~~~UWDS Africa Head Quarters~~~
In the African headquarters of the organization, and old woman's laugh echoed against the walls, sharp and unrestrained.
"What?! HAHAHA! Ryujin and the flame boy suddenly got knocked out? They're suppose to go today right?"
A male staff reported:
"Yes sir!"
"HAHAHA. It's like something is stopping them. Right?"
She muttered.
~~~Cape Hedo Cafe~~~
Kara rushed forward, eyes wide with worry.
"Kirashi-san! What happened?!"
The support crew carefully helped Kirashi and Itoshi from the temple path and brought them back to the café.
"I don't know! He touched the statue, then... he passed out! There was a bird screaming or something after that! What about Ryujin?"
Kirashi replied, in panic.
Kara leaned onto Itoshi as the nurses checked on his condition, she held his cheek in worry.
She then turned to Kirashi, replying to his question.
"We don't know what's happening... He suddenly passed out too..."
Ayro couldn't do anything, he can only watch as Ryujin and Itoshi are once again treated in their emergency bed.
"What the hell is going on...?"
Confusion and concern filled the room as the squad and the support crew exchanged uneasy glances. The day slowly faded into night with both Itoshi and Ryujin asleep, their conditions still uncertain.
~~~The Room That Observes All~~~
All seven silhouettes sat in The Room That Observes All, their presence heavy and silent as Hachi reported the sudden collapse of Ryujin and Itoshi.
"Interesting... The two 'star' profiles knocked out at the same time,"
Silhouette 3 noted, the glow from the monitors reflecting off his seated form.
"Hachi, have you had them checked?"
Silhouette 4 asked.
Hachi stood in the center of the room, looking up toward the balcony of thrones.
"Yes. They're still unconscious as of this hour."
"Any findings? It's not a cyberattack, right?"
Silhouette 7 asked.
Hachi shook his head.
"No, it's not. Neither has neurolinks from the government."
There was a long pause in the room, the only sound being the hum of the vast computer systems below. Then—Silhouette 6 muttered under his breath.
"A cry of a hawk..."
Suddenly, a confident, low-toned voice cut through the darkness.
"Long ago, the Flame God had a 'guardian'."
It was the first silhouette. Silhouette 7 turned toward the source of the voice.
"You seem to know something, Bao-shi."
Bao-shi—the first Skull of U.W.D.S. assigned to the Asia sector—stepped forward toward the edge of the balcony.
"Every century, the strongest 'chosen' bearer of each element is selected by the guardians. They become the next 'god' of that element."
"Century?"
Silhouette 3 scoffed.
"It's been five hundred years since the last chosen one."
Bao-shi hushed them with a smile, his teeth shining white even while the rest of his features blended into the dark room.
"No one was worthy of the 'Flame Griffin'—until now."
"Interesting. There are two 'worthy' flame users bearing that blessing,"
Silhouette 3 whispered.
"Ryo-Ryo Mukori... huh,"
Silhouette 7 muttered.
Hachi looked up at the high thrones.
"It's been a while since the last 'chosen.' That was earth, right?"
"Indeed,"
Silhouette 7 confirmed.
Hachi chuckled, a sharp contrast to the cold atmosphere of the room.
"This generation of soldiers is going to be the most interesting one yet."
~~~May 1 2169~~~
Kara slept next to Itoshi's bed. He finally opened his eyes.
He pressed his palm against his forehead, words slipping out in a faint, weary whisper.
"W-What the hell..."
Hearing her sibling, Kara jolted and quickly stood up, alarm flashing in her eyes.
"Koya!"
Itoshi sat down as he asked:
"Oh... Kara... What happened?"
"You passed out while exploring the temple..."
She replied, concerned.
"Where's Kirashi? Is he ok?!"
Itoshi asked.
"Yes... he is. Ryujin-sama though..."
"Ryujin? What happened?"
Kara, voice low she replied.
"He passed out around the same time you did... He's still asleep right now, b-but! He's alright now!"
"W-What!? What happened?!"
"We don't know..."
"Where is he??"
Itoshi asked as he clenched the blanket on his lap.
"He's asleep next room... Hey! You should rest!"
Itoshi paused before he replied, taking Kara's suggestion.
"Yeah, don't worry. I'll rest."
"What happened?"
Suddenly, Kirashi and Ayro barged into the room.
"Itoshi!"
Kirashi quickly checked him over.
"Thank God! Are you okay? What happened?"
"I'm not sure... It all happened so fast. It's all a bit fuzzy."
Suddenly, Itoshi's memory stirred.
"...Ah."
Kirashi waited silently.
Itoshi stuttered, his brows furrowed as he tried to piece together what he had just seen.
"The woman... a mountain... a castle..."
Everyone leaned in closer.
"The moment I touched the statue... some things I can't explain... First, I think I heard an eagle... or a hawk?"
Kirashi nods.
"I heard it too."
Itoshi suddenly trembled.
"I saw the statue move... and then it was her... her face was so close..."
~~~Itoshi's POV~~~
I stood there as the griffin circled the sky. I cautiously watched it while more strange things happened in the dark, burning halls. Voices whispered to me, the voices of people who felt familiar. They murmured:
"Come back."
"Don't go."
"I don't want to die."
"Mom..."
"Onee-san..."
But there was one word that stood out to me—the shriek of the white-haired woman who kept appearing in my dreams.
"Why does this keep happening?!"
I shouted out loud.
"Who are you?! What do you fucking need?!"
The griffin shrieked in response.
I walked further into the hall, the tunnel warping more and more the deeper I went. Suddenly, a gust of wind caught me. I looked back but saw nothing. When I looked forward again—the white-haired woman was staring at me, eye to eye, barely an inch away.
"What the..."
I stepped back, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Oi! Talk!" I shouted, even as my fingers trembled.
The woman reached out and touched my cheeks. Suddenly, her face collapsed in on itself. I couldn't understand anything—I was horrified by what I saw. As her face warped, she cried out:
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
I fell into darkness—and then I woke up.
~~~Cape Hedo Cafe~~~
"Uh... Woman?.."
Kirashi blinked, unable to catch up.
They all sat down around Itoshi as he told them what he saw,
Kara replied to Kirashi, he hands clasped together atop her thighs.
"Oh... Apparently, there's a white-haired woman with blue and red eyes that bugs his dreams every once in a while."
Itoshi clutched both of his hands on his head, trembling as his mind raced in confusion, desperately wondering what it all meant.
"This time is different! She actually managed to knock me out and enter my mind!!! Damn it! Who is she!?"
Then suddenly, a knock tapped against the door frame... it was Ayro, quietly listening to them the whole time.
"Griffin... Itoshi... Are you perhaps...?"
"..."
Ayro sighed.
"Nevermind..."
Then he turned to Kirashi.
"Let him rest for now, Kirashi."
Kirashi took the Vice-Leader's orders and he nods.
"Ok"
As Ayro and Kirashi left, Kara took care of Itoshi as she usually does. Well, Itoshi reacted in the usual way. Kara tried to wipe the sweat off Itoshi.
Kara leaned in, gently trying to wipe away the sweat from Itoshi's forehead. But with his mind still fuzzy and disoriented, he reacted in a way he normally wouldn't—snapping slightly, his tone sharper than usual, before immediately realizing it wasn't like him at all.
"I can do it myself, you know!"
"Come on!"
Kara pushed, pouty.
Itoshi tried to take the towel.
"Give me that!"
But Kara took it away before Itoshi could snatch it, determined to let Itoshi rest.
"No! I'll do it! You rest!"
He couldn't do anything.
[Downstairs]
Ayro muttered as he pinched his chin.
"Right as we're about to leave..."
Beside him, Kirashi asked.
"Ayro?"
"Yeah?"
"What did you want to ask Itoshi?"
Ayro blinked before he replied.
"Ah, it's—"
Before he could finish, his breath was taken away, his eyes widened as he witnessed Ryujin walking down the stairs his hands placed on the wall to support him as he went down.
"Ryujin!"
Kirashi jolted, looking behind him, getting his eyes with their leader.
Ayro rushed towards Ryujin, supporting him as he tried to stand up.
"What are you doing?! Are you okay?!"
Ryujin pressed his right palm to his forehead,
"Yeah... Damn it."
Kirashi joined them and he asked.
"What happened?!"
Ryujin stuttered, as he tried to reply.
"Ashura..."
Ayro instantly grasped the essence of Ryujin.
"Not right now..."
Kirashi blinked.
"Ashura?"
Ryujin forced himself to stand upright.
"I can hold him off. We'll continue going to Japan."
"It's risky!"
Ayro argued.
"We're going!"
Ryujin shouted.
There was silence...
"Get packed. We're leaving."
The leader's decision was final.
"That's Absur—"
"WE'RE LEAVING NOW! I've called our transport already."
Ryujin ordered one last time.
Ayro couldn't do anything, but mutter.
"Ryujin... Damn you."
At the same time, Itoshi and Kara were also there, overhearing everything as they both went down stairs.
"We're going now?"
"Get packed."
The squad quickly packed all the necessary things they wanted to bring along with their journey. Kirashi had his final goodbye to his old home. Itoshi got all of his energy back along with Kara. Meanwhile, Ayro was deeply worried about Ryujin's current state.
They boarded the chopper by 2:30 pm and set off for mainland Japan. The people aboard the chopper fell into a hushed silence, the only sound slicing through the void was the rhythmic thrum of the rotor blades.
Kara whispered to Itoshi worried.
"Koya... It's weirdly silent..."
Itoshi whispered back.
"Something must've happened..."
Then all of a sudden, Ryujin spoke about their order.
"We'll land on Nagasaki. We'll meet with the handler there. He or she will give us the guidelines and rules for our mission. Be sure to listen carefully. Especially you, Itoshi—your flame."
The two jolted as Itoshi followed up with the mission.
"Roger that!"
"Good."
Kara hummed.
"Um..."
"Question?"
"Y-Yeah..."
Kara nods.
"Go ahead."
It took a second before the words could come out of her soft lips, but eventually they did.
"What's up with the flame in the mainland?"
Ryujin quickly responed.
"You'll see."
"Oh..."
"Can I ask you something?"
Ryujin wanted to know something about Kara.
"O-Oh, sure!"
"How come you don't have "powers"?"
Ryujin asked.
Kara was speechless.
Ayro flinched.
"Oi, Ryujin."
Ryujin tried to stop Ayro from interfering,
"Let-"
but before he could, Kara gave her answer.
"I don't know. My parents told me to "live on" ever since, or at least that's what they told me, They told me that every day until the day they died. They knew I was probably too weak to adapt to the gifts.."
"I don't think she's powerless. Have you tried?"
Kirashi joined in.
"Ever since you told us how you learned your elemental type.. I've tried the same every night before I slept... Nothing happened."
Kirashi wanted to ask Kara once again how she managed to know about his past, but he felt the sense that maybe.
"I should do it another time".
There was once again silence on the chopper. Suddenly, the interior started to buzz with frantic warnings as they entered the airspace of the next island.
"Shit!"
Pilot 1 screamed over the comms.
"Evade! Evade!"
Pilot 2 yelled.
The chopper performed violent evasive maneuvers as ground defense missiles began to lock onto their position. Everyone held tight to their seats or the grab handles as the craft rocked uncontrollably, the G-force pinning them against the hull.
"What is happening!!"
Kirashi shouted, his knuckles white as he gripped his restraints.
"We've hit the broken zone!"
Pilot 1 barked back through the cabin speakers.
"Hold on tight!"
Pilot 2 commanded.
The chopper was eventually hit. The impact on the tail caused a massive explosion, the force of the blast tearing through the rear of the aircraft. The helicopter began to spin uncontrollably, the horizon outside the windows becoming a blurred streak of fire and sky.
~~~To be Continued~~~