*ೃ༄
After everything is over, Ren thought he can finally rest and finish his final assignment which means he had to give the final event and also ending his service as Student Council President. Yifan parted ways as he and the other warrior monks with their Abbot departing back to Tibet, even Jiaheng told them that they'll meet again someday after the incident. But, turns out it wasn't over yet. Well... not because of another mission--but this fucking proposal as their final parting in Surabaya Cultural School and they also have to sign up for college as well. Kuran also returning to his own temple, but he'll keep an eye on the Floating Sanctuary and Restaurant that Ren has rebranded.
Ren finished his proposal for the End of Year as the four's final event and end of service of being a student council members with them, organizing the other clubs and events. The End of Year event will be different than the Festivals so Ren and his friends have different events and it will be fun, so did Andini who will supervise the girls. "Man, it'll be the end of our days in this office right?" Izumo asked, Ren who's wearing his black-lensed glasses typing away on his laptop before nodded. "Yeah, we won't be staying there anymore... even though I liked this office because we've been staying here when we got no class," he answered.
Ren never complained about his burden and workload, even with his chaotic schedules and he managed to fit in other activities. He only cursed if the workload are heavier than expected like now, before he leaned back and drinking his glass of water. Kaizo was helping Ren with his proposals because he knew Ren hates too much information written in the laptop, he already finished his homework with Farlan since they have the same subjects. Hakuren was fixing the papers, organizing the forms and stuff like that while she drank her tumbler filled with iced lemonade she made by herself. Izumo was auditing the finance on his laptop, he was chosen as a Treasurer because he's good at managing finances.
"Why don't we make a theatre? Everyone loves going to a play, because our school has a new stage equipment and props," Kaizo offered and Ren looked at him, before his mind clicked. "Touché!" he exclaimed with a grin, before he typed more ideas about the plays they had prepared--excluding the one that already used from last year. "The PYP and MYP classes wanted to participate in this, Konami also suggested live theater and BYTE (backyard theater ensemble), plus she also told us that they wanted to play either Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet..." Ren said, adding up the dates on the timetables on the proposals.
Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet are classic plays that's famous in all generations, why not? "Konami is experienced with theatre plays, not only the Shakespeare's plays but she also plays in Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera and Sherlock Holmes when she's in PYP and MYP classes--but not sure if she will participate again since she's in Diploma Programme like us," Ren informed, because his friend has a lot of experience in theatre while he enjoyed it too. "Hyde also loved these plays, why don't we ask him about the suggestions?" Ren added.
"Yeah, next up would be the other side events and music concerts, to conclude this academic year," Hakuren replied, she wrote the minutes about today's meeting on the paper while Ren smiled at her. "The sports club does tell us they wanted to perform, as well the mixed choir did too," she added.
The ENG-Track event is the student fundraiser where the students and teachers need to provide everything they like to offer, including the foods and drinks and other special things they can do that allows them to attract the visitors... Or other school's representatives. Ren provided so much choices that might work best for them, although there are a lot of things to do. Ren has the idea of having the end of year event different than the earlier ones, so Hakuren listed all their ideas and their offers too as a tradition but their version will be a special event.
"The opening is like usual, waving flags of all nations even the Surabaya Cultural School's flag, also don't forget the greetings from the principal and some other teachers of each departments or classes--unless they don't want to appear and... what the fuck is this picture?"
Ren looked at the photo of this year's closing ceremony, staring at their past principal in unimpressed look. "Fuck the old man, let's just delete it."
They did delete the former principal photo from the photos, why? The precious principal did a scandalous shit because it turns out, he's affiliated with some kind of crime that made the students fled despite being fired from there--fuck him. Now the new principal, Evelyn Kartini, is currently standing in-charge with the Vice Principal... Katherine Watson--not gonna lie; they did a great job improving the academy as new principals but the old corrupt ones sucked ass. Ren is happy to spend some time with the junior and senior years, before he graduated and will return to being an apprentice to Sadana.
The German Shepherd puppy barked happily as Izumo grabbed the little pup from the floor, cradling the little guy. "Chiko, who's the good boy huh?" Izumo asked with a wide smile, the pup replied by a loud bark and its wagging tail. "This guy loves eating, oh yeah--Hakusan invited us to eat snacks with him after this," Izumo said, while Kaizo finished the minutes on his laptop and sighed. "We're too lazy now... after the exams and shit, man I wish summer is already started," he replied.
Hakusan knocked on the door with his girlfriend Eiko, coming with the big paper bag. Eiko revealed lots of cakes and other snacks that he bought from the nearby bakery before coming in. "I brought my boyfriend and the cake!" Eiko chuckled, while Ren stared in awe upon seeing the macarons, strawberry and chocolate cake inside the paper bag. "So, how was our first budget report that we made it?" Hakusan asked, putting the paper bag on the desk. Eiko gave some dog treats to Chiko, as the puppy greeted his friends.
"They'll approve our budget with no problem, I'll make sure everyone is willing to follow the school rules. Nice job, partner," Ren huffed, pointing finger guns to Hakusan as the white-colored hair male sighed in relief. "Alright, so what we needed left is buffet night like food-friendly churros!" he said and the others grinned upon hearing the word 'churros', not only adding Indonesian foods--but Western and Asian foods as well since the school still maintain their home cook meals with some foreigners.
They needed a preparation for making a grand buffet night, because the End of Year event will feature extravaganzas and all their home cook foods together--it will include the street foods and the banquets would begin with a speech by the Principal. After that, there will be plays and it ends with buffet. "I'm definitely not getting a sleep and shit--wait, prime gave me something so I could stay up for long..." Ren grumbled, he has just realized that when he ate those... he could stay awake in all night without a break. "Actually, Ren... you can take a break until the beginning of the event," Hakusan informed.
The amber-brown haired boy looked up before blinked, before he smacked his hand on his forehead in embarrassment. "Shit--I forgot about that part..." he mumbled, before closing his laptop and stretching as he fixed his glasses and pulled his black headphone. He just wanted to rest for awhile, because this year is one hell of an exhausting experience and it never stops. "Don't push yourself too hard, yeah Ren?" Izumo replied with a laugh. "Have you sign up for college yet? I mean, I know it's still early but gotta save that money and all," Hakuren reminded.
"... No."
Ren answered like a sulking child, Kaizo was a bit shocked because Hakuren casually hinted for Ren to work and save money. "Fucking shit Hakuren, why did you have to ask him that? His brain capacity is still being focused on the fucking event, he'll save that for later!" Kaizo scolded, Ren sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he blushed in embarrassment--he felt bad being a spoiled brat and wasting his money. "Actually... I already did, just that the college is not in Surabaya so... I have to make a move quickly. This is troublesome, man..." he explained to them, stretching his arms. "My dad told me that if I want to enroll in the top best university in Indonesia--that would be in Yogyakarta. There's so many colleges in there and... you know, I might not live in Surabaya longer after our high school graduation..."
They were silent after Ren poured some of his shit problems, he wasn't totally wrong and maybe that's what everyone meant. They can't stay in this place for so long, even someone may feel 'weird' to stay in this area. "Yeah... because we enrolled in the same college as we do," Izumo admitted like a jackass, making them screamed 'oh shit' in their minds and Ren covered his face, slumping to his seat. "All of us are together AGAIN?! Oh well, at least we're not alone..." he groaned in dread, muttering 'fuck me' and others laugh at his depressed face. "Fuck you! Where did your energy gone, huh?! Aren't you supposed to be energetic for hours, no--DAYS?!"
"Hey, chill down Kaizo. You know our Student Council President is exhausted, right? Being a leader is an exhausting job," Izumo reminds him with a snort, Chiko barking to alert the humans when there's food time. It was another peaceful days at the academy, with all the traditions, activities and extra curriculum available--being a teenager is so annoying because you need to find your identity and went into rebellious phase, so Ren struggled about growing up. In fact, Eiko is the most confident and strongest among his friends. "Also, you're a Vice-President and you had to help him as his sidekick!" Hakuren shot back with her loud voice, he was speechless for a moment--until Izumo decided to play a joke about getting Kaizo involved in school play as the sidekick villain.
Kaizo grumbled, before seeing his best friend Ren was having a terrible mood and slumping to his seat--with a moody expression on his face. Izumo huffed and sat down next to Ren, while the latter rested his head on his desk. "Yo Ren, cheer up. Don't worry about college... we're gonna be just fine! It'll be like normal teenage shit from the media, no big deal--" Izumo cheered him up, grinning at him. "Thanks..." he thanked him tiredly, before he sat up and drank the glass of iced lemonade. "It's just... that I missed being a high school student where we have free weekends to have fun with festivals and normal things..."
"Ren... we're going to have a normal years again during college," Eiko replied, crossing her arms with a light smirk while Ren smiled before they have a good time to celebrate all their hard work from the office. "College is different than high school, with lots of new friends and shit like that," she reassured him. Oh well, at least Ren manage to get a high average score and it's expected of his perfectionism. Once the school is over, Ren was ambling outside the office and whistling happily as he went home to his father.
It felt so nice.
At home...
"Riyanda, welcome back--"
Rihan paused to see Ren crawling like a snail when he's just arrived, he also has obvious dark circles around his eyes. He rested his forehead on the pillar, having a bit pale skin and was huffing loudly in distress. "Son... how do you feel about being a grown up?" he asked, he thought maybe he could take some questions that came to Ren's exhausted mind--perhaps give him a chance to spill out his mind. "Dad... entertain me please, I want a stupid happy ending and I don't want adult life to mess it up..." Ren huffed angrily, like a sassy and angry cat, making his father chuckled lightly.
It was weird, he always acted like a teen than a teenager before and it's Ren's puberty got hit much harder than when he was a kid, like years of build-up self-restraint he used to mask himself just burst like pop-up internet ads--it was getting his nerves. "You know, I still kept the childhood photo of you dressing in a dinosaur onesie while being annoyed by Santa Claus--but it was quite hilarious!" Rihan said with a wide smile, Ren opened his eyes as his dark circles miraculously gone and yelled at him, saying: "DO NOT MENTION THAT!"
His father hummed at him and dragged him to his room, chuckling lightheartedly as Ren struggled. "WHAT THE FUCK DAD?!" he yelled, trying to get free from his powerful grip but Rihan kept going. "I need to remind you why did you become like this!" he replied cheerfully, letting him sit down on the bed while Ren's eyelids were dropping due to his exhaust. "Please, dad... I'm still worried about the Floating Sanctuary because who will guard it? My restaurant, pavilion and--"
"Hey, relax okay? Sakura and Ruanyi will protect the place! Kuran may be the original founder, but you're the successor," his father reassured him with a smile, tapping his shoulder--making Ren relaxed and released a sigh. He has a point, why is he worrying about these things too much--this is becoming unneeded shit that he wants to throw away. "Oh right, Sadana informed us that there will be new mission," Rihan stated, making Ren's mood perked up lightly because he always get excited whenever he can kick some asses.
"Apparently, there is a new enemy and this time... they're new gods who fell from the Heaven--and they want to destroy us, like the Fake Emperor of Heaven. Do you know Island of Yamatai?"
Ren blinked, he indeed heard that island where there was once priest-queen known as Queen Himiko, who became a legend. Yamatai--once an island, also known as a lost kingdom with shamanism, warrior clans and a mighty ruler. A lot of people wanted to explore the ruins, only to be stopped and abandoned because the land is too dangerous and unsafe for people--apparently it's cursed and the ground is filled with ghosts. "He wanted us to stop the gods from performing a revival of Queen Himiko, because there was a cult known as Shingi Waō Tribe that worship her."
Yamatai... it's a legendary Japan or China, which is under dispute between the two countries on who has the rights on these lands. This makes Ren feel weird, because this is once the lost land of many tribes during ancient times... It sounds more than a hundred years, perhaps that was when the first ship discover it? "This will be your journey with your fellow allies and three others! Hehe, for now--chill your young teenage anger, okay? You need an experience that should be part of your end of your high school years, as all those who graduated from high school will experience..." Rihan replied, he noticed that Ren likes traveling around and seeing different culture when they're abroad.
"Kaizo did have some archives about Yamatai Island and Queen Himiko so... maybe I can call him after finishing the event."
After the End of Year, Kaizo received a text from Ren when he just walk out from the shower and waiting for his father Retsu to finish making a dinner. "'Kaizo, do you have those archives? The Yamatai and Himiko one'..." he read the message from his phone, humming. "What would he do with those...?" he mumbled before he answered him with another text. Afterward, he already prepared to help his father with his own food, bringing up an important topic. "Sadana invited us in a mission, you know Yamatai Island?"
Kaizo blinked at his father's question, before he folded his arms with firm gaze. "Yamatai... oh boy, I got a lot of records about legends in Japan so... what for?" he responded, watching his father flipping the Japanese fried rice on the fire. "Some fallen gods from the Heavens tried to revive a shamaness-queen named Queen Himiko; the Sun Queen of Yamatai," Retsu spoke, remembering the stories about them.
It was believed that Himiko was born in a high status during her era and became the sovereign queen of Yamatai. Being an extremely beautiful woman, the ruler was able to bring any of her followers under her. Many believed that Himiko had supernatural and divine powers which she inherited from her ancestors. "I think I need to ask for Izumo's help since he can collect some articles that may be helpful, and I also need Hakuren's help because she can speak ancient Japanese language..." Kaizo muttered as he noted to himself to write about his plans with a pen and paper--Kaizo was taking notes from his thoughts. "Okay, any clues? Or the usual stuff, like a sign?"
Hakuren was sitting crisscrossed on the couch while typing her laptop in the living room, her widowed father Reoh was serving dinner for his two kids as Hakusan now reborn and being on the same age like Hakuren. "Huh... Ren told us that we're going to Yamatai, but there will be ancient languages there... Hakusan, can you speak Ainu? Do you know Shamanism? Because this looks like it's a cult," she informed her now twin brother, who groaned and replied. "Hakuren, I can speak three languages other than Japanese. I speak English and Indonesian only--you know I took Modern Languages class right?" he asked.
"I can't just be the only one who speak Ainu, damnit... Dad, can you speak one?"
Reoh heard his daughter asked, he nodded at her. "Yeah, why? This is something about Yamatai?" he answered her questions and she looked up at her father. "Hmm... a mission about cult reviving their beloved queen who wanted to take over the world," Hakuren replied, humming at the information--while Hakusan was trying to say 'wait, what' and was trying to find another translation. "A new mission? That's great to hear, both of you do best okay? Stay safe, I can help with transporting."
Both brother and sister groaned in dismay.
"Don't forget about Ren though," Hakuren brought out their leader's name, Reoh rolled his eyes. "I know, he's your friend so he'll be okay. Just remember what Kaizo tells you," he reminds the twin, watching the kids eat their dinner and Hakuren rolled her eyes at her dad. Now they have to ask Dinda, Farlan and Shenlan in case they're busy--turns out they didn't so they still have time before the graduation. "Anyways, I'll be visiting my friends tomorrow."
--Next Day--
Hyde was playing a classical music from his earphone that connected to his phone, after he finished his assignment when Konami was mopping the floor and Shiro was making food for them. He had a fox on his side as it seems to be Shūhei's reincarnated self, although getting a nagging from Hyde--he didn't really care. Eiko opened the door to see her boyfriend Hakusan, greeting him with a smile. "Hey, Hakusan! How you've been?" Eiko asked.
Her boyfriend walked toward her, putting his free hand on her cheek as he smiles warmly to her. "I'm fine, you know. Living with my twin and dad was surprising and he always cooked things that I still don't like it but... you know, he's bad at cooking so Hakuren had to be the one cooking for us--even I had to cook too," he grumbled. Reoh is a terrible cook, he even tried to cook bacon once and it turns out pretty bad just by looking and smelling at it. Reoh's cooking only consist of miso soup with tofu, ochazuke, ramen or curry. Other than that, nothing. "Don't remind me of your father's cooking, I almost died when tasting his bacon," Eiko laughed, patting his head.
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Hyde turned his head to see his friends together again, Ren looked fine as he can but then... he has been trying to keep up his appearance by his normal wear. Black t-shirt with white long sleeves and the fingerless gloves, black jean pants and his sneakers as he wore his black straps on his thighs that hides his Cosmic Wrath polearm, his Samsara Blade and his accessories. "Are you guys interested in the mission we need to go and stop the cult? From attempting to reviving the shamaness-queen with her supporters? Yamatai Island," Ren said, putting his hands behind his head.
"Ah yes, Yamatai is often mentioned in Japan-China feud, claiming that they're a part of China but... others say it's part of Japan. Anyway, was Yamatai just an island or mainland as well?" Izumo asked, scrolling through his phone as the group sat down together. "We can ask Xanadu because he's Chinese, perhaps he knows everything," Kaizo responded, earning a nod from Hakuren. Izumo and Kaizo scrolled down on their laptops while Hyde checked the list of the equipment they needed. "For now, all we can do is preparing," Farlan said, nodding his head.
Izumo also agree, so did the others.
Sadana was in the Floating Sanctuary, waiting for their arrival while eyeing on the hologram of Yamatai--he was standing beside Faylan as she spun her gunblade before using her large polearm as a practice. Her white fox ears twitched as she look back at the Narayana's Scions leader who's still observing the island, seeing that Xanadu and Wulan are busy like usual. "Sadana, how was the activity in the island?" she asked casually, walking around the hall as she has retained her usual uniform. "That island isn't friendly for anyone who comes around there, and it would be a good idea to send us on a mission if they planned to attack us,"
Sadana grinned at the prodigy of military after all, she's right though; none of them can enter that damned island with no problem and he need to pick the right people... or people from the team aren't entirely his decision. He spun his umbrella with the hilt that shows the flag symbol of Scions and turned off the hologram by snapping his finger, Faylan grinned when Ren and his friends has arrived in the Floating Palace. "What's up? You had an excellent assessment, I assume?" she asked, earning a growl from their Student Council President and others chuckling lightly.
"I realized that I love adventures more than high school life, dude!" he replied to her with a small snort, Xanadu chuckled with his eyes closed as he explained. "I'm aware of the incident in Yamatai, one of my intels informed us regarding the situation in the island; there were many guards and shamans that guarding the tombs of their beloved Queen Himiko, and this is from our research we made," he showed the hologram and told everyone about Yamatai's history, there was a symbol that appeared. "Is that the symbol of the tomb?" Kaizo asked, and Xanadu responded. "Yes, it has similarity to a sun--true to their queen. However, we have no choice but to sent those four out because it can cause much havoc than the Phantom Samsara situation," the Chinese scholar replied to Kaizo's question, hearing Faylan added. "Not to mention that they also planning to revive the dead with the rogue gods, they're the one who interfered the real ones..."
"What kind of gods are these?" Hakuren questioned, Xanadu shakes his head and answered. "It's still unknown, but they're former servants of the dead fake Heavenly Emperor--it seems like they wanted revenge. Their actions weren't what they want either, they might hurt the innocent if we didn't show up, even for Yamatai they claimed as theirs,"
... Damn, like a perfect adventure movie, right? Except for the fact that the two nations are fighting for control about their land! The hell? "I'm ready to travel and punch more gods and spirits, the thrill is hard to surpass with schoolwork," Hakusan said, Ren smirked at his best friend Kaizo who muttered. "They're looking for a vessel for the ascension ritual, meaning that is how they able to complete revive her and destroy everything. Also, we don't know anything about this legendary queen before and know the risk will make some risks and effort," he said.
Xanadu handed the scroll that has Ainu language to Hakuren due to her knowledge, she began to read out while translating it to the original language. "'The Queen Goddess Himiko was known as 'Goddess'--she has supernatural divine powers due to her ancestors with powerful ties with shamanism. She became the leader of Yamatai Kingdom, and brought her people to make an alliances with other land. That way she can become a powerful leader, and thus she went to the grave. I must warn you though... she's devious and deadly, but it's for greater good', holy shit she must have one heck of a secret..." the white-haired girl muttered with her eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"I don't see a greater good since she's seeking for eternal power and greatness."
Ren spoke, he could be described as a 'spoiler' for the legends and mystery because his senses are keen and smarter that any supernatural and unknown sources. It always surprises and scares his friends due to his ability to be empathic for anything related to tragedy. Even though he hates to be considered as a 'spoiler', he just had to use his knowledge. "Hakuren and Izumo will be coming with you, but... I guess I'm not going come because something is... going to happen to me if I go there," Kaizo muttered.
They were shocked at what Kaizo said, this made Ren blinked--did something happened to Kaizo and his father Retsu back then? Or did they used to...? There's no signs, and knowing Kaizo's expressions just confuses him as a result. "Kaizo... what are you talking about? This is not like you to just... saying that, and... without you--our plan ain't gonna work, is it?!" he snapped as he began to get impatient, furrowing his eyebrows. "You know that there's no rule in hiding something suspicious, is that right?" Hakuren asked, she knew there's something that bothered his mind. "Kaizo... I understand that there's something you can say and cannot say, but... this isn't like you--"
"The previous mission had something to do with me and my dad, Ren. Just... believe me when I tell you that, someone will suffer for it," Kaizo hissed with an low growl, his pupils shrunk lightly. Ren sensed the tension of his friends starting to go loose, he glanced at him. "Kaizo, if you can't join--then it's fine... but why so sudden, did you notice something?" he spoke as the atmosphere became silent and moody, being somewhat a rude to comment--but he's trying to be understanding for him and his father. "It's just... dad and I had been having another burden than usual, I--I don't know... we'd be sitting through it..." Kaizo slowly muttered. "Both of us will staying here, sorry but--I just can't help you much."
Okay, things are getting hard and more stress-inducing. Ren felt dread, because they'd have to handle this--until Hakuren suggested one solution to fix this problem. "Alright, Kaizo; you can stay here, but... if you need us; you can come back to us if you're ready to explain. We're starting to worry so... hopefully that will help you settle down," Izumo said with a smile, patting his shoulder and Kaizo nodded in shame. He should have notice that his weird behavior just put him in trouble and didn't considered his actions, he better makes it up quickly.
Rihan also noticed Retsu's weird behavior as he saw Kaizo's father being silent, it seems like he didn't want to enter the island for unknown reason. However, Senjū who was Izumo's father told him to let him stay if he didn't want to explain it. "Sharing a burden may seem harsh, but having to do it alone is like giving up. Retsu knows this since he had finished fighting an old enemy from years back, but he didn't tell us who was the enemy," Reoh whispered, which confused Rihan a bit.
Does he know anything about the new foes on Yamatai?
***
Yamatai Island is located in the ocean that separates the island from Kurama and Mizaki, near the shoreline where it was somewhat 'far' from Japan and China. It takes times to go there, but he noticed in the hologram map of Yamatai when they showed it. "We don't know what's waiting inside, but... it must be a threat," Xanadu informed, seeing the bad weather like the thunder and storms around the island. It's full of clouds, there were a lots of ruins with the strange artifacts and structures there. Ren watched Kaizo's unusual quiet expression but he couldn't blame him for that, his anxious attitude must have got him first.
Kaizo was usually stern and uptight while he is a serious and cold young man, he can be cynical and snarky with sassy attitude while becoming a master of sarcasm. But then, Kaizo is the intelligent but rational student--even in some circumstances, he tends to make an ideal plan of action (and logical)--others call him the 'cool and bright one'. This is different from the very boisterous, smart and attentive Ren; who is his best friend with a similar tendency to joke, even when he could be obnoxious and reckless--then there's his kind-hearted nature. After all, like Faylan once said: "There are moments where the great strategist Kaizo and the leader Ren has a lot in common, yet different people like their little disagreement on something. In fact, he is the calm and collected one who knows what he was doing."
"Take care, Hakuren..."
Hakuren turned to see her widowed dad Reoh gives her a nod and a smile, Hakusan may not able to go there because he had to guard the Floating Sanctuary with them and his father. She nodded at him, before she joined Izumo and Ren along Dinda, Farlan and Shenlan by jumping towards the island and used their powers to floats down. They needed to prepare and explore everything around the area, even if they're looking into unfamiliar areas such as traps, dangerous environment and the enemies. But only for now, until they have to face the ancient evil in the place. The storm suddenly ceased as there was a daylight, seems as though the weather turned so pleasant; the three continued descending to the ground. "Wow, I feel like we're on a jungle adventure," Izumo muttered, watching at the amount of grasses around the area and a lot of tropical trees.
Ren was reading the mission from Sadana regarding the updated mission, they also have to save the people of Oni clan who has been in hiding from the sight of humans--they were in the hidden area that no one can enter, now they wanted freedom back. "Holy shit--Yamatai is cursed? Not only there are strong shamans guarding the land, but also fucking angry ghosts! Why are the rumors true, that this is a sacred land?" Izumo thought out loud, while Hakuren sighed when she walked beside them. "Quiet down, Izumo!" she hissed.
The three walked through the rainforests and tall grass, making sure that no enemies can manage to sneak and attack them. Shenlan followed them with Farlan and Dinda as she yawned, it seems strange for Kaizo not joining them--usually he's the one in charge of planning strategy but if his plans doesn't work, well... their Student Council President is the type of person who fix everything up and succeed. Even though Kaizo is a Vice President of Student Council, he's the important core of their plans. "Yamatai has a ruined city and all abandoned villages here... so maybe we need a big proof that someone has killed the entire people that lived there..."
It's a mysterious but deadly situation.
"Let's not think much about Kaizo yet, let him finish his problem alone. Damn man is overthinking, he would be an ideal leader for the team if I'm not around and he--" Ren spatted and rambled, not noticing there was a rustling bushes across them. "Did you hear that?" Dinda asked, stopping them in their tracks. "It sounds like someone is coming, damn it..." Shenlan sighed, her face filled with gloom. "By the way, are the Oni people part of the Ainu people?" Farlan asked.
Izumo turned to face him, before he answered with a smile. "Nope, they're literally not part of Yamatai since they came from somewhere hidden in Japan--we don't know much about them other than they're the people who wanted to flee from the Sun Priestess in the village called Asa," he explained. There were many mysteries around Yamatai, but these people managed to escape in the last minute when the entire shamans and some of the servant gods were wiped out. The kids are somehow, all the children of Queen Himiko and others--now those orphans are living somewhere safe.
They have arrived in an area with the torii gate entrance with a small pond with river water and lanterns on the walls, however they do not know that something was following the warriors. It turns out, it was Queen Himiko's handmaidens who serve the dead shaman queen--they are in a form of shadowy bipedal fox-like beasts, without the bottom half of their torso before they all vanished behind the thick rainforest. Dinda plucked the strings of her zither, creating an ambush on one of the handmaidens--killing it completely as the other beast got killed by Hakuren's katana on her hand--spiking a large ice from within. "Shit, the land was full of this rogues? Our mission will harder than it looks... but there's always a solution."
"Sadana had told us to pay attention and never leaving the important artifacts that can revives Himiko back to life," he replied, looking around when they were faced with the Phantom Beasts--so they began the fight with their powers. From the tanegashima's shot by Izumo, their stabbings with Ren's dual polearms of his beloved Cosmic Wrath and Samsara Blade, Farlan swung his axe-like glaive since his weapon can morph into different forms--Dinda's zither that produced her blasts and lastly Shenlan with her three weapons. "Take this...!"
Ren swung his blades before piercing and dragging towards the enemies, dealing continuous damage and damage as the beam formed and spun. They saw the Phantom Spirit Formation sigils that have already lit up the fire, along with the remaining handmaidens disappearing by the blow of magic. As they watched the beasts were vanishing, Ren sensed another one was going to throw an ambush until a certain someone slashed the beast into two and landed on the ground.
It was a pale-skinned tall young girl with long dark brown hair with thick bangs fell over her red-colored eyes with sharp black pupils, her long bangs on her cheeks braided to the backside of her head by a red threads and black-red headdress on it. She wears a tight black sleeveless turtleneck white kimono underneath a white haori with black borders tied by a red obi and white front sash with a red symbol of Oni clan, she wears a white shorts underneath and red choker-like threads around her neck--along black tights and red thigh-high strapped boots; lastly it's her black-red long fingerless gloves. She was holding a katana on her hand, before she stand up and turn around to face them.
Ren was distracted by her appearance, before Izumo teased him by smacking the back of his head. "Yo! Mind helping us a bit? We had a special quest around here," Hakuren introduced herself to her, but she remained silent as she began to scan and observe them. "Don't hit me you jackass--" Ren whispered-yelling at him while gritting his teeth lightly and rolling his eyes in frustration, not liking his pranks. Izumo hummed and raised his brows with a grin, watching Farlan returned with a curt bow. "Excuse us, but we're the visitors who came here for expedition--mind if you can tell us about this area?" he asked, while covering up their identities as Vidyadharas.
The Oni girl still silent for the moment as she was watching the enemies returning to ash-like dust and vanishing in thin air, Ren slowly and carefully moved towards her--until she noticed and quickly aimed her katana blade at him. "Okay okay, we're here not to harm you! We're here to stop the Sun Queen's cult from reviving her!" he explained, still holding up his hands in front of her. "We promise, believe me... if we could become your allies."
Even Ren does a good amount of persuasion and convinced her very well by showing himself, he had to make careful steps towards the Oni girl as she would show any signs of hostility. For a moment, she slowly put down the katana away and looked at the group with suspicions. Then, she spoke in a language that made them (except Hakuren) confused as fuck... turns out she spoke in a language similar to Japanese but somewhat 'foreign'. "Wait, she speaks Old Japanese language--let me translate them for you," Hakuren spoke as she stepped forward, listening to her sentence.
"(Are you not from Yamatai nor a worshiper of the queen?)"
The three listened attentively as they needed to understand this right, even when their warrior talked to them in other words--they wondered why does she talk with a different language? After Hakuren translated her sentence to them, Ren shake his head. "Neither," he replied firmly, not even sure with the rest. "We're here to stop the resurrecting of Queen Himiko by a rogue gods," he replied calmly.
When the girl heard that answer through Hakuren's translation, she suddenly stepped back in light fear. "Relax, we're here to stop them. We're on your side, I swear," Dinda added, which made the girl blink as she scanned them once more. She made a hand gesture, most of the team was perplexed except when Hakuren responds to her by speaking in her mother tongue. "Shit, we need her to speak English... it would be ineffective because we can't just let Hakuren translate every sentence most of the time," Izumo muttered, grimacing. "Yeah... is there a device that can make her understand us...?" Shenlan asked, folding her arms. "Wait, Sadana gave this to us."
Farlan spoke, showing the candies that enable someone who can't speak international language can easily talk and understand the basic English. Izumo wanted to facepalm himself since he could have thought of that, in case if some of them got stuck in an island where no one can speak English in their mission. "Here," Hakuren said, she handed the candy to her as the girl didn't want to believe it at first--but through Ren's gaze that shows her no ill-intent, she slowly took the candy and ate it. In the next moment, the girls heard her understanding them after the candy effect, she nodded and finally allowed them to follow her--hopefully this alliance will work. "What's your name, by the way?" Shenlan asked with boredom.
"Yukina."
The girl responded with stern expression, now, time to begin the exploration and the event--this time, they don't know what to be prepared other than their own strength and their teammates. They were making quick walk towards the place, with Yukina leading them without looking back. "Riyanda Tjahyana, I'm from Indonesia," Ren introduced himself, nodding at the others to introduce themselves to her. "Izumo Amane, I have Japanese descent but I'm an American citizen," Izumo said, grinning at her. "Hakuren Murasame, Japanese," Hakuren continued, folding her arms.
"Adinda Haryadi, you can call me Dinda!" Dinda spoke, while she clasped her hands happily with a smile. "Farlan Adtmadja," Farlan introduced himself formally, and lastly is Shenlan. "Shenlan, nice to meet ya! I'm known as someone who sells some gold and--" she paused when Farlan covered her mouth, knowing that she love to scam some shit. "We have our friend, his name is Kaizo Shindō--but he's not here at the moment, he might catch up soon when he get his business done," Ren added, looking at Yukina who nodded lightly. "Who are you, Yukina? Did you stayed here to hide from the cult?" Ren asked her.
Yukina nodded, before she spoke. "Yes, me and my people were hiding from the cult who tried to kidnap our head chieftain of the Oni clan. Thankfully we managed to escape from their plan," she answered, Hakuren listened to the answer--she noticed Yukina's movement was guarded a bit, and how her posture is strong. "We didn't expect the strange weather or... the sun never seem to set. Did the sun priestess in charge here made her decision to stay sunnier than before?" she continued. "No, the person who in charge of the Yamatai is the 'shadow queen' who brought her own servitude--including the unknown former servants of their lord..."
Oh no, they didn't? Damn--Izumo rolled his eyes and gape.
In the distance, they were ambushed by the Yamatai Rogues that have revived due to the signs and symbols lit up from the ritual and spiritual practices. Yukina draws her katana, before she made circular cuts of the wind and severed their limbs--watching them vanished into dusts as she sheathed back her katana. "Follow me, the village should be up ahead. From there, you'll have to find your way and reach the other villagers," she informed the team as Hakuren nodded. "As you wish, they're starting to get violent and ready for battle. We hope not too many people die than us..." Farlan asked, scanning across the area. They could also reach the temple but first... they need to find the artifacts first, but Ren changed his mind because the artifacts are in the Oni village--shit, this ain't going to be easy.
'Looks like we have to turn back after this is over, the place will be dangerous... but not a bad idea to venture again later,' Ren thought. He and the team quickly moved towards the Oni village, Yukina carefully scouted if there's anyone inside with her own sharp vision--seeing nothing and approached the village. Most of the Oni people have red eyes and sharp pupils in their human form, a signature identity of their clan--there might be a 'true' form that made their eye color changed abruptly. "Ren, are you okay?" Dinda asked, patting his shoulder and Ren's lost thoughts has returned to reality. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," he replied with a curt nod, hearing Izumo spoke. "So, we're meeting with the Head Chieftain?"
"Yes, it's Kazuha-hime."
Ren didn't know why, but he has been feeling dizzy when he's here. Possible 'symptoms' that he's experiencing could possibly that he's sick, why not until something... weird happened with his eyes. They were bright yellow, in the sudden change--he heard voices of Himiko along the other unknown sounds and words by a flash of memories, his vision were spinning and blur as he shake his head. He take off his spectacles and rubbed his eyes, a ringing and static-like voice can be heard from inside his head--talking about an upcoming war and death... it was as if he was standing on the hill of mountains to see more.
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