Chapter I
A Late Afternoon... RUN!
"Somebody help me!" I cried late one summer afternoon. I knew I had to find someone or else this big goon chasing me was gonna catch me, and who knows what he would do to me.
I had been running through a thick forest that surrounded the lake near my house when the house came into view… the house that would change my life forever.
When I ran upon the house, I saw a tall blonde figure sparring with another blue haired figure.
"Help me!" I yelled gasping for air. "Please… help… me!"
When they heard me, the blonde figure quickly ran over. I soon realized that this tall, blonde person was on of the guys that I had seen that same spring while walking by the lake. I was scared for my life and exhausted from running, so the sight of people was a relief.
I ran over to the blonde and clung to him.
"Don't let them take me, please, don't let them take me!" I sobbed.
"Don't let who take you?" His voice asked me calmly.
"I don't know, but they were wearing armor."
"Talpa!" the blonde's blue haired companion said.
At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in my thigh and I fell to one knee. Instantaneously, I began to feel the pain spreading from the wound… just like venom.
"Sage, get her away from here and call the others."
The last thing I remember before passing out was being carried away by Sage.
"Where am I?" I said. I had woken up suddenly and was looking around.
"Mia! Mia! She woke up! She woke up!" I heard a little boy's voice call, and then a stampede of footsteps coming up the stairs. Soon there were five inquisitive faces just staring at me. I decided I might as well break the silence.
"My name is Hikari; could you tell me where I am?" I asked, sitting up. The weird thing about the situation was that I recognized every person's face and I knew that all of them, with the exception of the woman and the boy, were either fourteen or fifteen.
"I'm Yulie," the little boy said excitedly. He looked to be about ten or eleven and was pretty short with short brown hair. "This is Mia." Yulie told me with a big smile. She was tall with long brown hair; she was wearing a headband. She also looked like she was in her twenties. Then I remembered all of their names.
"So the guy who brought me here is named Sage?" I inquired.
"Yes." Mia answered.
"And the other guy who was sparring with him is named Rowan, right?"
"Yes."
"So you must be Ryo of Wildfire, Kento of Hard rock, and Sai of the Torrent."
"How do you know so much about us?" Kento asked angrily, "Are you one of Talpa's spies?"
"No, I'm not one of Talpa's spies; however, I can't recall how I know so much about you."
"Sage told me that when you were wounded by Sehkmet's venomous blade, he could sense that your guiding virtue was 'grace'." Ryo told me, hoping I would have an explanation.
"I don't understand what you're getting at." I replied confused.
"Well, if you do have a guiding virtue, like Sage said, then that means you also have an armor. Do you understand?"
"Aw, come on Ryo, stop flirtin' with her!" Kento teased.
"Shaddup Kento!" Ryo yelled blushing. Next thing I knew, Ryo and Kento were in an all out fist fight.
"Basically, what Ryo was trying to tell you was that whether you know it or not, you have an armor, just like the rest of us." Sai explained over the commotion of Ryo and Kento's fist fight. "That must've been why Sehkmet was after you. Talpa must have just found out about this new armor."
"I guess I understand now, but what happened to Rowan and Sage?"
"Sage is in his room recovering from their battle against the Demon of Venom." Mia explained. "Unfortunately, the same can't be said about Rowan."