Author's Opening Notes: So we left off that the Crusaders we heading back to the Dormitory after receiving a message from a Porfullio Slime. Who are the two with the hidden powers? And how can they assist Thanh and Kristie? Lets find out in this chapter.
Chapter 5: Assailants
/Dormitory sitting room\
"Thanh, Kristie, we're back." Funfu announced running through the doubled doors
"We figured out who started most of the fires and how they were able to attack without revealing themselves. Quite clever if you ask me. We should use that knowledge against them." Thanh said
"You did? Well tell us!" Ying exclaimed
"They had a special stone which they enchanted to let them run so fast you can't see them. Though the incantation was quite tricky, I think I can conjure up a few stones for ourselves." Kristie explained
"And the fires, the had a special elixir of in which could spread the fire more rapidly. They called it Devil's Oil." Thanh added, "The ingredients are quite rare but being able to travel through water, I think I'll be able to find them in no time."
"Excellent! That is the kind of information we need. Continue the good work." Funfu complimented
"Arigato Funfu." Kristie and Thanh thanked
Jason and Eric then slipped out of the room, onto the balcony and began having a conversation.
/Balcony\
"Ever since they came, I felt weird… it was like there was another person inside me." Eric whispered
"I feel the same." Jason responded, "I wonder what this could mean."
"Should we tell them?" Eric asked
"No. They'll think we are demented or something. And then Thanh and Ying will make their little remarks about it and laugh." Jason answered
"You're right." Eric agreed
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Thanh asked interrupting the conversation
"Oh, just kinda want to get some fresh air." Eric lied
"Oh really?" Kristie asked coming out onto the balcony
"Yeah." Jason lied
"Alright then." Thanh said turning around and heading back in.
"You two should come in, you might get a cold if you stay out here to long." Kristie added before leaving
"And mind you, it is going to rain soon." Thanh said
"Alright." They guys responded and then headed in as well.
/Late in the evening in the lounge\
"Kristie, what are you doing up so late?" Jason asked as he entered the lounge and saw Kristie sitting in front of the Fireplace with a blank stare
"Just can't sleep. I don't really sleep well when it rains." Kristie whispered softly but loud enough to be heard.
"Oh I see." Jason said sitting down next to her
"Every time there is rain, I would always get these flashbacks of my horrible childhood. But when having them and sitting in front of the fire, it feels like my memories are being burned away just like the firewood in the fireplace. It helps me quite a lot." Kristie explained
"Do you mind telling about your childhood?" Jason asked
"Yeah, guess so." Kristie replied and begun telling Jason about her life.
(A/N: While that is happening, another story begins out on the balcony between two dorm rooms.)
/Balcony of Dorm room 8 and 9\
Thanh sits there staring up at the rain not giving a care if she would get sick. She just blankly stares at the rain and occasionally glancing at the Moon's reflection in the lake beyond the woods. Then she hears a door click.
"Thanh?" Eric asked spotting her hugging her legs staring up towards the sky.
They just stared at each other for a while and then Thanh returned to staring at the sky.
"You scared me there for a while." Thanh responded breaking the silence
"Im sorry." Eric said sitting down next to her
"Why are you awake?" Thanh asked
"I don't really know why, lately I couldn't sleep. I keep having weird feelings that something horrible is about to happen." Eric explained
"Oh, so I'm not the only one." Thanh whispered, "Im here because, the rain seems to only be my real friend. Every since I became a Cherry Blossom, I was always being picked on and danger was like around almost every corner. Plus I began believing Selkik legends. So I just tell myself of the legends to relieve myself from pains, miseries and losses."
"What kind of legend?" Eric asked
"Selkik legends." Thanh responded, "The Selkies are believed to have lived underwater for centuries. But soon the Selkies began to lose their abilities live and breath under water so they washed up onto the shores of land and their cities have been crumbled into ruins. They are now living as normal human beings but we still believe one little saying. We Selkies have once came from the sea, and to the sea we shall returned."
"Wow, what a fascinating legend." Eric commented
"I know." Thanh whispered and soon teardrops came falling from her eyes
Eric, who could tell the difference between teardrops and raindrops, soon asked her what was wrong.
"Oh nothing. Old childhood memories." Thanh replied wiping her tears away.
"What happened?" Eric asked
"I cant…" Thanh muttered
"Hm?" Eric asked
"When I was about 3, my parents attempted to drown me for they were very poor and couldn't support me any longer. So they tried to drown me in the purist lake there was because they thought it was best to do so. And then a woman came up to my parents, her name was Tomoyo Daijoubu. My father tried to hold her back while my mother threw me into the lake. After my mother threw me into the lake off the cliff, Tomoyo ran and dove off the cliff in attempt to save me. She swam and brought me onto shore. And then she adopted me and brought me to the Cherry Blossoms shrine. Sakura, Tomoyo's cousin and wife of the Head Master of the shrine, began teaching me arts of magic, arts of healing and trained me as a warrior. But all of the other kids treated me as an outcast because I was not blood born in the family. So they would jump at me at every chance they get. Until Ying, began feeling sympathy and stood up for me. She being the eldest of the family, was able to prevent me from getting picked on, and soon I became friends with the rest of the family and with the other members of the clan. But I still dreaded those days. Every time I see a lake, those memories would be brought back to me no matter how much I try to get rid of them." Thanh began to cry her heart out as she finished telling about her childhood.
"Its alright." Eric comforted her by pulling her into a comforting hug.
She kept crying into his shoulder and he kept comforting her. He soon held her into an embrace that seemed like it would never break apart.
/Lounge\
"My parents were Syaoran Li's, the head master of the Cherry Blossoms shrine, cousins and protected the shrine with their lives. One day, during the hottest day in the summer, they were taken hostage by the wolves, and were going to be burned if the Cherry Blossoms did not surrender. Master Li of course was about to give in to rescue my parents but my parents went ahead and kicked the torch onto the set of woods and told Master Li not to ever give. I was devastated and I heard nothing but the screams of pain from my parents. I then began training as hard as I could to avenge my parents and so here I am, one of the head council members of the Cherry Blossoms." Kristie told of her past
"I'm sorry for what happened." Jason said looking down onto the intricate designs on the carpet
"Don't, you didn't do anything." Kristie whispered staring back at the fire and began crying.
Jason soon held her close and told her everything would be all right. She continued to cry and then the two teens just sat in front of the fire holding onto each other tightly. The fire soon died down and Kristie fell soon fell asleep in Jason's arms who just lowered his head and had it rest just above Kristie's.
"Eroquin…" Kristie muttered in her sleep.
"Eroquin?" Jason wondered
After a few hours passed and soon there was a lot yelling. The entire dormitory woke in alert of the sound.
/Balcony\
"Traitor!" Ryoko spat at Thanh
"You finally figured that neh?" Thanh asked with a sarcastic tone
"You…" Ryoko muttered as he turned to Eric
"What?" Eric asked with anger looking straight at Ryoko
Ryoko knocked Eric out with a surprise punch
"Eric!" Thanh cried in shock
"Now for you little Cherry Blossom" Ryoko said angrily as he picked up Thanh by the neck and suspended her over the railing of the Balcony.
Eric soon came through before Thanh was dropped
"Thanh!" He cried out
"Syaonara." Ryoko said releasing his grip has Thanh began falling from 10 stories high to the courtyard down below
Eric soon jumped over the side and reached her about 8 feet above the ground. As of by magic, he grew wings and they made a safe landing.
"What? How did this happen?" Eric thought
"So, you are one of the Ragol Guardians huh?" Thanh asked with a faint smile
"I had no clue." Eric stuttered
"Well, I'll explain later. Right now, I have a score to settle." Thanh said getting up
"RAIN DEROPUSU FUROMU ABODE (Rain drops from above) (If i spelt this wrong, can someone email me?)" Thanh called out as soon a large water cylinder came hurling at Thanh but she just stood there. As soon as the cylinder past her, she was left looking different.
"I should've slaughtered you in the entry test. But I spared you. What a foolish mistake." Thanh yelled at Ryoko
"Its because you are a weakling." Ryoko sneered
"Am not." Thanh protested as she unsheathed a grappling hook like thing
"Shut up! You are nothing but a cheat, traitor and weakling." Ryoko yelled
"That's your opinion!" Thanh yelled as she used the grappling hook and grappled onto the balcony and hoisted herself up. After reaching her destination, she left her grappling hook and unsheathed her Flowen sword.
"Oh, Im scared of the legendary Flowen sword." Ryoko half laughing
"You should be afraid." Thanh sneered swinging the sword
After the 5th swing, Ryoko was hit and he began falling to the ground. But he landed safely as he grabbed on to the hook chain that was left dangling on the side of the building.
"You should always clean up after yourself." Ryoko mocked
"Im not listening to you." Thanh cried
She swung her sword with so much force that the sword created a forceful wind pushing Ryoko backwards. Ryoko soon got back on his feet and charged at Thanh and knocked the sword out of her hand.
"The only way to win a sword fight is if you are the only one with a sword." Ryoko said
"Who said anything about swords alone?" Thanh asked with a smile
Thanh then conjured up her Shadow Rod. And lunged an attack at Ryoko. Ryoko, thinking fast, used his pendant to give him a boost of speed. Thanh, who knew of this little trick, soon used it against him. As he circled around her, she concentrated and pulled the head off her staff and threw it after a few seconds. The head of the staff soon beheaded Ryoko.
"Game over little Wolf." Thanh yelled victoriously and then collapsed with exhaustion.
Eric then ran to her side and pulled her into an embrace.
"You are suffocating me." Thanh said gagging
"Thank god you are alive." Eric cried
"Everything will be alright. And its not going to be easy getting rid of me." Thanh smiled
Eric then helped her back to the dormitory. But while that is happening….
/Lounge\
"How…. how could you?" Paul yelled at the sleepy girl
"How could I what? Stay with you? As if! In your dreams!" Kristie spazzed back
"I'll kill you both!" Paul screamed
"Jason! Get out of here!" Kristie urged him to go
"I'm not going to leave you here by yourself!" Jason protested
Before Kristie could protest back, a wall of fire shot up in front of Kristie face separating her from Jason.
"Hoe!" Kristie cursed as she backed away out onto the lounge balcony.
"Kristie!" Jason called out, as she was about to fall backwards off the balcony
"Good bye little Cherry Blossom. It was fun having you around." Paul sneered
Kristie was then shoved off the balcony. But of course, her element is Earth, being quick she summoned a cyclone of mud, which brought her to the ground gently, and changing into her alter ego, the Purple Blossom.
"I refuse to be beaten that easily!" Kristie yelled out
"I don't care just as long as you die!" Paul yelled
Kristie then summoned a small harp with delicate intricate designs on it. She began playing a song, which sends off swords flying at her opponent.
"What is this magic!" Paul wondered
Kristie continued her song but Paul pulled out a whip formed of fire. He then used it and knocked Kristie's instrument out of her hand and burned it.
"Ah! My hand!" Kristie cried in agony as the pain boiled in her hand
Soon, Paul summoned a huge wall of fire, which circled around Kristie and began closing in on her.
"No! I can't die this way!" Kristie cried out still clutching her hand
Then a blizzard storm came out of nowhere and extinguished the fire. After the small storm cleared up, Kristie saw Jason standing there with a Crystal white sword in his hand.
"A Ragol Guardian!" Kristie asked in disbelief
Jason stood there wondering how and what had just happened. He stood there staring at his glass sword wondering how did he conjure the sword in the first place.
"How dare you interfere?" Paul asked furiously as he charged towards Jason
"I-I-I" Jason stuttered
Kristie then used her aura and conjured up a scent, which knocked out Paul's senses.
"Behead him already!" Kristie screamed
"Oh! Right!" Jason obeyed and sliced the head off of Paul before he regained conscience
"How come you never mentioned that you were a Ragol Guardian?" Kristie asked as she slowly walked up to him.
"I never knew this myself." Jason replied looking confused
"We should go find the others. I'll explain later." Kristie said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the dormitory.
/Dormitory Lounge\
In a few minutes, everyone soon came running down to the lounge still in their sleeping clothes.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF BLUE COSMOS HAD JUST HAPPENED?" Funfu screamed at the four battle weary teens standing before her
"Let me explain…" Thanh began
"NO! DAMARE!" Funfu yelled, "You could've just blown our covers and gotten us killed! You think an explanation could fix this!"
"DAMARE FUNFU!" Kristie yelled, "I know you are my cousin but I don't care. Now I want you to shut the hell up and let Thanh explain!"
"Alright then!" Funfu yelled in defeat as she slumped into the nearest chair
"But before I explain what happened, I need to explain what a Ragol guardian is." Thanh started
"SHUSH!" Funfu shushed, "They can't know about it!"
"But we have the two Ragol guardians with us." Kristie announced
"WHAT! How can that be?" Emma asked
"Well, Eric and Jason here seems to be the two Ragol Guardians." Kristie said
"What are Ragol guardians?" Jason asked
"Ragol guardians are warriors which are sent from the heavens above. They would be sent down to unlock the true natures within two other girls who are actually sealed arch angels. Legends tell that once the Guardians and Angels meet, they are to face a hard challenge. The challenge is when Death would some how control their friends and turn the world against the 4. The job of the four is to find the 3 goddesses before they are eliminated. For once the 4 are eliminated, the entire world will fall into utter chaos. The 3 goddesses are Zeruda, goddess of gray battle and strength, Kuroe, goddess of blooming life and wisdom, and last but not least Angeriku goddess of Angelical beings and power. These goddess are captive in jeweled stones, Jade of Wisdom, Opal of Serenity and Sapphire of Life. When all three stones are together, the true battle begins. None of us knows what happened when the true battle begins though. But what I know is that Eric, Jason, Kristie and I are heading out on a new journey and that we are going to beat Death in her little game before she goes on a strike." Thanh explained
"Death goes on strike?" Eric asked
"Yes. For some reason, she would not let people die and she won't put them to their final rest. If she goes on strike, you four would not stand a chance for your opponents will keep coming back at you." Funfu explained
"I see now." Eric said
"The rest of us should pack up and head back to the shrine. Kelly, Chantal, Marv, Chris, Caren, Macy, you may stay here and act as if none of this has happened. But what you should know is that we will never some back so if you wish to see us, you will have to come along with us." Ying explained
"But if the Guardians are supposed to unlock your true forms, why are you still like this?" Chris asked
The process takes time. To unlock the true forms we must learn much more than we already know." Thanh answered
"I see." Marvin said
"Ok, everyone who is leaving, pack your bags for we will leave tomorrow morning. I'm going to head down to the office to pull us out of the school. Thanh, you send a message home to tell them of our plans." Ying ordered
"We are going as well." Kelly, Marvin, Macy, Chris, Chantal and Caren said in unison.
"Now what are you guys waiting for? Go and pack up!" Ying said
"HAI!" They all responded heading back to their rooms
/Cherry Blossoms Shrine\
"ARA!" Eriol yelled jumping off of his seat knocking the table down and entering a trance
"Nani Eriol-Kun? (What Eriol?)" Sakura asked as she began cleaning up the shattered pieces of china on the floor
"The Ragol Guardians have awakened." Eriol answered in a dark voice
"Nani? How?" Tomoyo asked in shock
"A battle broke between the Selkik blossom and Purple blossom. The two guardians just happened to be with them at the time. I supposed when their loved one was in danger their true forms have awoken. But now that the four destined warriors are together, we must prepare for war. The world will be hurled into utter chaos until the warriors complete their quest. I'm afraid we are going to be fighting against our own blood and kin." Eriol explained still in his trance
"No…. I will not lose or harm my little cherry blossom!" Tomoyo cried
"Neither will I." Meiling said trying to be strong
"There must be someway we could avoid fighting against our girls." Sakura pleaded
"There is. We must quickly move for we only have about a week." Eriol said
"What must we do?" Syaoran asked standing up and was willing to do anything to avoid fighting with his head council
"We must all move to the Tri Shrine. That sacred place will be the only place where we would not be effected by the wicked charms of Death." Eriol answered
"But we have so many cherry blossom members." Naoko stated
"We just need to be in a 100 meters range of the Shrine. And thank goodness there is a forest filled with animals and a pure lake nearby. I don't know how long it would take for them to finish the mission so we would need to be there for quite some time." Eriol said
"Chiharu, Naoko, Rika, Yamazaki, go tell the others to pack up for our trip to Tri Shrine ASAP!" Sakura ordered
"Hai!" as the four adults ran out the door to send off the signal
"Oh and by the way Sakura, you have an incoming message from Thanh in the fountain." Eriol said snapping out of his trance
/Courtyard fountain\
"Message for Sakura Li." The Porfullio slime announced
"Commence message." Sakura commanded
"Auntie, Funfu, Anna, Emma and Ying are going to head back to the shrine along with our new companions, Marvin, Chris, Kelly, Chantal, Macy and Caren. Jason, Eric, Kristie and I are going to head onto our new quest which I'm sure Eriol has figured out. The others shall be at the shrine gates in about two days. If the clan is heading towards a safe place, make sure 11 horses remain behind, 10 for Ying and her companions and 1for an escort to lead them to where you are going to stay. And if you don't know what I mean by escort, make sure a clan member stays behind so he or she could lead the others to you. Best regards, Thanh." The Porfullio slime recited
"Return to her at once and tell her we understand and tell her we hope she is successful." Sakura ordered
"Message sent and new one has been recorded. Ja ne." The Porfullio then vanished and the clan leaders left to go and pack up.
"Meiling, I want you to stay behind and be the escort." Sakura requested
"Hai." Meiling obeyed
Authors' notes: A long chapter neh? Lol. The quest seems hard… lets see how it turns out in a few chps. Anyways, review please.
