The Zodiac Spirit Guardians

Journey Forward

"It'll be a three hour route to the Cave of Words. We'll have to take refuge for the night, soon." Steele neglects to look at Ezra, his yellow eyes remain on the forest landscape in front of him. "It is imperative that he is found as soon as possible." Steele attentitively avoids running into branches and sharp leaves. Rayce leaps into range and also joins by Ezra and Steele.

"I've lost scent of them." He says in a light and cheerful voice. His demeanor has altered into a battle ready state, replacing the overly childish admonitions with very subtle seriousness. "Haruka and Kappie double checked for me." The moment he glances at me, his tough exterior falters, his smile and wide eyes force a grin on my face.

"Thank you Rayce, I think we'll sleep in that house just outside of Redinon tonight." Steele asserts, pointing to a dark object in the distance. Rayce nods once and falls back with Haruka and Kappie.

Memories pop back into my head, the violent ones from before, when I was at school. Now that I think those were recollections of things that have happened, I'm terrified. I killed people and I don't remember who they are and what they did to deserve to die. My heart aches, like I owe it to them to at least grieve for their loss, but no. I don't feel a thing because I don't remember it, and I'm getting tired of my lack of memories.

Steele's voice snaps me out of my spiraling mental path, "We've arrived." He stoops to the ground below at the same time as Ezra. That dark object is now a house, a massive house with balconies and pillars and grand windows plus decorations plastered to the outside walls. A person must live here. "We'll set up a secure perimeter-"

"Shouldn't we ask permission to stay at someone's house?" I raise my eyebrows in question at Steele. He abruptly stops talking and his jaw drops a bit. The other guardians glance at one another in a confused frenzy. I don't think my question was that out of line.

Steele says something after a moment of hesitation, "I shall...secure our allowance to take refuge at this estate for the evening then..." He bows once and leaves towards someplace in the near distance. His formal behavior makes my skin crawl, not knowing his true self is enough to make me cringe at how scary he must really be.

Ezra sets me down gracefully, taking his sweet time to release me. I realize his intentions after the fact and aim to smack him in the ear, only to fail when he catches me by the wrist. "How'd you get so fiesty?" His eyes narrow. My teeth grit and my eyebrows furrow to hide my embarrassment. Ezra begins a fit of laughter only angering me more. "You're so cute." Ezra manages to add through snickering. The way he says it makes the word demeaning. I open my mouth to object but my stomach churns.

Up to this point I've had too many mood swings to count, several moments in which I've been too confused to even ask questions, and now I have a dangerous destructive faculty inside my body that I don't know how to control. For a little while it's been dormant, thank god, but I know it will rise again. I'm not sure if I can control it, and I don't know if what happened in Linkai city will happen again, against my will.

"It'll take us three hours to get to the Cave of Words by foot." Kappie states, shaking his feet free of loose soil. "We should leave a little before dawn-"

"We're walking?"

"No, that's sprinting time." He replies to me with a stern tone, "It's hidden by a fortress that only you can enter."

"I'm pretty sure he will be waiting for you there...If you remember who you're looking for..." Rayce adds, touching his small index finger to the corner of his mouth. "Which poses a problem since you do not appear to have your memories yet..."

"You'll know." Ezra interjects, jumping into the conversation. A light shines around him at a blinding brilliance before he switches back to his spirit guardian body. His brother does the same, transforming into the blood stained tattered waistcoat and trousers that were previously in perfect condition. They both look at me and already know I'm puzzled, "We change into these bodies so that we don't use up the strength of our Zodiac bodies in a wasteful manner."