Kurasawa's Story Page

Chapter Two : Scene Three

2007-05-24T21:23:00.001+08:00

Yukino walked down a windy path through a rather large forest. It has been over a day and a man who hasn’t uttered a word, but has only nodded or shook his head as a way to communicate has accompanied her. He held a long beautiful oak-made bow at his hand. A black bandana to hold up his gravity defying black hair and a black scarf covering his mouth and nose concealed his identity very well. He wore black from top to bottom; a black long sleek over-coat was a finishing touch to his ‘costume’.

“So… You haven’t said a word since we started walking, are you sure this is the right way?” Yukino asked. The man merely nodded and continued walking. “Umm…” Yukino said as she was thinking of what she should say next, “What’s your name?”

“Masashi.” The man said.

Yukino was both shocked and surprised, “Oh okay, my name is Yukino! Nice to meet you.” Masashi replied with nod. “… Okay…” Yukino said, “So why are you wrapped up like that?” Silence was the only reply to that question, “Okay, how about; where are you from?”

“I was raised by ninjas, I originate from no where.” He said. Yukino found that both creepy and peculiar. Random thoughts came to her mind, ‘He met me yesterday… Why was he carrying me?’, ‘Was I being kidnapped?’, ‘He looks so mysterious.’.

As they walked through the wind, Masashi couldn’t help noticing that Yukino was trying to do something with his mind and hands. Yukino got fed up, she was trying to draw forth her fans. She finally gave up and said “This is hopeless. I’ll never be able to do it.”

“Focus on allowing your breath to control the movement of energy around your palm.” Masashi said.

“What?” Yukino asked, but no response came back. She took a deep breath and tried once more. A Chinese traditional fan that was made purely of silver, beautiful and long, about a full arm’s length wide when opened materialized in her hands. On the side were engravings of a serpent-dragon and when opened, the steel blades were reflective like the moon. Masashi gave a slight smile at Yukino. Yukino smiled back and slotted her new fan into the back of her belt.

“You wear odd clothes.” Masashi said, “You’re not from around here are you?”

“No.” Yukino said, “I don’t even know where ‘here’ is.”

“Hmm, your badge says Kodoko High School.” Masashi said, “There is no such place in the land.”

It shot to Yukino. Like all the anime she has watched, she has been thrown into an alternate dimension, with new challenges awaiting her. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that she met Masashi, maybe it was fate. Maybe this was all destiny and she was meant to be here to save this land from an evil dragon king with some corny name like ‘Golloktuckus’. It all started to make sense to Yukino; she was determined to save the land from evil, “DON’T WORRY! I WIL LSAVE THIS LAND AND ALL IT’S PEOPLE!” She yelled out loud.

Masashi was standing there, staring at her, stupefied. “Umm… Save this land from what?” Masashi asked.

“GOLLOKTUCKUS!” Yukino exclaimed.

“Who is that…?” Masashi asked.

“The evil dragon king set out to destroy this land!” Yukino explained.

“I think that we’ve been at peace too long to have an evil dragon king…” Masashi said.

“Oh…” Yukino said, her hopes and dreams about being a heroin crumbled down, “… So can you help me find my friends instead?” Masashi nodded. This made Yukino happy enough, she smiled and they began walking down the path once again, the sun high in the sky.

They reached a town called Lutrene as it was nearing night. They noticed a dead body sprawled on the ground outside the inn they were expecting to crash in. Yukino was utterly disgusted but Masashi bent down and began examining the body. He pulled out a steel bullet with the engravings of a name on it, “They were here…” Masashi said.

“Who?” Yukino asked.

“They had a reason to put down this man.” He said and pulled a hatchet off the body’s hand, “Kura and Elorien won’t be so reckless.

“Well, whoever they were they don’t seem like a bunch of happy people.” Yukino said and scratched the back of her head.

“We shall rest here for tonight.”

“… In an inn with a dead body outside of it?!”

“Do you wanna get eaten by wolves?”

“… Nope.” Yukino said as she trailed behind Masashi who entered the inn. As they entered, Masashi noticed there was something wrong in that scene. It was empty, even the bartender was gone. A loud scream resonated through the inn. Masashi immediately shot up the stairs to investigate. Yukino was still startled but she managed to force her way up the wooden steps of the inn.

Yukino found herself down a long hallway for doors on the left and right. Masashi was at the end of the hallway, crouching down to look at something. Yukino walked over to him, “What was that?” she asked, bending over to see what her mysterious companion was doing. Her eyes opened wide at what she saw, blood was splattered all over the floor in all directions, but there was no body or any signs that there was a body there. Another interesting discovery was a big hole in the roof.

“Let’s go, it’s not safe here.” Masashi said. He grabbed his bow and took Yukino by the hand and rushed down the steps. As they burst out into open air, what was waiting for them was a big mess.

“… If I knew those could grow that big.” Yukino said as she hid behind Masashi, “I would’ve kept one.”

A giant worm-like creature stretching about a few kilometers long was feasting itself on the corpse they found earlier. It had no eyes, no ears, no nose or whatsoever; just it’s circular mouth that had teeth rolling around the walls of its mouth. “Alright.” Masashi said, “We’re going to back away slowly.”

Just as Masashi and Yukino were about to back their way back into the inn, the worm turned its attention to them. A loud roar resonated through out the surrounding area. Masashi holstered his bow onto a socket on the spine of his long jacket and picked up Yukino, lifting her sideways. The worm slammed down on them after it stretched its body high into the air.

Masashi’s figure disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind the worm. He let Yukino down onto the ground and she immediately pulled out her fan. Though Masashi looked just as scared as her, something told Yukino that he wasn’t afraid of the worm.

‘Can I use it?’ Masashi thought to himself. He drew his bow and aimed it towards the worm. No arrows were used, he simply pulled back on bowstring and it began to illuminate. Suddenly, the simple hard wood bow began to illuminate and it slowly changed its figure to black steel. His new bow matched his entire outfit, slender and sleek. A black arrow began to form at his hands on the bow, ‘I can.’

Jumped into the air right in front of the worm’s mouth and began filling it with a million arrows in a manner of seconds. The worm roared and thrashed around in pain. As Masashi was in mid-flight towards the worm, he pulled out a long cylindrical object from under his coat. It started to change form into a long black sword. He dropped right on top of it and he pierced the sword into the worm’s hard texture.

Yukino just watched in amazement, unable to move. For a moment he seemed to be a humble traveler. Then, suddenly when this worm appeared, he had the devil inside of him. The worm began to thrash around, trying to throw Masashi off of it, but he held on tight to his sword. From a distance, Yukino was still able to see that Masashi was inciting an incantation. The sword sunk into the worm as he finished saying his last words, he jumped off the worm with a somersault and landed right beside Yukino.

The worm seemed to be struggling with an invisible force, trying to shake something off as it shook around, destroying the houses and buildings around. Suddenly, it came to a complete halt, it was frozen solid as ice. “What did you do to it?” Yukino asked.

“It’s a bind.” Masashi said.

“Why not just kill it now!?” Yukino yelled.

Masashi merely pointed to the left. A shadow wearing a cloak could be seen jump into the air and a long reflective object unsheathed, which looked much like a sword. Out from the distance, they both heard the words; “Requiem of the Dead.” Resonate through the sky. The figure held the object high in the air and sliced downwards as he began to lose airtime. A howling could be heard in the distance like a million dead souls and a pouring of black came out from the sword’s tip. The black lines just seemed to go right through the worm, not having any visible effect on it.

The worm began to crumble down bit-by-bit, spewing out fluids and such in all directions. Masashi grabbed Yukino and flashed out from under the rain of worm fluids. Yukino got back to her feet once again, standing far away from the town, “What happened?!” She asked straight away.

“Yo.” A voice could be heard from behind Yukino and Masashi, “Long time no see, Masashi.”

Masashi turned around and nodded at a man who seemed to be familiar with him. Yukino turned and inspected the man from top to bottom. The most distinct part of him was his two absurdly large swords he kept sheathed under his cloak, “Who are you?” Yukino asked.

“Kura.” He said, “Nice to meet you.”

“Yukino.” She said.

“What are you doing out here?” Masashi asked.

“Nah, Elorien sent me out here to get some ingredients for his recipe.” Kura explained, “I just happened to drop by.”

“You won’t be getting anything out of that.” Masashi said and pointed at the town that was just leveled to the ground.

-

“Yeah, tell me why you bought new clothes for us…” Faire asked.

“We need to blend in with the rest of society! We can’t be walking around in our school uniform forever!” She said and smiled.

Faire tugged on his well-fitted new outfit. A white sleeveless hooded jacket and a pair of white long pants was what he wore, though he was still wearing his black undershirt, “So tell me seriously, how do I look?” He asked.

“Like something out of an anime.” Elorien said.

Just then, Kura walked in on them with a familiar face and a tall-dark-and-creepy man, “Hey, look who I found!”

Faire and Alexus were tingled to see Yukino, “Yukinoooooooooooo!!” Alexus yelled and tackled her to the ground.

“… Not the person I was referring to. But yeah, I found her too.” Kura said, “Mission complete though, how many are still out there?”

“Three more of us…” Faire said.

“Well, they ain’t running anywhere, let’s take a break here.” Elorien said as they sat around the campfire, which Elorien was cooking with.

They talked through the night about their past experiences over the past few hours.

Chapter Two : Scene Two

2007-05-23T06:41:00.000+08:00

Earan waltzed around a gigantic temple that seemed to have been taken over by nature. It was pyramid in shape but it seemed to have no entrance. Scratches were present, showing signs of battle. He rested against the wall of the pyramid and took a deep breath. Wondering around for a day aimlessly can get you tired and delusional, for about a few seconds he thought he saw a frog jump out of the bush in front of him and got itself eaten by an oversized house fly, “I need a break…”

Over the pass few hours, he has been trying to draw forth his fire, but it seemed to have left him. Also on another update, his hair is blazing red and his eyes are blazing. He came to the conclusion a day ago that he had fused with his medium. No big, he always wanted to be stronger. But, there was something strange about the place Earan was in. The air was pure and fresh. Car exhausts did not pollute it. Neither did factories or any other form of releasing dangerous gaseous into the atmosphere. Eerie as it may be, he thought he was in heaven. He thought the air might be the cause of his power-loss and so he pondered upon it.

Suddenly, a saber toothed tiger jumped out from the bushes in front of him, “Holy!” Earan got startled and got up to his feet with his back still pressed against the wall, “You’re supposed to be extinct!” Not the words of choice to say to a vicious animal looking for flesh and blood, but soon later a whole pack of them poured out from all sides, trapping him.

Earan was at a loss, he knew it was going to end, but he decided to end it with this, “So… How’s the weather in the Artic Circle?” One of the tigers growled and pounced at him. While still in mid-flight, a reflection of something came from above. A beam of light pierced through the tiger, splitting it in half. Everything and everyone, namely Earan and the carnivores, turned their attention to the top of the temple.

“Well, well.” A man with blonde hair said while crouching down to look at the herd of animals. He was tall and slim, and wore a long white jacket and wore white underneath from top to toe, “Looks like we have an animal problem, Shunko.”

“Tigers, saber tooth.” Another man stood tall with brown long and spiky hair said. He wore a black sleeveless turtleneck with a pair of leather pants. He carried a large broad sword holstered on his back and apparently his name was Shunko, “We always have animal problems anyway.”

“Hi, down there!” The man with blonde hair shouted, “What’s your name?”

“What?!?” Earan yelled upwards, “I’m surrounded by flesh eating mammals and you want an introduction?!”

Suddenly, another tiger took the chance and pounced towards Earan. The rings on the Blonde man’s left hand began to shine and another beam of light beamed down and sliced the second tiger in half, “It’s rude to interrupt someone in conversation. Hi, my name is Ino!” He said with a smile.

‘Is this some kind of sick joke?’ Earan thought to himself, “Errr… My name is Earan!! Now will you help me?!”

“Sure.” Shunko said and unsheathed his large board sword that was about as big as Shunko. It was long and simple, but had markings on each side of the flats of the blade, “My turn to have some fun, Shunko style.” He jumped up into the air and hit the slanted wall of the pyramid. He began running down the wall like something out of a comic book. This has to be a dream, Earan thought; there is no way someone can run down such a steep wall like that.

Shunko jumped up again before he hit the ground spinning like a top. Wind began to build up around him like a tornado, “Dance.” He said. Particles of wind began flying in all directions. As he hit the ground in crouched-over stance with his body bent forward and his blade resting over his back, he stood up slowly and snapped his fingers. The tigers began to split into a few million pieces, “We saved a wanderer’s life AND caught dinner! Excellent!”

Earan gripped Shunko by the hand, “Take me along with you!!” He yelled.

“Uhh…”

“Take me!! And let me have some of your food!!” Earan yelped with pure hunger in his eyes.

“I don’t mind helping out a lost one.” Ino said after sliding down the side of the pyramid and hitting the ground, “What’re you doing here anyway?”

Earan began explaining the situation and how he got there. Ino and Shunko were pretty amazed at the story Earan was telling, but none of them have ever heard of a spirit inhabited body that can control a power of some sort. This was pretty mind blowing but the two blade masters have seen the most unbelievable things, so this didn’t shake them up to a point of emotional break down.

Shunko decided to collect the meat and bring it back to town to gain some inn-money for Earan to get him started off in the world. It was like something out of a video game, they give you some information about the world and them chuck you in with minimum wage. Or is it?

As the three tracked through the forest, Earan kept trying to conjure his power but he had failed like the many times before.

“So, tell us about this power of yours.” Ino said as they walked down the path heading towards town, carrying sacks on their backs filled with tiger meat.

“I can manipulate fire.” Earan said.

“That’s unusual.” Shunko said, “The wizards around here have fire flowing through their bodies, they pretty much control it.”

“You seem to be focusing on merely using your own will to call forth your powers.” Ino said as he examined the way Earan was straining away.

“What do you mean?” Earan asked.

“The air is rich with the energy and motion you need to control your element.” Ino explained, “As you can see, Shunko’s blade attack was mainly based on wind. He manipulated the air around him and turned it into what he wanted it to be.”

“That didn’t make a knock of sense but I’ll try.” Earan took a deep breath of air and slowly exhaled, ‘The air.’ He thought, ‘I knew it was pretty weird.’ He snapped his fingers as he exhaled another breath and a small controlled portion of flame began to burn on his palm.

Ino and Shunko smiled at Earan’s quick achievement.

-

“We’re lost…” Nochiro said as she sat down leaning against Mike.

“I figured…” Mike said as he glanced around at the scenic view that was before them.

They sat in a wooden boat in the middle of the ocean. They seemed to have drifted for a full day. The sun was high in the sky; the blinding reflection of the sun against the waters gave a beautiful horizon out into the unknown, although it would’ve been much more lovely if they weren’t hungry, thirsty and lost in the middle of nowhere.

“How long more till we die?” Nochiro asked, giving up all hope.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Mike said as he turned his head to look at Nochiro, “I ain’t dying here, neither are you. And, for the record; I’d rather die getting eaten by man-eating grasshoppers.”

“That’s interesting…”

“I know…” Mike said and looked around.

“… Hey, what is that thing?” Nochiro said and pointed upwards, “Looks like a bird.”

Mike looked up and his eyes widened up, “That ain’t no bird!” He tried his best to conjure an arc of ice above him but it failed, “Come on!! Work!!” He strained his power until finally he managed to form a wall of ice jutting out of the water and arcing over the boat, “Awesome!!” A gryphon smashed into the ice and shrieked. It bounced off and flew high into the air again.

“This is some kind of joke…” Nochiro said as she calmed down and relaxed.

“You know, we should’ve let that thing take us…” Mike said.

“Why?” Nochiro asked.

“Don’t you think it will take us to… Land?” Mike said.

“… Damn it.” She said and kicked the seat at the end of her part of the boat.

“Yup, we’re stuck alright.” Mike said.

Something caught Nochiro’s eye. A shadow danced pass the corner of her eye, “… Hey, I think it’s coming back.” Nochiro said and pointed upwards, again.

“… That ain’t a gryphon.” Mike said as his eyes opened wide, again.

Chapter Two : Scene One

2007-05-17T17:54:00.000+08:00

Faire sat against a tree unconscious and out cold. Around him was a meadow surrounded by a forest. Faire woke up and was startled at the view that was there for him. He looked up at the blue sky and took a breath of fresh air in. He felt at peace there. He closed his eyes and tried to make contact with Ten’go, but his efforts failed. He did not even get a single reply.

Faire stood up with his spiky hair partially covering his eyes. And, that’s when it hit him. He extracted a strand of hair from the center of his scalp and it was silky silver. It occurred to him, when Nochiro fused, her hair became red. And, so he tried to draw out his sword. But his efforts were once again in vain. Confused and alone, or so he thought, he walked around the tree.

When he reached the other end of it, he noticed a girl with dark blue shoulder length hair was asleep against the tree. It was Alexus. Faire quickly got down beside her and began shaking her to wake up. Her sleep was disturbed and she opened her eyes. She did not yell at him for waking him up but, “FAIRE!!” she was happy to see him alive, “You’ve been out cold for two days!”

Faire was shocked, “Two days?” He repeated and looked around, “Well doesn’t look like I missed much. Did you know we fused with our…”

“Yeah…” Alexus said and took a closer look at Faire’s eyes, “You’re eyes are creepy, they’re deep and transparent silver sinking into a space of oblivion.”

“Oh, really?” Faire said and backed away, “Yours are just blue.” Alexus began to give a bored look at Faire, but Faire just brushed it off his shoulders, “Anyway, how did we get here?”

“Oh!” Alexus said and from a sitting position she got into a kneeling posture, “There were these two nice young men who carried you around for two days, I think their names were Ku-.”

“YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!!!!!” A yell could be heard from a distance.

“Oh, never mind.” said and smiled and stood up, “Looks like you’ll be meeting them sooner or later!”

Just then, a large bull-like animal that also looked like a boar burst out of the forest and was violently jumping around. Faire noticed that on top of it was a man with black spiky hair, wearing a hooded cloak and black underneath, “Elorien!! Pull the trap!!”

“Ahh, so my little human friend is having fun.” A voice came from on top of the tree that Faire and Alexus were under. Faire was startled; he didn’t see him there before. The man was an elf. Had gravity defying hair, that of an anime character and really nice facial features. His hair and his eyes were both black but red under the sun’s reflection. He disappeared out of sight. Faire’s attention turned to the man on the bull. As they were frolicking around, the ground around it sunk down like a trap door.

“HOUSTON! WE GOT OURSELVES A LIVE ONE!!” The strange man’s yell echoed from the pit. The elf from earlier, Elorien, appeared like a distorted image in front of the hole. Two giant blades that were arced like the moon were visible, holstered against the back of his belt. The scabbard was simple that show cased the beauty of the blades. The hilt guard was rectangular with patterns on it and the handle itself was short enough for a hand to hold. The pommel was a crescent moon facing downwards.

“Kura, get off the bull.” Elorien said as he bent down to examine the wild animal, “He looks meaty. Enough to last us through lunch AND dinner.”

“WOOOOO!!!” The lunatic, Kura yelled as he rode the bull around the small pit.

Suddenly, Faire turned to Alexus and said, “Where’s Yukino?”

“More importantly, where are Earan, Mike and Nochiro…”

“Yeah, there was the light and…” Faire stopped, “We have to find them.”

Suddenly, the rumbling coming from the pit came to a halt, “I think it’s dead!” Kura yelled out.

“You sliced it into four separate sections.” Elorien said, “Of course it’s dead.”

Faire decided to stop thinking about finding his friends for a while and took a deep breath, and for some unknown reasons decided to examine Elorien from top to toe. He wore a black button down shirt with his sleeves folded up; his pants were long and baggy. Soon enough, Kura jumped out of the hole and dusted off the dirt from his hair. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and a long pair of very baggy leather pants under his brown cloak. Underneath the cloak were two very long scabbards attached to the back of his belt, its edge peeking out the bottom of the cloak.

“So who are these two again?” Faire asked.

“Allow us to introduce ourselves.” Elorien said. His sudden appearance startled Faire, as he was a fair distance away from him, “My name is Elorien. And that lunatic hauling out the bull’s carcass is Kura.”

“Oh.” Faire said, “I’m Faire, this is-.”

“Alexus.” Kura interrupted Faire, “She told us about what happened in your ‘dimension’ and how you got here.” Faire, startled yet again. These two could move with light speed, it was incredible. Faire wanted to learn how to do that, with the reason that it was ‘so cool!!’.

The sat down under the tree and Faire started a fire to cook the meat. They began discussing about Faire and Alexus’ world and how incredibly messed up it’s going to be when they get back. When Kura announced that lunch was ready, they were handed each a bowl and served stew with chunks of boar-bull meat in it. Though it looked horribly disgusting, it tasted quite good.

Once they were done, they picked up everything and started off down a long road into the forest. It seemed to be used quite a lot since it was pretty wide, “So tell us.” Kura said, “What are these powers you have?”

“I am a master of swords!” Faire said proudly.

“I control water.” Alexus said and stared blankly at Faire with her eyes opened wide.

“Really now?” Kura said, “A master of swords? Let’s see what you can do!” He flung up his cloak and pulled out one of his two-meter long swords, “Let’s have a duel, kid.”

“Kid?! You look just as old as me!!” Faire yelled back in objection.

“Kura, don’t start this, not here please…” Elorien said and quickly pulled Alexus to the side.

“Why?” Alexus whispered to Elorien, “What’s going on?”

“Kura is indefinitely the most powerful swordsman I’ve ever seen.” Elorien explained, “So far, he has been duel crazy and has beaten down every one of his opponents.”

“Faire’s gonna be screwed.” Alexus said as they sat by the side of the road to watch.

‘Come on, it better work…’ Faire thought to himself. He raised both his hands out to the side and his black-steel blades formed in his hand. His eyes illuminated and so did the feathered markings on the sword. Faire grinned at Kura.

Kura just yawned and spat on the ground, “Let’s see if your blades are as good as your performance.” Within the blink of an eye, Kura was already a few inches away from Faire with his sword already swinging towards Faire. Faire tried to block the long katana with his broad swords. He managed to stop it from slicing him in half but Kura pushed harder and the force drove him off the ground and into a tree. Faire looked up at Kura. Kura laid the blunt of his sword across his shoulders and said, “I’m only using one hand.”

Faire looked down at Kura’s trouser pocket, his hand was in it. He began to recall the attack, and it was accurate enough that Kura was just using one hand. Kura smiled and sheathed his sword. He motioned forward towards Faire and provoked him; “You can come at me right now.”

Faire pushed himself out of the hole he made in the tree and dashed forwards towards Kura. Kura smiled and placed his palm in front of him. Faire was still determined to cut Kura, but suddenly a force smashed into Faire and sent him flying back into the tree, this time, making it tumble over. “Uhhh…” Faire could be heard moaning from all the sand and dust flying through the air. Kura moved forward and pulled Faire out of the dust cloud, “You alright?” Kura asked.
Faire nodded, “You need to teach me how to fight!”

Kura just grinned and said, “Since we’re traveling together, I don’t see why not.”

While the two were talking, Alexus and Elorien were having their own conversation, “So, you want us to help you find your friends, right?”

“Amazing…” Alexus said and stared at Kura, and then she came back to reality “Uhh, yeah. Sort of.”

“I don’t mind helping, Kura wouldn’t mind much either, and we’ve been running out of things to do lately.” Elorien explain.

“Great!!” Alexus said and stood up, “What are we waiting for let’s go!!”

“… That was unexpected.” Faire said.

“She scares me.” Kura said.

And so they traveled along the long road and there moments of silence between them. There were also parts of their trip where they stopped to rest. During that break, Kura was to teach Faire how to fight with proper stance. Soon enough, the sun was about to touch the horizon but they reached a small town called Lutrene. And, like any other small town, one would have an inn and bar, a few houses and your everyday general supplies shop. This one had its extras too; weapons and armor, clothing and your other essential hunting needs. Alexus pulled Elorien into the clothing shop and told them that they would meet Kura and Faire at the inn later.

“She seems to be very found of Elorien.” Kura said.

“Why don’t you have, like, nicknames for each other.” Faire said.

“Can you think up a nickname for ‘Elorien’?” Kura said. Silence hovered above them like a cloud of rain for a bit. And Kura broke the silence with, “Guess not.”

The two of them closed in to the inn and yelling could be heard from the inside, “What’s going on in there?” Faire asked. A stool flew out of the front entry way and headed straight towards Kura. As it was about to hit him, the stool split in half as if a sword just cut through it clean. Faire looked from top to bottom but Kura’s hands were still hidden under his body-concealing cloak. Faire could do nothing but utter the words, “That was awesome…”

Two clicking noises could be heard from under Kura’s cloak, like two guns were cocking, “Faire, draw your swords.” Faire tried his best to materialize his weapons but he failed. He looked like Kura and shook his head, “We need to get you a real weapon.”

“ORRRAAAAAAAAA!!!” An insane man holding a butcher’s cleaver in his hand burst out of the doorway and looked around angrily like a raging bull, “NO ONE CAN STOP ME!!” He yelled and ran towards Kura with a mad cackle in his eyes. Kura’s cloak blew up and fluttered in the air as he produced two guns from under his cloak. They were beautiful, the handles were engraved with a roaring dragon and the entire guns were made in pure silver with tainted black metal for style. He fired two shots at the lunatic and the lunatic dropped dead, right at the entrance.

“I hate towns which have social problems.” Kura said, “There’s no way I’m staying in this in, the canopies on the forest provide better protection than this raggedy old inn.” The gun’s he held just vanished into dust like pixie dust. Faire still couldn’t believe how incredibly strong this punk looking kid who was only slightly taller than him could be such a powerful swordsman. He still wanted to learn how he is able to cut things without the use of his swords, and how to push things without physical contact with his body.

He was fascinated. He wanted to get stronger.

The two of them went to find Alexus and Elorien to tell them what had happened.

Chapter One : Final Scene

2007-05-15T23:35:00.001+08:00

The two groups for the hunting mission were sent out in the dark because they did not want to cause any commotion in broad daylight. They were briefed on how to take out their targets. Earan asked why they couldn’t just turn invisible like they always did, Rohen explained that their powers are more potent when they are not invisible.

And so they were off.

-

“This is sick, how did we end up getting this job?” A first voice said.

“I wish I was out hunting silver wolves…” A second said.

“Neeeeeeeeeehhhhhh…” Faire let out a long grunt. Himself and Alexus were our nominees for tonight’s drain hunt. They trekked through the knee-deep musty and dirty water of the drainage system, “This job has got to be the most sickest and most disturbing job this side of the world. Who would wanna be caught doing stuff like this for the rest of their lives?”

“Drain hunting?” Alexus asked.

“Exactly!”

“But it’s sort of a one time thing for us.” She said, “Right?”

“I hope so.” Faire said and sighed.

“Holy crap!” Alexus exclaimed.

Faire’s swords pieced themselves from the handle up in his hands, “What’s the problem?!”

“I didn’t finish my science folio!” She cried.

“…” Faire formed two scabbards to hold his swords and hung them across his back, in a crossed manner and sheathed his swords, “That was a bad joke.”

They walked through the water and began complaining about how much fun the others were having hunting the wolf and how much fun Rohen, Tsuki, Yukino and Nochiro were having chilling at home. Faire pointed out, “Yeah, at MY home.”

After walking through miles of dirt water, it hit Faire like a slippery fish, “Why can’t you just push the water to the side?” Faire asked, “Shouldn’t we have done that from the start!?”

“If I did, the lil’ clumps of dirt will be more concentrated than when it’s dilute.” Alexus said, “I control water, not dirt.”

“Oh… Right.” Faire said. They walked and walked and eventually they came to a large chamber, “Wow, it’s huge.”

It was surrounded with water but there seemed to be a platform in the middle like a center stage. The two of them got onto the stage made of concrete. Alexus absorbed the water from both of them and used it to wash them on the spot. They were not perfectly clean but it did make they dry and fresher.

Suddenly, a large cobra like creature about a meter in diameter slithered into the stage and ‘stood’ upright and looked down at them. Faire drew his swords and Alexus slowly pulled a string of water and molded it into three rectangular like objects.

The serpent stretched out and zoomed down, aiming for Alexus. Faire immediately went into release form, his clothes were a white short sleeve hooded jacket and a pair of long pants. The jacket was unzipped exposing a black shirt underneath. He ran forward and tackled the serpent to the side. He got on top of the turned-over snaked and formed a long black blade which was similar to the one he produced before but this time, it was just one and it was longer and broader. He pierced it into the snake and it began shaking violently.

Alexus decided to release as well. Her hair became deep blue and her clothes changed to wear a black pair of baggy pants and a dark blue sleeveless jacket with the collar popped up, slightly unzipped. Faire nodded at Alexus and jumped off the giant king cobra. In the blink of an eye, he was right beside Alexus. He stretched out his hand and began to ‘push’ the sword deeper into the cobra like telekinesis.

Alexus began to form a bow made purely of water in her hands. As she pulled and arrow on the bow’s string, something large, heavy and furry crashed through the ceiling onto the cobra, followed by a rain of flaming balls of happy fire. This is not a ruse; there were smiley faces on the balls of fire. Faire and Alexus blankly stared at the roasted pile of dog meat mixed with a hint of cobra blood. Faire immediately reached his hand out towards the cobra. His long two handed sword pierced through the air and landed in his hands handle first, “THAT WAS OUR KILL!!” He shouted.

Mike popped down first, show casing his icy blue hair and long white jacket, black underneath “Don’t worry, I didn’t even get to attack it.”

Earan jumped down from above, wearing what was similar to Mike’s but his jacket was black with red underneath and his hair was flaming red, “Couldn’t resist, DOUBLE KILL!” He yelled and walked over to the wolf and grabbed its fang. He jerked it out with a single powerful tug, “We’ve got ours.”

A slow rumbling began to fill the room and then a sudden stop. Earan snapped his fingers and threads of flame began to find their way up his sleeve and around his entire body. Mike looked around the chamber but there didn’t seem to be any distinct signs of danger but he just couldn’t shake off the feeling of impending doom. Faire rested the blunt of his sword across the back of his shoulder and walked over to the cobra. Alexus was still holding her bow at the ready.

“Let’s get out of here.” Faire said and ripped a part of the skin off from the cobra.

They began running through the pipeline which Faire and Alexus came from. As they ran, they could hear footsteps trailing behind them, getting closer and closer. Alexus turned behind and her eyes opened wide, she couldn’t help but scream. Skeletons were chasing them through the narrow sewage system. Mike dropped behind a bit to the back of the line, “Keep running!!” He yelled and pulled up a wall of ice behind them, blocking off the skeletons from following them.

They got to the ladder that Faire and Alexus had descended from. They let Alexus go up first, then Mike. Earan told Faire to go up first and turned to the long line of skeletons running around the corner and only meters away from reaching him. He pointed his palm forward and uttered an incantation. At the end of it, his whole palm became a blaze, “Shot of Fire.” A powerful blast came from his the flat of his palm flying towards the skeletons, the force and power concentrated into the blast sent the skeletons flying back even before the first one was hit by the fire bolt.

They got out in one piece; no one was missing limbs or such. The moon was high in the sky and they knew they had spent all morning hunting. First they dropped by the school to hand in their snake’s skin. Then, back towards Faire’s home. Rohen and Tsuki were gone, probably went back to rest. They each went back to their respective homes and rested for the next day to come, lucky for them, it was a Saturday.

-

The group of them, Faire, Earan, Mike, Nochiro, Alexus and Yukino decided to visit Tsuki at her apartment, seeing that she hasn’t answered one of their calls at all. As they opened the door, they saw what they never hoped to see. The apartment was in a wreck, glass and broken piece of wood were everywhere, and even the fridge was toppled over and raided.

“We’ll go check the bedroom.” Earan said, Mike and Nochiro nodded and followed behind him. Faire noticed a red cap lying on the group. He picked it up and examined it, “Still warm, looks like whoever has been here just left. A bright flash coming from the living room caught his attention. Immediately, Faire, Yukino and Alexus ran towards the bedroom, but everything was in place, “Guys?” Faire called out.

Alexus noticed a shiny object on the ground, “Nochiro’s bracelet!” She picked it up an examined it. They began looking around the room for any such clues that may lead them to the sudden disappearance of their friends. Faire picked up what seems to be a crystal ball from the ground.

“Hey, guys come check this out.” Faire said and lifted the ball high up in the air. As they were looking at it left, right, up, down, front and back, it began to crack. They were startled at it by looked closer at the orb. It began to crack more and light escaped from the cracks. Soon enough, the whole ball shattered and a blinding light covered the room. And, they disappeared.

A man walked in and picked up the red cap and put it back on to his head. He placed his gloved hand near his ear and pushed the earphone he had deeper in so he could hear more clearly, “This is Joran speaking, the pests have been taken care of.”

Chapter One : Scene Ten

2007-05-13T13:31:00.001+08:00

Faire woke up in his bed at home. He stared at the ceiling he always woke up to every morning. It was just a dream? He got up from bed and went over to the mirror, looking at himself from head to toe. “A dream.” He said to himself, “You gotta stop watching anime…” He gave a disgusted look at himself and shrugged it off. “How long was I asleep to dream up all that?”

He got out of his room and walked downstairs. To his horror, he saw something he didn’t expect to see; Rohen, Tsuki, Earan, Mike, Yukino, Alexus and Nochiro. Asleep, as if some big slumber party just went on. Earan was asleep sitting up right on the couch with Mike leaning against him facing the other way with his legs off the side of the couch. Rohen fell asleep on a chair right next to the sofa while The girls pilled themselves up against the wall. Tsuki was asleep… Standing up…

It wasn’t a dream.

Moments later, Mike woke up and got off Earan. He ran his hand through his brownish hair, he stood up and walked into the kitchen to find Faire sitting at the dining table with a cup of coffee and an empty packet of coffee powder by the side.

“What a day…” Faire said.

“You’ve been unconscious for a days.” Mike said with a straightforward tone. Normally you would talk to the person and asked if he’s okay but Mike just went straight to the topic, “By the way, it’s Saturday, so make that two days.”

“Two days…” Faire thought to himself, “What happened at the mall?”

“We found Ten’go controlling your body. He told us that you went ballistic when you found the girls in ‘that’ state.” He explained, “There are other things… But, Rohen is better at telling bedtime stories.”

“Nochiro?” Faire asked.

“She’s fine, we found her roaming around the mall; aimlessly.” Mike said, “But, yeh. Rohen has an explanation for that too. I have a feeling he hasn’t been telling us a lot of things. He said, ‘Wait, Faire needs to hear it as well.’”

“Rein told me…” Faire said, “She told me she wasn’t his Medium, but she was forbidden to talk about it.”

“Well we’re about to find out.” Mike said.

Soon enough, all of them were awake, the girls; were glad to find Faire in good shape. Rohen and Tsuki was just glad to see Faire. Earan was just glad to find soda in the fridge. After a short ‘catch-up’, Rohen sat them down and explained the lore, about the Guardians and the Shade to Nochiro, Yukino and Alexus. Though they were still doubtful. After what had happened; they would believe anything.

Faire kept his eye on Nochiro’s red hair. It still made him think. Now came the suspense breaker, Rohen’s source of power. In the event of a near death experience, the medium, spirit, power or what so ever you may call it, will attempt to fuse with the user. The fusion is dangerous but it is a safety mechanism to keep the host alive. It will either kill him or her, or enhance his or her ability to stay live. The chance of surviving is a mere 0.01% because the fusion of souls may be incompatible.

So, it was better to stay alive and use Soul Fusion as a last resort. But a question still lingered, when in their release form, it’s still known as fusion; this is so, the user is merely fusing powers with the medium. And that came to conclusion. Nochiro had fused with her dormant medium and was still breathing. In the process, she had probably taken on the same features as her medium, hair and eye color. She didn’t really mind anymore, she looked good in red.

-

They spent the day chilling out at Faire’s place, he was lucky that his aunt’s 2 weeks became a year because another letter came in with some money in it saying that she’ll be back at the end of the year. Just great. His friends were amazed at how he was able to survive. Impressed they were.

Faire spent the whole day trying to revert into his release form but he failed every time. Earan and Mike however were meditating in their mind’s world, training with their mediums. Alexus and Yukino did the same, but Nochiro was still confused. Very confused.

Tsuki took Nochiro to the side and told her to focus and try to enter her mind’s world. And, she tried.

-

Nochiro found herself on a paved road with trees on each side. She began walking along the path. Tsuki told her that her Medium would be waiting for her when she arrived but she spent quite a while in there and still couldn’t see anything or anyone.

Suddenly, a shadow came up right next to her. Nochiro just continued walking. The one set of footsteps that were hers turned into two sets. She continued walking, “Thank you.” She said after some time. She felt the person walking beside her smile, “Your welcome” A reply came.

“You can’t see me, even if you turn and look.” The person said, “I have already fused with you and therefore I am not a spirit living in you anymore. I am you.”

“When did you fuse with me?” Nochiro asked.

“When you were a child, the spawn were few and their attacks were small, but they were interested in you. I was with you since the day you were born, and so they were after me. Not you.” She said, “Before they got to you, I fused with you.”

“Have I always had-.” Nochiro said and paused, “Powers?”

“I have been dormant, until you were nearly killed by a werewolf, I was awakened.”

“I don’t want this…” Nochiro said, “I just want a normal life…”

“You can say that all you want, but nothing is gonna change the fact that you are special.”

“How am I going to learn?”

“You already know, you just have to search.”

And so she closed her eyes and stopped, light began to swirl around her in tentacle waves as she was slowly lifted into the air. Warmth grew through her body and she felt at peace. The power to heal, and the power to protect, Nochiro was to keep her friends alive.

-

A month later, all of them sat around the living room eating noodles that Tsuki went out to buy for them. Faire asked, “Alright, why are you guys still here anyway?”

“Chill out, it’s a Sunday.” Mike said, “Besides, this seems more fun than lazing around at home doing nothing.”

Somehow everything felt normal to them now. Nochiro, Tsuki and Yukino were coping easily to their new surroundings. It wasn’t anything super for them and they felt it easy going, “Besides, it’s the holidays!” Yukino said.

An envelope flew in through the window and caught Tsuki’s eyes. She grabbed it and examined it. There was no address on it and no stamp. All of them leaned over to look at the letter. Tsuki handed it over to Faire. Puzzled, he opened it.

Faire began to read it out loud. It seemed to be a job or in the likes of it, ‘Hunt down the silver wolf and take the sharpest fang out of its mouth. Place it on the doorstep of your house, we’ll leave a reward for you.’ And that was all it said. Other than that, there was a folded map inside the envelope as well. The job seemed to be in the middle of the forest.

Seeing as the Spawn haven’t been very active and the Shade haven’t been either, they drew lots to see who was going to go on this little hunting trip. And our winners are, Earan and Mike. The others grumbled that they had nothing better to do, and to their luck another letter flew in. This one said, ‘A serpent in the swamp is preying on the mechanics and plumbers who descend into it. Bring a parchment of skin to Kodoko High School and leave it in class 1-1’.

“Kodoko High School?” Tsuki asked.

“It’s the name of the school we go to.” Faire said.

This was a messy job; they were drawing lots to see who didn’t get to go.

Chapter One : Scene Nine

2007-05-13T11:02:00.001+08:00

Chapter Nine
Yukino woke up in a glade full of flowers and grass. Wild life could be seen moving behind the trees and the sky was blue and bright. She watched as the birds flew past and she smiled. Is this a dream? Questions came to her mind as she lay down in the flowerbeds, “Where am I… It feels so peaceful here…” Yukino said.

“How are you today Yukino?” A girl wearing a pink cheongsam leant over at Yukino, covering the sun from shining in her eyes. Yukino was startled at the sudden appearance shot up and turned behind to look at the stranger. She was beautiful, she had dark blue hair pinned up and her eyes deep like the ocean. She smiled at Yukino.

“Who are you?” Yukino asked, she stood up and took a closer look at the person.

“Quinn.” She said and bowed slightly, “I control silver”

All the things that Faire had told her and the others about his past experiences and about the lore were as accurate as could be. It shot into her mind and she could see everything clicking into place, but there was one thing that just didn’t make sense, “Wait… Silver is not an element.”

“Oh contraire, it’s an earthen elemental.” Quinn said and produced two elbow-to-palm length traditional Chinese fans at her hands, “Take these.”

“Those look dangerous, are they made of silver?” Yukino said as she merely observed them but didn’t touch them.

“When opened, the rounded part of the fan is sharp as razor.” Quinn explained.

“But, I don’t know how to fight.” Yukino said, “And, I remember Faire telling me something about spirits being evil, you’re gonna consume my body aren’t you?”

Quinn merely smiled, “There are those who are consumed by the darkness. But there are us, who fight it. Though, draining out too much of your powers can lead to unexpected possibilities.” She said, “As for your dilemma on how you’re gonna use these weapons, you will start learning now.”

Quinn threw the fans in the air and Yukino’s eyes shot straight up. Quinn threw long blades towards Yukino. She reacted on instinct. She launched herself into the air and caught hold of the fans. She flipped them open and one fan was sufficient to cover a quarter of her body. When opened, the fans were as long as the shoulder to the palm. She danced with them in the air, deflected the kunai as she twirled like a spiral. The moment she hit the ground, she crouched down and held one covering half her face and the other outstretched to the back. Quinn smiled and bowed at her.

-

Alexus found herself in front of the sea on a sandy beach. She stared out into the horizon as the light from the sun reflected against the dancing waves. She felt at peace there. She noticed something moving in the water. She squinted her eyes and tried to peer deeper into the water. Suddenly, a large water serpent came out from the waters and scared the daylights out of Alexus.

Both returned stares at each other, without its mouth moving, the serpent said, “I’m not one to tell long folk tales, so I am going to get straight to the mount.” Alexus stared at the serpent-like dragon, taller than a seven-storey building that emerged before her. Shocked, amazed, afraid, confused, but she’s always confused, “I’m going to teach you how to fend for yourself.”

“Who are you?” Alexus asked.

“We are known in many ways, spirits, sylphs, Mediums.” It said, “My given name is Syren.”

“So, all those stuff my friend told me were true…” Alexus said to herself.

“It is not wise to doubt a friend.” Syren said. The serpent began to glow and shrink. It became smaller and smaller till it was human sized, and looked rather- human. It was a girl apparently; she wore clothes like any normal person, dark blue kendo pants and a black hooded jacket. Her hair was long and jet-black and she stepped in onto the beach.

“Wow, the inner-me is so cool.” Alexus said.

“I’m not an ‘inner-me’ for you.” Syren said, “I’m just a lil’ ghost hiding in some kid.”

“What happened to your-.” Alexus said and was interrupted by Syren.

“It’s only cool to talk like that when you’re a mile long sea serpent.” She said and stretched her hand backwards, a ball of water began to form at her hand, “Let’s play a little game of catch shall we?” She threw the ball of water and it splashed Alexus flat on the face.

“Hey!” Alexus said, “That’s not fair!”

“Focus!” Syren said as she threw ball after ball after ball of water.

Alexus got wetter, and wetter, and wetter, till soon enough the weight of the water dragged her down to her knees. Syren grinned and threw another ball of water towards her. Alexus’ body seemed to move on it’s own. She absorbed the water from her wet clothes and made a wall of water in front of her, the ball combined with the wall and she pushed it like a mini tidal wave towards Syren.

Syren opened a small opening within the wave as it passed her without wetting her. She turned behind and grinned, “Hah! Missed me.” As she turned to face Alexus once again, a ball of water hit dead on her face. Alexus began giggling and Syren kept her grin, “Lucky shot.”

-

Faire, who was in his demonic form was forced into the desolate hole once again, “Ten’go, I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!” Faire yelled and produced two long swords, they appeared like the ones that were in his release form, but this form seemed tainted. It was as if the swords were screaming for blood. Every bit of violence in the world, welded into tainted metal.

“I am not going to let you go.” Ten’go said and appeared to Faire in his reflection form.

“You are in my way.” Faire said with hate in his eyes, “I need you alive in me but that doesn’t mean I have to make you feel comfortable.”

“Is that a threat?” Ten’go said as he grew impatient of Faire’s incompetence, “You have yet to learn this. And with you’re level of stupidity, you never will.” He put his palm opened in front of him and a ball of light began to form. The ball began to engulf Ten’go.

Faire grew tired of his little act and ran forward towards Ten’go in a battle cry. He jumped into the air with his swords lifted above his head and as he was about to hit Ten’go, the light dispersed, sending a powerful shockwave across the ground. Faire hit the ground hard and slid across it a fair bit. He recovered back to his feet and was in shock at what Ten’go had just become.

Ten’go had large feathered wings outstretched as he stayed his place in the air. He wore a long pure white robe that reflected light just as well as a mirror. Long strips of silver cloth wrapped around him in every direction. In an instance, Faire’s mind said, ‘I’m in deep shit.’ The other part of him said, ‘I don’t have time for this.’

“I’m sorry, Faire.” Ten’go pointed his index finger at Faire, “It’s for your own good.” A white beam of light struck Faire through the chest and out the back, Ten’go was control of Faire’s physical body now, “Forgive me.”

Faire dropped to the ground and his normal shades of color came back.

-

Rohen and Tsuki met up with Earan and Mike, all of them felt the shockwave that Faire produced towards the atmosphere. Rohen acknowledged that he knew this was going to happen someday, because the spirit that lives in him was originally a fused spirit from a Shade. They were all stunned and no in belief at what he had just told them.

“But, how can a Shade spirit inhabit him?!” Earan asked, “Is that even possible?!”

“The first time I fought him, his Medium took control of him.” Rohen said, “I felt the small presence of a Shade in it. But there was something else that was keeping the Medium sane. It was not as blood thirsty as a Shade’s.”

“What do you mean?” Tsuki questioned Rohen.

“It means, that Medium is still fighting to do what’s right.” Mike said, “Am I right?”

Rohen nodded at Mike, “Whatever, we need to pin Faire down and we need to do it fast. His Medium might not be controlling him but the caged part of his ruthless side probably broke free.” He said, “The Shade are blood thirsty and ruthless, no matter what they plan to do, they always leave a mess for people to clean up.”

Chapter One : Scene Eight

2007-05-13T01:53:00.001+08:00

Faire, with cute yet puzzled Yukino, confused Alexus and scared-as-all-hell Nochiro tailing behind him ran around looking for Rohen in the deserted mall. There seems to be a lot of running around going through this part of the world. They ran into a few baddies but Faire was able to take them down.

Earan and Mike on the other hand were instructed to ‘sweep the mall up from its dust mites’. Though the only things they ran into were Spawn and Shade members, nothing out of the ordinary struck them. Seeing that the things they go through night and day were obscene to a scientist’s eyes, nothing was out of the ordinary to them. Probably.

On the other hand, while their students were out fighting for the lives of others, Rohen and Tsuki were sitting in a Starbucks shop helping themselves to coffee and biscuits, “So, how do you think they’re doing?” Tsuki asked.

“Pretty good I guess, the place seems to be getting quieter every minute.” Rohen said and sat down at one of the many empty seats in Starbucks, “You know how I always come to Starbucks and never have a place to sit down?”

“Yeah.” Tsuki said, “I got that feeling too, sometimes.”

“Today is the best day of my life…” Rohen said and sunk into the aroma of his coffee.

Just at that moment, Mike and Earan crash into the joint and Earan started yelling, “WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TWO DOING?!?”

-

Faire grew tired of running, no matter where he ran he could not find Rohen or Tsuki. Even the girls were tired, so they decided to take a break in one of the fast food restaurants; McDonalds was their prime choice. Alexus, still in her ‘scientist mode’ was thinking about all the possibilities to what was going on, “Alright, so you are a Guardian, so are Earan and Mike. Those men were the Shade. And that werewolf was one of the many demonic minions from the bowels of hell called the Spawn?”

Faire just nodded and gave an effortless smile. Nochiro hasn’t said a word since the whole incident began. She kept looking at herself in the mirror, wondering if she’ll ever get her natural hair color back. Yukino was trying to keep herself busy with her wild imagination, Alexus was still trying to figure out the ‘history’ that Faire just explained to her and Faire was bandaging the cuts he got from being careless.

When he finished bandaging himself, he got up and went behind the counter and into the kitchen. The three didn’t bother finding out what he was doing, they were too busy trying to keep sane to worry about what insane ideas Faire has in his head. Just then, a sylph in Fairy form came to Faire. Faire immediately recognized it as Rohen’s Rein.

“Hey!” Rein said with that always-cheerful look on her face.

“j0.” Faire said.

“… ‘j0’?” Rein mimicked him and tilted her head with puzzling eyes.

“It’s an internet slang for ‘yo’.” Faire explained, “So, I’m sure Rohen sent you here for a reason, there must be some reason he let you out of him.”

“Oh no.” Rein said, “I’m free to leave him whenever I want.”

“How is that so?” Faire asked in suspicion.

“Rohen said I’m not supposed to tell anyone.” Rein explained, “But I’m not the source of Rohen’s powers. I have never been.”

“How is he controlling the elements then?” Faire asked.

“He’s a Guardian!” Rein said. Suspicion grew like a dark cloud in Faire’s mind. It became thicker, and thicker. He grabbed a few burgers -what he had came for- and walked out of the kitchen with Rein fluttering next to him. It was a horror unlike anything he’d ever seen. Yukino and Alexus were unconscious on the ground, but Nochiro was missing. Faire dropped the burgers and dashed towards the two, he began yelling their names and trying to wake them up. He tried pouring water on their faces and slapping them but nothing would work.

Rein just watched from a distance for a while. Faire asked Rein to find Rohen and tell him what happened. Rein nodded and shot away. It was his fault all right, all his fault. And, for the first time in his life, tears came down. He carried Yukino and placed her on the long bench against the wall, and he did the same with Alexus on another bench.

“Don’t lose it.” Ten’go said to him, “We can still save her.”

“I don’t just want to save her.” Faire’s body began to erupt and a dense amount of energy began to radiate from him. His hair turned flame-red and so did his eyes. His clothes began to change as-well. In the blink of an eye, his school uniform became a red shirt under a cloth short sleeve hooded jacket with black military pants, “I want to rip the life out of the Shade.”

“Faire, stop this or you’ll become one of them as well, goddamn it!!” Ten’go yelled.

“I promised to protect them. When we were younger they were always bullied in class. Until one day Earan stood up for them. We didn’t know each other very well then, but I stood up as well, and soon enough Mike stood up with us. Why they were bullied; for getting good grades. We thought that was a stupid idea for other people to pick on them. We made a promise that they will never be bothered again.” Faire said and punched the wall, ripples of energy began pouring out and the whole wall just crumbled in an instance.

Ten’go, disappointed at Faire pulled him into his mind-world. The physical Faire collapsed to the ground.

-

“Did you feel that?” Mike asked Earan as stabbed a Shade soldier in the heart with dagger made of ice.

“It felt like Faire.” Earan said, “But it was violent and full of hate.”

“Remember when we were training, he told us how it all started.”

“He said that a monster was growing inside of him, that the first Spawn he killed; he ripped it open and left its body to rot.”

They starred blank at each other and ran back towards where Rohen and Tsuki were chillin’.

Chapter One : Scene Seven

2007-05-12T00:48:00.001+08:00

Every story must have some sort of climax. But, this is just the beginning. The Shade has unmasked their ugly faces on the surface of the Earth. The Spawn has attacked selected individuals in their cowardly invisible form, but Earan, Mike and Faire were always there to save the day. Well, no one could thank them; no one could see them while they are hunting.

Now, an unexpected attack from a group of men known as The Shade at the mall a fair ways from School. But, there was something different about these men. They did not use powers like that of the Guardians or the Shade that were told of. They were like normal men.

Earan and Mike met up with Rohen and Tsuki. Faire had to run off to find the girls and get them home because they decided that it was just too dangerous to leave them in a mall filled with insane-blood crazed people. But, Rohen said that’s not the only thing they should worry about, as they were running around, Rohen and Tsuki had an encounter with strong minions of the Spawn. Unlike the others, they appear similar but they carry with them a distinct presence that separates them from the rest, Mike came around to calling them the Elites of the Spawn.

Faire made his way down the empty and wide corridors of the mall. He had never seen it so empty in his life, even when he and Mike were locked in overnight because they fell asleep in the cinema; it still wasn’t as empty as this. There was a presence in the air that Faire recognized, but at the same time it was different.

A bright flash of light covered his eyes at the moment and it came to him in a vision. He saw Nochiro, Alexus and Yukino fell asleep in one of the dressing rooms with the door locked. He could hear paw-steps coming closer and closer and a shadow passing by under the door to the dressing room. And then, everything blacked out.

Faire opened his eyes and found himself in a deserted place, with visions passing through the sky. It was nostalgic, and it hit him like a slippery fish, “Ten’go!! Damn it! You making my eyes glow, my hair white and my tattoo sparkly again!?”

“Sorry, but you won’t be able to save your friends in time if I don’t help you.” Ten’go said.

“Help me?” Faire asked in disbelief, “You wanted to control my body!!”

“It can’t be helped.”

“I want control, NOW.” Faire demanded. Ten’go, in Faire’s body, immediately came to a halt and sat cross-legged on the floor. Just then, Ten’go’s true form appeared before Faire in that desolate plane. A flaming phoenix descended from the sky. It’s feathers were pure white as snow and even the flame that burned was pure and untainted. Faire opened his eyes wide and muttered the words anyone would love to hear, “Beautiful.” Faire shook his head, “I still don’t understand why you’re so evil.”

“There is a part of us that want battle, blood and to feel the adrenaline rush when you pump a sword into someone and watch him bleed through his mouth.” Ten’go explained, “This part of us is a untamed dragon that soars the sky free and burns villages to dust and rubble”

The beautiful phoenix came closer to Faire, and just then he realized that the bird was twenty times bigger than him. It stretched out its tail towards Faire and gestured at him to take one, “But there is also a part of us that wants to help our masters in any way we can. While some of us succumb to the darkness and drag along our mildly will powered hosts along with us, there are those who fight off the need to shed blood.” It said “I am guilty of giving in to the temptation, but forgive me when I do.”

Faire reached out and stroke the fine and silky tail feathers of the great phoenix, and closed his eyes. The moment he opened his eyes, he felt a surge of power run through his body, like he was just thrown into a whirlpool of energy. He took a look at himself against a nearby shop window’s reflection. He was glowing like the flaming phoenix, his eyes, the tattoo and his silver hair, “No way…”

Faire heard a scream down the hallway, he disappeared from sight and reappeared right in front of the clothing department he left Nochiro, Yukino and Alexus in. He noticed the lights were out. He gripped the bars of the shutter and ripped it apart to form an opening for him. Growling and barking could be heard from the dressing rooms. As he turned the corner he saw what he thought were not real: a werewolf, staring at him with rage in his eyes.

Faire looked at the wolf with the most cold-blooded eyes he could pull. The werewolf stopped clawing the door and whimpering could be heard from inside. Faire was relieved to know that the girls were still alive but he had bigger problems to worry about. He has never gone one on one with a werewolf before.

Plans ran through his mind like a coo-coo train and he came up with the most half-assed idea he could think of, “So… How’s the weather in Pennsylvania?”

The werewolf growled and let out a long howl at Faire, right after that; it pounced on Faire. The wrestled on the floor, Faire trying his best not to get his face defaced. Yukino, Nochiro and Alexus popped their heads out to the door in curiosity; they saw Faire wrestling with a werewolf two times his size. They did not utter a sound as to not attract the wolf’s attention again.

Inside Faire’s head, Ten’go began yelling at him, “What the heck do you think you’re doing?! Use your swords, you half-wit moron!”

Faire lifted the wolf off the ground and threw it to the side. He focused his mind into drawing out a weapon and held his hands opened, ready to grab whatever he was calling out from his soul. He caught hold of two long swords, though they were not the ones he remembered using until now. The whole blade was black and the hilt guard was like a wing shape, arced downwards towards the handle, which was wrapped in black linen and the pommel was fashioned with part of the wrap hanging over. The blade on his left had an carving of a feather which was outlined in yellow and the sharp of the blade was glimmering silver, bright like the sun. The blade on his right was similar enough, just that the linings were red.

“This is surprising.” Faire said and grin.

Again, Ten’go interrupted Faire’s moment of happiness, “Your swords only look like then when you’ve taken on this form. They won’t look like that when you’ve reverted back to your original self.”

“You just gotta ruin everything don’t you?” Faire muttered in his mind and dashed forwards towards the wolf, one blade in front and the other blade resting behind his head on his shoulder. The werewolf responded by pouncing forward as well. As they were about to collide in mid-air, Faire changed his stance and went into kicking form, thrusting the wolf out of the dark store.

He ran forward with his blades outstretched behind him and dragging on the floor. As he reached the wolf, he began a cross slice from the bottom up, the wolf defended himself and grabbed the blades with his claws. Faire saw it coming and remembered what Ten’go taught him while he was in his desolate place, he muttered the words, “Heaven’s Blades.” A streak of light ran across the wolf’s arm, up its shoulder and down his torso.

Faire turned around as the wolf stood as stiff as a statue. He dismissed his blade and snapped his fingers. Blood began spraying out the wolf and it split into three different sections. Nochiro came up in front of Faire and looked at the wolf’s disembodied body, “No way…” She muttered. Faire looked at Nochiro as her eyes froze with fear. His hair turned black and he stopped doing the glowing thing. Nochiro ran her hand through her long dark red hair and looked at Faire with her deep red eyes. And, that’s when it snapped to him.

“Nochiro, you’re hair and eyes are…” Faire said and pointed out. Yukino and Alexus ran out of the store and just noticed as well; it was dark in the store so they couldn’t really tell the difference till she was outside in the florescent lightings of the mall.

“Do you feel anything wrong?” Faire asked and placed his palm over her forehead.

“No, I feel fine.” Nochiro said, “Just a bit feverish.”

“I need to bring you to see him quick…” Faire said, he felt two very strong spirits at that moment. He stared down Yukino and Alexus, but neither one of them were showing signs of what he, Earan or Mike went through, “You three are pretty much mixed up in this situation as well. There’s no choice, there’s someone I want all three of you to meet.”

The three girls looked at each other puzzled, but they didn’t question Faire. They just followed him to back to the others.

Chapter One : Scene Six

2007-05-11T12:56:00.001+08:00

Earan and Mike stood at the front entrance of the mall, the open stone tiled flooring of the front with mild decoration of pots were like a center stage for an insane battle to take place. Before them stood a group of men all dressed in black; faces hidden by dark hoods and black masks with that transparent black T shaped opening like those white dudes from star wars, and between them was twenty meters.

“So, what are you here for?” Mike asked, though he knew that he wasn’t going to get a direct answer, “Are you guys escapees from rehab?” That remark was totally tasteless.

All of them began to draw their weapons and assumed their battle stances. As they took their first step forward Earan grabbed Mike and immediately ran into the mall. Not turning behind to look, they dashed into the deserted mall and made their way towards the square, a wide open space which the mall rents off to car-show conventions. They had a well thought out plan, the mall was empty and no one would get hurt that way.

Mike and Earan waited for their enemies to arrive. And soon they came, running at them battle ready and ready to die. Compared to all the other kinds of strange things they were fighting, this was far more simple and easier, the two of them were able to take down the black-dressed men effortlessly and make quick work of them.

When the fight was over, it seemed that all of them were dead but one was still alive, standing in front of them a few feet away, and shaking with fear. Mike and Earan took a step closer but he began to run, Mike made a wall of ice right in front of the deserter and he slapped face flat into it, “That was pleasing.” Mike said with a grin, “That was too easy if you ask me.”

“These guys must be mere pawns, they’ve probably got a commander somewhere around here.” Earan said, “Let’s interrogate.”

-

Faire brought them to a clothes store where they closed the shutters and hid there. They were panting and sweating. Faire began to meditate, trying to find the souls of his two friends. He got sign of them and they were running this way, “Earan and Mike are still alive and out there,” Faire said, “I’ll take the fire exit out, when I leave lock the door behind me.”

“Wait!” Yukino yelped trying to hold back tears, “What’s going on?!” She demanded to know.

“Yeah, how come Earan could shoot flame out of his fists and how does Mike make daggers out of ice from thin air!?” Alexus’ observation stunned Faire and he couldn’t answer.

“Please, Faire. Tell us…” Nochiro said, with those sad puppy dog eyes. Faire knew that it wasn’t an attempted to seduce him to her cuteness but this time she was naturally making those eyes.

“I don’t have much time, I’ll explain later.” Faire said and dashed towards the fire exit.

“Wait!” Alexus yelled. Faire stopped and turned to look at Alexus and she had a question in mind: “What are your powers?” Faire looked down at his hands and he produced two long swords from thin air. He ran out the door and footsteps could be heard behind it.

“Someone enlighten me, how is he keeping those swords in his uniform and WHY DOES HE EVEN HAVE SWORD!?!?” Alexus yelled at an attempt to calm herself down. She moved towards the door and locked it. They hid in one of the cubicles of the changing rooms for a bit and did weird stuff like pinching themselves or trying to fall asleep, hoping to wake up and think it was all a dream.

Bad luck for all of you, girls.

-

Earan and Mike ran through the mall once again, this time not running away but running after. Searching for this ‘commander’ or ‘general’ or whoever the heck was commanding these weaklings. The one they interrogated earlier identified themselves as the Shade and they had come for a special person with special powers.

Suddenly, a door to the emergency exit flung open and a man with jet-black hair dashed out with his swords drawn. Earan immediately reacted by firing a cone of flame towards him. The person immediately dismissed the flame with his swords in a fashionable manner and grinned at Earan and Mike. Just then, the realized it was Faire, “Hey, missed you too.” He said.

-

Rohen pulled up his old Volvo in front of the front entrance to the mall to find that it was littered with small pockets of fire. He looked around and caught a glimpse of an image running towards him. Tsuki was finally here, “What took you so long?” Rohen asked.

“Car- spoiled-.” Tsuki said and panted, she was wearing a leather jacket with black inside and jean shorts, her dark violet hair pinned up, “Needed- to- run.”

“Alright. Earan, Mike and Faire inside.” Rohen said, “Let’s go.”

-

“Do you think we’re gonna die?” Yukino said.

“Nah, Faire seemed pretty sure that we were safe here.” Alexus said.

“We’re in a clothing department! How is that safe?!” Yukino yelped.

“I guess being inconspicuous was his idea.” Alexus said, they sat down with Yukino lying on her lap.

Nochiro stood up leaning against the wall and constantly looking outside the store, “Are you sure it was smart to turn off the lights?” She asked.

“I guess so, I mean, who would be in an empty store?” Alexus said.

“Good point.”

“Thank you.”

“So, how long are we gonna be here?” Yukino asked.

“Don’t know.” Nochiro said, Alexus just shrugged and leant against the wall.

“I wish this was all a dream…” Yukino said and closed her eyes.

“We all do…” Nochiro agreed.

-

A man dressed in black wearing a red baseball cap sat in the empty coffee store of the empty mall. He was drinking a cup of coffee he must’ve bought earlier before all the commotion started. He sat inside, facing the entrance and ‘they’ came. A few armed Shade members holding swords in front of him, he dismissed the fact that they were weak and tried to make the most of it, “You call yourself the shade.” The cup of coffee he held began to boil, “The Shade weren’t as mindless as the lore said, all of you are pathetic.”

The men began to slowly back away but red-cap-boy didn’t let them escape so easily. He stood up and pointed just his finger forward, a large breath of flame blew towards them as even the atmosphere began to burn. The man’s eyes began to glow red and the black hair he had under his cap turned red.

The soldiers were burned and left for dead, the man stepped out of the store and into the light, he was pretty good looking and had a well built figure, one would say he was in his early twenties. He had a glowing emblem on his back that resembled burning fox.

“Tch.” He said, “I wonder who else is going to ruin my day today.”

Just at that moment, Faire, Earan and Mike arrived at the scene to find a pile of burnt soldiers. The man from before had disappeared; no one even caught a glimpse of him. They began to question among themselves who else in the world had powers besides them, Rohen and Tsuki.

Chapter One : Scene Five

2007-05-10T23:00:00.000+08:00

School went on as usual for the rest of their days. But they always had to skip out on their friends because of ‘extra classes’ with Miss Tsuki. What an awkward life they live in. It’s been a month since they discovered their powers, early March dawned in and they learned how to sense the presence of another Guardian, Shade or Spawn. They also learned how to suppress their spirits, but Rohen had still refused to teach them how to combine with their spirits.

Mike and Earan were really awed the moment they controlled their first elemental. Earan created a ball of fire and began throwing it around from one hand to another like it was toy. He nearly burned himself that day, but now he has better control of his abilities, but still not enough. Mike could create sharp spikes of ice in throw-able form. Other than that, he could create walls of ice for defensive purposes. Faire had learned how to transmute his own energy flow into his swords to attack from a distance. And, they all learned the basics of battle.

-

“Why do we train?” Mike said and dropped his fork onto his plate. The Earan, Faire and himself were eating in class, although it was against the school rules to actually be in class during recess, “I mean like, is there a war coming?”

“Didn’t we tell you before? Faire was attacked by one of them.” Earan said, “We gotta be ready, Tsuki and Rohen thinks something is coming up.”

“But aren’t they supposed to say, ‘YOU’RE JUST KIDS, YOU CAN’T LEARN BATTLE.’ Or some corny crap like that?” Faire said and took a gulp of soda down, “That always happens in anime.”

“I don’t know, we may be young but I think we have the right to at least know how to defend ourselves.” Earan said.

“… It’s kind of awkward.” Mike said and put his clean plate on to the table behind him.

“What is?”

“I agree with Mike.” Faire said, “We’re openly talking about this. I’m having trouble coping.”

“Oh, right.” Earan said and leaned back on his chair.

“… We actually handled that Hellworm pretty well.” Faire said, referring to the training drills Rohen had put them through. He disposed of the empty can in a rather creative way; he threw it into the air. “Fire!” Earan punched his fist towards the can and a ball of flame hit it dead on, burning it to tiny ashes, “Nice shot.”

“Thanks.” Earan said.

“Why ‘Hellworm’?” Mike asked in objection, “There was the Hellhound, Hellbat, Helllion, Hellbird. We should come up with names for these things.”

“Like what?” Faire asked. All of them grew silent and into deep thought for a while, and said in unison, “I got nothing.”

“… Aight, Hellworm it is…” Mike said.

-

Recess was over and all of them returned to class. They sat in Miss Tsuki’s history class. All was going as normal till they caught a glimpse of two shadows running pass. The three of them, inclusive of Mike, Earan and Faire looked at each other and then turned to Tsuki, he subtlety nodded at them. Faire stood up and raised his hand, “Teach’, we need to go, I remember the headmaster asking if he could see us after Recess.”

Miss Tsuki smiled and nodded. The three immediately ran out of the class, leaving their friends stunned and questionable.

“I wonder why they are in such a hurry,” Nochiro whispered to Alexus and Yukino, “That fat old man will be in his office forever.”

“Somehow, I don’t think they are going to see the big cheese.” Alexus whispered over.

“Maybe they’re gonna go get their hair done!” Yukino said and left Alexus and Nochiro stupefied. They just leaned back on their chairs and listened to Miss Tsuki.

-

“I felt two unfamiliar forces in the classroom earlier.” Faire said as they ran down the hall.

“Same here, I think there are more of us.” Earan said.

“Hurray we’re not freaks?” Mike said in pure sarcasm, “Or, Hurray we’re not that special anymore?”

The three ran down the hallway and out into the field to find the Spawn hanging around, “Remember, in today’s modern day world, the Spawn have made it a habit to remain invisible, but only Guardians can see them.” Faire said, “Only these small guys can turn invisible though.”

“Are you quoting Rohen again?” Earan said.

“Whatever, let’s just make like a ghost and disappear.” Mike said, he produced his icy weapon and disappeared from physical sight. Earan and Faire followed suite.

-

School ended just as fast as it started. Faire, Earan and Mike assumed they got the day off after their fight with the hellhounds and their unexpected buddies. Tsuki didn’t pick them up for training either. So, they had other ideas in mind. They met up with Nochiro, Yukino and Alexus at the school’s back gate. They greeted each other.

“So, anyone wanna go out today?” Earan asked.

“I was planning to but I thought no one would go out.” Yukino said and smiled brightly, “Yes!”

“I’m game.” Faire said.

“Sure.” Mike said.

“Me me me!!” Alexus said.

“Yeah!” Nochiro said, “Me too!”

-

They spent the carefree day at the mall. Nothing unusual happened, they shopped around and went to the arcade awhile. They drank smoothies and had funny laughing around. Nothing went wrong. They even met some old friends there, and caught up a little.

At the end of the day, Yukino bought a new shirt. Nochiro bought a shirt too. Alexus, had no money, so she tagged along for the senseless banter and such. Mike, Faire and Earan didn’t bother to buy anything, so they were making fun at their choice for clothes.

It was all as normal as it could be. Or so they thought…

-

A conversation between Rohen and Tsuki went on over the phone, “Tsuki, have you felt a change in the atmosphere lately?”

“What kind of change, if you’re asking about the weather, I think its dry and wet all year around.”

“Well, that’s a fact. But, I mean like, don’t you feel that something just changed drastically?

“Now that you’ve mentioned it. It DOES feel like it’s about to rain.”

“You can tell when it’s about to rain?” Rohen’s serious voice changed to a more questioned tone.

“Yeah, from about a mile away, something I’ve always been able to do.”

“But, that’s not the point!” Rohen’s voice suddenly changed again, “I feel like there’s a dimensional rift opening somewhere!”

“Relax, old man. The world isn’t going to be sucked into a black hole and then be lost forever.”

“I just can’t get over this feeling, it’s so frustrating.”

“Wait, can you feel that?” Tsuki was silent for a few moments, she got up and stared out the window towards the sky, “That ain’t rain.”

“Hah! I told you!”

“That ain’t cool when someone like you says that. Meet outside the mall near Faire’s school.”

“Why’s it got to be ‘Faire’s School’? Mike and Earan study there too.”

“Well- Let’s not get off topic here. They’re at the mall and they’re with normal people. If what I think is gonna happen happens, it could be bad.”

“Alright get there as soon as you can.” Rohen said and hung up the phone.

Tsuki dashed out her apartment and down the lift. She hopped into her car and started the engines, but with all luck on the wrong side of the world, her car was out of battery water, “God damn it!!” Tsuki said and banged her steering wheel.

-

As the six friends came out of the mall, Earan began to have an uneasy feeling coming over him. “Hey you alright?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Earan said, “I just feel a bit-.” His sentence was cut short as he saw a flaming ball of fire coming towards them, “LOOK OUT!” Earan yelled and fired his own fireball towards it. The two forces collided and caused a rippled effect in the atmosphere. Screaming and yelling could be heard all around the place as chaos came around the mall.

“Faire, grab the girls and run in!” Mike said, Faire did not question his friend’s request, he did as he was told.

Faire shoved the girls back into the mall and told them to run saying, “I’ll explain later just run!” As he ran with them, he could see that they were in a dangerous situation and that his friends are counting on him to keep the girls and anyone else he can help safe. Questions ran through Faire’s mind, “What was that or who was attacking?” were the main question of choice. Other than that, he knew that the girls had more outrageous questions going through their mind, seeing that Yukino won’t stop saying “We’re all gonna die!” as they ran. Faire sighed with a stoned look at her.

Chapter One : Scene Four

2007-05-10T21:30:00.001+08:00

Tsuki stood in front of Mike and Earan in her apartment explaining the history of wielders who grasp special powers in their hands. They were called the Guardians. Lore tells that for a long time, the Guardians fended off an army of demons known as the Spawn. They were made in the bowels of hell and came to the surface looking for fresh meat and whatnot.

There were two types of guardians: One that wielded elemental powers, and one that wielded steel and iron. It is so that each Guardian had a spirit inhabiting their soul, some spirits are good by heart and are upholders of righteousness, but no matter how good the spirits seem to be, there was always a part of them that was thirsty for blood and battle. For many years, the Guardians fought the Spawn, until one day, the war that determined the fate of the world came. Yes, the Guardians won. But, they found little to do when the Spawn was gone.

There were conflicts among the Guardians. Conflicts for power, some succumbed to their evil side to gain ultimate power, they disbanded from the Guardians and called themselves the Shade. This group of ruthless murderers spends their days preying on weary travelers and rampaging through villages. The Guardians could do little; they could not fend off to the Shade’s superiority to power. So, they began training to do what the Shade do, but in a more controlled manner. The Shade are fully consumed by the dark side of their souls and though possible, would be hard to turn back to their old ways.

However, the Guardians, concocted a special form of release, where they blend with their spirits and gain that extra enhancement of power that makes them ever more powerful than a Shade. But, the period of which they should use their powers was limited, if they grew weak, the dark parts will find a way to consume to host. They and the Shade clashed in a way with each other, but the Guardian’s calculations of the Shade were wrong and outdated. Even the Shade found a way to combine with their spirits.

When a war was over, the last man standing on the field was a Guardian. But, no one knows what happened to him.

“Well, any questions?” Tsuki asked Earan and Mike who seemed to be staring at her with stupid in their eyes.

“So, how exactly does one become a guardian?” Earan asked.

“The spirits of the earth don’t want their planet to be destroyed, but even they, who have such power need a host to project their power.” Tsuki explained, “Just being with their host gives the host power but combining with the host gives them more.”

“So, it’s like- Without combining, it’s a closed window and only small bits of wind can pass through the small crack in the frame. But if it’s combined, the window is opened and the air rushes in continuously?” Earan asked.

“Exactly.” Tsuki said, “Is you’re friend okay?”

Earan looked at Mike who was still staring at Tsuki with his mouth wide open, “Dude.” Earan said and shoved Mike a bit.

“Huh? Yeah, sure!” Mike said and laughed, “That’s one heck of a bed time story!”

Tsuki smiled and stretched out her arm, her eyes began to glow and slowly light began moving around her arms, “This is not a bed time story.” A finger-less gauntlet began to form on her arm, a steel plate sat just in front of the user’s knuckles and the glove itself stretch long towards the elbow. It was shaped like a stingray, “Scorpid Tail.” She said, “It can produce any type of chemical and turn it into a solid throw-able knife. Other than that, it can form a whip made of pure steel.”

Mike’s stare grew even more stoned. He just could not fathom it, after all those years of making jokes that life was anime, it really became reality. Earan gave a weird stare at the gauntlet as he noticed that the orb on the back of the hand was moving around like an eye.

“If you’re wondering if it’s alive, it’s just as alive as you are.” Tsuki said and smiled at Earan, who was still staring at the gauntlet.

-

The battle between Faire and Rohen grew long and dragged, Rohen kept spitting out random comments about being weak and such towards him. Faire would just reply with sword swings, “I see you know how to use a sword well!” Rohen said, “Has your daddy been playing Sword Fight with you since you were eight? You’re in danger my friend.”

“My father’s dead.” Faire said and swung his sword down at Rohen. He flipped his other sword over to hold it backhand and attempted to slice him across the chest. His attacks were met by Rohen’s flame shield, “And no, the dude in my head taught me how to fend for myself.”

“You mean the spirit that inhabits your soul?” Rohen said and taunted, “Well call him out! I want to meet him!”

“He wants to fight.” Ten’go said in his mind, “I’ll give him a fight.” Before Faire could decline Ten’go’s offer, his body was already under Ten’go’s complete control. Faire’s hair turned silky white and his eyes had a pale blue glow. The markings on his back began to glow as well; it’s light piercing through the cloth of Faire’s school uniform. The tattoo was already fully formed; it resembled a phoenix with outstretched wings.

“Tengoku Tsubasa.” Ten’go said and held the two blades in such a manner where it left no openings for any form of attack.

“I see Faire still doesn’t have control over you.” Rohen said, “You’re using him.”

“Don’t kid with me old man.” Ten’go said and grinned with his eyebrows furrowed, “He’s a fine shell, I find a liking in controlling his body.”

“That ain’t gonna happen.” Rohen said with a determined tone, “Not if I can teach him the ways of a Guardian.”

“Guardian?” Ten’go said and cackled madly, “The shadow of the Shade overcomes the light.”

“So, you’re a Shade now?” Rohen questioned Ten’go’s uncertainty.

“I don’t care what I am, I just wanna have some fun.” Ten’go said and dashed towards Rohen. In the middle of his dash, he was stoned to see Rohen’s hand on his forehead when a split second before, he was about twenty meters in front of him, “Wha-.”

“Shut up and go to sleep.” Rohen said. Ten’go became dull and dizzy; his eyes stopped glowing and dropped to the floor. Faire’s hair became jet black as usual once again, he opened his eyes to look at Rohen who stood in front of his body. Rohen bent down to take a closer look at Faire, “Now do you understand the danger?”

Faire did no know what to say. Was he supposed to be scared, or happy that an insane spirit bent on taking over his body? He had little time to think, but his hopes were that Rohen could help him, and help him fast. Rohen explained all there was to know about the history between the Guardians and the Shade. Much like what Tsuki was telling Mike and Earan.

“Alright, let’s go meet up with your friends.” Rohen said and snapped his fingers.

-

As Mike, Earan and Tsuki were talking, a bright light came from the ceiling and two familiar faces dropped down to the floor with a loud thud. It was Faire and Rohen. Tsuki stared in amusement and said, “Well, are your portal spells getting rusty?”

“No, I’ve just never used them much before.” Rohen said, hoping his excuse will pass unquestioned. He was never good at making portals to travel around.

“Alright, who are you?” Mike asked.

“Oh right! I forgot Faire was with us when we were kidnapped!” Earan said, for just then; the thought had just snapped to his mind.

“Thanks a lot guys.” Faire said and stood up, his school uniformed un-tucked, “First I find out there’s a blood thirsty spirit living within me and it’s the only way I can defend myself so I hold the risk of being possessed and now my friends have forgotten about my existence.”

“Whoa- whoa- wait. Faire has powers too?” Earan asked. Mike leaned in closer to listen.

Tsuki and Rohen looked at each other and nodded, “Yes.” Tsuki said.

“Damn, that ain’t cool!” Mike said, “How come he got his powers before us?”

Tsuki looked at Mike and gave him an eerie stare, “Who says you will gain powers?” Mike and Earan stared blankly at Tsuki in disbelief, “Gotcha there.” Tsuki said and laughed. They just sighed in relief and grunted at her tasteless joke.

The five of them discussed about the basics if this whole new fighting thing. They already knew a bit because the lore explained so, so they just leaned in for extra lessons. How they will siphon their powers, and how they would control their powers.

Chapter One : Scene Three

2007-05-09T23:14:00.000+08:00

“Alright class, sit down and listen up!” A new and energetic young teacher had just entered the school for a permanent stay; She had long dark brown hair and eyes that sparkled in under the reflection of the classroom lights. She was obviously too young to be a full-time teacher. The students of class four-one began to settle down and take their places at their own seats.

“Yo, who is this chick?” Faire leaned over to Earan who sat right beside him.

Mike over-heard, he turned around and said, “She’s supposedly our new history teacher. Don’t know her name though, she just came out of the blue and was transferred her in an instance. That’s the office gossip though.”

“Since when do you know anything about office gossip?” Earan asked.

“Since I started feeding off their coffee machine.” Mike said and snickered.

“Okay, kids.” The new teacher said full of smiles and joy, “My name is Miss Tsuki Ageki. I’m a hundred years old and I like eating pancakes through my nose!”

The class grew silent and they gave weird and blunt stares towards their new teacher. Though, after getting to know Miss Tsuki better, they began to conceive a liking towards the brown haired beauty. She asked each of them to stand up and give their names, hair color, eye color, favorite food, favorite drink and whatever else one could think off.

First Alexus stood up, “Hi, my name is Alexus. I have pretty long dark brown hair and brown eyes. I like anything edible.”

Next was Nochiro, “Hi, Nochiro. Black hair. Long. Dark green eyes. Thank you.” She said in a broken manner, apparently making half the class laugh at her half witted joke for a first impression.

Boy, were they in for a fun year. Or so they thought, while Miss Tsuki was a great historian, she kept an eye at Faire and Mike.

Miss Tsuki dropped herself behind the desk at the front of the class after giving them some work to do. A voice came to her head immediately, “So which ones were it who have Mediums?”

“That girl with the long dark brown hair, and that boy with the winged markings on his back.” She replied her reflection with her thoughts, “What about that girl, Nochiro. She doesn’t seem to be like us, Guardians or a Shade. She seems… Special.”

“Only time will tell.”

-

The school bell rang, signaling the end of school. Faire, Mike and Earan picked up their stuff and began walking down the stairs. As they were about to reach the foot of the steps, they bumped into Miss Tsuki, “Hey guys!”

“Oh, hey Miss Tsuki.” Faire said.

“What’s up?” Mike asked.

“Well, to tell you the truth, I ordered one-too-many pizzas and I need some people to help me finish it up.” Tsuki said, “You mind coming over for lunch?” She had her hands clasped together.

“Umm, sure.” Mike said, his friends nodded in agreement, “We just gotta call our parents first.”

“Already did.” Miss Tsuki said with a smile, “I got their permission!”

“Awesome.” Mike said with a thumbs-up at Miss Tsuki.

“Rockin’ teacher.” Earan whispered over to Faire.

-
Tsuki stopped her car outside her apartment block and got out of the car, “Come on, boys! I’d like you all to meet someone!”

The three friends, anxious to find out what was in store for them in that classy high-rise, got out of the car and got into the elevator along with Miss Tsuki, “Alright, about the pizzas.”

“Yeah what about them?” Mike asked.

“I lied.” She said and waved her hand at everyone. They fell asleep just as fast as she blinked her eyes, “Oh boy, I forgot. I’m in the elevator alone… Means carrying these bodies will be… Oh gee’zus.”

-

Faire woke up a moment later to find himself in a room made entirely of steel, “Faire, what happened.” Ten’go called out to him.

“I don’t know.” Faire said with his thoughts, “Looks like we’ve just been conned.”

“… I’m still wondering, what would a hot high-school teacher want with a guy like-“

“Alright, FOCUS on getting out of here?” Faire said, cutting Ten’go’s sentence off.

“Right.” Ten’go said and materialized himself in his dual sword form in front of Faire. He took the swords and he began looked around, wondering what was going on. Suddenly, the floor and the metal walls began to break apart, revealing a wide empty space, “It ain’t me kid.”

Just then, a glimpse of a fairy moving pass the corner of Faire’s eyes caught his attention. He turned around and saw a man standing there, observing him. Faire stared back at the man but couldn’t match the man’s partially perverted eyes, “My name is Rohen.” The man said, “And this is my sylph, Rein.” A fairy with red long hair fluttered pass Faire once again.

The old man punched out his fist and a blade of fire formed at his grip. He waved the flame and threw it towards Faire. Faire managed to parry the flame but the impact caused him to fly backwards a bit. The sudden attack startled, “What the- ?!”

“Well at least we know you can call out your Medium.” The old man said, “Stand up young’in. I ain’t done with you yet.”

-

Mike and Earan woke up in an apartment, both in their own rooms. They met up with each other outside along the hallway and went towards the living room. There, they found no way of escaping. All the doors were sealed tight and the windows were barred. Puzzling indeed, they looked around and decided all they could do was wait and see what was in store for them.

“Agh.” Mike grunted, “It’s chilly in here. I can feel my spine freezing up and suffering from frost-bite.”

“You kidding me?” Earan said and took off his button-down shirt, revealing his black shirt he wore underneath.

“It’s hot, and you’re wearing black inside.” Mike said, “Genius.”

Just then, Tsuki came out from the backroom with a box of pizza. Mike and Earan stared intently at Miss Tsuki as she placed the box in front of the couch which they were sitting on, “This isn’t gonna make us fall asleep again is it?” Mike said.

“Yeah.” Earan stood up, “Why are we here?”

“It won’t make you fall asleep, it’s pepperoni and cheese.” Tsuki said as she pulled up a chair next to the couch, “And you are here, because we need to talk.”

Chapter One : Scene Two

2007-05-09T22:49:00.000+08:00

Two friends stood at the front porch of a two-storey house. A popular and fine-looking teenager with jet black with a style from that of a Japanese anime character and his friend, who had hair reaching his eyes and partially over his ears with the back touching his collar; their names, Earan and Mike respectively. Still in their school uniforms, they decided to drop in on Faire to check up on him.

“Looks like no one’s home.” Mike said and walked to the right of the porch to try and peer through the window.

“Only one way to find out.” Earan said and rang the doorbell. They waited a few moments but was left unanswered. A wave of heat rushed through Earan, like someone just poured water on him, “Ahhh! It’s getting hot out here.”

Mike looked up at the cloudy sky; the sun was completely blocked out. Was Earan coming down with a fever or was he just plain insane? “Earan, the sun’s completely blocked out, and there’s a breeze blowing through.” Mike said and squinted his eyes in suspicion of his friend’s illness and said, “Maybe we should get you back home.”

“Are you kidding me?” Earan said and attempted to brush the feeling off, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” He rang the doorbell yet again. Mike reached out and twisted the doorknob. It opened up in a welcoming manner, but still, no sign that anyone was home. Earan watched as Mike walk in and said, “Alright now that’s creepy.”

-

Faire panted as he fought his doppelganger as it taught him the basics of holding a sword. The two clashed swords for what seemed like hours and hours. The two came to a sudden halt, a fair distance away from each other, “So, don’t all weapons with spiritual abilities have names like those in them Japanese anime?” Faire said as sweat dripped down from his hairline down the side of his deep dark blue eyes.

“Is that a joke?” His reflection said in a gurgled and distorted voice, “Very well then, call me Ten’go, short for Tengoku no Tsubasa.”

“Alright.” Faire said and fixed his posture, standing up right and tall with his blades at his side. “So, are we going to go again?”

“Wait.” Ten’go said as he closed his eyes in focused, “I feel the signs of another.”

“Another?”

“One like you. It’s best you leave to greet him. Any other questions?”

The swords in Faire’s hand disappeared into a cloud of white, “One more.” Faire said, “Why is it all kick-ass spirits have Japanese names?”

“Don’t get funny with me.” Ten’go snapped his fingers and Faire woke up sitting up right on his bed.

-

Earan and Mike walked up the stairs slowly and as quietly as they could. Waiting for something unexpected to happen like finding Faire’s body sprawled on the ground, either in a coma or drenched in blood. “Hey, you don’t think that, Faire murdered someone and is carrying too much guilt to talk to anyone?” Mike asked.

“Don’t be stupid, if he killed someone he would’ve left the country on his private jet.” Earan said.

“He has a private jet?”

“Not yet.”

They took a look around the hall on the upper floor. There were no signs of any dead bodies or Faire-comas. It was all neat and tidy, “Wow, someone’s a neat freak.” Mike said and walked over to the computer desk, “His CDs are sorted by alphabet, date of purchase and game type.”

Just then, Faire stepped out of his room to find Earan and Mike digging through his stuff, “Umm, what are you guys doing in my house?”

“We came to check on you.” Earan said.

“Err, yeah.” Mike said and took his hands off whatever he was doing, “You didn’t show up at school today so-“

“I’m fine, guys.” Faire said and tried his best to smile, “Thanks for coming to check up on me.”

“No problem.”

-

Soon after the two, Earan and Mike left, Faire dropped on his couch in front of his television and stared off into space awhile, “You have good friends.” Ten’go came to him in his head.

“Is there a way we can like, converse without me having to talk out loud?” Faire asked.

“Easy, use your thoughts.” Ten’go said.

“Interesting.”

“Yes, it is. Do you want to learn the rest of your basics?”

Faire stood up and walked up the stairs towards his room. He closed the door behind him and lay down in bed, “Yes.”

-

An old man with grayish white hair, living a ways away from the school of which Earan, Mike and Faire attended sat in his room and sank into deep meditation, “How can such power befall such young children.” A voice said to him in a calm and soothing motion in his mind.

“The balance of things must be broken, or have the spirits gone blind?” The old man said, “All these years, there have been no conflicts between the Guardians or the Shade. The Spawn haven’t been seen either. That boy was always so cheerful and mischievous before discovering his powers.”

“That boy, the one with the winged markings on his back.” His sylph as she materialized, a young lady with fairy wings and long red hair, “Rohen, I think we better look out for these kids.”

“You might be right…” The man said and stood up, “How many more Guardians are there, Rein?”

“It’s just you and Tsuki, sir.” His sylph replied.

“That insane woman who knows not her alignment? Till this day I still do not understand her stance as a Guardian. Her reply for all her drastic actions is always ‘because it feels right.’ Along with that smile that makes her look more like the devil than a human.”

“She has always been right, I still don’t see why you question her so much.” Rein said as she fluttered around the room, shedding light to everything she came close to.

“Well- yes, of course. I guess you’re right.” He said and pulled out a flip-phone from his pocket and dialed on a few numbers. The tone beeped in signal that it was trying to connect with the other side of the line.

“Hello?” A voice of a young female came from the speaker of the flip-phone.

“It’s me, Tsuki. I know we had a few wind-ups in the past. But, ‘It’ is starting all over again.”

There was silence for a while, “Look. I’ve given up being a Guardian for a long time now. I’ve left it all behind, the pain in the memories-.”

“Please, Tsuki.” Rohen said in calm tone, “These children need our help.”

“Children-. Wait, that’s not possible.”

Chapter One : Scene One

2007-04-11T23:07:00.000+08:00

“Have you ever felt the world was stagnant like a volcano?” Faire voiced out as he stared at the starry sky in awe of what might be out there. He lay down on a grassy hill, the spotlights from the park shining on him, “Like, this life isn’t at it’s full potential. As if the Earth had an even more outrageous side.”

All that was to hear was a ghost; a quiet listener and a fine secret-keeper. Faire took a deep breath and let out a long drawn out sigh, “I feel like, something’s about to happen. Something- bad.” Faire said and covered his face with his hand. “Maybe, I’ve been watching too much anime.”

Faire grunted and sat up straight, he dusted the little blades of grass off his white short-sleeved jacket and stood up. He stoned out and stared at the sky and said, “The dreams keep coming. There’s no way to avoid them.” Now, if one was to observe him, one would call him a mental-case.

But, as you can see, he came out alone, and talked to himself. Sure, he has spiky black hair and a nice posture, but don’t judge a book by it’s cover, he might be insane. His position is very awkward. Faire was orphaned since the day he was born. He had no recollection about his mother or father, but the closest person he could find relating to his family was his aunt.

Faire walked down the hill, back towards his home. Though supposedly living under his aunt’s care, he never really saw much of her. The only thing she ever did for him was give him a room and pocket money. That was all she ever did as a ‘mother’. Faire walked into his home and the first thing that caught his eye was a well-decorated note lying on the diner: “Faire, I’ll be out of town for awhile. But, I’m leaving you four months of pocket money. The bills have already been paid in advanced. Don’t hurt yourself.” Faire crumpled the note and tossed it into the dustbin, “Some guardian…” He said in pure sarcasm.

He went into his room and closed the door behind him, he locked it and walked straight towards the mirror. He turned his back towards it and took off his jacket and his under-shirt. A small mark on his back was very visible. “It just keeps getting longer.” Faire said. He put his undershirt back on and dropped himself onto his bed, “Dreams…”

-

School went on as usual the next morning. Faire and his two friends Earan and Mike were sitting in the canteen during recess. They’re bantered loudly and made fart-jokes at each other. But, Faire was unusually quiet. He was absent minded and often dozed off into space. Thinking back about the first time he saw the mark on his back. In class, he didn’t make weird or unwanted jokes about how the world would be better if it was a video game. And, at the end of school, he went home without uttering a word.

“What’s up with him?” Mike asked.

“Ah, he’s prolly going through a phase.” Earan said as he and Mike walked home together, “He’ll be back to normal, soon.”

“Yeah, right.” Mike said sarcastically, “A ‘phase’.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be better in a week or so.”

“Right.”

-

Faire sat in his room the next morning. He skipped school, calling in saying that he wasn’t feeling well. He sat on his bed and he began to recall the time that it happened to him. He was walking home from school one day and he heard a barking noise. He kept turning his back but he saw nothing. He just continued walking. The barking grew louder and louder but he couldn’t see any sign of a dog, the barking was as if a dog was following right behind him.

As he walked down the street towards his house, it appeared. A shadow on the ground began to form and out from the shadow formed a hellhound. Deformed in every way possible, spikes sticking out from the back, fangs that were razor sharp and blood drenched. Faire began to panic but didn’t move, hoping that he would not aggravate the monster anymore than it already is.

The dog looked at Faire with much delight. Lunch was an easy catch, what more tastier than fresh blood. Faire began to feel a burning feeling on his back. Just then, the dog came charging towards him, the last thing he could remember is hearing a distorted and gurgled voice call out to him, “Weakling.” He had no memory of how he survived. But the mark on his back was proof enough that it did happen to him.

Faire got up from his bed and examined the mark on his back once again; it was longer and covered more than a quarter of his back. Part of it resembled a wing, outstretched in all its glory. It was like abstract, it was like a pattern of some-sort. He sighed, and that’s when he heard it again, the voice from before, “Faire, you know you want to use it. The power that you so easily handled.” The voice had an evil tone in it.

Faire, in startled manner looked around the room, “Alright, who are you and what do you want!?” He demanded to know.

“I want nothing more than to be used, king.”

“King?” Faire said and replied with hatred for what was happening to him, “Why did you call me a king?!”

“Don’t you know? You are the one who controls me. But, I am the one who mediates your inner being.”

“What, my inner being’s a bird?! Like the tattoo on my back?!”

“You got that much correct, but- no.” The voice said, “Let me take you to somewhere where I may be more clear and- visible, to you.” A light shone in Faire’s eyes, he dropped to his knees and collapsed to the floor.

-

At school, little Yukino was making a big fuss about Faire not coming to school during recess.

“Faire isn’t in school today!!” Yukino said, A small and cute girl with shoulder length black hair. “We were supposed to take pictures together!!”

“Calm down.” Alexus, a brown haired girl with dark brown eyes said and pat Yukino on the shoulders, “He’s fine.”

“But, I thought his goal this year was to NEVER miss a day of school!?” Yukino said, “Something is definitely wrong to stop him from coming to school!”

“Oh, come on.” Mike said, “We’ll go check him out later alright?”

Earan nodded and slurped up his noodle-in-a-cup.

“We can’t.” Alexus said and dropped her head slightly, “Me and Yukino are gonna check out that book sale going on at the mall.”

“It’s ‘Yukino and I’.” Michael corrected Alexus.

“Well if you and her wanna go too, it’s fine with me.” Alexus said and giggled.

-

Faire found himself in a white space, it didn’t seem to have a floor but he could plant his feet on some invisible ground. A dark shard of gray began to form in front of him. A cloud of black formed and dispersed to reveal two long katana swords, “Come and claim me.” A voice called out.

Faire reluctantly stepped closer and closer. Before he knew it, he was already reaching to grab the handles. It was like dazing off in a bath; you’ve already came out of the bathroom all cleaned up but you don’t remember being in there for more than an hour, “Now what?” Faire said in an impatient mood as he had the swords tightly by his sides.

“If you do not know how to use a blade, you might cut yourself- and die.” A shadow appeared in front of him. Faire was shocked at what had just been made physical in front of him. For the person that stood there, was his own reflection, “One sword represents your desire to protect. The hilt-wrap is a grip you have to your cause.. And the blade, is ultimate retribution.”