Chapter Four – Seal of Fire

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Disclaimer: Nothing from Digimon Tamers belongs to me. (gosh, aren't I so imagnitive?) It belongs to Bandai.

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It was Monday, and Colette was walking down the street to school with the same group of friends she had for the last three years. The three consisted of Lloyd, Colette's best friend, Genis, a very smart 10-year old who skipped a grade and of course, Colette, who were all in the same class.

Mimi was at home, doing something to entertain herself. She had claimed that she didn't want to be stuck in a classroom acting as a doll all day. Apparently, she was going to do something sewing related, as she was last seen holding a spool of thread and a needle.

Meanwhile, the group approached the entrance of Asakura Secondary School, their school, which was named after some influential politician or other. They began walking down the halls, which had been a routine for Lloyd, Colette, and Genis, who had done for some five or six years already.

Just as class began, their teacher, Raine made an announcement. In addition to being their teacher, she was also Genis's older sister. "Attention, class. Due to some miscalculations in paperwork, we will have an unexpected visitor, who will be our new English teacher. He will be arriving in a couple of minutes so let's get ready for him."

As soon as the teacher finished her sentence, the door swung open to reveal a most unexpected figure. It was…the mysterious man from yesterday-wearing an ordinary suit.

"Oh yes…" said Raine. "It's you, our new English teacher, Ku..ra…" She trailed off, thinking of the next word to say.

"Kratos Aurion," he replied, in a somewhat-forceful tone.

Back where Colette was sitting, she whispered to herself, "It's that man from yesterday…"

Lloyd, who was sitting next to her, heard. "What man?"

Not wanting to upset anyone, the blonde just responded with a cheerful, "Oh, nothing."

At front, Kratos continued talking. "From now on, you will be taking English classes from me to replace your old teacher. Our first session will begin after lunch."

"Anything else?" asked the other teacher.

"No." And with that he walked out of the room.

As soon as he left, Lloyd commented, "Man, he's so weird."

--

The day went by and the time for lunch was over. People began returning to their classrooms. Colette's class in particular, started talking about their new English teacher.

As Colette and Genis got into their adjacent seats, they had a conversation as they waited to

"I wonder if he's nice," asked one of Colette's schoolmates.

Another one said, "I think he's really handsome for a teacher."

But Genis complained, "There's something wrong with that guy."

"Huh?" asked Colette.

"I don't know. He just feels different."

Then, Lloyd came into the room.

"Lloyd, did you get another mark?" asked Genis. "This is the fifth time this month you've been late."

"No," replied the brown-haired boy. "I was going to get one from Watanabe-sensei, but then he-"

"He?" asked Colette.

"That new teacher guy."

"Kratos?"

"Yeah, him. Well, he pulled me to the side and just said, "Don't do that again. I wont be there next time for you."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

--

Late, Colette was finally out of school and back home. She opened the door to her apartment to find a chao watching TV.

"Mimi, I'm back!" greeted Colette.

Mimi quickly grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. "Oh, hi Colette. It's you. So, how was your day?"

"I got a new English teacher."

"Really? What was his name?"

"Ku-ra-to-"

Mimi interrupted. "Kratos Aurion?"

"Do you know him?"

"Um…no…"

"Hey, what's that behind your back?" asked Colette.

The chao quickly stuffed something behind the sofa and said, "Nothing." A spool of thread was still sticking out, but Colette couldn't see it from her angle.

"Ok. So, what were you watching?"

"Ehhh…something about this weird kid that's really short and that's a magical mad scientist that had metal limbs, works for the army, and has a suit of armor for a younger brother."

"Really? That sounds interesting. Do you think we should go now?"

"Oh yeah!"

--

As Colette walked out to the street, she saw a familiar sight from earlier that day that was walking towards her. It was her English teacher, who left earlier that day. She didn't pay much attention to him, until he stopped walking and started talking to her.

"What's that?" inquired Kratos.

"Oh, it's just my stuffed animal," Colette cheerfully responded.

"Oh. Really?" He sounded suspicious.

"Yeah! But what are you doing here?"

"I live here?"

"So you're my new neighbor?"

"Yes" he replied, without much emotion and then walked off, looking back once before he entered the apartment complex.

--

When the two arrived at the torii, it was the same as yesterday, but this time, there were no rabid monster pigs. Colette and Mimi stepped up to the gate. Nothing happened.

"That weird," said Colette. "It worked last time."

"Once I heard Akita saying something about wanting to go somewhere to be able to get this thing to work. Let try that."

Colette and Mimi concentrated really hard about wanting to go to Aselia, but still, nothing happened.

Then they heard a voice coming out of the bushes that said, "Say, "I want to go to Aselia."

They did and there was a flash of light.

When she could see again, Colette saw she was in the same field she was in yesterday, along with Mimi. In front of her was a bipedal yellow fox with blue eyes sort of like Akita's wearing a long-sleeved kimono with cranes on it.

"Rena, what are you doing here?" asked Mimi.

"You know her, also?"

"Yeah. She's my teacher and she's really strict."

The fox put her hand on Mimi and said, "Enough." Then she turned towards Colette. "You are Shiratori Colette-san, right? Colette is an unusual name."

"Oh…my mother's from France."

"Hmm… I see. I am Fujitsugi Rena and I am at your service. I apologize for my actions the other day. Come on, we must go now. Follow me."

Rena started walking towards the Tower of Salvation. Colette and Mimi followed.

While they were walking, Colette asked Mimi, "What do you mean that Rena's your teacher?"

"Akita makes me train my fighting skills with her. I don't like it because she's really strict. Once she made me stand straight fifteen-hours straight with no food and no water. She's so mean!"

"I'm sorry," Colette apologized

"Don't worry, it's not your fault."

The three walked into the huge main chamber of Tower of Salvation. As Mimi and Rena stopped a bit behind the teleporter, Colette continued walking.

"No Colette! Don't walk any further!" Mimi started running to catch up with her.

Colette stopped. "Don't we need to see Akita?"

"But that doesn't go to Akita!" Mimi said as she panted. "That goes to Welgaia, the freakiest place ever! It's filled with zombie robots! Don't go…" Mimi's voice trailed away as the teleporter emitted a blast of light, indication someone was using it.

It turned out not to be Colette who was using it, but instead Akita popped out.

"Akita!" yelled Mimi. "I'm so glad you're here! Colette was just about to go to Welgaia! And hey, why is Kra-"

The chao was interrupted by Akita, who began talking. "Hi, Colette. Today, it's time for your first seal. This is Rena, who's going to be your Guardian."

"Guardian?"

"I can't afford to have you killed, so I've gotten her to protect you. She's a very accomplished fighter who uses katars. And katars are cool."

"Why can't you go?" asked Mimi.

"Cruxis business."

"Cruxis? What's Cruxis?" asked Colette.

"That's a long story, so I guess I'll have to tell you some other time."

"Let's go, Shiratori-san," commanded Rena as she walked out of the hall.

"Wait! I have to ask a question: Is Rena related to you? You two have the same fur color."

"Of course not," replied Rena, who was now sounding impatient.

"Before you go, take Mimi," insisted Akita.

"But Yggdrasil-sama objected."

"Let's try to make every possible moment in her life count."

"Fine."

"Is there some stupid reason Yggy wouldn't let me go?"

"No…" spoke Akita, who sounded like she was trying to conceal something. "And Mimi, watch what you say here. This place might be bugged."

"Mom, you've said that a billion times already," complained Mimi. "Don't be a worrywart."

"Are you two going to leave or not?" asked Rena. She started walking out.

"Coming!" replied the girl and the chao, spiriting after the fox.

--

Colette, Rena, and the chao had been walking for a couple of minutes, when Colette decided to ask, "How much longer is it going to take us to get to the seal?"

"250 hours, at this pace," Rena replied with an indifferent tone.

"Can't we go there faster if we fly?"

"I cannot."

"I'm sorry, but I can't be here for 250 hours. I have school tomorrow and my parents and friends are going to be worried about me."

"Don't be stupid." Rena stopped walking and took something out of her kimono sleeve and pressed it. Out of the thing air popped up two things that appeared to be miniature airplane things that were no more than three meters from head to tail. There was a cockpit in them, but no windshield. In front of the cockpit was a handle that seemed to be the steering device.

"These are the Rheairds, flying machines that will allow us to get across the ocean. You and Mimi get into the back one, and I will be in the front one."

"Ummm…. How do I fly this?" Colette asked as she sat in the cockpit of the Rheaird. "I can't-"

"Do not worry Shiratroi-san. Your Rheaird has been programmed to follow mine, which I will pilot."

Rena pushed a button in her cockpit, and magically, the Rheairds rose high into the air.

"This is going to be so boring," whined Mimi. "We're just going to go over water after water after water."

"Quit whining, Mimi," came a voice from the front Rheaird.

"This seems fun to me," commented the blonde. "I've never been on something like this before."

About an hour or two passed before they saw land. During that time, Colette kept herself busy by cloud watching. Being completely bored out of her mind, Mimi did the same. The land was first regular plains, but then turned into sandy desert.

After a while, Rena started the descent towards the ground.

"We're finally here!" exclaimed Mimi.

"These are the Triet Ruins," stated Rena. "There used to be a civilization here, before the people abused the power of Efreet, which caused the people to be destroyed."

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Colette.

"Training," the fox said in her usual indifferent tone. "Watch out." Coming straight at Rena was a bird that seemed to be made out of fire and a red floating rock orb that was surrounded by a ring of fire. Just about they were about to hit Rena, Rena jumped out of the way with reflexes that seemed to be unnatural. "What are you two just standing there? Transform."

"Cruxis Crystal Activate! Chao Metamorphosis!"

"Cruxis Crystal Activate! Angel Metamorphosis!"

Colette tried to hit the firebird, but just as she was, she was hit by a blast of fire and was knocked back.

"Don't let that happen again," instructed the fox, who was just sitting with her head on her palm. "Next time, focus your mana on defending yourself."

"How do I do that?" asked Colette.

"Just do it."

When the firebird shot a stream of flames at Mimi, she yelled out, "Guardian!" and a green orb appeared around her. The fire just bounced off.

Colette concentrated as hard as she could and braced herself for the next attack. As soon as the firebird attacked her, this time, she let the words flow out. "Super guard!" The flames disappeared.

"Hey Rena! You're supposed to be guarding her!" complained Mimi.

"If I do, she will never learn."

Mimi sighed, but quickly was in high spirits again. "Hey! If the element over there is blasting fire spells at us, shouldn't it be weak to water?"

"Element?"

"That orb-thing over there is a kind of thing called an element. They are these enchanted non-living things that can control the same kind of elements that they are. Like fire elements can control fire, and so on."

Colette nodded her head in understanding.

"Well, since my physical attacks don't seem to be doing too well against it, I'll just have to resort to magic." Mimi backed away from the two monsters and then a blue ring appeared under her. She appeared to chanting something, but Colette couldn't tell. Then Mimi yelled, "Ready! Aqua Edge!" A wave appeared out of nowhere and then hit the firebird and the element. They disappeared immediately.

"Hah! That show's that magic is better!" Mimi bragged to Rena. "It killed them in one hit!"

"But magic requires casting time and are very susceptible during that time. If they get hit they will lose their concentration and that will cause their efforts to be wasted. ," Rena replied, undaunted. "Besides, there are ways to do elemental damage."

"You use magic too!"

Ignoring what Mimi said, Rena turned towards Colette. "Shiratori-san, if you have to depend on Mimi to save you, then you will make a very pitiful Chosen. The trial against the final seal guardian is fought by you and you only. Be thankful that you will be fighting with me during this battle.

"But I didn't save Colette!" protested Mimi.

"If we are to survive against the seal guardian, we will have to do more training, understand?"

"Ok," replied Colette.

"Can we enter the temple now?" asked Mimi. "There's no more monsters out here."

"You may, if you can find the entrance."

Colette and Mimi began searching around the perimeter of the temple, hoping to find something. But all they found were solid walls and collapsed walls that were blocked by debris too heavy for either Colette or Mimi to lift.

After searching for half an hour, the chao collapsed on the sand and complained, "Ah! Why can't you just give us the answer? I'm tired of searching! What does this have to do with being a Chosen, anyways?"

"A good Chosen must be resourceful."

And then, for some weird reason, Colette tripped over the sand. (Or was it the air?) Suddenly, the door opened.

"Yes!" Mimi let off a sigh of relief. "We can finally go in now and get out of this desert!"

Inside, the ruins were dark, but were lit by some torches. (Who set them off was a complete mystery) That gave them a spooky, mysterious feel. The fact that the architecture looked like the inside of some old Egyptian tomb didn't help either.

As they walked inside, Colette asked, "Aren't we going to train more?"

Mimi sighed. "Don't remind her."

"Yes, we are," Rena replied. "This time, you two will be killing each and every monster here in order to find the key in order to go to the seal."

"No…" Mimi whined. "How do you even know that we need a key?"

"Akita told me so. She would kill me if she found me lying to you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

Colette had a strong urge to say, "No way!" but she didn't.

"Now, start searching. And this time don't use Guardian or Super Guard. Orange gels are expensive."

Mimi and Colette wandered down the halls, looking for the key. They destroyed wave after wave of monsters. But there was no key. After the 146th monster they fought, Mimi collapsed for the second time of the day. Colette was pretty exhausted, too.

"I wish there was a faster way to do this…" she whined.

"Then find one."

Another monster wandered down the halls towards the group's direction.

"You go get it," mumbled Mimi.

Just as Colette was going to attack it, she tripped and yelled, "Item thief!" The monster was destroyed and she found herself with a key in her hand.

Mimi would've yelled "Yay!" but she was too exhausted.

"Now, you two rest," ordered. "It will be a hard fight, with the seal."

Colette went against a way and leaned back. She wondered how many hours had passed since she arrived. Two? Three? Maybe even four? But the girl couldn't think. She was too beat. This was the hardest work she ever had to do in her life. But it was a lot more exciting then being an ordinary girl. However, it was a bit upsetting that she'd never be able to tell Genis or Lloyd.

As Colette rested on the wall, she heard a couple of very faint footsteps. Rena and Mimi must've been able to of heard them too, as they jolted up.

"Hey Rena, who was that person?" asked Mimi.

"No one of your concern."

"I'm going to tell Akita! You just lied to me! I know someone was there. And Akita can tell when people are lying."

"I told you, it was no one of your concern."

"It was Kra-"

The fox interrupted the chao. "Why is he of concern to you?"

--

After a long break, Rena finally decided that it was time to go and release the seal.

"I'm worried," groaned Colette. "What if I mess up?"

"Don't worry," assured Mimi. "It'll be all fine. As much as I hate to say this, you can't mess up when you have Rena."

Rena handed the key from earlier over to Colette and commanded, "Open it." Colette stuck the key in the keyhole and then a door opened. The three walked in. Then the door slammed shut behind them.

Inside, there was a red pedestal like thing with an elaborate border in the center. Steam started rising from it.

"Get ready," Rena commanded.

When the mist cleared, it revealed a crimson-colored tiger with black stripes and a line of white spikes running down its back.

"Ktugach," stated Rena.

At its feet were two smaller versions of the Ktugach, but they had no spikes and had only their back feet.

"Ktugachlings."

Mimi instantly started attacking it with her slashes. Rena pulled out a pair of katars from under her kimono and equipped them.

"Demon fang!" Mimi yelled as she swung her sword. The blow resulted in creating an energy wave that hit a Ktugach.

"Kill the ktugachlings first. Our goal is to take down the Ktugach, but we cannot do so if those irritating things get in our way. She the continued to punch a ktugachling and yell, "Touhakken!"

Being nervous, Colette didn't know what to do. But then she remembered Rena's words from earlier the day: Just do it. Colette took her chakram and swung it. "Ray thrust!"

Then, a faint red ring started forming under the Ktugach.

"Get out of the way!" Rena commanded as she knocked the girl and the chao down.

"What did you do that for?" asked Mimi.

Then, a fireball appeared where they were just standing.

Colette got up and shot another ray thrust. Nothing happened.

"Don't waste your mana doing that," instructed Rena. "Just hit normally."

"Okay!"

Colette started melee-ing the ktugachling with Mimi and finished it off with a Pow Hammer.

Rena was attacking the other ktugachling. She was hitting it with her katars and managed to defeat it in a couple of hits.

"Now we can focus our attention on the Ktugach. Use your strongest attacks, everyone."

Colette did another Power Hammer, Mimi thrusted it her Sonic Thrust, and Rena jumped up, summoned a bunch of diamond-like shards, focused it on the enemy, and yelled, "Koyousetsu!"

Then, a giant ring of red appeared under the Ktugach. Rena forced Mimi and Colette to go to the corner of the room and stood in front of them.

"Hey," Mimi said in a suspicious tone. "Wouldn't that mean that you'd receive the damage? Are you doing this for Akita or for you?"

"Myself. I don't want to lose anyone I know again."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Colette.

But Rena didn't pay attention. "Brace yourself…"

A giant red fireball came out of the air. Instead of hitting them, Rena yelled "Kohenkyo!" and the group magically teleported from one side of the room to another. As they landed, Colette tripped, causing everyone to land in a heap.

Just as everyone was going to get up, the room seemed to be moving in slow motion. Colette saw a flash of transparent blue that had the same texture as her wings. Then, there was a flash of a blade.

And then the Ktugach was gone.

"Now, it's your turn for releasing the seal," said Rena. "Go up to the altar."

Colette did as she was instructed. When she reached the center, something happened that was a cross of getting a bunch of memories stuffed in her mind and a vision.

An eight-year-old girl was playing ball on the sidewalk with her friends. But then one of them dropped the ball and made it roll on to the street. The girl ran frantically to get the ball.

But there was a car coming her way…

Before the vision could end, Colette woke to a chao shaking her.

"You know, you stare at things and go into a lot. Anyways, let's go. You have to go home right?"

Right now, Colette didn't care about the vision. She was just happy she made it through the seal.

--

Preview: Colette has to do yet another seal. It should be a piece of cake, right? But things are complicated when Mimi goes missing and a guy named Yuan wants her to go retrieve her. What could be better for this situation than a nine-year old Guardian with a stuffed rabbit? Next time on Mahou Tenshi Colette: Yuan.

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Translations:

-san: An honorific suffix equivalent to "Mr." or "Mrs."

Touhakken: Wisteria Punch

Koyousetsu: Fox Leaf Arrowhead

Kohenkyu: Fox Change Void