Tale of the Fire Flower
Prologue, Part 1: Track
"As fire is to ice, day is to night; dark is to light, when the might of these forces meet the entire world will find salvation and all beings living and dead will triumph."
Early Dawn - Feudal Japan
"The day is drawing near, when I will finally be rid of you. . ." The Lord of the Northern lands growled, as he stared at a picture of a young woman. Her face lit up with joy, her deep blue eyes shining like gems and her sandy brown hair pulled out of her heart shaped face.
A grumbled noise came from the opposite side of the room. The Northern lord turned to address the large Ogre in his quarters, who was anxiously awaiting his orders.
"This is the girl you will hunt down and kill." He announced to the lumbering beast.
The ogre looked at the picture for a moment before saying, "Why hunt her down when she's right here?"
The Lord took a moment to consider his words before speaking, "This is only an image of the girl. If she were here, there would be no use for you."
The ogre thought and nodded to agree with his superior.
"You have until sundown to complete your mission. If you fail, you will not see the light of day again. . . Do you understand?"
The ogre rapidly shook his head, "Yes, Milord!"
The Lord Chuckled, "Good. . ."
A portal opened behind the beast. Knowing that the ogre's reaction time was much less than his own, he shoved the beast into the spinning vortex and smiled maliciously as he watched the ogre fall away from his sight.
~|olo|~
6:45am – Chinatown, NY
"Mizuki, hurry up! You're going to miss the bus!" A woman yelled up the stairs.
"I can't find my algebra book, Granny!" A voice responded. A teenage girl cam barreling down the stairs, her sandy hair pulled back into a fishtail braid.
"You left it on the table last night." She smiled as she handed Rena her book.
"Arigatou Gozaimasu, Obasan!*" Rena kissed her Grandmother on the cheek as she took her book and bolted out the door.
Her mind might as well have been a broken record as she thought 'Gotta make it! Gotta catch the bus!' over and over again.
As she rounded the corner, the bus pulled up and opened its doors, allowing the waiting people to board.
"Oh, no you don't. . .!" she gritted to herself as she picked up speed, "Wait!" She called, knowing it wasn't going to help. She knew that everything in the grand state of New York was first come, first served. She took a leap of faith as the doors were closing. Rena took a moment to catch her breath before swiping her bus pass.
The bus driver shot her a warning glance, "Be here before the bus next time, young lady. Next time you won't be so lucky. . ."
"Yes, Mr. Joe. . ." She took the nearest seat to her and plopped down.
A girl behind the guard to the back of the bus leaned forward and asked, "Has anyone ever told you, you should join the track team?"
Tired from her unwanted morning run, all she could do was smile.
~|vJv|~
The ogre awoke to find himself in a strange new place. The people were dressed funny, the place sounded funny, and it really smelled funny… He had no idea where in the hell he was.
"Why in the hell would he send me here?" He grumbled as he rubbed his head, "Keh, lazy bastard could have done this himself." He spat sourly. He began to wander as continued to mumble to himself before freezing in his tracks…
"Keep in mind, I will be watching you ogre…" A voice growled from behind.
Against his better judgment, he turned around to see two violet eyes glowing from his shadow.
"Milord!"
"Stop fretting and complete your mission! Remember, you only have until sundown." The shadow hissed.
"Yes, Milord!" The Lord released the ogre from his hold and left his shadow. As the threat set in, he nearly jumped out of his skin, "How am I gonna do that by sundown?"
~|Y~Y|~
9:45am – Animation Domination Studios – New York, NY
"Hey, Masaki," Hollered a rather irritating voice, "Are you done with that underwater scene yet?" A tall lanky man questioned as he enter the office uninvited.
"NO! That is the fifteenth time you have asked me that in fifteen minutes, Mitchell! What the hell made you think that that was going to change!" Masaki barked as he slammed his fists on the desk.
"Sorry, man… It's just that Ross wants it done ASAP." Mitchell apologized.
"Well tell Ross 'things like this take time.' When I'm done, I'm done." Masaki said sourly as he turned back to his work. "Anything else?" he never turned to face Mitchell.
"Nah, man. I'll see you later."
With that he left.
The moment the door of his office closed, his cell phone rang.
"Hello?" His irritation clear.
"Well, what crawled up your butt, Mr. Animator?" A female voice chided.
"Sorry, Rei. . . " A light blush crept across his cheeks, "How's your day been so far?" He relaxed in his chair.
"A few broken bones, a couple of stitches here and there, but you know that's the life of a doctor." She replied. "How's your day been?"
"Irritating." He chuckled.
"Really? I would have never guessed." Masaki could hear her smile through her dry sarcasm.
"Rei," He began, "Why did you call me? You never call me while I'm at work…"
There was a heavy silence on the other line, "Please tell me you won't think I'm crazy for saying this…" She finally pleaded.
"Try me."
He heard Rei sigh, "I was on my way from the lab, and out the window I saw an ogre wandering through the streets."
It took a minute for Masaki to think. An ogre? No… It couldn't be. There was no way.
"Are you sure It wasn't something for one of those sci-fi stores or one of those year-round Halloween stores?"
"Yes! I can tell a real ogre from a fake one, Masaki!" Rei fussed.
Masaki sighed and ran his hand though his chocolate hair, "Did it cause panic?" his voice low.
She had to think for a moment, "No, actually. Most people surrounding him seemed oblivious to his presence." She stated.
"Let's hope it stays that way." He paused to get up and look out of his window. "If you see it again before I do, destroy it. On your lunch, go home and put up some sutras to hide the house or at least disguise it."
"Alright, but I have one more question…" her voice trailed off.
"What is it?"
"How did it get here?"
"That's one question I don't have an answer for, dear." With that, he hung up.
~|xOx|~
Devlin James Dower High School – 11:25am
The cafeteria was loud and rowdy as usual.
"Mizuki!" A tall brunette called over the noise, "Mizuki, over here!" She waved her arms high above her head.
The blue eyed girl looked her way and smiled as she came closer.
"Hey, Roxanne." She greeted as she sat down to eat.
"I was wondering, are you free this weekend?" Roxanne asked as she took a bite of her Panini.
"Yeah, why?" She asked popping a tatter tot in her mouth.
"Well, I was hoping to have girl's day with you and Gina." Roxanne answered.
Rena pretended to put on a top hat and a monocle, "What would this girl's day consist of?" She inquired in her best posh British accent.
"How glad I am you asked, my dear girl." Roxanne answered in the same inflection, "The first part of the day we spend in the shopping district, the second part we have dinner at my uncle's restaurant, and finally we go to the movies to see Apartment 13." Roxanne twisted her invisible mustache and pushed up her invisible glasses. The two of them burst out in laughter.
"What's so funny?" Asked another voice.
"Hey, Gina." They chorused.
"Are you free this weekend?" Roxanne.
Gina sat down and unpacked her bag lunch, "Yeah."
"What do you think of having a girl's day with Rena and me?"
~X~
The halls at lunch were particularly barren aside from the, skippers and the horny; face sucking couples who couldn't stop long enough to see the occasional teacher roaming the halls as well.
As she ascended up the stair case a strange feeling crept up her spine. She turned in to the science wing; the urge came over her to look out the large window at the end of the hall. As she neared the window at the end of the hall a feeling of malice and unease slowly consumed her. Every fiber of her being was screaming to turn around and run, but she ignored it.
Her heart stopped.
Just up the street was some kind of monster. At first, she thought it to be a trick of the mind; however, as she continued to observe the beast, she realized it wasn't. Rena wanted to run, wanted to hide and never come out and forget about what she had just seen.
"There you are." A male voice snatched her out of her state of frozen horror.
"Huh?!" she whipped around to find her friend and chemistry partner, Chase Matthews scowling at her, "Hi Chase. Uh… What's up?"
His scowl grew deeper, "Whadda ya mean 'what's up?' Did ya ferget that yer my lab partner?" He crossed his arms over his chest.
'That's right! We're supposed to finish the lab!' She remembered as embarrassment turned her face red.
"Are ya just gonna stand there gawkin' out the damn window or are ya gonna follow me to the chem. lab?" He demanded.
Her blues found the window once more before following her partner to the chemistry lab and saw no sign of the beast that had her frozen with fear. Unconsciously, that caused her to walk faster.
The sandy haired girl swooped into the chemistry lab, fear shaking her entire body. As she prepared herself, she forced herself to stop shaking. When she decided that she was sold enough to handle the delicate glass beakers she headed over to her and Chase's station.
"Hold it over the flame while I add the other chemicals." Chase read off of the instruction sheet.
She took the beaker tongs and held it over the Bunsen burner as instructed. Her mind wandered elsewhere and her tremors returned.
"Are you alright? Yer shakin'." Chase's voice once again pulling her back to reality.
"Yeah… I'm fine." She lied. She couldn't tell someone what she saw. If she did, they would think she had lost her mind! Her grandparent's would have to call the men with the huge butterfly nets to haul her away to the Loony bin and she didn't want that. Being a teen was already hard enough.
Again, her mind began to wander again and the tremors came back, this time only worse.
"Hold still! If I miss, I'll get this on yer skin!" He barked.
"Sorry." She said, or rather, resigned.
~V~
Rena spent the rest of the day afraid of everything and anything that seemed off. Her eyes were glued to the clock waiting for the final bell to sound.
"Remember, students your paper is due next week Friday." The English teacher said as the bell rang.
She did not care about the damn paper. she wanted to get the hell out of there and go home! Rena flew past Roxanne, Gina, and Chase. She didn't even hear them tell her to wait or stop she ran to the bus and counted the minutes until she made it to her stop.
~|o|~
He had spent all day wandering this strange place… He had no idea where the girl was
"You there," the ogre hear a voice call. He turned around but saw nothing.
"Up here, you imbecile!" She shouted.
He looked up to find a beautiful woman standing on a roof top. She jumped down, landing gracefully like some kind of dark angel.
"Who are you?" he inquired.
The woman ran a hand through her silky raven hair; her golden eyes gleaming with danger, "I am the one who has been sent here to relieve you of your current task." She told him.
The ogre made a rude noise, "You're telling me that his lordship sent you take over for me?"
She was disgusted with the unworthy imbecile in front of her.
"Allow me to rephrase. . ." She held her hand above her head. A black mist began to appear form in the palm of her hand. She closed her hand around the dark blob only to have it extend.
He may not have been as smart as other youkai, but he knew when to run for his life. He spun on his heel and took off. The woman put herself in the ogre's way.
"Your services will no longer be needed. . ." A dark smile curled her full lips.
He was not given a chance to respond; she swung her scythe and struck the ogre dead.
~|{N}|~
Rena spoke not a word to her grandparents upon entering the house. She went straight up to her room and locked the door behind her. She fell face first onto plush comforter and screamed as loud as she could.
'Why?' she wondered, "Why does the weird, creepy, or bad shit have to happen to me!" She cried as she sat up.
A knock sounded at her door, "Who is it?" She it wasn't as if she didn't know who it was.
"Rena, it's your grandmother, unlock the door." Rei answered through the door.
She pulled herself from bed to unlock the door and meet her grandmother with a fake smile, "Hai, Obasan?"
"Drop the act, girl." Rei said as she walked into the room, "What's the matter?"
"Nothing, just. . . teenager issues." She hunched.
Rei didn't want to press Rena and get her in a mood, so she changed the subject, "Your grandfather and I were thinking of eating out tonight. I wanted to know where you wanted to go."
Rena shrugged, "Anywhere good, I guess."
"How about the new Indian place that just opened up? I hear the curry is amazing." Rei nudged her granddaughter.
"Fine." She followed her grandmother out of her bed room and followed her to the car where Masaki was waiting patiently.
"Everyone ready?" Masaki's eyes darted between his wife and grandchild.
The two of them nodded and they all loaded in the car. However, they were all unaware that they were being watched.
A black and gold Kimono billowed gracefully in the cool evening breeze; golden eyes watched as the vehicle pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.
"My Lord, shall I go after them and kill them all?" requested the woman.
"No. . . Let them go Tsumi. . .I 'm changing my plan. . ." The Lord's smile was almost visible to his female servant. Through her eyes he watched the family disappear over the horizon.