Chap 5 Part of Memory
They were in front of the door which leaded to the Shrine but the problem was they didn't know how to open this door. It was an antique door with no doorknob or even silly high tech system. Yeah, of course how came those things could possibly exist at that time - 300 years ago. There were some ancient characters on the door which meant the key is in your soul. They all knew their Grandpa was an tricky old man but leaving a quest with a hint like this was a pain in the arse. They've been there for half an hour and still could not figure out the way to open it. How could their souls related to the way open the door. However, when they took a closer look at the door there were two imprinted of a hand on the hard surface which were hidden under the thick layer of dust. They looked at each other quizzically. Using their mind reading ability, they didn't need any words and placed their hands respectively on those signs. When they pressed it inside a little bit, the door started to move inward and slid up. There were a stair case which might lead to the Shrine. It was a pitch black down there. Yuuki pointed his finger downward the stair then light appeared along the way. He could only help his sister with that, he knew better than anyone that if he dared to set only one foot down the stair, he would have get into big trouble since his grandpa would put some restrain spell on it. That old man meant his every word when he said only Yumi could come to the Shrine.
"Go, Yumi. Find what you've lost. I'll wait in study room. " He pushed Yumi slightly to the stair and walked away without letting Yumi have any resistances. Ever since the door was opened, Yumi felt something that she could not explain herself. She didn't sure whether it was bad or good feeling at all. Thus she really wanted Yuki get inside with her but it seemed he could guess what she intended to ask so he pushed her and walked away. She could only look at his back and see his waving hand. "Get inside. And give him my greeting. Tell him how much I hate him. OK" He disappeared in the corner of the hall. Yumi sighed and gathered all her strength to face with whatever it was down there. She was sure that her grandpa would not harm her or Yuuki. They were his favorite grandchildren after all.
She was glad because of the light that Yuuki made for her. The final stair lead her into the big empty room. She looked around in few seconds, until her eyes locked on the beautiful image which was embossed on the stone door at the end of the room. That image was so familiar to Yumi. She went straight to the door and it was opened automatically as if someone had opened it from the other side. The room was full of beautiful paintings, swords, and many rare items from her grandpa's adventures. Finally, her eyes rested on the tomb in the middle of the room. She walked toward it and suddenly light split out from the tomb. Yumi's head hurt at the time the light hit her face. Again some of her lost memory flowed back to her.
-FLASHBACK-
In the small beautiful garden, the little long black haired girl rested her head on the lap of another little brown haired girl, it was her, Yumi. She caressed the cheek of sleeping beauty form on her lap and smiled to herself.
"Well, well, I couldn't expect it. Our little Bradford gives her precious genuine smile to another race." A tall blonde woman said in amusing tone. "Shhhh...Seiya, don't wake her up.", little Yumi whispered in order to not wake up the other being. She used her power to lift that girl up and kept her floating in the air so she could have a little talk with the older girl. She dragged the other girl far enough so she could still look after her sleeping beauty. "Why are you here Seiya? Why don't you take your Scythe back." Little Yumi tensed at the sight of her friend weapon. "Oh my. I just have a practice with Miki sama. Don't worry, I won't hurt your little friend. She's so cute to be hurt by this." She winked at Yumi that cause the little girl blushed.
-END FLASHBACK-
The other flash back came to Yumi.
-FLASHBACK-
The noise of screaming was all over the night. They lighted up the sky with flaming torches. They threw rock to a little girl form who slumped to her knee. They yelled at her angrily but somehow there was frighten because of her crimson eyes. At that point they started to throw garlic, rocks, even Buddhist chains. They yelled, "Kill it...kill that disgusting monster..." The little girl was so weak, she had no choice but let those foolish human hurt her.
"STOP" The little girl with black hair stood in front of her to protect her. She didn't know that girl but she felt secure under that girl's shadow. The villagers knew who that girl was and they didn't dare to
-END FLASHBACK-
And another flashback. In this flashback, she was not a little girl anymore, she looked exactly the same who she was at this time.
-FLASHBACK-
Yumi was in the middle of the air since she felt from the peak of the mountain. She closed her eyes to prepare for a harsh landing. She wasn't really worried because she knew she would drop into the river which was under the mountain. Perhaps a couple of bones would be broken but they could be heal in no time with her power. "Catch you. Clumsy girl" A beautiful raven haired girl hold Yumi in bridal style and fly to the river bank. Her white wings spread out so strong and beautiful.
"You've grown prettier every day, Sachiko." Yumi murmured so the other girl would not able to hear her and she blushed at the thought how hard to resist touching that smooth skin and beautiful lip of her friend. "Yumi, next time if you want to go around. Let me know." She said when she lifted Yumi's chin so their eyes could reach each other. Yumi blushed again. She was drown in the pool of pretty sapphire eyes.
-END FLASHBACK-
Yumi wanted to know what happened next but this piece of memory stopped at that point and another one came up. This one was so painful that she even didn't want to remember.
-FLASHBACK-
"Look at this, little Bradford." The young man with short blonde hair which hide half of his face spoke in low dangerous tone. That man was Rael Kertia, second son of Lord Kertia. He walked toward a beautiful girl that Yumi loved so much to finish her life. That girl was covered in blood, her wings was nearly ripped off from her back. "Look. I'll suck every power of this being. So you won't forget how strong Noblesse are. We don't need this kind of race help us." He moved his head close to the girl's neck and his fang grew out. Yumi cried out, "STOP". She tried to use her mind control to freeze him. She was so tired after fighting with him, he was stronger than her. He had already receive part of soul weapon. "Damn you Kertia. You didn't respect the rule of Noblesse. You're not even the clan leader how dare you have the right to control soul weapon." She shouted and used her mind power to force him back few foot away. She ran toward her love to check on her. Yumi was so angry that she withdrew the sword that her grandpa gave her at her 16th birthday. He told her not to use the sword unless she was forced to and this was that situation. "You're so dead, Rael. How dare you hurt her. I won't hold back anymore" After Yumi declared, they had a fight until Rael was cut at his shoulder. No one has ever had a chance to hurt him during the fight except his brother. His eyes widen at the state of Yumi. Her eyes changed completely into dark red color and she touched the blood on her sword. She smirked and looked straight at his eyes. He knew that there was a legend among Noblesse. Bradford was one branch of the Lord family and they inherited the special power which was called blood control or blood field. However, only few Bradford could have it and this little brat of Bradford had it. He was sure base on the state of her eyes and the act toward his blood. "No. how can a little brat have this ability!" He thought so he attack her again before she could use that so call Blood field. However before he could get near her, he had heard the little girl whisper, "DIE". The next thing Rael could see was the wave of blood around him. He was covered in the ball of blood and it took out all the air around him. He couldn't breathe anymore.
-END FLASHBACK-
The light disappeared and her memory stopped coming to her. She was kind of furious because her memory didn't fully come back. Even the last piece of memory didn't complete either. However her eyes shot open when she realized she was the cause of all the fight between Bradford and Kertia. She didn't feel guity at all, Rael Kertia deserved that. He dared to hurt the one she loved most. Finally Yumi knew why her heart felt missing something at the day she woke up. She almost forgot that beautiful girl who had stole her heart many years ago. She smiled mischievously and murmured, "Sachiko, how could I forget my pure crow princess"
The sound of clearing throat made Yumi snap out of her though, she turned around and saw her Grandpa was sitting on the top of the tomb. "Come here, my child. Welcome back." Tear was shed on her face already, god knew how much she missed this gentle and calm voice. She came near the old man, or more precise it was just his last piece of soul power. It seemed Yumi let her thought on her face again so the old Bradford gave her an acknowledge smile then said, "Even I'm just a piece of his power but I'm still your grandpa, Yumi ...Oh come on. Give me a hug. I can still do that, can I?" Yumi ran to his embrace before he finished and she cried in his hands. After the awhile Yumi could gathered all herself and waited for her grandpa's talk because she could still be here without reasons. William Bradford' will power prepared to convey the last message of the last clan leader of Bradford.
"Yumi, as you see... well... how can I say? I assumed that Yuuki told you about how you got here and letters from Julian and Miki. There were two letters. One explained the situation and one is for you and Yuuki. When I knew it was time for me, I entrusted the letter to my best friend, Albert Landegre. Your parents asked me to keep everything from Yuuki until you wake up. Thus both of you can get it from Albert and read the letter together." The man sighed a bit and continued. "I agreed to keep part of your memory here. Yumi, those are your memory. Even though they aren't complete but I think there are reasons behind so find it yourself. I can only help you with this..." The light appeared from nowhere and the sword was in front of Yumi. She gasped, "My sword" However, it looked different. Her eyes widened when she looked at the join between the blade and handle. She looked at her grandpa and asked in nervous tone, "Where's the Heart of Ocean?" He laughed at his grandchild's reaction. He tried to use tern voice which made Yumi thought he was angry because of losing the gem. "Yumi, I'm not mad about missing the gem. I just wanna tell you how important it is. Without it, this sword lost its half power and if you use it in this condition, sooner or later it'll become a normal piece of steal. So find it - sighed - even though it's not that simple. Ne Yumi, I never tell you the story about the stone, right?"
It was a long speech about the history of the sword and some family secrets. Yumi was walking out of the Shrine. She knew that was the last time she saw her Grandpa, but he said everything would be fine to her and Yuuki. She had a very bad headache after consuming those information. She had to thanks for her parents who knew too well that she would be in pain if she got all her memory back at once. Thinking again about the story of the Heart of Ocean while she was walking toward study room to find Yuuki and telling everything so they could come up with the upcoming plan.
-FLASHBACK-
"There was a legend among Noblesse. Thousands years ago, when human was just a small group, they worshiped us as there god. We never cared about being a god or not, we just wanted to live in peace and help those weakling within our power. However the thirst of power ran them crazy, some of them begged for our power. Thus, there were some bad Noblesse use those human as their toy so they turned them and it went worse. That was the time the council was found to set all the rules for Noblesse. We hid ourselves from human and just made sure those who were turned won't cause any troubles. We maintain the balance between human and us, supernatural being- proud tone could be recognized - Ok, straight to the story now, are we. The very first member of Bradford was Marduk Bradford. It was said that he was the strongest Noblesse and the kindest too. However, he became insane and killed most of people he met. Hence story about demon king killed all knights who tried to rescue a princess spread out the world. At least that was what they believed. The truth is Marduk just tried to protect his lover from those filthy knight who wanted her power. That girl was the purist being in this whole world. They met at the council and you could say they fell in love at the first sight. She was Amemia, the eastern goddess who somehow related to our Lord. He vowed to protect her with his life. Even the Lord had approved their marriage. However when the infected human knew about having her blood could help them fully become one of us. They broke the treatment between human and Noblesse and attack our castle. That's why Marduk killed them all, but he used too much power so he couldn't control himself anymore. -hissing- Just like you when you protected Yuuki years ago. Fortunately, your power wasn't as strong as Marduk so we still could handle you easily. However, in the case of Marduk, it needed all clan leader of Noblesse including the Lord to calm him down. Of course there was a big help from Amemia. The Council decided to twist the story a bit so human wouldn't pursue the story anymore. -paused a bit and continued with gentle voice- After that incident, Marduk sealed most of his power into a beautiful gem stone which was called the Heart of Ocean. The stone was Amemia family treasure. He put the stone in his sword to remind him of his wife. Thus he could restrain his power, whenever he was in the fight. "
Yumi screamed in her mind because of this story. It was so overwhelming. That's her ancestor story, what was it related to her anyway. She just wanted to be a normal girl or maybe normal Noblesse who could pursue her own happiness without involve into those trouble of power. William smiled at his grandchild, he knew this was harsh for her. She may have hundred years of lives but she was still an innocent child who knew nothing about life. He sighed but this was his duty to tell her the story of family and it may help her some days.
"As you see, the sword was obtained the power of Marduk and Amelia so not all Bradford could control its power. When they entered their eternal sleep, they gave child their power and the sword. But since then none of us could use the sword. Except you, Yumi. You're the one who changed the color of the stone. Moreover you could use blood field, the technique that only the Lord's bloodline could have it. I'm sure that you inherited from Amemia, your great great great grandmother. But now the problem is the stone was somewhere else, not in the sword. You must find it. It was not only the sword's power source but also a family inheritance. It reminds the sacred story of Bradford."
"Grandpa, is it all? Do I have to know anything else? I'm lost now. Why don't you give the sword to Yuuki. He's Bradford too."
"Ara, that's good idea. But nope. The sword didn't choose him, it chose you instead. You know, Yuuki was the first one who touch the sword, but nothing happened at all. Only you could awake the sword so you're its owner. It's hard to explain everything. But when time comes, you'll know my child. -sighed- Beside from the sword our family have another weapon which will be passed down to the clan leader. Noblesse still has great power without soul weapon but it's more like the sign of leader of family. Hence I wanted to give it to your father but he declined. He wanted to spend more time with his family than family business -laugh angrily - Do you know how much I hated your mom at the first time I saw her. I always know my son love travel and adventure but I've never expected that he brought home a bride which was your mom. Even though she's a good girl, not only mention that beautiful one. -chuckling- Miki is also a goddess herself. Right.-his eyes sparkled-Perhaps, that's explain why you can used the sword. -His voice became lower-Yumi, I'm quite sure that your parents still alive and have a happy life out there and they left this old man in this old boring castle."
"You have us here. I and Yuuki can visit you every day, we can talk or play around just like old day. But..." said Yumi. She was excited at the thought her grandpa could be with them like before but then she realized this was just part of his soul. He was here for telling her what she needed to know. Tear rolled down uncontrollable.
"Don't cry, dear. I'm still exist in your heart and Yuuki's too, right! My power still flows in both of you. Right. Power! -his voice sounded like he just remember very important thing- When I entered my sleep, I gave Yuuki my soul weapon so basically he's clan leader now. The soul weapon is different from each clan. To Bradford, it was a sword which looks exactly like yours. But it's less powerful but still powerful enough to against strong enemy like Kertia." Yumi felt more guilty when she heard about Kertia. Knowing that her grandpa reassured her again, " It's not your false to cause that fight between two families. It's Rael who dared to hurt my granddaughter precious person. He deserved it, he still alive anyway. But that's another story. You'll know soon in your parent's letter. By the way I think I have to preserve part of my power to see that girl. She looks lovely in those picture but I'd love see her in person. Bring her here when you're done with all of your troubles. OK." She nodded shyly and blushed at the thought of the beautiful girl again even though there were many gaps between these pieces of memory. "I will. So wait for me then" said excitedly.
"So that's a deal huh. Now, Yuuki already had my gift, it's your turn. I already put some of my power in the sword to keep it alive for awhile until you could find the stone back. You should leave now, go and find the truth. I'm done here. Give a hug to Yuuki for me. Until next time." The soul disappeared after that line. Yumi was sad but she knew she could see him sooner or later.
-END FLASHBACK-
She sighed all the way to Yuuki's place. Suddenly she stopped at the painting of her and the pretty girl in the hall way. A small smile forming on her lips, her eyes caressed every line of that girl face. She whispered, "Until next time, then" She felt like just a small image of that girl could change her mood totally. She walked quickly to find Yuuki.
Since Yuuki left his sister at the door, he was back in his study room. There were many document he had to sign in the day but he couldn't focus on anything. He paced around the room impatiently until Yumi rushed into the room and hugged him tightly. That was enough for him, he didn't care about the truth. Yumi told him softly while still hugging him, "Grandpa wanted me hug you for him." He gave a small smile and hugged his sister back.
Yumi told Yuuki everything that she heard in the Shrine. Yumi asked her brother to take her to Landegre's place to get the letter of their parents. It took him a bit of time to process all the information that he just got from Yumi. It was like a fairy tale for him, but he knew it was not. "Mah...Yumi, I have a headache already." said Yuuki and he pouted cutely to lighten the mood. "But, I don't think we can get the letter now. Albert ah.. I mean Landegre isn't here. He has some business in the city." Yumi surprised with the new term that she's just heard. "City?" Yuuki felt like he was hit in the head. He shouldn't forget that his sister was out of the world for 500 years. How she could know the world has changed rapidly since then.
"Ah...Yumi, the world has changed a lot in the last 500 years. We don't hide ourselves from human world anymore. We live among them. They don't know our existence..well except in the book. But of course we still should hide our identities. Or there will be war for our power again. Right" He winked at Yumi. "So I think. Until Landegre comes back, you should cover your knowledge gap in the last 500 year." This Yuuki gave a big grin to his sister, "and it's just a piece of cake to you." He pointed to his head and kept talking, "with our mind reading power, you can learn in no time. So what do you think?" Yumi frown a bit, "OK. I don't wanna get any new stories at this time. Both of us need time to chew these stories about our mysterious family anyway." Both of them burst out laughing at Yumi's last line. Yeah, they did have a mysterious family, but they loved it so much. They looked out of the window to enjoy the sunset scene. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Yuuki walked to the window and faced his back to Yumi, "Ne..Yumi.. believe me. I'll show you the world again and help you find what you've lost." Yumi looked at her brother lovingly and walked to his side and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Thanks, Yuuki."
Arg...That's it. Finally finish another chapter.
Enjoy ^^
Yeah it seems I build up this story more and more mysterious. But the answer will come soon. So read and wait patiently. hahahahhahahaha...
Update (22/11/2011): My right arm was broken and my left arm was broken 2 months ago so basically I'll work on this story slower. T_T Hope don't need anymore surguries this year