7 Pendants
(Day two of the trip, 3:51 p.m.)
Mikuo peered curiously at the wooden pieces.
'What are we suppose to do with these?' Teto inquired, tilting her head.
'Solve this puzzle as quickly as possible to avoid getting the worst activity.' Rin answered while shifting a block. Apparently, Sensei had organised several activities. The group which completed the puzzle last will get the worst one.
'All the activities planned are the worst.' Kiku mumbled to herself, could not be bothered with it. Len was much depended by them, already completing half of the puzzle. Leaning his back on a trunk, Mikuo casted a glance at the greenery, relaxing his mind and allowed his thoughts to wonder. He was not good with puzzles anyway. The 5-days,4-nights class trip was more boring than he thought.
'!' A thwack of a broken branch caught his attention as he sensed someone's presence nearby.
'...The pendant is warm again...' Teto clutched her pocket, unsure of the reason.
'Warm? Could it be that it is reacting to another pend-'
There was a stumbling sound, distracting Len as he diverted his attention to it. A young boy around the age of five fell flat onto the ground, scrambling to get up. Immediately, Mikuo recognised the object hanging on his wrist.
Why would he have a pendant? He thought to himself, spacing out for a moment.
'Ah,' the boy stared at them and somehow recognised them, 'another bunch of people from Excalique World.' He got up and removed the dirt from his pants.
'Hehe, you will have to play tag with me if you want this.' He stuck out his tongue and swayed the pendant gleefully before scarrying off to the bushes.
Mikuo grinned lightly, amused by the child's challenge. 'I guess we have to go at his pace.' He told, being cool-headed as usual.
'...then we shall go first.' Rin had eyes filled with determination, proceeding on the chase together with Len. Once again, there was a sudden change of events. Who cares about the puzzle anyway, obtaining the pendant was priority.
'But, we need to report back to the shrine soon...' Teto reminded.
'Heh! Leave that to me.' The crimson haired female had an evil grin, 'that research at the clock tower is useful at a time like this.' Her ruby eyes blazed as she gave off a demonic aura.
'...' Mikuo recognized the icy glint and immediately knew that the devil within her had awakened. He left the matter to Kiku and darted ahead together with Teto.
'I am not losing in this game!' The pigtailed female told in a confident tone.
At the deeper part of the woods, the distance between the twins and the boy was shortening, their pursue was a silent one until the yellow haired male spoke.
'We might not be the only ones from Excalique World searching for the pendants.'
Rin blinked in confusion, 'Eh?'
'Earlier on, that boy mentioned ''another'' when he met us so I was thinking...'
She instantly caught what he meant. 'That we have rivals?' Rin completed. Len nodded seriously. The young boy who was enjoying the game began to notice that they were closing up to him. After skimming through a mischievous thought, he halted beside a vine yard. Grabbing the pendant tightly towards his chest, he closed his eyes as though he was wishing for something. Startled by his actions, the twins stopped by a tree branch a few metres away from the boy and watched him intently. After a few seconds, the air around him concentrated at a point, forming a kind of distorted shape. A shape that was too familiar to be forgotten.
'!'
'H-How could a Deadless be transferred into this world so easily?' The yellow haired female asked herself while summoning Pure Electric on her right arm and palm. Once the beast showed its fangs, the twins sparked off to their usual battle formation and began their first attack, having no choice but allowing the boy to escape.
'Grra!' It swung a wind slash towards them but the weak attack got deflected to one side, hitting something metallic. The metallic sound then screeched to an electrifying pitch.
Lowering his electrified chained arrows, Nero glowered at the Deadless. The next moment, he charged the chains with Dark Electric and strike forth, piercing the beast's body. Although the strike was strong, the Deadless managed to survive, having most of its organs damaged or paralysed. Being quick-witted, Len took the opportunity to input lightning blitz onto the ground, directing the electrons to it. Rin boosted the speed and power of the blitz, the attack hurtled forward rapidly and finally shocked the beast to death.
Even though the threat was over, Rin felt suspicious by Nero's presence. From the nature of his power, she knew that he was from Karasu Clan.
Could he be the person that the boy mentioned? She wondered.
'...You can think of us as rivals since our aim is the same.' Neru (she just arrived) told Rin after noticing her questioning look. Not wanting to explain anything, the side-ponytailed female casted a glance at Nero before leaving, continuing her search for the boy. Rin naturally tailed behind the mysterious girl, half of it was because the route that Neru chose was the one that the boy took when he left, the other half was because she wanted to find out her real identity and purpose of obtaining the seven pendants.
'Len.' She gave a light call, turning her head slightly to notify him about her leave. The next moment, she before speeding up again. Instantly, Len blocked the view of Rin from Nero.
'Can't allow you to pass.' He said briefly with a serious expression.
'I don't intend to. I trust Neru.' The Mikado yellow haired male responded, drawing Dark Electric out and sent it to his opponent. Len was quick enough to sense the attack, dodging it while lunging a kick. Swerving to one side, Nero avoided the kick. He did a back flip up to mid air, fusing the electrons flow within his palm and prepared for a blow. Len did the same, generating a direct current and bracing it, increasing its energy level.
As though in sync, they charged at each other at the same time with such tremendous speed that trails of Dark Electric and Pure Electric were visible. Their sudden thrust had caused several flashes of light in the sky followed by a deafening explosion.
I'm counting on you, Rin!
(4:13p.m. ,Shiana Hotspring)
'H-How did you get all these information?' Sensei stuttered, dropping to the ground as though in defeat. 'Are you trying to blackmail me? This is not how a student should behave-'
'Then I will just reveal it to the public.' Kiku threatened, showing a sly smile. She had always wanted to give him a piece of her mind for conducting those dull lessons where he kept ''uttering nonsense'' all day.
'Urgh...fine! What do you want?'
'Nothing much, we just want to do whatever we want for this trip.' she replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
After considering for some time, Sensei agreed reluctantly as he had no choice.
Hanging a satisfactory smile, the crimson haired female headed back to the woods and searched for path tracks that would lead her to the others. While doing so, she felt a sudden intensity in the air, sensing a glimpse of voltage whizzing passed. The next second, a fusion of Pure and Dark Electric flashed before her, followed by a booming sound.
Suspicious of the situation, she quickened her pace and followed the tracks, knowing that someone from Karasu Clan was involved. She glanced through the bushes and trunks frequently to look for trails left by her friends, slowly progressing to catch up, when the trail suddenly split into two paths, Kiku picked the right and rushed ahead.
Minutes later, she noticed two yellow haired females sparing with each other. From afar, one of them was Rin and the other was unfamiliar. The crimson haired girl frowned.
'...Why do you want the pendants?' Rin asked, blocking Neru's side-kick. There were constant flashes of lightning as they striked each other rapidly non-stop. Annoyed by her chase, Neru waltzed in front of Rin, charging her fist with Dark Electric before sending an uppercut. The yellow haired female sensed the voltage and managed to dodge by doing a backflip, she was about to release a wide range swipe when she felt both wrists being grabbed forcefully and pulled down from behind.
'Never face your back against the enemy.' Neru hit her at the stomach with her knee which sent her a few meters away rapidly. However, Rin had driven Pure Electric current into her opponent's left arm without her realising.
'Sorry...but you are too meddlesome.' Lifting her right hand, the side-ponytailed female created a few purple magic circles, increasing the power intensity before firing it. Rin opened her eyes as she recovered from the previous attack. When she examined the situation, she realised that beams of Dark Electric were approaching directly towards her. Stunned by the sight, the yellow haired female knew she did not have sufficient time to seek cover, thus she shielded herself with her right arm despite knowing it was futile.
In an instant, a heat wave gushed through the air, followed by a Pure Flame flare which engulfed the beams.
'State your name.' The flare diminished, revealing a certain crimson haired female.
'Geez, stop running!' A familiar high pitch female voice was heard at a distance, causing the three of them to turn around. Soon, a young boy appeared, unaware that he was already spotted by them. He seemed to be running away from someone, having a panicky expression. However, he halted when he noticed three teenagers staring at him.
' .you!' A pigtailed female shouted in a cheerful tone, suddenly appearing beside the boy, giving him a startle.
'Teto!' Rin was surprised that her friends were appearing at random times, but was greatly relieved that they were alright.
'...' Pressing against her left arm, the side-ponytailed female tried to suppress the pain that suddenly emerged, not showing any hurtful expression.
Once again, the young boy grabbed the pendant around his neck with both hands and closed his eyes, as though wishing for something. Rin was quick enough to stop his action, not wanting anymore Deadless to appear. However, due to the half-complete request that he made, the half-completed ''wish'' was taking effect. Instead of Deadless, this time, Kiku was bound by black magic circles - there were a total of four circles binding both her wrists and ankles.
'Che! I actually wanted to bind all of you...' he pouted at Rin for stopping him. 'Whatever.' At his last word, the boy immediately turned and dashed away. Neru showed no hesitation and gave chase, determined to obtain the pendant around his neck before the pain on her left arm become too much for her to handle. Rin was about to run forward too until she noticed Kiku's restriction by the binds. Leaving her friends behind was not her style.
'Just go, I will back you up once I break the circles.'
'I will help, these black circles are not easy to dispel.' Teto commented.
Their trusts had built up Rin's confidence. As she sprinted forward, Teto boosted her physical status. In a flash, the yellow haired female was gone.
'That is fast.' Kiku was amazed by the speed.
'Hehe...I only just-wait! Don't force it to break!' The pigtailed female warned, having a panicky expression. Kiku had summoned her strength to shatter the circles, thinking that the binds were easy to shatter, but the action backfired. Instead of shattering, the black circles tightened their grip and injected dark energy into her body, causing her to cough out blood.
'This type of magic is tough to dispel, the more you move, the faster your stamina will be drained.' Teto added, starting to decode them. 'If we don't decode them soon, you might even die.' she stated in a worried tone. The crimson haired female frowned, her plight made her felt vulnerable and she hated it.
'Sorry for the trouble.' She mumbled, hiding an apologetic expression. Teto responded with a smile.
(5:41 p.m., somewhere deep in the woods)
Charging her energy intensity, Rin released a Pure Electric bolt to detach the pendant from the necklace which the boy wore. It floated on the highest layer of the forest, emitting pale blue light. The boy fainted subsequently.
The boost from Teto is amazing! Rin thought. Her physical status had increased considerably, including accuracy and reflexes. Just when she was about to retrieve the Pendant of Manipulation, Neru interfered which was expected. They waltzed between the tree trunks and sent a few powerful shock waves to each other, which were easily avoided by both parties. Within less than a second, Rin appeared beside her, startling Neru.
Using advantage of the ''caught off guard'' moment, Rin swirled and kicked her at the waist, the impact caused Neru to be pushed back rapidly. The side-ponytailed female pressed her footwear on the ground to produce friction, thus the process was slowed down. However, she happened to collide with a boulder with her left arm, causing immense pain and worsening the injury.
My ''silent attack'' initially is taking effect. The yellow haired female thought.
Despite being concerned about Neru's condition, Rin prioritised on helping Mikuo to obtain the pendant. She leapt high enough to reach the highest layer of the forest where the Pendant of Manipulation floated. As she was reaching out a hand to retrieve it, she accidentally peered down and was stunned.
T-Too high...Rin thought, being astonished for a few moments as though the time had frozen.
'I will be taking it,' Neru mumbled to herself while releasing the Dark Electric spells she had prepared earlier. The ground exposed three triangular dark purple magic spells which sent chain-like bolts whizzing through the air, approaching Rin. Sensing Dark Electric voltage, the yellow haired female recovered from acrophobia and searched for the source of the voltage. After spotting them, she created a set of bright yellow magic circles, releasing energy spark to counter against the chain-like bolts. Hence, Rin skilfully evaded Neru's attack.
However, she forgot that Neru was below her. The side-ponytailed female had generated and charged Dark Electric energy when Rin was distracted by the chain-like bolts. she prepared for a long range Dark Electric attack. Within seconds, she shot it and Rin was caught off guard. Neru's concentration was affected by the pain, thus the attack only caused Rin to be paralysed and burnt slightly.
Seizing the opportunity, Neru took the pendant and eluded.
'!' Upon leaving, a purifying arrow shot through her heart and outwards to the scarlet sky. The shocking and confusing situation astonished Neru, she halted for a moment before eluding again.
'...?...' The pigtailed female had a questioning look. 'She was not affected by my arrow...then that means that she do not have any bad or evil intentions.' Teto went deep into thoughts.
'Teto! Kiku!' Rin exclaimed, relieved to see her friends again. '...' But gradually, she hanged an apologetic expression and tilted her head down, allowing her fringes to cast a shadow on her face.
'...sorry.' Her reaction surprised both Teto and Kiku (they just arrived).
'You don't have to,' The crimson haired female told in a matter-of-fact tone, 'I did not keep my ''promise'' to back you up.'
Teto widened her eyes, not expecting that Kiku had this side of her.
'Yosh!' She had eyes full of optimism. 'Let's not think about it! The most important thing is to heal your injuries right now!' A light pinkish illusory sphere appeared on both Teto's hands as she started healing Rin. The yellow haired girl smiled slightly but was still disappointed at herself.
If only I can overcome my acrophobia...She thought, knowing that her acrophobia caused her to miss the chance of obtaining the Pendant of Manipulation for Mikuo.
'...' Teto healed in silence, racking her brain in mischief. After some time, an idea struck her and she grinned.
Ayano: Arigatou to otanoshimini.