They were nearly up the mountain to the village, and Tora was panting.
"Could you - could you give me some more food when we get there?" he gasped.
"Just keep going," Kasai instructed irritably. "And then maybe we'll see."
They continued like this for a few more minutes, during which Tora completely broke down, and wouldn't go on until he had eaten more and then been encouraged by the entire team that he was important and really, really needed to show them where the village was.
"T-there we are," Tora panted, collapsing.
In front of them was a modest gate made of wood that bore the inscription, Yama No U-Izado, and beyond that, the tops of just as modest-looking roofs.
"I was expecting something a little more exciting," Mizuki sighed. But at that moment, there was the distinct sound of some magic being cast, and a multiple screams.
"Is that better for you?" Akuma snapped. Mizuki shrugged.
Aya knocked hesitantly before abandoning that plan and using her bo staff to break open the gate, and it swung forward to reveal a terrible sight.
Many buildings had been destroyed, evidently by some kind of magic. In the streets, a glare was the most common expression. Not one person looked happy. A little farther down the way, a pair or wizards seemed to be about to fight, with staffs glowing and people gathered around.
"You said this was safe!" Heishi told Tora.
Tora blinked. "I said it was usually mostly safe. I'm sure there's somewhere around here that's perfectly happy right now." Heishi was not convinced.
Aya ran forward suddenly, towards the two wizards about to fight. "St-stop!" she shouted. "Why are you fighting?"
The wizards momentarily forgot about each other and turned to Aya with anger blazing in their eyes. "What do you think I'm doing?" one asked sarcastically. "I'm destroying this scum of a wizard!"
"But . . . why?" Aya asked. "Can't you . . . can't you compromise?"
"Ha!" the other wizard laughed bitterly. "Who're you supposed to be, telling us what to do?"
Kasai looked between the two. "Anyone care to explain? You probably can't tell, but we're not from around here."
The first wizard huffed. "This sorry excuse for a wizard thinks it's okay to limit our magic! As if we're some kind of common people! He and his group think our village should have rules to hinder our teachings and principles that we've been using for hundreds, no thousands of years -"
"But there are some things that are better left untaught!" the second argued. Some people in the crowd shouted out in agreement. "He believes all magics should be open to all to experiment with, to tamper with, to teach anyone who might listen! But magic without boundaries is dangerous. Some magic is terrible in the hands of the wrong people! Do you really want Necromancy - witchcraft! - being taught to our children -"
"But if Necromancy is outlawed," the first cut in, his own half of the crowd yelling their support, "then why not outlaw Summoning? Why not outlaw Rune magic, or Light, or magic in itself? Where would it stop? There are too many people who are afraid of us - give them this opportunity and they might all decide that magic as a whole is evil and should be removed from all of society!"
"Magic is a necessity!" the second insisted. "No one would completely outlaw it - even commoners rely on some kind of magic in their everyday -"
"So you're going to kill each other," Mizuki said.
The two arguing mages looked back at the Sureiyazu and their company. They seemed to have forgotten they were there.
The first wizard looked into Mizuki's eyes with a withering stare that would have made anyone else look away. But Mizuki stared back, her face showing no sign of fear.
"Who's in charge here?" Aya asked with an air of superiority. "I demand to see them."
One of the crowd booed at her words. "Our leader does nothing for us! He turns a blind eye towards our struggles and refuses to take any side!"
"We are the Sureiyazu," Aya added. "When we decide to speak to the person in charge, they will come."
The wizard in the crowd booed and huffed, but someone cast a spell and a faint light appeared in the center of everything. Slowly the light became a figure - tall, with dark hair, and an odd expression of boredom on his face. He was wearing a long blue robe, with golden lining, probably to show that he was the leader.
"Taichi?!" Aya exclaimed.
"You?" Taichi asked, raising an eyebrow. The crowd tensed at seeing their leader.
"Is this the jerko?" Mizuki asked.
"Yep," Kasai assured her. "Captain Jerkwad with a capital 'J'."
Taichi scowled. "Why have you summoned me, citizens?" he recited.
"The Sureiyazu told us to," one of the wizards who had wanted to fight before said.
"Ah," he nodded. "What do you want, Aya?"
"Me?" Aya said. "I didn't even know you were the leader of a wizard village - had I known that, I might have come here years earlier, come to think of it . . ."
Taichi continued to look bored. "Then what did any of you want?"
"We wanted to tell you that everyone in your village is miserable!" Kasai shouted. Many people in the crowd yelled their agreement.
"I knew that," Taichi said through his teeth. "Have you anything important to say?"
"Food," said Tora. "Food is important."
Taichi looked down at the cat. "Is that the Summoner's Creature who the children keep going down to feed?"
"Yeah, this is Tora," Akuma said. "He showed us the way here."
"Wonderful," Taichi said sarcastically as possible. "May I go back to my work now, or would you like to tell me some more painfully obvious things?"
"See this?!" someone screamed. "He doesn't care what we're going through, all he cares about is himself!" There were roars of agreement.
Taichi blinked, seeming slightly surprised.
Someone else joined in, "He doesn't make any effort to help us!"
And someone else shouted loudest of all:
"He doesn't deserve to lead us!"
Taichi's eyes widened as the angry crowd came closer and closer . . .
The Sureiyazu made every attempt to keep the wizards at bay (not because they sided with Taichi, but because they wanted to prevent as much destruction as possible), but they, alas, were all wizards.
Some threw spells at him, while others seemed to dissolve into nothing and reappear much closer to him. Some flew away at the sight of the raging crowd, and some continued to press in, brandishing staffs and swords.
"Down with him!"
"Long live Yama No U-Izado!"
Suddenly, in a burst, Akuma felt herself rising. Looking around, she saw no difference in her surroundings except that she was going higher and higher.
And when she tried to move, she found that she couldn't. Her eyes darted around frantically, trying to see what had happened to the others. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Heishi and Kasai floating up as well. She guessed that they had all been affected by the spell.
And suddenly, she was choking.
Air was escaping her. No matter how hard she tried to breathe back in, it seemed that she was unable.
Gasping breath. No air.
Blackness.
~~~
Her eyes flew open.
There was an old man standing over her, with white hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He didn't show any surprise at her being awake. In fact, he merely shrugged.
"Spell wore off, I see," he said, his voice carrying a hint of a mixture of annoyance and boredom.
Akuma looked around her only to see many more beds like the ones she was laying on. Was she in a hospital? She could see that her friends, lying or sitting up in some of the beds around the room, seemed to also have just woken up.
"Where are we?" asked Akuma. "Is this a hospital?"
The man glanced over to her for a second before pulling over a small wooden cart laden with bottles of different colored liquids. "You could call it a hospital. If you want to. That's what common people call them, isn't it?" There was that undertone of annoyance again, mixed with boredom. Akuma figured he just spoke like this all the time.
"What happened to us?" she asked.
The man sighed. "You ask too many questions. Can an old soul have a rest for once? No, I guess that would be asking for young people not to hurt themselves anymore, and that's not going to happen . . ."
"But how'd we get here?" Akuma persisted.
"In all the commotion, someone was sensible enough to tell me that an entire riot broke out on the main road. Oh, you're not from around here. You know riots that common people organize? This one was worse. Because we're all wizards, and no one knows how to use self-control anymore. Magic just seems to make everything worse lately."
Akuma noticed one face she didn't see among all the people that she did. "What . . . happened to Taichi?"
The man laughed. "I don't think he'll be able to run the village anymore. Don't know where they put him, but there are plenty of deep, dark holes around here they could have stuffed him. Didn't like him myself, but now there's the problem that we'll need a new leader, and that'll cause quite an uproar, I'm sure."
"Would someone please tell me what happened?" Kasai demanded from across the room. The old man sighed again and began walking towards her, dragging his cart along with him.
"My name is Makoto. Feel free to yell my name until I come, no matter the hour of day. Everyone else does." And he went away to tend to Kasai.
~~~
"You should be on your way, then," Makoto said, ushering the group of six, having rested for several days, out the door. "You're all rested up, get on out."
"Thank you for everything," Aya said. Makoto waved off her thanks and and slammed the door in their faces.
"He's such a nice, caring man," Heishi said to break the silence. Mizuki laughed a short laugh, but otherwise no one payed much attention to him, much to his dismay.
"Where are we going now?" Yuri asked after a moment. "Oh! Maybe we could go for some candy! Or go to the store for a new outfit! Or maybe -"
"We're going to find Taichi." Aya was so sure that she didn't even notice the sadness on Yuri's face at not finishing her list of ideas.
"That total jerkface?" Kasai laughed. "You're kidding, right?"
Aya shook her head. "No, we're going to find him. I don't care what he's done, he's still a person. And the wizards here have done something terrible to him, no doubt."
Mizuki looked at Aya sideways. "Are you sure? You're not afraid of what we might find?"
Aya swallowed. "No. If he's still alive . . ."
No one needed her to finish. They would find him; Aya had already decided that.
"Okay, so how do we find him?" Heishi asked.
"I have no idea," Aya admitted.