Chapter 27: Faint Memories

                        The ninja party is walking through some barren wasteland. Shou is falling behind and then falls down on the ground.

            “I can’t walk anymore… Water, I need water, for the love of God someone carry me…” Shou says desperately.

            “You can carry yourself.” Mikae says as she walks.

            “I’m trying to imagine you with a personality.” Shou says sarcastically.

            “Damn n***a, I always hate it when we cross this place, so I feel ya.” Tesshu says wiping the sweat off his face.

            “You always make the same statement.” Shiemi remarks.

            “But it’s true.” Mikae says.

            “Ughh… How long do we have to walk to get there?” Shou asks.

            “Not much, we’ve traveled most of this damn wasteland.” Tesshu answers.

            “I sense people nearby.” Mikae says.

            “Then we must be close to the docks on the south.” Shiemi remarks.

            “Finally!” Shou says with a comical expression.

                        They then spot the docks Shiemi was talking about and hurry towards the docks.

Shou hurries to the nearby market desperately saying to a vendor. “Water! Water please!”

            “In this place water is like gold, so you better pay up.” The market vendor says.

            “Wha? Ok, fine.” Shou reaches into his pocket and hands over the money. “Here’s your money, now give me my cup of water!”

            “Sure thing stranger.” The market vendor says handing Shou the cut of water.

                        Shou quickly grabs the cup of water and drinks it. “Ahhh, yeah, now I feel much better.”

            “Finished?” Mikae asks annoyed.

            “You know, some people cause happiness wherever they go, others, whenever they go.” Shou says.

                        Mikae narrows her eyes.

            “How come you guys aren’t as messed up as me anyways?” Shou asks curiously.

            “We were trained to endure such things.” Shiemi replies.

            “But so was I.” Shou says.

            “Yeah buddy, but you don’t remember s**t, so it ain’t the same anymore.” Tesshu explains.

            “Let’s hurry and get a ship to the islands.” Shiemi says walking ahead.

            “Islands?” Shou asks.

            “That’s where the ruins of the hidden ninja village are.” Mikae answers.

            “Why an island?” Shou asks.

            “It was harder for anyone to find us in an island, perfect for training too.” Tesshu replies as he walks.

                        The party takes the ship to the islands, on the ship Shou is on the ship deck looking out to the sea. “I wonder how everyone’s doing, are they fine? Hmm… I’ll come back, don’t worry guys.”

                        Meanwhile Amarth is still searching for Venart’s house until he spots a house with a rather big green landscape. Hisana suddenly feels a familiar Spirit Force in this city and thinks. “Could it be? She’s here?”

            “There it is.” Amarth says.

            “Finally, anybody would think you needed a damn map to get there.” Shizuru says upset.

            “Damn you’re a feisty one, I wonder how Kyoshi can keep up with you.” Amarth says shaking his head.

            “Please, don’t drag me into this.” Kyoshi says with a sad voice.

            “Hold on, I’m landing.” Amarth says landing on the landscape, the party gets off.

            “So this is Venart’s home?” Kazumi asks observing the house.

            “Yeah, now time to go look for him.” Amarth says.

            “No need for that.” A man’s voice says.

                        The party looks behind them and sees an Elf with dark purple spiky hair and deep black eyes dressed with a robe.

            “Venart.” Amarth says surprised.

            “Long time no see Amarth, I see you came with Riek as usual.” Venart says staring at Kyoshi.

            “No, this is his son, Kyoshi.” Amarth says.

            “Kyoshi? Hmm… you’re definitely the spitting image of your father when he was young.” Venart remarks.

                        Kyoshi lowers his head.

            “Reik is dead.” Amarth says.

            “Ohhh, I’m sorry to hear that, I do hope you enlighten me how’d this happen, he was a great friend, but I’ve lost so many, it doesn’t strike me as hard as when I was younger.” Venart says.

            “We need a favor.” Kyoshi says boldly.

            “A favor? We haven’t even met properly, the favor can come later.” Venart says walking past by Kyoshi.

            “But-” Kyoshi is cut off by Venart.

            “No buts’ young man, I don’t want to hear another word, let’s go inside shall we?” Venart says as he walks inside.

                        The party follows Venart inside; as they walk, they see many strange things like potions of different colors, and weird artifacts.

            “Excuse me Venart, but what is this room?” Kazumi asks curiously.

            “Ohhh my, we have a curious one, I’m glad you asked, this is the room where I keep all my treasure; I have things here that are older than your great grandparents, hehehe.” Venart laughs.

            “Wow, hey, is this pixie dust?” Kazumi asks looking at some powder.

            “Ughh, yeah… back in the eighties we used to call it nose candy.” Venart answers.

                        There is a moment of silence in the room.

            “Yes, now shall we move on?” Venart asks.

                        As they continue walking, a strange big egg-shaped stone begins to glow, Kazumi stops and stares at it, Venart turns around and sees what’s happening.

            “What? This can’t be right.” Venart says confused.

            “What’s wrong?” Kyoshi asks concerned.

            “Look, it’s about to hatch.” Venart says slightly worried.

                        The egg-shaped stone breaks and a blue light comes out flying like crazy all over the place.

            “A firefly?” Shizuru asks amazed.

            “No, a sealed fairy.” Venart corrects her.

                        The light then stops to glow as much and the fairy lands on Kazumi’s shoulder, she has short hair and is dressed in black dress with some cloths hanging out from the back.

            “What the?” Kazumi asks staring at the fairy.

            “You break it you buy it.” Venart says.

            “What? But I didn’t break it!” Kazumi says defensively.

            “It reacted to your Mystic Force, you must have been fated to enter my house or something.” Venart explains.

            “What do you mean?” Kazumi asks.

            “Hey! Don’t you ignore me!” The fairy says annoyed.

            “Oh I’m sorry Faye.” Venart says smiling.

            “Is that my name?” The fairy asks.

            “How did you know her name?” Hisana asks warily.

            “I know somewhat about her and the egg-shaped stone.” Venart responds.

            “Hmmm.” Kyoshi wonders.

            “It seems you’re quite the special one.” Venart comments.

            “Me? Why?” Kazumi asks.

            “She reacted to you and now you have been bestowed with a special power.” Venart responds.

            “Power?” Kazumi asks puzzled.

            “Yeah, Faye, explain.” Venart says.

            “Huh? Why me?” Faye asks confused.

            “You reacted to her right?” Venart asks.

            “Well yeah, but I’m not really sure why, but I do know that with my help you can become powerful.” Faye says cheerfully.

            “Powerful?” Kazumi asks.

            “Sure, the legend says that the person who is chosen by the fairy in that egg-shaped stone would be granted dark magic. Well, not exactly any particular legend, my dear mother, Faris Venart told me. She also told me to beware of the Fay, but I was too small, I do not remember her warnings, just the fairy’s name.” Venart explains.

            “Dark magic?” Kazumi questions.

            “You know, spells like fire, ice, lightning, earth, stuff like that.” Faye says smiling.

            “Is it possible?” Kazumi asks.

            “Yeah, especially you, that you have Mystic Force, you’ll need training though.” Venart replies.

            “You’re going to train me?” Kazumi asks.

            “I never said I would train you, why would I?” Venart asks.

                        Kazumi makes a little kitten face with big wide eyes almost about to cry.

            “Okay, okay, you win; just don’t make such a cute face again.” Venart says.

            “Hahaha.” Hisana laughs.

            “How long will it take to train her?” Kyoshi asks curiously.

            “I’m only going to teach her the basics of spells; she’ll have to learn the rest on her own.” Venart answers. “Before anything, let’s go drink some elixir.”

                        As they go to have drinks, Lloyd, Seshiro and Yumi are inside the chamber sitting down on the floor listening to Yusuke’s instructions. “I want you all to close your eyes and concentrate on feeling Spirit Force all around you, anyone’s, and everyone’s Spirit Forces.”

                        The party closes their eyes.

            “Ahhh d****t!” Lloyd says annoyed.

            “What’s wrong?” Yusuke asks.

            “I hate all this concentrating!” Lloyd shouts annoyed.

            “Just be patient, I’ll tell you what to do next.” Yusuke says sitting in front of the party.

            “Alright.” Lloyd says still annoyed.

            “Now Yumi, this will be a double training for you, I want you to release your Spirit Force, not just the usual amount, try to release even more.” Yusuke explains.

            “But why?” Yumi asks confused.

            “It seems you have an inexplicable amount of spirit force within you; it’s even leaking out of you as we speak.” Yusuke replies.

            “Why is that? I’ve never noticed.” Yumi asks.

            “I’m not sure myself, that’s why I’m going to take you to Venart after this, he might know something, and Lloyd also mentioned you have light elemental powers.” Yusuke says.

            “Yeah.” Yumi nods.

            “Anyways, do as I say.” Yusuke says.

            “I’ll try.” Yumi says closing her eyes once again.

            “Don’t try, just do it, slowly, you don’t need to rush it, concentrate as much as you can, do it calmly.” Yusuke says.

            “Right.” Yumi nods again.

            “Alright, Lloyd, Seshiro, I want you to try and feel Yumi’s hidden Spirit Force, concentrate on her; I know you can do it.” Yusuke says.

                        They begin concentrating; Yumi is releasing her Spirit Force little by little.

            “I can’t draw anymore.” Yumi says.

            “You can just keep trying.” Yusuke says.

                        As they talk Seshiro makes an expression of shock, Yusuke notices Seshiro and says. “You finally feel the Spirit Force Yumi has don’t you?”

            “Yeah, I can’t believe it, it’s impossible to have such a huge Spirit Force, but it feels different though, something stronger than normal energy.” Seshiro says.

            “You’re a quick learner, I like that.” Yusuke says smiling.

            “This isn’t fair, how come Seshiro got it before me?” Lloyd asks annoyed.

            “Shut up and keep concentrating.” Yusuke shouts.

                        Yumi widens her eyes as well; she feels her own Spirit Force. “I can feel it.”

            “Good, now the only one left is Lloyd.” Yusuke says.

            “Hey, give me a second, I’m still at it.” Lloyd says still annoyed.

            “Concentrate on Yumi’s Spirit Force, you’ll eventually feel it.” Yusuke says.

                        Lloyd concentrates as hard as he can, after a while he too is surprised as well as the rest.

            “Damn, I never knew Yumi had all that power!” Lloyd says staring at Yumi in disbelief.

            “Finally, now all that’s left is for Yumi to completely release her Spirit Force.” Yusuke states.

                        Yumi keeps on concentrating, her Spirit Force is still at the same level she always has, after a while a she opens her eyes and Yusuke notices her eyes turn black.

            “Yumi wait!” Yusuke yells.

                        Yumi’s eyes completely turn pitch black, she is no longer listening, Yusuke then touches Yumi’s pressure point on her neck swiftly, she falls unconscious.

            “What the hell happened to Yumi?” Lloyd asks.

            “Yeah, she wasn’t responding.” Seshiro says surprised.

            “I’m not sure, but we have to take her to Venart.” Yusuke says worried.

            “Huh?” Seshiro feels something.

            “You feel it too?” Lloyd asks.

            “Yeah, Kyoshi, Shizuru, Hisana and Kazumi are here, in this city.” Seshiro replies.

            “How the hell did they get here?” Lloyd asks.

            “I see you’re finally feeling every little bit of Spirit Force around, anyways, let’s hurry to Venart.” Yusuke says.

            “But what about looking for our friends?” Seshiro asks.

            “We’ll deal with that later, we have to know what’s happening to Yumi.” Yusuke says walking out of the chamber.

            “Right, move it or lose it.” Lloyd says to Seshiro as he picks up Yumi.

                        He along Seshiro follows Yusuke to Venart’s house, they then arrive and enter.

            “Seems like Yusuke’s here with some company.” Venart comments.

            “Yusuke?” Kyoshi asks.

                        Yusuke comes in with Lloyd and Seshiro, the rest of the party are surprised to see Lloyd, Seshiro and Yumi.

            “So you guys were here after all.” Seshiro says surprised.

            “You knew?” Hisana asks suspiciously.

            “Yumi!” Kazumi runs towards Yumi.

            “Venart, there’s something strange about that girl.” Yusuke states.

            “I know, I’ve been feeling her Spirit Force for some time now.” Venart says.

            “Then, do you know anything?” Yusuke questions.

            “I might.” Venart says unsure.

            “Venart…” Yusuke says staring at Venart.

            “Did something happen to her?” Venart asks curiously.

            “As she was trying to release her Spirit Force her eyes turned pitch black and she was unresponsive.” Yusuke explains.

            “Hmmm… reminds me of someone, happened a very long time ago.” Venart says.

            “Care to tell us?” Yusuke asks.

            “Sure, but let’s tend to this girl first, wait till she’s conscience, then I’ll tell you all about it.” Venart responds.

                        As the party waits for Yumi to regain conscience, somewhere in some old ruins Lucien appears, walking towards some strange gate with many symbols.

            “I hope you called me for something important, it took me pretty long to get here.” Lucien says.

                        A woman with short dark brown hair and black eyes walks towards him and says. “The gate, I was able to open it, it took some time, but I did it.”

            “Excellent work Astrid.” Lucien says as he walks through the huge gate and reaches what seems like another gate with some ancient inscriptions.

            “Can you read it?” Astrid asks.

            “Let’s find out.” Lucien touches some of the inscriptions and begins to read aloud. “It says, only those who light the way may enter.”

            “Those as in more than one.” Astrid comments.

            “It means I really did need that girl.” Lucien says.

            “Hmmmm…” Astrid ponders.

            “Wait, there’s more to the writing, the way to power is always shrouded by light, and dark, one light must become dark if they wish for power to come.” Lucien reads aloud.

            “What does it mean?” Astrid asks.

            “Humph… if there are two lights one must become dark, meaning that the only way to gain power is to have light and darkness, seems I need to bring her here and use her, but here’s a problem.” Lucien explains.

            “What?” Astrid asks.

            “How does light become dark?” Lucien asks himself.

            “I saw some inscriptions like these in one of the chambers you haven’t checked.” Astrid says.

            “Take me there.” Lucien says.

                        As they walk towards the chamber Astrid was talking about, the ship where the ninja party is on arrives at the island.

            “We’re here bro.” Tesshu says cheerfully.

            “So this is the island, remind me to get some souvenirs.” Shou says sarcastically.

            “Yeah.” Shiemi smirks.

            “We’ll be waiting for you, if you’re not here by tomorrow afternoon we’ll leave back to the port, we’ll be back in two days after tomorrow if anything should happen.” The captain says.

            “Don’t worry captain; we’ll be here in a while if not tomorrow morning.” Tesshu says.

            “Good thing you’re paying me plenty.” The captain says.

            “Let’s get goin’.” Tesshu says.

                        They all walk for a few hours until they reach the ruins, there is rubble all over, nothing is really left standing except for a large statue of a ninja right in the middle of the ruins.

            “Ring any bells?” Mikae asks.

                        Shou looks all around and faintly begins to remember some things in the past, but hardly. “I remember very little things, mostly seem blurry to me.”

                        Unexpectedly a woman’s voice is heard from the distance. “So you lost your memory, never thought such a thing would happen to you of all people, Shou.”

                        Suddenly Ushima appears in front of the ninja statue carrying a scythe and a sword, as soon as Shou sees her he suddenly remembers her and mostly everything that happened to him.

            “Ushima?” Shou says shocked.

            “Huh? You got your memory back?” Tesshu asks surprised.

                        Shou falls on one knee on the ground as he holds his head. “Ughhh.”

            “You alright?” Mikae asks worried.

            “Yeah…” Shou replies.

            “So you remember me…” Ushima says.

            “What are you doing here? I thought you were dead!” Tesshu asks.

            “As you see I’m alive, I’m now part of Gen-Exis…” Ushima says.

            “What? No… Why?” Shou asks stunned.

            “That doesn’t matter anymore…” Ushima says.

            “If you’re part of Gen-Exis that means you’re our enemy.” Shiemi says staring at Ushima seriously.

            “Yes, I am.” Ushima nods.

                        Shiemi and Mikae attack head on at the same time throwing kunais and shurikens at Ushima, but she disappears and appears behind them ready for the kill, but Tesshu unsheathes his sword and blocks her swiftly preventing Ushima from striking Shiemi and Mikae.

            “It seems you really are our enemy Ushima, I thought you came back to be with Shou again, but I was wrong for a second.” Tesshu comments.

            “I’m no longer his fiancée.” Ushima says suddenly vanishing and appearing on top of them making hand seals quickly and unleashing a lightning attack on the party. Shou then throws his spear in between the party before the lightning strikes, as the lightning bolt is about to hit, all the current only runs through the spear thus sparring the party of the attack.

            “Damn…” Ushima backs away.

                        The ninja party makes hand seals at the same time almost synchronized and throws a huge fireball at the same time combining with each other therefore making it very powerful. Ushima is about to land on the enormous fireball, but she suddenly releases her massive Spirit Force and with one hand seal, a vast flood comes out of her mouth and puts down the flames.

            “What Spirit Force.” Mikae remarks amazed.

            “How in the world did you manage to get that much Spirit Force?” Tesshu asks shocked.

            “None of your business.” Ushima says rapidly disappearing and knocks out Shiemi and Mikae. She then quickly unsheathes her sword and attacks Tesshu, but Tesshu evades, suddenly Ushima fades away in front of him and appears behind Tesshu about to deal the finishing blow, but Shou is able to block her sword with his spear.

            “You stop me again…” Ushima says angrily.

            “I won’t let you kill my friends…” Shou says determined.

            “Hmm…” Ushima stands back and says. “For now I’ll be going…”

            “Wait!” Shou tries to stop her.

                        Ushima turns completely black and fades away.

            “Damn, why is she going against us?” Tesshu asks confused.

            “She said she’s in Gen-Exis now, but we’re lucky.” Shou comments.

            “Why you say that?” Tesshu asks puzzled.

            “She was going easy on us; she didn’t use her scythe, the weapon she mastered completely.” Shou states.

            “True, what are we gonna do dog?” Tesshu asks.

            “For now let’s just rest here and wait for the girls to wake up.” Shou says.

            “Yeah, good idea bro, you’re surprisingly serious now.” Tesshu remarks.

            “Maybe the old me is surfacing, haha.” Shou laughs.

Reviews

[Felipe]

ushima seems tpo eb very strong as i expected, shizuru is a feisty one lol but she is awesome, she fits very well with kyoshi man, venart is kinda laidback, for someone who has lost friends regularly and stuff, though he is not uncaring, great chap man!