Guardians of the Light [Chapter Nine] The Weather Goddess
CHAPTER IX - The Weather Goddess
Day 2. December 7.
They arrived at Nagasaki station at around 12 midnight due to some trouble encountered by the train on the way. The first thing they did was to find a snack bar to eat. There weren't much people in the restaurant since it was night time. After eating, they decided to hit the sacks. Yuri - with his flashy credit card, took them to a hotel to spend the night.
“Good evening sir. How may I help you?” the pretty receptionist asked.
Yuri turned to them. “Shall we take separate rooms or one big room?”
“I think one room would be good.” Keito affirmed.
“Okay.” then Yuri turned back to the receptionist. “One luxury suite please.”
“Okay sir, name please.”
“Yuri Chinen.”
The receptionist stared in amazement at Yuri.
“Oh. There is one room near the rooftop sir, would you like that one? It oversees the city.”
“Perfect.” Yuri flashed a smile.
After the receptionist gave their room keys, they headed towards the room. It was large, to say the least. Complete with all the amenities that a five-star hotel could provide. There were two queen-size beds at the far corner of the room, each with table tops and lampshades. At the other end of the room was a mini-bar with a refrigerator filled with food. The shower room was complete with all the necessary toiletries. The window on the left side of the room was huge that a person could jump out of it.
Yuri slumped himself on the bed and closed his eyes. Ryutaro sat on the sofa that was on the southern portion of the room, while Keito and Yuto opened the fridge and took out some soda.
“Ryu-chan, you were so brave earlier.” Yuri said.
Ryutaro just murmured.
“Yeah, we saw what you did. That was pretty brave.” Keito added.
“And impulsive.” Yuto stated. “But really nice.”
“Thanks.” He smiled and leaned his head on the arm of the sofa.
“Are you sleepy?” Yuri asked.
“No, just tired.” Then he yawned.
“Idiot. Come here. Sleep. You deserve it.” Yuri demanded. There was that commanding edge on his voice that made Ryutaro stand and lie next to him.
“You look cute together.” Yuto giggled for the first time.
“Look who’s talking.” Ryutaro muttered.
Yuto blushed. Keito choked on his soda. There was silence.
“How do you think will we find the Hollow?” Yuri asked, sitting up on bed.
“I don’t know.” Keito said.
“The bigger question is how we will fight it off.” Yuto opened the windows and a gentle breeze swooped in.
Ryutaro shot up on bed and opened his eyes, sweat forming on his forehead.
“Ryu-chan? What’s wrong?” Yuri immediately asked.
“The winds, they’re agitated.”
The other three looked at each other.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s trouble out there.” He pointed towards the window, and sure enough lightning flashed across the sky.
“Maybe it’s just a thunderstorm.” Yuri shrugged.
“No. It’s something else. It may be the Hollow.”
“Okay, we better check it out.” Yuto finally decided.
Ryutaro suddenly jumped out of the window and floated. Yuri followed suit. Keito and Yuto were left staring at each other.
“What are you waiting for?” Yuri asked.
“Duh? We can’t fly.”
“Oh, right. Meet us downstairs. We’ll figure out the location of this - uh, agitation.” Yuri said.
Yuto and Keito hurriedly ran down the hotel. They were met by Ryutaro and Yuri, who both looked towards the horizon, where the thunderstorm boiled down.
“Where to?” Yuto asked.
“There,” Ryutaro pointed towards the horizon.
“Okay, so how do we get there?” Keito asked.
“We fly. You two run.” Yuri chuckled.
“Actually, we don’t have to go anywhere. It’s coming.” Ryutaro muttered.
They looked up to see a large accumulation of storm clouds moving towards the center of Nagasaki. It shot several lightning forks and waves of thunder. The wind grew even more violent.
“We have to stop it before it comes near. It may destroy Nagasaki. It - it may be the Hollow.” Ryutaro sounded off.
“Let’s go.”
The four of them ran towards an open field where they could intercept the storm. It was somehow abandoned; at least no one would get hurt if this would be the Hollow.
“Okay, now would be a good time to spill your plan Ryutaro!” Yuto shouted. The winds were even stronger as the cloud storm came closer. Their words were drowned out by the noise if they weren’t shouting.
Ryutaro took a deep breath and blew hard en route for the clouds. His breath made a vortex of wind, hitting the cloud, making a dent. The cloud stopped but then again reformed.
“Keito, try taking it down with a rock or something!” Yuto ordered.
Keito grabbed large clumps of rock and hurled it towards the cloud. It would hit the target but would just pass off.
“It won’t work. The clouds are made of water vapor. They’re not solid.” Yuri stated.
“Then that’s it!” Yuto exclaimed. He concentrated on the cloud and moved his hands like he was molding dough. With one sudden wave of his hands, the cloud broke apart.
“Nice work Yuto!” Keito yelled.
From where the clouds had been, a female human floated. She had a long, curly, dark hair. Her eyes were glowing white that matched her white skin. She wore a long, white toga-like gown that fitted her curves.
“How dare you!” she shouted in her high pitched voice. Along with that, thunder broke.
They all flinched. She may be beautiful, but she sure is deadly.
“A - Are you the Hollow?” Keito innocently asked.
She stared at him for quite a while before letting out a shrill laugh that shook the winds violently.
“Are you insulting me boy? That crap has been dead a long time ago. And with this beauty, how could you mistake me for the Hollow?”
Keito blushed and muttered a soft apology.
“If it may not be rude, may we know who you are?” Yuto asked.
“You’re the one who broke apart my cloud, right? It’s been a long time since someone has done that. Not since the - ” she gasped. “Could it be? Could you be it?”
“What it?” Yuri said.
“The Guardians of the Light.”
They nodded. With that, the winds stood still. Her feet slowly touched the ground, her eyes turning into a deep brown color. A smile marked her face.
“The Guardians. It’s been a long time.”
“Oh… and you are?” Keito asked, rubbing his neck.
“It’s been so long that you already have forgotten about me.” There was a tone of sadness in her voice. “I'm the weather goddess, Satomi.”
“Oh. Hi.” Yuri muttered.
She looked back at Ryutaro. To everybody’s shock, she hugged Ryutaro. The latter blushed.
“H - Hey!” he complained.
Keito and Yuto were silent when they saw Yuri biting his lips so hard that it bled. His hands were balled into fists that his bones almost bulged out.
Satomi glanced at Yuri. “What?”
“Yuri…” Keito and Yuto both moved towards him, but it was too late. Yuri burst into flames. Red hot tongues of flames swirled around his body. His eyes were dark, like charcoal dark.
“Move. Away.” He grumbled before shooting fireballs towards Satomi. The latter jumped away, dragging Ryutaro with her.
“Hey what’s your problem?!” she shouted. A fireball was once again launched. She waved her hands, letting a bolt of lightning strike downwards, hitting the fireball. She placed Ryutaro down and soared up high.
Yuri pursued her, shooting fireball after fireball while she agilely dodged it. Satomi twirled midair and sent a lightning bolt towards the fire-engulfed Yuri. He was able to dodge the attack but Satomi dived down, and trampled Yuri to the ground.
“Yuri, stop it!” Ryutaro shouted. Keito and Yuto were behind him.
Satomi brandished her hands once again. The winds suddenly went violent again. A tornado formed and was directed to Yuri. The latter was caught off-guard that he was caught in it. He twisted and turned inside the vortex. All of a sudden, the tornado died down. Satomi looked surprised. She turned her gaze at Ryutaro. He was in a fighting stance. It was him who stopped the tornado.
“Please, Satomi-san. Stop this.” Ryutaro pleaded.
“I didn’t start this Kyusuke. It was him.”
“Kyusuke?”
Satomi smiled at him.
“Hey! I'm not who you think I am! Stop! Wait!”
Satomi turned her back and to her surprise, Yuri was in front of her. He embraced Satomi and flared even more. The weather goddess wailed in pain as the fire in Yuri's body scorched her skin.
“Yuri, stop! Please!” Ryutaro was on his knees.
Keito moved, pressing his palms to the ground. Below Yuri, a mound of earth that looked like vines sprouted and enveloped him. Another wave of his hand and they were separated. Satomi lay limp on the ground. Yuto attended to her. Keito, on the other hand, pinned Yuri to the ground.
“What’s wrong with you?!” Keito shouted.
“Let me go! I’ll kill her!” Yuri struggled.
“Damn it Yuri! Don’t mess with her! She’s a goddess! Don’t you know what the consequences of your actions are?!”
“I don’t care!” he struggled even more, tears forming in his eyes.
“Shut it Yuri or else I’ll bury you alive.” Keito threatened. Fortunately, it was successful. Yuri stopped struggling.
“Are you okay?” Yuto tapped Satomi.
The goddess slowly opened her eyes. She flinched when she tried to move.
“Ouch.”
“Don’t move too much. You’ll hurt yourself.” Yuto was in a panic.
“I’ll be fine.” She closed her eyes and suddenly, it started to rain. As the drops of rainwater touched the scorched areas on her skin, it faded and healed.
“Wow.” Yuto muttered.
Satomi stood up and looked at Yuto. “Water is a source of life. You know that already.”
Yuto nodded and looked at Yuri.
“He’s jealous.” Satomi said.
“Yeah.”
Ryutaro was staring at Yuri.
“Kyusuke - Er?” Satomi started.
“Ryutaro.” He said.
“Ryutaro… I’m sorry I caused this.” She said.
“Yeah you should be!” Yuri shouted.
“Shut up child or I’ll kill you.” She seriously said.
“Hah! As if you can!”
“I’ll ignore that. As I was saying, I'm sorry. I just miss Kyusuke. He was a Guardian of the waters too, just like you. I thought I saw you in him. But he’s dead now. And since I'm immortal, I can never be with him. Sorry I caused all this trouble.”
“No. It’s YURI’s fault.” Ryutaro made sure Yuri heard it. “We thought you were the Hollow.”
“Yes, the Hollow. He’s not in Nagasaki. He has been moved. It seems like he has a minion. I have been guarding this place ever since. And after the war, I wasn’t able to feel his presence anymore. It’s like he vanished with the explosion.”
“Do you have any clue to where he is now?”
“I just have one hunch on that matter. He may be in Tokyo. That’s where I could sense a lot of pure evil. It may be there, I'm just not sure.”
“Thanks. We’ll put that into consideration.”
“Here, take this.” She removed the necklace she had. It was silver and its pendant was a blue orb that shimmered. When Ryutaro took it, the orb glowed.
“If ever you need my help, just whisper on the orb. I’ll be more than willing to help you defeat the Hollow. He owes me one.”
“Thanks.” Ryutaro smiled.
“Good luck Guardians. And Yuri-” she placed her lips near his ears. “Don’t hold him in the neck, he won’t like it.” She giggled and then vanished into a swirl of clouds.