A cold wind through the nighttime air sent a chill down Matt's body as he pulled out his phone to call Emily. The group had finally reached the wall that separates Nexdria from the rest of the world, and Matt needed Emily to get them inside as she promised.
"Wait!" Kazane said unexpectedly, drawing everyone's attention. "The government wants all of you guys dead, but nobody knows that I'm on your side yet. It wouldn't be smart for us to be seen together, so if it's okay I'm gonna use the normal entrance and make my report to Envoy as usual. Then we can meet back here tomorrow morning."
Matt considered this for a moment before One took a step forward, patting Kazane on the shoulder and cheerfully saying "Of course! You have been very helpful already, and we have no reason not to trust you!" he then leaned in, and spoke in a voice that only Kazane could hear with a much more serious tone. "But if I even slightly suspect that you've done something that can bring harm to Astoria, there is no government or wall in this world that could stop me from crushing your skull. Are we clear?"
For a brief moment, there was a flash of fear in Kazane's eyes, and One knew that his message was received. Kazane cleared her throat in order to regain her composure before slipping her Oni mask back on and saying "When this all goes down, you'll be glad to have me. In the meantime, I'm going to meet with Vixen to try and convince her about Sector D's independence. Trust me, she's a good person. She will at least hear me out."
"Good luck, Kazane." Matt says. "Together, we WILL avenge your father. When it's all said and done, you will be able to show your face and name with pride. I promise that I will help you restore the Tamura name."
Kazane gave Matt a nod of appreciation before turning to walk away. She didn't expect him to be so passionate about Renji's legacy. Perhaps he knew more than she thought? Kazane assumed she was the only one who knew the secret of Renji's past, but maybe that wasn't the case? She stared up at the sky, looking at the bright and beautiful North Star. Has it really been so long since her father died?
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"Come sit with me, little oni." Renji said to his daughter, patting the spot next to him on the bench. In fifteen years, Kazane would be a soldier in a mask, but today, she was just a ten year old girl spending a day in the Tamura Estate garden with her beloved father. A child's mind has a unique way of making everything seem beautiful and wondrous, as a cool breeze in the warm summer night drew Kazane's eyes to the beautiful night sky. Renji looked down at his daughter's eyes, warmed by the awe he saw in her. He wished this moment could last an eternity, the two of them enjoying the quiet night in the garden without a worry in the world.
Kazane interrupted the silence by raising her little arm up and pointing her finger towards the brightest star in the sky. "Papa, why is that star so much brighter than the others?"
Renji lightly chuckled to himself before telling her "I put that star there myself, just for you! Isn't it beautiful? Any time you look up at night, it'll be right there to remind you that somewhere out there, I'll always be watching out for you!"
"You're lying!" Kazane said angrily. "You can't make stars, nobody can!"
Renji laughed heartily at how angry that had made her, before poking her on the head. "If people can't make stars, they definitely can't make onis. Yet here you are, right in front of me!"
Kazane's face scrunched up into a look of loving anger. Most people considered onis to be evil, they are demonic creatures from Japanese folklore, but her father always insisted that it was a nice nickname. "I'm not an oni!" she said, playfully attacking her father. The two of them shared a laugh as they wrestled on the bench. After a few minutes, Akio came outside to join them. Kazane looked at him curiously and said "Brother? What are you doing out here?"
"I called him out here too, Kazane." Renji said, taking a more serious tone. "It's been three years since we lost your mother, and it's time for me to tell you both why she was taken from us."
Akio and Kazane were twins, the future of the Tamura family. Their mother, Asuga, was killed three years prior, when they were just seven years old. Renji was the only person who knew why she was killed, and with him feeling that his life was in imminent danger, he felt that the time had come to pass this burden onto his children.
"I thought mom had a heart attack?" Akio said to Renji with a puzzled expression. "Did she do something bad?"
"No Akio, she never did anything wrong. Your mother was the closest thing to an angel this world has ever seen." Renji said. "In Nexdria, everyone knows what Nexus is, but nobody truly understands it outside of this family. 'Nexus' was the name given to the otherworldly element that was discovered about twenty five years ago. Your grandfather, Genkei Tamura, was not a good man. When Nexus was first discovered, he immediately decided to monopolize it, and used this extremely deadly and valuable resource to make our family rich and powerful."
"How is it deadly?" Kazane asked. "Nexus is what has made us all so strong, isn't it?"
Renji sighed. "Yes, you aren't wrong about that. Allow me to explain. Nexus' natural form is that of a crystal. Originally, these crystals were only seen as valuable due to their beautiful green colors, they're truly unlike anything else this world has to offer. But as more research was done, their sinister nature was revealed."
Renji reached into the bag that sat below the bench, pulling out a beautiful green crystal, much to Kazane and Akio's amazement. "It's too dangerous for me to show you right now, but if I were to take a fire and burn this crystal, it would emit a gas into the air. Ninety nine percent of people will die the second they inhale that gas. There is nothing in this world that is more deadly than Nexus gas. You must NEVER use this gas lightly. That is our burden that my father Genkei cursed us with, Tamura Tower holds almost the entire world's supply of Nexus, and only we know about it."
"So the other one percent, the people who don't die…" Akio wondered aloud.
"Yes, those are the ones who become Nexusites. If you're lucky enough to survive exposure to Nexus gas, it changes your body in strange ways. You become physically stronger, faster, more durable, more agile. Nexusites are physically superior to humans in every imaginable way. And if two Nexusites have a child together, that child is guaranteed to be born a Nexusite. Every single person in this city is a Nexusite, and just about everyone outside is a human. There are certain factions in our government that believe we need to use Nexus as a weapon against the people outside, but as President of Nexdria I stand firmly against this. Your mother was killed because she learned the true nature of Nexus, and was threatening to go public with it."
Kazane and Akio were stunned into silence. Neither of them could believe that their family had such a violent history, or that their mother was murdered so unjustly. Akio felt anxiety rush through his body as the weight of this burden dawned on him, and he looked to his sister for comfort, but what he saw in her face was anything but comforting.
Kazane had a look on her face that neither Renji nor Akio had seen before. It was pure hatred and anger, a look unbefitting a ten year old girl. "It had to be Vice President Westbrook. He had mom killed, didn't he?" she asked Renji rhetorically. "Papa, it's time for you to teach me how to use our family's sword. I'm going to kill that man if it's the last thing I ever do."
Renji was horrified at her reaction, how could such a young girl feel so much hatred? His sweet daughter who gazes wondrously at the stars is speaking of killing a man, and he didn't know how to respond. As he opened his mouth to speak to her, they were interrupted by a loud bang outside the estate, causing Renji to rush towards the gate after telling his children to stay put.
Tragically, the Tamura family was destroyed on that night. The noise that Renji heard was the sound of armed men breaking down the door, and he was showered with bullets the second he entered their line of sight by the gate. Akio was met with a similar fate, the young boy left his hiding spot to try and protect his sister, only to be mercilessly slaughtered in front of her.
In the chaos, Kazane had taken a bullet in the belly, and was softly whimpering as she bled behind the plants in the garden, clutching on to the Nexus crystal. She stared up at the North Star, hoping her father would somehow make good on his promise, and would go against all odds to save both her and Akio. Her hope was short-lived, as she was soon discovered by one of the three men who had attacked them. As they made eye contact, Kazane read a feeling of guilt behind his dark eyes. This man clearly didn't want to do this. He fired three bullets near her, missing all of them, before shushing her with a finger to his lips.
"I got the last one, let's move out now!" The soldier yelled to his two allies, as the three of them left the estate, each carrying a body. Why was Kazane spared? Her father and brother died right in front of her, but she gets to live? Ever since that night, Kazane was filled with a deep, gut wrenching hatred, as well as a curiosity to find out why that soldier left her alive and bleeding on the side of the road outside the Estate. She would spend the next fifteen years preparing to avenge her family, and now stands as the last Tamura, one of the ten legendary masks, using the demonic nickname her father had given her at such a young age: Oni.
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It is now the dawn of war. Everyone has begun making their moves, plotting on allies and enemies alike. As Matt held his burner phone in his hand, he felt guilty for hesitating to trust Emily. Last time they spoke, he was attacked by a helicopter full of men almost immediately afterwards. She would never betray him, Matt knew that to be true in his gut. Yet why couldn't he shake this feeling of uneasiness? He also knew that he absolutely needed Kazane to succeed with Vixen, having her on their side would give them access to any information they could possibly want.
But does it matter? The biggest piece on the board hasn't even been acknowledged yet: Kordelle. Matt's lifelong best friend now stood against him, but could he be convinced? Meeting Kordelle in battle would be rough, One is likely the only person that could take him down in a fair fight. Matt's heart began to beat faster and faster as scenarios played out in his mind. Did he have it in him to face Kordelle as an enemy? To make any of this work, he absolutely needed to trust Emily. If she betrays him, that's a loss he's willing to take. Matt pressed the "call" button on his phone, prepared to deal with whatever comes next.
To be continued in Chapter 6, August 29th.