I felt a tiny bead of sweat stream down my face from nervousness as I watched Daniel in front of me holding a card down on the floor. We both leaned down, and Kenneth, his brother, was standing next to him, his hands on his knees. Everyone watched closely, Kenneth in awe and me in wonder.
We were in the dark hallways of the Inner World, the darkened corners of the dimension darkening the scene. The red headed Minor held the card down with his index and middle fingers of his right hand, the small rectangle glowing with a bright light than reflected off our inquisitive eyes. The bright light covered the whole card and made a sphere of illumination around us, wrapping us in its holy grasp.
I didn't take my eyes off the glowing card, the only source of light in the whole dimension and the proof that Daniel was for real about his Life Minor powers. Daniel seemed to struggle with it, his powers unstable but still good enough to work. He stared at the source of light with determination, pouring all his heart out onto the small card. In reply, the light it gave off became brighter and brighter, wrapping more of it around us, becoming almost blinding.
A heavy feeling of energy filled the air, and the card began to give off a humming noise. Soon, in the beaming white sphere of light, a tinier, more petite sphere began to form a few inches above the card. It began to float around aimlessly in the air, no destination to go to, totally covered in white light.
Amazing… I thought as I stared at the floating ball of light that resisted going any higher in the air. More beads of sweat came down my temples and my head felt hot.
As if in competition, there suddenly came a stronger, brighter light that enveloped the little light we all ready had easily and effortlessly. It seemed to be coming from my right, so I turned and saw something I thought I wouldn't have seen in a while.
Right there, embedded into the wall to my right, was a swirling, diamond shaped vortex that swirled bright orange and yellow into it, just asking for someone to enter. But instead, people came out of it.
At the sight of the sudden burst, the tiny sphere of light diminished into nothing but air and the card's glowing light stopped imminently. In a sign of panic, Daniel stuffed the card back into his pocket, and tried to look normal, his stare hard against the floor. He seemed even more nervous than ever at the presence of more people when two came in, and Kenneth and mine's stare were facing directly at those two.
Both of them had brown hair, one of them all spiked up and the other one covered by a sky blue cap. "Who are you?" I asked, ready for combat, standing on my feet again in a defending post for the two new Minors.
As if on cue, a small child stepped out from the portal, one I recognized right away. "Sorry it took so long," Jeremy said at the sight of me, referring to the last few searched for the Minors.
I smiled in relief and replied, "No problem, I don't mind." I went up to him and pat him on the head, ruffling his hair up on purpose. "This is Daniel, the Life Minor, and Kenneth, the Ice Minor," I said, motioning towards the two people next to me.
As more people began to step out of the still swirling vortex, Jeremy began to introduce each one of them one by one, and shook hands with me and the other two Minors I was with. Soon, the hallway became crowded, and everyone soon became confused about what to do next. "I knew you could pull it off, Jeremy," I told him, making him smile a little.
"What now?" Rick asked, looking around, getting used to the dark surroundings. Strangely, even in the dark shadows of the dimension, everyone could see almost as good as they could outside; it's just that everything was a little darker than usual.
The portal soon stopped swirling and closed up, no more oranges and yellows to provide the light that began dying from the start. "We have to go to the Council Room," a new voice came into the conversation. Everyone looked down the long hallway to find a male with long, silver and wavy hair, standing at the end of the hallway and speaking lazily.
"Who is he?" were the words heard repeatedly throughout the group in whispers to other people, the rest of the team gathered just shrugging their shoulders unknowingly, just as confused as they were.
"Don't worry," the teenager said, walking closer. "My name is Kane Lance, the Metal Minor," he introduced himself as he paced closer towards us. "The Council needs to see us," he told everyone as he walked by, his hands stuffed in his pockets and stare full of boredom and carelessness. He turned the corner, not caring to tell us to come, as if he didn't care about anything else in the world other than him. His long, wavy hair that went to his shoulders reminded me of Shintenmaru's house-like hair, except Lance's was curvier, and more shaped like an "M"
The click of his shoes began to echo away from us, and everyone decided to follow, copying his casual pace.
I wonder what it could be, Teresa thought in her mind as she bit her index finger's nail, walking behind everyone else. What would they want to tell us?
PoVS
The room was completely dark, no source of light whatsoever, the medium sized room cramping the twelve people inside. Ironically, everyone could see, and the twelve people traded worried and ready stares. "Do you think they'll be able to handle everything we have for them?" Hababikai's voice spoke, the sound of his adult voice bouncing off the walls.
"Of course they'll be able to handle it. Although I'm almost a hundred percent sure that they damage they're going to receive is going to be quite high, I know that they'll be able to pass it. Plus, we have no choice. It's the best way thought possible," Shintenmaru and his long explanations said.
"I see… what about Jeremy?" Hibiyomi's voice chimed in, his stare so narrow but wide as always, his face still hidden in that shadowy mask, his true identity unrevealed.
"Jeremy should rest. He's had a long quest after all. Don't you think he deserves it?" Shintenmaru insisted, pushing up his glasses towards the top of his nose, reflecting the dimmest light in the world that had no source.
"We sure worked him hard, haven't we?" Minoa's always familiar and friendly voice said, her sound always graceful and angelic.
"Yeah," Shintenmaru agreed. "But we have to keep in our minds that all of this isn't just about the Minors. We need to see if Jeremy will become a threat to us later on. Seeing to that is just as important as anything else we have to do. Having that much of a variety of power inside you… it isn't normal," Shintenmaru commented, his voice deep with a tell-it-like-it-is kind of tone.
"When should we be expecting the Minors?" Hanabikai asked, his voice wandering off, all choked out.
"Right about now," Shintenmaru said, his message surprising everyone. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door, surprising everyone even more.
"Heh," Hanabikai scoffed. "Over five hundred years of being with this guy, and I still don't know how he does that," he said, telling the truth, making everyone laugh just a little in their heads and private thoughts. "Come in," Hanabikai said, deeper and in a less joking tone than before, referring to the door.
The door opened on cue with a creak and ominous motion that could've scared the creeps out of anyone who was new to the dimension.
A whole group walked in, filling the room even more with more dim light pouring in from the outside hallway. Footsteps and clicking of shoes were heard throughout the whole entrance, and everyone stood behind the claimed Metal Minor. "Well, you've gathered quite a team, haven't you?" Shintenmaru commented on Jeremy's work as he saw the thirteen more people, including Jeremy, come into the room.
Around the room, some people could be seen with shocked expression on their faces, not realizing until that very moment that they would come face to face with the Council, the same Council who saved the world from the Ebon Age.
"They want to know what happens next," Lance said, yawning right after his message, putting one hand to his mouth to cover the widened lips. He gave a lazy sigh and waited for a reply.
"I see. Well, we know most likely White Cloak isn't going to give up coming after you twelve, so we have to prepare for the worst," Shintenmaru began the correct answer, not going specific enough.
"How?" a bunch of people asked at the same time, the different voices mixing together in the same tone that rang around the room.
At this point, both party's eyes were locked on each other's, a number of twenty-five people in the room. "We have a plan," Shintenmaru explained. "It's a type of training. I think you'll like it, actually. It begins right away."
"We'll lead you guys there," Hanabikai said, insisting on being the "guide" for now. He exited the room along with every other Council member, and every Minor followed, leaving Jeremy alone in the room with Shintenmaru who always seemed to walk the slowest but was the fastest when it came down to it.
"Don't take too long training though," Tsukansu warned. "The longer you guys take, the more work will pile up for us to do. We can't let another Ebon Age happen again, now can we?" he said as his voice bounced off the corridor walls, the whole team turning, the clicking of shoes becoming more and more distant.
"Listen Jeremy, I need to talk to you," Shintenmaru suddenly said, standing in front of the door, the small child in the middle of the dark room.
"Hm? What is it, Shintenmaru-sama?" Jeremy asked with his innocent eyes, having no idea what Shintenmaru would want to talk to him about.
"I just wanted to say…" Shintenmaru seemed to stall for a second. "You know that time when you contacted me on the boat, and I wasn't too friendly?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah… I remember," Jeremy said, remembering that sad day when he had almost cried himself to sleep.
"I'm sorry about that, you know how it is, right? Work is a lot of stress and, even though you really were doing a great job, we have like twenty things going on at once in here. You get it right?" Shintenmaru apologized.
"Yeah, I guess," Jeremy said, raising his look from the floor. "It's okay, I understand completely," he half lied.
"Good," Shintenmaru replied, waving a goodbye to Jeremy as he went out the door to catch up with the group. "Oh and by the way," Shintenmaru almost forgot.
"Yes?" Jeremy yelled from the room to Shintenmaru's voice in the hallway.
"You can stay inside. This training thing is kind of private, you know?" Shintenmaru insisted.
"Oh, I see. What do you mean inside? You're going outside?" I asked him, my voice a bit confused.
"Yeah," came Jeremy's reply.
"Outside as in the Outer World? Isn't it kind of dangerous to train there if White Cloak can sense their powers there?" the little boy asked, poking his head from out the door.
"No outside as in… outside of this tower…" Shintenmaru blankly replied in a low voice.
"Wait, there's an outside? Outside like sunshine, trees, mountains?" Jeremy looking more confused than ever.
"Yeah… what about it?" Shintenmaru asked as if Jeremy were telling him something only a crazy person would say.
"Oh, okay," Jeremy said, pulling himself back into the room. The color drained out from his whole body, even his clothes as he laid his back against the wall for support. His stare went baffled and hysterical, his eyebrow twitching. Five years in this place… Jeremy thought, his interior voice cracking up. Five years in this place… and I never knew there was an outside?!?!?!!? He cried in his mind, ready to kill himself for being so stupid.
PoVS
Hanabikai opened the door wide, light pouring in from outside. He breathed in a large deal of fresh air and sighed it out in a deep breath. "Fresh air," he declared. "It's been a long time since we've used this place."
"Can we just go?" Walter asked impatiently, walking past him.
Hanabikai put on a mean, disliking face and flash jumped in front of Walter, blocking his way. "You're going to have to wait until we explain everything first, okay?" he demanded, not the least bit of decency for Walter.
Walter did nothing but scoffed in front of Hanabikai's face, saying "Whatever."
Everybody in the group came out, including Shintenmaru. The Council stood in front of the Minors, and looked all powerful and demanding in front of everyone. "Is everyone here?" Hanabikai asked declaratively, standing in the middle of the robed Councils.
"Wait! Wait for me!" a familiar voice to most people rang in. Everyone turned to one side in curiosity and found a girl, blonde and panicky looking running towards them. When she finally reached them, she panted and panted, and swept a few strands of hair away from her small, round face. "Sorry, I was just finishing up," she said.
"It's okay Marissa-san, just be sure it doesn't happen again," Hanabikai told her, turning back to the group in front of him. Hanabikai was a strong man, had a body builder's look, his forearms large and strong, not at all too big, his brown hair spiked up straight except one strand that hang from the right side of his face. His orange, boyish eyes shone bright with friendship but also with a sense of demanding, his height taller than most people, and even though he had lived for over five centuries just like every Council Member, and he seemed like a man in his early twenties just starting his life. His smile, when seen would be a sort of smirk but showed kindness all the same. "Okay, from here on now, we separate," he declared.
"Wait. Separate? What do you-," Rick tried to ask, but his sentence was cut off by Hanabikai stomping his foot onto the dirt ground, the sun shining high above everyone. Blue circles of light began to surround each individual person as a result, and a blue pillar of shining rays beamed up to the sky from each person's position, and when the pillars came back down, the blue pillars died out, and all the people who were there before, weren't anymore, separating as Hanabikai had warned.
Above, the sun shone brighter and brighter in the sky, as if declaring that war had finally begun.