... should be. With an air of reluctance he stepped inside and watched as his shadow dissolved into the surrounding darkness. It was damp and the only sound was the dripping of an unknown water source.
Barry extended his hands out in front of himself in fear that he might bump into something, soon after though there was a spark in the distance that lit up the second half of the cave. Barry felt every muscle in his body contract. He'd seen that light before...
It's shapeless form expanded and it was eclipsed by the woman he had been trailing after. In one small flicker she was gone, vanishing in front of his eyes. Barry's breath hitched in his throat. He was certain now, he definitely knew what this was. All hesitation left him as he followed her through the portal, and once the blinding brightness had dimmed, he saw that he had been teleported into a tower - The Tower of Fate, to be more specific.
They were on the top floor, skipping the numerous stairs that twirled the length of the structure. The room itself was larger than the one he remembered from his own time, and full of ancient Egyptian artifacts. The only thing that was missing was a live mummy... but Barry wasn't too disappointed that there wasn't one.
The black haired woman suddenly came into his line of sight again, blocking his view of a rather large slab of gold with Hieroglyphics engraved into it.
"Wait here." She said sternly, and with a fairly strong accent wavering over each word.
Barry's mind hadn't registered that she'd actually said something in English. His first instinct was to nod, whether he understood her or not, and his second was to gasp in so much air that his lungs could barely hold all of the oxygen.
By the time he'd completely come to terms with what she'd just said the girl was already gone, and he was left surrounded by items so old he had to wonder if they were cursed. He wasn't able to ponder that for as long as he thought he could, because soon enough the woman had returned... a familiar figure floating close behind her.
"You should not be here." The voice of the helm spoke.
There stood a man wrapped in blue garb, adorned with Egyptian traditions. Over his shoulders flowed a gold cape, trailing down to his matching boots. A golden mantle etched with runes laid upon his chest, which was overshadowed by the majestic Helm of Fate, resting upon the head of the wearer.
"Doctor..." Barry addressed coldly.
"You defy order by travelling here. Leave at once." Barry noted that Doctor Fate's voice was exactly the same as the one from his time. The fact was that the wearer of the Helm acted as a vessel for Nabu, Lord of Order.
"I'm here because I chased someone, Doc. Someone who brings chaos."
Doctor Fate cocked his hand and clenched his dark-skinned hands into fists. "Elaborate."
Barry smirked, knowing that Fate would immediately comply after the mention of that word. "His name is Eobard Thawne. And for the time being, he's stranded in the present. I have to find him and bring him back to stand for his crimes...and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
Fate took a second to mull over the news, as Barry's attention fell onto the woman once again. "Why didn't you tell me you speak English...?"
"You did not ask."
Barry frowned and raised his brows. "Makes sense. Will you at least tell me your name then?"
The girl's lips tightened as if she were unsure whether to accept his request or not. Finally, her expression fell blank once more and she answered. "Mineko."
Barry wasn't certain that he had heard her right, and even if he did, he knew he'd have to repeat that name a few times in his head before he was comfortable enough to say it out loud. "Cool, I'm Barry."
"Barry?" She said, testing the foreign name against her tongue. Mineko's nose scrunched up. "This is an odd name. I do not care for it."
"... It's pretty common where I'm from." Barry replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "And 'Mineko' isn't much better."
"Enough. This agent of chaos must be stopped." Fate's voice suddenly pierced through their ears. "A meeting has been convened with the others. We have much to discuss and little time."
The Doctor descended a flight of stairs, and Mineko gestured for Barry to follow. The pair caught up with Fate, and Barry's mind was once again straining to comprehend the mess that was the interior of the Tower of Fate.
In Barry's eyes, it was a splitting image of M. C Escher's 'Relativity' piece...that painting with the stairs that was some kind of nonsensical beauty. That was what the Tower was like. Stairs led into a wall, a wall that was carpeted and furnished like a floor, which was connected to another staircase that did a similar thing to another wall. But you could walk on it all just the same. Barry just let it go the first time he saw this place; thinking about it too much would drive his scientific mind insane. He may be a guy who can run faster than light, but he could at least understand it scientifically.
"Hey...so...why did you bring me here?" Barry asked Mineko urgently.
Her eyes never moved as she walked and replied "The gifted are not welcome in the outside world. I witnessed your speed, and knew that you belonged here." They swerved down the corridor with Fate, as Mineko went on to say "You know the Doctor?"
Barry rubbed the back of his head nervously. "It's a long story. Short version is I'm from the future, and I know the Doctor Fate from my time. I've been here before...well...will be here. In a couple hundred years."
Mineko stopped responding after this, almost as if she wanted to know nothing about the future. Either that or, much like Barry with the stairs, she didn't want to think about it too much.
Before long, the trio arrived inside a circular chamber already filled with a number of individuals. Barry could've sworn it was some kind of medieval convention.
He immediately noticed a man dressed in full plate armour. The steel was worn and dented, the mark of a well-travelled warrior. The man's face was rugged and lightly scarred, but it seemed to lose its harshness once they entered the room.
"By the heavens." The knight muttered with an intense German accent. "W-Why...have you no shame?"
His eyes instantly leapt away from Barry's tight costume, Flash sighed and crossed his arms. "Yeah. Should've expected more of this."
"Calm yourself. Barry Allen is a man from the future, hence his...strangeness." Doctor Fate explained, though it didn't falter the looks Barry was getting.
"Please, at least have the decency to cover up." The Knight boomed once more. "There are women in the room!"
As if on cue one of the girls standing nearby averted her eyes, cheeks darkening several shades of red as she muttered "Oh my..."
The girl had a nose like a cartoon character, or one drawn by a lazy artist at least. The bridge was so low-profile that it was barely there at all; so on a face of skin all the same honeyed hue, her nose was a bump just above her dusky pink lips. Her outfit told that she was a simple villager, probably lived out on a farm somewhere with her parents. There was no two ways about it, she was cute. Something told Barry that she was much older than she looked though...
"Why ya gettin' all flustered for?" The man standing right next to her spoke. He was somewhat too tall for his build; were he a few inches shorter he would be all the more handsome for it. It was as if he stopped growing only to be stretched on one of those medieval racks a half-foot more. His face was mostly obscured by a red scraggly beard that clung to his skin like winter ravaged ivy tendrils. He met Barry's gaze not with the shyness of the girl beside him or of the knight, but with a blunt refusal to avert his gaze first. "He ain't nothin' special."
"Pardon my intrusion, Thane..." Another voice called, this one was higher than the last, and a lot clearer. "But am I the only one that heard the Doctor say that this... thing... is from the future?!"
Mineko's gaze snapped in the direction the voice was coming from. It was Vincent. He was new to the 'Defenders of the realm', or so they called themselves. He had bad breath, a face like a pickle jar, and he was constantly sending Mineko contrived poetry. The girl regarded him as she would a slug that had invaded the Tower of Fate and left a trail of slime behind it.
"If a time travellin' skameler is what concerns you, then you ain't gonna last long 'round here." Thane snickered, crossing his arms over his chest.
"A skameler?" Barry muttered, voice dripping with confusion.
"The word refers to a parasite." Mineko answered for him, and suddenly Barry wished he'd never asked.
"Silence. All of you." Doctor Fate's voice echoed through the room so loudly that any other noise was rendered inaudible. "This agent of chaos must be detained. If the flow of time is further disrupted by this interloper, there may be dire consequences."
This seemed to grab everyone's attention again, even Thane had shut his mouth long enough to listen.
"It will be most efficient to operate in pairs to search Japan. It is unlikely that he has left the country." Fate said, scanning the room to make certain that he had their full attention. "It is imperative that we succeed."
"We shall prevail!" The knight declared, puffing out his chest with full confidence.
"What exactly are we looking for though?" The small voice of the female villager asked as she fiddled with the edges of her sleeves.
"Anyone that appears out of place." Mineko spoke, directing towards Barry. "Should not be too difficult if they are like him."
The group smirked and Barry huffed. He was starting to feel like some kind of Circus act, but one that didn't get payed by the audience... He was about ready to insist that they all get their coin bags out and start slipping him money for every second they gawk at him.
"Start searching." Fate continued before directing his gaze down to Mineko. "You will accompany our visitor. He is our best chance of finding this villain."
The girl's entire expression fell. "Would it not be more prudent to keep him near you instead, Doctor?"
"You found him, he is your responsibility."
Mineko's nose scrunched up at the idea. She spared Barry a sideways glance, to which he grinned and said "Guess you're stuck with me, huh?"
She didn't make any specific sound of displeasure but the look on her face confirmed that she wasn't too happy about this sudden predicament. "Just attempt discretion, you already stand out enough."
With that, Mineko walked right passed him. Barry could only assume that he was meant to follow her because that seemed to be the general ritual now. He was getting tired of trailing along after her like some lost pet, but the view wasn't too bad... You know, in that 'disciplined, uptight samurai' kind of way.
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