Late in the morning, a light drizzle descended upon the great forest of Kokoro Island. The mortals from Kurenai Village, arranged in four files, had made themselves into three groups, walking past the lush and shriveled landscape that held a variety of trees —some with blue, grey, and white leaves.
Shinji had the most people under him, thanks to his witty thinking, and charismatic persona. On the other hand, Tsukino had a few boys... most of them thought they would get a little something: the idiots hoped that maybe things would work in their favor. Little to their imagination, do they know Tsukino is here on a 'special condition'; she has standards which are out of this world... meaning, she doesn't desire a man, at least not yet.
At the back of the mortals: the he last group consisting of Lucien and Tento. The youngest had a sack full of loot hunched on his back, as his pick eyes gazed down the cliff, wishing if there was a river instead of green grass.
'Life is like a river, it flows on its own pace, nothing can change it; it doesn't care if you want to rush certain events. At the end, what's bound to happen shall happen.'
—Some call that fate or destiny, right?
Ten steps away from the edge of the cliff, grievously staring at the hill ahead of them —their destination. Lush and lonesome, its peek stretched flat like a rice field, bringing it closer to the surface.
'There is a stage 3 profound beast there; we're not allowed to go to the camp unless we kill it.'
Rather than being chicken-hearted, Ten is curious of what it looks like. From what he heard, stage 3 profound beasts have something called a profound blast; their physical capabilities are a hundred, if not a thousand, leagues away from those of stage 2 beast. That being said, Ten knew better not to trust rumors... maybe, because he has an over-reactive imagination.
Shaking his head slightly, Ten clears away all the weird images drawing in his mind. He looks over the figure next to him —Lucien: calm and cold, carrying the giant hammer on his back. Tento's eyes stretches over to look at the characters being half hidden by his samue's arm.
'His birthmark has returned to silver.'
Finding the follow-up thoughts meaningless to him, Ten looks at the clouds, striking a conversation.
"Is it me, or there is a red object following us in the sky."
"That's a Madoshi."
"Oh..."
Ten raises his brows at Lucien's near apathetic reply. Although dubious, he decided to accept it —anything can happen.
"What would a Madoshi want from following us? Usually it should be the Bushi."
—Madoshi Tama-Artist are a class above Bushi. Not only can they use Bushi class Tama, they can perform miraculous abilities —mostly elemental— outside their bodies, affecting the surrounding space; 90% of them are women.
Lucien didn't reply, and Ten sighed.
—He doesn't look like the person to talk to strangers, should I consider myself lucky that he replied.
'Eh, whatever.'
Tento shrugs his shoulders, moving on. Kicking a few stones down the cliff out of boredom, Ten looks at Lucien again, his brows contracting.
"Thinking about it: that puma should've ran away, but it decided to chase after you, why?"
"Sometimes beast can be possessed by those who want to kill you."
Ten flinched, his steps halting for a second.
"Who would be stupid enough to possess a brainless creature?"
"That's more the reason to possess it. Without a mind, it's easy to control."
"I see."
Ten nods understanding, but in the next second his brows twitch. Frowning, he looks at the ground with a gloom shadow covering his face.
'My brother once said they are things that want to kill him. Considering what Silver Hammer-san said, they might be figures out there who want to kill people with that birthmark of theirs.'
—Maybe, I'm being paranoid.
***
As the drizzle stopped, Shinji decided to compose a song for everyone to sing along to. It talked about the importance of one's youth, and the joy of living it once.
Meanwhile, Tsukino, near the end, furrowed her brows, muttering at heartbeat sound, "Idiots. Can't they be silent, and focus at the situation at hand."
In that second, one of her slaves —she couldn't say followers— who addressed himself as Sugar-Sugar, yells at Shinji, "You stupid scholar, turn it down! Your chimpanzee growls are hurting my lady's ears!" —he is good-looking, but yelling makes him appear like an ugly goblin.
Turning toward Tsukino's direction, he smiles, protruding out his dark dimples, "Don't worry my princess. I, the most loyal man in history, will make you feel comfortable."
The gray-eyed-girl didn't say a thing, watching three of her 121 slaves rush toward Shinji's direction. She sighs, 'men,' Tsukino wanted to laugh at the haunting thought.
On the other hand, the three Tsuki Slaves sweated at the sight of over 500 men supporting Shinji —most are dead weights. The Slaves instantly shifted their focus to the weakest group —they have to do something.
Taking the lead, Sugar-Sugar grins at the sight of the red-hair young man walking on the dry grass near the edge of the cliff.
His yellow eyes had a dark glint as he closed in, "I'm glad to see you again. After you did the roof of my house... I didn't pay you back, since you were gone after. Here, is little advice as payment:
The weapon you're using is great... but it's nothing to a swordsman like me who has received training from my father to ready myself for the regiment."
—Yet, such a fool was acting dead.
"Even if you carry that hammer, you'll regret not have picked the sword. As the samurai say, 'Everything ends and starts with a sword: one sword swing can cause a war, yet stop it."
Tsukino felt embarrassed by her slave as she looked at the ground, hiding her blush of shame.
Not minding, Sugar-Sugar touches Lucy's shoulder with a big grin, saying, "Now, be a good boy; and be my lady's horse. A princess like her shouldn't be walking on her two feet."
"Your breath stinks..."
Before Sugar-Sugar could retaliate to the cold voice, Lucy's hand was on his human waste —head—, raising his body, throwing him down the cliff.
Salt-Salt and Chili-Chili, the other two Tsuki Slaves who ganged up on Ten, rushed over to their princess for protection...
No one took notice of them. All eyes were on Lucien. They did their best to hide their thoughts... who knew when such an obnoxious person would suddenly sneak up on you at night for trash talking them while hiding by the gang?
Shinji continued singing. He knew one had to die when they messed with the wrong person. As the Main Character, one would expect him to hate Lucy, but he liked this version of him more than the one of their last confrontation.
Reaching the foot of the mountain, Shinji decides to approach the side character of his story, before doing anything. Cupping his fist, he slightly bows in front of Lucy.
"Lucien-san, do you have a plan to handle this? Rumors say your 'beautiful' Okaasan, our 'Sweet' Akanechan is from one of the major clans in the inner districts."
The crowd exchanged stunned gazes at him using 'beautiful' and 'sweet' to describe a human eater.
Lucien, meanwhile, furrows his brows, looking at the mountain. Undoubtedly, the beast they are being tasked to kill is something he, Shinji, and his other friend met in the past thanks to Akane. Thinking for a second, he attempts to give a suggest; however, Tsukino raises an objection, her face disgusted.
"Are you seriously asking him for help? He'll only make a plan that benefits himself!"
A few others supported her idea, muttering about Lucy's ruthlessness. However, Shinji laughed it off with a few veins popping up on his face.
He casts a disdainful gaze at Tsukino.
"Those who have a plan, say it! If you don't, shut up and prepare to be used as sacrifices for your own foolishness!"
Tsukino rebukes, walking over to him, "You can't threaten us, when you, yourself, are like us! Unlike certain boys, we have people we love; we're willing to do anything to see them again!"
Shinji mirrors her move, snickering: "Tell those people you love to bring us a solution better than Lucien-san's."
"Yeah!" Tsukino's clenches her fist, veins popping on her face, "What makes you think, he has a plan?! He is no different from the others!"
Clinking his tongue, the youth in the spotless white scholar robes turns around. Placing his hands on his back, he looks at the ground coldly.
'Among the seven of us with that birthmark, I was cursed with multiple personalities. You, on the other hand, are blessed with the ability to copy everything you see, which is not Tama abilities; Derniere-san is blessed with a battle, strategic mind.'
—That's what Akanechan told me once.
'I'm acting on that to give us an advantage, but you don't understand, Tsuki, my first kiss.'