NOTE! This story includes some characters that have not appeared in the previous chapters and begins before the Dark Shadow's invasion.
"Hey, Mike!" A black haired woman with violet eyes bounced across the Library before hugging her partner, Micheal Johnathan Evans.
The said auburn-haired boy was sitting on a foldable stool. He was leisurely cataloguing the books that had been misplaced around the Library before he was rudely interrupted by Kagura Lee, an overly touchy senior partner with an annoying outgoing personality. He almost scowled at her for invading into his personal space when he saw her grinning mischievously.
"What?" He growled, his irritation immediately shooting up to his limit.
"I heard there are newbies coming. And this batch is stronger than all the previous batches." Kagura answered, hopping on the tip of her toes excitedly without releasing her hold on Mike.
"So?" He slotted a book into the shelf with much difficulty due to Kagura. "Our batch is also stronger than the others."
"I know!" She released her hug and placed her hands on her hips. "The more strong Guardians there are, the more leverage we have to win the fight against Dark Shadow and his Dark Army!"
A bright smile appeared on her face. Mike turned around to face her but nearly got a shock. An image of a short black haired girl replaced Kagura's figure. The mysterious girl was half a head shorter than her and instead of violet eyes, had warm brown eyes that twinkled when she smiled.
He blinked his eyes and saw Kagura again.
His frown deepened. These occurrences had been happening time and time again along with odd dreams of the same girl. What is the connection between him and the girl?
"Mike? Helloooo?"
He snapped out of his thoughts when she waved her hands in front of him. He slapped them away with a loud "smack" sound.
"Ouch! You have been out of sorts lately." She complained while rubbing her sore hands.
Mike scoffed at her exaggeration. Although the sound was loud, it didn't mean that he had hit her very hard.
"Anyway Mike, do you want to come and see them?"
Mike glanced at Kagura's eager look before shifting his gaze at the stack of books beside his stool. It almost rivalled his sitting height. He sighed before standing up.
I can come back and store them back into their shelves later. It won't hurt to stretch for a bit. He thought to himself as he followed her out of the Library.
~~~~~
"Argh! There's such a huge crowd." Kagura whined as she darted around the back of the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of the front.
"There's always a crowd when the newbies come here." He rolled his eyes. "Now, just stay still. They will come through here." Mike groaned as he clamped his right hand on the shoulder of the jittery woman.
"Right. I forgot about that. Sorry." She smiled sheepishly while rubbing her head.
Mike shook his head disapprovingly.
Just where did all her boundless energy come from? If it was him, he would have dropped onto the ground, tired and breathless from all that activity.
The image of the brown-eyed black haired girl appeared in his mind again. Both of them were quite similar, could Kagura be...?
No. He shook his head firmly. There was not an ounce of similarity between them, only that annoying, outgoing personality.
Right on time, there were whoops and cheers of welcome from the front that spread to the back. And the crowd began to spread for the new Guardians to enter into the Library.
"Ah! I see them now!" Kagura cried out in delight as she pointed at the small group of amateur Guardians.
As per the traditions, they arrived in white attire. They were slightly uncomfortable due to the fact that their souls had moved into the magical bodies that they now reside in instead of their previous mortal bodies. They were also slightly disoriented because they all had no memories of their past.
This was one of the recently erected rules of being a Guardian when the Elders took over the Library when their Creator disappeared: None were allowed to retain their past memories when they decide to be a Guardian after their death.
Why there was such a rule, no one knows. But everyone abided by this particular rule dutifully as though there was this unspoken rule that there would be unspeakable punishments for those who tried to regain their memories. Then again, who would try to remember something in the past when they have the job of a Guardian who can travel across different Worlds and have magical powers?
There was a sudden flash of pain that Mike couldn't help but winced.
"Oh! Mike, that girl's hair! It's so blue. Ain't that blue-tiful?" Kagura joked lightly as she gestured towards one of the new female Guardians whose blue hair was a stark contrast to those around her.
While it wasn't odd to have different hair colours, Mike sensed an unexplainable familiarity with the girl while the spike of pain in his head appeared more and more as she walked closer towards them. He raised his hand to massage his head. When Kagura noticed this, concern appeared in her face and she used her healer magic to ease his pain. He softly thanked her while he observed the group, particularly the blue haired girl.
As though sensing his gaze, the girl met his.
Her sunset, cat-like eyes against his forest green, round eyes.
Then, like being struck by lightning, Mike realised that this girl was the same girl in his dreams.