Chapter 3: Hibiki
Hibiki, a small 17-year-old Japanese girl who was raised in the church as an orphan. She lived her whole life being prepared and taught the ways of a nun. It was always her dream to be able to give comfort and warmth to all the children the church brings in and give them the feeling of love and comfort she never experienced during her youth. She clad an outfit in all white with a gold ankh in the middle, different from her sisters and priests. This change in attire is to show her rank within the church. As a divine holy maiden, she is the purest within the church as she can interact with all the lesser spirits.
She was given a guardian, the demigod of chivalry; John. They teamed up together to partake in a rescue mission of sorts. They learned that many children under the church's care had been kidnapped and had set out on a journey to save them. While the girl in white is praying out in the desert, she is then approached by John who makes his way around the lesser spirits. John questions her. "What are you doing?" Hibiki responds "I'm forming contracts with the lesser spirits." John seems to be rather perplexed and asks, "Would it not be easier to use the spirits within the glass ruins?" Hibiki seems nervous and makes a false excuse.
"Oh well, I'm gathering as much beforehand in case of an ambush…" He looks at her with a monotone look, "You're stalling." "Hibiki was flustered and denied these claims immediately. "What! I'm not stalling! As a sister, it's my duty to go to secure the safety of those poor children. Why would I ever stall in completing such a sacred and holy task? It's not like I think that temple looks too scary and ominous, or how an aura drenched in dread screaming the words "Do Not Enter" is emitting from it!!!" Hibiki more or less rambles. John, who was not at all amused by this, grabs Hibiki by the collar and drags her along the mystic sands.
"Nooo!!! How can you treat a divine young maiden so roughly? I don't have any offensive capabilities, why do I have to go inside!" Screams the silver-haired woman as she's being dragged along by the blonde knight. "Sister with all due respect, you should take your position a bit more seriously." Hibiki, shocked, barks back, "How dare you! I'll have you know that no one is more enthused at spreading the lord's teachings than me!!!" She claims rather desperately.
John then continues, "In the short time I've known you Sister, I have reached this estimate on your character. You are an overly self-absorbed arrogant little girl who was blessed with a fluctuation of magical power. The church seems to see you as a valuable asset even though you may act like a spoiled brat. you also tend to use your position in the church to win yourself a life of ease and luxury, though if it wasn't for the special branch of our church's Denomination, I don't think you would actually survive by yourself in the real world." Hibiki was brought to the brink of tears from John's true yet condescending analyses of her. "In order to have our church legitimated by the higher-ups, it's integral that we prove ourselves in as many trials that may come our way, so stop stalling and let's go." Begrudgingly, with tears in her eyes, Hibiki follows suit.
John as the God of chivalry was handed down the Excalibur sword through his bloodline, granting him the might of the knights of the rounds table. Hibiki and John approach the old glass ruins, making their way through a man-made entrance. "It seems like Demons must have been using this place as a hideout for a while now." Says John with Hibiki closely following him from behind. "Uhm, Sir John? Maybe we should head back, after all, demons aren't really intelligent enough to scout out a place this vast…" Says Hibiki, already regretting her life choices.
"What did I say before, you may just be a sister, but try showing a bit more confidence." Says John who seemed to quicken his pace. "Eh!? John, wait! Don't leave me here!!!" Says the petite woman terrified of getting lost here. Hibiki was about to enter into a panic when she saw a few glimmering lights floating around her head. "Spirits?" She questions before listening to what the little critters had to say. "... What! Oh no, John look out!"
Before the knight could react to her warning, the floor beneath them explodes and starts to crumble. A trap set up by the demons had gone off due to their arrival. After falling for an unregistered amount of time, Hibiki lands on her butt, completely immobilized. After the smoke clears she can be heard crying out, "Ouch… John… are you okay…?" She takes a moment to look around the room, her new area being very similar to the place she had recently inhabited except for one thing, John wasn't with her any longer. "No! John! Where are you!!!" Before Hibiki has a moment to grow anxious about her situation, she hears sounds of sorrow and anguish emitting from behind her.
"Sister…?"
Hibiki's eyes grow wide from her realization. She was just knocked down to wherever the demons were keeping the kidnapped kids hostage. As she gazes across the frightened crowd, she sees a few of them had bruises and injuries, thankfully none were close to death it seemed. "Everyone! I'm so glad you're alright, you kids sure are a brave bunch, aren't you? Stand still, I'll heal you all up!" She says enthusiastically, attempting to lighten the sorrowful mood. As she gathers the surrounding spirits to attempt her sacred grace, "The art of Healing", she is met with a holt as something is interfering with her magic supply. Hibiki, now realizing she is captured as well, cannot heal all the children through her contracts with the spirits as she presumed.
Now feeling a bit discouraged, Hibiki kneels down and panics. "Oh no… If I can't summon the lesser spirits then I'm completely useless here! And what about John? He can't fight well without spirits too, we're doomed!" The group of children all stare at the nun who's privately having an episode. "Uhm, Sister? Is everything going to be okay, this place is really scary…!" Now looking at the group's teary eyes, Hibiki pumps her fist subconsciously and makes her way to them. "Don't worry everyone! John came here with me! I'm sure he's finding the big bad demon right now and trying to teach them a lesson as we speak!"
The kids look a bit less tense, with a glimmer of hope shining in their eyes. "For now everyone stays close to me, I'm sure we can find a way out of here as long as we stick together!" The kids do as the young, but the older woman says as they all huddle up around her and start making their way through the temple. Opposite to the dire situation, the story within the underwater temple continues.
It had been 3 months since Set and Wendy had begun their vigorous training. Before, Set had estimated it would take 7 to 8 months for Wendy to obtain the power to rival him, but thanks to her affiliation with the phoenix spirit, she had grown at an alarming rate. During this time, they had practiced sword arts from dawn to mid-day, the rest of the time was spent honing her spiritual and magical connections. Along with battling more demons that made their way to the temple, Wendy was all but an expert in exercising demons, being able to try out a multitude of techniques on them.
The power of the phoenix had given her an array of powers and abilities. She had come to realize she had grown ten times stronger than she was previously, being able to pick up one of the temple's biggest boulders and lunge it at an impressive speed. Not only was she stronger, but faster, with her flames giving her a boost, she was presumably able to run up to 17 mph. The main reason her training had been completed so quickly would have to do with her spontaneous regenerative abilities. The moment her body would be cut and sliced by Set, it would immediately heal itself. Though they come to find out there is a limit to her body's regeneration when overwhelmed by magical power or excessive use of her own gate, the regeneration speed is cut down to more than half, leaving her acceptable to damage.
Last but not least, came her fire magic. As for its regenerative abilities, beyond that, it had clear limitations. It was theorized by Set that the use of fire in its more offensive state might have been excluded for one of the Phoenix's different flames. "The spirit flame should be conducted as a more divine and holy flame, so for that reason, it does not have too many combative uses." She recalls the words of Set during their spar matches. Though she was able to conjure up balls to a degree, they failed in comparison to the strikes she could emit with her sword. Being able to shoot out finite slashes of light by converting her spirit magic into her sword.
"Yes, I believe this brings our training to an end, young girl." Said the tall figure staring at the petite woman slouching over her sword. "Finally! You really don't know how to hold back huh? I'm just a petite young girl after all…" Says Wendy now slouching down to rest. "I told you from the beginning, that this wasn't going to be easy, though I must say I'm impressed, you were much more adept to the spirits than I had expected you to be." The spirits in question swarm over around Wendy, lightening up and beaming. "Hehe, ~ Yea I know." Wendy laughs at the joke she had shared with the lesser spirits. Now looking back over at the elder God, she puts on a more determined look. "So!? I kept my end of the deal! Now how can I check on Ronny!"
"Yes, I recall. Very well, why don't we…" Before Set could continue, the air around the temple thickens. As the lights surrounding the temple gates start to diminish, the spirits follow suit, as they start to vanish one by one. "What's going on!" Set seems to be alarmed as well. "It seems like we were too late, there's some sort of disturbance in the spirit realm!" Wendy stood up holding onto Otto, who had waddled over to her in distress. "A disturbance!?"
"Yes, it seems like I'm going to have to send you over there right now, the spirit temple is a direct link to the spirit world. So if you don't stop whatever this disturbance is now, then this whole sanctuary will be doomed!" Wendy nervously looks back at the old god. "I still don't understand, what could be causing a disturbance in the spirit realm… unless?" Set nods his head before answering her suspicions, "Yes, it must be a demon." As he says this, he bites the ends of his fingertip, now gushing bright red blood. He is then seen drawing what seems to be a weird symbol composed of vicarious ancient hieroglyphics. "This isn't ideal, but I'll have to do most of the work here, presumably the spirit goddess should be able to access this realm on her own, but the situation is too dire."
The circle begins to glow beneath her and the last remaining lingering spirits start to bloom around her. "Ah! Wait, I don't know about this!" Wendy says in a panic before feeling her physical form start diminishing. "There is one more thing I need to ask of you, my dear." She looks at the old god before she vanishes. "When you meet back with this Scyron Tategami, find out if he has attained The Gold." After hearing his last fleeting words, Wendy is sucked in through a portal, throwing her into the depths of the spirit realm. Otto, who is still weakened by the recent disaster, speaks up. "Master Set, are you sure she'll be okay?" He looks down at the sea otter spirit. "Yes I am, you saw it for yourself did you not? That girl has grown quite adept at her spirit goddess abilities, I'm sure everything going forward will continue to go just as planned…" The two stand there in silence, waiting for the blue-haired maiden to complete her dire quest.
Hibiki is slowly walking along a randomly selected path with the kids huddled up close by when she hears a voice coming from behind her. A lesser spirit, who was able to conjure up a bit of magical power, tells her that the demons have a demonic artifact that's disrupting the flow of Heka throughout this dungeon. "Stay here and keep the kids safe, then find the Artifact and destroy it. Hibiki doesn't recognize the spirit in question but trusts her and does as she says.
In another attempt at trying to make the children feel better under their current situation, Hibiki interrupts the hollow silence. "Hey, kids come on, don't be so gloomy! In moments like these, that's when You should have the most faith. The gods we worship have sent heroes to our world, if not John, then I'm sure one will come to our aid any second now!" one of the kids perks up, "Heroes?" Hibiki smiles, "Yes! Super Heroes!!!" She struck a pose to no applause. Putting on a deadpan face of sheer humiliation, she decided to edge on about the consorts of their home church.
"As you all know, The Egyptian Orthodox Church is a newly renovated sanctuary with centuries worth of followers of upholding the faith." Now that the children have given her their undivided attention she starts putting on a show for them, grabbing a nearby stick in order to better explain the tale. "Long ago before light, There was darkness. But then, the god of the Sun, Ra created the universe! Then on the dirt below she constructs the ennead.
One of the kids perks up, "Wait what about Jesus?"
" Who?…" The kids are perplexed, some giving off dumbfounded looks before she alarmingly goes on, "Anyways, After the ennead, came other gods until eventually 5 of the purest became the Ogdoad, a group of deities that would defend all of humanity from chaos and tyranny. A title that would be passed down for generations to come! The only difference is that going forward they won't be gods, well not fully. They'll be demigods! And eventually, it'll all lead up to an ogdoad that will grow strong enough to defeat Apophis, The master of all evil, and save the world from complete disarray."
After taking an extensive look at the various dirt figures and drawings the nun girl had drawn out, one of the little girls speaks up from the group, "And ones going to save us from here?" Hibiki jolts around to look at the child with sparkles in her eyes, "You bet!" she says rather enthusiastically. Another kid pitches in, "How will they even find us, or know where we are!" the kids start to panic when Hibiki gets cocky, "Coof Coof Coof! Your children are still too young to understand! We, adults, aren't that concerned over those types of minor details(Again she's 17). This goes to show the most important lesson any member of the church ought to learn. You must have FAITH!"
She persuades the kids to sit and pray with her. Not want to admit she had no idea where she was going and was afraid they might be even more lost than they had previously been. She thinks to herself, "Please if John can't save us, then we need someone else, we need a Hero!"
After less than an hour's time, Wendy is seen conjured up through a portal of sorts, now landing back safely within the Spirit Temple. "So? I presume everything went to your liking?" Asks the old God, taking in the young woman's look of contemptuousness. "Yes, I was able to check in on my dear Ronny, as well as stop the calamity that befell the spirit world." Set stares back at her with a seemingly blank expression, "I see… so tell me, did he have it?" Wendy looked a bit hesitant, but decided to answer, "Yes, whatever this Gold thing is, we were able to use it to defeat the demon lurking in the spirit realm…" Set seems to be somewhat amused by her answer, "That's splendid! So the Phoenix was truly able to acquire it then, that's truly magnificent…" He says, showing a previously unseen amount of glee in his voice. "Very well, why don't we attempt to get you out of here then, follow me, child. " The pair follow suit, now with only one last goal in mind, escaping from the underwater temple.