Chapter Nineteen: Secrets of the Letter
Hikari read the letter shakily, "Hello Hikari, this letter is addressed to you and only your eyes are allowed to wander across it. As you may have previously noted no one but you can see the script written on the page that you are holding. If you get this letter, than it means that I am here. I have a proposal for you, but as I am afraid that you will tell everyone what the proposal is if I wrote it on this letter you and your friends will have to wait until I come to find out what I have in store for you. Good-bye Hikari, until we meet." She folded up the letter and looked at the pale sheet of paper.
"Well that was exciting," Sora finally spoke, "the only thing that the letter said was that whoever addressed this letter to Hikari is coming."
"Well," the Dragon King said thoughtfully, "knowing that the letter was protected by a charm to make the script invisible to people for whom it wasn't addressed to, we can probably guess that whoever is coming doesn't mean us good will." The others present nodded and agreement; Hikari stared at the letter and set it on the table. A harmless piece of paper with a dangerous warning scribbled onto it which made it all the more dangerous. Thoughts played around in her mind about that subject in order to distract her from the coming doom that lay upon them.
The dark dragon looked at the people in front of him, his sharp alabaster fangs gleaming with a deadly light. The letter had served as its purpose as a distraction, now was the time to attack. Roaring he summoned a sharp stream of darkness and aimed it at the barrier around his victims.
Hikari was the first to react; quickly she changed into her dragon form and lashed out with her tail. Unluckily for her, the dark dragon bit her tail and blood started to gently stream out of the wound. Fear encompassed her mind, and she quickly tried to yank her tail back to no avail. More blood started to rush out of her tail, and she screamed in pain. "Hikari!" Sakura and Sora yelled in unison. They changed into their dragon forms at the same time and rushed to attack the dragon with silvery balls of ice.
With astonishing force, the icy spheres pushed the dark dragon away from Hikari. Roaring with pain, she joined them and blasted a strong stream of superheated water at the dragon. Chihiro quickly changed into her dragon form and she too attacked the dragon, aiming a combination attack of wind, fire, and water at the dark dragon.
Overwhelmed by the pure strength of the attacks, the dark dragon weakly retreated from the four dragons. Sakura watched the dark dragon as he curled his lips into a small smile. There was something about it that made her uneasy. The room grew cold as a dark presence entered the room. Sakura knew what was happening even if the others didn't, she growled softly with distaste.
Hikari shivered as an uncomfortable sensation of chilled air surrounded her like a cloak. Fear enveloped her as she remembered the note scribbled on the letter that she had received. Sora was wrong, the letter was more dangerous than it appeared and she wished that she hadn't chosen to read it. Ah but if you hadn't read it, you wouldn't know that there was someone coming. At least you were forewarned. She told herself. Encouraged by that very knowledge she faced the open doorway and the creature lay beyond it.
The dark dragon smiled as his master stepped across the open threshold and into the room his aura of darkness gently trailing him. "Ah milord you have come." The dark dragon bowed respectively. "The one that you seek is present; she is marked by the bite I gave her."
The Evil One frowned, "I see, be gentler with her next time. I do not wish for her to be injured."
"Of course milord, I shall correct myself next time." The Evil One walked towards Hikari, whose emerald eyes were brimming with a deep and terrible hatred.
"Hello Hikari," he said charmingly, "I have come as promised." Hikari changed back into her human form as did Chihiro, Sora, and Sakura. All three gathered behind their friend, their expressions reflecting the same anger and hatred as Hikari.
"What do you want?" Hikari asked impatiently. "I have no need or time for your aimless statements."
"Ah you are impatient my young one, but do not worry for your fears are to pass soon. I have come to ask for you to join me by my side as queen to face the light of the Dragon of Nature together as one."
Sora looked at Hikari, it was the same proposal given to her many years ago, and she wondered how her sister would react. "Serve by your side as queen? I'd rather die than serve you!" Sora sighed in relief, she had refused. Both Sakura and Chihiro were shocked by the proposal and neither one dared speak.
"Ah a bad choice on your part, though I shall give you time to consider it." The Evil One smiled charmingly.Sora shifted uncomfortably as he gazed upon her.
"Ah Sora, I see that perhaps you would make a better queen than Hikari. Though the darkness and hate stored within you pales in comparison to that of your sister's. I can see beyond your disguises and masks, I know that within you are still the same caring and sensitive girl. Try as you might you will never be able to hide those weaknesses from me. Despite your weaknesses, your darker side has grown considerably, so I shall propose to you again would you like to join me as queen or not?"
"My answer remains unchanged," Sora replied coldly, "no, I choose not to."
"Both of you are making a bad choice though we will see if you decide to change your mind in the future which I am sure one of you is liable to do." The Evil One left. The dark dragon hissed at Chihiro and her friends before leaving them.
"Well that was exciting," the Dragon King said frowning, "Hikari, Sora, I have some things I want to discuss with you. Everyone else may leave." Hikari and Sora stared at their father with a slight apprehension, afraid of what was to be discussed.
Sakura approached them and as if reading their minds told them, "Go on, I'm sure that you'll be fine." She was the last to leave. Sighing Hikari stepped forward, but was quickly stopped by the phoenix. Screeching he landed and changed into his human form. Hikari blinked; she had forgotten that phoenixes, like dragons, also had human forms.
The phoenix smiled, "In case you're not sure of what to address me my name is Kai."
"Um hi then Kai, in case you don't know my name's Hikari." Hikari said nervously.
"My name's Sora, though you probably know that already." Sora added quietly.
The Dragon King smiled, "Ah I am glad to see you again Kai. How are the council members? I was worried when they were not present when Chihiro first arrived."
"They had important matters to tend to," Kai said, suddenly serious, "and were therefore unable to attend your meeting."
"Ah I see, well then um I am sure that you already know my daughters. So uh well we can now discuss what just occurred, and what we have just found out."
"I don't mean to be rude, but you seem nervous milord. I suppose what you saw and heard scared you, am I correct?"
"You are correct, I am quite uneasy about this subject. It isn't something that I would want to discuss, but it is a necessity. I am glad that you are here Kai as I do believe I will need support on this subject."
"I was sent as a messenger not to dawdle and discuss such matters. I will be leaving soon as the council is expecting me on important matters; I am also to bring Chihiro with me. It seems that it is their wish that she be tested."
"They want to test her now? I thought that I would receive more time in preparing her."
"You weren't supposed to prepare her; they want to see what level she is at before her training is to actually begin."
"Oh dear, I'll have to tell her current teacher to stop training then."
"Um excuse me for interrupting, but aren't we supposed to discuss something else beside the council of, I think, phoenixes." Hikari interrupted.
"Oh yes of course, I was just distracted about something that Kai told me. So um, Sora, when and where did the Evil One offer you the chance to become queen? He mentioned it when he was here."
Sora stared at the ground nervous and for a while silent. She whispered quietly, "I do not wish to tell."
Her father frowned, "Sora, it is important that I know this."
"Sora, did what you see and hear that day bother you?" Kai asked her.
"You sound so much like Sakura Kai." Sora spoke bitterly. "Even she does not fully understand what I have been through, neither have you. None of you will ever know what I saw and heard. Yes it bothered me, in case you haven't noticed it has affected me ever since the day he first told me of his plans."
The Dragon King was startled by his daughter's statements, "I never knew that Sora, if you had only told me."
"If I told you then what would happen? I know you father, you would just continue asking me more questions about what I witnessed. You wouldn't have comforted me. You would only press me for more answers. You never treat me like your daughter anymore; the only ones you seem to care for are Kohaku and Yoshiro!" Her father looked at her with mournful eyes.
"Uh Sora, I think it would be best if you apologized about what you said." Hikari told her sister apprehensively.
Sora quickly regretted saying the things that she did, and quickly followed her sister's advice, "I'm sorry dad; I didn't mean that."
"No you're right Sora. I haven't been acting like a good father should lately." The Dragon King sighed. "I should apologize to you as well Hikari, I caused you a lot of pain and suffering the day I abandoned you. I am sure that the phoenixes haven't been very happy about how I've acted either. I'm pretty sure that at least one or two of them knew about what happened to you Hikari."
Sora and Hikari glanced at each other, surprised by their father's actions. Kai smiled and whispered to the two sisters, "A good parent always listens when their children reveal their feelings towards them."
Hikari eyed him angrily, "Thanks for the commentary, but we really don't need it."
"We really should be talking about the events that have just occurred." Kai suddenly announced.
"Oh yes of course, I'm really glad that you are here Kai otherwise I'm not sure what I would do. Too many distractions, I'm surprised I would get anything done."
"You're very welcome milord and Sora we won't know the pain that you faced unless you tell us." Kai told her kindly.
"You wouldn't understand even if I did tell you," Sora said sullenly, "I don't wish to talk about it. It's too painful for me to relive."
"Then could you at least tell us when this happened?"
"It happened when I was only 15 years old, if you want to know what happened ask Yoshiro and Kohaku. They were with me when it happened."
"Where were you when the dark dragon came and what were you doing?" her father asked her.
Sora replied icily, "At the outer reaches of the park by the large oak tree that we would always play by, we were playing a game of tag." The Dragon King nodded in understanding, he could picture the events that happened next. He understood the reason why his daughter was unwilling to talk. An ambush could have been easily planned as the area was surrounded with forests and bushes.
"Now Hikari," The Dragon King turned to faced his youngest daughter, "what exactly happened from when you were abandoned to when Haku and Yoshiro found you?"
There was a long period of silence before Hikari spoke, "Well, I inhabited my river and controlled it as all river spirits do. I never knew of my heritage, yet I always knew that I was abandoned. One day when I was 64, I first changed into my human form out of curiosity. A young childless couple had settled near my banks, I wanted to meet them. They found me near the banks of my river and decided to take me in as it was apparent I had no parents. It was unexpected and I resisted their efforts. It was soon apparent that they had no respect for me or my river. Often times they promoted projects that would harm it, they were a mean and spiteful couple. All they seemed to really care about was their family and their wealth. I am glad to say they died 50 years later from their own greed. Their children though turned out to be just as mean. Tired of what I saw and heard I decided to visit the Spirit World, luckily there was a portal located in my river.
"It was a bit better than what I was used to the Human World, but because I was still quite young and I had been abandoned I didn't earn much respect. Some of the dragons that I met would pick on me and even ambush me. I had to learn to protect myself or I would be injured from the brutal attacks that they launched at me. When I turned 116, I secretly trained myself with a book I had stolen from an elderly dragon. Despite all that I learned, I was still barely able to protect myself from the terrible comments and attacks that I received. I felt a great anger and hatred toward any spirit I met. I once met an elderly spirit who had calmly greeted me and attacked him, so absorbed was I in my anger. He was strong, but still I manage to defeat him. I will always remember that day, blood dripped from my fangs and claws. His motionless body lying on the ground, surrounded in a pool of blood. Other spirits rushed to his aid and quickly banished me from the town that I was in.
"They chided me for attacking him, saying that because of my stature it was perfectly natural for me to become the scapegoat and the one more often picked on. They also reminded me, that I should not release my anger that way that instead I should have talked to them and told them how I felt. They would understand, it was taught in their town that everyone had feelings and that you had to be considerate of other no matter how lowly their stature. I angrily attacked, and summoned a huge flood. Though many powerful spirits lived there, they were still unable to protect themselves from the flood I had summoned its power only increased by my rage. I left the town and went to one of the several great forests within the area. I stayed there for a while in order to calm myself before returning back to the Human World and to my river."
Her father stared at her in shock, "I never knew, I shouldn't have abandoned you. I can see why the Evil One would have chosen you to become his queen; you have felt so much anger and hatred for the wrongs that you have faced. If only I hadn't abandoned you, then you wouldn't have faced the terrible things that you did." Sora stared at Hikari in shock; she had been through so much. It pained her to realize that she was younger than her, as she wasn't even sure if she could have faced the pain that Hikari did.
Kai looked at Hikari thoughtfully before speaking to her father, "No, abandoning her has taught her many invaluable lessons that will help her throughout her lifetime. Hikari has witnessed the very evils of our society and the human ones and reacted as she should have. It helped her in ways that perhaps she herself will never know or realize."
"I only wish that I could do something to help mend the sorrow and hatred that my daughter has felt." The Dragon King sighed.
"The only good healer is time, we shall have to wait and see what happens next." Kai told him.
"Like everything else in this world." Hikari added wryly.