Morning came quick, with no time to waste, we swiftly ate breakfast and packed our items. We headed for the gate and Asaka walked up to the guardian, she took out some sort of pendant from her sleeves. We held our breath in silence...I'm too anxious and nervous right now...
"Permission granted...for you...Asaka, what's the meaning of this? Why bring outsiders to our country? Didn't the Shogun herself forbid any outsiders?"
"L-let me explain!"
"There is no reason for you to explain! Are you committing treason right now by defending the outsiders?!"
"At least give them a chance! There's someone of royal blood here from Rayonaird!"
"The Shogun hasn't announced anything yet!"
"She asked me in secrecy!"
The guardian kept on arguing with Asaka in a deep scruffy voice...we just stood there in silence...something's telling me to go up and confront that thing right now...so I did, walking a few steps and out of seclusion, the others tried to grab me to no avail.
"Tarus!"
"So you're one of the opposed outsiders eh?"
"So what if I am?"
"You have a strong will child, I respect that, but under the shogun's orders, we are to forbid any outsiders from entering our country!"
"Can't you at least take the one of royal blood?!"
"Unfortunately for you, I can't!"
Then suddenly, the guardian was armed with balls of fire sprouting from its two large bulky arms ready to attack. A huge gust of wind swept up the surrounding petals of sakura, covering my line of sight.
"Geez, you always fight by yourself!"
"Why are you so careless..."
"Tarus, you should care more about yourself!"
"They are right, be more selfless...and going in battle alone is a suicide mission."
"You guys..."
As the flowers were swept away, everyone was in battle mode, Jade brandished a long silver sword with some emerald gemstones acting as the pommel...it was well designed with some images of something flowing, presumably air. While Nanako on the other hand, raised her katana in the air, she told me about it once during our trip that her katana was something her parents left behind before they passed. Sellainor summoned some type of floating grimoire in front of her...this is my first time seeing one in action as back in my home, teachers used grimoires as guides to help us learn during class, not for combat! Lastly, Celene was in the back, two metal daggers formed out of her hands...so she received an iron crown fragment...that's impressive.
"This is going to be a fierce battle! Let's give it our all and finish this quickly!"
"Aye!"
"Let's do this!"
Fighting for the first time with the others gives me the courage to fight and my mood has been boosted! Running straight ahead at the guardian, I immediately summoned the Nemax and reverted it into its second and large form. Imbuing it with corrosion will surely do the trick. The others were going to flank its sides all at once, I readied by raising the Nemax overhead. It was now or never...
"HALT!"
Just as we were inches away from killing the guardian, we suddenly couldn't move...what kind of person would have this sheer magnitude of power...
"S-Shogun!"
The guardian knelt on its feet as there was a person on top of the wall...clad in black oriental clothes, with long white flowing hair and deep dark eyes...she was something not to be played with...she has an aura equivalent of the demon lord...with a stern face, she gazed upon me...I don't like where this is going...
"You, boy...how are you moving your right leg? Speak!"
"How would I know?!"
"Answering back eh?"
"What about it? Do you have some sort of gravity manipulation?"
"You catch up quick, I'm certainly impressed, but sadly you're an outsider, and I can't do anythi-"
She cut off in the middle of what she was going to say...
"That snow-white hair...those dark lifeless eyes...could it be...your the one from the folk tale?"
"Folk tale?"
The king of Rayonaird also claimed something special about people with white hair...though she doesn't seem to care about Sellainor nor Sendra...well they have silver hair...
"There was once twins, born with ash white hair and black abyss eyes, all they're kin gathered around them with their deep dark black hair and strikingly golden eyes...the twins were discriminated against and banished...they were marked as cursed by the snow-white witch who rampaged their homeland one hundred years prior, setting the land with eternal snow falling from the heavens. The two were called 'Children of the snow', they sought revenge against the snow-white witch and the two ventured together to find the witch, to their dismay she was nowhere to be found, days passed, months passed, years passed, nothing...the fruits of their labor were nothing...until they met the tree of life, Yggdrasil where they attained immortality! Isn't it an interesting story?"
There are similarities between the story and Sellainor's story...but what caught my attention was her mention of the Yggdrasil...is there even deeper meaning to the story? It caught my attention...I need to know more!
"So what do you plan to do with me?"
"I'll welcome you and your companions as guests and thank you also for bringing the first princess of Rayonaird."
"Ok..."
Finally, we could move again...it felt so unusual and out of place for us to be stuck and unable to move. The tension was still high as the others glared at the shogun who just stood there. We were still wary of each other, it couldn't be helped as the shogun was so suspicious of us and so were we.
"Follow me, sentinel, open the gates!"
"Yes!"
What's going to be welcoming us on the other side? Paradise? Salvation? All I could think about now is the folk story she told us...things are going to get more complicated...