Fan Fiction ❯ Project M.I.S.T.: Chikyuu ❯ Eleven Years of Illusion Deciphered! The Senkyouden of Water Finally Appears ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: As I stated before, this story is totally original. If you have any questions, email me at souzou_ketsuna@hotmail.com, or leave a review with the question and your email and I'll write back.

Thanks goes out to Lunar Phoenix, Aphy, Dark Universe, lain, Iris Shinra, A September Rose, Rei Kaseino, and A Puppet Master! You're all awesome fans and I won't let you down in the chapters to come. Now let's get this thing going again! ^^

"Am . . .am I supposed to know you, sir?" Mizuiro asked.

Staring toward the stranger before her, Mizuiro watched his right hand slowly move up toward his covered face. The man smiled, and then nodded the visible part of his head as he removed the cloth from his lower face. Mizuiro became calmer, then leaned against one of the trees as she continued to keep an eye on him.

"You could say so, but currently you don't. It was the orders I was given eleven years ago, to make sure you wouldn't." he replied.

What a smart child she is. She's grown up well, but now it's time to reveal her desired truth. As I said, my name is Toki-Sori. I am 29 years old, 177 cm tall, 68 kg, and my birthday is Era 4538, 61st year, 7th day. I look after the children that were brought to Tokyo eleven years ago, along with a fellow comrade. I like to eat cherries, but I hate pears. My special power is Teleportation, which allowed everyone and myself to come here to Tokyo. However, it took a great deal of my magic, and because of it all the children were scattered and thrust into premature independence, plus my third comrade. Now, I won't be able to teleport the great gap between our worlds for at least another year or two. That's the disadvantage to having my abilities . . .

"I am Toki-Sori. I am a Senkyouden Guardian and a member of Queen Mugendai's court. My orders were to protect Princess Hinote and the other seven children," he explained.

"Mugendai? Hinote? Those sound like Japanese words. Infinity and Fire?" she asked, curious as to why these people had no last names.

"You are correct. The names do mean Infinity and Fire. It's because my ancient language matches the Japanese language exactly," he said.

Mizuiro's raised her left eyebrow, wondering exactly what he meant by his "ancient language" and after a few minutes, began to worry if he was more than what he seemed. After all, she realized he was talking about the strange creatures called Senkyoudens and about at least one princess brought to Earth. She knew she needed more answers.

"Umm . . ." she said, looking straight at him as if to paralyze him. "How exactly did I get here anyway? Last thing I knew this woman with orange hair was trying to kill me!"

After a moment of hesitation, Toki-Sori coughed, then remained silent for a few more seconds. Mizuiro watched him, wondering what he was thinking about. He then lifted his head and she was able to clearly see both of his gold colored eyes. They shifted back and forth as he continued to speak, making her very nervous. Was he waiting for something? For someone? Or was he on watch as he held conversation?

"I brought you here via Teleportation Magic. I am a Senkyouden, like the woman you encountered. But I will not harm the eight children. It's my task to protect them," he said solemnly.

"What does this have to do with me then?" Mizuiro asked.

"In reality Mizuiro, it has a great deal to do with you. At the age of five you woke up in the playground alone?" Toki-Sori asked.

A gasp escaped Mizuiro's mouth, for she realized he knew that she had woken up alone at that playground. She nearly lost her sense of balance, causing herself to grab the tree for support. Only a select few of the people she trusted the most in her existence knew of her location within her earliest memories, which caused her to start thinking. Was this man truly extraordinary? Toki-Sori frowned, but felt he had to continue.

"Yes, I know you were alone that night. But it wasn't supposed to be like that. All eight of you were supposed to be together and we were supposed to watch you grow and guide you. But, when teleporting our group here, I lost my concentration and we were all scattered. So now that Kuroi-Sakaime has come to kill all eight of you, we're hurrying our attempts to find you and-"

"So what are you saying? Teleportation, Senkyoudens, killing eight children . . .are you saying I'm one of them or something? That I'm not human?" she demanded with sarcasm, clenching her fists at her sides.

Mizuiro suddenly stood straight up and walked over to him, as she demanded for her desired answers. She then narrowed her eyes as her glare penetrated his eyes, both starting at each other in hopes of causing the other to break down. There was a silent pause between the two that lasted a few moments before Toki-Sori closed his eyes and frowned. He knew it was time to finish his explanation.

"It is true. Your real name is Ekishou, and you have abilities to manipulate water and ice magic." he said, remaining calm the entire time.

She was shocked for a second; both from the fact he knew what happened to her in the past, and as well to what she believed was a pure lie. She was a believer that magic was nonexistent, which made his claims to her being a water and ice user completely inaccurate. She crossed her arms and glared, not at all impressed by his claims or explanations.

"Okay Toki-Sori, if I'm really what you say I am, the prove it. Prove I'm one of those Senkyouden things you told me about just now." she demanded.

"Very well, but I will warn you now. Brace yourself because it will be painful." he cautioned.

Mizuiro smiled, knowing he was trying to fool her. However, she needed a good laugh at the time, so she stepped back a few steps to give him a little room. He then stepped out of the shadows to reveal his entire form. Suddenly, the same dark grey mist from before appeared again and surrounded him, causing him to seemingly relax. Mizuiro gasped, regretting she ever doubted him. Suddenly he became incased within the mist, creating a grey shell on him, which remained solid for a few seconds. Cracks all of a sudden appeared on the shell, followed by beams of light, which multiplied quickly. An explosion soon followed, allowing the light to engulf the entire area, and causing Mizuiro to stumble back and fall to the ground. After a moment, the light disappeared, allowing her to uncover her eyes.

"Oh . . .my . . .GOD!" she cried out.

Toki-Sori still stood where he was before, only now his clothes were different. He wore a vest guard with a symbol representing a six-pointed star, black gloves and pants, blue boots, and traces of a blue tank top. His wings were fully unfolded, his short dark green hair visible, and his medallion hung from its chain around his neck. Mizuiro's eyes widened at what she saw, especially when the same gold colored eyes met with hers.

"Now do you believe me?"

"Come on Mizuiro! Answer the door!"

Knocking at the door, Moroi's face was tense with concern as she waited for an answer. She felt that she needed answers from Mizuiro for her behavior earlier at school, especially from what she displayed during their gym class. She decided to go straight to her best friend's apartment to see if she could possibly get some answers. She was wearing a white t-shirt with a blue heart on the front, black jeans, and brown hiking boots, with her hair tied into a simple braid hanging behind her. However after two attempts, she failed to get any response. Getting frustrated, she placed both hands to her face and breathed in deeply.

"MIZUIRO! ARE YOU THERE?" she screamed.

"What seems to be the problem?"

Turning quickly, Moroi feared the landlord must have heard her. However, she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Seiei, Enrai, and Yama standing near her. Enrai was wearing a black sweatshirt and tan khaki's, Yama wore a white shirt completely buttoned up except for the top two, which was tucked into his blue jeans and as well wore black sneakers, while Seiei sported a blue vest over a black turtleneck, with blue jeans and black sneakers of a different style than Yama's. They all appeared worried as they walked over to her.

"Is she home? She never called today." Enrai asked worringly.

"Doesn't seem so . . .but what are all of you doing here?" Moroi asked.

"We were worried too. Mizuiro's been acting pretty strange since last night." Yama said.

The fact that he knew seemed to aggravate Moroi greatly. Her teeth clenched together, almost seemingly gritting from rage. As much as she got along with Yama some of the time still, she still held a grudge against him for cause the friendship between himself and Mizuiro to fall apart. She lashed out and grabbed Yama by the collar of his shirt, pushing him up against the wall. She leaned in, her anger clearly visible as she seemingly glared right into his soul.

"How do you know about last night?" Moroi demanded. "Tell me now!"

"He knows because I told him Moroi. Calm down." Seiei answered, stepping in between the two.

Calming down, Moroi let out a frustrated sigh as she released her grip on Yama's shirt, allowing him to regain his composure. As he straightened out his collar and rubbed his slightly sore neck gently, the female teen crossed her arms and leaned up against the wall. The others remained silent, thinking about the more important situation at hand: the reason why Mizuiro was not home at her normal time.

"So what are we going to do?" Moroi finally asked. "Should we go find her and make sure she's okay?"

"Of course. The sun's starting to set, and if she hasn't gotten home by now . . ." Enrai said, holding his hand to his chin as he held his arm with his other hand.

"Then she's still in the city. At this time of the evening it could be dangerous." Yama added.

"Meet back at the playground in one hour, whether you find Mizuiro or not. We'll figure out what to do if we can't find her." Seiei decided, finishing the conversation.

All four teens nodded in sync, then disbursed and headed down the stairs. Upon walking out the doors of the apartment complex they went their separate ways and began searching for their friend with Moroi and Seiei heading northbound, Yama running across the road to scan the area heading toward the school, and Enrai covering a southwestern direction. Though the methods were different, all could agree that they needed to find their blue haired friend, just to make sure she was okay.

After a moment, Toki-Sori opened his eyes and placed them on Mizuiro's frightened form. He gave a frown, then lifted his right hand and extended his index finger. A small blue sphere of magic appeared floating above the fingernail, remaining there as he continued to watch her. Closing his eyes, he sighed as the energy slowly floated away from him and toward the female teen. She stood there, stunned by the entire situation, but watched as the energy came toward her. Suddenly, her necklace began emitting a similar light, which seemed to pulse in sync with the pulsing light of the sphere.

"Now, it is time for you to return to normal. There is no turning back once it's completed." he said.

When it stopped in front of the sapphire, it suddenly began to grow and lash out several beams, which surrounded and grabbed Mizuiro's free limbs, around her waist, and around her neck. It continued to do so until she was completely engulfed in it's blue light. All of a sudden, she let out a shrill, painful scream. She fell to the ground, still crying out and screeching from a new unbearable pain in her back, yet she suddenly realized it was similar to the stabbing sensation she had felt that morning. Her fingers dug into the dirt below her, pulling out blades of grass in a desperate plea to reveal how agonizing the sudden ordeal was to her.

"What's happening?" she cried out.

"Calm down. It's just a magic that activated your power amplifier I returned to you. It's returning you to your true self. The pain will pass within a few minutes once you are fully reverted."

As she continued to scream from the hurting sensation, her shirt suddenly gained a bulge in her back as something was causing the material to rise. It seemed to affect Mizuiro greatly as it caused her to cry out even louder and display more discomfort and agony than before. Suddenly, the energy surrounding her seemed to break away from her like shattering glass. At the same time, the bulge instantly grew with more speed and suddenly tore apart her shirt, allowing a pair of large sapphire blue wings to break out of the skin of her back and causing her to let out the shrillest scream of all. Covered in blood, they unfolded totally and pointed toward the sky, leaving Mizuiro on the ground as she breathed heavily from the entire ordeal and all of the pain. As she struggled to recover, Toki-Sori walked over and kneeled down beside her, placing a hand on her wings and looking them over.

"Yes, you are definitely Ekishou. Your wings seem fine despite their confinement within your body for the past eleven years." he said.

"Is . . ." Mizuiro struggled to say. "Is it supposed to be . . .that painful?"

"No. Normally the wings grow in normally and never inflict pain on a Senkyouden unless they are injured." Toki-Sori explained. "However, with the case of you and the other seven children, your wings have been growing inside of your bodies. When your powers were reactivated, they burst out of your body as you just found out. Once your wings dry out, you'll be one hundred percent okay."

Smiling, he stood up and watched as her wings ruffled every few seconds as they attempted to dry off from the blood. Mizuiro, now Ekishou, finally felt her back starting to adjust to the wings as the pain had nearly faded away. It felt very strange to her, realizing her back problems were all being caused by a pair of blue angelic like wings growing in her back for eleven years. Just then a sinister laugh echoed through the atmosphere of the woods, causing chills to run down her spine for she knew exactly whom the voice belonged to.

"Toki-Sori you fool, did you really think bringing the girl to you would protect her? I will eventually find her again, and I will destroy her!" she said.

"What makes you think she was the one? She has no Senkyouden aura whatsoever! She is just a normal girl!" he yelled, hoping she would hear.

"Either way guardian, I now sense Ekishou's presence. I command you bring her to me!" she ordered.

"Never!"

Hearing the conversation, Ekishou knew exactly what was going on. The assassin from earlier who tried to kill her was who she recognized the voice to be. Thought she had to admit the individual was very persistent in her goal to eliminate her supposed threat to whatever cause she was talking about, at the same time she knew what she needed to do. Lifting her head, Ekishou looked up to the sky and scanned the clouds.

"Hey! Whoever you are! Toki-Sori will not just deliver myself to you. I will come on my own, and I will . . .I will fight you!" she yelled.

The sounds of laugher could be heard again. Ekishou felt nervous suddenly, knowing she had a right to perform such an expression of emotions to the declaration. After all, she could create lightning out of thin air! There was a brief moment of silence after the laughter eased, making Toki-Sori slightly edgy too. Finally, Yuuku's voice began to echo throughout the small area as she began to speak again.

"I am intrigued. Very well, I will fight you. It'll make your assassination much more interesting for me." she said.

A few moments passed, then Toki-Sori let out a sigh, as he knew Yuuku had ceased her eavesdropping. The assassin was a very difficult one to battle according to a message from Queen Mugendai a long time ago, and where he knew he would never take risks against her he began to wonder just why the newly reverted Senkyouden beside him did what she did. He kneeled down beside Ekishou and frowned at her actions demonstrated a few seconds ago.

"Ekishou, this is madness. You cannot fight her now. You just returned to your true form!" he stated.

"I don't care." she replied. "She's threatening to kill me and I can't just hide from her. I have to face her sooner or later, so it might as well be now."

Toki-Sori sighed, knowing Ekishou was stubborn when she was still a small child in the past, and he had the feeling she would be just as bad at the current time. He looked at her expression, clearly seeing her desire to fight the orange haired assassin who threatened her life. As mush as he was against the idea, he knew she was right; sooner or later the two would have to battle.

"Fine." he said. "But you're not fighting alone. I'm going to do my best to help so you stay alive."

"Thank you Toki-Sori."

"But first things first. You need your armor."

"Armor?"

Nodding Toki-Sori then waved a hand near Ekishou's crystal, causing it to glow. The sapphire blue energy reappeared and engulfed her entire body wit the exception of her head, remaining for a few moments. As it shattered away like breaking glass, what was left behind was a green, short sleeved denim jacket over a short orange sleeveless shirt, two metal bracelets on her wrists, a matching green denim skirt which was buttoned only half way down, and brown hiking boots. In her right hand was a sword, with the blade made of a crystal clear substance. She slowly stood up and looked herself over, letting out a gasp of awe.

"Wow . . ." she said quietly.

"Come, let's go. You have a challenge you wish to meet."

Toki-Sori smiled, then turned as he headed for the shadows. As he disappeared into the black curtain of the trees, Ekishou nodded to herself, gripping the handle of her blade as she slowly followed the mysterious guardian. She knew it was going to be a hard task to complete successfully and realizing the odds were greatly stacked against her, she couldn't back away. She had to fight.

Sitting at the base of the slide in the park, Yuuku sharpened her katana blade with one of the rocks thrown at her earlier by Mizuiro. She didn't appear pleased, especially when she raised her gloved hand to touch the fresh scar on her left cheek. Though the bleeding had stopped completely, she knew the cut was deep, thus it would indeed leave a long scar on the cheek.

"When I find that girl, I'm going to make her pay for hurting me. How dare a human have the ability to harm, let alone leave a scar on my face." she sneered. "Me. A Senkyouden! A being more powerful than a weak human being . . ."

"Humans are much stronger than you think!" came a voice. "After all, I was once human like them!"

Yuuku jerked her head upward at the sound of the voice, knowing that it sounded familiar somehow. She scanned the area, then stood up from the ground and unveiled her katana once again. Being trained in the ways of the samurai she knew to always stay alert and listen to all sides around her. Her eyes shifted back and forth, jumping from each playing device in the playground.

"And who might you be?" she said.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" said the voice.

The sounds of bushes rustling were heard, causing Yuuku to immediately turn toward them. She only had to wait a few seconds before Ekishou emerged, holding her sword in her right hand. Her expression wasn't at all confident as Toki-Sori appeared behind her, which seemed to amuse Yuuku once again for she let out another snicker. She knew the task at hand would indeed be extremely easy for her.

"Ekishou I presume?" she said, giving a sly smile. "You've finally allowed Toki-Sori to reveal yourself?" "Apparently so. I'm not going to let you kill me or the other seven children." Ekishou replied. "You seriously think you can stop me?" Yuuku asked, not letting her smile get any smaller. "You just returned to your true form after eleven years. You have not learned magic in that time frame so you have only a selection of spells much to small to even make a difference."

Yuuku continued to laugh, which only seemed to aggravate Ekishou even further. She seemed very cocky for someone who was outnumbered two to one, but then she remembered not to let herself underestimate the assassin. After all, she could create electricity out of nothing. She knew she was the weakest of the three, but she wasn't going to take the verbal putdowns without a fight. Gripping the handle of her blade tightly, Ekishou swung an arm out in front of her as she narrowed her eyes.

"That does it! I'm ready to fight you!" she declared.

"How impulsive you seem to be," said Yuuku, still snickering. "Let's see exactly what you're capable of, Child of Water!"

Letting out an evil cackle, Yuuku unfolded her wings quickly and took off into the sky, which caught Ekishou off guard. She stumbled from the shock and force of the winds formed by Yuuku's beating wings. Upon reaching the peak of her rise into the sky, Yuuku continued to laugh as she swung her blade, sending a wave of lightning energy flying down at Ekishou. Her eyes widened at the sight of the energy heading for her.

"Get out of the way!" Toki-Sori yelled.

Quickly reacting, she nodded, and leaped away from the blast as it struck the ground she was previously standing on. However, Yuuku quickly flew in with her fist clenched, and slammed it into Ekishou's face. She was thrown backwards by the impact, causing her body to collide into the slide. She cried out upon impact and released a painful hiss before placing a hand to her forehead.

"Did anyone get the license of that truck that hit me . . .?"

Toki-Sori gasped, seeing the abuse she was taking just moments into the start of the battle. He began to regret ever letting her fight on her own against such a powerful Senkyouden such as Yuuku. However, before he could rush over to see if she was okay, a hand lashed out and grabbed him by the shoulder. He stopped, then turned around to see the same woman from before, still draped in her purple colored garments.

"Let her be." she said.

"Are you insane?" he yelled, his fists clenching. "We have to help her fight. Yuuku is much stronger than Ekishou!"

"She wanted to do this, not you remember? So let her fight," the woman said. "Besides I sense a great determination she must have acquired from the humans."

"Very well." Toki-Sori snorted.

Ekishou groaned front the pain that her face released from being punched. She slowly sat up from the base of the slide where she landed, but had no time for further thoughts on the pain as she saw Yuuku flying down at her with her sword poised to strike. Ekishou reacted quickly, and raised her sword to block the katana. Yuuku clenched her teeth and applied more of her strength in order to break the weapon lock and take advantage of the battle, but Ekishou managed to counter with her own force, keeping the blades from budging.

"Give up!" Yuuku demanded. "You'll never beat me because your powers aren't fully developed!"

"I will win because I believe I can!" Ekishou yelled.

Just then, the blade of Ekishou's sword began to glow, which caused both to gasp. A blast of water suddenly emerged and flew into Yuuku's face, causing her to panic and lose her concentration. Ekishou saw a good opportunity and shot her foot up into Yuuku's stomach, kicking her away and onto the ground. The blue winged Senkyouden raced up the slide in an attempt to distance herself from her opponent as much as possible.

"Just great, what have I gotten myself into?" she thought to herself. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Ekishou . . .do not fear your abilities . . ."

Gasping, Ekishou's eyes widened as she heard the voice inside of her head. Jumping off of the slide, she stopped and looked around for Toki-Sori, who she realized was speaking to her somehow. As this occupied her, she didn't notice that her crystal was pulsing in sync with the words she managed to hear. As he spoke to her through the brain waves, Toki-Sori continued to lean against the tree. Only now his eyes were closed and he seemed to be in a state of serenity as his right hand grasped his amplifier around his neck. It glowed in sync with his words as well as he continued to speak to Ekishou.

"Toki-Sori? Why am I hearing your voice in my head?" Ekishou demanded, yelling out loud.

"It's telepathy. All Senkyoudens with power amplifiers have the ability to communicate with each other through telepathy." he explained. "Listen carefully. You have the ability to manipulate and summon water. You have ice as well, but it will come to you upon training. Concentrate your thoughts on the water. Shape in your mind what form you want it to take, and it will be summoned through your powers . . ."

"Okay. I'll try," replied Ekishou.

After she knew Toki-Sori had no more words of wisdom for her, Ekishou breathed in slowly and exhaled in the same manner as she closed her eyes. Her sword began to illuminate once again in a sapphire light matching the light emitting from her crystal attached to her choker. As she stood on the sand, an image of her crystal's shape appeared below her feet. It soon became clearly visible, with four walls of energy shooting up and creating a sapphire blue energy pillar with Ekishou herself inside. As this all happened, Yuuku climbed up from the ground and narrowed her eyes.

"So, " she thought. "She's starting to learn her magic quickly. I better put a stop to that before she finishes the spell."

Swinging her sword in front of her, Yuuku pushed off of her back foot and charged toward Ekishou, as she suddenly opened her eyes. The energy then shot forward and swirled around Yuuku, causing herself to now become trapped within the pillar of sapphire light. The light then flashed and transformed into water, which caused Yuuku to panic. Ekishou then slammed her blade down onto the concrete with both hands, sending a blaze of sapphire energy streaking across the ground and colliding into the pillar of water. Yuuku screamed in agony as the energy surged through her body, causing her to fall to her knees. Ekishou smiled, but quickly became serious once more as the pillar fell to the ground and vanished from sight. Yuuku then collapsed to the ground, remaining motionless as Ekishou slowly approached. She stopped in front of the body, and then kicked her shoulder to see if she was still alive.

"Could I have actually beaten her?"

Still watching, Toki-Sori felt that there was something that wasn't quite right. He and the woman beside him watched as Ekishou kicked Yuuku's shoulder, but then suddenly gasped as he picked up a telepathic wave from the assassin, which revealed to him that she was waiting to strike. Panicking, he quickly grabbed his pendant and it became illuminated in a sapphire blue light once more.

"Ekishou!" he yelled into her mind. "Watch out! She's going to strike!"

"What?" she replied.

Before she could retreat, Yuuku's eyes flashed opened and she released a maniacal cackle. She lashed out a hand that grabbed Ekishou's ankle and caused her to fall over onto the ground and on her back. Grinning, the assassin began to cackle once again as she jumped up into the sky and flew upward, still holding onto her opponent. Higher and higher the two rose, with the water user struggling like mad to release herself.

"Let me go!" Ekishou yelled.

As she struggled to free herself Yuuku grinned as she reached her vertical peak, then swung Ekishou down toward the ground and released her ankle at the right moment. She fell, and her shoulder slammed against the concrete, which caused pain to shoot through her entire body. As Ekishou rolled over onto her side, Yuuku grinned as she sent four blasts of blue energy down at her. They collided with her ankles and wrists, incasing them in a thick layer of ice and trapping her against the ground, forcing her onto her back. Ekishou struggled wildly, but found she was not strong enough to break free from her imprisonment. Yuuku continued to laugh as she looked down at her trapped opponent, feeling confident in herself. She then charged up a blast of lightning within her sword, the light emitting from it casting an eerie glow across her face as she landed on the ground.

"It appears as if I've won."

"Enough!"

From out of nowhere, a blast of energy streaked across the playground and collided with Yuuku. She lost her concentration and her balance, causing her to fall to the ground and land in the nearby bushes. Toki-Sori emerged from the bushes with the woman following close behind, and both skidded to a stop upon getting to Ekishou.

"The ice appears strong," said Toki-Sori as he examined the cold shackles.

"I will have to transform back. Just a minute." the woman stated.

Clearing her thoughts and taking a deep breath, the woman stepped back and crossed her arms in front of herself as suddenly a pink crystal like substance shell began to grow and incase her within. After a few moments, it shattered to reveal her true form as well. Like Toki-Sori, she wore a metal vest guard only hers had a heart symbol on the front plate. Underneath she wore a purple turtleneck and a slitted skirt of purple and brown. She also wore black pants, a brown belt with a pink heart crystal for a buckle, and red and grey, heeled ankle boots. Her wings were pink; her purple hair was of shoulder length and had silver streaks, while her eyes were bluish purple. Opening her eyes, she quickly removed a brown boomerang and a silver, jagged discus weapon and stood in a fighting stance.

My name is Kon-Denkou. I am another guardian of these children, so long as they need guidance and protection. My age is 26, and my birthday is Era 4538, 64th year, 11th day. I am 174 cm tall, and 51 kg. Mugendai and Ittou chose me because of my abilities with the Purity Force magic I was blessed with. My favorite food is sushi, and my least favorite food is pepperoni. My favorite flower is the Peony Blossom. I do not tell many people this, but I have a crush on Toki-Sori. I don't know if he feels the same way about me, and I am too scared to tell him this.

"You free Ekishou!" she yelled. "I'll take care of the assassin!"

Racing off, Kon-Denkou then engaged in battle with Yuuku. As this happened, Toki-Sori grabbed one of his ninja stars from his pouch and quickly started picking at the ice with it. After hacking away for a few minutes on the left wrist, he gave up and moved onto her ankles. He realized that his second attempt was a failure as well, especially when he noticed there was barely a crack upon any of the ice shackles.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed, wiping away his sweat. "These ice shackles aren't going to break easily."

"So now what do we do?" Ekishou asked.

"I don't know . . ."

As the two attempted to figure out the solution, Kon-Denkou was suddenly kicked hard in her stomach, causing her to stumble back and slam into the metal bars of the swings. Her armor clanged against the metal and she stood still for a moment before clutching her chest. A cut could be seen clearly on her face, starting from the right corner of her mouth and traveling downward slightly. Her eyes were narrowed as she gripped both of her weapons tightly.

"Shit," she said painfully. "Yuuku's stronger than we thought . . ."

When she finally recovered from the attack, she released her grip and looked up to Yuuku, who was grinning as her blade was electrified once again. She charged and swung the blade at female guardian, but she managed to jump aside and roll across the gravel. The blade sliced through both poles of the swings, causing the structure to topple to the ground. Yuuku panted, but raised her gaze and turned to the woman and grinned as her orange hair fell over her shoulders.

"Kon-Denkou . . ." she sneered, allowing an evil glint to appear in her eyes. "You will die, NOW!"

Yuuku gripped the handle of her katana, causing the blade to become electrified with lightning energy once again. She then swung the blade upward in an uppercut style, which released the energy into a wave shape. It shot across the ground and collided with Kon-Denkou as she was just climbing to her feet. She was sent flying across the playground and slammed into Toki-Sori. The two then disappeared into the bushes, leaving Ekishou alone with her wrists and ankles still incased in ice against the ground. Yuuku smiled, then lowered her katana and began approaching her.

"Now I will finish what I started. You cannot escape your fate Ekishou," she said. "You will die now, just like the other seven children will once I find them."

Ekishou panicked, knowing she had no way to escape her entrapment. She continued to struggle; only now she was putting in more effort than before. Yuuku walked over until she stood in front of her feet, then smirked as she raised her left hand and slowly brought in her fingers to form a fist. The hand began to glow a brownish color as her fingers continued to flex and curve.

"Rise from the Earth, and meet your destiny."

Her fist suddenly changed to glow a gloomy shade of green, which also appeared on the ground and traveled all around Ekishou. Once it formed a jagged square, the earth broke away and rose forward with the winged prisoner still trapped against it in the icy shackles. Ekishou continued to struggle, but froze once again as the katana was placed to her neck as before when she was still Mizuiro. Yuuku smiled and narrowed her eyes as she turned the blade and lighting pressed it against the skin with both hands. A couple droplets of blood escaped the fresh cut, running down her neck slowly.

"You show a great deal of bravery for your first battle," she commented. "But it is foolish to think you can win, especially when you have just reverted and only know Water Magic."

Removing the sword from the neck, Yuuku then began to laugh in the same manner as earlier. She then raised her katana above her head with the tip pointing toward Ekishou's chest. She then squeezed the handle, causing the metal to electrify. Ekishou gasped and widened her eyes with fear, but then calmed suddenly and closed her eyes. A wave of fear swept over her, causing her to become more frightened than she had ever been in her entire life.

"She's right," she thought. "It was stupid of me to think I stood a change . . . and now . . .I'm going to die because of it . . ."

Yuuku drove the sword forward, slicing through the air. Before impact however, Toki-Sori and Kon-Denkou appeared and tackled the assassin together. Ekishou gasped and watched the three roll away. When they stopped, Yuuku suddenly let out a battle cry as she leapt into the air and fired a blast of lightning energy down at the two. Both managed to leap away, and Kon-Denkou quickly spun around as she flew through the air and threw her boomerang. It flashed as it became engulfed in a pink energy as it spun through the air and up into the sky. As it turned around to fly back to Kon-Denkou, the energy separated and continued to fly toward Yuuku. It struck her in the chest and she gasped, falling toward the ground and hitting it hard. She remained lifeless as Toki-Sori and Kon-Denkou landed on both sides of her lifeless form. Ekishou was stunned by the fight scene before her, but not because of the violence of it all. She seemed mesmerized by the movements of all three of the fighters, especially in the air when they were using their wings and magical powers.

"It's all like a movie . . .only it's real . . .and I'm one of them. I know, I summoned water . . ." She struggled a little more, but suddenly relaxed all of her muscles, as she remained limp against her imprisonment. "But it's no use . . .the ice is too strong to break. If only I could melt it . . ."

"Wait a minute!" Suddenly, she gasped, as the answer seemed to come to her. "What if I used my magical powers to absorb the ice?"

She smiled, then closed her eyes and eased her mind. Her breathing slowed and became more rhythmic as her thoughts focused solely on the ice shackles. As she did so, her blue aura engulfed the ice and glowed very faintly. However, after a few moments passed the light became brighter and increased in size until her entire body was surrounded by the water energy. Her loose hair rose and flapped all around her as if there was a gentle wind gliding by. Kon-Denkou looked over and gasped, while Toki-Sori simply smiled.

"She's learning her first ice spell already," he said, quietly. "Impressive."

Suddenly she let out a battle cry as she clenched her fists, causing the ice to shatter away from her wrists and ankles, and as well causing the earth slab to fall back into the ground. As she dropped down to her knees, the ice shards spun around her in a spiral pattern, then transformed into clear blue energy, which flowed into her power amplifier that was attached to her choker. Letting out a gasp, her hand shot up from the ground and grasped the crystal, which caused a light to emit from it once again.

"A new knowledge . . ." she thought. "Resides within me now. I will use it to finish this battle!"

Ekishou quickly lifted her gaze; her eyes narrowed and aimed straight for Yuuku, who remained lifeless upon the ground from Kon-Denkou's attack. She jumped up onto her feet and stood at attention as her entire body became surrounded by her energy's aura once more. It was quite a sight to see, but Ekishou was more shocked than anyone. She has no idea what was going on, yet at the same time she felt she had a good grasp on the situation.

"Toki-Sori!" she yelled, clenching her energy-engulfed fists. "Hold her up so I can finish this battle!"

Hearing the command, he complied without argument, as did Kon-Denkou. Both guardians lifted the lifeless body of the assassin. Kon-Denkou smiled, and then quickly sent a surge of pink energy through Yuuku's body before giving a nod to signal the blue haired Senkyouden. Ekishou nodded, and then raised one arm so her hand pointed toward the sky as her eyes closed. All of her energy flowed upward and transferred into her palm as her wings unfolded totally, revealing their full size. The energy then spiraled, flowing into once single source as it extended horizontally. Her eyes then flashed opened and the light suddenly disappeared to reveal a large ice dagger shard. She then released another battle cry as she leaned forward and threw the shard with all of her might toward Yuuku's body.

"This ends NOW!" Ekishou screamed.

Hearing the scream, Yuuku suddenly opened her eyes and gasped, which caught both Toki-Sori and Kon-Denkou off guard. She then created a quick burst of fire energy, which caused the two to be knocked away. However, before managing to totally get out of range, the dagger struck, driving itself into Yuuku's left shoulder. She screamed and fell to her knees, grabbing the shoulder tightly as blood slowly flowed out of the fresh wound. As the dagger melted away and vanished, Ekishou's knees grew suddenly weak. She fell to the ground and panted heavily from weakness, holding herself up with her arms. Yuuku lifted her gaze and glared.

"You are one lucky Senkyouden Ekishou . . ." she sneered, allowing all of her anger to be heard. "But know this. I will return and take my revenge!"

As Toki-Sori reached for his pouch, Yuuku suddenly caused her T-Sphere to appear. A large burst of dark energy emitted and swirled all around her, causing herself to be engulfed as quickly as possible. Toki-Sori removed his hand from the pouch and threw a handful of ninja stars toward the female assassin, but she laughed and vanished before they landed on their target. The energy faded away until thee was no trace of the orange haired Senkyouden who stood there moments before. Becoming angry suddenly, Toki-Sori

"Dammit!" he shouted. "She escaped!"

Kon-Denkou smiled, knowing Toki-Sori's temper could sometimes be amusing for him. She then walked over to Ekishou and kneeled down, extending a helpful hand. Ekishou looked up, seeing the warm smile upon the female guardian's face. It allowed her to trust in the pinked winged being, also allowing her to accept the hand. She stood up from the ground and after brushing off her clothes she smiled to both guardians.

"You did a good job tonight. I can tell that you will regain all of your abilities quickly," said Kon-Denkou.

"Thanks for helping me out." she said warmly. "I couldn't have fought without you."

"You don't need to thank us Ekishou. Not counting the advice I gave, you did a good job fighting her." Toki-Sori replied. "You will, indeed, become a great warrior someday."

Ekishou smiled, looking toward the playground's water clock. Everything seemed so different to her suddenly, now that she had a peaceful moment to look around and study everything. The water within the water clock seemed to display its own unique aura, as if it suddenly had just acquired a soul. She looked at the face to see what time it was, which suddenly caused her to gasp and cry out in a great panic.

"8:30! Holy shit! I was supposed to call Moroi! I gotta find a payphone now!"

With that, she turned on her heel and quickly sped off down the pathway and onto the sidewalk in search of what she needed. Toki-Sori and Kon-Denkou stood there for a few moments, surprised at her sudden behavior. Despite being on Earth for the past eleven years, it seemed as if they were still somewhat surprised when it came toward human behavior. The two watched her run for a few moments before Toki-Sori finally started to chuckle.

"Umm . . .I suppose that would he her human influence eh?" he said.

"Probably." Kon-Denkou replied, giggling slightly.

Yama let out a sigh and leaned back to allow his head to fall backwards and look up at the sky, sitting on the bench at the playground. The moon was hanging in the clear, midnight blue sky as a perfect crescent shape. Moroi was sitting beside him, looking around the park with Seiei on the other side. Enrai paced back and forth as worry filled his mind to the whereabouts and the well being of his girlfriend.

"We searched everywhere. Where could she be?" Enrai demanded.

"Calm down Enrai. I'm sure she's fine wherever she is." Seiei replied.

"Yeah," Moroi added. "She's tough and she knows how to defend herself in the worst situations."

The four nodded, and then relaxed as they thought of what to do next. They had already spent the last few hours searching for Mizuiro, and coming up with no results only seemed to make the four teenagers more nervous and slightly paranoid to what was going on with her. Suddenly, Moroi's cell phone began ringing which caught everyone off guard to the long period of silence that had existed prior. After calming down, Moroi reached for the phone and pulled it out, pressing the button and bringing it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Moroi! It's Mizuiro!"

"Mizu?"

Catching everyone's attention, all three boys gathered around Moroi's head and attempted to listen to Mizuiro on the other end. Moroi, feeling very crowded, leaned forward in an attempt to give herself more room. She smiled, knowing tears were starting to fill her eyes, as she was relieved her best friend was okay.

"Where have you been Mizu? We've been searching for you everywhere after you didn't call any of us!"

Not far away, Ekishou smiled as she held the phone to her head with both hands. Toki-Sori and Kon-Denkou stood nearby, as they were curious about he teenage Senkyoudens friends. They kept a lookout incase anyone came into view, for it was definitely an out of the ordinary sight to see a someone displaying a pair of wings on their back.

"I'm okay, don't worry." Ekishou explained. "I had a detention after school because I was late for Chemistry again, then I went to the playground I was at eleven years ago. I've been wandering around the city thinking about a lot of things."

"But why?" Moroi asked.

"I needed to sort some things out. Oh, guess what? I ran into that stranger again!"

Back on the other end, everyone gasped at her news. The three teenage males attempted to once lean in even closer, this time practically squeezing the life out of Moroi. She stood up and escaped the huddle, standing on the sidewalk as she continued to converse. She held her right elbow with her left arm, with the phone still being held up to her ear.

"You actually found that guy!" she demanded.

"Yeah. He's a very nice person and actually told me a lot about my real family. He is an old friend of theirs and he told me that they miss me greatly. They had to give me up because they didn't have the finances to support all of us. It was to save me from poverty."

"That is so cool," said Moroi. "Oh no, I have to terminate this conversation because the battery's about to completely die. Call me tomorrow night and tell me more about everything okay?"

"No problem. Tell everyone I said hi!"

"Even Yama?"

"Except Yama. Bye!"

Letting out a sigh, Ekishou placed the phone back on the receiver and placed her hands on the walls of the booth. She then leaned forward and frowned, making both guardians curious. No longer would she be able to live a completely carefree life, knowing she was living eleven years behind an unknown mask of lies. She remained frozen in her position for a few moments, and then removed an arm to wipe away the tears from her eyes. She then walked out of the booth and looked at both guardians.

"Now what?" Ekishou asked.

"Now we go back to our apartment." Toki-Sori said, crossing his arms.

"We need to tell you the entire story of why we're on Earth, and why you and the others are targets of Kuroi-Sakaime."

"Sounds like a good idea." She smiled, but turned away quickly to let a frown take over her facial expression. "My life's not going to be the same anymore though . . .I'm not even a human being . . ."

Ekishou gave a nod, knowing she would need answers if she were to begin to understand her new abilities. She watched Toki-Sori and Kon-Denkou turn and walk toward their home, and after a moment of hesitation she followed as well. As she walked behind them, her gaze was suddenly caught by the sky as she saw a solitary star near the moon. A smile appeared on Ekishou's face once more as she continued to both walk and keep her eyes locked on the small speck of light above her.

"How I am like you now little star," she thought. "For now we stand alone but from what Toki-Sori told me, it may seem that we will gain allies in the near future . . ."

"That should do it . . ." said Kainashi.

He fastened the bandage and tightened it slightly, causing Yuuku to wince from the pain. She wore a black, strapless top with a matching mini-skirt as her fellow assassin finished with her wounds. The male assassin chuckled at his comrade's behavior to a little medical attention as he started wrapping another layer of bandaging around the shoulder. Makura sat nearby, her blood red eyes now visible from beneath her cloak as she watched the two.

"With my magic and Kainashi's natural medical knowledge, you should be healed by the time you wake up tomorrow." she explained." However, the scar on your face will remain."

"Understandable, and I apologize for failing Makura," Yuuku voiced. "I deserve whatever punishment I have coming to me."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself Yuuku." Kainashi said.

"Kainashi is right. You did not fail the mission, you actually have succeeded." Makura added.

Yuuku was caught off guard at the comment. She raised her face, which displayed the shock she felt. Normally when someone would fail a mission they were punished or confined to quarters, but the attitude that Makura was displaying seemed rather odd. Makura picked up one of the throwing daggers lying on the floor and watched the light reflect off the blade, listening to what Yuuku had to say next.

"How could I have succeeded?" Yuuku demanded. "I was defeated in battle!"

"Yes, I admit it was odd you were overcome by Ekishou . . ." Makura commented. "But her existence proves that the Senkyouden Children are, indeed, residing in Tokyo. We can now proceed further into our search efforts."

Standing up, Makura then walked over to Yuuku and Kainashi, sitting between both of them and looking toward the other side of the room where she eyed a target board attached to the wall. She threw the dagger across the room, and then smiled as it landed directly in the center of the board. She smiled at her skill and then turned to Yuuku to continue with her explanation.

"As well, you also succeeded in seeing Ekishou's current and early fighting style. Remember though, the guardians will train her so she will improve. You have to defeat Ekishou before she learns too much of her magic, and as well before she learns how to fly." she explained.

"I will." Yuuku replied.

"By the way Yuuku, did you find out the identity of Ekishou?" Makura asked. "You said you encountered a human beforehand."

"I did indeed. However, I cannot remember the face . . ." she replied. "It seems the guardians are quicker than anticipated." Kainashi commented. "Kon-Denkou must have erased that information before you fled."

Yuuku sighed, shifting slightly on the cot so she could lay back and rest her head on the pillow. She then placed both hands on her stomach as she stared at the ceiling. She reflected on the events that occurred that day, and though the frustration of Kon-Denkou erasing her memories of Ekishou's identity was great and almost overwhelming, the orange haired assassin only seemed to find amusement out of the situation that was displayed through a chuckle she allowed to escape her mouth.

"What good will that effort do in the end . . ." she said, confidence returning to her voice. "Even if we do not know her human identity, Ekishou will die sooner or later . . .I'll make sure of it."

Closing Thoughts

Rakurai

It's amazing how your entire life can change in an instant, how one event can totally alter your hopes and dreams for the future. Toki-Sori knew that someday Ekishou would have to find out about her true identity, but seeing her happy along with the rest of us made him sad I later found out, for he truly hated to destroy pure happiness. But at the same time, I think he knew it was all for the best that it happened now and not later in life when we were adults.

I feel guilty about Ekishou having to remain the solo child from Senkyou to be reverted back to their true form, but I'll get over it because she is a strong fighter even if she hasn't regained all her powers yet. I trust her to be able to hold her own until the rest of us return, but until then she's in the safe hands of Toki-Sori and Kon-Denkou. Look out Yuuku, you're going to have your hands full soon . . .

(Ending Theme: Endless Dreams)