Kumoru laughed. "So respectful. But please, just call me Kumoru." He nestled my hair, playfully. "So what do you say?" He asked, looking back up at Mayaru.
I was suprised by Mayaru's hesitance. I could tell Kumoru was as well. Mayaru looked away, as he pondered to himself. Kumoru looked at me as if to see if I was feeling the same thing. I shrugged.
"Alright,"Mayaru said finally," But just till we get to the exit... I wouldn't want to keep you from your vacation."
Kumoru nodded. "Let's get as far away from this storm as fast as possible."
We began walking into the dark temple.
*****
There was a cold draft that circulated throught the icy halls. Our breaths were misty and faded away as we walked. There was a strange tension in the air. I looked around. Mayaru was staring straight ahead. I was suprised at how close to me he was. It was almost as though he was afraid Kumoru might take me away from him, or that I was going to run away. But I had too much on my mind to really be concerned about him protecting me.
My mind wandered back to the battle. Had I really seen fire? Or wind? Had I seen these two men controll them? It made me frustrated to think that that was what I had seen. How could two men have the power over the elements. When I really thought about it. It couldn't have happened. I must have hit my head, either that or the wind had made the illusion of flames and air.
It scared me to think of how many holes these explinations left in the story. But I thought for sure that if Kumoru had seen Mayaru's supposed "fire" he would have said something by now. I knew Mayaru would have questioned Kumoru about his air powers, but I knew well that Mayaru was unconcious while it happened.
There was no decent explination to any of it! I was rattling my mind for more explinations, but I was coming up short. All together, I had three explinations, two of which left complete holes in my story: One, The wind had created the illusion of fire and air, two, I had hit my head without knowing it, or three, I really did see it, but Mayaru and Kumoru didn't, or simply thought nothing of it.
I was rattling my brain trying to think of another logical explination, when Kumoru stopped. I bumped into Mayaru's back and looked up. In front of us was a huge opening. The walls curved upwards overhed in massive arches and the frame around the opening was intrecately decorated with what seemed like a flowering paisley design. Kumoru turned towards us.
"We're about to enter the Main Hall. Here, we are subject to attack by anything, including The Evils."
"Evil-?" I began but was once more cut off by Mayaru.
" The monsters that we keep running into." He answered quickly.
Once again, I had the feeling that he was trying to keep our reason for traveling from Kumoru and me, not knowing what to do, played along.
"Oh yeah! Ha ha! uh... Of course..."
I knew that the Evils were something that everyone must have known about. Apparently, they were evil creatures that had different species called "Shadows". I was sure there were more than just the Shadows, but I didn't like to consider that there could be anything more cold blooded and hateful than itself. I shivered. Kumoru signaled for us to follow him inside.
Once we were in, I lost my breath. The room was magnificent! Massive pillars jetted out of the ground and were decorated with gorgeous intricate carvings. The carvings in icy walls depicted little triangular-like people figures, like pictures in a storybook. Strange symbols were squeezed cozily between the pictures like writing and deep flawless decorations adorned them, making them appear mystical and enchanting. I was amazed at how in-tact the carvings were.
I was sure they were ancient, yet they looked as though they had just been done that day! The cold had done a marvelous job of preserving them. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning outside that made the icy temple light up, and for a moment, I could have sworn I read the symbols on the wall. I saw the word "Light", just before everything went dark again. I blinked and shook my head. I realized that Mayaru and Kumoru had gained some distance.
Kumoru stopped and looked back.
"Are you alright, Aya-san?"
"Uh... Yeah!" I replied I began to run back over to them but suddenly my foot slipped from underneath me and I found myself laying on the floor on top of a large pool of ice.
"Aya!" Kumoru yelled. I could hear the two men running over to me.
they both took my hands, and hauled me off of the ice.
"Ow..." I said, rubbing my back.
"Sorry," Kumoru said, "I should have warned you. The farther we go, the colder it is and there'll be alot of slippery ice, are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Kumoru smiled at me.
"Transfixed with the carvings?" He asked, warmly.
"Yeah..." I replied " What are they?"
"C'mon. We can talk on our way."
We resumed to walking as I stood between the two men, both of which towered above me.
"The ancients created the carving to tell stories, so that they could not be lost in time. What you see here is a huge cavern of one story."
I gasped. "One story? But there has to be hundreds! They stretch from ceiling to floor! How could it all be one story?"
"The ancients liked to use lots of detail in their stories, so that people could have a clear memory of what really happened. Yet, the stories were never straight forward. Legend has it, that the ancients hid meanings in them, and wanted to keep the secrets safe from evil beings, so they made all the stories like riddles."
"Riddles?"
"Yep! But that was thousands of years ago. The truth has been bent over time. The stories writen on the wall are considered simple myths now. No one can tell what they say."
I looked at him wierd and looked back. "You mean no one can read it?"
"Exactly. Nobody has been able to read Cryptic for hundreds of years."
I looked down. I could have sworn I saw the word 'light' on the wall. I didn't know if I had just imagined it.
"S-so those symbols... They're... Cryptic?"
He looked at me strangely. "Yes... Everybody knows what Cryptic is. It's everywhere. In caves, temples, on rocks, ancient monuments. You name it."
I knew I had to have been wierding him out. Not only that, but I could feel growing tension hovering around Mayaru. I looked to him. He was staring straight ahead.I looked away. Suddenly, I felt something moving in the back of my head. Probing my mind. I shot my look back at Mayaru, but he was the same as he was a second ago. I pushed it away and shook it off. It was obviously nothing, seeing as it only affected me. Perhaps I was just hungry and was getting light headed.
We continued walking, and soon, the dimness of the afternoon turned into the darkness of night. We were swallowed by pitch blackness and were forced to stop. The lightning seemed to be more frequent, flashing on and off instantaneously.
"Here. It's too dark, we'll have to sleep here tonight."
Mayaru and me humbly agreed. We took refuge in a corner where the Main Hall turned, as to preserve warmth. Mayaru took out some supplies from the travel pack, and within minutes we had a strong blazing fire in front of us. I was dissapointed to see that he didn't use his powers to start the fire, but kept quiet about it. The two men leaned against the wall, opposite from eachother and I sat in an angle from both of them.
It was quiet, exept for the low rumbling of the thunder and the instantaneous flash of lighning. It was strange that we should be so quiet. I was sure that we were supposed to have some sort of conversation, but Kumoru and Mayaru seemed quite content with the silence. I however, was restless.
Mayaru leaned forward on his knees to blow out a spark that had landed a few inches from his shoe. But when he leaned back to sit down, his foot slipped and he slid clumsily onto his back. There was a sharp clack as his golden pockewatch slid out of his pocket and opened as it hit the hard, cold floor. He picked it up and examined it.
He then undid his cloak and blew on the gold. His cloak fell around him and he used a corner to polish the watch. Kumoru sighed deeply, and leaned forward. Something glinted around his neck, but I ignored it. I watched the two men and wondered how they couldn't be restless with the quiet. I then noticed something peculiar about the both of them. I peered at them hard as I tried to figure out what it was. I looked at Mayaru, and saw a necklace that he was wearing. I stared at it for a long time.
Suddenly, realization struck and the adrenaline rush that came with it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight.
"Mayaru!" I exclaimed.
He looked up sharply.
"You have the same neckace as me!" Quickly, I pulled my cloak off to reveal the little heart and bead crest that was around my neck. Kumoru sat up straight, and stared from me to Mayaru. Mayaru's face turned pale as he stared at me.
"You- You have one?" He asked, his voice shaky.
I smiled "Uh huh! See! It's just like yours, exept mine's a heart!"
Mayaru looked like he had seen a ghost.
"You can't be serious," Kumoru said suddenly. We looked at him. He had a stunned look on his face. "I- I have one too!"
He motioned to the necklace I saw he had earlier.
They all had distinct similarities. Kumoru's was a blue wave with a dangly bead hanging from one of the curves.Wind... Mayaru's, was similar to an orange raindrop shape, but where the tip should have been, it opened to become a mouth. Inside the mouth, was an orange bead. Fire...
There was a long, stunned silence. I thought maybe this similarity might have been exiting and funny, but they didn't. They stared at eachother. Mayaru stared at Kumoru, Kumoru stared at me, and I stared at both of them. I began to feel as though it was a mistake to say anything.
"I- I can't believe it..." Kumoru said suddenly. "Can it really be?" He looked back at Mayaru. "Do you know what this means?"
Mayaru's face was still pale. He was hesitant to answer. He looked down and I saw a hint of fear in his eyes.
"Yes." He answered.
I raised an eyebrow. "It means something? I thought it was just a coincidence!"
Kumoru looked from Mayaru to me. "Yo- You really don't know do you? Aya... This is much more than mere coincidence... It's... Fate..."
I had an aquward feeling in the pit of my stomach. I laughed, weakly.
"Ha ha very funny, you guys, now seriously, what are you talking about."
Kumoru's gaze snapped to Mayaru.
"She doesn't know? You didn't tell her?!"
Mayaru answered defensively " I didn't even know she had that crest! Besides, if I would have seen it, I couldn't actually believe it! Would you?"
Kumoru sighed with defeat. "I guess not..." Suddenly he turned serious again. "So... How do you not know what that is?" He asked me, motioning to the heart.
"I dunno... I've had it ever since I woke up. Should I know what it is?"
He looked at me in total disbelief. He then turned to Mayaru.
"What does she mean 'when she woke up'? Why are you two actually headed to Newport?"
Mayaru looked at me and then back at Kumoru.
"We were trying to find her family..." He replied.
Kumoru looked at us as though he couldn't believe any of it.
"It's true..." I began. I looked down. "I woke up in a cave north of Setus. I didn't know who or where I was... I still don't... I can't remember anything... And when I met Mayaru, at first, he didn't believe me either, but then he told me he would help me... And that's what we're doing. Trying to find out who I am..."
Kumoru had an all around believing look on his face, but it was stunned.
"You're serious, aren't you?"
I nodded. "But I still don't understand what my- our necklaces have to do with anything..."
Kumoru sat up straight and attempted to regain his composure. He looked at Mayaru.
"You think it's time she knows?"
Mayaru had a somewhat reluctant look on his face, but nodded slightly.
"Alright." Kumoru began. "Aya... It's time you know what that crest means... The story behind it... why it's such a shock to see that crest... And who you are..."
*****
The story started simply enough.
"Long ago, there was war and destruction. The earth was ruled by ten kings, but five were corrupt and wanted complete conrol of the earth. In every war, thousands of lives were lost. Even outside of the war, people were dying. The world was crumbling and all the world could do was look on. There was nothing anybody could do about it... But... There were rebels. They were known as the Final Star and they fought off both sides in the war. They were smaller than either of the other two armies, but they were the mightiest warriors the world had ever seen... Unfortunitely, at one battle, almost all of them were destroyed. All but seven perished in the fire of war, and knowing they were greatly outnumbered, they fled and went into hiding. Without them, the world was enveloped in darkness and the end was iminent. Meanwhile, the last of the Final Star had given up all hope, but there was one among them who chose to fight. He encouraged them to fight and told them that if they didn't, the world would surely end. They then got up the strength to fight. Even if it was their last..."
" At the next battle, said to be the one that decided the fate of the earth, the Final Star ambushed and rendered ten armies completely helpless. But the battle was far from over. They were fighting in the legendary Battle of A Thousand Armies. They fought as hard as they possibly could, destroying every enemy they were faced with, but their winning streak didn't last... Soon, they were cornered, and ready to die. But although everybody in that battle was against them, there were stronger allies on their side."
"Legend has it, that the Celestial Spirits saw the Final Star losing, and knew that if they were killed, the earth would be destroyed forever. So, they created these crests... The first was the crest of fire and richeousness. Second, was the crest of air and courage. Third was the crest of ice and peace. Fourth was the crest in darkness and goodwill. Fifth, the crest of earth and joy. Sixth, the crest of lightning and courage and last, but most important, the heart crest of love."
"My crest..." I said, clutching it tightly. He nodded.
"When the crests were sent down, they gave the power over the elements to the posessor. With them, all seven of the Final Star fought through the war and suceeded. Truthfully, for them it must have been like telling a child to go to bed. Their powers were like no others the world had ever seen and after the battle, they began to rebuild the earth into it's own dynasty. They overthrew the evil kings, and divided the earth equally among the remaining five kings. Over time, the world began to heal and peace was restored to the world."
I tilted my head. "Okay... I get that part, but I still don't see what this has to do with me..."
"Well here's where you come in: Although the crests were given to the Final Star freely, there was a catch. In order to keep the peace, every 1000 years, when the moons alighn, the seven summoners must present themselves before the moons to show that all seven are still together. So that they can be renewed and their powers purified. Over time the crests were handed down from generation to generation so that the cycle could continue, and the world began to become restored."
"But, a thousand years ago, a generation who had passed the crests on to their heirs, dissapeared without a trace. Yet, this was not the problem. You see, when they dissapeared, everything would still have been okay, but they took something with them. The heir of the heart crest dissapeared with them, never to be seen again... and because that was the time of the equinox when they dissapeared, the crests were unable to purify the earth, and so when the equinox passed, the word was consumed by darkness. And now, the reminants of the great world that it used to be cease to exist."
"I'm sorry... I'm not very clear on what you're trying to say... Is there an ending to the story?"
He had a deep look in his eyes. The fire made them seem like the light was dancing.
"Yes... But it has yet to happen... There's a prophecy that has been handed down since the dissapearances... It says that one day the missing heir would return, and when he does, the crests must be reunited, and once their together, they must travel to the north pole and seal the Evils back into the Northern temple. The place where they are sent when they are destroyed. You see, Aya, that is why our meeting eachother couldn't have possibly been a coincidence. Somehow, the crests are drawn to eachother by some unseen power. That's who you are... You're the missing heir..."
I felt light headed. Everything he had said was making my stomach hurt, but there were so many things that he was saying that made me believe it was true. But there was one thing that was hard for me to believe...
"But... If that's really me... If... I'm the missing heir... Then that means I'm a thousand years old..."
Kumoru nodded slightly.
I wanted to faint. It couldn't possibly be true. There had to be some other explination. But it all fit... too well at that. No memory of my past... No memory of the world... I shook my head with denial.
"No... No No NO!!! I cant be... I- It's not possible! No..."
"Aya..." Kumoru spoke softly. " It has to be..."
"I mean... It's not the fact that I'm a thousand years old that scares me. After seeing youre powers I can believe anything! But, It means that... I don't have anybody... I'm... Alone..."
The thought of being alone was now assured. Dread filled me. The only one who had kept me from feeling that way, was Mayaru. He had been my friend for a mere day, and I felt closer to him that I felt towards anybody I had ever seen. Then the thought hit me. Since there was no one to search for... Mayaru no longer had a reason to be with me. It was selfish to think, but I didn't want him to go... I was too afraid... too alone...
"I-... I dont want to be alone again..." I said shakily. I felt tears sting my eyes. "No..." I suddenly felt a warm hand on my shoulder.
"Who says you have to be alone?"
I looked up to see Kumoru smiling warmly. "Didn't you hear the part about the legend? You still have something to seek out, but just not exactly what you thought! Besides, I would never leave you alone... And I'm sure Mayaru would love to help, if he's not buisy!" We looked at him. He seemed to peer at us through the corner of his eye. He sighed
"Yeah...Whatever..." I was startled to hear his snide reply. I felt Kumoru's grip tighten on my shoulder and when I looked up, he had a suspicious look in his eyes and must have felt me looking at him because he turned back towards me and his suspicious glare turned into a warm smile."
"But..." He continued. " It's all up to you, Aya! I know hearing all this might be a little hard for you to understand, but It'll give you something to look forward to." I thought for a long moment. It was all so hard to believe.
I was the missing heir? I was a thousand years old? I had to stop the world from getting destroyed? Me? A nobody? But when I really thought about it, there was many good things that could come out of it. Not only for me, but for the world. I could save the world and towards the end or on my way, I might remember something from my past. Not only that, but something was tugging at my heart, telling me that this was something I had to do. Like a promise to myself. It took me a long moment to answer.
"Alright." I finally said. "I'll do it. I have full trust and confidence in what we must do.I- I want to do it..."
Kumoru had a pleased smile on his face. Mayaru's however was careless as he turned away and his eyes were masked by darkness.
"You should know, Aya, that this will not be a short journey. Nor will it be easy, as the Evils will be hunting us and natures own obstacles shall come our way." He smiled sweetly. "But we will be together. So you musn't worry about your safety or being alone... I swear an oath that I will protect you with everything I have. I will be your gaurdian 'til the end."
His word were so sencere. I then knew that I was covered and that everything he was saying would actually be true. Suddenly, Mayaru spoke.
"I think it's time we went to sleep..." We turned towards him. "It's been a long day, and seeing as we're going on this 'adventure' thing, we'll need the rest. Goodnight..." With that, he leaned against the wall and tilted his head forward. The darkness masked his face, and his silvery hair glistened in the firelight. Kumoru turned back towards me.
"Mayaru has the right idea. You need your rest." He moved back to his side and rested his back to the wall. "Besides, maybe sleeping will give you time to thing about things."
I sighed and crawled into the fetal position. I pulled my cloak over me and used my sword as a pillow. I watched as the fire danced around. They were hypnotizing and after a moment, I realized how truly tired I was. Slowly, my vision began to blur as my eyes began to slide shut. Soon, my thoughts smoothed out, and everything became dark as I began to drift into a deep sleep.
So you're back... Did you finish the job?
Not exactly...
WHAT?! What do you mean?! You didn't kill her?!
No...
I gave you specific orders to finish her off immedeatly! And then, I go out of my way to give you another twenty-four hours, and the job still isn't done?! Tell me now why it isn't and it sure as hell better be a good explination or so help me I will-
There's another one!
Another one what?!
Another summoner... He's powerful... Apparently he has the powers of the wind crest. He came in right when I was going to do the job! He destroyed the Havoc we sent...
Hmm... well... this gives you even more of a reason to finish her off...
But I-
Once again! But what?! Don't you see what's happening?! The heart crest is calling to the others. It's drawing them to it! So kill the girl before it calls anymore! Or else you really won't be able to do it!
What about the air summoner? He's already suspicious! I can feel it! What if I don't have the power to defeat him?!
Do it dirty... Lie low for a while... and kill him first! When he least expects it... And then, the girl will have no one to protect her. She should be easy to finish off, seeing as she has no powers to defend herself with... Don't give her the chance to develop them... Or you really will have a problem... Don't let her escape...But if she does...
... She won't...
guitargirl77777777 Community Member 
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