- Ahh, what an enjoyable sunset.
The light-blue haired man breathed deeply while taking some steps to reach his companion.
- The day had been really hot, but the evening breeze is cooling it off. – Lumiale smiled gently and looked at the person at his side, who doesn't enjoy hot days.
- …
He took the man's silence as a sign of a bad mood. After all, Julious-sama demanded him a complete essay about the Darkness power in Collet's system, while he had already delivered one to Rachel concluding that it was very well balanced. The head guardian probably wanted to make sure of that, and asked every guardian another essay, but Lumiale knew that Clavis felt as if the blonde one wished only to pick on him and see him displeased. His companion was walking in a unusual fast pace today, probably wanting to reach his mansion as soon as he can, and close himself in safety from another one of Julious' demandings. Seeing this, Lumiale tried to sooth his mood.
- I have just finished a new song. Want to hear it tonight?
- Hn.
At least he said something this time, and the guardian of gentleness felt better. Clavis wasn't much about talking, but he always answered his questions or statements. The nightfall was probably making him feel better. At this thought, something snapped inside of him, making him a little sad. He wished that… 'Oh, it's not time for such things. All that matter right now is Clavis'. Lumiale just gripped his harp tighter to him and kept silent, as well as the man on his side.
- Ufff, uff… I made it!
Panting, Randy leaned against the Royal Institute's outer wall with relief. He had just managed to deliver his essay to Ernst before Julious dropped by to check if every guardian made their work properly. 'Speaking of which…'. Catching a glimpse of a noble figure coming by, Randy rightened his posture and greeted.
- Good evening, Julious-sama.
- Good evening, Randy-sama. Finished with your work, I suppose. – as the other nodded, Julious proceeded – Very well, then I must take my leave…
- Good-bye, Julious-sama.
After the proud one entered the Institute, Randy stretched his arms and his back, and then walked slowly towards his mansion. 'Oh, in the end I didn't have time to walk Kyoufu. He needs daily exercise… But it wasn't a bad day, after all.'. He thought about Angelique for a while and then pictured the dog in his mind waiting behind the mansion's door with his red collar, pledging to leave. 'Oh, the park never closes and it's well illuminated at night, I guess I'll just take him there. I'm not in the mood to go early to bed, anyway…'. He put his hands in his pocket and went on whistling.
- What time is it? It must be late…
The night was chilly at that hour and Lumiale began to feel sleepy, what made him conclude it could be past ten. Clavis, who was sitting with his eyes closed, decided to get up.
- I'm going inside.
Lumiale happily agreed with his idea, if he spent one more minute outside he would begin to shiver and even catch a cold. He followed the silent man and almost bumped into him when he went dead on his tracks.
- Clavis?
The Guardian of Darkness was looking with an odd expression to the sky and he raised his eyes to see what was bugging him. He didn't need to search long, for he immediately found what wasn't right. 'A new star… glowing strong red'. Lumiale was taught by his friend about each constellation you could see from the Sanctuary and knew it wasn't supposed to be there, especially one with a ruby light.
- It is no ordinary star.
With that statement, Clavis rushed to the chamber where he kept his crystal ball and Lumiale was right behind him. As soon as they entered the room, the left window opened with a start and the strong wind blew the heavy curtains aside and made the tarot deck fall open to the ground, scattering the cards. At first Lumiale reacted leaning down to help Clavis pick up the cards, but he remembered that no one else, beside the owner, should touch them. He stood up and closed the window.
- All the cards fell face down, except this one.
Feeling nervous about what his friend just said, Lumiale looked at the card in Clavis' hand. Ironically, it was The Star.
- Hn. Very interesting – Clavis put the card on his desk and uncovered his crystal ball – Let's see if my ball has more information.
Lumiale noted that the other guardian became very talkative, probably excited with everything that was happening. Speaking for himself, he was a little shaken and locked his gaze on the card. Pondering about it's meaning, he realized it was good omen: The Star was the card of hope and guidance. Thus, he calmed down and turned his attention to Clavis and gasped. 'He is using his Sacrea!' Lumiale wanted to stop him, to remember him that he wasn't supposed to interfere with what he saw in his crystal ball, specially using his own Sacrea!
- W-why??
Unable to do nothing more than stare with eyes wide open, Lumiale just waited for an answer, an explanation.
Randy was brushing his teeth when his dog started barking uncontrollably. He quickly finished it and ran outside to calm him down.
- Hey, Kyou! What's bothering you, my little friend? We had enough exercise for today in the park, didn't we?
He patted the back of his pet, making it stop. Kyoufu looked at him and turned his head to the sky. After doing the same movement a couple of times, he started barking again.
- It is about something up there? H-hey…
That's when he saw the red star. After the initial shock, he tried to calm down his dog again.
- Shhhhh, shhhhhh, come on… It's just a star… A CREEPY one, but it's just a star… It's not like it's gonna fall on our heads…
When he looked back at the sky, he felt like taking his words back. It was growing larger and larger! It got big enough to Randy realize it wasn't a star, it was a huge ball of fire!
- WHOA! Maybe it WILL fall on our heads!
He got up but, not knowing what to do, just stared at the thing falling from the sky. A call broke his freeze state.
- Randy? RANDY-SAMA! Are you there??
- I'm right here, Rosalia-sama! - He moved from where he was with Kyou and went to the entrance of his mansion - So, what is happening??
Rosalia blushed at him and coughed.
- Erm… The Queen is calling every Guardian to an urgent meeting! Get changed quickly and proceed to the Holy Palace! After I call the remaining guardians, I will meet you there!
After he heard the words "get changed" he blushed too, ashamed and embarrassed that he appeared in front of Rosalia-sama in his blue pajamas with doggies, but didn't have the chance to apologize: Rosalia was long gone to fetch the other guardians.
The commotion outside snapped Zephel out of his concentration. What a hell of a place, where you couldn't fix a mechanical servant in peace! He went to the bedroom's balcony, ready to yell blunt words at the responsible for all that noise and stopped. The night sky was oddly illuminated at that hour, and it couldn't be dawn already. Then he perceived what was wrong:
- WHAT THE F***?? That's a huge meteorite! And the Sanctuary was meant to be safe! What a bunch of no-good liars…
Before being overwhelmed by fear, he remembered he kept an ace in his sleeve:
- Heh – Zephel snickered – Guess it's time to put O-0Bv1.0 (Omega-Zero Blaster version 1.0) into good use. Even Julious can't scowl me for that.
He ran out of the balcony and opened his closet, removing a box from a false floor. He unlocked it using the right code and grinned at the sight of polished steel. It was finally time for some action. Zephel grabbed a rucksack and carefully put the weapon and some tools inside it, zipped it close and left his house. After some consideration, he decided to go to the hill behind the lake, where the waterfall sprouted. He should have a better view of the falling meteorite from it.
And so the enthusiastic boy hopped on his mountain bike, oblivious to the fact that the Queen has an important announcement regarding the ball of flame…
*******************************************
About the dog… I don't recollect reading his name in one of the game series, info, manga, etc, so I just named him Kyoufu. I don't like it very much, Kyou sounds better and Randy agrees with me. I kept it that way because it supposedly means windstorm (note: I used a Japanese dictionary to translate the wanted word and then used an English dictionary to inform you what word it was… It's not an accurate process and I may be wrong).
Well, now let's peek into the next chapter: Limoges, Collet and Clavis explain what is happening and Lumiale finally understands his friend's attitude. The problem is: What are Zephel's actions going to lead for? More: One of the instructors makes his showdown. Ah, I didn't tell you at first: In my story the instructors went back to their planets, since there is no more need to instruct. Especially Timka, who is a prince heir and has his obligations, so he can't stay in the Sanctuary forever.