The Zodiac Spirit Guardians

Haruka's Short Fuse

They couldn't possibly see the passion that grows in her eyes from the pure agony she just went through. If they did, they would've been on my side to reveal the truth to her. This whole thing might've been a pointless waste of my damn time and effort.

Except, the look on her face and the confidence in her voice keeps me from truly sinking back into my pessimism. It's as if her eyes won't let me go, they hold me in place, attempting to compel me into submission.

"Would everyone just shut up for a minute," Ezra raises his voice, obviously tired of listening to the arguing, "This decision is ultimately up to Akira, if she wants to undo all the shit she put herself through the past five years then so be it. The most we can do is just inform her of the issues with both sides." I've never seen Ezra so wound up and about to snap before. His hands are balled into white fists, crossed over his chest as if to keep himself together.

I turn to Akira for the longest speech I've had to date, "It will be extremely difficult to tell you important information without tainting your decision." Her eyes are solely locked on mine, and I can feel the other ten eyes on me as well, all listening, all waiting.

"I have officially deemed all my old memories as unreliable." The fire builds behind those ash irises, "It's easier to start from scratch than to alter everything." My eyes narrow in disbelief. The girl I've considered pathetic and unchangeable, shocks me. She actually surprises me. I don't know how to react to this new emotion, which frightens me, it really does. So I resort to ignoring it and pretending it didn't just appear out of thin air.

I take one last final deep breath before I pave the path to the fork in the road. After what I say, Akira will decide what life changing course she's going to take, dragging us along with her. "You should probably take notes," I joke, but the stiff bodies hanging around me don't find anything humorous in this situation. "I'll start with what we've already told you. You're 1600 years old, almost 1700, and you are not human, obviously. You have a monstrous power inside of you that will destroy mercilessly, and dragons are real. You also know that all five of us are your Zodiac spirit guardians," As I talk through our three bodies, I transform to each one at the mention of its name in order to help her visually understand, "We have the human body, the spirit guardian body with attributes to the Zodiac, and our Zodiac bodies which are not related to the Zodiac physically, only supernaturally." I pause to make sure she's still keeping up. Her face is blank, and I become a little restless.

I continue, "As you've noticed we grow stronger and more powerful after changing to a higher form. The other dimension our bodies are stored in is the Zodiac world. I won't delve into that right now," I say since I can feel the impatience in the group, "the only thing you really need to know is that we've been trained since conception, and even before then, to protect your life no matter what." I leave time for a question from Akira, but she doesn't even nod her head as an understanding.

I pick up where I left off, giving up on expecting a reaction from Akira, "Anyway, They are a committee sent to destroy you because of the power you have inside your body. We made a contract with Them--from your idea--that we would erase your memories so that you would not be of any harm to this world or to Them. It was initially your idea for us to attempt living on Earth as a humans, and for you to forget the power you have. But then They banished us from Linkai..." I glance around to the other eyes, "So we went along with the contract." Because you gave us no choice and you refused to stand up for yourself and your planet. I wish I could say those words, but I can't. I don't want them to be true, and for some reason, saying them outloud would only bring back the memories I have of when she first made that executive decision without listening to our advice. Instead, I pause and before my mouth opens back up to speak, Kappie continues for me.

"Things got really messed up, Lady Akira. That's when you started waking up and restarting every day as if it were the exact same day. And then Miyazu was killed..." I can hear the tight pain in his throat, "What you need to decide now is if you want to prove to Them that you are innocent and ignorant, suffering from amnesia, and you are harmless to this world...or to commit treason, go against the law making body of Linkai, and tell Them we came back in order to end their reign and their lives indefinitely."

We all become silent. I completely forget that Itsu is here, standing in the middle of this mess with an expressionless look on his face. We await Akira's response, counting the seconds until she speaks. Our fate is now in the air, up to Akira again, her decision will either get us killed or let us live. It makes me sick.

I've never liked the idea of completely surrendering my life to one person, especially if that meant they'd make all my decisions for me. But when I met Akira and the others, I realized she wasn't anything like my nightmares had suggested. I mean, I was young, but I wasn't wrong to be scared. I'd gotten so used to making decisions with her, that I forgot, in the end, my life was in her hands. It always would be. And if she said jump, I didn't ask questions, I jumped. And I hated that, I still do.

So when Akira finally expressed her power of domination over us, I was sick to my stomach. Every horrific dream I had when I was younger, sprung back into my mind. Betrayal was the only thing I registered, the only thing I felt for a long time. The idea of slavery haunted me at night, knowing I no longer had a say in what I did with my life and I could die from that. That's why I hate who she's become. She's not worthy of that kind of sacrifice, and I'm not sure she ever will be again.

When Akira opens her mouth to finally respond, anticipation clouds the air. The first words out of her mouth are, "Do I have the ability to kill Them?" The reply to her question is silence. We're too stunned to answer her. "Have They been following us since we got back?" Her inquisition to the quiet crowd continues, "What...am I?"

Steele's firm voice lifts the awkward silence, "You have the ability to end all living things, but it was decided long ago in a treaty by the Gods, Zodiac, and Them, that no one would be able to kill one another." He looks off toward the mountains, where the new location of Linkai's capitol city is, "One of Their spies has been following us." He answers her second question, shocking me because I haven't told him that bit of information yet. Rayce must've let him know the second he could. He's such a suckup.

And now, I feel myself tense for the next answer, the one that will blow Akira away just like it did to us when we first found out what she was.

As Zodiac spirit guardians, we weren't allowed to know what made Akira so special. Hell, we didn't even know of the other worldly power she was keeping locked up inside her body like a caged animal. We just did as we were told because it was tradition, passed down every generation. One male family member would get the mark of the previous spirit guardian, and be forced into training for the position of the Zodiac our clan stood for. My great grandpa was the previous Ram spirit guardian, and died the instant I was conceived, transferring his Zodiac abilities down to me as a sort of reincarnation.

I just assumed Akira was royalty that needed protecting. The twins assumed she was just wealthy or had a deal with the devil. Steele said he knew from the very beginning but never had any proof of his so-called knowledge. Miyazu was different, he didn't care what made her special. He claimed his soul knew she was important to him, that he'd die for her, and that was that. He didn't bother to question the ties.

But when she muttered those words for the first time, we all immediately understood. It was as if everything in the universe aligned and all the gears clicked into place. Some of us were terrified, knowing what we were protecting, how powerful she would be, it was scary. Honestly, most of us, including me, didn't think we were up to the challenge. We had no idea we were basically protecting a ticking time bomb.

Steele clears his throat, bringing me back to the present.

My heart beats with every word he speaks, loud and clear, terrifying and thrilling. There's no going back after this. These words alone will get us killed for treason. Yet Steele's voice still breaks the silence, "Lady Akira, you are the Goddess of Destruction."

*****

Conclusion of TWO