The once vibrant and energetic Arena was now occupied with some scattered students who hung back after the desolation of the Annual Globe. The silence over the school was shielded only by the students who murmured about what had happened. Just hours before, the crowd had been alive with laughter and cheers, the smell of sweet flowers and savoury delights had filled the air. Master Yonda paced around in panic, his eyes stared intensely through the windows that sandwiched the curtains. He walked away from his chair, leaving the argument to his guests. He wanted the Annual Globe, but he wanted the life of his daughter more.“We have to call it quits! We cannot go ahead with this, we have no idea what we are dealing with or how to identify it. How do we stop what we don’t know?” Doctor Haishi continued.“It matters very little now. I do not see a reason why we should continue this when we can go back to the normal date for the Annual Globe. It is fine if we agree to have been in haste fo
Master Yonda’s doors creaked open at his command. Oz’s chair screeched. He pulled his arms away from the table swiftly grabbing his staff. He bowed, taking the lead towards the exit. Others followed, albeit, no crying chairs. His chambers lost its voice to his head. Master Yonda reached the metallic jar seated to his left, pouring himself a cup. “Under fire, messengers will fly, the ashes of old in the vessel will come the seventh and on the second shall soar a new creature unless he who is chosen has been destroyed.” Splashed liquid of scattered wine soaked his floor, clearing his mind for a second. He banged the jar on the table, clanging of the spoons and plates echoed. “I am fine.” Master Yonda waved at the onrushing servant. “I said it is fine!” He barked at her. “Leave me.” He dismissed her. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “I have to make the right decision.” He sighed. *** “What were you thinking? Are you trying to ruin this plan for us? You could have talked i
“There are too many coincidences. Too many strangers. And, I can feel it. There is someone here who is carrying something evil.” Jiro looked away. “Why are you here? I cannot convince him.” “You can try,” Oz closed in on Jiro. “You have to try.” “If he doesn’t listen to you, he can’t listen to me. There is nothing I can do.”“He let you leave prison. You are still here. There is a reason I’m sure. No one lets a murderer of their man live.”Jiro’s eyes darkened. “I didn’t kill anyone!” “Then why did he leave you to live?” Oz stared into his eyes. Jiro’s lashes flapped, holding back the revelation hanging loosely in his eyes. “You are his son, aren’t you?” “No!” Jiro snapped. A smile played on Oz’s lips. “You know.” Oz scoffed. “You have always known. So why are you hiding it?” ***“What was that noise?” Daichi turned to face Tanya. “Did you hear that?” Tanya shook her head. “No, not really.” Her nonchalance got under Daichi’s skin. “What exactly is wrong with you?” Daichi voi
“The wizard came to ask me if I knew who the vessel was.”“What?”“Yeah. You need to be careful, Kakashi. There is a strong feeling among a lot of people here that could expose you. This is why I never wanted you to reveal it to everybody in the first place. They seem to believe the prophecy is at hand. I don’t know why or how, but the wizard was certain the demon was around.”“He does not know it’s me.” Kakashi voiced calmly. “He suspects Suke. He thinks Suke is the demon. He can’t read him so he thinks something is wrong with that.”“Suke, hm,” Jiro muttered.“What is it?” “What?”“Why did you mention his name again? You think he is suspicious?”“I know he is. Something is not right about him. I have something to tell you.” Jiro held Kakashi’s gaze, his face straight and void of emotion. Jiro’s gaze was fixated on Kakashi. Silence overtook the room, Jiro piecing the words together like a puzzle. “Okay, why are you not talking? What is it?” Kakashi asked, eager to get over whateve
“Uh, come on we have to go now.” Jiro paused behind him. Kakashi kept his eyes on Zoa, mute. “Come on, we have work to do.”“You have work to do,” Kakashi replied in a calm, low tone. His feet remained planted on the spot. What could have made her talk like that? Was she the one who told someone about the demon? “Stop this, let us go.” Jiro’s breath brushed the nape of Kakashi’s neck. A quick turn around left Kakashi’s eyes holding Jiro’s gaze. “You have to get them out for the preparation, not me.” Kakashi stomped out, leaving Jiro stranded.The hallways and the footpath through the Arena were scarce with scattered people hanging out. “Oh,” one of the students yelled out.“Are you okay?” Kakashi closed his eyes, clenching his fists. He didn’t see the table in his path. He got to his feet, picking up the fallen table and placing it in its position. Without acknowledging any of them, he fled. ***“Where is Kakashi?” “Why are you asking me that?” “Because you both are supposed to
“Okay, now what is going on?” Daichi said to Zoa, his head swirling in the riddle Tanya and Zoa presented him.“What do you mean?” “Tanya told me about one of her friends being in a situation where he is not in the best of states but for some reason, the reason is enough reason for him to die if anyone else knew.”“What?” Zoa’s face twitched. “I know!” Daichi added. “And here you are talking about Kakashi reducing this place to dust. Phew… I don’t know what is going on with both of you.”“When did she tell you this?” Daichi shot her a glance, a tint of amazement settled in his eyes. “Why? Does it have anything to do with Kakashi?” “What? No,” Zoa sighed. Her response was unconvincing, she tucked her hair behind her ears.Daichi peered at her, flipping through her face like pages hiding the map to a wanted treasure. “What?” Zoa probed. “What are you hiding?” “What do you mean? I am not hiding anything.” “You are hiding something.” Daichi’s gaze read through her. “No.” Zoa wrig
“You told me of your battle with Shinjuya. They are very powerful. I know because my brother and I grew up there. We… our parents were killed because they found a potato in our house. We were spared but made to work all day. We would get fed a potato each for our troubles for the day. There was one time my hand got sliced by a machine. When the master saw it, he beat me more. He said I damaged his machine. We endured this for years. We couldn’t live like that, not like that. The first opportunity we had to leave, we took it. We were caught on our way out, rats feasted on us that night. We were stripped of our clothes and left in the cold with rats. They did that to us, we were children. The next time we had an opportunity to leave, we couldn’t. We didn’t know who to trust or what to do. A raider came bearing gifts once, and he was asked to take anything he wanted, anything. We weren’t allowed to go easily, but he was hell-bent we were all he wanted. He took us to his home and groomed
Jiro dashed through the Arena, leaving an array of tables on their faces. Vases crashed in his wake. Petals vomited their seeds, and blood of different colors painted the ground. “Wait! Hold up!” Kakashi trailed far behind. Something must be wrong. He kept running even though he had no understanding of why. He can’t be this anxious if there wasn’t a problem. Jiro swung the doors open, leaving the walls with angry marks. “There is a problem!” His voice screamed above his breath. Kakashi’s feet screeched, fighting the ground to halt at great speed. Master Yonda stretched his neck out to see who arrived. “Uh, I’m with him.” Kakashi said, his voice a blend of nervousness and struggle to control. Jiro nodded in affirmation. Master Yonda drew back to face Jiro. “This better be worth my time.” His words were stifled under his clenched teeth. “Horses approach. A great army is on its way here. We need to act fast.” Jiro uttered.What? That was a summary of what was happening!“You don’t