I do not own any of the characters. Please review.
HoroHoro: Thank god you don't.
Me: (Glares at him and then grabs a mallet and brought it down hard on his head)
HoroHoro: OW!
Me: (Smirking) I dare you to say that again.
Pilika: Sorry, big brother. You did deserve this. (Kneeling down by her brother who is on the ground)
Ren: Idiot. She can change who you are in her story with a snap of her fingers.
Me: So true.
Chapter 3
It was around mid-afternoon when they reached Key Onsen. The place was famous for their warm and inviting hot springs. There were a lot of mountains near the town and that was where the water comes from. The town was full of people; most were heading for the relaxing hot springs. There were many hotels because a lot of people visit Key Onsen.
The group decided to spend the day resting and exploring the town and then search for the first piece tomorrow. They decided to stay at a hotel called Spring Ring. The hotel had the motto of "Start a new beginning!" everywhere. Everything was handmade with fine wood and fabric. There were pictures of flowers and animals on the light blue walls. The boys were in one room while the girls were in the other. The beds rooms had two bunk beds and an extra bed in the middle. The blankets were soft and warm. The fluffy pillows made you go to sleep within moments. The boys were discussing on how to find the remaining pieces of the Oracle Bell.
"Well there are five regions. The region we are in now is Ara. We can't go searching everywhere in the other regions because that would take a long time and the tournament starts in about eight months from now." Yuki said, laying down a map of Lyrian.
Daichi nodded. "We're going to have to travel and find the pieces fast if we want to enter."
"That might be hard, Daichi. We don't know what we are up against." Amidamaru said. "Remember, there are many who wants the title. Some will go over the line to satisfy their needs. For all we know, we could get attack at any time."
"Well, the regions Demtra, Kiki-Beno and Ara are a lot smaller than Cheki and Mirmo. We might find the pieces faster in those regions then the other two," Rei said, studying the map.
"Master Rei, we should go to a library or something," Bason said. Shamash nodded, holding his big book in front of it.
"We have to come up with some sort of strategy! Besides, we have to do some sort of test to get each piece remember?" Akira pointed out. He lay down on the soft bed, covering his face on the pillow. Corey floated near him; her lily pad was above her head.
"Man, I am really tied! All this information is giving me a headache!" Akira shouted.
"Quit complaining. At least some of us are trying to figure it out," Rei snapped.
Akira jumped up. "You know, if you were a real friend that would have hurt! But since you're not, keep talking!"
"I'll keep talking as long as it shut you up!" Rei shot back.
"You know, you should all just go to the hot springs. I already reserved one for you. I think it would do your dumb brains some good. Of course, if you have ANY brains at all," Annie leans in their doorway wearing a light red and pink kimono with flowers on it. Her blonde hair was up in a bun and a white and pink flower held it in place.
"The hot springs are very nice and warm. You really should try them out," Serena was next to her wearing a light blue and white kimono with snowflakes for a design. Her hair was also in a bun with a pair of white chopsticks to hold it up.
Daichi stared at Annie. He never seen her like this before and her being nice for them? That was really unexpected. The boys nodded and grabbed their towels. As he passed Annie at the door, he gave her a curious glance to which she looked at him with an emotionless look.
The boys stayed in the hot springs for quite some time, discussing some plans. Their guardian ghosts were also in the hot springs, relaxing (Yes, the ghosts can feel the warmth of the hot springs).
There was a certain person dressed in all black who watched them from the nearby forest. The person quickly dashed away but didn't go far. The person shouted an uncommon word and in a flash, a huge giant came to view. The giant was brown and had on black pants with a gold slash. A rather big club lay in its humongous hand. It had a curvy mustache and its blazing red eyes looked bloodthirsty. A boy was in front of it with a cruel smile on his face. A white cloak covered most of his features. Brown gloves and shoes popped out of the oversized cloak. The black person kneels down before the boy.
"Master, they don't seem to suspect anything so far," the voice was ruff and scratchy so it must have been a man.
The boy nodded. "Good, let's keep it that way." With a cruel laugh, the boy, the man and the giant all disappeared in the sky.
Back at Spring Ring, everybody was asleep except Daichi. He was out walking in the woods. He had felt a weird presence earlier but kept it to himself. It had come from around these woods and he wanted to know what it was.
The forest was quite other the sounds from the owls and the sound of crickets leaping here and there. A lot of nocturnal animals were out tonight. There was no moon tonight so he brought a lamp with him. Daichi could feel the coldness of the huge trees that were swaying in the gentle breeze. He could see the white, puffy smokes that came from the hot springs.
"Daichi, I don't think we should do this," Amidamaru told him, looking on guard.
"Relax. Besides, I know you felt it too, Amidamaru. I don't think whoever was here before is here now." Daichi assured him. Amidamaru nodded. He knew that once Daichi makes up his mind, there was no point in changing it.
Daichi soon found himself in a small clearing. He looks down and was shock to find a pair of giant footprints stamped on the ground. He went in and stepped into a footprint. It was at least three feet deep and twenty feet wide.
"This is quite unusual, Daichi. Whoever this is must be huge!" Amidamaru tensed.
Daichi frowned. This wasn't a real living thing or he would have sense it so therefore it must have been a spirit. It had to belong to somebody, but whom? He walked around the clearing, but didn't find anything unusual.
With a sigh, he started to walk back with Amidamaru casting one last glance before following him and Daichi soon bumped into Annie! He stared at her in shock.
"I sense it too." she said softly, looking at the footprints. She walked over and began to examine each footprint. Her hand brushed around the dirt. After a while, she picked something up from the ground. It was covered in dirt. She brushed the dirt away to find a piece of white fabric. Daichi came over and took the fabric and look all around but didn't find any markings. He looks at Annie and she nodded. They weren't going to tell anyone about this. Daichi told Amidamaru the plan and the Japanese samurai agreed.
They began to walk back to the hotel. When they came to their rooms, Daichi and Annie both said good-night and went into their rooms. Daichi tiptoed towards his bed. Akira was half off the bed and was snoring soundly. Charlie was hugging his pillow and kept muttering thank you over and over again. Daichi smiled as he guesses that the tan boy was dreaming of people laughing like crazy at his horrible jokes. He smirked when he saw Rei sleeping with his spear near him. That guy never trusted anybody too much. Yuki had a book near him with a bookmark in the middle of it. Daichi slipped into his bed and soon went into a dreamless sleep.
The next day…. "Wake up! Get your lazy butt out of that bed! If you don't get up right now, you all owe me a thousand push-ups and sit-ups as well as a hundred miles!" Annie shouted at the boys very early in the morning. It was around dawn, actually. The sun was barely up and it was a mixed color of red, orange, and yellow in the sky. Most people were still asleep but Annie wanted a head start on their search to find the first piece.
The boys immediately shot awake. Akira landed on the floor as well as Charlie. Daichi rubbed his eyes and groan. Rei scowl and Yuki rub his head.
"Annie, why so early?" Daichi complained as he look at his fiancée who had a very angry look on her face as she turn and glared at him.
"If any of you want to be the Spirit Master, then get your idiotic self out of that bed and start searching!" she shouted in a really high voice that made all of the boys winced.
"I can send you all to hell if I wanted to. Listen up or get ready to be sent to hell!" Annie held up her beads. The beads were the source of her magic and once she says the words and gets put into a trance, she can summon any soul from the afterlife or send any to hell or heaven. The beads were called the 1080 beads. It really does have 1080 beads string together and each bead contain one Asakura family member spirit. The spirits are of the Asakuras who live back then and made the family as it is now. Annie wears her beads in two layers around her neck since it is so long. When she uses them, she unties the beads from her neck and when she starts the chant, they turn as white as snow.
The boys stared at her with their mouths wide open. Rei, Yuki, Charlie and Akira gave Daichi death glares saying that it was his fault because Annie was his fiancée. He gulps and turns back to Annie.
"Move it!" Annie screamed. The boys quickly jump out of bed, put on their clothes and were out of the door before Annie could slap them.
The boys decided to split up. Daichi would search east side of town. Rei was going to search the west, Akira to the south while Charlie searches the north. Yuki offered to search the forest. The boys were to meet back at sundown in their room.
Daichi roam along the streets of Key Onsen. Amidamaru floated above and tried to look for any signs of unusual things. Daichi turn at an alley. The alley was deserted. There were pieces of garbage around and the place had a disgusting odor to it. There was dust everywhere and a bunch of torn fabric lay on the dry ground. Was there really a place like this in Key Onsen? Daichi thought. He walked down the alley and noted that there were a few street cats living here who were all eying him carefully.
"Amidamaru, what do you think of Annie?" Daichi ask his guardian ghost. Amidamaru didn't look that surprise because Yoh and Hana both asked this very question about their fiancées.
"Well, Annie is a very strong girl. She is truly the student of Miss Anna and Miss Alumi. Sometimes she is nice but other times, she can be very fearful. Don't you like her, Daichi?" Amidamaru studied his shaman partner wisely.
"I….. Well I don't really know. She really is interesting with her powers and abilities and all that, but I feel that she is hiding something from me. I may not know her well but I sense that she is holding back at things somehow." Daichi shook his head as he tried to clear his mind. He couldn't think about this now! He had to focus on finding the first piece! Amidamaru nodded and turn his head to look forward.
"Daichi! Look out!" Amidamaru suddenly cried. Daichi whipped his head up just in time to see four fast ninja stars shooting his way. He fell to the ground to avoid being hit. The stars hit an old garbage bin that lay face down in the corner of the alley. The stars were white and red and one of them had a piece of paper dangling from it. Daichi turn to face the way the stars came from but didn't see anyone in the alley. He walks over and pulls loose the piece of paper and open it. Beware of the boy who crushes, it said. He frowned. Amidamaru read it over his shoulder.
"What do you think it means, Daichi?"
"I don't know, Amidamaru. But one thing is for sure. We are in much trouble than we think we are." Daichi said slowly. "Whoever this person is, I don't think he's going to show mercy. Do you think this has something to do with that footprint we found last night?"
"I'm not sure. Like I said before, we don't know what we are up against. We must be on alert."
All too soon, it was sundown. The boys were back in their room with Annie and Serena. Daichi held up the stars and the piece of paper. He explains how the stars shot at him and what the paper said. Yuki looked over the paper and the stars. His father and grandfather were detectives as was he. If anybody could find clues on this, it was Yuki. It turns out that while Yuki was in the forest; he found a glowing light that came from a cave that was surrounded by huge stones and flowers around it that hid the entrance. The boys agreed to all go there at midnight and search for any clues in the alley Daichi found. Yuki studied the stars and paper for a long time. He did a few tests and soon sighs in defeat.
"I'm sorry guys. I can't find anything at all. Whoever sent this is like a master criminal. They would never leave anything behind for us to follow through." Yuki rested his head on the table. This was the hardest thing he ever came across that he couldn't solve. Chloe flew around him to try to cheer him up. Serena came to his side and patted his shoulder. He gave both of them a grateful smile.
Daichi was shock at the news. Yuki could solve anything for as long as he knew him. Yuki was determined to a great detective like his father and grandfather and nothing could stop him. He felt sorry for him. He was surprised of how much Serena seems to care about Yuki. He smiled at the two, suddenly knowing what was going on. Serena was different than Annie in some ways, yet they are somehow the same. Both of them made the boys ran ten miles around the town as soon as they were in site as well as have them lift a hundred pounds a thousand times before letting them have a two-minute break. The girls created a training (torture) program while the boys were out searching. This was going to happen every day when they would say at a place. When they were out traveling, it was a whole new thing that was more painful.
"Hold on a minute. We need to have a leader for this group and I think Daichi should do the honor." Yuki suddenly announced. Daichi look at him, wide eyed. Wouldn't Yuki be a better choice for this? I mean, he is smarter than all of us, Daichi thought.
"Daichi, this is an amazing opportunity. You should take this offer," Amidamaru exclaim happily. Daichi eyed him carefully. Sometimes, he really didn't like to be like his father and grandfather so much. People always expect him to be like them.
"I agree." Rei said.
"WHAT?!" everybody but Annie shouted, even the guardian spirits. Annie rolls her eyes at all of them.
"You should keep your mouth shut or you will attract flies, morons." she said to the boys. "Besides, Rei being the leader is out of the question because I can tell it's not his style. I agree with Yuki. We need be organized if we want to succeed. Daichi, you better not be a total slacker or you are so dead. I expect my fiancé to be a winner, not a loser."
Everybody nodded fearfully at Annie. Daichi tried to protest that he wasn't suited for this but from the death look on Annie's face shows that no matter what he did, he would never win against her. Somehow, he didn't seem to care that he couldn't win against her. He sort of likes it. At last, he gave in and told everybody to get some rest before their midnight hunt. The rest agreed and went to their beds. They all told their guardian spirits to wake them up at around midnight or so.