Raimundo stood in the empty hall and stared at the mural that hid Dashi's secret room. The dragon was bothering him, he'd seen it before somewhere. And the things surrounding it, the people in red robes, the people in black ones, they were looking familiar as well. He was trying to decide if it was because everything was crazy or if it was him.
You may enter, Raimundo.
He flinched at the voice of Dashi, then hesitantly placed his hand on the dragon and watched the wall disperse again. He knelt in the middle of the candles and looked up at the Grand Master, puzzled at how he could smile.
"You have questions?" he asked.
"Yeah," Rai answered. "I wanna know why that dragon looks familiar. And I wanna know why it's important, and where we come in, and-"
"Slow down, Shoku Warrior. One question at a time. I can't be sure of everything, you know?"
Actually, he didn't know. Rai thought the whole point of being a Grand Master was to know everything and anything about...well everything.
"Okay," he started. "Then tell me why that dragon's bugging me. I've seen it before, I know I have."
"Hmmm," Dashi said. "That's an interesting thought. Well, you're right, you have seen it before. More often than your friends, actually."
"Great. Then tell me what it is."
"The answer is in meditation, young one."
Raimundo furrowed his brow.
"What?"
"I can not simply tell you who the dragon is," Dashi said with a shake of his head. "You must figure it out on your own. But I will tell you that much. Go to the vault room. Meditate on your questions. The answers will come to you sooner than you think."
He disappeared before Rai could say anymore. He scowled and stood, clenching his fists as he trekked down the hall.
Why can't a soul in this shrine just say things in English?! he thought angrily. I'd even settle for Portuguese at this point!
He stopped when he saw that he had come to the vault room by accident; he really needed to work on his attention skills when he was angry. Unable to think of much else, he sighed and knelt in his meditation form, fidgeting before settling and closing his eyes. He focused on the prophecy Dashi had spoke of. The first part was clear, as was the outcome, but he couldn't get a handle on the minor details. Usually that wouldn't bother Rai, but this time they seemed more important than the larger ones. The dragon for instance; it was the first sign, so maybe if he could prevent it the prophecy wouldn't come true. He had a feeling the mural was more of a hint than everyone thought. The big lizard up there was bugging him as well, it's eyes glowing gold and its skin as blue as sapphires.
...Sapphire... Raimundo repeated to himself, staring at the cauldron that marked the hidden vault. A...Sapphire...dragon...
Rai bolted to the bells and chimed in the combination, slipping down the staircase in search of a drawer they kept tightly sealed. He was shocked to find that the Sapphire Dragon was gone, along with the Denshi Bunny and the Sphere of Yun.
"...Oh no," Rai gasped, sagging against the wall.
Something else had been nagging at him, and this was verification. A small speck had been painted behind the blue dragon; a speck with vine like arms and a wicked, disgusting grin.