• Chapter 5: And so, the rescue mission begins…

    I sigh. A shiver runs down my spine. I walk into the cursed windmill. What am I going to do? Leave her in there? No, that isn’t moi. Crimson Helm isn’t that hard to get to, of cores, I can teleport. I gulp. Where is that bag of bones Crimson Helm? I land on an arena floor, and wait. I feel a warm breath on the back of my neck. Then another. I pull out pillow talk, and turn around. There, looming over moi is the bull/dragon/samurai Crimson Helm. The monster I created. I lunge, and purposely attack its side. I slice ‘n’ dice until his armor gets knocked off. He roars, and tries to lunge. I blow. A strong wind begins to blow, blowing out the fire in the middle of the ribs of that poor bull. I slice. I slash, and then the armor goes back on. I look up, and there, unconscious, is Tamiko.

    “So young Waka, you thought I would be that easy to kill?” Crimson Helm asks, coming up behind me.

    “No, but just that easy to distract. Look! A pig!” I say, pointing behind him.

    “Where?” He asks, spinning around. Ah, I love it when dragons and bulls are put together in one, they combined smart with dumb. Together that makes extra stupid. I leap up and grab Tamiko, and she suddenly wakes up. I shake my head. I land, and hide. I see… no. It couldn’t be… It’s Amaterasu. Crimson Helm hid too, obviously not happy with my “little” joke. She stands there, obviously not caring about anything. Her Poncle stares at the Serpent Crystal, which I just noticed. After their fight, I have to get it.

    “Hey, maybe that weird berry thing is the item that half-beaked prophet was looking for! And we beat him to it!” the Poncle says. I don’t know his name…oh. Now I do. Its Issun.

    Then, the eight torches on pillars lit, and flew off the wood. They circled, and made Crimson Helm. They fought, and Amaterasu was winning, but not by much. The only reason why she was winning was

    a. I had helped her.
    b. She had orbs flying around her, from the Eight Canine Warriors.

    When she was about to kill him, that full-of-himself character Susano jumped and landed. Then, Crimson Helm backed away, the floor cracked and out came the eight heads of Orochi, only in lava. Susano lunged.

    “Good…will…never…fall…to…evil…like…you!” Susano says, slashing one head as he said the words. Of cores, I knew Amaterasu was helping him. Who else would? Not moi.

    “Wind!” he says. Amaterasu blew wind. He started to spin.

    “Yes, YES! More wind!” Susano says again. Amaterasu makes more wind.

    “Wait, one more!” Susano says. Once more, Amaterasu uses her new Galestorm technique. Susano is like a tornado, and slices Crimson Helm’s head in oh say, eight peaces. I watch as he stares at his sward.

    “Now I’m positive… someone is messing with me. Well stop! I don’t care about this ‘legend of Nagi’ or ‘Descendent of Nagi’ or ‘Orochi’ stuff anymore! I don’t care if your ‘Calestrial Plain’ falls; I just want you to leave me alone!” Susano shouts, running away. I step out, and grab the Serpent Crystal. Finally! I can kill Orochi once and for all!

    “Hey! We found it first!” Issun says. Amaterasu looks up at me. I look down.

    “Fancy meeting you here, little bug, ma chérie! Oh you mean this?” I ask, holding up the Serpent Crystal, “This is the item I was looking for. But you can’t use it.”

    “Well duh! You’re holding it!” Issun says.

    “What I mean is I am the only one who can use it to open Orochi’s lair. I must bid you adieu, what a shame, I don’t have any prophecies for you. Au revoir baby!” I say, leaping to the place I left Tamiko. I grab her by the wrist and pull her to her feet.

    “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done. I…” Tamiko starts.

    “Am a damsel in distress, I understand. Everyone is at times.” I finish for her. She glares at me with a smile on her face. It’s funny how non threatening you look when you have a smile, even though you are giving the most intimidating stare in the world. I lead her to Orochi’s cave. I stare inside. I pull Tamiko into a safe place, where Orochi won’t confuse her with the chosen maiden from Kamiki. I sigh. I turn around and stare inside again. You know what? I don’t care about the maiden from Kamiki. I should, but I don’t. All I want to do is get one step closer to killing Yami, or fallowing my set destiny and killing my dog. I swallow that feeling. I sense that Amaterasu is right behind me.

    “I am the only one who can use the Serpent Crystal to break the barrier blocking Orochi’s cave. Stand back ma chérie.” I say. I pull out my katana, and I slash twice. I flip, and stab it in the ground. I put my flute to my lips and begin to play. The Serpent Crystal flies out of my pocket, and then disappears into the barrier, breaking it.

    “You’ve done your part ma chérie. Now go back. I will handle Orochi by myself.” I say. The ground shakes, and then Orochi’s head of fire lunges out. I barely have time to jump out of the way. I turn back, and then I see Amaterasu run after Orochi, holding the chosen maiden. I walk over, and Amaterasu turns around.

    “What is this?! Another one of your tricks?! We’ve been set up again Ammy!” Issun said.

    “Does the saying ‘like a moth to a flame’ ring any bells? You went in on your own accord, no? I have a prophecy for you…” I say, “Look the moon, the moon, the moon came out! Heh, heh, sorry ma chérie, that wasn’t a very good one. Au revoir baby!” I leap off, heading to the place where Tamiko was hidden.
    “I know you love me, and I know that bad things happen whenever you kiss girls so… how ‘bout we place our forehead and nose together? It’s not kissing, but no one will know.” Tamiko says.

    “You’re brilliant.” I say with a straight face. She smiles. I grab her wrist, and she moves her hand back a little, so I am holding her hand. I roll my eyes. She smiles. I land in front of my father’s house. I sigh. I let go of Tamiko’s hand and walk in. My father looks up, and smiles.

    “Hello son. I am pleased to see you are alright.” He says.

    “Same to you. Say, do you know about what Amaterasu is doing?” I ask him.

    “Y- No. Who is Amaterasu?” He asks me. Has my son gone insane? I hear my father think.

    No, no he hasn’t. Amaterasu is a wolf with white fur, the one who visited earlier. I know she was here, now she is fighting Orochi, and I want you to keep an eye on her. I think to my father. He nods, shocked.

    “How are you able to do that?” he asks me.

    “My secret. Au revoir father.” I say. I turn, and leave. Tamiko grabs my hand and places her forehead to mine. I place my nose on hers, our foreheads still touching. I close my eyes. Well, it’s the most I can do. I look up at the sky and leap up, still holding Tamiko’s hand. I land in front of my house, and I let go of her hand. I pull myself together and walk inside. There are two Tao troopers, and the others are gone.

    “Where is everyone?” I ask.

    “They all left. As it turns out, most of us were traitors. There is now Tamiko, Yuuta, and I are the only non traitors.” Atsuo said. I blink. Rage fills my blood.

    “Why did they leave?” I ask.

    “Reo. She lured them into her trap. I looked in the well; there are all of their bodies.” Atsuo says, shaking his head. I sigh.

    “Well come on. Let’s go burry those bodies. I will tell the families that they are dead. I just don’t understand why that would happen to those people.” I say. I walk out, fallowed by Tamiko and Atsuo. I wonder where Yuuta is…he had a brother I think. Hajime might have been his brother. When we got down there, Yuuta was leaning over a dead body. Hajime’s dead body. He was crying, and I patted his back. He lets go of his older brother’s limp hand and hugs me.

    “Why him?” he asks.
    “I am not sure.” I say. I help lift one of the rookie’s bodies. We carry them out to the cemetery, and I dig graves for them. I make tombstones for them, and coffins. We place the bodies into the coffins, as I run around and tell the families the sad news.

    A funeral was held that day. I bowed my head, as the coffins were buried.

    “They were all such fine men, and I am sorry they died. They never deserved their fate, but alas, they came to a quick and undeserving end. Now their souls will rest in peace forever in the Calestrial Plain. I bid thee good will, and safe travels.” I say. I bow my head once more, and walk off. Guilt races through me. Those men would have never died if I hadn’t had created Reo…well, created Ninetails. I was the one who did this to them. I will never rest in piece while Yami was still alive. I will never get my piece. I will-

    “What’s wrong Waka?” Tamiko asks. I turn and look at her.

    “Nothing.” I say, “Come on. Let’s go back home. I want to show Yuuta something…” Yuuta lines up right beside me on the puddle and we go up. I jump off of the waterspout and land in front of my door. I open it, and walk inside.

    I walk down to my room, Yuuta fallowing. I close the door behind him, and take off my hat. I let my blond hair flop down. It is a little shorter than the hair on my hat, but it’s ok.

    “I grew up with the moon tribe. I betrayed them and chose the Calestrials. I know how much pain you are in right now. I was the one who created the dark lord Yami, the eight headed serpent Orochi, the fox witch Ninetails, also known as Reo, the virus Blight, the scary Spider Queen, the tough Crimson Helm, and the twin demons Lechku and Nechku. I was the one who set your brother’s fate. I am so sorry.” I say, putting my hat back on, “if I could go back in time and change the past, I would. It is a shame that I can’t. I will understand if you kill moi now, or leave.”

    “Why would I do that? You were a moon tribe, you aren’t now.” Yuuta says.

    “What you don’t understand is the red eyes mean I can switch back. I have a choice to make later on in the future. Either I kill Amaterasu, my dog who turned me to the side of the Calestrials, or I kill Yami. I…I saw a future where I kill Amaterasu.” I say, “So I might go back to being a moon tribe.” Yuuta stares at me. He smiles.

    “Capt. Waka, I will always stay on your side. No matter what you’ve done.” He says. I smile. Why does life take some unexpected turns? To keep it more exciting. I hate it when people are like that though. Yuuta is so predictable but now……who is he? Why is he staying with me?

    I know the answer. He knows about my future. He knows that I am going to be punished so he won’t punish me by leaving. What a trooper.