CAW! CAW! The birds chirped throughout the peaceful streets of Osaka, Japan. A young, male figure strode down quiet sidewalks as a cool breeze passed by. Sixteen year old Ryuu Kaji was taking his daily stroll to school. He had light brown hair and wore his black uniform. It was a normal day for him until everything changed when he heard a loud crack. He paused. As he searched for its cause, he noticed that it seemed as if the whole world had stopped in its place. He felt a lump beneath his shoe and slightly lifted his leg. It was an old, plastic doll with golden hair, a red dress and a missing arm. A little bit off to the left was its severed limb. He widened his eyes and saw what he had done. Regretful for his recent actions, he bent down to pick up the toy.
"Hey! That's mine!" the voice of a small girl echoed from the east.
"I-I'm so sorry! Here, I'll pick it up..." he replied. Ryuu extended his arm and reached for the doll.
"Stop! I'll get it myself!" the unknown voice shouted. Over the horizon, a little girl about the age of eight appeared. She marched up to her toy, knelt down, and carefully picked it up. The child had semi-long hair and wore a green sweater. A stopwatch stuck out of her pocket.
"Be more careful!" she barked.
"S-sorry..." Ryuu apologized. He looked around and found that some birds were currently in flight. But they weren't flapping their wings or gently soaring; they were just levitating. As she snapped the doll's arm back into place, the birds continued to flutter away. He gasped in surprise.
"What are you?!"
"Humph!" She cleared her throat and straightened her back in pride. "For your information, I am Mako, the beautiful goddess of time."
"Wha-what?!" he questioned in confusion. "This must be a joke..." He chuckled a little. "You? The goddess of time? You've got to be kidding me."
"No! It's true!" she argued, "Here! I'll show you!" She swiftly waved her doll in the air and everything had frozen.
"WHOA!" He stood there breathless.
"See?" she said in arrogance.
"O-okay, I believe you... but..." he turned to her, "isn't it supposed to be 'Father Time', or something?" Mako glared at him and sighed.
"No, he died a long time ago."
"Then... you're pretty young for a goddess."
"The god before me died kind of early."
"Huh?"
"Humans are chosen to be a god's heir from the moment they are born. Gods are supposed to live for thousands of years but apparently, the god before me only lived for about..." she thought for a moment, "one hundred twenty-eight years. Gods also look the same age as they were when they first became one. And I've been a goddess for about fifteen years so; I'm technically twenty-three."
"WHAT?! Th-that's impossible! ... Then...I guess you're older than me..." Ryuu noted. Mako smirked.
"And what's the doll for?"
"It's my immortal material."
"Immortal material?"
"Yes. It's what gives me my powers. Without it, a god... wouldn't be a god."
"O-oh...by the way, my name's Ryuu," he mentioned. She smiled.
"Nice to meet you."
Ryuu then noticed that Mako seemed to be examining him. "Yep, you're perfect!" Mako confirmed.
"For what?" Ryuu asked. She smiled.
"To be my knight!"
"Kn-knight?!"
"Well, you see..." she leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Somebody is trying to assassinate me."
"What?!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah...so please?" He thought for a moment.
"Fine... it's a good excuse to get out of school..."
"Actually, you have a time limit. Here." She handed him a watch with a golden bracelet. "For every three hours, one of the fifty-six segments in this watch will crack. When it reaches the clock, your time's up. So, that's about a week."
"What happens after that?"
"Time will rewind itself and you'll forget everything." He thought once more.
"Okay, I'll do it."
Suddenly, rumbling came from the east. "It's here!" Mako announced.
"What is that?!" Ryuu panicked. As he turned, he saw that Mako had already begun running. A humongous cyborg came storming through the street. He remained still.
"FIGHT!" Mako yelled from behind a bush.
"With what?!"
"Are you blind?! I left you a sword!" At his feet was a silver sword with a strange clock above the handle. Ryuu quickly snatched it up and took an awkward battle stance. As it neared him, he shut his eyes, tightened his grip, and slashed. Upon opening one eye, he discovered that the robot had frozen. His new sword had some kind of ability to stop a person's time and movement. As he looked up at the bulky figure, he began examining it. The android was about eight feet tall and three feet wide. "HURRY UP!" Mako hollered. With more confidence, Ryuu struck it again, and the mighty machine fell, defeated. He sighed with great relief as Mako reappeared, clapping. "Well done, my knight," she congratulated him. He sat down, dropped his sword, and sighed again.
"What was that?"
"That," Mako answered, "was a Keeper."
"A Keeper?"
"Robots created to protect the home of all gods, the Eternal Garden."
"Why did it attack us?"
"Somebody must've hacked the control systems...I'm guessing that whoever it is, they must think that somebody with more experience should manage time... If I die, then whoever's next in line will inherit my job." Ryuu widened his eyes in surprise and clenched his fist in disgust.
"Well, no matter what, I'll do my very best to protect you," he promised. Hearing those words made Mako feel safe.
Crash! Another Keeper collapsed due to Ryuu's blade. It had been three days since he was knighted and twenty-nine segments of the watch had been cracked. "Okay, let's move." Mako declared. The pair was on their way to Mt. Fuji, one of multiple portals to the Eternal Garden. Mako thought that if they take down the Keepers' source, they'd both be safe. She walked forward as Ryuu followed. He glanced at Mako's doll.
"Hey, why haven't you used your powers?" Ryuu wondered.
"The Keepers were built in a way that gods' powers don't affect them," she explained. "You know..." Mako continued.
"Hm?" Ryuu turned to her.
"When I became the goddess of time, I was so excited at first, but... the other gods had erased the memories of everybody I was close to...almost as if I never existed...That's when I realized how badly I wanted to live a regular life. I wanted to go to high school or maybe get a job. At this age, I'd either be in college or taking care of a family, but I never even finished grade school!" Ryuu pitied her.
"Why don't I... give you a tour around my school?" he suggested.
"You'll have forgotten about me by then..." she mentioned.
"I'll think of something! I promise!" he reassured her. Mako's face lit up with happiness.
"Thanks..." They ventured on.
The two travelers walked through the darkness. It was ten o' clock at night as the moonlight revealed their path. They journeyed through the black town, when Ryuu suddenly heard a slight rustling.
"Wait..." Ryuu stopped Mako, "Do you hear it?"
"Yeah..." Mako replied. The rustling transformed into roaring, then into thundering. It was the sound of a Keeper's jets. "Up there!" Mako spotted it first. The Keeper was hovering directly above them. Suddenly, it came crashing down, barely missing them. It stood up and attempted to attack Ryuu with its prebuilt flamethrower. He ran in circles to avoid the inferno, but instead of burning Ryuu, the flames almost hit some houses.
"Stop! You're going to hurt innocent people!" Ryuu begged the cyborg to stop. Because the foolish robot continued, Ryuu slid under the Keeper and cut its legs. It stopped, tipped over, and slowly fell apart.
"Who's doing this to us?!" Mako raged. They continued on, leaving the evidence behind.
"How much farther, Mako?!" Ryuu groaned.
"Quit whining! We're getting closer." Mako scolded. They walked down the crowded streets of a bustling city. The forty-fifth segment had recently been chipped. All of a sudden, a Keeper ambushed them out of nowhere. Screams could be heard throughout the town. "Oh no...Not here..." Ryuu worried. It stepped forth, raised its arm, and out shot a blue luminescent laser beam.
"Get out of the way!" Ryuu shoved Mako just before it could hit her. "Go somewhere safe." Mako ran off with the rest of the crowd. As the streets cleared, Ryuu jumped up and struck the Keeper in the shoulder. It stopped. Then, he finished it off by slicing it in half. As it dropped in pieces, the civilians stepped out of their hiding places one by one and stared at Ryuu. "Uhh..." he thought for a while. He hid his sword behind his back. "N-nothing to see here folks! Nope! Nothing suspicious or anything!" Ryuu laughed nervously. Mako sighed in embarrassment. She activated her powers through the immortal material, and time rewound. "Oh...right… thanks…"
"Come on," she said in disappointment. Mako marched on ahead and Ryuu came running behind her.
As they continued on, their journey had finally come to an end. "There!" Mako yelled in glee, "Mt. Fuji!" Ryuu smiled and had forgotten about his exhaustion completely. They both ran towards the large mountain, when a battalion of Keepers appeared from the skies.
"No!" Ryuu complained in disbelief.
"For Pete's sake!" Mako rambled. They stopped as the Keepers took aim. Two approached from behind and locked their arms. There was no escape. The robots then escorted them towards the peak. "They're taking us to the garden!" Mako realized. "Our enemy must be a god!"
"Man... and we've come so far..." Ryuu sighed. As they climbed up with the portal laying dead ahead, Ryuu wore a face of worry, as Mako wore one of rage. They entered the swirling vortex and had traveled to a completely different world, the Eternal Garden. It was so peaceful, serene, and tranquil. Gorgeous plants and flowers were scattered everywhere and among them were several towers. One had a clock hanging above its door. Another was decorated with tridents and seashells. And one stood out. It had a vicious look to it and was decorated with a sword and shield. They were headed towards the armored building, the tower of war. The Keepers shoved them into the door as they were greeted be a dark man.
"Good to see you again, Mako."
"I should've known those Keepers came from a person as heartless as you," Mako growled.
"Yes, yes, it was all me," Salem confessed. "The Keepers and this brilliant plan came from the great god of war!" He laughed in a deep, sinister voice. Mako snarled at him as she hid behind Ryuu. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Salem directed his attention at Ryuu. "A human? Ha! How weak of you," he insulted her. Ryuu shielded Mako, drew his sword, and pointed its tip at Salem.
Mako hissed, "Be quiet, Salem! Ryuu is a better being than you'll ever be!" He frowned in disgust.
"Well then..." he turned his back towards them, "let's end this, Mako. Shall we?" With incredibly rapid movement, he flung three daggers at Mako. Ryuu automatically lashed at the daggers, blowing them away.
"No, I'll handle this," Ryuu stated with courage.
"Oh, so the human wishes to protect the goddess, how sweet. Very well then." Mako tugged at Ryuu's shirt.
"But...you might get-"
"I know," Ryuu interrupted. He scooted Mako out the door, but she glanced long enough to see that the watch's damages had almost reached the clock. Ryuu locked the door from the inside. Mako pounded on the door, trying to get in, but it was no use. She leaned against the stone walls, crouched, and put her head down. Just then, she heard a sudden smash. One of them seemed to be losing the battle. Mako desperately searched for a window, but instead, found a tiny hole in the wall. As she peered in, she noticed that Ryuu lie knocked back against a unique machine, and Salem was heading towards him. Salem drew a long sword.
"Ryuu! Get up!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Ryuu slightly opened his eyes; half awake, and witnessed a sword being lunged towards him. Luckily, he was able to dodge the attack but the god struck the machine instead. After stabbing it, they both knew that it would explode in seconds.
"My immortal material!" Salem shouted in regret. Mako quickly backed up from the hole and desperately attempted to open the door. BOOM! It was too late.
"RYUU!" Mako finally opened the door and slowly entered the charred room. "No..." She was in complete disbelief. Mako searched the room thoroughly for him without knowing what had already happened. Eventually, Mako discovered the time sword wrapped in a black coating of soot. She looked down and to her surprise, a single shard of glass was lying at her feet. Mako immediately recognized it sighed in relieved. "You were lucky enough to get away, huh? Don't scare me like that ever again." She paused and stared at the shard. "Oh, and by the way...," Mako smiled, "your watch doesn't work."
Mako stood before Osaka High. "So this is the school he went to, huh?" It'd been two weeks since they last saw each other. As the bell rang and students hurriedly exited the gates, she spotted Ryuu. "Ryuu!" she called out in excitement. He walked towards her. "Good to see you!"
"Who are you?" he questioned. Mako suddenly remembered everything that had happened.
"Oh...right..." she said to herself. "I'm Mako..."
"Well, Mako, is there anything you need?" She looked at his wrist and noticed the broken watch. Her face brightened.
"Can you please give me a tour around school?"
"Oh...sure..." Ryuu stepped forward and led her through the school halls as Mako skipped along.