Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai 7 or any characters affiliated therewith. Neither do I own Ran, who I am using with the permission of Motokonobaka.
It was a young voice broke the silence.
"Hey, are you guys talking serious again?" A short brown-haired girl with huge, red doe eyes came into the room, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She went over to Kirara and sat in her lap.
"Nee-chan… who are these people?" she asked.
"We're trying to find out," Kirara replied. Suddenly, Aya's eyes snapped open as she saw a bright red light shine from where Akio was sitting. He was sitting stiffly as his pendant pulled him toward Kirara's dousing crystal. A green light shone from Kai's pendant and he was pulled forward as well.
"Sister! What's happening?" Akio asked, trying to quell the feeling of panic rising within him.
"Wha-? I don't know!" she said, an insistent pull coming from the cord on her neck. Kirara crawled forth as all four pendants joined in a circle. The remaining samurai, villagers and Masamune stared, their eyes wide. The light the four pendants created was so bright, that everyone had to cover their eyes. Abruptly, Kirara, Aya, Akio and Kai straightened and knelt bolt upright. Their eyes became glassy, their faces expressionless. A faint, golden mist formed above the four glowing pendants.
"Peace," came a feminine voice from the mist, "I am a Messenger from the goddess Amaterasu. The Lady Sun wishes to tell you the true identities of these four Deity Mediums." Every person in the room, including Kikuchiyo, was completely speechless.
"…Please tell us who they truly are, then," Kambei said, bowing his head toward the ball of mist. A slender thread of mist reached out and touched each of the four in turn.
"Lady Kirara, the Diviner. She is able to communicate with any water-dwelling creature. Naturally, her element is water.
"Kai-sama, the Healer. A single drop from the bottle of Divine Medicine he possesses will cure any ailments of a hundred men. The element he controls is air."
The Heavenly Being continued, "Akio-sama, the Destroyer. With the Phoenix as his loyal companion, he can move swifter than the eye can follow. Fire will be his vassal."
At last, the golden mist touched Aya's forehead. This time, the Messenger's voice was quiet, as though confiding a great secret.
"Lady Aya, the Creator. The two feathers she is adorned with represents her ability of flight. On a whim, she may give or take a Life. Light and Dark are her companions, for when her life is in danger, either one may make her entirely invisible. During that time, any thing she touches will become invisible as well. She can summon her astral form and enter people's minds by merely touching them.
"All four of these youths have more powers which they shall discover on their own. I have only told you the most important. While of course, you must protect all four of these Mediums, Aya is the one you must protect the most. For with her aid, you will win just about any battle. But should she perish," The Divine Spirit's voice became gravely serious, "any battle you wage will only end in failure. Heed the Great Lady Sun's words! Farewell, brave samurai…"
The ball of mist slowly faded, as did the Messenger's melodic voice. Katsushiro saw four pairs of eyes return to their brilliant light, and gently caught Kirara as she fell back towards him.
"Whoa!" Heihachi cried out as he caught Aya. Akio and Kai slumped down in the arms of Kikuchiyo and Kambei. The four other samurai looked at Kambei, their eyes questioning what their next move was. Kambei was thoughtful for a moment, then said,
"I think we should wait until they reawaken. Then we will keep moving. Tomorrow morning, Katsushiro, Heihachi, Kikuchiyo and I will go look for more samurai. Apparently, the Divine Messenger wished us to take these children with us, although I haven't the slightest idea why. Yet," he paused, looking down at the sleeping Kai in his lap, "with them, perhaps the coming war won't be as hopeless as it sounds."