ヒカリ の シイド
Hikari no Shiido
T H E S E E D O F L I G H T
Part 2
Ch. 1
The group sat around a campfire, several days after the group’s ordeal. The fire was in the middle of a clearing in a beautiful green forest, with a small creek somewhat near the camp. “Hey… Fujin? Why are we still traveling? We defeated our enemy, so shouldn’t you bring us home?” questioned Mizu.
“If you ask me, I’d rather be traveling,” commented Kogasu.
Fujin shook his head. “At first… I thought that Yami was the Evil that we are destined to defeat… but when oniisama and you guys saved me… I realized that he wasn’t the Evil. He was… my biggest fear. He was so powerful… he even knew your guys’ fears… but… I really don’t know how he came to exist.”
“Well, I’m still confused on what that Yami thing was. Your fear, you said, right? What was your fear?”
Fujin hesitated. “It.. it was… my biggest fear was oniisama being evil. Not the destined Evil, but evil nonetheless.” He stopped. “You guys… I’m sorry I got you into this. I’ll return you home, it’s really the best thing to do…”
“No,” said Aisu firmly. “I agreed to come until we saved the worlds from Evil, and that was not the Evil that we’re supposed to defeat. I’m staying… and besides, I think I’m becoming attached to you.”
“I’m not leaving either,” agreed Kogasu.
“I can’t leave my friend,” added Mizu.
“I’m your big brother, and I made a promise. I’m staying, no matter what,” declared Kanji.
“I can’t just sit still at home knowing you’re in danger. I’m staying as well,” answered Yuni.
Fujin looked around at the group, tears blurring his gray eyes. “Everyone… thank you…” He wiped his eyes and yawned. “I’m tired… I’m going to bed, okay? We can find the other Elementals starting tomorrow…” With that, he got up and entered the tent that he and Kanji shared.
“Other Elementals?” repeated Aisu, alarmed. “What did he mean, other Elementals?”
Yuni shifted uncomfortably. “Well… there are three other Elementals besides you guys: the Earth Elemental, the Lightning Elemental, and the Dark Elemental.”
“Dark?” interrupted Mizu. “Why Dark? Wouldn’t Dark be evil? I had enough darkness with Yami!”
“No. Darkness is… powerful. It’s hard to handle… and misunderstood. No power is naturally evil, except for evil itself, and that goes for darkness as well. But… though it isn’t evil, because it is so powerful, it may consume you… and if it does, it will corrupt you. Dark Elementals are usually people with strong wills and good morals,” explained Yuni.
“But why was darkness attacking Fujin, then?” interrogated Aisu.
Kanji spoke up. “It wasn’t darkness. There is no one way to personify fear, or for that matter, evil. Both usually manifest themselves as some sort of darkness, as Fujin’s fear was.”
“Fujin-kun said that his biggest fear was you being evil,” remembered Kogasu. “But if that’s true… he seemed really hesitant to tell us.”
“He didn’t exactly tell the truth.” Kanji smiled sadly. “He puts so much pressure on himself… he doesn’t want to look selfish, because he thinks that the Hikari no Shiido is a perfect being, without any flaws, but he doesn’t realize that not even the Hikari no Shiido is perfect. His true fear was not me being evil; instead, it was me hating him.”
“I could see why he’d think that,” said Aisu pointedly, “But you do have some good qualities, too,” she added hurriedly, flushing slightly.
Yuni was puzzled. “Why would Fujin think that Kanji hates him? They got along so well together when I was with them…”
Kanji’s eyes widened as Aisu opened her mouth to speak. He quickly slapped his hand over her mouth, nearly falling out of his camp-chair as he did so. “N-nothing!” he stammered quickly. “Just insecurities, like everyone else sometimes!!”
Aisu bit his hand. Kanji let out a slight yelp and removed his hand. Aisu’s blue eyes sparkled amusedly. “You may be handsome, but you don’t taste that good,” she commented.
Mizu giggled. “Kotoba-sensei has the hots for Kanji!” she sing-songed.
Aisu blushed bright red. “I-I-I-I d-didn’t mean it th-that way! Did-did it really- did I say that?!”
Kanji blushed, as well. “W-w-well, I sorta think… I mean… you’re kinda pretty too!”
Both Kanji and Aisu were blushing furiously now. “J-just continue explaining!” they insisted.
A broad grin on her face, Yuni continued. “The other Elementals… they have powers that are naturally stronger than yours. Don’t think that it’s unfair, though, because it’s possible for you guys to become just as strong. They are generally aware of their mission, unlike you guys before your powers were activated. The reason why Fujin decided not to look for them before is because he thought that you guys are strong enough to defeat Evil alone. However, seeing how much trouble we had with Yami, he decided to search for the others, as well.”
“Why didn’t Fujin-kun tell us this himself?” asked Kogasu.
“He was scared,” answered Yuni.
“Scared of himself, scared of his powers,” continued Kanji. “He –inadvertently, of course- created Yami. He kept his fears inside of him, and they personified themselves into Yami. Once he realized, he was terrified… so much so that he didn’t want to continue fighting.”
“But it’s our duty to fight!” protested Aisu, “He, above all else, should know that!”
“Kotoba-san, I understand what you’re saying, I really do. The thing is… this is hard for him. Very hard. No matter how old he looks or acts, he’s still just a scared little kid! He’s so young to be going through this ordeal, and-“ began Yuni.
“Then why are you letting him?” questioned Kogasu. “If he’s so precious to you guys, why don’t you take all of his powers?!”
“I wish we could, kid,” answered Kanji, “But he wouldn’t want us to. He wants to do this, because if someone else had this Destiny, that person would have the same burdens as him, and he doesn’t want to get hurt.”
“Then we’ll have to support him as much as possible,” declared Mizu firmly. “But, I do have another question: why did he look older sometimes?”
“His powers amplify whenever he’s feeling extremely strong emotion, and they manifest themselves by turning him into his older self,” replied Kanji, getting up out of his camp-chair. “I’m going to go check on him. I have a feeling he didn’t really want to sleep…”