1. Home Sweet Home

Shu flailed his arms about. "Hey! Wait! We're not here to fight!"

Her expression didn't change, nor did the tone of her voice. "Then either explain yourselves, or leave this village immediately."

Shu lowered his arms, relieved that he could avoid conflict. Before he could explain their situation, however, his prideful rival intervened. "Don't order us around. A simple villager has no right to know our business, a child at that." Shu was ready to hit Jiro upside the head, but he didn't get the chance. What occured next surprised them both.

The girl was encased in a dull aura, her shadow slowly grew behind her. A snarl was heard as it burst out of the ground, taking the form of some animal. It had dark purple skin, partially covered with yellow-plated armor. Black hair stuck out from its head to lower back. Small black wings juted out from the shoulder blades. Its red eyes narrowed as it glowered down at the two boys.

Without warning the shadow shot forward, fist curled and arm back. Shu and Jiro instinctively leaped away, the fist left a crater where they formerly stood.

"I said we're not trying to fight!" Shu repeated, frantically. The girl didn't listen as her shadow struck again. Shu jumped away, and clenched his fists. "Fine then, if I have no choice. Blue Dragon!" His own shadow roared as he appeared.

Jiro followed in suit. "Minotauros!"

Minotauros smirked. "Oi, Jiro. What's with you and picking fights with the ladies, huh? Have you no manners?" Jiro's eyebrow twitched, his shadow could never resist making remarks.

Blue Dragon was looking at his opponent. He scoffed. "He doesn't look so tough."

The shadow remained idle. Aibou, he spoke telepathically with his User. Are you sure about this?

Of course, she responded. What? You afraid you'll lose?

He mentally scoffed. As if, but remember who they are. They're-

I couldn't care less about who they are! They've brought problems that I don't need to deal with. Kill them, Amaterasu!

Blue Dragon became irritated at the lack of action. "Are you just gonna stand there? Fine by me, a punching bag will work, for now." He opened his mouth and spat out orange flames. Amaterasu moved to the side, letting the flamethrower pass right by. He charged at Blue Dragon, avoiding each flame that was shot at him. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Minotauros closing in, prepared to ram him. Amaterasu smirked, twisting himself so he faced Minotauros. He caught the other shadow by his horns and tossed him in Blue Dragon's direction.

The girl's scowl deepened. I'm not interested in playing around, Amaterasu. Finish them so I can call it a day. The aura around her was blazing, Amaterasu was surrounded in it as well. His speed increased. Our targets aren't the shadows, it's those boys. Blue Dragon and Minotauros blocked his way, he only gave them a smug grin before disappearing in a flash of blue.

Shu and Jiro blinked, that light only appeared when a shadow was unsummoned. Had she given up?

Blue Dragon scoffed, glaring at the girl. "Gonna run off with your tail between your legs, coward?" Her response was the slightest smirk. The cries of their Users caused them to whirl around, both alarmed. Amaterasu had been resummoned behind them. He placed his hands on their heads, and shoved the boys into the ground, instantly knocking them unconscious. The two shadows growled as they involuntarily vanished.

Amaterasu crossed his arms. "That was too quick. You could've let me have a little fun."

She shrugged. "I'm tired."

Bouquet awoke early the next morning. She figured to repay Mariko for her hospitality by making the meals as long as they stayed. She yawned, stretching out her arms, and slowly climbed off the couch. Kluke was occupying the other, Marumaro was placed on the floor next to Shu and Jiro. As she looked over her sleeping friends, she saw something she didn't expect.

Covering her mouth with her hand - to stifle her gasp- she looked at the two boys. Their faces were scraped, bruised, and slightly covered in dried blood. They'd gotten into fights before - even ones that became violent - but they didn't do that much damage. Had they been attacked?

She quickly went to their bags, retrieved their first aid kit, and started to work on treating her friends. It took no more than ten minutes to accomplish. She put the kit away, and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

It would definitely take some time to get used to waking up in her bedroom. Zola blinked in confusion before her whereabouts registered in her head. Throwing the blankets aside, she stood up and surveyed the room. It had been too long since she occupied it. There was dust collecting in certain spots, and the surfaces of any structures were decorated with old possessions.

Her desk had a pile of books stacked atop one another. She looked at the cover of the first one; it was about archeology. A light smile crossed her face. As a child she adored archeology. She was like her father in that sense. Her throat grew thick and she moved away from the desk.

The next thing to catch her eyes was a picture on the nightstand beside her bed. She picked it up, and - after seeing what was in it - felt even sicker. It was a picture of her and her sister when they were young. She was leaning against the wall, reading one of her books. Her sister had tried to read along, but ended up falling asleep on her shoulder.

Zola put the picture back, and walked out of the room. She closed the door behind her, and looked to the end of the hallway. That door that led to the second bedroom; her sister's bedroom. For the first time in a long while, Zola's emotions were in absolute chaos. Releasing an uneasy sigh, she approached the door. She gripped the handle, but froze. She couldn't bring herself to turn it. She wasn't ready to face her sister.

Not yet. Her hand fell away from the handle, she turned around and walked downstairs.

"What happened to you guys, maro?" Everyone had risen and were eating the breakfast Bouquet had made. (Mariko had spent five minutes thanking her, much to Bouquet's embarrassment.) Shu and Jiro had been the last to awaken and had just entered the kitchen.

"We were attacked last night." Shu grumbled, sitting in his chair.

The others tensed. "By who?" Bouquet asked, hoping they hadn't been found by Grand Kingdom.

"Some girl. I tried to reason with her, but someone," he cast a glare at Jiro. "wouldn't keep his mouth shut." Jiro glared back, but they were too exhausted to begin an argument. Shu started to eat, speaking between bites. "I think she's from around here, because she said we were intruding in the village."

"Was she a Shadow User?" Zola asked, paying full attention to his story. He nodded, his mouth full. "We'll have to keep an eye out, then. While she was probably only protecting the village, if she's an actual threat to us, then that wouldn't do us any good." Nothing more was said as they continued their meal.

Once they'd finished their food, Bouquet started gathering the dishes. As she placed them in the sink, she froze; a forgotten thought finally remembered. "Uh oh."

"What is it, Bouquet?" Zola asked, looking at her.

The girl scratched the back of her head. "Well, I'd meant to put a plate aside. You know.. for..." Zola nodded, realizing who she was speaking about.

Mariko realized it, too. "Don't worry, dear. She ate and left a long time before you woke up."

Bouquet sighed with relief, and continued with her task. Zola, however, wasn't ready to drop the subject. "She's gone?"

"Yes, she and her friends are always going off somewhere." Mariko answered.

"Does.. she know?" Zola asked, reluctantly.

Mariko nodded. "Yes. In fact, she was the one who found you all to begin with." Zola's eyes widened, a slight gasp escaping. "I think she's just coming to terms with you being home, again." She smiled. "Trust me, you'll talk when you're both ready."

Zola nodded, and rose from her chair. "I'm going out for a while. Bouquet, keep an eye on Kluke will you?" She gave an affirmative noise, not taking her eyes off the sink.

Shu jumped up. "I wanna go, too!"

Marumaro agreed with him. "Yeah, I wanna see where Zola grew up, maro!" Jiro didn't say anything, but he silently admitted that he was curious to see Zola's village.

Zola sighed, she intended to go alone. She wasn't certain she'd be able to contain her emotions as she made herself familiar with her home. Unfortunately, she knew the kids; if they wanted to do something, they'd do it with or without her consent. She nodded. "Very well."

Things have hardly changed. Zola noted, surveying her surroundings. They walked by mutiple food stands and small markets. The villagers strolled about, greeting each other like old friends. All the people did - in fact - know each other for years, as their home was small and held only a fair number of residents. She wasn't all that surprised, the people of her village were simpler than most. Her stomach twisted as she walked down the same streets she would run down as a child. Only back then she hadn't felt like a stranger, she was like any other adventurous youngster.

"It's a lot like Talta." Shu remarked, reminiscing about his home. With a slight shake of his head he looked up at his older friend, "Hey, Zola, why haven't you been here in so long?"

"The same reason I gave you to leave your village, Shu." she explained. "If I came back, I'd only be putting innocents in danger."

Shu nodded. "I get that, but, your mom just seemed to really miss you." Zola caught on to a hint of sadness in his voice. She mentally reprimanded herself. Besides herself and Marumaro, the rest of the childrens' parents were gone. Here she was, back at home for the first time in years, and she was acting like she didn't care.

She sighed. "I know, but it was the best course of action to take. I suppose after a while, forcing myself not to think about my home became natural. So I ended up forgetting about it." Shu was satisfied with the answer, and he dropped the subject.

"What's your sister like, maro?" The Devee sounded too eager to change the subject. "Is she like you, or completely different, maro?"

Zola took a few minutes to think about it, before hesitantly replying with, "I wouldn't know. She was only a few years old when I left. Anything I knew about her most likely isn't true anymore." Marumaro's ears dropped, sensing the strain in Zola's voice.

Jiro watched his mentor from the corner of his eyes. He understood that Zola was going through emotional turmoil, and the two idiots' questions were only making it worse. He sighed. He was never one to talk much, but he knew that it was his responsiblity to steer the topic onto something less personal. "While we're here it would be best to get some training done. With the way Shu and I were beaten so easily last night, we need all the time we can get."

Zola thought for a moment. "You three go ahead. There's something I want to do first. I'll meet up with you later." She looked off toward the village exit. "There should be plenty of space for you to train outside of the village. Don't overdo it, you still haven't fully recovered."

"Sure, but, what are you-" Shu's eyes caught Jiro's. The other boy shook his head, warning him to keep his mouth shut. Shu complied. "Fine, then let's go, Jiro. I'll beat you this time!" The three boys raced off, or rather, Shu and Jiro took off with Marumaro trying to keep up.

Zola shook her head, giving a short laugh at the boys. She continued her walk, her nerves wavered as she thought about her destination. Her journey took her a mile away from the village. A lone house stood outside of a small forest. The building was a light shade of brown, with the roof a darker shade of the same color. Wooden railing surrounded the raised porch that went around the entire house. Zola walked up the three steps that led to the porch. She hesitated before knocking, debating whether or not to turn around.

Unfortunately she didn't have time to decide. The front door swung open, a young man stood, surprised by the unexpected visitor. His eyes narrowed, before widening in realization. "Zola?"

"It's been a long time, Takashi."

Bouquet sighed, placing her head in her hands. Everyone else was out exploring and she was the one that had to watch Kluke. The girl was in a coma, it's not like she would get into any trouble. Bouquet knew that the two of them never got along, but she didn't want to be the one to constantly look at their fallen comrade and be reminded how badly they failed.

"Kluke?" Bouquet started hesitantly. "Um, I know you can't hear me, I don't even know why I'm talking to you, but... We all miss you, you know. Shu's a worried mess, and Zola feels terrible about what happened. I know we fight a lot, but that doesn't mean I don't care about your safety. Please, wake up. We need you, Kluke." The unconscious girl didn't respond, and Bouquet felt disappointed. She knew her words would do nothing, but she didn't want to sit around feeling useless. Her eyes stung, she had failed everyone; failed Shu. Her only job was to protect Kluke, and Kluke had been the one to receive the most damage. I'm such a failure.

The sound of the door opening caught Bouquet by surprise. She hastily wiped her eyes, and cleared her throat to collect her voice. "Mariko-san, is that you?" She didn't receive and answer, only the sound of footsteps moving. Bouquet rose from the couch and walked into the hallway. She looked at the door, which was wide open. She peered into the kitchen, it was vacant. "Zola?" She still didn't get a response. "Maybe I was hearing things." She went to close the front door, until she heard footsteps again. Bouquet whirled around and found a girl staring at her from the bottom of the staircase. She took partial relief that she wasn't losing her mind.

"You're Zola's friend, aren't you?" the girl asked, staring at her catiously.

Bouquet noded. "Yes, I'm Bouquet. Who are you?"

"I'm Mariko's daughter." she responded coldly. The girl strode by Bouquet in a quick pace, shutting the door behind her.

"So tell me, Zola, what brings you back after all these years?" Takashi placed down two cups of tea, and took a seat across from the woman.

"I hadn't planned on it, that's for sure." she started, taking a sip of tea to calm her nerves. "It was a mere teleportation accident, I just woke up here."

Takashi arched an eyebrow. "You're gonna have to explain from the beginning."

Zola was silent for several moments. "How much do you know about shadows?"

He laughed. "A lot. My little brother's a Shadow User, and you might not know this, but.. Your sister's one as well." Zola's eyes widened. "So you can say I've learned much from the two of them."

She sighed. "I'll save my question about for after I've explained my situation." Takashi nodded, and motioned for her to continue. "My comrades and I are Shadow Users, and a few days ago we decided to challenge Nene." Takashi's eyes narrowed. "We were easily beaten, and would've been killed. Thankfully, one of my comrade managed to summon her shadow. She not only saved us, but teleported us out of there. That's how I ended up here."

"Is everyone alright?"

Zola's tone changed. "No. The one who saved us, Kluke, is in a coma. It's possible she may never wake up. The others are distraught."

"I'm sorry." Takashi said.

She nodded. "Now, what you said about.. my sister," she practically forced the word out, it was so foreign. Not to mention painful. "can you elaborate? Give me some basic information about her?" She was undeniablly curious about her sister.

"You haven't talked to her?"

"I haven't seen her. We got here just yesterday." He nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Besides, I.. can't. Not yet."

Takashi's eyes were sympathetic. "I understand." He sighed, and let out a short laugh. "Well, where do I begin? She's as reckless and stubborn as she ever was. She's a strong fighter, and the leader of our little group." Zola arched an eyebrow, so he clarified. "I'm no Shadow User, but I am good with a sword, as you know. Along with Zoe and my brother, there's one other Shadow User. We've been keeping this village protected for years now."

Zola felt her throat thicken slightly. "Define years."

He looked at her through half-lidded eyes. "Years as in: ever since you left."

"I don't understand."

"Zola, right after you and your father left, Nene sent his forces to destroy this village."

Marumaro watched as Shu and Jiro did pull ups on a thick tree branch. Shu had been faster at first as he was determined to do more than Jiro, but using all his strength right off the bat eventually wore him out. Now he was slower, his face was bright red and he was heavily sweating. Jiro did his pull ups at his own pace, and was hardly breaking a sweat.

"We're done." Jiro let go of the branch and landed perfectly on his feet. Shu's landing was less graceful; he fell flat on his back, breathing heavily. Jiro tossed a look over his shoulder. "Quiting already?"

"No way!" Shu pulled himself up into a sitting position. Jiro shook his head and took off running. "Hey!" In a split second, Shu was on his feet and chasing after his rival. Marumaro ran after them.

The Devee smirked as he passed his two friends. "Sorry guys, I'm just faster, maro."

By now the three boys were training in a forest they had found not far from the village. They dodged trees, jumped over fallen logs, hopped on the rocks to get across the river, and kept an eye out for anything that could pop out unexpectedly.

"Okay," Shu breathed, his hands on his knees to balance himself. They'd spent at least an hour training. "I think... we're done." Marumaro agreed as he collapsed on his stomach. Jiro was leaning against a tree, his breath was uneven, but not as bad as Shu's. Once he caught his breath, Shu straightened himself. "I'm going to head back to Mariko-san's place. I wanna check on Kluke." The other two watched as he ran off, surprised that he'd been close to passing out moments ago, but aquired a new burst of energy.

Jiro pushed himself off the tree and walked away. Marumaro raised his head off the ground. "Where are you going, maro?"

"A walk."

Zola took a deep breath to compose herself. She was shocked by what Takashi said, especially since she had thought otherwise. "Nene attacked this place, right after we left?" Takashi nodded his head. Zola felt a smoldering anger. "But he'd told Otousan that if he cooperated with him then this village would be kept safe."

Takashi snorted. "And you actually believed him? Nene's cold-blooded, manipulative, and will do anything to get what he wants. Making false promises is nothing that'll haunt him." He took a drink from his tea. "His first attack had been nothing but simple. No Shadow Using generals had been sent, but the average soldier. I'd been able to take out the majority of them, but their boss was too much for me. Your sister had been the one to save everyone."

Her eyes widened. "If this happened soon after we left, then she was only-"

"Five. I know."

"So, how did-"

"That's a complicated question to answer." Takashi sighed, clasping his hands together. "To this day, we're still not sure why, but on that day Zoe didn't really draw out her shadow. It's was more like, an outburst. A soldier had ripped her away from Mariko-san, they seemed to have certain instructions because she was ordered for capture."

"To keep a threatening hold on Otousan and I."

He nodded. "She struggled, and screamed. All of a sudden there was this aura surrounding her, then an explosion. The entire army was killed, but Zoe was completely unharmed, however she did fall unconscious. The faded, smokey being that represented her shadow placed her in my arms, and disappeared. It took two years until we saw him again. I've always wondered why she'd been able to summon him at such a young age."

"A moment of desperation, possibly?" Zola offered, remembering her own experience in summoning Killer Bat. "Or she's just that powerful."

Takashi laughed. "She is, and that's what I've always thought." Zola leaned back, crossing her arms. The information was interesting, but she felt disgusted. Takashi looked at the woman across from him. "You don't plan to stay long, do you?"

Zola sighed, knowing the question was going to arise. "No. Once Kluke wakes up- If she wakes up- we'll be leaving."

He didn't comment on that, but he did say, "You should spend some time with her." Zola's eyes locked with his. "It'll be difficult at first, but I know she really missed you."

She nodded, and rose from her seat. "Thanks for telling me all this, Takashi."

"Anything for an old friend." He walked her to the door. "I'll see you around, right?"

Zola smiled. "You will."

When Zola returned home she realized how long she'd been gone. Shu, Jiro, and Marumaro had returned from their training. Bouquet and Mariko were preparing dinner.

Shu walked into the kitchen. He dropped into his chair with a sigh. "Kluke hasn't shown any signs of waking up." He wiped his face with his hand to regain his composure. There's nothing I can do. But Kluke's always been strong spirited, she'll pull through this. I know she will! He looked up and noticed Zola's arrival. "Hey, you never met us at the training area."

"I apologize, I got caught up."

"Oh, Zola," Bouquet started. "I kinda met your sister today."

Everything seemed to stop at Bouquet's words. Zola exhaled before replying with, "Really?"

"All we really did was introduce ourselves, I think she was in a rush." She really believed that the girl simply didn't want to be around her. "But she looks so different from you, Zola."

Mariko nodded. "Zoe took more after her father. If she'd been a boy, she'd be a carbon copy of him."

"And that's the last thing I need." A voice commented. Everyone's eyes went to the threshold of the kitchen. A girl stood leaning against it, her eyes cold. They scanned the faces of all the unfamiliar people in the room, before finally landing on Zola's.

To be continued...