Chapter 6
Ayano awoke in her room, with breathing labored and vision slightly blurred. She could feel Ren's warm hand lay on her as he told her to calm down and relax. Ayano could hear the thudding in her ear of her heightened blood pulse, and the ringing of her inability to hear anything else clearly at the moment. But soon when she started to relax, she could see her vision clear up. That and now she were perfectly normal.
Ren was leaned over her checking for various signs of the ill effects of Dr. Sato's drug. Once it was clear that they were gone, Ren decided to sit back since she was now okay. It was hard to remember what happened at first but it soon came back to Ayano. What had happened, she had found a long lost friend, who she thought was dead. Although how could it be possible? How could he still be alive?
At first she thought of his survival as possible, because of the site after his clash with the real Aon. But soon Ayano had come to accept that she would never see him again. Yet there he was, teaching her niece how to use the wind stigma. Now the question was, how does he know how to teach it? The why is pretty obvious, at least to her. It was a sign that Kazuma will soon be back with them.
"Ren? How does he know how to teach wind?" Ayano asked.
Ren was hesitant, probably because he couldn't think of a way how. However to them it didn't matter. What mattered is that they have an ally with them. One that could tip the odds in their favor. One that could help gets Kazuma back. Ayano now understanding this got out of bed.
"Wait Ayano, you need to rest!" Ren said.
"No, I need to find him, he knows what going on. Plus I feel he has a way to get Kazuma back," Ayano explained as she prepared to go out.
"Well in that case, You won't need to find him. I have a feeling that he'll find you," Ren said approvingly.
Although Ren did feel sincere care for Ayano, he really wanted to get his brother back. So if this was the chance to do it, obviously Ren wasn't going to stop it. Ayano silently thanked him as she walked out the door. Now she understood, that if they were going to unite, that now was the time to do it. They had to keep the momentum going for as long as possible.
As Ayano walked down the metallic streets, she scanned every face the she could see. Looking for the recognizable face and those silver eyes. Those eyes that stood out so much in her mind, how soothing they looked even though unnatural. They reminded her of the moon at night, which was probably their purpose, for those eyes were likely the symbol of his contract.
Ayano started to pass by what looked like a search squad, which the MF's use to find those with stigma's and/ or criminals. For some reason one person stood out from that group of soldiers. It was a civilian, who looked remarkably similar to someone Ayano met. In fact she had close resemblance with the very person who had kidnapped her so many years ago, the real Aon.
Ayano looked away because she didn't want to appear suspicious. But could this possibly be the person in which Kazuma explained to her as being Hinata Miyamoto. Not too long after the events of what happened so many years ago, the events of her kidnapping and her first time meeting the evil Dr. Sato, Kazuma told her Royuku's story. Royuku had told Kazuma that story to show him that he was more qualified for protecting Ayano. Apparently Royuku still feels guilt for not being able to protect her, for not being able to save her from death. But if that was true why would she be there right now. Also what would the M.F.'s want with her.
Ayano now realized that while she was drifting in thought she had almost walked forty blocks without realizing it. Taking a turn, she continued with her stroll. She was now in front of the store in which Royuku's aunt was shot for protecting stigmas. That was a tragic day, because even though Hibiki and Kumiko escaped, they had lost a family friend. However even though they couldn't retrieve the body for a proper burial, they still had a grave placed in the current Kannagi complex's courtyard. The members of the Kannagi family mourned her death for three days.
Something reach out and grabbed her. Hands wrapping around the mouth and arm wrapped around the waste for proper leverage to force her into the nearby ally way. Ayano tried to scream but her voice was muffled. Then the person showed their face, and with silver eyes Ayano immediately recognized who it was.
"You weren't followed?" Royuku asked.
Ayano shook her head no and then Royuku let her go. It took a few minutes for her body to recover from the sudden shock of being dragged into an ally way. Once that was overcome, she could finally compose herself.
"You shouldn't do that, people might get the wrong idea," Ayano informed him a little rashly, "Anyways first, long time no see."
"Yeah, same to you," Royuku replied contemptly.
"Where were you, we all thought you to be dead?" Ayano started, "Do you realize how you affected everyone? We had to have a funeral for you. Your aunt slipped into depression where she barely had a reason to live. The school put a memorial in the year book for you, because supposedly you died in a factory explosion at a family members place of work."
"I had no choice, I was trapped," Royuku said, which abruptly stopped Ayano's rant.
"Trapped? Where?" Ayano asked.
"The Shadowed Skies," Royuku answered.
"Where?"
"That's my nickname for the realm of the Yoma's," Royuku explained.
Ayano didn't understand, he was stuck in the realm of the Yoma's? Was the black hole like rift he created actually a portal? If he was stuck in there how come it took him so long to get out?
Royuku walked up to her and placed a hand on her fore head, something that came off as a little strange, until he explained that he was going to show her. However Ayano was still unsure what he meant by that. But soon she was no longer in the city, but she was in a dark world with clouds of black soot looking clouds swirled around in the sky. The ground they stood on was a liquid looking reflective surface that reflected the sky, making it appear that they were floating in midair. Ayano looked around and saw that trillions of Yoma swarmed the distant skies and lands, all heading in the same direction.
"In The Shadowed Skies, you can only get out through rips that connect both of our realms," Royuku's voice said.
Immediately Ayano saw the younger Royuku from when they first met, looking off at the distance, looking for what the Yoma's were racing to. Ayano followed his line of sight and saw the rip between realms in which he described. All the Yoma's converged at the rip; it almost looked like as if all were going to exit at once. But when the first Yoma entered, the rip closed and all the Yoma's started heading in a new direction.
"However, the rips only allow one thing to enter at a time," Royuku explained.
Now the Royuku in the vision was much older running in a different part of the realm.
"You can imagine the difficulty of that task since your racing against trillions of trillions of Yoma's, all which are faster than you," Royuku explained.
In the vision, Royuku ran up the side of a mountain like structure, which had a rip nearby it, but too far for him to jump into it.
"I happen to be nearby when a rip opened, I waited on the ledge for the Yoma's to come."
When the swarm of Yoma's was coming his way, there was a large bird like one in the lead. Royuku got a running start and as they approached he jumped of the ledge and grabbed hold of the leading yoma. As he held onto its foot it dragged him through the rip and back into the normal realm, with the rip closing behind him. Royuku was in midair; below a large red suspension bridge could be seen near a harbor. Royuku had taken that opportunity to kill the Yoma, and then he plummeted down until he plunged into the water below.
The visions stopped, and Ayano was back in the ally way with Royuku in front of her. It was a little weird; it was the kind of experience you would expect to see in a sci-fi series. It was a wonder how he figured out how to do this. But Ayano didn't question it however, yet some thoughts still lingered in her mind, thoughts about a different subject entirely.
"While I was in America, I had learned of what happened here in Japan. I learned of project Metamorphose, and the newly established corrupt government, thee oppression of those who have 'stigmas'. But it wasn't until I arrived here that I learned about Kazuma," Royuku explained.
"You know about Kazuma?" Ayano asked.
"yes, and if we are going to start a revolution, we're going to need him," Royuku answered.
"But I haven't seen him in…" Ayano started.
"He is being held captive, and not in the best manner ever," Royuku explained, "And I won't be any good in starting revolution, because I haven't seen what they were doing with my own eyes, I don't have the scars. So only Kazuma would have the proper effect."
"Okay, but he's locked away. How are we going to break him out?" Ayano questioned yet again.
"I'll discuss the plans over dinner tonight, and tomorrow will be the break out."
