It had to be 'him.' There was no possible way that it was not 'him.' It was all too familiar to her, and it was just so fast. There were barely any people on the planet who could move faster than her senses—although Asami was not focusing all of her attention on Tanjo's detectable Aura Sense, it was still an impeccable feat that somebody had managed to slip right by her and take the jet-black-haired boy for themselves. For any regular, run-of-the-mill warrior, it would be physically impossible to escape Asami, no matter the rank of the perpetrator or the amount of determination the blue-haired woman infused into her hunt.
Barely pumping her legs, Asami lunged from the branches of an innumerable number of trees, occasionally snapping the tree limbs she bounced off of. Her gray cloak's hood was unable to conceal her face as her speeds forced it to flap wildly in the compressed wind. If it were not for people being able to coat their apparel in their Aura Sense, their clothing would be destroyed any time they moved far too fast for the material to handle.
'Hang on, Tanjo… I have no clue as to why 'he' would want you… but I'll have you back in no time!' Asami affirmed mentally, traversing across the lands of Adonai at moderately controlled speeds.
In almost no time at all, Asami had grown near a village, one that was quite familiar to her. In fact, she had just visited the area recently, accompanied by Tanjo himself, to promptly deliver the child to his siblings...
…in Buraun.
'I know you're here… I could sense you when I was here… you may be able to hide from society with ease, but I can find you with ease!'
The cloaked woman, perched on a branch, looked onto the village of Buraun, her eyes washing over the large commune, observing the plethora of villagers walking down its pathways without a care in the world.
'Where are you…?'
Like a hawk, the blue-haired woman's eyes pierced into the soul of the village, glowering as she cautiously concealed her own Aura Sense to prevent being detected by the village militia.
Then, she sensed it… or 'him.'
Instantly, Asami leaped past Buraun's wall, moving swiftly enough to comfortably enter the village's crowd of villagers meandering the pathways. Though she was no longer proceeding with magic, she never lost the sense of her target, marching through Buraun, brimming with determination.
Eventually, after walking down and turning onto enough pathways, Asami halted outside of the village's barracks, her eyes scrutinizing the conglomerate of houses pushed together, which presumably housed the warriors of Buraun.
Without a hint of hesitation, Asami advanced.
XXX
With a long sigh, a man reached down and cracked open a mini fridge, pulling out an alcoholic beverage and returning to his seat in another room. He was not in the best of moods, his typically monotonous countenance sparking with annoyance and frustration at miniscule mishaps.
In a short stretch of time, a lot had happened—more than what the man would prefer. He just wanted to settle down, take on a small job, own a small house, and function like an accepted member of society. An apparently dysfunctional one.
'You're undoubtedly more stressed in this squalor than in Furusato, brother.'
Abruptly, a booming voice filled the man's mind, his eyes clamping shut in exasperation. "I'm quite aware of my own state, Kanden—no need to state the obvious."
It was true: Kaminari Nozomu was in a pitiful state.
After sixteen years, Nozomu believed he could simply forget what had happened and take on the challenge of raising his old friend's son, but with how life functions, something just had to go awry sooner or later.
'You're moping, brother. Whether you acknowledge it or not simply doesn't matter if you do not act on it. I am in your soul, quite literally. Fix yourself.' Kanden, the supposed dragon that embodied lightning itself, spoke deeply.
"Moping or not, I'm still moving forward. I've had people judge my existence my entire life, so I don't need you judging how I currently 'feel.'" Nozomu replied, sipping the alcohol in his hand.
'All you do is sit around and drink until you're inevitably hassled by the Council of Buraun, Haishi, or even the other Tansu vessel, Manabu. That is not 'moving forward,' brother."
"There's only so much I can do, dragon." Nozomu said, leaning his head back. "I still need to find Tanjo, too."
'Brother, if you really wanted to find Tanjo, you could have in seconds. You can race several laps around the planet in a second and you can't find a teenage boy wandering the nation? You've killed more than you can count, what happened?'
"Retirement. Abusing the powers you grant me will only ruin what I strive to obtain: peace. If I did find him, what would happen? He's now declared the next Lucifer due to his Aura Amalgamation and I'd be heavily prosecuted and ostracized for breaking village laws and being identified as a Tansu vessel." Nozomu retorted, rubbing his head softly.
Kanden took a moment to respond, giving the white-haired man a moment of silence. '...So, you truly have given up?'
"I'm afraid so, Kanden." Nozomu replied tersely, sipping away at his beverage once more.
Suddenly, as Nozomu put his drink to his lips, his senses struck his body like a hammer, his eyes broadening. "...Shit!"
'That's not Manabu we're detecting.' Kanden informed, his tone grave.
"Surely that fiery bastard didn't return!" Nozomu clenched his teeth, jumping from his chair as lightning sparked around his hands. His drink, unfortunately, spilled across the carpet, wasting the man's cherished alcohol.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
With three loud knocks at the front door, Nozomu focused all of his attention on the person outside, the individual feeling vaguely familiar.
"That's not Imawashiki… It's…"
Water proceeded to seep from under the door, the clear liquid rising upward and taking the shape of a humanoid creature.
"Asami."
In a few seconds, the water that forced itself through the crevices of the door revealed itself as the cloaked, blue-haired woman in question.
Asami scowled. "Kaminari. Nice to see you again."
Silence partook in the intense glaring between the two Tansu vessels, Nozomu's eyes refusing to stray from the woman standing before him for not even a moment.
No words were exchanged, only confusion, irritation, and a semblance of nostalgia.
"Why are you in my home, Asami?" Nozomu grumbled, the arcs of lightning around his hand gradually stretching around his body.
Asami sneered, "I don't want to be here, either, but you snatched something from me, Kaminari!"
Nozomu grew confused. "I've only left this village one time in the past sixteen years—what could I have possibly stolen from you?"
"Don't act innocent! Your lightning! I saw it immediately after my apprentice was abducted!" Asami screamed, irate.
The wielder of lightning arched a brow. "Your apprentice? You have an apprentice now?"
"Don't dodge the question and answer me—!"
Just as Asami was about to continue hollering at Nozomu, a framed picture in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was an old picture of Tanjo before he attended Buraunmajikku. A bright smile complemented his innocent face, his iconic blue eyes shining below his jet-black-colored hair.
"...How do you have that?" Asami inquired softly, her anger subsiding.
Nozomu followed Asami's gaze to the picture of Tanjo. "Why does that matter, Asami?"
"Because he's my damn apprentice!" The blue-haired woman shouted, bringing her eyes back to Nozomu. "How do you have a picture of him! Especially one of him in the past!"
"Because I'm his guardian!" Nozomu barked, asserting dominance in the argument.
Asami was shocked, her mouth parting. Her eyes shook, looking at the picture and back to Nozomu frantically.
"You're… his what?"
Nozomu clenched his fists. "His guardian. I have raised him since he was born. Now, if I may ask—what do you mean that he's your 'apprentice?'"
The man's lighting cackled louder, intimidating Asami.
"I've been teaching him how to control his Aura… magic." The cloaked woman answered.
"His Aura Amalgamation?" Nozomu referenced, "That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?"
Asami nodded.
"So help me, if you harmed my… Tanjo in any way, I'll sacrifice everything I have to put you down, Asami." Nozomu threatened, shocking, confounding the dragon within his mind.
'So, now you're willing to lay everything on the line, brother?'
"Silence, Kanden." Nozomu whispered, though still heard by the woman in front of him.
Asami's countenance solidified. "I have done nothing but teach him how to be stronger, Kaminari. Without me, he'd be dead with how hellbent he was on saving a little kid!"
"Mizuki?" Nozomu asked.
"Yes, that child. You must've known what Tanjo was doing, then?" Asami followed up with a question of her own.
"...So, by judging what you said, Tanjo's gone missing?" Nozomu deflected the question, changing the topic.
The blue-haired woman sighed, "Yes, and I saw lightning right after he disappeared."
"Then it wasn't mine." Nozomu clarified, the lightning around his body vanishing.
For the umpteenth time today, both Asami and Nozomu were greatly perplexed.
"If not you, who could have managed to sneak Tanjo away so easily…"
XXX
In an unknown location, incomprehensibly far from where he was previously, Tanjo opened his bright blue eyes.
"Uh, Kronos, where did you bring me specifically?"
The boy and the god resided in a forest similar to the one Tanjo had just been transferred from, the resemblance being uncanny, as if Kronos never did teleport him elsewhere to begin with.
Kronos hummed and said, "As I said before, it's an alternate universe—one very similar to your own."
"So it just happens that this place is the exact same?" Tanjo queried, holding a curious gaze.
Kronos' head swayed side to side. "Not everything is similar. Some of the leaves are darker, or just moved to different positions."
"How drastic…" Tanjo murmured, feeling himself to ensure that he was unharmed or changed.
"Trust me, it is." Kronos said, a hint of irony laced in his tone.
After checking his person, Tanjo finally felt relieved. "So, uh, where to now? If you know where Derrien is, shouldn't we be heading there now?"
"He's in this universe specifically, but I do not know his current whereabouts. I'll find him, but as for you, I need you to walk around a particular village. And judging by what the future tells me, you know not to boldly claim that you're from a different universe." Kronos informed him, folding his arms.
"I'm not an idiot, Kronos." Tanjo mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.
Kronos exhaled. "I'm quite aware… nor will your intelligence remain staid, either."
"Are you saying that I will get smarter in the future?" Tanjo asked as he quirked an eyebrow.
"Unbearably so." Kronos answered, walking forward.
Tanjo immediately noticed Kronos walking away, proceeding to follow the God of Time closely. The boy did not know what village Kronos wanted him to explore, nor did the boy know what exactly was different in this universe compared to his own.
"What village am I going to, then?" Tanjo questioned, his eyes locked onto the god.
Kronos ceased momentarily, shifting his entire body to meet the teenage boy's gaze.
"A village you may remember. Furusato."
XXX
And that concludes the first chapter of Volume Six! Wow, what a point to be at. This volume is going to contain so much that I can't believe that I got this far! I've been imagining and planning this volume and everything past it for a year by now, going onto 2. What will Asami and Nozomu do after losing Tanjo? What will Tanjo do once he visits Furusato once again in this alternate universe? Stay tuned to find out!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_