Chapter IV – Hidden Ocean

Kiyo sweatdropped and Suisen gave him a glare.

"Yeah, what exactly is this?" Ray asked.

Kiyo sighed. "This dragon belongs to one of my superiors. Her name is Rika and she's one of the most powerful guardians there are. Before I came here, Sita told me to not say anything about guardians but I guess it's too late now."

"Most powerful guardian?" Suisen gave his a confused look. "How do you even know if she's that powerful? Counting the years, you couldn't have known her for too long…"

"Hmm, how can I explain this…" Kiyo said quietly as we climbed onto Sasen. "Let's just say I've been to many places with her and she is well known and feared by many high ranked people."

"You explanations aren't all that great." Kiyo gave a sheepish smile as Suisen continued to stare at him.

"Well it doesn't really matter does it? Sasen is quite harmless and will help us get there a lot faster. That's all there is to it…"

Suisen sighed. All the Bladebreakers looked confused. There was an awkward silence until…

"Fine, we'll ride there." Suisen finally said. "But I'm very suspicious about your superiors and that so-called sorcerer. You just started talking about their high level magic and suddenly their dragon appears?" he sighed. "This is getting even weirder."

They all climbed on to Sasen and started off. Hilary seemed the happiest of them all, seeing as she could rest and even better, she was on a dragon that was actually flying! Tyson, Ray and Max both looked had awkward looks on their faces, it seemed like they were afraid of falling off. Kai simply lied on his bags and took a nap. Suisen was studying the dragon and looking around the sky and the ground. As time passed, he got even more suspicious about Kiyo and the dragon, Sasen. Kiyo seemed the most relaxed and calm of them all, he was peacefully lying on the dragon's back and looking at the clouds as if they were the most wonderful thing in the universe.

A day later, they reached Hidden Ocean in the evening. It was a beautiful place where everything was untouched by mankind. The few villagers that lived there had made small houses out the trees. But the most gorgeous thing was the view of the ocean. The water was sparking with a faint red shine from the red setting sun.

"This is… purely amazing." Kenny said as he stared at the view.

"Everything is seems so clear." Ray said with amazement. Even his hometown didn't look as natural as this. "I never knew such a place existed."

Looks like a fairy tale setting, Kai thought.

"Well, that's the point." Suisen said. "Come on, my house is down there. We'll go there to get you guys set up and then I'll take you around before we start researching."

The Bladebreakers examined the tropical forest on the way to Suisen's house. Suisen sighed every time he looked back because he knew that they were so busy enjoying the view, they probably wouldn't remember the way back so he'd waste time by showing them the way back later. Kiyo gave a small smile every time he saw Suisen look back.

Nothing's changed, Kiyo thought. Just like back then…

"We're here." Suisen said as he broke everyone's daydreaming moment.

They looked up at the house. It was nothing like they expected. The house had two levels, pretty big for a house made of wood. There were fancy designs on the wood and sand that made it glow.

"Whoa. This is incredible. " Max said in awe. Then he turned to look at Suisen. "You're full of surprises."

"It's not like I had anything to do these past 200 years." Suisen muttered.

There we're many available rooms for guests in his house so everyone shared. Kenny and Ray, Max and Tyson, and finally Kai and Kiyo, (although Kiyo volunteered to sleep outside) took the right hand rooms on the upper level. On the left there was a small library and study. Downstairs was a kitchen that only had pots, pans, a couple knives, and a fireplace for cooking. There was also a small couch in the middle of the living room, which also had a couch, and another fireplace. The remaining half of the bottom floor was a huge library which contained the rooms that Suisen had collected for the past 200 years.

By now, most of the Bladebreakers were just stunned with astonishment that they couldn't say much. Kiyo was the only one out of all of them that didn't seem surprised after Suisen had finished giving the tour of his house.

"Now we're going to head out to the village so I can get some food and other things for our little researching party and journey." Suisen said as he headed out the door. "After that, we'll begin our research in the upper libraries."

They walked on the same path that they had before to get to the village. When they finally got to the village, it seemed to be like a regular Indian tribe. There were a few tents for doctors in a corner and clothing and accessories in the other. On the other side of the village was a 'natural mall.' Everything that was sold came from the surrounding areas and all made by hand, after all there was no machinery. The Bladebreakers bought a few things for fun so that they could remember the Hidden Ocean village. However on the way back a seer stepped up to Suisen.

"Ah, Suisen, you are back," she whispered. Then she took a small glance at Kiyo. "The past will repeat again, my dear. And one who is close to you is already lost forever for the sake of hoping to change the future," she then waved and started to walk away as her voice drifted away saying, "May you have a nice dream, Suisen."

"No worries, she does that all the time." Suisen said, answering their confused faces. "Now, shall we head home?"

They all nodded. On the way back, everyone got a little sidetracked and starting playing around in the beach. Well, everyone except for Kai. By the time they had finished and got home, it was nighttime and everyone seemed tired.

"It's getting late now so we'll start the researching tomorrow." Kiyo said. "Have a good night!"

"Wait, where are you going?" Kenny asked. "Aren't you sharing with Kai?"

"I'll be back later. I'm gonna hang outside for awhile." Kiyo replied.

Kiyo climbed onto the rooftop of Suisen's house and stared into the night sky. His face was sad and happy at the same time.

I never thought I'd get the chance to have this kind of fun again, he thought. Maybe Sita is wrong about what's going to happen and maybe Rika-sama's riddle is going to be answered.

To Be Continued