The Rest of Chapter 16
By Android Eleven
"How could the Kidos have been spies?" Sora exclaimed. "Our spies, at that? They were greatly honored in the Tachikawa royal court."
"All the more opportunity to gather information," Taichi replied, beginning to pace. "You'd be surprised at the things that people will do for their home country...and a little bit of money."
Sora sunk into a chair, letting the information sink in. Questions swam through her head. "How did they become Tachikawa nobles if they were Kamiyans?"
Taichi stopped pacing and smiled dryly. "There's one of the interesting things about war, see. You could be a complete nobody, a peasant with no past to speak of, at least not one you could find on any records, but if you save a legion of Tachikawas from a surprise attack that no one else knows about, you can get the attention of some pretty important people, pretty fast."
Sora puzzled over that for a couple minutes. "So, what? Did your father have the Kidos disguise themselves as Tachikawan peasants? What did he do about the public records of Kido and his family; hide them?"
"He burnt them." Taichi went back to his father's desk and picked the journal up again, banging on the cover with his fist. "It says so on the next couple pages. It says he had all the records destroyed, on the chance any Tachikawas managed to seize control of our libraries. A good decision, as it turns out. But now, the only records of the House of Kido ever being anything other than a Tachikawa House are in this book." Taichi tapped the journal once more.
Sora stood and took the journal. She opened it once again to the indicated place and skimmed through the next few pages. She looked back up at Taichi. "But the Kido family was attacked and killed last year. By Kamiyan troops. Why would Kamiyan spies be attacked by Kamiyan soldiers?"
Taichi gave her an ironic smile. "Money, my dear. It's all about money. My father was paying them for inside information on Tachikawa. But then one day the Kamiyan army started falling victim to a number of surprise Tachikawa attacks. More often then would usually be deemed normal. It seems that someone in the Tachikawa monarchy was beginning to reward the House of Kido for the inside information they were giving about Kamiya. It was a problem that was costing hundreds of Kamiyan lives. So my father send out troops to deal with said problem."
Sora sat down again and tapped her knee. "So what does this mean, Tai? What are we going to do?" Taichi glanced at her with a serious look on his face.
"We're going to tell the other nobles what we know, that's for sure. We'll assemble them in the throne room, confront them with it and then go search all the Tachikawa chambers and carriages. Then we'll keep going from there."
* * * * *
Takeru found himself back in his creepy, foggy shadow land. There was more fog now than there had been the last time that he was there. It was much moister now, too. And the temperature, already cold, had dropped to below freezing. A thick layer of ice and frost had developed on the empty ground.
Takeru wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself, rubbing his hands together and trying to blow warm air on them through his blue lips. His teeth chattered behind his pale face and his feet were rapidly numbing. Despite the lingering horror at the last mirror vision he had seen, he wished desperately for another mirror to appear so he could leave the frozen bleakness.
The wait seemed longer this time than it had before, but a mirror did eventually appear, after Takeru was almost drowned by the cold, wet fog. He stood before the mirror and was quickly enveloped within it.
*
~ It was hell. It had to be. No other place could ever look so bloody and so devastated. Bodies littered the ground like leaves in autumn. And still more people fought amidst them. Takeru quickly tore his gaze away from the carnage and caught sight of a number of lights clashing in the air not too far from him. Takeru made his way toward those flashes, careful about stepping on the dead, though he knew nothing would happen if he did.
Takeru only went close enough to see what was going on. He wouldn't dare go any closer for fear of the struggling clashes of light blinding him. He could see what looked to be the tail end of a battle. There was a single man on one side of the fight, whom Takeru quickly recognized as the Apprentice, though quite a few years older. He carried with him the sword Takeru had watched him acquire years, though only minutes, ago.
And on the other side were three more figures. Two females, one male and Takeru caught a flash of blonde hair. Then he realized that these were the remaining Guardians, those of the North, East and West.
Each side was producing one stream of continuous light, battling fiercely for supremacy. And it was clear to Takeru that the Apprentice was winning. His stream, a colour almost to dark to be described as light, kept pushing the single stream of the Guardians further and further back.
But as Takeru shielded his eyes something started happening. The single stream of the Guardians began to break apart. It was breaking apart, but it was gaining more energy. The dark light of the Apprentice was now the one beginning to be forced back.
Suddenly in his mind's eye, Takeru could sense everything he couldn't actually see, knew what was going on. The Guardians' light was breaking into three. The Apprentice's light was going to give out, sooner or later. History told him this.
** In one final act of hope, the three Guardians performed a spell to attempt to protect their lands. This spell was a powerful one, more powerful than the Guardians themselves. And, in performing it, they were destroyed.
The Apprentice was suppressed and, as no one ever saw him again, it was thought that he had been destroyed along with the Guardians. **
But history did not give us details. Takeru watched as history played out in front of his eyes and in his mind's eye he could now see, along with the separating light of the Guardians, the Guardians themselves.
A young woman in violet, a peace-loving woman with long light brown hair and light brown eyes carrying a shield. Another woman with darker brown hair in a blue tunic, her crimson eyes flashing as she held her bow-less arrow towards the sky. And the blonde man with blue-green eyes clad in emerald green, carrying a staff. Takeru's staff.
** The great houses of Tachikawa, Kamiya and Ishida... **
And then Takeru understood. He understood why he had discovered his staff. He knew what Hikari wanted to talk to him about and why she had been suspicious about his staff. And he knew what Princess Mimi was hiding in her cloak trunk.
** Things that fade can be revived... **
Takeru knew that danger was near, was already there, and that the Great Treasures of Old would be needed again. The Arrow, the Staff and the Shield. And also...
** And things that break can be put together once more. **
The Sword.
But just then the Guardian of the East spoke one last time. He seemed only to whisper, but his words echoed louder than thunder. "Your time has come, Dark One. You will not win this battle. Your will is dark and your soul corrupted. You are not the sword-bearer, and today we will make sure you never wield it again." The blonde Guardian struggled for a moment with his steadily overwhelming power before continuing.
"We will make you pay on behalf of your old master, the man you brought to death far before his time. We fight you on behalf of the Guardian of the South. AND WE WIN FOR NATAKU KIDO, THE TRUE SWORD-BEARER!"
With these last words, the power of the three Guardians surged at the Apprentice like a bolt out of the sky. It shot at him in an explosion of light and colour. Takeru was forced to cover his eyes again and when he opened them again there was nothing.
The moist chill of fog and frost and ice once again seeped into his skin. ~
* * * * *
"How could the Kidos have been spies?" Sora exclaimed. "Our spies, at that? They were greatly honored in the Tachikawa royal court."
"All the more opportunity to gather information," Taichi replied, beginning to pace. "You'd be surprised at the things that people will do for their home country...and a little bit of money."
Sora sunk into a chair, letting the information sink in. Questions swam through her head. "How did they become Tachikawa nobles if they were Kamiyans?"
Taichi stopped pacing and smiled dryly. "There's one of the interesting things about war, see. You could be a complete nobody, a peasant with no past to speak of, at least not one you could find on any records, but if you save a legion of Tachikawas from a surprise attack that no one else knows about, you can get the attention of some pretty important people, pretty fast."
Sora puzzled over that for a couple minutes. "So, what? Did your father have the Kidos disguise themselves as Tachikawan peasants? What did he do about the public records of Kido and his family; hide them?"
"He burnt them." Taichi went back to his father's desk and picked the journal up again, banging on the cover with his fist. "It says so on the next couple pages. It says he had all the records destroyed, on the chance any Tachikawas managed to seize control of our libraries. A good decision, as it turns out. But now, the only records of the House of Kido ever being anything other than a Tachikawa House are in this book." Taichi tapped the journal once more.
Sora stood and took the journal. She opened it once again to the indicated place and skimmed through the next few pages. She looked back up at Taichi. "But the Kido family was attacked and killed last year. By Kamiyan troops. Why would Kamiyan spies be attacked by Kamiyan soldiers?"
Taichi gave her an ironic smile. "Money, my dear. It's all about money. My father was paying them for inside information on Tachikawa. But then one day the Kamiyan army started falling victim to a number of surprise Tachikawa attacks. More often then would usually be deemed normal. It seems that someone in the Tachikawa monarchy was beginning to reward the House of Kido for the inside information they were giving about Kamiya. It was a problem that was costing hundreds of Kamiyan lives. So my father send out troops to deal with said problem."
Sora sat down again and tapped her knee. "So what does this mean, Tai? What are we going to do?" Taichi glanced at her with a serious look on his face.
"We're going to tell the other nobles what we know, that's for sure. We'll assemble them in the throne room, confront them with it and then go search all the Tachikawa chambers and carriages. Then we'll keep going from there."
* * * * *
Takeru found himself back in his creepy, foggy shadow land. There was more fog now than there had been the last time that he was there. It was much moister now, too. And the temperature, already cold, had dropped to below freezing. A thick layer of ice and frost had developed on the empty ground.
Takeru wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself, rubbing his hands together and trying to blow warm air on them through his blue lips. His teeth chattered behind his pale face and his feet were rapidly numbing. Despite the lingering horror at the last mirror vision he had seen, he wished desperately for another mirror to appear so he could leave the frozen bleakness.
The wait seemed longer this time than it had before, but a mirror did eventually appear, after Takeru was almost drowned by the cold, wet fog. He stood before the mirror and was quickly enveloped within it.
*
~ It was hell. It had to be. No other place could ever look so bloody and so devastated. Bodies littered the ground like leaves in autumn. And still more people fought amidst them. Takeru quickly tore his gaze away from the carnage and caught sight of a number of lights clashing in the air not too far from him. Takeru made his way toward those flashes, careful about stepping on the dead, though he knew nothing would happen if he did.
Takeru only went close enough to see what was going on. He wouldn't dare go any closer for fear of the struggling clashes of light blinding him. He could see what looked to be the tail end of a battle. There was a single man on one side of the fight, whom Takeru quickly recognized as the Apprentice, though quite a few years older. He carried with him the sword Takeru had watched him acquire years, though only minutes, ago.
And on the other side were three more figures. Two females, one male and Takeru caught a flash of blonde hair. Then he realized that these were the remaining Guardians, those of the North, East and West.
Each side was producing one stream of continuous light, battling fiercely for supremacy. And it was clear to Takeru that the Apprentice was winning. His stream, a colour almost to dark to be described as light, kept pushing the single stream of the Guardians further and further back.
But as Takeru shielded his eyes something started happening. The single stream of the Guardians began to break apart. It was breaking apart, but it was gaining more energy. The dark light of the Apprentice was now the one beginning to be forced back.
Suddenly in his mind's eye, Takeru could sense everything he couldn't actually see, knew what was going on. The Guardians' light was breaking into three. The Apprentice's light was going to give out, sooner or later. History told him this.
** In one final act of hope, the three Guardians performed a spell to attempt to protect their lands. This spell was a powerful one, more powerful than the Guardians themselves. And, in performing it, they were destroyed.
The Apprentice was suppressed and, as no one ever saw him again, it was thought that he had been destroyed along with the Guardians. **
But history did not give us details. Takeru watched as history played out in front of his eyes and in his mind's eye he could now see, along with the separating light of the Guardians, the Guardians themselves.
A young woman in violet, a peace-loving woman with long light brown hair and light brown eyes carrying a shield. Another woman with darker brown hair in a blue tunic, her crimson eyes flashing as she held her bow-less arrow towards the sky. And the blonde man with blue-green eyes clad in emerald green, carrying a staff. Takeru's staff.
** The great houses of Tachikawa, Kamiya and Ishida... **
And then Takeru understood. He understood why he had discovered his staff. He knew what Hikari wanted to talk to him about and why she had been suspicious about his staff. And he knew what Princess Mimi was hiding in her cloak trunk.
** Things that fade can be revived... **
Takeru knew that danger was near, was already there, and that the Great Treasures of Old would be needed again. The Arrow, the Staff and the Shield. And also...
** And things that break can be put together once more. **
The Sword.
But just then the Guardian of the East spoke one last time. He seemed only to whisper, but his words echoed louder than thunder. "Your time has come, Dark One. You will not win this battle. Your will is dark and your soul corrupted. You are not the sword-bearer, and today we will make sure you never wield it again." The blonde Guardian struggled for a moment with his steadily overwhelming power before continuing.
"We will make you pay on behalf of your old master, the man you brought to death far before his time. We fight you on behalf of the Guardian of the South. AND WE WIN FOR NATAKU KIDO, THE TRUE SWORD-BEARER!"
With these last words, the power of the three Guardians surged at the Apprentice like a bolt out of the sky. It shot at him in an explosion of light and colour. Takeru was forced to cover his eyes again and when he opened them again there was nothing.
The moist chill of fog and frost and ice once again seeped into his skin. ~
* * * * *
