✔ | At Least We Have Forever

Chapter 24 - Revelations And The First Trial

"Katsuo-sama? You mean Riya-chan's father?" Botan asked. The wielders nodded.

"That was when Riya and I discovered that each of us possessed the Wielder's Crystal as proof of our identity to become masters of the Legendary Weapons."

Keiko and Kuwabara seemed confused upon hearing that.

"Wielder's Crystal? What's that?" Kuwabara asked, confusion evident in his voice and his face.

No one answered, though. Instead, the four wielders (Yumi, Ayako, Soujiro, and Yukari) each began materializing four beautiful crystals on the palm of their hands. Each of which has different colors has a representation of the powers they possessed.

"We were born with these crystals inside of us," Soujiro said and then made the crystals vanish. "But we only found that out recently, when the weapons chose us to become their masters. These crystals were also the source of our powers. So technically, these crystals are the 'hearts' of the Legendary Weapons—one they could not live without at all cost."

"But only a few people knew the real reason why the weapons from their respective shrines. It's not because they were stolen but because those weapons had finally located their masters that would treasure them and use their powers to their full potential," Yukari added. "Once they had chosen their masters, the weapons would only follow their master's orders and no one else."

"Each of the Legendary Weapons has a respective Wielder's Crystals to identify," Ayako said. "The Dragon Sword of F\lame had chosen Captain Yumi since she has the Garnet Heart. As for me, I was chosen by the Staff of Shimmer for being the bearer of the Amber Heart. Soujiro-kun has the Sapphire Heart, making him the wielder of the Scythe of the Deep Waters and Yukari-chan is the wielder of the Flute of Melody since she has the Quartz Heart. These crystals are said to be the proof of our identities as the legitimate Legendary Weapon Wielders."

The team took a short while to grasp the information that they found out.

"What about Riya? What's the name of the crystal that she has?" Koenma asked after a while.

"It's called the Topaz Heart," Noboru answered. "Also known as the compressed force of the wind element."

No one spoke a word for a while which made the surroundings somewhat tense (again) and it lasted for a few moments before Kurama decided to break the silence.

"If that's the case, then how come Koenma didn't know the fact about the weapons choosing their masters? And why didn't you tell us about this earlier?"

"It took us a long time before we finally had the chance to tell you the truth. Like what we said earlier, only a few people knew the reason for the weapons' disappearances. Unfortunately, Koenma-sama isn't among those few individuals. As for not telling you about this earlier, it's our mistress' orders," Yumi said. "A lot of things happened to her that she wasn't able to bear the pain anymore. Especially now that she's..." she paused. "...she's dying. And we can't even prevent it."

"She's dying..." Those words echoed in their minds repeatedly and it came as a shock to Yusuke.

"What do you mean she's dying?! That's not true, right? She can't be!" Yusuke yelled but it didn't even make the wielders flinch to that.

Yukari sighed before looking at them with sad eyes. "We kept on saying the same thing over and over—that it's not true, that it can't be happening. But it's no use. Even though we possess some of the greatest weapons from ancient times, we can't even do anything to prevent her upcoming death. No matter how powerful we are right now, it wasn't enough for us to keep her alive for long. The powers inside of her were too much for her body to bear since it far surpasses her physical limits."