It was late at night when the sound of desperate neighing woke Hotaru from her sleep. She put on her glasses and went to the window.
"Who in their right mind would bother the horses at this hour?" Hotaru muttered to herself, opening her windows. She looked down at the stables' gate. "What-Nalor!" She shook one of her hands. "Wake up, Silver. This is no time to sleep."
Hotaru backed up from her window then ran and swan dove out of it. With a flip she landed on her feet in a crouch in front of the horse thieves. They stopped and looked at the young woman standing before them in a short black tank top and black high water pants. Her hands were flexing, showing her anger.
"That's MY horse, losers." Silver reacted to her anger and extended all four whips. "Let go of his reigns or I'll let my Living Weapon take your souls."
The thieves released Nalor's reigns and her horse galloped over to her and stopped behind her. He knew what Hotaru and Silver were made of. He was too smart of a horse to get in the way of his mistress's anger.
"Are you threatening my men?" Hotaru knew that voice. Silver retracted into the gauntlets as she turned to see the young man from before. This time he was on foot but still in a foul mood from earlier.
"I'll do more than threaten the servants when I can kill the master." Hotaru told him icily. "No leave before I allow Silver to riddle your body and shatter your bones."
"I could arrest you, you know. You threatened a soldier, my men and now me." He said as if that mattered to her. "Emperor Kura wants the best horse to ride in to battle on and I want to give him yours. Now hand over the beast or be arrested."
Nalor snorted angrily. Hotaru raised her hand and put it on his nose. "I do believe I'll kill you before you lay a hand on my hoofed friend. And I always do what I believe in."
Silver sent a weird sensation up her arm. This young man had a power similar to Hotaru's but it was very weak as if it was nothing more than the diluted version. Whatever or wherever the real Weapon was, Silver didn't like it. It didn't even like the diluted form the young man held. It sensed him as a threat and this threat wasn't one she could easily beat.
Protector…"Janus?" Hotaru asked, recognizing how the Dimensional Knight was speaking to her.
Yes, Protector. It is I. You must listen to me. You must relieve him of his sword. That boy's power comes from his master's Living Weapon which is a sword called the Nox Light. You have more power than this boy but the master has a shard of the Crystal of Balance and has enough power to keep you dead. You need to get that crystal shard from him. When you get it, I will pull you from this Dimension. Then I will see if I can trust you with another task.
"I understand, Janus. Your will shall be done." Hotaru murmured to the air. This young man said he served the Emperor Kura of Geo. This Kura must be the Nox Light's master. If I can get an audience with him, I could get that shard. Then I can go home. Hotaru raised her voice to the young man. "Listen up, Little Boy. I'm only going to say this once. I'm going to leave you and your mindless groupies alone on one condition."
"A condition, huh? What might that be?" He asked, his hand on his sword hilt.
"Leave Telene now and return in 3 days." Hotaru told him. "I do not wish to take any of your lives but if you don't do as I purpose then I will do you harm."
"Hahahahahahaha!" The young man was laughing at her. Was she being unreasonable? It didn't seem that way to her. She didn't want to kill him or even hurt him but he was leaving her no choice.
Hotaru watched his hands, waiting for an opening. As soon as he took his hand off of his hilt, she was going to take his sword and send him packing. Did she have enough power to send him to his precious Emperor on Geo? There was only one way to find out.
The young man moved his hand away by only a hair. Hotaru urged Silver to strike. The small whip on her hand flew out and wrapped around the sword. She pulled back, ripping it from his belt. The two larger whips opened their heads and connected, forming a metal mini hourglass. The young man took several steps back.
"A Collapser…she has an organic Collapser…" He muttered frightened.
"Vile worm." Hotaru sneered. "Collapser, to Geo with him!"
Winds sped around her and the young man. A beam of light fired from her Collapser and struck him dead center in his chest. With a bright flash of light, the young man disappeared and his men fled. Hotaru collapsed from the amount of power she had expelled.