The heavenly host had gathered about the Ruler. Nothing had happened with the guardians in a while. The demons were quickly spreading over the fresh earth and Lucifer was gaining ground. All the Lord did was smile mysteriously and say it would be all right. Today something was going to happen. It was written and said, thus it would be. They had gathered because, uniquely, the next guardian and watcher would come from the enemy. This girl had an interesting history, even for the angels.
She was an ordinary villager, born a while after the other guardians. Early on in her life, around five, she had been abducted by the intruders. She had been disguised as one, taught as one, and treated as one of them. She fully believed she was one. The turn out would be interesting. The angels looked down on her, the guardian to be.
Lucifer spied upon the human world. There was a large gathering of angels in Heaven. They were waiting for the new guardian. But why would they all gather if this guardian was normal. What was so special about her? And who was her watcher. Lucifer's spies had been cast out of heaven and he himself had been banished from that Holy realm. He would just have to wait and see. He sat broodingly in his dark throne until he grew impatient. He pondered what he could do.
The fallen angel rose up to the earth, and into the darkened sky. He rose past the atmospheres of Earth and rose into space. Lucifer floated onto the alien spaceship and looked around. The usual spinach headed one was out, as was the bony elder and the one named after food. Instead he found the short one. Lucifer changed his appearance and silently entered the room. He made himself visible to the impertinent one and summoned a thick intoxicating black mist. The short one turned around and his golden eyes widened in fear of the red eyed monster. He fell to his knees before Lucifer. "What do you wish of me, Deep Blue?" He asked.
Lucifer hid his satisfaction under a mask of hatred and indifference. "I wish you to eliminate the guardians," Lucifer told him in a dark booming voice. The short one nodded and said, "Yes, Master Deep Blue." He bowed his head. Lucifer eyed him and let the black mist surround him. The ruler of Hell rendered himself invisible and sunk through the bottom of the ship to the dark center. From there he floated down to earth and plummeted down to hell, where he watched events unfold.
Chapter Seven: Ice Magic
This is the magic of freezing and slowing, bringing the forces of frost to bear on your opponents in order to strike them and slow them down. Ice Magic focuses mostly on causing damage, with some disabling ability.
A tall skinny girl with long white hair sat upon a fluffy bed. Thick pale cerulean streaks ran through her hair and her bangs were long and tapered, hanging loosely down the sides of her face. Her skin was pale from being raised in a spaceship and her eyes were a gold-blue color. She was clothed in a deep cerulean blue dress with a gold beaded waist and slippers. A pearl shaped pendant was hung on a gold chain around her neck. She was dressed differently from her normal pale leather garb because today was her coming of age. A celebration of her thirteenth year. It was going to be held on earth, no celebration like that was ever held on a spaceship. Ever since her people had come to earth they had been holding the coming of age celebrations there. So far, the only people had been Kisshu, her brother, and Pai. There were younger ones, but the majority of them had gone back to their planet a while ago, before the appearance of Deep Blue.
Deep Blue was a god, of sorts. It was said that he had mysterious powers, advancing far beyond their own teleportation and intelligence. He was an evolved form of them. He had reigned as leader early on, but had mysteriously disappeared one day, saying that he would one day return. Or so the legends went. All the aliens knew the legends by heart, or had heard them many many times. They were to be held next to a giant garden of some sort. No one knew what that thing really was, but it looked very green and garden like from the spaceship. So, they had deemed it a giant garden.
The girl went down with Kisshu and Pai and Tichii, the elder of the spaceship. He would be performing the initial ceremony. They landed by a large house. Kisshu looked at it, surprised. Wasn't that where Ichigo lived?
Ichigo was dressed in her swimming clothes. Everyone was going to the beach today. They were all ready, but everyone else was finishing up a few things in the training yard. She rested her elbows on the windowsill and looked out . Clouds breezed by overhead and a shining light was coming from about ten feet away. Nothing that wasn't normal. Wait. A bright shining light? Ichigo looked closer as the light vanished. Four aliens stood there. One was a girl with long silver hair and the one next to her was some old guy. Then there was Pai and . . . Kisshu. Great, just what I needed. Kisshu landing in the front yard. Oi, what's he up to now! Ichigo thought and ran outside. Ryou ran up behind her. He put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Wait, Ichigo. That girl is the Ice Guardian. Remember that guy who came earlier?" Ichigo nodded. "He's her watcher," Ryou told her. Ichigo looked surprised. "I guess I shouldn't have locked him in the cellar, then," Ichigo said somewhat dismayed. "You locked him in the cellar!" Ryou almost shouted. Ichigo nodded. "Sorry!" Ryou rubbed his temples. "Watch them," he commanded and ran off to let the boy out of the cellar.
Ichigo hid behind a large weeping willow in front of the house. The tree shook gently and someone fell out. He had red hair styled much like Ryou's, but it had more of a surfer look to it. "EEE!" Ichigo screeched. The boy covered his ears. "AGCK!" he yelled upon seeing she was in her underwear. "You're supposed to be in the cellar! How did you get out!" Ichigo raged. "Never lock me in the cellar," Kaito cautioned, then asked, "What're they doing over there?" "I don't know. Ryou just--" Ichigo started to tell Kaito what Ryou was doing when the boy himself appeared. "Ichigo, he's not in the . . . oh, there you are," He said to Kaito. The red head nodded. "Yes, I know I'm here. I know all of you are here. Why are they here?" Kaito asked, gesturing to the aliens. The old one had just begun to chant something strange.
"The girl is the guardian you're supposed to train," Ryou explained in one sentence. Kaito nodded. "So what's she doing with them?" he asked. Ryou scratched his head. "I really don't know. But we need to get her to realize her powers. Ichigo, go get the others," Ryou commanded. Ichigo nodded and ran around to the backyard, where the rest of them were supposedly training. Ryou looked again and counted the enemies. He only saw three. "Where's Kish?" He asked.
Ichigo found the others. "Come on guys, we've found the eighth guardian. Go out front!" Ichigo directed. The twelve teens ran out front, leaving Ichigo. Ichigo was about to follow them when she heard a rustling in the bushes. She walked in front of them and looked into the forest behind them. There were many trees, thriving there because Eden was nearby. These trees bore no fruit, only flowers and such. The rustling came again and Ichigo disappeared into the green foliage.
Ryou pointed out the aliens, then looked over the group. He counted them once . . . twice . . . "Where's Ichigo?" He asked. The group looked around amongst themselves before Ringo said, "I think she's still back in the training yard." Ryou shook his head and began to run out back, calling, "Retasu! Minto, come on!" Minto and Retasu followed behind. "Hey, where're you going, Ryou!" Ringo shouted after him.
She carefully tread through the leaves and soft grass covering the ground, the noise leading her on. The noise finally stopped. Ichigo paused where she was and looked around warily. The snapping of a twig brought her attention to the space behind her. She whipped her head around to the sound of leaving crackling. She looked around warily, then decided to transform. But, before she could utter a word, Kish appeared out of nowhere and slipped his hand around her waist. "Hello, Koneko-chan," said he.
Ichigo tried to hit him with her hand, but he caught her arm. "Now that we're alone, what should we do?" Kish mainly asked himself. "Nothing! Now let me go!" Ichigo said in a steely tone of voice. "Hmm . . . how about we start with some kissing?" Kish asked. Ichigo shook her head and struggled to get away. " Kish! Let me go!" Ichigo shouted. Kish merely turned her around so he could see her face. He leaned in to steal a kiss when three people burst through the foliage. "Let her go!"
Ryou was leading Retasu and Minto. "Let her go, Kish," Ryou commanded again. Minto held her staff in both hands and glared menacingly while Retasu held her sais in a defensive position. "We'll only tell you one more time, Kish. Let Ichigo go," Minto spoke. Kish smirked and said, "Looks like all our alone time is gone. See you next time, Koneko-chan." The green haired alien released Ichigo and teleported away. Ryou sighed, but Ichigo was hopping mad. She grumbled about Kish all the way back to the front of the house.
The group watched intently as the alien girl, supposedly the next guardian, began to glow. The old guy threw something up in the air, and, as it was coming down and vanished inside her, the girl screamed. She screamed a long and horrible scream. "AAAAAAAAAAH!" Masaya looked up from what he was doing and looked out toward Ryou's house. There was something glowing and something inside it was screaming. Ichigo! he thought and raced toward the place. He jumped up in the air and leaped on the girl, pushing her down from the light. The girl screamed louder as she found herself flying through the air in the arms of an unknown human boy. The chain of her pendant broke and it flew off as Masaya did a summersault on the ground, saving both him and the girl from sudden death. He looked down and saw she was not Ichigo and gently let her down. The girl glared at him and tremors shook her body. Her body arched and she glowed blue as the golden snakes were rejected from her body. They slithered on the ground toward the garden of Eden. The old guy pounced on them and stuffed them in a pocket in his robe. He began shouting at Masaya in the alien language.
"Luckily for you, you don't know what he's saying," Kish said. "However, unluckily for you, you have just interrupted the coming of age ceremony for our sister. You shall not be allowed to live," Pai said. Ichigo ran up to Masaya, "What're you doing here?" she asked. "Get behind me Ichigo," Masaya commanded. Ichigo stepped behind him obediently, but stood on her tip toes to get a better view. Kish had drawn a pair of gold double edged swords. I have to transform Ichigo thought and looked up at Masaya. But . . . he can't know she also decided. "Ichigo, get inside the house," Masaya commanded. Ichigo ran away and hid behind the tree. "Dragon Swords!" Kish shouted and attacked Masaya. The human dodged, but not quick enough. Kish scored wounds on Masaya's arms. Kishflew low, going for Masaya's legs. Masaya jumped up far enough to be missed, but not far enough to not land on Kish's legs, causing the alien to yelp in pain. Masaya whipped around and Kish vanished, appearing behind the human. He let out a battlecry and rushed toward Masaya again.
"Go, save that boy," Ryou commanded the guardians. Minto, Retasu, Purin, Zakuro, and Ringo stepped out from behind the large tree. They ran over to Masaya. Purin lifted her wand and shouted, "Fortitude!" A large lightening shield built up in a flash and Kish bumped into it and was thrown back. Before he could land, Minto banged her staff on the ground and shouted, "Whirlwind!" A giant wind spun out from the staff and carried Kish up in to the air. Zakuro jumped in the air high enough to be level with Kish and shouted, "Rose Whip!" her rose scepter sprouted nine thorny tails and she triled it once around her head and leashed out at Kish. Kish teleported just in time. He missed being cut by Zakuro's whip, but was caught by Reatsu. He literally crashed into Retasu, who twisted his arms behind his back and lifted him up. "Hey!" He shouted. "What?" Retasu asked. "You're not supposed to do this!" Kish replied. "And why not? You're the one who crashed into me," Retasu replied and kept her grip. Kish sighed and teleported out. Retasu smiled and held her said high. She slashed in Kish's direction in an 'x' formation. "Fountain of Memory!" She shouted. The 'x' she had slashed at Kish suddenly turned into a rush of dark water. It descended upon Kish and trapped him there.
Kish's heart pounded and he watched memories flash before his eyes. Ichigo shouting at him. Ichigo smiling. Ichigo rejecting him. Pai and Taruto working with him. The desolate home planet. His mother's face. The mother he never known, never seen. He remembered things he never knew he never knew. His father's voice, Taruto's favorite fish, Pai's favorite color, orange. He even remembered some boring things he'd thought he'd forgotten. Then it all faded and he saw the dark water again. A voice, much akin to Retasu's, spoke gently, "Youcan never forget anything, even if you do not remember . . ." Then the dark water vanished and Kish was dropped on the ground. He carefully stood himself up and looked at Retasu, wondering if she had seen what had flashed before him.
"Strawberry Metamorphosis!" Ichigo shouted and transformed into her mew mew form. She jumped over the tree and landed in front of the mew mew. Ichigo looked over at the guardian to be and saw that she did not have the alien ears. "Hey, guys, the next one doesn't have alien ears!" Ichigo cried. The girl felt her ears, once so long and elegant, and found they were as short as the inferior human ears. Ryou made a move to go to her, but Kaito put a hand on his shoulder. "Let me go, she is my charge."
Kaito walked over to the alien girl, carefully avoid Kish. He stood by her as she tried to teleport and float. She could do none of those. The girl stood still and looked at the old guy, Pai, and Kish. "Am I not like you?" She asked. Kish and Pai looked at each other, both as surprised as the humans. They did not speak, no, it was the elder. "You are not like us. Years ago you were found desolate and so we took you in. You may not remember, but there was a time in your life when you looked as you do now. Short ears and no abilities," The old one said. "But I want to be like you," she replied. The old one shook his head. "Now that you know, you can never come back. You never had our abilities in the first place. You were allowed to use them through the pendant you have lost. But since you now know our secrets, we cannot allow you to live. Kisshu, Pai, take care of her," The old one commanded and vanished. Kish and Pai looked at each other. Kish took out a jelly like substance and vanished. "He'll be back in a few minutes," Pai told them.
"You are one of them," Kaito told the girl, pointing to the mew mew. "One of them?" She asked. Kaito nodded. "You are a guardian of earth. You have been given an element to control and weapons with which to use it," Kaito informed her. The girl stared at him in disbelief. "I am sorry I cannot believe you," she said. "Please, . . ." Kaito tried to recall her name, but couldn't remember it. "What is it?" The girl asked. "What is your name?" He asked. "My name is Sango," she replied. "Please, Sango, believe me. Watch these girls and see what they do," Kaito pleaded. Sango nodded.
"So when is Kish going to be here?" Ringo asked. "Soon," Said Pai. "How soon?" Ringo asked, angered. "Uh . . . soon as in soon soon not later soon, um . . ." Pai stuttered and vanished. He appeared again behind some rocks a little ways away. " 'Soon soon'? Who says that anymore?" He scolded himself and looked around for Kish. The spinach headed alien was nowhere to be seen. "How long does it take to infest an animal with a cherima anima?" He asked impatiently.
Masaya walked up to Mew Ichigo. "Thanks for saving me," he said. Ichigo smiled. "No problem," She replied. Masaya's brow furrowed as he looked at her. "Say, you look like someone I know. What's your name?" Masaya asked. Ichigo tried her best not to let her smiled waver. "I have to go now," said she. Ichigo looked over her shoulder at Masaya and said, "My name's Ichigo, Guardian of Fire." Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him look after her, then shrug and walk away. Ichigo sighed and joined her group.
"Hey! Where'd that sneak teleport off to!" Ringo wailed angrily and stomped around. Ringo fumed for a few minutes, then stomped inside the house. "Come on, Mashio!" She said angrily and dragged him in also. "Hey, Ringo! What're you doing! We have to wait for Kish!" But Ringo dragged him in anyways. "I believe I will also go inside. The sun is giving me a headache," Minto said. Keiichiero followed her in. "I must prepare lunch." "I'll will go help Keiichiero, are you coming Yukitto?" Retasu asked. Yukitto nodded and told the others, "We'll call you when lunch is ready." "Purin, are you going to go inside?" Ichigo asked. "No, I am going to wait for Kish with Kyou, na no da," Purin replied. Ichigo looked over toward Zakuro, but she and Toshino were already vanishing inside the house. "Well then, Purin, it's just you me and our watchers," Ichigo replied and sat down in the branches of the willow tree in the front yard.
Pai teleported over to Kish to find you what was detaining him. "Well, usually I have my own time. I have to teleport over that barrier and then choose a somewhat fearsome animal, but now that there are more of them, the animal will have to be pretty fierce on its own. Those animals are somewhat hard to find. Do you see any tigers or something?" Kish asked. Pai looked around. "Nope," He answered. "Ah-hah!" Kish shouted. He let his cherima anima take over the fearsome white animal as dusk dawned in a brilliant barrage of colors.
The animal glowed and stood from its sleeping position. Its fangs grew longer and sharper. The claws grew out and abnormally long. The animal itself grew larger in size and more fearsome. As the last star peeked out from the haven of space, the cherima anima was finished doing its job. "Those girls are gonna be mad at you for waking them up," Pai cautioned Kish before the duo and the animal teleported over to the guardians' headquarters.
The usual earthquake of the animal's steps took over the battling ground. Ichigo and Purin had fallen asleep in the willow tree and were not woken by the stepping of the animal. They were both so relaxed that their animal parts had come forth. Ichigo purred like a small kitten and curled up in a ball. Purin was lying on a branch with her arms and feet hanging down. Kyou and Ryou were sleeping near the trunk of the willow. Sango and Kaito had fallen asleep a few feet away from the willow tree, leaning on each other. Kish looked around. "Hello? Pai, where'd the mew mews go?" He asked. "Most likely, they're asleep," Pai answered and crossed his arms over his chest. "Then what better time to wake them up?" Kish asked and, overlooking the willow tree, flew in through Minto's open window. "Hey, there's a cherima anima outside! You have to go fight!" Kish yelled at her. She rolled over in her midnight blue coverlet. "Nnng. Five more minutes, Ryou. I need my beauty sleep," Minto mumbled. Keiichiero waved his hand at Kish and mumbled, "Go back to sleep Ryou. It's not even morning." Kish glared at the pair and moved on.
He teleported into Zakuro's room, took one look at the twins, and teleported out. He landed in Ringo and Mashio's room. "Hey! People! There's a cherima anima outside!" Kish yelled at the two of them. Ringo continued sleeping and Mashio's nose twitched slightly. "Wow, heavy sleepers," Kish commented and vanished. He found himself in Purin's room, but, since there was no one there, he looked around, puzzled slightly, and left. The green haired alien appeared next in Ryou's and Ichigo's room. Kish immediately recognized Ichigo's scent and looked at how she had decorated her side. "Typical," he commented. He teleported out and landed in Retasu and Yukitto's room. Seeing actual people surprised Kish and he gasped, then smirked. Retasu moved and sat up. She rubbed her eyes and put on her glasses before sleepily saying, "Hello? Is someone there?" She looked around and found no one there. Yukitto stirred at the sound of Retasu's voice and woke up. "What's wrong?" He asked. "I don't know. I thought I heard something," Retasu replied.
The green haired girl got out of bed and quietly walked toward the door. "Where're you going?" Yukitto asked. "I'm going to check and see if every thing is all right," Retasu answered. Yuki slid out of his bed and followed Retasu. "I'm going too," he told her and the pair walked out into the hallway. They peered down the hall and then peeked into the kitchen. No one was there. Shouting from out front surprised them. They looked at each other and nodded. Retasu and Yuki ran toward the front of the house and stopped at the front door. Retasu was about to turn the knob when Yuki pulled her down and they both crawled toward the window and peeked out. Kish was yelling at the tree. "Looks like Kish is yelling at the willow tree," Yuki commented. "Yeah. No, wait. Ichigo and Purin are sleeping in the tree. Looks like they're heavy sleepers too," Retasu commented. Yuki nodded. "We'll watch, then step in if we're needed," Yuki decided. Retasu nodded, going along with his plan of action.
Kish sighed and slapped himself on the forehead. "That was a good thing! Why did I run! They were supposed to wake up!" He reprimanded himself. This time, he appeared near the willow tree and spotted the two missing mews. "Hey! Wake up!" He shouted at them. Ichigo's tail twitched and she curled up tighter. Purin's nose twitched and the monkey-mew sneezed. "Ker-choo!" Purin turned herself over and fell asleep on her stomach. Ryou didn't stir a muscle and a bug landed on Kyou's nose. The red head moved his handed and waved it away. Kyou's hand then dropped to his lap. Kish scratched his head. "Heavy sleepers," he commented.
Kaito and Sango stirred from their corner. Sango was the first to awaken. She opened her ice blue eyes and looked around. She crawled up to a bush and looked through. The spinach haired Kish was hovering near the willow tree, talking to himself. Sango nudged Kaito and the boy woke up. He rubbed his eyes and mumbled, "What?" "Shh!" Sango quieted him and pointed through the bushes. Kaito peered through and smiled. "Now's your chance. Come on!" He motioned for Sango to follow him. The pair crawled through the bushes and snuck across the yard to the safety of the trees on the side of the house.
They wove through the trees, staying in the shadows and not going completely into the dense foliage. Kaito was the first to spot the cherima anima. He stopped suddenly and Sango bumped into him. "Sorry," he apologized. "See that monster?" Kaito pointed to the large fearsome looking enormous animal. "That's a cherima anima. You must transform and defeat it," Kyou informed her, then explained what she had to do. When he finished, Sango nodded and stepped outside of the safety of the trees. She shouted, "Hey Kish!" and took a running leap. Just before she reach the highest point, she shouted, "Coral Transformation!"
Sango was enveloped in a pastel blue mist. Her alien robes vanished in sparkles, which gathered around her body, reforming into a thin pale blue kimono. Sparkling glaciers and icicles were embroidered in silver, white, and pastel blue threads. Her hair drew down to her knees and its color lightened until it was ice blue streaked with the palest of sparkling yellows. A thin, doubled edged sword glowed and appeared in her hand. The elegant hilt was formed out of one aquamarine, decorated with small sapphire discs. The blade itself seemed to be made out of ice. It sparkled with her ice magic and grew longer until it fit her. Her blood ran pleasantly cool and her body temperature reached below freezing. She breathed out and her breath came out as frost. Sango smiled and the mist vanished. She landed on two feet between Kish and the cherima anima.
"I am Sango, Guardian of Ice! I challenge you, Kish, enemy of the guardians!" Sango announced. Kish spun around and looked at Sango. "Finally!" He said and teleported behind his cherima anima, which had fallen asleep during Kish's midnight escapade. Sango quickly turned and attacked the animal as it slept. "Heart of Ice!" She called and slashed the animal with her sword. A heart shaped chunk of ice formed at the tip of her sword and, in a mist of frost, vanished inside the monster. The white monster's eyes opened a crack. Kish began laughing at Sango, "Is that all you can do?" Sango stood patiently. The monster quickly began to freeze over, from the insidesout. "Hey? What did you do to my monster!" Kish thundered. Sango shrugged and smiled smugly."Dragon Swords!" Kish shouted andzoomed toward Sango. A pair of three pronged saisglowed in his hands as he attacked. Theice guardian met Kish's attackand a mix of frost and sparks flew as the three weapons met. Kish, being the aggressive one, pushed Sango back. The girl stumbled two steps back and swung with her sword. Kish teleported next to her and grabbed hold of her arm. "Yeow! That's cold!" Kish shouted, he glared at Sango, who took the few second distraction to put some distance between herself and Kish. Kish attacked again, forcing Sango back. Sango vaulted over Kish and landed on the other side. Retasu ran up behind her with a pair of emerald sais.
"Healing wave!" She shouted and drove her sais into the ice of the frozen beast. A warm wave of water washed over the beast, melting the ice almost instantly and destroying the cherima anima inside the monster. The white animal shrunk back to normal size and scampered away. Retasu turned toward Kish and said softly, "You're turn." Kish held up his gold Sais defensively and Retasu shouted, "Bubble cage!" She threw one Sai at him, and he dodged. But the flashing emerald weapon swirled twice about him, leading a chain of aquamarine bubbles. The sai then returned to Retasu's hand. The chain constricted and Kish was about to break free when Sango slashed the chain with her sword, freezing the bubble through and through. "Not today, Kish," she warned.
"And now that you're busy," Retasu started. Kish's eyes widened, for he was expecting some horrendous attack. "Fountain of Memory, level up!" Retasu shouted. She held her emerald Sais high and they glowed gold and shrunk into a pair of emerald castanets with gold rims and gold ribbons holding then together. She swung her castanets down and around shouting, "Tsunami Rush!" A giant tidal wave surged out of the castanets and loomed over Kish. It crashed down as Kish teleported. He appeared beside Retasu and brought his Sais down upon her, but Sango quickly blocked with her ice sword. Frost and sparks flew again and this time Sango pushed Kish away. Retasu stumbled backwards, out of the way.
The rush of Retasu's new attack had woken Ichigo, sleeping cat-girl. Ichigo's ears pricked and a drop of water landed on her nose. Her eyes flew open and she sat up. The pink haired girl looked out of the willow tree on the ground. The new guardian was fighting Kish and Retasu was stumbling out of the way. Ichigo woke Purin, who fell down on top of Kyou, simultaneously waking Ryou and Kyou. "Come on, Purin! They need our help fighting Kish!" Ichigo shouted. The mention of Kish snapped both Ryou and Kyou fully into reality. Ichigo bounded toward Retasu and Sango with Purin a little behind. "Hey, Retasu. Sorry we're late. We just woke up," Ichigo informed her. "You have to help Sango battle Kish!" Retasu pleaded. Ichigo and Purin nodded and transformed. Ichigo summed her fire balls and Purin vaulted between Kish and Sango. The pink haired leader stood to the side and shouted, "Fire Storm!" Purin held her weapon and shouted, "Fortitude!" Sango, Purin, and Retasu were shielded by Purin's shock magic as Ichigo's fire pelted down.
Pai raised his hands and two giant paper fans appeared in his hands. The one in pale left hand portrayed icicles and glaciers and snow. On the other was painted dark clouds and thunder. "Windy Ice Fan!" Pai shouted swung the fan in his left hand toward Ichigo and her attack. It froze the boiling dark smoke clouds and turned the fire drops into icicles. Ichigo raised her arms to protect herself from the icicles of death speeding toward her. "Wind Arrow!" A new voice shouted. A sapphire blue arrow knocked the icicles away from Ichigo and harmlessly toward the ground. Five pairs of eyes turned toward the voice. Minto, Zakuro, and Ringo stood in a triangle formation with Minto in front. "Need some help?" Minto asked. Ichigo smiled. "Thanks, guys."
The mews turned to Kish and Pai. "For disturbing our sleep, we will make you pay!" Zakuro, Minto, and Ringo angrily shouted at the two aliens. Minto raised her staff and shouted, "Wind Dance, level up!" Minto's staff glowed pale blue and broke in two. The pale blue broke off in a flurry of feathers revealing a pair of elegant sapphire and silver Sais. Purin lifted her wand and let down the shield. Sango and Retasu dodged the rain of ice and Purin jumped above the clouds. She tossed her golden wand in the air and shouted, "Thunderball, level up!" The wand glowed as bright as the sun and split in two. The wand formed into a pair of gold and topaz Sais. They fell and the light subsided to a gentle glow. Purin caught the Sais in her hands and somersaulted. She landed smoothly on the ground and shouted, "Lightening strike!" The topaz streaks running through her gold weapons glowed and lightening shot out of the six prongs. The lightening struck the dark freezing clouds, dispelling them. The small sharp icicles hit the ground and melted. Pai raised his second fan and swung down toward Retasu, Minto, and Purin. He shouted, "Windy Thunder Fan!" Thunder boomed and lightening crackled. Dark clouds covered the moon. Golden streaks flashed toward the three guardians. Minto raised her pair of sapphire and silver Sais and shouted, "Sylph Call!" The air in front of Minto sparkled sapphire as the sapphire streaks in her Sais glowed. Small female wind spirits appeared. They rushed to meet Pai's thunder attack. The two attacks clashed with a loud BOOM! Large streams of golden light and sapphire sparkles erupted. Then it went dark. Zakuro raised her scepter and shouted, "Ivy Scepter, level up!" She tossed her scepter in the air. It glowed purple and lengthened. It broke in two with a loud Crack! The two halves shaped themselves into a pair of katanas. The hilts were formed from opal and designs of roses were embossed onto the hilts from the powder of a deep royal purple gem. The blades were formed from shining silver. Zakuro grasped the hilts and shouted, "Terra Katanas!" The embossed roses glowed bright purple and Zakuro slashed Pai in an 'x' formation. The speeding attack hit the fans out of Pai's hands. They vanished in a puff of aqua and gold smoke. Pai vanished before Zakuro could launch another attack and reappeared by Kish's side. Ringo held her sword in front of her and shouted, "Evasion, level up!" Her sword glowed red and the scent of apples filled the air. Red sparkles swirled around the transforming sword, and then vanished in a blinding red light. Ringo's hand now held a ruby baton. The baton was formed of a single thin cylinder shaped ruby with streaks of topaz running through it.
Kish turned to Pai and said, "I'll be back soon!" The green haired alien teleported out. Pai's eyes flashed angrily and he looked down upon the guardians. "I supposed you're my problem now." The eight guardians exchanged glances. Ichigo's twin balls swirled once around her and flew at Pai as she shouted, "Fire Ball!" Purin raised her Sais and, at the same time as Ichigo, shouted, "Thunderball!" The thunder merged with the fire as they flew at Pai. Pai took the hit and was thrown backwards. Minto raised her Sais and shouted, "Whirlwind!" The raging winds kept Pai locked in the air. Pai noticed his weak position and teleported out of the winds. The purple haired alien reappeared by Retasu. Retasu jumped to the side as Pai fell to his knees. Sango raised her sword and shouted, "Heart of Ice!" She slashed at Pai. His body froze and the ice heart sped toward him. Pai was knocked over by the force the heart of ice had when it hit him and vanished inside him. His eyes went clear white, and then retained a pale ice blue color. He did not freeze like the monster did, rather, his heart froze and he had no compassion, no kindness or cares. All he desired was to win. "So this is what it feels like to be heartless," Pai commented. Sango's eyes widened. "Y-you are not--" "Frozen?" Pai finished her sentence. The guardians looked at each other again. "Well, now I must heal my body," Pai said. He raised his hand and a black ball of opal with thin slivers of purple running through it appeared in his hand. The guardians took defensive stances and grasped their weapons tightly. "Life Steal!" He shouted. The purple streaks glowed almost white and beams of black shot out into the guardians' hearts.
The eight guardians cried out. Purin and Ringo sank to their knees as purple energy went from them to Pai. Retasu's body arched back, as did Minto's. They let out screams as had never been heard before. Zakuro trembled and would not allow a cry to escape her lips. She clenched and unclenched her fists. Ichigo sank to the ground and nearly passed out. Sango was the only one who could move. Her eyes, which had been closed by pain, opened painfully. "You . . . will not . . . win!" She shouted. Sango grabbed the black beam like a rope and pulled it out of her. Pai's eyes widened. "No . . ." said Pai. Sango grabbed the black thing and charged it with her energy. "Come on, do the same!" Sango shouted to the others. Zakuro caught on and move her arms up. They felt like lead weights. She too charged her energy into it. Bright purple and green streaks soared up to Pai and clashed with the bright aqua color. Ichigo also lifted her arms. Her hands barely touched the black thing and her fiery pink power shot up through it. Pai yelped and sank to the ground. Retasu opened her eyes a crack. "Pai, break the connection!" She shouted. Pai looked at the guardian of water magic and nodded. He let go of the orb and the black tendrils vanished. The guardians were on the ground, panting. The opal orb vanished and Pai sat down, completely exhausted.
Ryou ran up to Ichigo. She fainted in his arms, completely drained of power. "We have to get them out of here!" Ryou ordered and picked Ichigo up. Kyou picked up Purin, the squirming monkey girl. "Wait, I can still fight!" She shouted. Kyou shook his head. "No you can't! You just got charged!" He shouted. Purin glowered at him and said, "I'm staying." "No you're not!" Kyou firmly replied and began to carry her away. As he passed by the willow tree, Purin clasped her hands around a low, but thick branch. "I'm staying!" She yelled. Kyou pulled her feet, trying to get her off. "No! You need to go back in the house!" Kyou argued. "Let her fight Kyou. If she can battle you, she can go against aliens," Ryou said as he came out. "Aagck! When did you get here!" Kyou cried, letting his grip on Purin loose. The blonde quickly clambered up the rest of the willow until she was safely out of Kyou's reach. "Fine," Kyou said. "But I'm staying also." Purin nodded and jumped out of the tree. Yuki passed by her, holding a barely breathing Retasu. Toshino and Zakuro stood side by side, facing Pai. Keiichiero helped Minto up. "Come, we need to go inside," Keiichiero told her. Minto shook her head. "I am staying here to fight." "No, Minto, you are too weak," Keiichiero told her. "I am most certainly not too weak," Minto argued, and to prove it, she tried to stand on her own, but her legs crumpled beneath her. "Fine. I'll go inside. But only for a cup of tea," she said and let Keiichiero help her into the house. Kaito and Mashio ran up to Sango and Ringo. Sango was still standing. "Let me fight, Kaito," was all she said. "But you just had a major drain," Kaito argued. "To live is to fight, Kaito," She said. Kaito nodded and stepped back, near Kyou and Ryou, who had come out to watch. Mashio picked Ringo up. His younger sibling stirred slightly. "Wait, let me do one thing," she said. Mashio nodded. Ringo raised her ruby baton, and weakly said, "Absorption!" Her ruby baton pulsed gently and three bright red sworls of light floated from the tip of it. The sworls floated toward Sango, Purin, and Zakuro and stayed to the side of the trio. Ringo nodded to Mashio, as if to say, 'We can go now'. Mashio nodded and took her inside.
The stars vanished one by one and the moon faded to blackness. Sango, Purin, and Zakuro waited for Kish. A great rumbling overtook the earth and the three girls nodded to each other.