Guardians of the Light [Chapter Seventeen] The Truth Revealed
CHAPTER XVII - The Truth Revealed
“What now?” Ryutaro whispered to Yuto.
“It’s him. We now have a chance to defeat the Hollow.” Kota mentioned.
“Him? Who is he anyway? Is he a Guardian too?” Yuri asked.
“No, he's not a Guardian. He is the Light.”
“Oh… Right… He's the Light…” Yuri scratched his head.
The man looked at them and smiled. “Hello.”
Kota returned the gesture. “Welcome back, Ryosuke.”
“Kou-chan… It has been a long time. You look great, as usual.”
“You too. Ryosuke, they are the new Guardians.” He pointed to the four men who were too baffled to even smile.
Ryosuke’s face turned grim. He bowed his head and his breathing went uneven. Kota seemed to notice it and came closer.
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s just… I…” he was at lost for words that only tears forming in his eyes spoke.
“Ryo-chan… It was not your fault. You did your best. It was destined.” Kota patted his shoulders.
“Keito, I don’t really know what’s going on now.” Ryutaro turned to Keito after being ignored by Yuto who was rigid by the moment.
“But I saw them… I saw them… They hated me. They blamed me for dying. I was useless then Kota. And that will never change.”
“Have you forgotten how the Hollow can manipulate things? Ryosuke, there is a reason why you came back. That is to straighten things up. Look at them; they risked their lives coming here to protect the world. Now, you must be one with them again to fulfill that destiny.”
“But what if it’ll happen again?” he sounded like a small kid that Kota giggled a bit and tapped him once again.
“We learn from our mistakes. I know you have learned from the past. And I know you wouldn’t let it happen again.”
“WILL SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO US WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!” Yuri exploded. His face was so red that he looked like a ripe tomato.
Kota glanced at him and muttered a soft apology. He guided Ryosuke to the Guardians and introduced them.
“Yoroshiku,” Ryosuke said. The others bowed and said the same thing.
“Now, please tell us what is going on, before Yuri would have one of his temper tantrums again.” Keito mused.
Kota nodded and started. “This is Ryosuke Yamada. He is the bearer of Light in this world. He, like me, lived for quite some time now. We fought hand in hand during the last World War. You already know about the real event that time, right?”
They nodded.
“But I think you should know the right side of the story. Before, there were Guardians of the Light too. They were chosen by the gods, not the metaphysical One, to fight for peace during the war. They were Haruto, Kyusuke, Reika, and Shoji. Like what you do, they protect the innocent and fought evil. They were great warriors, to say the least. In the end, they have to fight the Hollow with Ryosuke. At Hiroshima-”
He looked back at Ryosuke waiting for a signal to continue. The latter nodded hesitantly. Kota proceeded.
“At Hiroshima, one of the fiercest clashes in history took place. The Guardians caught up with the Hollow and tried to finish his evilness right there. However, due to some unfortunate event, the Hollow overpowered them.”
“They died.” Keito inserted.
“Yes. But their death was not in vain. Their Elemental Powers, the one you possess now, gathered and made its final assault on the Hollow. It was not killed, but the attack did an enormous amount of damage to the Hollow. However, the attack was too powerful that it incinerated one whole city, taking thousands of lives of innocent people with it. That was supposedly the first bomb dropped at Hiroshima. Because of its damage, the Hollow needed to escape in order to regenerate. Nonetheless, Ryosuke was hot on his trail that it was impossible for the Hollow to fully mend itself. It made its last stand in Nagasaki. Even thought the Hollow was not on a hundred percent, without the Guardians, Ryosuke wasn't able to defeat him. Only one thing was reasonable enough; to trap the Hollow in a vessel. But strong as the Hollow is, he took Ryosuke with him in that banishment. With such power colliding with each other, Ryosuke’s life force and the Hollow’s darkness made an appalling déjà vu. Another city lay lifeless. It was Nagasaki. And so they were trapped, supposed to be in eternal slumber, inside Ryoko’s body.” Kota explained.
“But it seemed like the minions of the Hollow are back on track and are even using you to fulfill their own selfish desires.” Ryosuke added, his face was still dark.
“What? What do you mean?” Yuri spoke.
` “The Triad. Are they the Hollow’s minions?” Keito whispered.
“I'm afraid so, young man. They have tricked you. They have planned things well enough. There were reasons why I sent my companions to take you.” Kota answered.
“Wait, what companions? And who are you exactly? Can you explain things a little better?” Yuri complained.
Kota remained calm and smiled. He placed his index and middle fingers in front of his right eye and muttered “Shadow.” In a split second, six pillars of mists appeared beside Kota. One by one they materialized into people. Some, they already knew who. The Guardians moved into their battle stances and were about to attack when Kota stopped them.
“Wait. I know you probably won’t believe this but all we wanted to do is to protect the Guardians until the right time comes.”
“Then why do they keep attacking us?!” Yuri said through gritted teeth.
“They did that to help you.”
“Help? How could almost killing us each day help us?”
“At first, they were the one who helped you awaken your true selves, your powers. The unfortunate thing was that the Triad took you away faster than we could have imagined. And in the past days, they have helped you develop your powers. And don’t you wonder why you are still here? Alive? We kept our eyes on you and help you too on the way. But I have to apologize for Daiki’s behavior. He could just be a nuisance most of the time.”
The said person protested but the lady next to him kicked him in the shin which made him whimper in pain.
“Do you think we could trust you after all that happened?” Ryutaro spoke.
“Yes. You can ask Ryosuke.”
“And how can we be sure that he is on our side too?” Yuri said.
“Good point. Well, if I were a part of the Hollow, which I am not, I would’ve been dead when you used your powers on me. But I'm still alive, which means that your powers and mine are intertwined. And now that we are together once more, you can use your powers in their full potential, like using your Elemental Mist powers. It makes you travel from one place to another, just like what they do.” Ryosuke explained. “Go on, try it.”
In a matter of seconds, the four men were covered in red, blue, green, and white mists and were soon bouncing off the walls of the room. They reappeared as humans when they touched the ground.
“Do you trust me now?”
“Selfish jerk.” The lady that kicked Daiki said.
“Guys?” Keito looked at them and gathered three nods. “Okay.”
“Wait, were you the voice that kept ringing in my head and giving us instructions?” Keito mentioned to Kota.
“Yes.”
“That means I was not crazy Yuri.”
“What a relief.” Yuri mocked.
“And I think with that we can trust you.”
Kota smiled.
“Let me introduce them first.” Kota was then in control of the talking. “As you may already know, I am Yabu Kota; leader of the Shadows. The person on my left is Arioka Daiki. He’s the group’s weapons master. He can wield any type of weapon, sword, bow, or spear. Name it, he knows how to use it. And most of all he's an ass.” He said before he chuckled.
“Next to Daiki is Ace Lockhart. Well, she doesn’t speak much. We basically call her the Physicist of the group. Don’t ask why. She’s strong, almost as intelligent as Hika-chan, and stubborn. Don’t get under her skin. She’s scary when angry.”
“I heard that stick boy.” The girl said. She was just a few inches shorter than Daiki. Her long black hair was glinting in the light of the torch fires. Her eyes were cat-like and her full lips were arched in a smirk as she stared at Ryosuke. She was in a black jacket, much like the others. In one way and another, she was beautiful.
“Did I already mention she’s sarcastic?” Kota added. “The one on the end is Yaotome Hikaru. He’s the strategist. He is the best in tactics and positioning in skirmishes.” A tall, brown-haired guy smiled at them. Aside from the fact that he was good-looking, there was a glint of foolishness behind his smile.
“On my right is Ninomiya Kazunari.”
“I know him. He almost killed me.” Keito spoke with resentment.
“Sorry about that kiddo. I'm just doing my job.” Nino grinned.
“Okay. He is a Summoner. He can make wild animals appear and do his will. His favorite so far is his jaguar, Jugo.”
“I’ve met that one too.”
“Well I guess we could proceed to the next one. She’s April Strife. The group’s Healer. Maybe you and Yuto can talk sometime.” There was that weird tone on Kota’s voice that made the girl blush. Yuto as well blushed but was able to retaliate easily. April was russet-skinned, had black hair, a coy smile on her face, but would look away when she’d meet Yuto’s gaze.
“And last we have Takaki Yuya. He is the group’s Clone Maker. He can manipulate the cells in his body to multiply, thus he is able to make clones of himself.” Yuya bowed and stood back up. His semi-blonde hair was fixed well that one could only imagine the time it took him to fix it.
“We are the Shadows.”