~ Episode Twenty-Eight ~
On Windborne Feathers:
Grandar, the Monster of Flight
“Can I talk to you?” Shinji asked.
Eri squinted up at him from where she sat against the school’s utility garage, directly across the airlock where he’d come from. She’d been half-paying attention to a sixth-grade soccer game when Shinji accidently startled her. “Don’t you do recycling at lunch recess?”
“Yeah. I—Oof!” he grunted, sitting down with an awkward plunk. “I was. Saw you out here through Mr. Hughes’ window. Your father called me last night.”
“…I know.” Eri squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry my dad went after you. I’m really embarrassed.”
Shinji frowned. “Please, don’t be…”
“Well, I am,” she countered. “No matter what I do, it feels like I keep messing everything up for people. Macks and me worked really hard on that history project and we ended up getting a bad mark anyway! Everyone got hurt fighting Zorfus because of me. Isa probably hates my guts, even though I just wanna be nice to her. I’m grounded because my stupid brother caught me sneaking around during Monster stuff. And like, just two seconds ago, I hurt Macks’ feelings – and I—I don’t even know what I did to…”
Eri trailed off, face buried in her hands. Her shoulders began to tremble.
“Seruma…” Shinji’s heart broke for Eri. He reached to gently squeeze her shoulder. “Hey…”
But Eri flinched from him. “No, don’t.”
“Wh—” He froze, alarmed by her reaction.
“Please, don’t touch me there,” she whispered.
Shinji blinked at her cowering, his jaw hanging with confusion. And then in that moment, the cold truth settled in the pit of his stomach where all other calloused, rotten, things resided.
She was afraid of him.
“Do your parents know that you’ve been sneaking into girls’ bedrooms at night?!”
Shinji was the reason Eri was grounded. And now she was afraid of him.
This, like all other revelations, was nothing new. This was rejection. This was honesty. This was but a fresh reminder for Shinji, and he knew it right away. All of his failures and shame. All his of dishonor. Both, to the Izuma-Reinholdt name and to Eri’s integrity.
He was no leader.
He was an embarrassment.
To his parents. To his grandfather. To the boy he was falling love with, the best friend who’d stood by him since the beginning, who hated him now.
To the girl he’d sworn an ancient family oath to protect. The girl he loved for as long as he could remember. The girl who owned his life.
The girl who was afraid of him now.
You’re the monster. You are.
“I did this,” Shinji murmured, rising to a stand. “I caused this to happen. This is all my fault.”
Eri blinked, looked up at him from between her hands. “What? Shinji, no—”
“—Hey, what’s that?” The nearby sixth-graders playing soccer stopped their game with eyes raised to observe a wave of shadow that suddenly overcast the schoolyard in large patches.
The darkened sky nabbed Shinji’s attention, too. But what at first appeared to be clouds revealed themselves as mourning doves, crows, cardinals, grouse, gold finches—seemingly every species of bird in the vicinity. Some landed among the sod, daring to peck and waddle furiously after anyone who dared near.
Within the eye of the feathered storm hovered a winged creature, a cross between an eagle and an angelic monstrosity. It looped above the school, a vulture awaiting its chance to scavenge.
“We need to get inside. Now.” Shinji tore free the Earth Pendant from around his throat.
“Is—is that a Monster? What’s it doing here?!” Eri climbed to a stand beside him, massaging her forehead with a grimace. She froze with a sharp gasp. “Oh, no … The Child of Destiny—Isa!”
“Hey—you guys!!” Evan appeared with Mackenzie amidst the students and yard monitors alike who scattered in mass panic. The pair were running towards Shinji and Eri from the nearest school airlock. “You good?!”
The sight of Mackenzie made Eri’s heart hurt.
Shinji nodded to Evan, hesitating to meet his gaze. “Looks like we’re up against a Grandar. Get Seruma out of here. I’ll deal with this.”
“Me?” This startled Eri. “Why me? We have to find Isa!”
The sound of Isa’s name made Mackenzie flinch. But evidently she agreed with Eri’s confusion. “What are you talking about, ‘Get Eri outta here’?”
Evan frowned. “Shin, you’re not gonna try to fight that thing on your own, are you, man?”
“I’m right behind you,” Shinji assured him. “It’s imperative you find Keitel now. Go on, I got this.”
But Eri protested. “Shinji—Why can’t we—”
“Don’t argue with me, just go!”
“Come on, girl.” Evan urged her. “Let’s make tracks.”
But Eri hesitated, eyes glistening worry at Shinji.
“Everything will be okay, Seruma,” he promised. “I’ll fix this mess.”
“…Mess?” Uncertainty flexed across Eri’s features. “What do you…?”
But Evan gently pulled her away, back towards the school. “C’mon. We gotta go!”
“I’ll be fine. Promise.” Shinji watched the trio leave, then turned to face what was obviously a feathered distraction for the Monster’s true purpose here at the school. He squinted up at Grandar as its aviary smog cast the sky into further darkness.
He brought the Earth Sword up in a readied stance.
“Come on, you bastard. I’m right here...”
~
As soon as they entered the school, Eri pulled away to throw a look into the yard. She froze with horror, face pressed against the airlock doors: the utility garage, the recycling bins—the entire playground—was barely visible now from the swell of birds that overtook the school.
“Shinji!!” she screamed.
Mackenzie pointed Evan’s attention out the airlock doors’ windows. “Evan, what the hell?! We can’t just leave him out there! That stupid baka’s gonna get pecked to death!”
“I—Shinji knows what he’s doing,” Evan assured her. But the worry in his tone indicated different. “Come on, we gotta—”
A group of students spilled into the airlock from within the school’s main floor, pushing through the Star Warriors get a good look outside.
“Are the birds still out there?”
“Oh my God, there’s so many!”
“Hey! Excuse me!” Mackenzie snapped when a couple of boys shoved past her and Eri. “Watch it, you crap-lords!”
Eri hunched against Mackenzie in an attempt to not get trampled by the kids who strained against them. A rush of fear overwhelmed her, mixing with the headache already in place.
“Eddi-chan?” Mackenzie touched her friend on the wrist. “Hon, are you okay?”
Eri burrowed tightly against her. All these people jammed in such a small place … Shinji, in danger … Hurting Mackenzie in the bathroom … Stupid Noah … “I can’t breathe. I can’t buh—oh, gosh, I need—”
“Evan, go help Shinji. This is a stupid plan of his!” Mackenzie wrapped Eri in a secure hug and shouldered through the crowd to gain access within the school. “I have to get Eddi-chan outta here. Something’s wrong!”
“Whoa, I’m not staying put if you guys aren’t!”
“Do what you want! I don’t care about that dumb Monster right now! Come on, baby girl…”
Inside the school’s main floor lobby, teachers were so over-burdened by the chaos that Mrs. Murphy was forced to scream out orders at everyone through a Phys. Ed. Megaphone from the safety of the main office.
Macks brought Eri over to the gym’s change rooms where no one else could see them. “Eri? Eddi-chan! Breath, hon, talk to me.”
“I’m sorry,” Eri said. She clung to Mack’s cardigan, shuddering through sobs of overwhelm. “I’m sorry about everything…”
“It’s okay now,” Mackenzie cooed to her. “You’re okay now…”
“Yo, what happened?” Evan inched closer to them, concerned and confused. he hesitated to pressed a gentle hand against Eri’s backside—but pushed through his shyness and did so anyway. When she didn’t flinch from him, Evan began to caress between her shoulder blades. “‘Ree, you okay, man?”
With a sniffle, she looked up at him and nodded.
“I’m sorry—I don’t know what that was,” she murmured, embarrassed. Wiping her eye on another sniffle, Eri then said a little stronger, “We have to go back for Shinji. I can’t leave him out there.”
Mackenzie snorted. “Good luck. I don’t think Mrs. Murphy’s gonna let that slide.”
The Star Warriors glanced at the frantic principal was still trying to attain a controlled atmosphere from the confines of the main office. Behind her, the school receptionist Mrs. Payton poked a frightened look out from her cubicle desk.
“I think I have an idea,” Eri admitted. I brought my Mon-Orbs—”
“You brought them?!” Evan clapped, overjoyed.
“I was gonna give ‘em to you guys anyway, because I’m grounded. Anyway, like I said, I have a plan. But we need to get to the roof, first, I think.”
“You wanna go on the roof?!” Mackenzie’s jaw hit the center of the Earth.
“It’s okay, I know you don’t like heights, so you don’t have to come with us on this one.” Eri gave her a big hug. “We’ll be right back, okay?”
“Eddi-chan…”
Eri’s embrace around her best friend tightened. “Hey, um—back in the bathroom before. I’m sorry I made you mad…”
“You didn’t make me—forget it, okay? It’s stupid. We don’t have to—”
“You weren’t—it—it’s not stupid. I really hurt your feelings over something, and I wanna talk about it later. Okay?”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Guys, can y’all yack about this junk later! Like, after we Seal the Monster?” said Evan. “Shinji kinda needs us right now??”
Sighing, Eri broke her hug with Mackenzie and nodded to Evan. She turned away with him and stepped away towards the crowd.
“Wait!” But Mackenzie grabbed her by the wrist. “Later might not happen.”
Mackenzie stared at Eri, stern-faced. She could feel her cheeks swelter at the mere thought of uttering what pounded in her heart. What needed to be said. “So, before you go—in case anything happens…”
Eri blinked at her. “Huh?”
“…I…” Mackenzie hesitated, drew a sharp breath. “Eri, I … I…”
“Macks…?”
“You guys!” Evan begged.
“…I—I love you,” Mackenzie told her. She froze, hearing the admission out loud, face-to-face, for the first time, though she had thought it—had felt it in her heart—every single day since the very moment their eyes met the first day of grade seven.
Mackenzie swallowed hard again, gazing up into Eri’s doe-like red eyes.
“I love you, Eddi-chan…”
A tender smile broke across Eri’s troubled features. She drew close, pulling Mackenzie into another embrace. “Hey…”
Mackenzie buried her face into Eri’s chest and held her, trembling, taking in the intoxicating sweetness of her strawberry fragrance. Everything about her. Everything she adored and worried about her. She closed her eyes against the sting of tears. “…I love you, so much…”
“I love you too, Macks … I’m so lucky to have a best friend as great as you.” Eri pulled away, smiling down at her with pure adoration. Her apple-red irises glimmered like rubies in the night.
Mackenzie grunted, her wide-eyed expression statuesque. Her heart sank, and so too did her hands from Eri’s waist. She stepped back as thin tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Hey, it’ll be okay.” Eri wiped away her friend’s tears with the pad of her thumb. “Don’t worry, we’ll save Shinji and Seal the Monster.”
Mackenzie sniffled. An automatic tight-lipped smile formed. She nodded. “I know, Eddi-chan. I know you will. You’re Eri, the Monster Sealer, after all. The best Monster Sealer.”
“Heh. Thanks.” Eri put on her bravest smile, tugging free the Fire Pendant from inside her shirt collar. When the coast was clear, she and Evan made a break for it. “Be right back! Love you!”
“…Be, um … safe…” Mackenzie watched them both jog past the ruckus of the school’s lobby, over to the second floor stairwell beside the main office. She wiped away tears, embarrassed and angry with herself.
~
Eri barreled through the threshold that opened up to the school’s second floor. She raced past the library and into the hallway where the grades four-through-eight homerooms were—stopping only to retrieve her Game Boy fanny pack from her bag outside of 208-B.
Evan eventually caught up to her, panting for dear life. “So—what’s this—plan?”
“That Guardian Beast you Sealed—Shinji taught you the incantation to release Monsters, right?” Eri clicked the pouch into place around her narrow hips. “If Eldrom can fly like Shiara can, maybe we can lure Grandar half way. Get up high enough to Seal it somehow.”
“That’s a good idea.” Evan wiped his brow on the back of a sleeve. “I’unno what Shin’s thinking. He does this, you know? Puts on a big ol’ brave act, like he’s gotta save the world all by himself. Thinking that way’s gonna get himself killed.”
“You’re right.” Graveness befell Eri. “And I’m not gonna let that happen.”
They found a roof access further up the hall by the bathrooms, beside Mrs. Dupont’s grade four classroom. The door was locked.
“What are we gonna do now?” Evan wailed.
“I got this.” Eri snapped the chain of her Fire Pendant from around her neck. “Element Fire--R E L E A S E ! !”
A sudden gust of air formed around her as the Fire Pendant glowed to life. The gold chain vanished, leaving only the flame-shaped pendant spinning in Eri’s grasp. It emitted an invisible force that pushed away her hands, allowing the pendant to remain on the air, weightless.
The warm gusts air that consumed Eri erupted into fiery winds that did not burn her skin or sear her clothes. A long grey rod, tipped with a golden spike, stretched into existence out one side of the Pendant. An orange dual-faced hammerhead took form on the opposite end. With it came another, longer, golden spike that surfaced from between the hammerhead’s bell-shaped curves.
“Here goes—!!” Eri swung the Fire Hammer hard into the access door. The impact left a perfectly rounded dent that caused her to grimace at the sight. “I really hope this fixes itself when the Monster is Sealed…”
With a few more strikes, the door broke off its hinges and fell forward into the darkened room. Eri and Evan now faced a ladder bolted to the far wall that led straight up.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
“Hold up a sec.” Evan stopped her with a heaviness that gleamed behind his glasses frames. “ ‘Ree—before we go back out there. Girl, there’s something you gotta know.”
Eri shook her head. “Can—can it wait until—”
“No. It can’t,” Evan cut her off. “It’s about the Child of Destiny.”
Eri blinked. “Wha—? What about her—”
“Listen. Real talk here.” He paused with lips tight between his teeth, struggling to find the right words. “The, uh—the Child of Destiny—Girlie, the truth is that—”
“Red-eye, what the hell are you doing?”
Eri froze. Slowly, the Fire Hammer lowered in her arms so its spike touched the linoleum. She turned at the hip to find Isa peering out at her and the Fire Hammer from the safety of the girls’ washroom.
Eri went beet-red. “Uh—Isa! Hi!”
“Um, hi. What’s with the sledge hammer, kid?” Isa nudged back one of her walkman headphones, releasing the faint noise of punk rock out into the hallway. “Getting called a vampire all the time finally push you over the edge?”
Evan jumped in. “Isabella! Good that you’re here! Listen, we have to get to the roof to stop all those birds. Shinji’s trapped with them right now!”
“It’s true!” squeaked Eri. “It’s good we ran into you, because—”
“Huh?” Isa let a wary expression linger at the both of them, then edged the rest of the way out into the hall over to a nearby window that saw out the side of the school. “What birds? The hell are you nerds talking ab—”
Isa pushed her headphones totally away from her ears, now fully immersed in the distant screams for help, the shrieks of terror and confusion, all emitted by those still trapped outside the school. Birds were everywhere. The sky was almost black, they were everywhere. And tearing into everything. Everyone.
Her headphones clattered to the floor.
“…What the hell…?”
Up the hall, Mackenzie stumbled into view from the first floor stairwell.
“You g-u-u-u-u-u-ys!!” She huffed and wheezed towards Eri and Evan, Air Staff in tow. “Wait—oof—wait up!!—Oh, God, I gotta stop smoking—urghh—”
“Macks!!” Eri cried out, relieved by the sight of her.
Evan gave Eri a double thumbs-up and jogged backwards down the hall to meet Mackenzie. “I’ll tell you about the Child of Destiny thing later. You go ahead, man. We’ll catch up. Take Isabella with you!”
“Right.” Eri turned to the new girl and said, “Come on, Isa—”
“What?” Isa blinked at her. “Why?”
“There’s no time to explain—”
“But there’s plenty of time to smash down doors? Where’d you get the hammer, anyway? That thing’s gotta weight a ton.”
“I—can you—just—” Eri shook her head, flustered. “Please, just listen! You gotta come with me. I can protect you! There’s a Monster that wants to kidnap you and bring you back to its world so your dad can—”
“My dad?” Isa stared at her. And then burst out laughing. "Kid, what the hell are you talking about?"
“I’m being serious…” Eri’s shoulders wilted. “…You’re the Child of Destiny…”
“Child of what? Red-eye, what does that even mean?” Whatever horror had been on Isa's face had been quickly covered up by an unreadable aloofness. She pushed off the windowsill and stooped to grab her headphones. "I'm not going anywhere."
"But Isa--!"
"Whatever drugs you're on, leave me out of it." Isa shouldered past Eri, giving the Fire Hammer a snort of indignation in passing, and headed down the hall towards their classroom. She didn't notice the glare Mackenzie shot her in passing with Evan. “Good luck bashing birds, or whatever.”
Eri sighed.
“Eddi-chan, forget her!” Mackenzie snapped. “That orokana na gaijin is safer here inside the school than anywhere else right now!”
“ ‘Kenzie’s right, man,” Evan said. “Anyway, don’t worry about us! We’re right behind you!”
“O—okay.” Eri nodded at them.
With a shake of her head, she pushed away all thoughts of Isa and vanished up the ladder with the greater issue of Shinji's wellbeing at the forefront of her priorities.
~
Mackenzie and Evan were slow to follow behind. To their surprise, when the pair appeared on the roof minutes later, all of the birds were gone and Eri was nowhere to be found.
"What the hell? ... Did she Seal it already?" Mackenzie blinked confusion at the clear sky overhead. Just then, a hollow bang in the distance led her across the roof until she had a clear view of the school’s utility garage where all the recycling bins and dumpsters were located. “Eddi-chan?!”
The lid of a nearby dumpster raised and collapsed to the side. Shinji hoisted into view with a massive intake of fresh air. He looked up at Mackenzie and frowned, folding his arms over the edge of the bin. “Well? Did you Seal it?”
Mackenzie shook her head. “Have you seen Eri? She came up here to help you!”
Shinji’s eyes hardened. “No. I was in here.”
“Damn it! Where’d she go?” Mackenzie threw a look back to Evan, who was stumbling over grates and ventilation tubes on his way towards her, when a whistle cut through the air.
Evan fell backwards with a yelp when something hit the roof with explosive impact. The cloud of debris wavered to reveal Eri’s Fire Hammer between both kids. Its rod pointed skyward, the hammerhead leaving a shattered web-like pattern embedded in the roof.
“Oh, hell!!” Evan shot to a stand, staring up into the clouds.
High above the school soared a winged monstrosity, fleeing from the scene. Eri was clutched in its talons—limp and unconscious.
“Eddi-chan!!” Mackenzie shrieked. She started to straddle the Air Staff when Evan grabbed her by the arm.
“‘Kenzie, what are you doing? Aren’t you’re afraid of heights? How do you know that thing can even fly?!”
“What else am I supposed to do?!” she demanded, pulling away from him. “That thing’s got my best friend!”
Shinji shouted, “If you’re gonna do something, hurry up and do it!” He flew past on Shiara’s back, in hot pursuit of Grandar.
The Monster of Flight realized Shinji’s presence at once. A string of winged torpedoes shot out from the trees between him and the fleeing Monster. But with a deep snarl, Shiara exhaled upon the birds, leaving ice sculptures to drop out of the air like bricks.
“It must be heading back to Grover’s Mill,” Shinji realized. “Seruma, I’m coming!!”
He charged off of the Guardian Beast, leaping across the open sky to tackle Grandar from behind in mid-flight. It made a sharp dip from the added weight and threw itself into a barrel roll. Shinji grabbed around the Monster’s neck for dear life.
Another onslaught of birds, this time a murder of crows, swooped up from the parking lot like shotgun spray at Shinji. A sudden Hurricane Roar sent them all scattering.
“Huh?!” Shinji found Eldrom galloping through the sky, behind them. Mackenzie glared ahead from the safety of the Monster’s air-kissed mane, with Evan clinging around her cardigan for dear life.
“Let go of my Eddi-chan, orokana kaibutsu!!”
Shinji grunted, surprised. “You guys are nuts, you know that?!”
“We’re nuts?!” Evan snapped. “What are you doing?! Who’s gonna be the standing ovation at my recital if you splatter all over the schoolyard?!”
“Izuma-san, just frigging Seal it, already! We’ll catch you!” Mackenzie cried. “The Monster’s getting weak from how heavy you are!”
She was right. Grandar was encumbered by the combined weight of both Shinji and Eri. It weaved with struggle to remain airborne.
Without a second’s hesitation, he shouted the incantation: “Grandar, Monster of Flight! By the oath of the Original Five, I command you! Surrender your power to me—now!!”
Grandar let out a final screeching caw before its grip around Eri slacked.
Evan made a desperate dive to catch her in outstretched arms. She stirred awake in his embrace, groaning.
“…Evan? …Wha…?”
He grinned at her. “Heh. Nice of you to, uh, drop in!”
Behind them, Mackenzie started to gag. “Ugh, gross. Leave the dad jokes at home!”
Above, strong gusts encapsulated both Grandar and Shinji. The Monster dissolved into wavering liquid strands, bringing forth the outline of a Mon-Orb. It filled with Grandar’s essence and solidified. Shinji caught the prize in his arms—then immediately realized what he had just done. “Oh, crap…”
“Shinji, no!!” Evan shrieked.
Shinji plummeted to the schoolyard and fell face-first into icy-warmth. He grunted, grasping gingerly at jagged fur, and lifted his head to realize what had just happened.
“…Shiara? Thank you…”
The Guardian Beast of Water growled in reply, carrying him between her shoulders.
Together with Eri, Mackenzie, and Evan on Eldrom’s back, Shinji soared on Shiara through a magenta sky amidst the smog of dazed birds now released from the Monster of Flight’s influence.
He caught sight of Isa Keitel, staring slack-jawed out the window of Class 208-B as the Star Warriors rode the elemental Guardian Beasts to the safety of the basketball court. She was leaned so far against the pane to take in the sight of them, that Shinji wondered if she’d break right through the glass.
For a moment, their gazes locked.
Isa’s irises were smoky gray, for sure. Shinji saw them clear as day through her wide-eyed confusion.
Isa Keitel—The Warrior of Spirit.
The final Star Warrior was none other than the transfer student, after all.
Through the realization came Eri’s voice, a faint echo on the air: “Hey, Evan—remember when you thought all those tree branches looked like spaghetti?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah!” Evan laughed. “Spaghetti!!”
“Spaghetti!!” cried Eri with glee.
Shinji watched as Mackenzie disengaged from steering Eldrom to throw herself around them both. She nuzzled a rosy cheek against Eri’s hair, relieved. “Eddi-chan…”
“Macks…” Eri grasped for her hand. “I’m okay…”
A small smile crept across his lips.
Evan then waved for Shinji’s attention. “Wait ‘til we get back to class! Man, you should’a seen it, Mrs. Murphy was barking orders at people through a megaphone! It was nuts!”
Shinji pondered this. “You know, she’s probably worse off now, wondering what everyone’s suddenly all doing inside during recess! No one’s gonna remember a thing since we Sealed that Monster!”
The thought made him laugh. A sound that totally caught him off-guard.
Shinji had forgotten what his own laughter sounded like—what a real smile felt like. Evan nodded at him, encouraging.
All three felt so good.