REPLAY
313Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXq1vRHLsm
"Could you repeat that?" Kappie raises his eyebrows and any trace of a smile disappears before my eyes. His confusion and shock baffle me, I thought he knew my response before I said it.
"My mother wrote that song...I think..." My body feels frozen on the cold white sheets under my palms and legs. The poem my mother used to sing to me when I was little, flows out of the mouth of the boy in front of me. “But I can’t…” I can’t picture my mother’s face, I can’t remember my mother’s voice. Just like the memory of being bullied at a young age, it’s only vague and blurry like it doesn’t actually exist.
"This is the Red String." His smile returns and before I can think, Kappie wraps an arm around me and crushes me to his chest. He brushes his fingers through my hair with his free hand. The smell of mint leaves and cinnamon rush through my nose and for a minute, I lose myself in this scent.
"Shut up!" I shove his body away from me. "Idiot..." I cover my eyes with my hand and take long breaths to focus. I take a moment to breathe and to think clearly.
"I'm sorry, they said when you remembered that it'd be hard for you to process everything... I should've taken it slower." His hands rest on my knees, he's back to sitting on his heels. He appears to treat our personal space as if it’s nothing. His ease of closing in our distance surprises me.
"What're you talking about?" I feel my eyes widen and my lips part. Who are "they"? What is going on with this school?
"You don't...?" As some sort of realization hits Kappie, his hands slip from my knees and he stands up. His back turns towards me, his hand rests on the back of his head. He begins to walk around the small room, pacing. I stay where I am and watch his movements. He abruptly stops and drops his hands to his sides.
"I’m not stupid you know." I irrationally blurt out while growing irritated watching his treading. I sense something’s off, something's awfully wrong. I feel a weird atmosphere fill the air in the room that now feels cramped.
Kappie rushes to me and slams his hands against the wall behind me. His face is so close to mine that I can feel the exhalation from his nostrils.
"If people told you to keep a secret about someone you really care about, would you keep it? Even if that secret would alter the person's entire world and conception of reality?" His eyes search between mine. I hold back the desire to laugh until I see the seriousness in his face. That desire vanishes in a blink. "There's something you need to know."
"As much as I hate playing around, you can't rush this Kappie." Haruka's voice interrupts the intensity of the situation. “You do this every damn time.” He states, bringing a distraction that I guiltily welcome.
"I can’t apologize Haru, I miss her.” Kappie’s eyes are still on mine. “She was so close to remembering something on her own.” I know they are talking about me but I’m confused at the same time as to what exactly they’re saying. Kappie tucks my hair behind my ear and leans in to look at me as if I were a child to him.
My eyes widen and I feel myself freeze like ice. His hand on my cheek feels like a hot flame, the sheets under me feel like boiling water, and my clothes feel heavy. Everything feels fallacious and amiss.
The black hole starts to widen deep inside me. Words circle in my head, everything I think I know is just a facade. The flames breach the surface and the blackness begins to eat at my humanity. I then feel my fingers tingle as if they’ve lost circulation. The black flames of darkness lick the light inside me, daring it to thrive. The flames agitate the light like a harrier.
I open my eyes, not realizing they were closed. I shove Kappie away from me. The room spins in a tornado pattern, both freezing ice and hot flames launch themselves at my skin and my sanity. The darkness reaches my vision and the nurse’s office disappears before my eyes.
I easily become engulfed in the darkness.
*****
“What if we give her the notebook where she wrote her most important memories like we did last time?” Kappie’s voice comes out tight. I cannot see anything or feel anything, my nerves are frozen in time while my ears and cognition remain active. “She was drawing a picture of the crow of death as if she was remem-”
“You think that’s healthy?” I hear Haruka’s voice next, his tone is matter-of-fact and flat. “This was close to the hundredth time she’s woken up and not remembered a damn thing, Kappie. Ever since we started flushing her mind, she now restarts every day as the same day.”
“We could easily obliterate her memory completely and end this tribulation now.” An unrecognizable voice says bitterly. It’s an authoritative male tone, “Before all of you object, I think you should seriously consider this route.”
“Words that come from the Tanuki.” Ezra spits in an undertone, “I say we just let her be, if she annihilates the human race then so be it. That’ll give us something to do.”
“Unless she destroys the earth itself.” The unfamiliar bitter voice from before interjects Ezra. “How dare you consider it. We could never put the lives of those people in jeopardy.” A long drawn out silence follows the words of the unknown male. No one says anything, even breathing is quieted. The heartbeats of some in the room are louder than the sound of a dropped pen.
Kappie’s voice shatters the silence, his tone has become grim and serious. “I refuse to allow her innocence to be taken away by them or anyone else...She can't know of her true identity...” His voice sounds closer to my ear than before, the sincerity and passion drip from each word, overflowing.
“I refuse to allow every memory she has to be ripped from her already-unstable mind. They’re messing with her innocence by doing that. She needs to know the truth. I can’t let them continue to keep her in the dark about reality...It’s sick.” Ezra talks back to his brother in a tone of voice that chills the atmosphere and thickens the air.
Kappie retorts, “Her mind doesn’t deteriorate like a human’s does, she can handle it-”
“Shut up.” Haruka spits at both of them. My nerves start to wake up as my sensitivity to touch starts to creep back into my mind. Along with it, the darkness of the black hole in my gut begins to churn and awaken. “We have to decide what to do in the next five minutes or there will be hell to pay.”
The gruff unfamiliar voice speaks monotone, “One of you will have to explain to her why she woke up this time and why we are all standing around her neglecting to take any sort of action. Due to his failure at sticking to the plan, I vote that Kappie will be the one to deliver the news.”
I slowly open my heavy eyes. Every speck of dust in the air becomes crystal clear in my vision as my pupils adjust to the lighting. A bed of soft feathers surround me, and I look up at a white ceiling I don't recognize. I stretch my arms above my head and roll up to a sitting position.
Five figures stand before me. They all have the attributes of a male human, but with animal like characteristics. The one closest to me has thick black ears like a fox, on the upper sides of his head that peek through his normal hair, and seven, oversized, individual, and bushy fox tails sprout from behind him. The tips of the tails are auburn colored. Beside the fox-like boy is another man with the same sort of ears except silver colored. One single thick and silver wolf tail lays curled around his feet. It too is oversized.
I look to my left, the boy furthest away from me has ears that are pointier and solid black. His tail divides into two separate tails halfway, one long stripe of silvery white fur leads to the tip of one of them. His tail exceeds his height.
The other two figures, in the small room, have mammal ears as well. One has different shades of cinnamon brown fur like a raccoon. He too has a thick dark tail shorter than the one beside him. He holds his hand over the mouth of the last boy, restraining his body with both of his arms. The smaller boy, from what I see, appears similar as the wolf looking boy except a tad more domestic and his coloring is taupe.
“You are all animal spirits…” My voice sounds soft and light in my ears. They all look at me with blank expressions. I shift my gaze between each of them. They all wear white open french waistcoats and black trousers that taper at the knee. The ends of the waistcoats flairs out beyond their thighs like coat tails. Their bare chests peek out from behind the buttons, all of their feet are clad in black boots.
“We are your spirit guardians.” The cat boy says sternly. I remember him to be Ezra.
Intricate and detailed Zodiac symbols are imprinted on their skin with different prominent colors. The symbols are tattooed on their bodies at different locations.
Ezra’s is the symbol of Aries the fearless, located on his upper right arm in a bright red color. Fox boy, whom I know to be Kappie, has the symbol of Leo the powerful in violet, tattooed on his right pectoral muscle. The boy who looks like a wolf, Haruka, is painted with the green symbol of Sagittarius the honest and real, on the right side of his neck. The boy with the racoon-like features holds the symbol of Taurus the reliable, on the right side of his face near his eye. His symbol is blue. The last boy whom has yet to speak, the one who sort of resembles Haruka in his animal characteristics, has the symbol for Virgo the intelligent. His orange ink stretches across the outside of his right forearm.
"Lady Akira?" Kappie looks at me with a worrisome expression. My eyes wander to Ezra standing by the door with his arms crossed over his chest. He's not looking at me. "Do you know who we are?” He continues to inquire. The lack of a curious tone leads me to believe he’s asked these same questions too many times before.
I push myself to my feet. The boys hesitate to move as I walk slowly to Ezra. I feel all of their eyes on me except for his. Before my brain makes the connections necessary to remember everything, my lips move naturally to form the words that were supposed to have been spoken ages ago, “Tell me what happened, Ezra.” He opens his eyes widely at me in confusion for a long moment. I feel the fire in my irises burn for an answer, waiting for Ezra to understand what I don’t.
“He tried to kill you.” Ezra’s eyes return back to normal upon understanding, he then neglects to meet my gaze afterwards.
I instantly begin to struggle in understanding what’s happening in my head and why I can’t remember something as important as who I really am. My mouth moves before my brain can process words to say. I feel as though my identity is slipping from my grasp. Like an on and off switch: I remember, then I don’t, then I remember, then I don’t. Who am I?...I’m Akira Sheeno...but that’s not all of it...There’s something missing.
While my inner struggles remain on the inside of my head, Ezra speaks as if whatever crime he committed isn’t a big deal, brushing it off his shoulders, “So I slit his throat and watched the blood drain from his body while the life in his eyes vanished indefinitely, it’s not something you need to get your feathers ruffled over, my little duck.” My facial expressions and my words don’t show the shock I feel, in the slightest hint.
My hand instinctively reaches up to stroke Ezra’s cat ears, neutralizing his emotions. I make sure my voice sounds confident and light as I speak to him, utterly surpassing the confusion inside my head.
“Ezra, tell me what really happened.” My hand drops from his ear and his dark eyes finally meet mine. His expression is cold, the ends of his mouth are turned down casually and his eyes are narrowed in a lazy way. I sense the ‘bad boy’ aura from him. The moment I think it, he proves it to be true by rolling his eyes and shifting his weight to one leg. He scratches the back of his head with his right hand and crosses his arms over his chest. He contemplates admitting everything to me. “It’s okay.” I say, searching his eyes to meet mine again.
In my head, I can picture a box of all of my memories. The box remains in my hands, but as I walk to the door at the end of the hall in this mental picture, I keep tripping and dropping it. As I grow close to the door, I drop the box for the last time, and something tumbles out of the box. Before I can pick it up, the door lurches open and sucks me into it, ending my confusion, but leaving me empty.
“Don’t treat me like an adolescent.” Ezra smacks my hand away and blows his hair out of his face, it slowly falls back out of his eyes. A long moment passes and I completely forget about the other guardians in the room and the frightening truth of forgetting what I am. “They had flushed you for the fiftieth time, right before it altered your mind for good,” Ezra maintains his carefree attitude while speaking, “Then they failed, again.” He tilts his head to the side and looks down at me, “I was tired of their shit. Miyazu was getting irritated with the whole thing and that’s when he suggested we pull the plug on it all and kill you.” He looks behind me, off in the distance as he continues, “So like I said before, I slit his throat and watched him die...He was useless in combat anyway.”
I speak to Ezra with a voice that sounds light and airy with a tinge of poison, “I thought you were stronger than that.” As soon as the words leave my lips, Ezra’s arms drop down slowly. Something in his eyes changes the moment I yank out the arrogance from him, even if only just a second.
I turn to face the others in the small white room, “I know all of you are worried, but I’ve got a plan.” All the expressions of the spirit guardians change into a sort of confused panic. “I’ve presently realized I’ve forgotten what I am. I only know that it is important, but I refuse to allow any of you to remind me.” An empty hole remains in my head, only random clues circle it and point to the obvious fact that I’m not normal, nor am I human. I know the men who stand before me are my protectors, but even simple facts about them are blurry in my memories.
“Do you realize the reality of what you’re saying, Akira?” The raccoon boy says sternly, “This goes against everything they ordered and puts everyone’s lives in danger.” His voice sounds angry in my ears but his eyes don’t appear flustered. He continues to restrain the smallest spirit guardian. I also have not been able to gain the memory of who ‘they’ are or what’s happened recently.
“If I didn’t know, then I wouldn’t have suggested it, Steele.” My tone isn’t as light as it was before. There’s a hint of fear behind my words, I can’t tell if they notice it too. “We will be going back to Linkai, but I must first insure that I truly am suffering from amnesia.” I realize what fell out of the box, in my mental vision, was a vital piece of information that I’ve lost about the nature of my being. I know of only one way to solve this problem.
I close my eyes and mentally dive into the subconscious empty feeling I continue to retain. I feel a sharp blade of glass rip through my mind, tearing its way out of my brain. In order to make sure I don’t remember what I am, I must completely erase what fell out of the box with all of my strength.
I double over in agony and scream as loud as I can. I hear the voices around me grow closer in concern, but all I can do is cry out and feel warm tears trickle down my face. I feel something wet leak from my ears, the smell of copper is faint but I know now that my ears are thickly bleeding. I keep screaming bloody murder until I feel something slam against my head.
Everything blackens.
*****
My eyes flicker open to Kappie’s carmine and dark violet eyes directed down at me. “I’m so glad you’re back for good this time...It pains me to have broken the promise I made with you...” He whispers delicately.
I sit up and look around the same room as before, “Why am I still in here?” I stand up and brush the feathers off of the school uniform I still have on my petite figure. “Where is everyone?” I walk over to the door and jiggle the handle, locked.
“They sent for Ezra to atone for his actions of killing Miyazu now that they know he has returned. The others went in search for him after sensing something was off.” Kappie stands up and meets me at the door. “I love Ezra because he is my brother, and even though he constantly acts wrongly, we must save him. I’m sorry to have dropped this on you so soon after your awakening, Miss Akira.” His eyes are dark and pained as he reaches into his pocket for a key. I notice his body is in human form and I initially feel ashamed that he’s hiding his true self from me.
Kappie unlocks the door and opens it slowly.
The world spread out before me is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Japanese Cherry Blossom petals fall from the sky like snow. The room I’m in feels awkwardly out of place as I gaze in awe at the wondrous landscape in front of me. The sky is a black purple color painted with glowing stars and galaxies unknown to human eyes. A rainbow of colors litters the sky everywhere my eyes can see. Light illuminates off of moving spheres that remind me of tiny stars. The glowing lights move around like fireflies.
I step out of the room with Kappie closely following me. My feet touch warm water and I glance down to a pond no deeper than my ankles; it surrounds us. Beyond the pond rises thin and dark green blades of grass poking out of the water’s surface. They dance in the soft wind.
Further out in the distance, beyond the grass, are mountains that seem to touch the sky with snow whiter than I can possibly imagine. Tall trees dot the land, scattered in every inch of green. Clouds, visible to my naked eyes, rest on the horizon. It’s like a magic wonderland, lush and rich with flora.
To my right in the near distance is a delicate waterfall that never ceases. It flows off the side of a nearby mountain, splashing gently as it hits the rocks below. The lake it flows into forms a river that thins out to filter into the pool of water around my ankles and around the room behind me.
“It’s so beautiful.” The words escape my lips in a soft undertone. I reach up to catch a falling petal. It dissolves like snow in my palm. I close my hand tightly and look up at Kappie. “What is this place?” Our hair blows with the breeze. I see his violet Leo symbol on his chest for just a moment as his waistcoat flaps in the wind. My skirt follows suit, dancing with the air’s current.
“I forgot that it would take a few months for you to truly remember everything,” He looks down at me with his hands in his pockets, “This is home.” He gazes at me without a trace of a smile then closes his eyes and tilts his head up to feel the wind. Home? I look around us again and realize this land isn’t anywhere on Earth.
“Home.” I repeat the word out loud.
“You created this place to go to when the time comes. You said, ‘I’d rather destroy something I designed rather than destroy something that isn’t mine.’” Kappie reaches down and grabs my right hand as if I’ve allowed him to do so numerous times prior.
His thumb strokes a silver ring on my finger, it clasps a circular crystal in the middle. I watch it change from blue to yellow. “If this ever turns black tell me immediately.” His intensity sends my heart into a spastic flutter; I nod once in response. “We have to meet with the others now.” He straightens up, and walks back to the room. He shuts the door, turns a different key in the lock, and opens it again.
The room changes. What was white is now ebony wood and aged slightly like a cabin. I walk slowly through the door that Kappie holds open. He silently closes it behind me without entering. I look around and find a beautiful bed made for a goddess. The frame is gold with antique and intricate designs that appear Victorian. They match the gold trims of the white end table, vanity, dresser, and folding wall. An off-white curtain delicately hangs above the bed, outlining the bed’s golden headboard. A golden chandelier dangles from the ceiling.
On the white comforter lies a fantastically familiar, folded up, green robe, and red waistband. I slip out of my uniform and work the soft robe’s fabric onto my body. I wrap it tightly around my waist, it fits my figure like a dream. The sleeves are gaped open from my elbows to my wrists, and the part that acts as my skirt overlaps just a touch, leaving some of my right upper thigh bare. White lines swirl around the ends of the fabric. I firmly wrap the waistband around my midsection. It covers the area under my chest to the middle of my hips.
I saunter to the antique vanity with the large mirror and begin opening all the drawers to find some sort of clue to my past. Each drawer is empty, not even a dust particle remains. Someone has removed everything. Without any luck, I return the vanity back to how it was and I walk towards the door.
Upon opening it I find Kappie standing straight up with his back facing the doorway, waiting for me. He swiftly turns on his heels and gently bows to me. His eyes are darker and his facial expression has turned serious. His outfit has changed to a long sleeved black shirt and a long black jacket with coat tails similar to the waistcoat he was clad in previously. The jacket is held closed near his hips with a silver clip. His torso is exposed while he maintains the trousers from before. He’s also barefoot and back in spirit guardian form, a katana hangs at his left hip. I relax when I see him with his familiar fox tails and ears. I gladly ignore his intense composure and assassin appearance.
“We should get going…” He holds his hand out for me, and my crystal changes to cerulean blue the moment I feel a calmness creep in. The realization hits me that my finger bears some type of mood ring.
“We must go now,” He says sternly, wrapping his arms around my torso. “Please close your eyes.” I follow the directions and soon, I feel the ground underneath my feet separate from my touch, the water drips from my toes. Kappie whispers something unintelligible, and our surroundings instantly change.
When my feet touch the ground again, Kappie states, “We’re here.” He brushes past me. I look up and find the landscape has completely changed.
It only takes my memory seconds to remember what this place is. We’ve arrived in Linkai city where the buildings are made of aged stone and the ground is covered in finely laid out pebbles. Buildings of different heights and designs litter the area for miles. I closely examine the miles of buildings and notice a key factor missing: the people.
“This way.” Kappie catches my attention and leads me through a series of streets. The buildings are smooth on the outside, rough edges worn away with age and wind. “It surely doesn’t appear as though it’s been aged by nearly seven thousand years.” He comments. My eyes widen and I gently touch the side of the capital building I remember from a distant memory.
This city holds a strange kind of beauty, grass and trees have made their way back into the places of their origin. They sprout from the grey stone and consume the roofs and window holes. Linkai’s capital is a fantasy city taken over by nature.
Kappie stops in front of the tallest building in the area. Even if I look up, I find it difficult to visualize where the skyscraper ends. He lurches the statuesque door open and the inside of the building lies completely dark. I follow him into the entrance foyer; the only light vanishes as the door slams shut behind us. Kappie whispers something under his breath again, and chandeliers of varying sizes flicker on. They illuminate the dark room with dim yellow light. The architecture on the inside closely resembles gothic victorian styles just like my unfamiliar bedroom. Everything looks aged and vintage, from the stone stairway to the vaulted ceiling decorated in lace designed molding.
We walk through a hallway and pass through a doorway large enough for a giant ogre. Chandeliers similar to the ones in the foyer, light up this alcove as well. I look past Kappie and spot Ezra tied up and gagged. Above him is a window hole the width of the room.
Ezra’s weight is held up by his knees pressed to the ground. He’s restrained by large bulky chains protruding out of the furthest wall. His body leans forward while his arms stretch behind him in an awkward position. I cringe in vicarious pain and rush past Kappie, sprinting to Ezra.
“Are you okay?” I tilt his chin up with my finger, he’s barely conscious. His eyes are shut lazily and his mouth is slightly gaping open. “What happened to him?” I ask out loud while checking his vital signs. That’s when I see the pool of blood around his legs, thick and dark. I struggle to maintain my calm facade while looking at the wet crimson. The crystal in my ring turns red, fear.
My mind flashes back to when Ezra admitted killing the other spirit guardian, Miyazu. I instinctively reach my hand to touch Ezra’s face. He rolls his head away from my touch and blinks his eyes open. I tug off the strap gagging him and his voice sounds rough and hoarse, “Miss Ak-” His whole body shakes while he coughs up dark blood.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” Kappie grits his teeth and in an instant the katana is ripped out of the sheath on his right hip. He whips out the blade with his right hand and turns his back to me. His eyes search the room as he lowers himself in a defensive stance. “We need to get him out of here, immediately.” I look back to Ezra and pull at the chains attached to the wall. They don’t budge an inch, just as expected.
I frantically think of a way to free him, glancing back and forth between him and Kappie. I lay a hand on Ezra’s shoulder and cup his face in my other hand. “Ezra?” I whisper to him, “Are you okay?” Blood drips from the corner of his mouth. I wonder why he’s in human form.
Kappie soon joins me in front of Ezra and slashes the thick chains with his sword. They crash to the stone with a floor-shaking thud. Ezra then collapses onto the ground and I roll him onto his back. I place my head on his chest to listen for a heartbeat. He coughs again and it turns into a fit. He sits up and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
“What the hell.” He pushes himself off the ground and staggers to stand up. “Where are they!” He yells angrily. I rush to his side and grab his arm, swinging it over my shoulders to act as his crutch. Kappie slides his sword back into its sheath and briefly takes a moment to survey the room before saying anything.
“They’re long gone.” He slides a finger along the floor and lifts it up to his nose. “Where did Steele and Rayce go?” Kappie begins to follow something while I struggle to remember who Rayce is.
“They took off after them...Those damn bastards.” Ezra coughs again, doubling over to spit out blood. “Kappie,” Ezra’s voice flows with concern and his brother stops what he’s doing to meet Ezra’s eyes, “They’re after her already.”
I have the feeling of knowing I am being hunted down, but by who is still a mystery.
“I neglected to see this disaster coming.” I quizzically place my finger to my chin. They look at me, one with a touch of shock and the other with a sad expression that I read as doleful and brooding. “That truly poses an issue in successfully executing our plan.”
Ezra looks at his brother, “Has she been like this since you took her home?” His voice sounds just as he looks, be he the doleful one.
“She’s in an odd purgatory, if you will, some sort of place between amnesia and full memory. She only recollects fragments right now...If only she knew you were the one that knocked her out earlier...So yes, unfortunately she’s stuck for lack of a better term.” Kappie slips his hands into his pockets.
“I merely volunteered to be a pain killer for her,” Ezra’s ‘bad boy’ arrogance and pride bubble back up inside him even while blood covers his body, “I like little duck when she’s this forgetful.” He flashes a bloody grin at me and somehow I still feel a tinge of irritation.
“It’s not like I want to help you, I’m just doing this because it’d be gross if you died in front of me. That’s all!” I glare daggers and thrust his body away from mine. I shut my angry eyes and look away from Ezra’s gaze.
“We need to find Haruka.” Kappie interrupts. Ezra shakes his body like an animal. His cat ears sprout out from his hair and his tail appears behind him. The blood vanishes as if it were never truly there and he’s back to being the healthy version of himself.
“I know where he went.” An identical sheath and katana, to Kappie’s, appears on Ezra’s left hip. I silently ponder why he hadn’t transformed whilst chained up, before. Ezra chimes in again, “At present, we have a chore to finish here.” Kappie spins around at Ezra’s comment and they stand back to back with both of their swords drawn. The moment I realize what they’ve already sensed, a loud screeching roar comes from somewhere close to us.
The stone wall behind us explodes into shards as a brilliant white dragon crashes through it. I stumble backward and almost trip over myself, too stunned to speak. Before my eyes, the magical and majestic beast stretches to an extreme height and glorious size.
Another ear piercing roar slices the air from the opposite side of the room. A solid black dragon bursts through the far side wall and the stone and concrete breaks apart and flies through the room, smashing and destroying everything they hit. Giant holes are ripped open in the walls to expose the outside environment and rough wind.
The room is a battlefield.
The dragons’ four legs are massively long and scaled, each one extends to the height of the first floor itself. Their enormous legs resemble a Komodo dragon’s. Their toes sprout talons as sharp as diamond blades, three on each foot. The profile of their bodies curves in a dull S. Their elongated tails make them appear to be snake like and poisonous like Scorpions. The white dragon’s wings look like upside down Vs while the black dragon’s look more like a vicious butterfly’s. In a way, they are breathtakingly beautiful.
My blood boils and my body freezes on the grey stone floor as I watch Ezra and Kappie, back to back, move in a defensive circle waiting for the dragons to initiate a fight. I begin to feel the panic of the possibility of watching these two men die right before my eyes in an attempt to protect my life.
The white dragon spews ice down at Kappie. The wind blows the frosted vapor in my direction. It numbs my skin with its dramatically low temperature. The ice coming from the white dragon is colder than solid carbon dioxide. Kappie manages to slide out of the way just in time before the frigid and destructive permafrost hits him.
The black dragon roars vehemently and spits out lightning that cracks like electricity. The flash of light it gives after leaving the mouth of the beast only reaffirms my assumption. It resembles and crackles like a shortage in an outlet, but the damage it does is much greater. The wicked eggplant colored lightning annihilates and demolishes the solid foundation it strikes. The light that emanates from the shocks are blindingly bright. Ezra jumps in the air mirroring the moves of a springing cat, to dodge the attacks.
My adrenaline kicks in as I sit on the ground in awe observing the brothers fight for their lives. Blackened purple lightning and white hyperboreal ice spew all over the room. The brothers sprint from place to place as if in ultra inhuman speed. I realize in their movements that they not only trained in defense, they sharpened and honed their fighting skills as well. They slash the dragons with astringent blades the second a weak spot is noticed. Their moves look choreographed as they dance around the dragon’s attacks in perfect synch with one another.
The lightning dragon cries out an ear piercingly loud screech as Ezra impales its foot with his blade. I forcibly cover my ears. The dragon’s claw swings at Ezra from every angle, I grow tense and nervous in fear of Ezra being ripped apart. The dragon lashes out at Ezra but he yanks the blade out of its foot and swings it at the incoming claw all in one flash of a move.
I doubted his strength and abilities, but it seems as though he’s just as sculpted to be a guardian as Kappie is. Every move he makes seems as though it’s been planned from the very beginning, as if he knew what defense the dragon would take and already came up with a counter attack to combat it. He fights with anger, gritting his teeth and furrowing his brow.
I look back to Kappie who’s using the ice as a means of dodging around the white dragon. He sprints and leaps along its surface with his bare feet, the deadly ice hardly phases him. He fights differently than his twin. His speed and agility aid in his manipulative fighting tactics. He utilizes confusion in his opponent and traps his enemy in their own head like a mind game. Kappie slices the dragon in multiple places like a grater, while his brother relies on brute force. He also keeps a calm, cool, and collected expression while fighting; opposing how his brother fights.
The dragons’ long tails lash around behind them like rattlesnakes. Kappie jumps into the air with his blade aimed downward, he strikes the ice dragon in a crucial pressure point at the neck. It roars in pain and claws at the ground. Kappie slips the blade out of the scaled skin and slides along the tail of the dragon with his blade slicing the scales behind him. Once on the ground, he brings the katana close to his hips and charges at the deadly beast for a finishing blow. At the same moment, Ezra has already ripped apart the torso and neck of the black dragon. Red blood from Kappie, Ezra, and the dragons, douse the stone around us.
Just as I think my spirit guardians will massacre the dragons easily, the dragons pose an identical counter attack. After creating a deceptive assault with ice and electricity, their arms swing back and lash forward, ripping Kappie and Ezra’s flesh with their diamond sharp talons. They’ve taken the boys completely off guard. Their bodies crash against the stone floor, spreading blood all around them.
I lose all the air in my lungs as their bodies spew crimson and fall limp.
“NO!” I yell as loud as my lungs allow me. That’s when both the white and black dragon look at each other once, and I slowly count the next few seconds carefully. I hold onto each one as if they’d save my life.
The boys are collapsed on the floor struggling to recoup from the vicious onslaught.
Time freezes. My heartbeat stills.
Eyes as large as my head stare at me with darkness that consumes.
Chills run up my spine and I realize I might die now, in this room, at a very young age, knowing near to nothing about myself and about this mysterious world I stepped into.
Before Ezra and Kappie can do anything to save me, the dragons fly up into the wide open space they’ve created and position their bodies to aim right for me. They ready themselves to kill with intent. As the black lightning and white ice close in on me I hold my arms in an X over my face.
The black hole inside my gut churns violently. The last time I felt its presence I could hardly regain equilibrium again. Now the darkness manifests deep inside me, not here. Not here, I will not die here. I feel the power of something all-consuming and overpowering dominate me in the blink of an eye. I shut my eyes tight and feel the black hole expand beyond my body reaching through my fingers and my chest, broadening my limits and escaping my body. It’s an engulfing force that drains me of my strength and will.
My knees buckle and hit the ground. All I can see is a blinding darkness.
I squeeze my eyes tight then slowly open them, the dragons are gone. Ezra and Kappie still lay lifeless on the blood covered stone. I look around the room, dumbfounded at the absence of the majestic beasts. I gaze down to my palms. I remain completely oblivious to the events of the last few moments, but through the eyes of Ezra and Kappie, it’s safe to say what happened was my doing and obviously not theirs.
I push myself off the floor and rush over to Kappie and Ezra. I turn them over onto their backs and listen for their heartbeats. The second I hear the thumps, my panicked heart calms.
“You almost obliterated them.” Haruka’s voice wipes away any good feeling I have left in me. I wonder how long he’s been in the room waiting to tear me down.
He strides into what used to be the foyer of the torn apart building, followed by Steele. In guardian form they both hold weapons of mass destruction.
Haruka’s tall scythe births two blades that stretch as long as his legs. They curve like crescent moons in perfect parallel. Three shorter and straighter blades jut out of the top. Each edge is sharp, lights glint off their flawless surfaces. Haruka wields the terrifying tool like a lady’s parasol.
“Don’t think for a second that they’ll treat what you just did with a grain of salt, or that we will either.” He spits at me.
“Hey.” Steele grabs onto Haruka’s waistcoat and slams him against a wall, “That is no way to talk to our Lady.” His forearm presses into Haruka’s throat, his face is blank from any expression, but his words pour out of his mouth in a violent fury. Haruka indignantly scowls at Steele as if to challenge him. He then rips Steele’s hand from his waistcoat and shoves himself away from the wall.
Steele looks over to my direction and bows gracefully to me, “Please excuse my fellow guardian’s scatologic behavior, Milady.” This comes from the man that insisted on permanently destroying my mind.
He handles a double sided axe five times the size of his head. The massive weapon’s curved geometric shapes that pattern the neck and cheek of the axe, add to the gracefulness it employs. The blade bit and edge curve just as dramatically as Haruka’s scythe blades, except Steele’s are shorter and thicker. Steele flaunts it as though it’s a wooden chair leg.
“I can handle things by myself...” I whisper uneasily.
Kappie and Ezra cover their midsections with blood soaked arms. Deep gashes the length of large talons from severe dragon slashes have ripped open the flesh protecting their torsos. Their chests move up and down faintly. Haruka is right, I could've killed them...
The black hole inside me claws at the bitter part of my mind. Every word that leaves Haruka’s mouth widens the darkness inside me, biting at the bit to rip open and demolish everything. It begs to take over my actions. My palms feel hot and they sting from the burst of energy that escaped earlier. A sharp pain dilates from the left side of my chest, I crush my hands to my ribs.
Even among the several bruises, gashes, scrapes, and burns my guardians received from the fight, none of it could hurt as much as the pain dwelling near my heart.
“Haruka, it’s alright.” Kappie pushes himself off the crimson stained stone with his right arm, blood hides the gory wound across his chest. His black coat is torn to shreds.
I look over at Ezra who hasn’t moved since collapsing. His bare chest is caked with blood and bruises. His face and eyes are turned away from me.
“She does not have the knowledge of her abilities, currently.” Kappie wipes his forehead with his forearm. His hair drips with blood, he looks over to his brother and squats down to pick him up. His jerked and flinching movements scream pain and agony, making me cringe, but for some reason Kappie ignores all of it. He heaves Ezra over his shoulder and looks back to Haruka. “Please do not use such harsh words in her presence.”
"The coast is clear for now!" Rayce, the new Inugami, announces to us from the hallway. I may not remember what I am, but I do remember each of their names as my memories slowly return to me.
He skips into the battlefield room and pauses. His eyes take in the scene carefully until he spots me. His feet move faster than my eyes can keep up as he pounces around the large boulders and broken up walls. He’s instantly at my side, holding out his hand for me. I hesitate to take it as I did with Kappie. He smiles sweetly, “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you, Miss Akira.”
It may be a common action, but the way Rayce performs it, makes it seem like the most genuinely kind gesture I’ve ever experienced. His large white grin is easily the sweetest smile I could ever receive from someone. He holds a sparkling light in his irises like an innocent child even though he is clearly older than me. His features still seem childish, like a grown up with childlike mannerisms. That alone sends the darkness inside me running to hide from the light that is Rayce.
He helps me up to my feet and, instinctively, I gently touch his face with my hand as if I'd done it multiple times before as a motion of gratitude and acknowledgement. His skin is hot under my index finger, and he turns redder by the second. I am now the one who neglects to acknowledge personal space, and I cannot feel remorse for it. That still doesn’t keep me from turning red.
“Don’t get the wrong idea! I can stand on my own.” I defensively yell at him.
"I'm so glad you're finally back, Miss Akira." He shyly smiles and holds his hands together near his heart.
I feel the initial instinct to protect him from the evil of the world. I want him to remain innocent and kind, unstained by the blood of war and darkness.
I’m uncertain of how long he’s been one of my spirit guardians, but I know for sure that if he’d experienced what Kappie and Ezra just did, his innocence and light would surely disappear.
“We need to get going.” Steele cuts in. His voice is deeper than the others, giving him a more stern and authoritative tone when he speaks. He's also taller than the rest of them, I can easily assume he is the leader of the group. "They're bound to come back." He joins Rayce by my side and leans down to meet my eyes, "Please pardon me for the action I must perform." He grabs my hips with his hands and tosses me over his shoulder like a sack of flour. "I cannot afford for you to slow us down. My apologies, Milady." His politeness sends shivers up my spine.
“I refuse to let you carry me!” My face deepens its red coloring as anger and embarrassment seep into my pores, “Could you be any more clueless!”
"You never pick me up, Steele!" Rayce pouts in an adorable way. He takes the attention away from my outburst with his ever present childish idiosyncrasies.
"Maybe because you're too much of a spastic monkey." Steele replies. His tail whips around behind him like he’s wagging it out of joy.
Rayce slips over to Kappie and bends slightly down to look at Ezra close up. He lightly touches him on the cheek and Ezra smacks his hand away, opening his eyes widely. Rayce cringes and shrinks away like a child caught playing with something he shouldn’t be touching. Ezra opens his mouth to yell at the younger guardian when he starts a coughing fit again.
“Hang in there brother, we have to get out of here.” Kappie says, showing the slightest hint of a limp in his walk.
“Hey, Steele?” I direct my words to his back, intentionally saying them only so he can hear my voice.
“Yes, Milady?” He says just as quietly.
“It’s..not like I care or anything...but I was wondering...How come Ezra was near death in his human form, but once he was a Bakeneko he didn’t have a scratch on him?” I glance over to Ezra, opening and closing his eyes. He drifts in and out of consciousness.
“We all have three forms. Our human form, spirit guardian form, and zodiac form. We are the weakest in human form, and can only truly hold our full strength and power once in zodiac form.” Steele says this louder than I want him to, but the others seem not to hear it. “We don’t carry our injuries from form to form, but they do remain there until healed.” He moves hastily out of the building with the other spirit guardians in tow.
Everyone seems to be in a hurry to escape.
Once outside, they begin pouncing and sprinting from building to tree to building like forest ninja on a mission. The wind moves between us like cold tablecloths ripped from under our bodies. Between each landing, the boys fly in the air for long minutes at a time. Trees are green and brown blurs beside us like dark walls of color. The Linkai city buildings shrink out of sight as the boys sprint away from it in haste. Soon, the torn apart battlefield, that we were once at, looks like a squashed bug on a map.
I still question where all the people who lived there went.
“So if Ezra was hurt in his human form and he switched to his spirit guardian form, then his human self would still be injured and recuperating.” I continue my inquisition as Steele travels away from the capital. “But that doesn’t explain how once he switched to a different form even the blood was gone from his body. Unless…”
“We acquire three separate bodies.” Steele answers, “the stronger the form, the less time and effort necessary to heal completely.” I search for Ezra as a visual example of what Steele tells me.
Ezra’s managed to wound both his human and spirit guardian forms. Although he seems to push people away easily and put up a tough guy act, I know physical pain can torture anyone. I don’t know what happened to him before we arrived at the scene to save him, so there’s no way for me to know what exactly he’s been through in order to assist in his recovery.
I prop myself up on Steele’s back with my elbows to search for the squashed bug again. It’s nowhere in my line of sight. I grow nauseous with the constant rising and falling of Steele’s springing from the branches.
“We need to stop, Steele.” I say authoritatively. I assume, with him, it’s the only way to gain his respect and trust. He whistles for everyone and softly lands in the middle of a forest some hundred miles from the city. After letting me down gently, I brush myself off. “...T-Thanks...” I say to him.
The others jump down to join us, one by one. Haruka is last to unite with everyone, and he holds the same sour attitude since being scolded by Steele. Kappie sets Ezra down on the soft forest floor. He then leans himself against a tree and slides to a sitting position with his legs stretched out.
“Why are we stopping at a time like this?” Haruka covers his eyes with his thumb and index finger in frustration.
“We are far enough away for an advantage, and Kappie and Ezra need to rest. Don’t be selfish, Haru.” Steele trots to Haruka and grabs his wrist. “I need to speak with you privately.” He says in a low voice, dragging Haruka with him to some other part of the forest.
I rush over to Ezra and Kappie, “Are you alright?” I ask the conscious one.
“I’m worried about him.” He says, “He needs to switch over to zodiac form to recuperate from his injuries, but he’s being stubborn.” Kappie moves the hair out of Ezra’s eyes. He gently presses his forehead to his brother’s to feel for a fever. His interactions with Ezra are benign and considerate. Even though there seems to be a lot of tension between them and a history of something dark, it’s easy to tell Kappie still deeply cares for his brother.
I shift myself closer to them to lightly investigate Ezra’s wounds. Aside from bruises and electrical burns, the only major issue is the gash in his chest that stretches from his right shoulder to his left hip. I hold back the desire to throw up after witnessing the torn skin and deeply ripped flesh.
I lean over his body and draw my face close to his, “Ezra,” I whisper gently as if I’m waking a child, “please switch over...” I close my eyes and rest my forehead on his to feel the extreme heat he emanates. I’ve never felt this severe of a fever before…
“You don’t need an excuse to be in my personal space, Akira.” He says softly. I jolt straight up, I wind my arm back to flatten him. The body beside me shivers violently. Black fur sprouts and blurs in the movement, Ezra turns into a true Bakeneko.
His body in zodiac form mostly resembles a wild cat, but he’s larger than a Siberian tiger. His jet black fur shines in the light with one long ribbon of silver leading from his right eye to the tip of one of his split tails. His long body is thin and his paws are bigger than human hands. The eyes are still blatantly Ezra’s violet and red, identical to Kappie’s. He’s also thinner and more gentle than a tiger. He yawns and stretches out his hind legs. He then curls his limbs underneath himself like a cat, to fall asleep.
I thought the zodiac forms of my guardians would be epic warriors like the great ram an Aries is supposed to be. But Ezra turned into a cat.
“Are you okay?” I ask the less injured twin, “Don’t misunderstand! I don’t care or anything, I just feel a stupid obligation to ask...” I lean against a tree trunk, twirling a long strand of hair in between my fingers.
“I’ll be better in a few hours.” Kappie replies, turning his head to gaze at me. He sighs heavily and gasps in a fluster of pain, shutting his eyes tightly. In a flash of black, he turns into his zodiac form as well.
His body is the same size as Ezra’s, but he takes on the appearance and mannerisms of a fox. His seven bushy tails all have auburn tints and tips. He stretches his front legs and straightens his back, his tail tips touch the top of his head. He then stretches his back legs behind him just like a fox does. His tails take up more space than his Kitsune body. The paws on Kappie’s figure are narrower than the Bakeneko body of Ezra.
Though they aren’t what I expected, it’s something I could never get used to. They may look like precious and majestic animals, but I know their appearances are distractions for how powerful they can be. They could not possibly be bred for guardianship whilst clad in weak bodies.
“They sure are cute as fluffy adorable little kittens!” Rayce says, joining us by the tree. He enthusiastically pets both Ezra and Kappie, “I could just cuddle them all day!” They initially flinch under his touch but welcome it after the consistency. I take a closer and longer look at Rayce than I have before.
I hear Sohna’s voice in my head say, “He’s so cute! I could cozy up in those oceanic eyes. His boyish charm would be the death of me! He's more of a twelve year old boy than you are but it works for him.” I roll my eyes at the perky voice in my mind. You’re right Sohna, his eyes sure do pair with that childishly messed up taupe hair.
“Hey, Rayce?” I wait for him to meet my eyes. “Pardon my forwardness,” he adjusts his position to face me head on, crossing his thin legs and straightening his thin arms in his lap, “Will you tell me how you came about being my Inugami?” I desperately search his eyes for a sign of emotion. For some reason I trust that Rayce will answer my questions honestly. “Just out of boredom influenced curiosity, not as if it mattered to me how you replaced someone I can’t remember...” I glance back to Rayce to make sure I haven’t shattered his fragile feelings. Kappie and Ezra lift their heads and look at Rayce, anticipating his response. I hadn’t realized they could understand me.
“Nn…It’s a long story..." He replies in a sort of sad way, touching his small dimples with his forefinger. His movements exaggerate his emotions in an animated way. “I didn’t join too long ago…We didn’t meet like you and the others did.”
The light constantly dispersed in his eyes like sun rays tickling the earth, vanishes. He squats down and strokes the fur behind Kappie’s ear before beginning.
“My older sister was the pride of my clan.” He begins with his childhood, “she could hunt better, fight better, and lead better than anyone. She was only a few years older than me.” He withdraws his hands to his heart, “I was shamefully jealous of her, and my parents knew it...I wanted to walk the same path she was on, but when I turned sixteen, they started training me to be a trinity spirit.” I raise my eyebrows in question, “We are your trinity spirits: part human, part spirit guardian, and part zodiac.” I nod once to prove I understand even though the subject continues to confuse me, “There are all sorts of back ups for when any one of your trinity spirits die, like Miyazu. And while I was being conditioned for that, my sister was preparing to inherit our clan and be the head of the family.” He brushes the soil off his person.
“And you wanted to have that role?” I question him in a sort of pushy way. Rayce drops his hands and looks up at me with wide shocked eyes. I wait in anticipation, holding myself back from overstepping my bounds. Maybe he’s not actually supposed to admit any desires that stray from guardianship…
“Yes, more than anything.” He sort of blurts out, holding his wrist in his hand behind his back, looking up beyond the trees. “Becoming a trinity spirit meant I’d have to leave my family.”
“For how long?” I ask almost too soon after he speaks. He pauses again and quizzically looks at me, momentarily forgetting what I’ve neglected to remember.
“Indefinitely.” He closes his eyes and I can feel the weight of his words in the small exposed area. I glance down to my fingers and try to find the right words to say, something I constantly struggle with. In this moment, it would be shameful to blurt out a harsh remark.
“I can’t express how sorry-”
“Don’t be!” Rayce appears in front of me in a flash and enthusiastically grabs onto my hands. He tilts his head and admires me, “I couldn’t be happier by anyone else’s side, Miss Akira. I will treasure protecting you for all of eternity until my last moments in this life.”
Warmth begins to flow through my veins, comforting my chilled heart.
I regard his rich blue irises. He’s only a few inches taller than me, the shortest of my guardians, but he surpasses his comrades in youth and spirit. I have yet to privilege myself with meeting someone as optimistic and cheerful as he.
“I respect you, Rayce.” I struggle to say the words at first.
Rayce shivers and transforms into an Inugami; his canine body’s fur is a magnificent shade of taupe. Identical color wings sprout from his back like an Osprey bird. They stretch out the length of his entire body and hold the same coloring as his fur. The highlights and lowlights of white and brown add to the beauty of his zodiac form. He’s just as big as the other two, but his appearance is softer and less intimidating. He bows his head to me and crosses his paw over the other in one graceful movement, bowing to me.
The sun begins to fade behind the trees as the moonlight peeks out from the clouds in the sky. The day quickly escapes us and turns to nightfall before my eyes. I remember how just this morning I thought I knew everything about myself; now I hardly know the people who’ve sworn to protect me no matter what.
“We should get going so we don’t die just standing around.” I cross my arms over my chest and look off in the direction Steele snagged Haruka. “It’s dark now.” I question why everything I say must turn into a cynical comment or harsh demand.
The boys obey my request though it came out unkind. Ezra is the first to transform back into his spirit guardian body. He whistles loudly and sharply, a crisp sound that strikes my eardrums.
“You’re right,” Ezra replies seriously, something changes in his demeanor, “They’re already on our tails.”
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