Pretear – Before Himeno (Takako's time)
Chpt 02
"Come on guys, can't you feel it? The presence of the monster worm is getting stronger!" Hayate shouted, leading the way to the beach.
"Yes, we know, Hayate! We have not lost our senses, do you know?" Yuki yelled back.
Hayate did not even bother to answer; he was looking out at the sea. It was mid-afternoon. The merciless sun glared brightly down on the earth, threatening to burn all living creatures to ashes. The sea sparkled like jewels under dazzling light and waves were hitting the rocks not far away. The splashing of the seawater was smoothing to one's ear. A few seagulls could be seen flying, freely in the sky. Everything had appeared so peaceful on the surface, but somehow, he could feel trouble brewing underneath.
"What now?" Goh asked. As if answering him, the sea started to bubble like mad. The sea began to turn choppy and rough. Foam formed on the surface and a tentacle rose from the waves and shot towards them. The Leafe knights jumped into the air and in a flash, were in their full battle uniform. They prepared themselves for war as the creature appeared behind the waves. It was gigantic, blue and semi-transparent. Its eyes were as big as cartwheels and its many tentacles sprouted from its slimy body. Hayate stared at it, a sense of dread overwhelming him. The monster worm had rooted! They were too late! Now, they had to act fast before the monster worm absorbed all the Leafe!
Hayate gathered his energy and aimed at the creature. Bull's eye! The creature wobbled a bit and started fading. Hayate felt strange. No battle had always been so easy. He looked in amazement as another creature bigger than before appear before them. Instead of helping and destroying the monster worm, he had created another one stronger than before. Angry at himself, Hayate rushed at the creature, gathering and shooting his power at it. Somehow, it had no effect. Hayate had been so engrossed in his fighting that he had not noticed a tentacle reaching towards him. It caught him and threw him back to shore. Hayate bit his lips to numb the pain. A hand rested on his shoulder. He turned his head. It was Sasame. "Let us settle it." He said and flew up to join the others who had rounded on the monster worm and started fighting since they saw their leader thrown to the shore.
Hayate sighed and looked at the creature, trying to find its weakness. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that one of its tentacles was not moving. "That must be its core!" Hayate whispered to himself. Picking himself up again, he stared flying towards it, but realized something was wrong. The tentacle was curling around an unconscious girl. His heart skipped a beat. The monster worm was absorbing Leafe from the girl. Every living thing needed Leafe to survive. Without Leafe, she would die!
Without thinking twice, Hayate set off towards the tentacle. Gathering the last of the little energy he had, he produced an enormous power and shot at the tentacle with great accuracy. The core broke and the creature started to fade away. Hayate reached out and grabbed the girl, collided with a disappearing tentacle and suffered a heavy blow. He fell into the sea below, exhausted and relief, still holding onto the girl. He could see the Leafe Knights circling above them. Mikio and Roka lifted the girl out of water and two powerful arms carried him to shore. Hayate looked up and saw Kei and Goh smiling at him. He forced a smile.
Sasame stood over him as he laid on the beach, catching his breath. The last blow was too huge for him to handle. Sasame looked at him and sat down beside him. "Good job, Hayate, looks like we can't handle it without you." He paused, looked at the girl and continued, "Who's she?"
Hayate shrugged and glanced in her direction. Kei and Yuki were tending to her. "What happen to her?"
Sasame said nothing. Just then, the girl stirred and coughed. Sasame and Hayate got up and rushed over to her, watching her intently as the girl started blinking. "Who are you?" Mikio asked. The girl looked around as if the Leafe Knights were invisible and jumped to her feet, letting out a loud scream. She made towards the water as Kei pulled her back.
"Are you looking for this?" Kei asked, holding out her palm to her. A silver chain rested innocently on his palm. The girl's eyes widened and took the chain from him, hugging it closed to her chest. "I'm sorry. I saw you holding tightly onto it when we rescue you." The girl shook her head. Kei waited for her to catch her breath before repeating the question that Mikio had asked. "Who are you?"
"Takako." She said shortly, turned and started to leave. There was a cloud of distress that she could not hide form the Leafe Knights. Sasame took a step forward and caught her hand. A hot boiling sensation ran through them as Sasame and Takako fell backwards upon the impact. Takako was irritated and angry while Sasame felt shocked. "What did you do?" she demanded, holding onto her scalded hand.
The rest of the Leafe Knights were alarmed. Kei and Mikio stared hard at Takako. Yuki and Roka were frozen to the spot. Goh and Hayate were frowning. Only Sasame was smiling. "Why? Fellow Knights, we came to this city to look for the girl destined to be the Pretear. Look like we had found the One without any effort." With this he pointed at Takako.
Takako. A Pretear?