松岡江の思い出 - Gou's Memorial of Childhood

Entries 5 - 8

Entry #5

2 Years Later from the last entry. (In total 3 years later)

Much time has passed between then and another event that I encountered. However, during those years, the boys were improving their swimming and began to specialize in certain swimming strokes. As for me, I was actually beginning to learn some basic magic. It's quite exciting to learn a few new tricks here and there.

Makoto does really well on the backstroke, Nagisa on the breaststroke, Rei on the butterfly (though he has later learned the rest of them thanks to onii-chan), Haruka on the freestyle, and Alexa and onii-chan learned all of them and mastered. However, onii-chan prefers the butterfly and freestyle especially the latter when he tries to train with Haru.

Sousuke seemed to also like the butterfly and freestyle. I wonder is it because they both want to compete against Haru and Alexa? Or even Rei?

However, they all are getting along quite well more or less so…it's not too problematic.

That is until I ran into him…that strange sorcerer guy while I was going through the meadows alone. I sometimes like to spend my time in peace outside the village. To my surprise he was actually a young-handsome looking man with long, silvery-white hair. His name: Theagenes.

"Your mind is filled with questions little girl. What does your heart desire?" he asked.

I told him that there was nothing I wanted to know but he reassured me that I was after something. I confessed to him about Alexa and the seventh night.

"I can tell you that it was a very dangerous night," he replied, "But that will require a price for you to sacrifice if you must know."

I had to come up with something quick if I wanted to know this truth. However, I saw something handing from the side of his cloak; it looked like a silver orb? It was glowing such an usual power and it was almost as if it was telling me to grab it.

Entry #6

I quickly snatched the orb from him and he reacted with anger and darkness but I told him to stop and to my surprise; he did.

I asked him a question about his magic and he said that it came from someone with greater power long ago. He also explained to me on how he became the 'Greatest Athlete' in the land of Olympia Magna. To my surprise, it matched the stories and legends I learned from my private lessons and reading the books. This man was not a fraud and his weakness was the orb; anyone who holds it can control him.

I finally asked him about the seventh night of the ritual. And he answered;

"A dark being from another realm has cursed Alexa with the Mark of Death."

I gasped at the answer and made him explain more:

"After placing the mark on Alexa, it will eventually kill him on the sunset of his 21st birthday."

"Is there any way to save him?"

"No."

Realizing how dark this was getting into, I struck a command to him, telling him to never return to this world and to never lay a finger on us or our friends in this world. As he teleported back, I threw the orb to him and I am sure he's not too happy that I violated the deal here.

But at least now things are starting to make some sense. However, I cannot repeat this information to anyone. At least not for a long while.

However, I realized I forgot one thing to ask him about Makoto and his relationship to Alexa. But the more I think about it, I realized it wasn't as necessary.

I must head off to the prayer tower and pray for their safety!

Entry #7

Watching them learning magic (after mastering their strokes) is amazing! They began their training around 14 years old (Alexa was 13) and I got to even participate a little.

Believe it or not, I do seem to possess some abilities though I am not sure what exactly but it's kinda nice to share something.

Anyway, we were taken to the Prayer Tower but we were finally allowed to enter in one of the most sacred rooms, the "Chamber of the Suiei Gods". This room is very sacred and holy to the royal families and to the Suiei Gods themselves. Prayers are given on the floor above (which is public area) and the energy is drawn from below thanks to the ancient power of the statues.

From what it appears from the statues, six phrases were written down in a strange language but after obtaining the translations, they are as it follows:

Suiei Tachibana – "I Swim"

Suiei Nanase – "Free"

Suiei Matsuoka – "For the Team"

Suiei Hazuki – "For my precious bonds"

Suiei Ryugazaki – "Together with every beauty"

Suiei Marotta – "Because it is our destiny"

On the altar of the chamber lies a mysterious, old-looking book filled with fascinating illustrations. Some of them even looked like Haru, Makoto and the others but it is not quite certain. A few other pages describes a group of legendary kings that were once rulers of the seas until a terrible disaster struck and destroyed the land.

I wonder how many mysteries are out there in this known universe? Hopefully one day we will answer them all!

Entry #8:

(Note: This entry and #9 take place 1 month after the Magic Six departed Aqua Duniya)

I'm writing this one done for sure because this day marks the 5th Anniversary of the Aqua Duniya Swimming Fes.

When the Magic Six finally mastered their swimming strokes, other competitors joined too and wanted to make a big feast and swimming together. With help from the kingdom, we created a week-long festival with the following days:

Day 1 – Welcoming Ceremony/Water Skiing Show/Water Magic Talent Show

Day 2 – Start of Opening Tours of the Palace and the Suiei Temple/Prayer Tower to the public (normally it is closed for the royal families only)

Day 3 – Swimming Competition Part 1: Team Dolphin vs Team Shark or other teams, etc.

· The Aqua Pool is a set of swimming pools used for competitions. However, it is also used for the public.

Day 4 – Swimming Competition Part 2: Individual Medleys, Stroke Competitions

Day 5 – Swimming Competition Part 3: Medley Relays (Division 4 or Division 6)

· 4 Means: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly, Freestyle

· 6 Means: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly, Butterfly, Freestyle, Freestyle

The Division 6 was created because the Magic Six kept begging to swim together and to not leave anyone out. So after establishing an agreement with the Official Rules, a new division of relays were born.

Day 6 – Open Swimming Day to Everyone in the "Aqua Pool".

Day 7 – Closing Ceremony, More Magical Shows, Fireworks, Photos, etc.

Of course everyday there are the food markets selling products at a lower price and donations being made to support the sea animal protection squads.

Sadly though they're not here to swim because they are already on their mission to another land. I do hope they can come back soon at least for the swimming days but I don't think that's going to be the case.