Chapter 3: Discovery
*****
Mei sat lazily in his lounge chair, nursing a long pipe. Occasionally, he'd puff out a small circle of smoke and it would turn black and return to hover over his head. It gave him a mystical and dark appearance that was both pleasing and frightening to look at.
He stared at the roaring fireplace in front of him. He thought it odd how soothing fire could be and yet, when you got too close, it caused harm. A double-edged sword, just like him. He liked fire.
The gentle sound of a door closing didn't escape his supreme hearing. "Welcome back, Leiko dear."
The teen smiled and walked to her normal position of just barely three feet directly behind the chair. She had changed from her uncomfortable costume of a Kaio servant back to her usual clothing of a black suit with the scattering of belts and buckles up and down her legs and arms. A large leather belt hung loosely off her slim waist and held innumerable pockets; what the pockets held only Leiko the Swift knew. In her strong arms was tiny Yohotoko fast asleep.
"I brought the child, as you asked, sir."
"Good." Mei lifted himself from the chair and walked over. His impressive height of six feet combined with his extreme air of self-confidence only made Leiko admire and worship him even more. "Hm. So this is the prophecy child, I suppose."
"He's a little young to be a prophet, sir."
"Yes...I suppose we will have to wait for him to age a little first before beginning." Mei took the child from Leiko and sat back down in his chair gracefully.
"Er...sir?"
"What is it, Leiko?"
"I was wondering...just what is it that this child can do?"
Mei looked over his shoulder to her and she wondered if she had offended him. Or worse, appeared herself as an idiot to him. He gave a hearty sigh and hunkered deeper into his chair. "Come closer, Leiko, and I will tell you."
She did as told, cautiously, and kneeled next to his chair.
Mei puffed out a smoke ring and closed his eyes. "Millennia ago, a Toku-jin seer saw that a child would be born...a half-breed child of a Guardian and a Kaioshin. A child with eyes the color of the skies he would someday rule. He was to be yet another reincarnate of the original Seven."
"Like how the current Guardians are reincarnates of Ichi, Ni, Oki, and San, sir?"
"Exactly. Very smart of you, Leiko. It was said that the child of the god and the Toku-jin would be the powerful reincarnate of one of the Seven. Since the first four have been reborn, it would seem that there are only two choices left: the Guardian of wind or the Guardian of light."
Leiko frowned in confusion. "But...I thought...there were seven Guardians of the Kaioshins, sir."
Mei smiled wickedly.
*****
"Just how many enemies DO WE HAVE!?!?" Atarashii screeched as she paced through Minami's library like a lioness caught in a cage. "We killed that bitch Oki (no offense, Shinobi, love), and Babidi and Bibidi are dead too! Who else!?"
"Well," said Rou as he pulled another dusty old book from the shelf nearest to him, skimming casually through before discarding it, "you must realize that many people don't like the way the gods run the universe or hate them for wronging them in someway."
"Wronging them?" Shinobi asked from atop the ten-foot ladder along the wall. "What would the Kaioshins or Guardians do to someone?"
"Oh, that's easy; if a god or goddess condemned a person for doing some horrible wrong or killed them, they've got to have an upset friend or relative. People these days are so touchy..."
"But what have I done to anger anyone? The only person I've ever fought since becoming a Guardian was Oki."
"Yes, and all her relatives are dead, and she was never very popular..." Higashi said as he scanned over a scroll bigger than his own head. "I'm stumped."
Kaiobit stroked his chin thoughtfully and looked up the ceiling. "Oki?...could it be...hey!"
"What?" Atarashii cried, startled out of her trance. "What could what be?"
Kaiobit didn't answer her; instead, he turned to Rou with an almost mad look upon his face. "Rou, weren't there originally seven Guardians?"
Rou stared for a moment then smiled and slammed a frail fist into his other hand. "Yes, there were!"
"I don't think I get it," Taihen mumbled and the other Guardians murmured their agreements.
"You see, ladies, your ancestors weren't the only Guardians. In fact, there was seven constantly guarding the Kaioshins at all time. They were known simply as The Seven. Each one had a specific power, just as your four do."
Judaiko's mouth dropped. "There were more Guardians? Who?"
"Just a second! Yeesh, young people, I swear..." He rummaged through a pile of scrolls, texts, and books in a mad rush for a good ten minutes before reappearing with a huge leather-bound book in both hands. "A History of the Guardians, formerly known as the Toku-jin. This should help!" He opened up and Atarashii could see that the pages were torn and wrinkled and stained what with looked an awful lot like...blood.
"What's a Toku-jin, Rou?" she asked.
"The Guardians used to call themselves that. It means 'virtuous people', ya know. As you all know, they evolved millennia even before even the Kaios, who showed up secondly. When the Toku-jin first saw the Kaios and other still primitive races, they decided to take it upon themselves to guide and protect us all.
"There were seven clans of Toku-jin: The Earth clan (your ancestor's clan, Atarashii) was the most powerful and ruled over the other six clans. The other six were Light, Water, Flame, Wind, Sea and, lastly, Shadow clans came afterwards.
"But of all the Toku-jin chosen to watch over each race, The Seven who guarded us, the Kaioshins, were by far the most powerful. Each one came from their own clan and used the signature attack of their own group to protect us.
"Sadly, a disease struck their race and wiped out all their men, leaving only the women left. They found...uh...other ways to breed, but it wasn't enough to save them. They eventually went extinct, with Oki being the last known Guardian to die."
Rou sighed deeply and closed the book with a thud. "And that's the tragedy of the Toku-jin in a nut-shell, folks."
"Yes, yes, but who were the other three Guardians?" Taihen blurted out. "I've only ever known of Ichi, Ni, San, and Oki!"
"Why do I have to know everything?! Huh!...well, if you must know, the Wind Guardian was a woman known as Akiko. I never saw her personally, but I've seen pictures, and I'll tell you that she was one heck of a hottie!! Heh heh!"
"ROU!!"
"Hmph; young people. Anyway, the other two Guardians were actually only half Toku-jin! You see, some of the Toku-jin women still had a thing or two for males and, since Kaios are the species who were most like them, they occasionally 'visited' us. Seems that one Toku-jin went and got herself pregnant with a Kaio's children and the father didn't want them. You must remember that the Toku-jin were VERY a proud people, especially of their pedigrees, so when this Toku-jin's twins were born, they cast them out into the Kaio world after their fifth birthdays. One was named Chiko and the other was called Nikki, both boys. One resembled his mother and the other favored his father's appearance. Both were picked up by different families; Chiko lived with a poor but respected family, and Nikki went to an incredibly rich but nasty couple."
"What happened to them?" Shinobi asked quietly. "And you said that Akiko died...how?"
"SHUSH! Eh-hm. Anyway, as I was saying—" Rou shot a nasty glare at the young Guardian "—they were raised by different parents but eventually discovered each other. My predecessor saw the great potential in them both and trained them to join The Seven. Chiko became a master of Light and his brother the Guardian of Shadow."
"I'll tell them now," Higashi said. Turning to the girls, he continued: "I'm afraid it was my fault; I asked Nikki to go investigate a string of rumors about a wizard conjuring up a plan of overthrowing the Kaioshins."
"Bibidi," Atarashii spat.
"Yes. Sadly, Nikki threw away his staff and joined up with Bibidi in hopes of using Bibidi to get to the top and then killing him so that he alone could rule. After finding this out, Chiko and Akiko went to stop him. " Higashi shook his head sadly. "The battle was so horrible, I couldn't even watch. When I dared to, I could see plain as day that Akiko and Chiko had lost, and Nikki was gone. Where he went, I never found out; he up and disappeared after Bibidi's defeat and has never been seen since."
"Akiko was dead," Nishi said in a low tone that Atarashii had never heard come out of her mouth. "We feared that Chiko was too, but he wasn't! However, before we got to him, a young Kaio girl found him and cared for his wounds. She was a remarkable healer and so loving to him that we left Chiko in her care. When Chiko woke up and discovered that his love, Akiko, was dead, he was an inch away from suicide."
"But something about the Kaio girl made him love her too much to die, so he stayed and healed," said Minami. "He eventually came back...but Buu had..." He stopped and shuddered visibly. Atarashii was quick to put a hand in one of his large ones. "Again, he was distraught. So he returned to the Kaio planet, changed his name, and we've never found him since; I fear he is dead."
"But what of Nikki?" asked Shinobi.
"We have no idea...but we do know this: he changed his name to match his skills." Minami scowled and doubled up his free fist so tightly his knuckles turned snow white. "He was a master of darkness...so he became Mei Kinjin."
"Mei Kinjin..." Atarashii murmured. "He must have Yohotoko. But...why?"
Dai walked in with a bang of the door, making all in the library jump nearly four feet into the air. "I know you are worried, my dear Lady Atarashii. But if you try to fight when you a ridden with exhaustion and sorrow, you will die. Please, everyone, let's go to bed."
And so Atarashii and Minami wandered off to bed, as did everyone else. Even as she drifted to sleep, Atarashii wept as she faced the crib her son had never even slept in.
The history of the Guardians is revealed....but where will this lead?
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