Seijuro and Lily reach the tall gate of Lunar Village, and like before head towards the shopping district. Their ride was quiet, and breeze was warm. The clouds covered the sky and the streets were filled with people. The people around them stared with curious eyes, some whispering to each other of who they are. Seijuro looks at Lily, who still looks frustrated and clearly not in the mood for speaking. He sighs, as they head towards the stables on the right, after crossing the bridge,
Captain Frank marked straight ahead on the map. That shouldn't be too far from here…
"We should find a place to stay." Seijuro nods his to Lily's suggestion.
They look around to find a small ryokan. The place looked quite flashy. Ishidoro lamps were on the outside, placed next to the sign. A few plants were situated near the entrance, as well as a small garden on the right side. The building was quite large, and they look up to see the name of the ryokan. It read, Hayashi's Inn. Seijuro walks in, with Lily following him.
The aroma of the entrance was sweet. Pictures of nature, people were hanging on the walls. A small table with another plant placed on top of it,
"Can I help you kids?" The deep voice of a man causes both of them to look to their left.
The man had a few white hairs hiding amongst his black hairs. He wore glasses with black shades, meaning his eyes weren't visible. He was quite tall and muscular. His height was around 6'3 and he was wearing a smart suit, however without the blazer,
"Do you have any rooms available?" Lily asks quite bluntly.
The man slowly looks at a small sheet and then glances back up at Lily with a blank expression,
"Yes, we do. May I have your names, please?" He holds his quill, waiting for Lily to speak. She looks at him with an annoyed expression,
Man, this guy is creepy…
"Lily Koyama and Seijuro Yoshiki. We need two rooms."
"I see." His expression remains the same, which makes Lily feel a bit more skeptical about this guy,
"You both. Captain Frank said you would come here. He's already assigned your rooms." They both look at each other dumbfounded,
Captain Frank… how did he know we would come here…
Seijuro thinks to himself, while Lily looks even more frustrated,
"Excuse me, but when did he do this?" He asks politely and the man slowly turns his head to look at Seijuro,
"Yesterday. Your rooms are just on the left. Room 165 and room 166. Please don't make too much noise and enjoy your stay at Hayashi's Inn." He takes two keys off the wall and hands them both to Seijuro and Lily, who blink in confusion.
They slowly walk away and head towards their assigned rooms. They stop at their doors and both walk inside. They slide the shoji open, and their eyes are greeted with a small table and two seats placed on each side. Placed next to the wall, were shelves with books and a few pot plants. Seijuro walks towards the other shoji and slides it open to see a single bed and a cupboard. He opens the cupboard to see 3 sets of clothes neatly folded inside,
Captain Frank placed clothes too… I have to remember to thank him when I get back…
He shuts the cupboard, before walking out the room. He walks outside back into the small hallway and looks at Lily,
"We can come back here after we're done scouting the area." He nods and she begins stretching,
"We should get going now then." They walks outside and look around,
"Let's get to higher ground." He nods and she begins heading towards the building opposite them.
Seijuro walks next to Lily, as both of them jump on to the rooftop and they begin jogging. The sky was cloudy and the breeze was cold. After a while, she opens her mouth to speak
"Yoshiki." Lily calls out, causing him to look up,
"Eyes up, I'm sensing something." Seijuro closes his eyes and begins focusing, the hairs on his body beginning to stand up,
"You're right. Which way?"
"Left." She says bluntly, before jumping to the building parallel to the one they were one.
Seijuro follows closely behind, when they suddenly stop. Lily lowers her head, pressing her ear onto the rooftop. The sound of whimpering and crying was coming from it. Immediately, Lily grabs her staff and extends it, she lifts it over her head,
"Brawn of Heracles." Her staff slams into the roof, causing Seijuro to lose balance slightly and the ground to shake violently.
They land in the room, seeing two boogeymen cornering a woman, they charge directly at Lily and Seijuro. They were small in size and looked like small dark purple clouds with teeth. However, their hearts were still visible,
Boogeymen!
He quickly unsheathes his blade, and doesn't hesitate,
"Wrath of Tatsu!" He thrusts forward and his sword pierced straight through the chest of the boogeyman, causing it to slowly disperse.
Meanwhile, Lily swings her staff directly at the boogeyman, connecting and sending it flying into the wall. Lily readjusts her grip,
"Spartan Assault." Like Seijuro, her staff pierces straight through the chest of the boogeyman, causing it to slowly vanish,
We handled them quickly, they must have been low boogeyman level…
They both give each other a small nod and Lily looks at the woman,
"It's ok, you're safe now." The woman looks up at them with scared eyes and shivering slightly,
"Thank you…"
"Can you tell us what happened?" Seijuro sheathes his sword behind him,
"Something attacked us… and they transformed into those things!" Seijuro's and Lily's eyes widen,
Her sons… they were…
"Which way did it go?" Lily asks sternly, to which the woman shrugs,
"It vanished… are my boys… ok?"
"I'm sorry… your boys are gone." Hearing this causes the woman to sob loudly. Lily looks to the side and jumps up, leaving through the hole she created in the roof.
Seijuro looks at the woman one last time, feeling terrible. He helps the woman up, and sits her down on a chair. She looks up at him and smiles a bit. He gives her a warm smile, before following Lily. His mind is now filled with the thoughts of his own mother, remembering her tears for Ren. He tears up slightly,
No mother should ever have to suffer like that…
Those memories linger in his mind for a while, when Lily abruptly interrupts his train of thought,
"Yoshiki." His head snaps upward to look at Lily,
"This situation is strange." Seijuro raises an eyebrow,
"What do you mean?"
"This boogeyman left the woman. Why would it do that?" His eyes widen slightly,
"So you're saying it targeted her children over her?"
"Maybe, we'll have to see." They continue running, before hearing more screaming to their right.
They quickly begin leaping from rooftop to rooftop and land on the street below. Lily looks up, pulling her staff off her waist and extending it. 4 of the same creatures are chasing two other people,
"Apollo's Whip." She begins slicing the air, creating sound shockwaves, striking directly at them.
They turn their attention to Lily and Seijuro,
"I got two, you take the others." He nods and they close the gap between them.
One of the boogeymen swings it's claws directly at Seijuros head. He quickly ducks and unsheathes his blade,
"Ryu's Breath!" He leaps forward, gripping his sword tightly, as he swings and it connects.
His blade slices through the creature's torso. His attack cuts the heart of boogeyman causing it to slowly disperse. The other beast tries to claw at Seijuro, however he continues to evade. He switches his stance, and readjusts his grip on his sword, now clenching it with two hands,
"Kiyohime's Vengeance!" His constant strikes overwhelm the creature, cutting it up into many pieces, exposing the heart.
Seijuro thrusts his blade forward, piercing the heart. The boogeyman let's out a loud screech, and it begins to slowly fade. Meanwhile, Lily throws her staff into the air,
"Might Of Zeus." Dark purple shockwaves rain violently down on them, as her staff spins violently in the air. One of the strikes impales the boogeyman's heart, causing it to collapse to the floor, and disperse into the atmosphere.
The other boogeyman begins to slowly regenerate, and it looks upward to see Lily isn't there. It suddenly glances up to see Lily in the air holding her staff over her head,
"Brawn of Heracles." She slams her staff onto the creature, splitting it in half.
The ground cracks, as it shakes violently. She lands on the floor and impales her staff in the heart of it, before it could regenerate,
We did it…
They look at each other and nod,
"There's a lot more than last time." Seijuro states,
"Yeah, there is. Whatever it is, it's fast and it's corrupting people quickly."
"We should head back to the inn. Collect our thoughts." Lily nods, as they both put their weapons away and head back to Hayashi's Inn.
They order some ramen and sit down opposite each other,
"We should probably inform Captain Frank."
"Maybe… but we don't even know what we're dealing with yet, Yoshiki." She takes a bite of her ramen, blowing it slightly to cool it,
"Right now, we should focus on our job. Find this dreamcatcher and try to slay as many fears as possible." Seijuro states and he also begins eating,
"You're focused. That's a surprise." Lily says smugly,
"I guess so, and you actually seem like you're in a good mood." Seijuro responds in a similar attitude,
"We should get some sleep. It's getting a bit late."
"Yeah you're probably right."
Lily finishes eating and leaves Seijuros room,
"Goodnight, Yoshiki." She says, before walking out.
He nods and turns to his door, sliding it open. He hangs his haori up and takes off his shirt. Seijuro places his sword next to the bed, before walking towards the bathroom and looks in the mirror, staring into his own brown eyes. He washes his hands and his face, shivering slightly due to the water being cold. Seijuro unties his hair, as it falls, stopping just above his shoulders. He leaves the bathroom and heads to his bed. He lies down, tucking himself into the covers and sighing. His mind begins to race,
This mission is gonna take a while… that woman earlier… I hope we can avoid people suffering a similar fate to hers…
His eyelids become heavy and droop down, as he slowly falls into a deep sleep.