***Ayana's POV***
The little girls eyes fluttered open, revealing her chocolate brown eyes. They were no longer those blood red eyes that I first saw. She slowly looked around, dazed, until her eyes landed on Kina and I.
"Hi there!" Kina said in a cheery tone. The little girl blinked, and then Kina said, "it's okay. We're not gonna hurt you. I'm Kina! This is Ayana!" Kina gestured towards me and I smiled at the little brown eyed girl, "what's your name?" She didn't say a word for a while. She still had that dazed expression. She looked around the hallway again, then back at us,
"...Remi"
"Remi-chan? Well it's nice to meet you!" Kina smiled.
"...where am I?" Remi asked in a quiet voice.
"Well you're at the resort at the top of Mount Hikaru." I answered, "but do you know where you were before this? What do you remember last, Remi-chan?"
She was silent for a moment, then said, "home... I was home... With mommy..."
"Where's home, may I ask?"
"...The Ryokō village."
"The Ryokō village?" Kina muttered,
"She must be talking about the Hoshi village." I whispered to Kina. It seemed that even the villages thought that the Ryokō demon was the guardian of the mountain. Then I asked Remi, "do you know how to get back there? We can take you."
She looked at me for a while, then slowly nodded her head, "mmhm"
"Alright then let's go!"
Kina and I got Remi to her feet, and we made our way out of the resort. I did want to try to find that Ryokō demon. He was still lurking around this mountain. Might be causing people a lot of trouble too. I needed to take Remi back to her mom first though. Maybe after that, Kina and I could try to find that troublesome demon again. I could even ask the people of the village some questions too.
***
We were now walking in the forest along a sandy path. Remi was leading the way to her home as we stayed close by. Kina was also talking to her. But my mind was everywhere though. I had remembered what the Ryokō demon told me.
I had a uncle. The Hoshi demon was my uncle. Why didn't I ever learn this? And how did the Hoshi demon know about me? I had no clue. But was the Ryokō demon even telling the truth? I didn't know that either. And another thing he said really bothered me as well.
"Your soon to be saviour."
What in the world did that mean? What was going to happen? How in the world was he going to save me? I sighed. I guess I'll find out soon enough... Maybe...
I then felt eyes watching me. I looked at Remi, who was just blankly staring at me with her curious chocolate coloured eyes.
"What is it, Remi-chan?" I asked,
"... Are those real?" She pointed at my purple eyes. Ahh I almost forgot how unnatural my eyes are,
"Oh, yeah they are..." I replied with a nervous laugh,
"...how?"
"Umm," however, before I could reply, Remi turned her head to Kina.
"And are they real?" She pointed at Kina's long white hair.
"Uhh... Yeah?" She replied.
Remi remained silent after that. We all just walked in silence. After a while, Remi suddenly turned to Kina and yanked her hair,
"Agh!" Kina shrieked and jerked to the ground. Then as Remi still had her hand gripped on Kina's hair, she grabbed my arm and started tugging my black cloak as well. And I gotta say, her gripped was quite tight for a ten year old.
"I want 'em!!!!!!!!" Remi yelled.
"Huh?!?!?" Kina and I both said in unison.
"Remi?!"
We all stopped and looked ahead seeing a women wearing a beige village kimono. She had long brown hair and the same chocolate coloured eyes as Remi.
"Another Remi-chan?!" Kina yelled, looking between Remi and the woman, "but an older one?!?!"
I looked blankly at Kina. As Remi yelled, "mommy!" She let Kina and I go, and sprinted towards her mother, who knelt down with open arms. Remi then, tackled her mother into a hug. It was quite a touching moment seeing a parent and her child reunite like this. I couldn't help but smile.
"Oh" I heard Kina say. Probably in realization that the "other Remi-chan" was really just her mother. Then I heard Remi say as she continued to nuzzle herself against her mother.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
"Oh Remi, I missed you! Where have you been?" Her mother said as tears were forming in her eyes. But she still had a soft yet stern voice. Remi shrugged, then said,
"I don't know. But they found me." Remi turned and pointed at Kina and I. Her mother looked at both of us with a shocked expression, then after a while she stood up and held Remi's hand. She smiled at us and said,
"Hello there, my name is Aiko. Thank you for saving my daughter. You don't know how grateful I am to you two." She formally bowed. Then I waved my hands in front of me,
"Oh no! It's alright! We just brought Remi back. It's no big deal."
Remi's mother smiled again, "I still owe a dept to you. Is there anything I could do to thank you?"
Kina and I looked at each other. It seemed we were both thinking the same thing. Then I said,
"Actually... There is one thing we'd like to ask..."
***Rin's POV***
"Hey four-eyes!" I yelled to Yukio who was sitting beside Shura in the lobby, "I'm bored. Give me a manga."
"Huh?" Yukio said with a raised eyebrow, "why would I do that?"
"Because I'm bored."
He groaned then said, "well I didn't bring any. Sorry. Why don't you just walk around a bit or something?"
I frowned the muttered,"whatever" then I turned around and walked down the hall.
I've been feeling different lately. My moods been messed up too. I don't really know why. I even lashed out at Ayana before. But... I've just been feeling... Off... A lot... I've been also feeling like I've forgotten something. I just don't know what. It's weird. I found a balcony and walked out to look at the scenery of the lush green forest and the grey skies.
I still didn't get what Ayana was even talking about either. Warning me about weird things... I didn't get it. I huffed, then propped my elbows on the ledge of the balcony. She was probably pulling a prank on me or something like that. And now that I'm thinking about it... I haven't seen Ayana lately either. Or Kina... Well whatever...
"You feeling down buddy?"
I jumped at the sound of a deep, echoing voice. I turned around but nothing was there. I kept looking around then I heard the same voice say,
"Why don't I help you out?"
Then... Everything went black.
***Ayana's POV***
"Do you know anything about the Ryokō demon?" I asked Aiko. We were now making our way to the Ryokō village.
"Ryokō?" Aiko asked, "Well yes of course, he's the guardian of this mountain and is named after our village."
"Is that... All?" Kina asked.
"yes... All I know at least."
"What about the Hoshi demon?" I asked,
"Hoshi... Demon?" She questioned. My eyes widened. Recognition. I can see it. She recognizes the name?!
"Do you know the Hoshi demon?!" I asked. She seemed a bit unsure to reply, but she then said,
"Well... I do know the name Hoshi... But... I wouldn't call him a demon..." Kina and I were both confused, and I noticed that we had made it to a village. Aiko then said, "Hoshi-San is one of the men who live in this village... Are you referring to him?"
"A person?" Kina questioned and Aiko nodded,
"... Can we meet him?" I asked. Aiko nodded again, then we all continued through the village. I saw so many people. Children smiling and playing games, elders sitting in chairs watching, adults laughing. It was nice. We then stopped in front of a small house.
"Here it is." Aiko said and knocked on the door and called, "Hoshi-San! There are some guests who'd like to meet you!"
It was silent for a moment. Then the door slowly opened revealing an elderly man with grey hair with light blue eyes. He wore a dull shirt with black pants. He looked at Aiko, then at Kina and I.
His eyes seemed to widened when he saw me.
"Hoshi-San," Aiko smiled, "this is Ayana-san and Kina-San"
Suddenly the old man gasped.
"A... Ayana-chan?" I tilted my head and he asked softly, "is... Is that really... You?"
I was still for a moment then I slowly nodded. A smile seemed to grow on his face, then he pulled me into a hug. I stiffened a bit, but I heard him say, "I can't believe it's really you." He pulled back and looked at me and smiled, "you're just like Kaiya... Well except for the eyes and hair." my eyes widened at my mothers name.
"So..." Kina said, "I assume you really are the Hoshi demon?"
The blue eyed man looked at Kina and gave her a sheepish grin, "ahh, yes, I am..."
"... What are you doing here then? What about the Ryokō demon?" I asked and he looked back at me,
"Oh, you heard about that?... Ahh... My bad..."
"Wha? What do you mean?!"
"I umm lost in a game against him?"
"We know that! But aren't you going to do anything?!"
His face got really serious. Then he said, "yes. I just needed some help though." He looked at Kina and I.
"Us?" Kina questioned.
"Yes." Hoshi confirmed,"I need someone to distract Ryokō, but also bring him here. There are some ancient ruins just outside of the village. I will need the do the ceremony there to officially take this place back. But I need Ryokō's presence nearby first. And he won't do it willingly... Didn't those exorcists get my call?"
"Your call?" I questioned,
"Yeah, haven't you two thought about how you got a call about the Hoshi demon from the inside of the mountain?"
Now that I thought about it... It was true. How exactly did someone call from the mountain when everyone had forgotten about the Hoshi demon here?
"So that was you?" I asked Hoshi
"Yes. I couldn't just say 'hey it's the Hoshi demon from mount Hikaru! Could you exorcists help me out?'"
"... True..."Kina and I said in unison.
"But it looks like only you two can help me out. But that's fine." Hoshi looked around the village and then his eyebrows furrowed, "how exactly did you two get here anyway?"
"Oh," Kina looked at Remi and said, "you see umm... She got possessed by the Ryokō demon, but we helped her out, and she brought us here."
"Possessed?!" I heard two voices say. Hoshi and also Aiko. They both looked at Remi who was watching all of us.
"Oh not good." Hoshi muttered,
"Huh? But isn't it okay now? She's not possessed any more..."
"We need to put holy water on her to purify her fully though. Come on." Hoshi grabbed Remi's hand, and we all walked outside of the village and saw a small well.
"This is the villages holy water." He took a bucket of holy water and it was looking like he was making sure not to get it on himself either. He then poured the water on Remi. She shivered from the coldness of the water. Then Aiko quickly picked Remi up and hugged her, "don't worry, she should be fine now." Hoshi said to Aiko.
"Thank you, Hoshi-san" Aiko then left with Remi back to the village leaving Kina and I with Hoshi.
He looked at both of us and said, "shall I show you the ancient ruins?"
Hoshi then took us to the ancient ruins. There was a small cave there. Inside, there were symbols of the night sky. The stars. the moon. It was beautiful. The Ryokō demon took this away? That really was not right.
"Hey... Hoshi?" I asked,
"Hm?"
"Is this place like a... Home... To you?"
He smiled at me then looked at the cave, "yes. It is. This mountain has been in our family for centuries. You know Ayana-chan... This place is your home too."
My eyes widened. "Mine too?"
"Mmhm."
I couldn't help but smile. I had a home. Some kind of family connected to my mother too. It felt great.
I then heard footsteps.
We all turned around seeing...
"Rin?" I questioned.
He was walking our direction. A small smile on his face, but his dark bangs covered his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" I asked,
"Ah not much..." He replied, "someone just stole something of mine. Trying to get it back..."
"Huh? Who? What did they steal?"
"..." Rin stopped in front of me. His fist tightened. Did he lose something important?
Suddenly I heard Kina yell, "Ayana move!"
My eyes widened when I heard Rin say, "you stole it."
He was about to throw a punch at me, but Kina tackled me out of the way. Dodging it. We both fell to the floor but we both quickly got back up and looked at Rin.
"Rin?! What's up with you?!" I yelled,
He only smirked, then looked at me.
I froze.
"Why don't you give me back what's mine, Ayana?" Rin asked,
But... The Rin I was looking at didn't have the same dark blue eyes.
They were red.
Red as the Ryokō demon's.
A/N:
Hey people! Ahh those cliffhangers aren't they great? XD Sorry the update was kinda late too. Exams aren't fun -.- but they're done now! And Summer's FINALLY HERE!!!! Get ready for more updates hopefully! The pic above is just of Ayana and Kina. 😚 Anyways...
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