A New Light
Chapter 56

Elements

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Naru puts her dorky glasses on and ties her hair into two rough ponytails. She feels satisfied enough to spin around in a rather cute fashion and performs a 'sexy' pose with her loose red sweatshirt and right blue jeans as she stands right in front of the door leading outside.

"Heh. What am I doing."

"Yes. What are you doing?"

"EEP!"

Naru turns around to see Keitaro coming from the Main room into the hallway. Eve riding on his back.

"Ke-Keitaro! Eve!"

Eve waves but snickers.

Naru blushes. "I-I was just…err….umm…testing if my ponytails were tight enough just incase a sudden gust of wind comes up as we go to cram school. You know it is autumn."

"Right. Okie." Keitaro agrees outright.

"Here you go Eve."

From the main room Asuna comes in with the folded up wheelchair, opens it up, and places it right behind the two of them. Carefully, Keitaro places Eve on the wheelchair.

"Comfortable?"

"Yea. Thanks Keitaro…"

Naru shakes her head. "I have to get used to that. Your voice sounds so much like Shinobu."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Do-don't be sorry! You can talk, nothing is your fault. Its just me not you."

"Naru is right, just get used to the dorm and your new found ability. You don't have to be sorry about anything."

Naru taps Keitaro on the shoulder. "Cram school starts in an hour, you coming?"

"Yup. Wouldn't miss it for the world. We do have a practice test coming up in about a couple of months."

Naru brightens up a bit from under her dorky glasses and nods. "Surprised you actually remembered it."

"I failed it three times and the results told me I had a zero percent chance of getting into Toudai. How could I forget it."

Eve tilts her head. "Failed?"

Asuna sighs. "Don't ask. Just know that they are trying to go into Toudai and that Papa is……determined. That would be the right word."

"Ooh."

Keitaro heads back upstairs. "I'll be in my room changing. So wait up."

"Just hurry up or we'll miss the train."

"Right. Right."

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Everyone is outside at the court yard.

Durante lays obediently on the ground, panting normally, and ears out ready for the conversation to come back again. Sitting next to him on a bench is Seta. His glasses hide his eyes under a white glare as he lays back comfortably. Across from them was the red haired girl and the Goth. They sit quietly next to each other as the black cat Kuro hovers around them with her long tail swaying happily behind her. To their right was Tsuruko and Granny Hina, the two of them look straight into Motoko's eyes as she positions her self in the middle of the group.

Motoko just stands and talks. "So let me get this straight Tsuruko…You formed an alliance with the Kansai Magic Association who the leader happens to be Granny Hina! And Granny Hina, you're a mage?.?.?"

Granny Hina chuckles along with her old bones. "Hehehe, Yes dear I am indeed a mage, been a mage for a long time."

Motoko sighs. "How did I …..not notice it."

"You're not supposed to. Its natural." Says the ruby haired girl with the ruby necklace.

Motoko turns around. "Oh?"

The girl remembers her manners and bows. "My name is Akari Vex. I am an assistance for Granny Hina. I travel the world with her along with this black attired girl sitting next to me. Her name is-."

"Kanako." The Goth chick interrupts to introduce her self. "My name's Kanako Urashima."

Motoko looks confused. "Urashima?"

Kanako looks up at her and glares. "I am Keitaro's little sister. Got a problem with that…"

"N-no no…..I just never knew Keitaro had a sister."

Kanako looks the other way rudely. "Well there's a lot you don't know about my dear Onii-chan…"

"Ouch. Kana's stingy."

"Keep it shut Kuro…"

"Now now." Akari stands up trying to lower the tension. "Let's get back at the topic at hand." She looks back at Motoko who complies. "The reason you didn't suspect anything was because that was the plan. The Hinata-sou happens to be the most magical spot in all of the Kansai region but like you, no one is supposed to know about that so we suppress that power along with our own."

"Oh…But still, that doesn't explain the reason you decided to have the two girls stay with Keitaro. And if so how could you? I heard from Keitaro that he found Sakura after being thrown out of the house by Naru."

Granny Hina looks up. "But guess who altered Keitaro's falling body into the right path where he has a hundred percent chance of meeting up with Sakura in the alleyway."

"You guys…."

"Technically no…We weren't there to guide his body….someone else was…"

"But who else in the Hinata-sou has powers….that…." Then her brains finally kicks in. "Oh…Haruka…."

Granny Hina's lips curve ever so slightly. "Haruka is indeed a mage but to hide the fact that the Hinata-sou is magical she too has to be sealed magic wise. That was the only time we unsealed her magical powers, for her to guide Keitaro's body towards where Sakura hid."

"I'm not a bit surprised that Haruka had special powers….she seemed like the type who had some anyways. But still, there is still one question."

"Shoot."

"Why are you all doing this? Why protect Asuna and Sakura, and why give them to Keitaro."

Tsuruko stands up. "Lesson number two of the fundamentals Motoko…."

"Not this again…fine….the two basic energies of life, Mana and Ki, have a deeper power within them, called the Elements."

Tsuruko nods. "Yes. Basic Mana and Ki are initially non elemental. For instance I use Ki to do attacks, but basic attacks are just that, just Ki. More advanced attacks require me to bring out the elemental raw side of my Ki. There are fire, water, earth, air, shadow, light, and origin in the elemental spectrum. To an untrained swordsman, they could only pull off basic attacks with their Ki because basic attacks are non-elemental. Normal Ki do not have any elements because there is a mixture of elements mixed into the Ki itself at first. This negates the power of each element. So advanced swordsmen try and filter out their Ki. Meaning that they take away every elemental part in their attack except one so that only one elemental power out of the whole spectrum of his or her Ki is being used. This in turn gives the swordsman a tremendous boost in power according to the element he or she summoned in her Ki. This element is usually the element the swordsman leans towards the most or is fixated from birth."

"So if one could completely isolate one elemental power in their bodies during an attack, that one completely raw Ki element would make him or her strong to the point where everything else is just child's play."

"Yes…..but of course that is impossible. It is completely impossible to actually filter out every part of ones Ki during an attack. Instead there is just dominance. Take away as much unnecessary elemental Ki out of oneself to make at least one element to dominate over the rest, this then makes the overall attack more powerful and geared towards that element. The power however isn't as strong but the more the person trains and gets rid of more and more of the unnecessary elements except for one, the power of his or her attacks will get stronger and stronger. The same can also be applied to Mana. A mage gathers Mana from outside the body but this Mana is of course a mixture of elemental Mana. The more the mage gets rid of everything except one Element, the more powerful that specific spell will become." Tsuruko sits back down. "One example would be me. I am geared towards the element of air. But of course it is impossible to filter out everything and make it a raw air element Ki but with my years of training I have made it possible to filter to the point where I myself can't go no further. Or so it may seem."

"That explains how absurdly powerful you are…..but still what does this have to do with my question?"

"Just wait, we will get there…" Akari says from the background.

Granny Hina glances at Motoko with her old forgiving eyes. "Long ago, before recorded human history, there were seven families. Seven clans you might say. This was when both magic associations and the Shinmei-Ryuu clan were both in their infancy. Like Tsuruko-san said, it is mostly impossible to completely filter out ones Ki or Mana to one side of the elemental spectrum. But these families, the seven clans, were able to do just that. They were all so tuned in with nature that the blood within them actually enabled them to completely wipe out all of the elements except for one. But of course each family had a limitation, each family could only use one raw element that their blood naturally inclined to. There were seven families, there were seven elements, so an element to a family. Meaning one family could only filter out everything to leave only raw fire Ki or Mana but can't do it to any other element while another family has the same problem but instead of fire it is water. Follow the pattern. Good."

"Then each of these families are so powerful. Yet I never heard of them? Are they still around?"

"Unfortunately no. Certain events happened that actually made these seven legendary families disappear. Now all that is left are…" Granny Hina stands up once again and holds up a card…..a card with a blue wolf, Durante, on its cover. "….These cards. The only things left are these kind of cards."

"Th-that's the card I found during the summer vacation with Keitaro and the others." She glances over to Durante. "But what exactly are these?"

Durante shrugs with his spiky fur. "To put it bluntly, these cards, or me and that black stupid cat over there, are the last remaining survivors of the actual seven families that are spoken of in the legends."

"Survivors?"

"Before our families died out, we did not want to lose all of our knowledge, our powers that we attained during the many years of hardship, so with the help of the Urashima family at that time era, one member in each family voluntarily agreed to be sealed in animal form into various cards. So when the blood of the clan is once again revived in the far future, they would have a source of information and power to look upon. This information and power would be us, the cards. Our goal in the end is the revival of our clan….our power…"

Kuro hovers off of Kanako's shoulder and twirls around Motoko. "But of course we did not want to fall into the hands of evil now would we? Even though our full powers could only be used by a person who has the matching blood, a normal human being could still use us but only a quarter of our power could be used. But our power, especially DuraDura's hehehe, are still strong enough even at that state to cause possible harm!"

Granny Hina holds up a hand to stop Kuro's behavior and she speaks in her place. "So that is why we chose a person out of the many to receive the blood of all the families."

"Receive the blood?"

"It's a ritual only the Urashima family knew and could perform. It took about a month to finish and the sacrifices of many family members to get it completed. But in the end the product was a man that is capable of mastering all seven elements of the world. The ritual however wasn't perfect, this man may have had the blood of all seven elemental families flowing within himself but they were not pure. The blood did not enable him to actually master the seven elements like the families normally do. But only enabled him to actually use all seven of the CARDS in their fullest strength one at a time. Boosting his Ki or Mana to unimaginable power because when one card is activated to its fullest strength, the spirit within the card actually goes into the user and wipes out all the opposing elements leaving only the intended raw power for the user to use. This however was only the reward for the man because a huge responsibly was set on his shoulders. He was in charge of protecting the cards from any one thinking of using it for evil."

Seta coughs, flicks his cigarette to the ground, stands up and puts it out. "How does this all relate to Asuna and Sakura you might ask? Well both Asuna, Sakura, and Tenshi, are descendants of this man, this one guardian."

Motoko's eyes go wide. "Descendants?.! You mean…."

"Yes. Asuna, Sakura, and Tenshi have the blood of all seven elemental families flowing within them. Those two girls are the only ones in the world at this time that can activate these cards to their fullest power…"

"They….they could possibly be the most powerful people in this whole world…" Motoko realizes.

"They could be. But they aren't. Sakura has no fighting ability right now….but Asuna does. So Sakura would have a hard time to control the power these cards contain and even if Asuna is powerful it takes time to master these cards, that is why the trials were created."

"Trials?"

Durante barks out to Motoko. "You've seen the initiation first hand Motoko. Back at the summer vacation. I was the enemy…"

"Th-that's when I found the card, your card…."

"That's right. Tenshi's family took their responsibility very seriously so they made trials to test the might of the next person in the family. To test If he or she is truly capable of defending and using the cards, whether it be the full power or only a portion of the card's power."

Motoko looks on at everyone, thinking. An idea pops in her mind. "But there was an unexpected turn of events….wasn't there…"

"Yes…." Tsuruko nods. "Tenshi's early death…along with his wife. This proved to be a grave matter indeed. Some unknown force was powerful enough to defeat Tenshi in battle. And this left the cards wide open for this force to steal. But we had to act fast. So when the girls found the scrolls that were left for them, we instantly started the initiation."

"Why so sudden?"

"The initiation would trigger the instant relocation of the other cards that were left behind by Tenshi to a much safer place. Places where they are hidden and guarded safely. The idea behind this was that after the initiation, the trial would consist of a series of tests around the world in various hidden temples that are impossible to reach by normal means. This however would only prove to delay the forces at hand. Sooner or later these people will infiltrate these temples and get the cards by force."

Motoko furrows her brow and looks on at everyone. "But these girls are too young to go out and travel the world in search for these cards. You may have started the trials too early and without their consent. So now they are pushed into this whole scenario. What if they just want to lead normal lives…."

Akari reassuringly pats Motoko on the shoulder. "That is why we are here…"

"Huh?"

Tsuruko and the rest stand altogether. Forming a large circle around Motoko. "We know all too well that Asuna and Sakura are too young. Tenshi didn't start his trials till he was twenty, but mastered it completely by the age of twenty-five. So we, the people around you, have decided to retrieve the cards in their place, unlike the people that killed Tenshi we have the upper hand, we know where the temples are. That is why we let the initiation scatter the cards to these temples, to prevent this unknown force from getting it all under one swoop and letting us gather them one by one so as we could protect them."

Kuro swirls around the group enjoying herself. "And they already got one. Meeeeeeeeee. Hahahaha."

"God damn it cat. Shut up!" Durante growls.

"Hahaha Never!"

Motoko grins at both enjoyment and relief. "Wow, you all got it planned. Is there anything I can help with?"

"That is why we are all here. We want you to help us…"

Granny Hina shakes her cane. "We want you to look after the girls in the Hinata-sou. Naru, Mitsune, Suu, Asuna, Eve, Sakura, Shinobu, Makie, and Keitaro…."

"That I can handle…"

"If you need any help, Haruka will be more then glad to help you out. She may not have any powers because of the seal, but she is still Haruka…"

"Thank you Granny Hina………But one more thing….."

"Hmmm?"

Everyone looks in carefully.

"What is it Motoko?"

"……I heard some weird things are happening with Asuna lately…..she was in the hospital after a spar just recently and I wonder if you all know some stuff about this topic?"

Seta rubs his temple with two fingers. Sighing. "We are looking that up as we speak. We don't now any details but the only lead that we have right now that concerns Asuna is Tenshi's family doctor. His name is Doctor Himura, he was an associates of mine for a time and right now another member of our group is searching for him."

"I see…."

"Don't worry about it too much. Asuna seems fine with Keitaro."

"Onii-chan is a good father for those girls. Nothing will happen. I can feel it." Kanako says as she leaves into the house and out the courtyard.

"Your prolly right."

"I AM right….I know Onii-chan, he won't have anything happen to those girl..." And she was gone.

"………."

"Sorry about Kanako, Motoko, she is just….touchy about Kei-kun." Akari says as she passes by the swordswoman. "But right now Kei-kun is fine. He's just about to leave for his lessons in cram school."

"How do you know that?"

Akari reaches into her T-shirt and pulls out a very strikingly familiar red ruby pendant.

"Th-that looks like Keitaro's!"

"It should. I gave one that looks like this one a while ago…"

"Wait……you gave him a pendant?… Haruka told us a story a while back where Keitaro was going to meet up with a friend of his….but he found out she died….and that a pendant was given to him by the this girl's ghost…." Motoko looks at Akari. "Are you..?"

"Heh, magic can do a lot for you these days…especially making one look like a ghost going into the after life." Akari winks, puts on a rather red looking beret and holds up her pendant once more. "Anyway, this pendant lets me see what Kei-kun sees and sometimes let me feel what he feels, both emotionally and physically. I've been keeping my eye on him for quite sometime now because of Granny Hina's orders. And I rather like this job."

"……So basically you are stalking Keitaro…."

"Stalking is too evil….I prefer telepathic surveillance."

"Stalking."

"……….I know but I still have to do it!" Akari finishes saying as she sticks an immature tongue out and follows Kanako into the house. "He's about to leave with this girl named Naru right now for your information."

"To cram school. I know."

"And he keeps looking at her breasts! Just like how he looks at your breasts too. Especially with your 'normal' clothes. Hehehe."

"L-Liar!" Motoko blushes. "Ke-Keitaro wouldn't do anything like that…"

"I know. But you didn't say that when you guys slashed and punched him a year ago when he first came? Why the change of heart?"

"Well--err." Motoko deepens her red hue around her cheeks. "H-he changed!"

"Not in my eyes! He's always been the sweet, lovable Kei-kun I've known him to be. Maybe it just took you some time to see that. Hahaha. Bye bye!"

"…………"

And everyone was gone…..leaving Motoko alone to contemplate about all that has happened…all the information she just received...and to stop blushing from Akari's comments.

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Back at the Hinata-sou.

Keitaro comes down the stair case.

Joins up with Naru in the front door and waves a silent good bye at Eve and Asuna as he leaves out the door.

All the while a red ruby necklace is hidden under his T-shirt. Glowing lightly.

And no one notices…

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Except for Haruka who watches both Naru and Keitaro run down the long staircase leading to the busy morning street of the Province. With a solemn expression painted on her face and a cigarette in her mouth she keeps a close eye out at the two until they disappear behind the trees.

Silently Haruka turns around and heads back to her little Tea Shack like she usually does every single day. But this time, there's a customer waiting for her…

A tall, tanned teenager sits in one of the many available desks in the shack. A traditional Miko garb wraps her delicate tan skin along with holsters that don't sport any guns as of right now for they lay out in plain open view right on the table.

Haruka walks up to her. Calm and safe.

"Do want any tea Mana?"

"No thank you…..just water please."

"Anything else with that?"

"Do you have any information on a man named Himura. It would prove to be most useful…"

"Fortunately for you…..yes I do."

---------End of Chapter 56---------