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|| CHAPTER 4 | Five Pairs of Statues ||
"Shall we continue our story, child?
"This one will tell us about the five pairs of statues of the five great beasts known to symbolize the clans. The ones who guarded their clans and bloodlines, with other beings representing the sub-clans of the Greater Five.
"Do you think there are legends behind them, little one? Will it be the burning flames of the underworld? Or will their myths contain the sufferings or perhaps, the reasons behind their kind being worshipped?
"Now, let's dive in together, shall we? Little one, this tale will surely enlighten you on your queries, I assure you."
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Kaoru and the triplets walked to the kitchen together, with Shizuka also holding her father's plates and cup, him thanking his daughter afterwards.
The whole family walked over to the front gate together, some having light chatters filled the warm summer air. A pitch-black car had been parked in front, with a handsome young man beside it.
The man donned medium-length maroon hair that was somewhat wavy and a pair of hazel eyes. His skin was fair and he wore a black uniform of a butler with a dark-red tie to complete his looks.
On the male's left chest, there's his name embedded neatly on it, spelling 'Akagi Yuuma.'
"Yo, Yuumacchi! Looking charming like always I see, hahahah!" Kazuto greeted the butler with a bright grin, proceeding to go inside the car.
Mitsuru followed behind him and nodded in acknowledgement, followed with a smile. The others trailed behind the older ones as well.
"Energetic as always I see, Kazuto-sama. How about you use that never-ending stamina of yours to good use at school later, hmm?" the young Akagi mimicked back, raising an eyebrow while smiling.
Akagi Yuuma.
–– he's the Head Butler of the Ichijou Family, despite being only a few years older than Kaoru. He and Mitsuru were the only logical ones in the group of oddballs.
Aside from being the sweetest man Shizuka had ever encountered, he's also the third one she would lose to after her father and grandfather.
–– they were just simply too hard to beat.
It's no wonder. The now twenty-four-year-old Akagi did train below her grandfather's teaching, after all. Those who trained under her grandfather all had histories with the Ichijou Clan, may it be bad ones or good ones.
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Kazuto grinned ear to ear at the butler's words, letting out a few cackles.
"I'm planning to, don't worry! Oh, and I'm gonna be home late today, I have early club activities," he informed and laughed merrily at the end.
"I have one too, Akagi-san. I hope you don't mind the sudden change of our schedules," Mitsuru chimed in with his usual soft curve up his lips.
Nodding at Kazuto and Mitsuru's sudden statements, the young butler smiled to assure the teen. "It's no problem, Mitsuru-sama. My schedule today isn't that packed, so I can manage."
The man proceeded to close the car door and got in the driver's seat. The maroon-headed butler then put his right hand in front of him and wore a golden bracelet-like tool onto his right wrist.
The item was adorned with carvings and a fiery-red ruby gemstone planted in the middle of it. Silver strings attached themselves to the bracelet and the car, as though they had a mind of their own. The strings were almost invisible that one had to squint their eyes to see them.
Yuuma then raised both of his arms in front to grab the steering wheel. A small, high-pitched 'ding' was heard from the red-coloured gemstone and it started glowing. The car began to move forward, getting faster every second.
–– they eventually began to drive at a steady pace.
Their ride to school was full of chatters and banters. Some laughed, while others kept arguing about trivial matters–– mostly Kazuto, Yuzuru, and their only sister. Eito and Kaoru were having their own different conversation while observing the other children.
They traversed some marketplaces and magic shops along the way, with Shizuka and Mitsuru glancing out at the stores now and then. The shops with wands and potions, spare parts by the crooks of their corners piqued their interest more than the normal ones.
Eventually, the group arrived at a huge, golden-painted gate.
Each side of the gate was decorated with stone statues of five animals of different kings. The eight siblings observed them intensely, eyeing each detail of their forms.
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The first ones they saw were the statues of foxes.
The one on the left had markings on its forehead, making a shape of a flame, a water drop, mountains, and a whirlwind. The four symbols or elements were also carved on each of its paws.
One of them––specifically the right fox–– was seen standing on its four legs, with two twin-tails behind it. One of the tails had a carving of the sun, while the other had a moon, symbolizing the light and dark attribute.
The fox's eyes were open, revealing stone orbs with a four-pointed star on the right eye and an upside-down crescent moon on the left one.
The second animal that stood tall was the pair of tiger statues.
There was a third eye on its forehead, wide open. the tiger's tail emitted fire at the end, covered in what seemed to be vines. Splashes of water formed from its hind legs, the earth, and stones poking out under the water.
The left tiger also had the same looking eye on its forehead. A shape of a star, larger than its eye, was carved over the third orb. Its tail was splitting in half at the end, giving it two tails, both of them facing up. From each end, dangled a pocket watch and an hourglass that worked.
The third pair were giant tortoises.
One tortoise on the left had a map of the constellations carved onto its shell. It was facing forward towards visitors and the main road.
The right tortoise also had the same position as the left one. But instead of constellations, a map of the world was carved in. Its appearance was pretty much the same, but one should squint to see their differences.
True, there were also wrinkles everywhere, but instead of a pair of eyes, this one had two pairs. They couldn't see them since all of its eyes were closed.
The fourth statues were birds.
–– phoenixes to be exact.
The left phoenix was standing with its wings closed on rocky terrain. On top of its beak, there's an oval-shaped gemstone. The tail feathers all looked like dozens of long ribbons, with a diamond-shaped stone dangling at each end.
The other one was seen flapping its wings, with its inner wings decorated with unknown letters and symbols. Its beak held a stone sphere, its eyes made out of flames, flaring throughout its entire face, making a mask-like shape. the tail was carved like a river with flowers and leaves floating on it.
Last but not least, dragons from the written legends.
Built beside the left phoenix, there's an eastern dragon seen circling an egg-like stone. It seemed to be in a protecting sort of manner. It had longhorns, with splitting ends. Its 'moustaches' were long and, from its scales, came flowing water.
Its other half was a western dragon, built to the right end. Western dragons were known to be the most brutal reptiles that had ever existed in the four known realms. The end of its tail flaming, with its big wings folded onto its back. There were scars all over it.
Though it wasn't their first time seeing those statues, the five pairs felt somewhat... alive.
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Going inside the gate, three big and tall castle-like building was built with plants and other things, decorating each corner of it. Arriving at a large circular space, the car stopped and the siblings then proceeded to come out one by one.
"Study well and good luck on your first day at school. Don't go around making troubles now, especially the three of you."
The three-pointed males–– Kazuto, Yuzuru, and Konata–– nodded awkwardly at their father's firm statement.
It was more like a warning than a statement, really.
The car proceeded to drive away, leaving the eight Ichijou siblings that were about to go their separate ways. but not without leaving some last words in.
"Shall we get going then? We don't wanna be late on our first day," Mitsuru said softly to them, earning agreeing nods from each one.
They walked towards the main parts of the three buildings together, ignoring the other students who ventured around the large place with curiosity.
"We had a really long holiday. I'm sure you're itching to just run around the place and make trouble. Don't go around looking for more troubles, haha~"
The previously pointed boys gulped at Mitsuru's repetition of their father's words. They knew he just wanted to remind them, but somehow, they had a bad feeling that if they were to disobey, they would probably get disowned.
Mitsuru then chuckled softly, "It wouldn't be a pleasurable experience to be called to the principal's office first thing first."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Konata cocked his head in confusion, blinking several times.
"Kazuto got called to the principal's office last year, apparently," Kaoru sighed out and looked away, keeping his eyes on the flowers he suddenly found more interesting.
The triplets all wore a slightly concerned look–– not from the lack of time they were having, but due to how Kazuto never told them about this before when he was late on his first year in high school.
"How come Kazu-nii never told us about this?" Yuzuru grumbled out, grunting profusely and rolled his eyes.
"Because I'm a lucky charm, of course!"
"In your dreams."
"Hey, how mean!"
Mitsuru chuckled with closed eyes at their lively interactions. He then turned towards the oldest of the eight and quietly spoke, "Kaoru-niisama, I suggest that you go to your class now. I believe that you did mention being forced to come early this year?"
Kaoru heaved a small breath and ignored his siblings' continuous banters in the background. He wordlessly nodded at Mitsuru's words and went to the third building from the left, a huge university.
"You, too. Time's ticking."
The youngest twins nodded in understanding and said their goodbyes of the day to Mitsuru and the remaining four.
Hinata and Konata went in the opposite direction from him, towards Saint Xilverein Junior High School, after saying goodbyes to each other.
This left the remaining five adolescents to walk together towards the middle building, a high school it seemed. How the silent air was filled with the arguments of Yuzuru and Kazuto.
–– it was a miracle that none of them got head-chopped by Mizuto yet.
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Stepping foot for the first time into the building, the triplets looked in awe around the building. There were students of every race and size filling the corridor.
"Well, this is where we part ways then. You three know your way to the sixth gym, right? You were toured by the Student Council last week," queried Mitsuru with slight concern. Kazuto stood beside him grinning widely.
"Of course! We're not that forgetful, Mitsu-nii. The one who is, is none other than the one beside you," said the taupe-brown-haired boy all the while, glancing towards his energetic older brother, earning a pout from the said person in response.
"Hey, I'm not THAT forgetful! I remember all the moves and techniques in swordplay!"
"Do you remember where to find medicinal herbs in the wild though? Or maybe the names of famous human tribes? You probably don't even remember spells and whatnot in junior high school."
"Uhh... Hey, let's get going Mitsucchi! The bell's gonna ring soon! You guys have to go to the gymnasium for the welcoming ceremony, right...? Goodbye then, enjoy your trip there!!!"
"Yeah, we ar–– HEY! Don't change the subject! Come back here, you, Sword Freak!!!"
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Parting ways, the third-year duo went to the stairs going up to the third floor while the triplets all headed towards the gym building beside the main school building. The place was crowded with first-years, chattering and laughing among themselves.
A male senior, presumably a member of the student council, yelled at the first-years to get in line with each of their respective classes.
His voice was already considerably loud but was drowned again by the obnoxious chatters of the first-years.
Eventually, they all began lining up after another male member of the student council clapped his hands loudly. The bickers all ended slowly leading to complete silence.
A tall, middle-aged man with long, golden-blonde hair and pale skin walked up to the stage. He went behind a podium with a large, maroon-coloured leather book on it. The book had gold, triangular ends, and an aged look to it.
The golden-blonde-haired man then cleared his throat, placing his lips near the mic and began the start of his speech.
"A warm welcome to each one of you. My name is Hallevir en Soleis. I am the director and headmaster of Saint Xilverein High School.
"It is a great pleasure seeing you all gathered here today in this perfect weather for the opening ceremony."
He then brought up his right hand towards his left chest.
"As you can see, I am an elf. A light elf, to be precise. I came from the Sacred Forest of Istervia. As you may know, we light elves all wield light magic. But, only the low-levelled ones. A Light attribute is rare, as you may know."
True to his words, he was a light elf, proved by his pointed ears and waist-length, golden-blonde hair. His eyes were gold, similar to the triplets' father.
Light elves were known to wield incredible magic with Light attributes that had excellent healing properties and fast-moving spells.
"Well, you're not here to hear me talk about myself now, are you?"
Followed by his deep chuckles, he's about to continue his words when the door to the gym suddenly burst open.
–– standing at the doorway, a silhouette of a young boy was seen.
The boy had lavender hair and a glowing violaceous pair of eyes. His fair skin looked darker because of the bright light behind him.
The male's wavy locks were a bit dishevelled and his school uniform was a bit out of place. It looked to most that he's in a hurry before arriving here.
From the looks of it, he was also a first-year student.
The lavender-haired male then broke the silence of the gym with his footsteps. All eyes were on him, but he didn't seem to care. Starting to speak loudly while heading towards the headmaster and smiling, the triplets found his voice very familiar.
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"Sorry I'm late, there's a slight problem on my way here, I hope you don't mind."
|| CHAPTER 4 | Five Pairs of Statues - To be continued... ||
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