As the discussion was going on, they had no idea that a sinister plan was about to be put into action in continuation to the terror that was released during the devastating mountain incident.
"Daytime... that should be the perfect spotlight for me to do what I have to do," Siriso mumbled as he stood on the rooftop of the tallest building in the area.
He was eyeing the peaceful town with a grin.
"Juman!" he growled as he called the name.
Soon after, a rune circle appeared behind Siriso followed by a black-armored monster materializing in the middle of it.
"You called for me, Siriso-sama?" Juman politely inquired as he bowed.
"We'll proceed... as soon as the sun rises. I want to hear everyone's screams of despair, fear, and pain the moment they start their days."
A maniacal laugh soon followed it as thunder roared and lightning struck through the sky.
xxxxxx
"Now that I think about it, who is that woman, anyway?" Eichirou asked as he eyed the portrait on the scroll. "I've seen you and Mom hanging that portrait near the family shrine for as long as I can remember. But I never really knew who she was."
"Come to think of it, I had a similar dream the night before the fire," Misae suddenly declared. "But it wasn't a woman who told me about the Vessels."
"Then who did?" Nanami asked.
"It was a falcon."
Well, that wasn't exactly the answer they were expecting.
"A falcon? Are you serious?" Eichirou asked incredulously.
Now even Itsuki and Shuichi tried to recall the events before the fire that might have been similar to what had happened to Misae and Erika.
"Would ripples of water be considered as a message giver?" Eichirou queried all of a sudden.
Itsuki groaned, which made him slap his forehead. "Great! Now Mother Nature could talk to you. How is it possible for water to give you a message about these Vessels whatsoever?"
"I'm serious!" Eichirou insisted.
"Since when?" Itsuki retorted.
Eichirou exhaled before he got close to exploding and beating up Itsuki. "I had that weird dream the night before Mom's 2nd death anniversary. I think I even heard Mom's voice from the ripples."
Hideoki listened carefully to what the kids were saying. As he listened to them, most of the questions he had tried his best to look for answers were slowly being... well, answered. "What about you two, Shuichi, Itsuki?"
The two boys didn't say a word for a few moments. Until...
"The fire surrounding me and Misae that night..." Shuichi answered in a soft tone. He closed his eyes, perhaps trying to get a clear picture of the event. "They were increasingly hot. But instead of scorching us as it did to the others, the fire only surrounded the two of us. It was as if... it was forming a circle to protect us. I don't know how, but I think I even heard voices saying 'we will protect both of you, so do not worry...' or something like that."
Hideoki nodded as if saying he understood. Then he faced Itsuki. "It seems to me you've also experienced weird things similar to this before the fire."
To Itsuki, he felt that the way Hideoki said those words was a statement that the man knew about it. "The trees... particularly those that were near Kawazumi Hall and Prince Palace Hotel... The way they rustled with the wind made it as if they were talking to me."
"Did they say something in particular?" Erika asked.
"They all sounded muffled to me. I don't know. I can't tell." Of course, that was when Itsuki noticed something. "Wait a minute... If all of these weird events happened before and during the fire ten years ago, how come we only remember it now?"
Realizing that Itsuki had a point, the other four youngsters exchanged glances at each other before trying their luck in finding answers to the person whom they felt could provide it for them.
"They were deliberately blocked from your memories... until such time that the truth about your destiny and its accompanying responsibility shall be revealed to the five of you," Nanami was the one who chose to speak for Hideoki. "Your dreams, your visions---they were all warnings to all of you about the life that you are destined to face when the time comes."
"Then those dreams, visions, and whatever weird events that had happened to us before and during the fire..."
"Nanami-san said that our visions are warnings about our destiny. That means... the five of us are the current chosen Vessels of the Heavenly Spirit Guardians' Powers..." Misae finished Itsuki's words.
Hideoki nodded as soon as he sighed. "Your parents discovered ahead of time the future that lies ahead of you. They were told about your destinies the same way you learned about the Vessels' existence. And it is those destinies that made them do what they all could to protect you. It even includes risking their lives to make sure you wouldn't die."
Having all that information absorbed by their brains was an overloaded task for them. But the five of them knew one thing. Hideoki wasn't showing on his face that everything he was telling them was a mere joke. To be honest, they didn't know what to think about all of the revelations.
"Why did our parents have to do that? What could happen if we did die along with them?" Itsuki still managed to ask the older man despite the confusion he felt from the entire information overload.
"If the five of you did die before the formal awakening---" Nanami paused as she emphasized on the word 'die'. " ---the passing of the souls and powers will not happen anymore. The cycle will be cut. There has been a legend that if the chosen Vessels die before the time of the awakening, it will become the end of everything that our ancestors and your predecessors had fought for and protected for the past 5,000 years."
No one could tell why, but somehow, the youngsters could feel the fear coming from Nanami's voice. But even though they could feel it, it wasn't going to help them at all. If they wanted to know the whole truth, they had to deal with this.
"It's the powers that came from the Heavenly Spirit Guardians that chose you as Vessels. They're informing us about it through various visions of your destinies. That's how your parents knew that you're the chosen Vessels," Nanami answered.
"Was that the reason... they all died that night?" Shuichi softly uttered. "The fact that they knew we're the so-called Vessels... they died to allow us to fulfill it?"
No one said a word to answer Shuichi's question. At the time, no one could tell if that was the reason for their parents' deaths or if there was more to what Nanami and Hideoki had already known.
"Hideoki-san, why tell this to us now? And why at this particular point in time?" Itsuki managed to ask.
It took a while for Hideoki to decide on the matter of answering the composer's question. But since it already came to this, he might as well tell the truth. The situation called for it. He took a deep breath before speaking. "You all have watched the news about the recent incident, right?"
The five youngsters frowned in confusion as to why Hideoki would ask such a random question. They nodded, anyway.
"But what would that have something to do with what we're discussing now, Dad?" Eichirou inquired.
"Someone... or something in that mountain broke one of the five seals that had imprisoned the dark force that once threatened to destroy our world 5,000 years ago," Nanami informed.
It wasn't long for the five of them to realize what exactly was going on for the two elders to decide on telling them about their destinies as the chosen Vessels.
"Though we still want all five of you to continue living peacefully and far from danger, the current situation refused to let us allow all of you to do so," Hideoki said before any of the five could say anything.
The finality in the tone of Hideoki's voice had told them that the two elders were already in a pinch. Accepting the situation or not was the option anymore. None of them would be able to do something as declining the task that would go with the revelation.
Soon after, Nanami took something that was placed a few paces behind her. It was a chest box that had a silhouette of a lotus flower painted on it. The colors of the five visible large petals of the flower were shown in red, blue, green, yellow, and white representing the elements of fire, water, earth, wind, and light respectively.
"Isn't this... Mom's chest box?" Eichirou uttered in confusion and slight surprise.
Hideoki took it from Nanami's hold and placed it in front of him. After that, he opened it for the five Vessels to see its contents. A deep frown was the only visible expression on their faces upon seeing that. There were two sets of items laid in that particular chest box---one looked cylindrical and the other was a set of wrist braces---and all were bearing the same symbol that was on the chest box, only gold in color.
"They're called Celestial Shifters, and Mariko made them using the last of her life force to protect the Heaven's Medallions inside each of them," Nanami explained.
Of course, hearing Mariko's involvement in the creation of those items caused another surprised reaction from Eichirou. "Why would Mom do that? Use the last of her life force to create those things?"
"Just like what we told you a while back, Mariko predicted the deaths of the next chosen Vessels before the awakening. Eichirou, your mother only wanted to prevent that from happening," Nanami stated gravely.
Hideoki pushed the opened chest box towards Eichirou and his friends. "Please... I know it will be hard. But I'm begging you. Assume your responsibilities as the new chosen Vessels."
What surprised the five youngsters was the fact that Hideoki wasn't only begging them to do the task, but he also bowed deeply to convince them further. They couldn't tell if it was done out of desperation or something more. But the sight was indeed surprising. Even Nanami did the same.
Reluctance was still evident on each of the Vessels' faces. But to assure their guardians who had taken care of them all this time, they took what they felt was their respective Celestial Shifters.
The five of them knew that accepting these Celestial Shifters meant that they had accepted the responsibility that went with it---and that was to become the new Vessels. It was the responsibility---and most of all, the destiny---that their loved ones had protected with their lives.
But somehow, having that kind of thought in their minds seemed to be a heavy one for them to bear.
What could happen now that they chose to do this?
xxxxxx
The thought of assuming their alleged responsibilities as Vessels proved itself to be extremely disturbing. And the five of them hadn't managed to sleep well the other night because of that.
That was why, at dawn the next day, they all headed somewhere to clear their minds before they start their days. But they did that in two groups.
The first group consisted of Misae, Shuichi, and Eichirou. The three of them came up with the idea of taking a stroll down the beach in hopes that the sea breeze could calm their minds. It was originally Eichirou's idea. Shuichi and Misae just tagged along since biking and archery would only make them sad since those hobbies reminded them of their respective parents.
And to think it was their parents' death anniversary on that particular day, as well...
Surely, things couldn't get any gloomier for Shuichi and Misae.
"Eichirou..." Shuichi ventured upon noticing that the eldest of the group appeared to be in deep thought ever since they arrived at the beach.
"Hmm...?"
Shuichi eyed Misae and the girl seemed to have understood what it meant. She sighed and walked alongside Eichirou. "What made you decide to come here?"
But they hadn't gotten any answer from him. It was only for a short while, though. They saw him stop walking and faced the sea as Eichirou smiled wistfully at the slowly rising sun.
"Mom told me before she died... that if I want to talk to her or if I want to fade my worries away, the sea would wash it away for me. The sea breeze would comfort me just as her hands would wipe my tears away and would embrace me when I was feeling lonely and lost. The sun rising from the horizon would make me smile just the same way her smile was able to lift my spirit whenever I'm down." Eichirou chuckled at those words afterward. "I never even realized that she died to fulfill something that big. I always thought that she died because she had been sick for a long time."
Shuichi and Misae glanced at each other upon hearing that from Eichirou. So even the energetic and the person with the most childish personality among the group had long kept this kind of thought in his mind.
The biker soon approached Eichirou and tapped the latter's shoulder. "You know, I still envy you for that."
His words made Eichirou frown and face him. "What's there to be envious about?"
"That you still had the chance to talk to your mother like that before she died," Misae was the one who answered it. "We never had that chance when our parents were killed that night."
"They just told us that no matter what happens, they'll always be with us. Whatever it is that lies ahead of our paths, they will do their best to protect us," Shuichi added with a sigh. "I should've known that there was more to that fire than just a freak accident."
Misae nodded. "And to think Hideoki-san would save us from that fire." Then she faced Eichirou with a smile. "I guess that's how Hideoki-san loved your mother, Eichirou-san. Even though it was extremely dangerous, because of her prediction about Shuichi, Itsuki-kun, Erika-chan, and I dying in that fire, he charged toward the burning building to save us. He still values her wishes more than anything else."
Giving it careful thought, Eichirou had to admit that Misae had a point. His father only thought about how to protect them and ease the pain of losing the people they loved, never his sacrifices and pain. "To be honest, that was the first time I've seen Dad that serious and had begged us to do something."
"That's because it is a task that he couldn't do for our sake," Shuichi stated. "I can tell that if there's such an ability that could take away our duties as the new Vessels from us and place it to him, I know he would do whatever it takes to have that ability."
"This would be the first and the last favor that---" Misae paused, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again. "---that I will fulfill whatever it takes. At least... This is my way of thanking him for saving us from that fire and taking care of us for the past ten years."
"Misae..."
"Mi-chan..."
The archer took a deep breath and smiled at the rising sun. "I guess being unable to sleep a wink last night and feeling the sea breeze today helped me come up with that decision."
The two boys eyed Misae for a few moments before ending up chuckling. Shuichi just shook his head in slight disbelief while Eichirou smiled widely. But before they could say something about that, the three of them heard beeping sounds coming from their respective Celestial Shifters.
They noticed that the lotus symbol on their Shifters' covers placed on their wrist was... blinking.
"What could this mean?" Shuichi queried.
But the answer they all got was a series of explosions coming from the main plaza.
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