Mizuhashi Mansion...
Things couldn't get any weirder.
Before finding out one by one that Hideoki wasn't in his working station of the Taiyou Sweets and Pastry Shop or the kitchen of the mansion, Shuichi, Eichirou, Itsuki, Misae, and Erika had found themselves arriving at the house's gate almost at the same time.
"This has never happened before... AT ALL!" Eichirou stated with a laugh.
Shuichi nodded. "I agree."
"Well, maybe because we're all hungry," Misae said.
"...or we're just afraid of getting scolded by Hideoki-san if we come home late for dinner," Itsuki added placidly.
Erika sighed. "And we'll be scolded even more if we stay here any longer. We have to find Hideoki-san first since he wasn't at the restaurant."
"That rarely ever happens," Misae commented.
But Eichirou immediately stopped in his tracks and the others noticed.
"What's wrong, Eichirou-san? Did you forget something?" Erika asked.
Eichirou shook his head. "Nothing. I just remembered that today is important to us. Especially for Dad..."
The other four exchanged glances at each other. At that point, it all hit them.
"Mariko-san's death anniversary..." Shuichi muttered.
"...which makes tomorrow a specially sad day for the four of us, as well," Itsuki stated. "After all..."
"...it will be our parents' death anniversary," Misae finished.
"Well, before we all become gloomy around here, let's do something about dinner. I guess Dad left without even cooking dinner for the five of us," Eichirou said, breaking the gloomy atmosphere surrounding them.
Agreeing to that, the rest entered the house to follow Eichirou.
For the past 10 years since the hotel fire that took their parents' lives, the Mizuhashi mansion had been the house where Shuichi, Misae, Itsuki, and Erika resided and where they had grown up. They grew up together like siblings, and Eichirou treated them as such. Among the group, only Eichirou wasn't the person whom one would call a total orphan. He still had his father who, in turn, had become the other four's guardian. Hideoki saved them from the fire and raised them all these years. But Eichirou's mother Mizuhashi Mariko died of a terminal illness 2 years before the hotel fire.
In a way, Eichirou knew what it was like to lose someone important in life. He was a Mama's boy, after all.
The five of them were surprised to see dinner served and ready to be eaten on the dining table.
"I guess Dad didn't forget our stomachs, after all," Eichirou commented.
"You're the only one who thinks like that, Eichirou-san," Itsuki retorted, which earned him a pout and a slight glare from Eichirou.
"Mou! Itsu-chan's mean to me again!"
Misae and Shuichi just smiled while Erika giggled.
"Then stop acting like a baby if you want Itsuki-kun to treat you nicely," Misae said as she began to help the others serve the dinner.
When the five of them already sat in their designated seats, Shuichi looked around one more time. "I hope Hideoki-san wouldn't mind if we eat dinner without him."
"We'll just ask forgiveness if he did get angry about that," Erika said.
"Itadakimasu!"
And the dinner started without Hideoki, who would usually sit on a chair designated for the head of the household. It felt weird, that the other family jester wasn't having dinner with them. Now, it felt sort of incomplete without Hideoki.
"I wonder what happened. Dad doesn't usually forget to have dinner with all of us, even during Mom's death anniversary," Eichirou started in the middle of their dinner.
"That's not the only weird thing that happened today," Misae said as she was done munching her food. "Did you guys see the news? The one about the earthquake at Mt. Kumamoto."
"You guys saw it, too? It was a total disaster," Eichirou commented as he resumed eating his food. This time, he put a spoonful of it right in his mouth.
"But if it was in Mt. Kumamoto, shouldn't we have felt it, too? I mean, we're only a few kilometers away from the site," Erika stated.
"Something's off about it," Shuichi added.
"About what?" Misae asked. "The earthquake? It's a natural disaster. Mother Nature can be extremely surprising sometimes."
"Not the earthquakes. The deaths," Itsuki answered nonchalantly while busy slicing the meat on his plate.
"I only saw a few about the bodies lying in the mountain where the field trip took place. But Itsuki's right. The earthquake isn't the one considered weird. It's how the victims died," Shuichi added.
Erika shrugged. "The earthquake is still considered weird to me, Shuichi-san. I mean, they couldn't locate the epicenter of the quake even after using all of their instruments to determine that."
"What could've caused it, I wonder?" Misae mumbled.
= = = = = =
Tareus Dimension...
Eternal darkness filled with an ominous aura... This was probably one of the most concrete descriptions of this place. In the center of that dark evil dimension lies a large mass used as a platform by the crystalline fortress that floated there.
It was a fortress called the Fortress of Dark Screams.
For the past 5,000 years since the dimension was last opened, it had been the realm where the dark force that once threatened the world's safety was sealed. But revenge could be a very powerful drive for those who were determined to destroy the very world they once wanted to conquer.
A child's curiosity rendered one of the ancient warrior's seals to be broken.
"Foolish humans... Who would've thought that a boy's curiosity will break one of the five seals that the wretched Priestess of Life and her retainers had cast upon our kind?" the Dark Shadow Emperor Darshao muttered with a maniacal laugh. He was sitting on his throne inside the top tower of the Tareus Castle inside the Fortress of Dark Screams, ever proud of his demonic-looking subjects as he eyed them all with a smile—or maybe it was more of... a smirk?
"I guess she's not as powerful as we all thought she was," one of the 7 Great Shadow Defenders, the revered deadliest Assassin Alvre, stated.
"She is powerful, Alvre. We wouldn't have been sealed for the past 5,000 years if she wasn't," the Wise Orcus, another of the 7 Great Shadow Defenders, said.
"But now, one of the seals was broken. We wouldn't have to worry about her appearing before us to stop our plan of rising to the surface and destroying the Earth for good," Nemia, the Shinobi and a part of the 7 Great Shadow Defenders, responded.
The rest of the Defenders faced Emperor Darshao and bowed.
"What is your plan, Your Majesty?"
No words came out of the leader's mouth... at least for a while.
"We need to make sure that no one will ever stop us from destroying this world that she protected."
"That's already possible, Your Majesty," Commander of the 7 Great Shadow Defenders Karkino said. "The Priestess of Life was already dead. She died right after sealing us 5,000 years ago. No one will be able to stop us from implementing our plan."
"Do you know the Priestess' ability that much, Karkino?" Orcus interjected. "Her body might have been gone but her powers weren't."
Karkino growled. "Do your own business, Orcus! Stay with your precious scrolls and rot with them." After that, he stormed out of the Throne Room.
"Tsk! Karkino... He's ever the short-tempered one," Nemia commented before facing Orcus with a calculating stare. "Are you sure about what you said earlier, Orcus?"
"Orcus had never been wrong, Nemia," the most aggressive Defender, General Siriso, stated. "Five thousand years of stealing the scrolls using the small gaps from the 5 seals and studying all of those related to the Priestess of Life provided him the knowledge we need to continue our plan."
"Hmm... It seems to me you have your plan, General," Alvre said with a knowing evil smile.
Her words caught Emperor Darshao's attention. "Is that true, Siriso?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Siriso replied with a bow. "I'll do the initial plan to ensure that no one will try and be reckless to defy us and our powers. If there are such beings, I'll immediately proceed with the plan to destroy them forever."
Emperor Darshao nodded, seemingly agreeing with the General's plan.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" And with that, Siriso vanished.
Emperor Darshao's grip on the hilt of his sword tightened as he recalled the humiliation he received from the wretched Priestess 5,000 years ago.
'Everything you've protected all this time, Priestess... I'll make sure to let you see the destructive end of it!'
A growl of frustration and determination resonated throughout the entire Tareus Castle, causing the ground where the fortress stood to tremble badly.