But if one would look at Itsuki's face when he left the mansion, one could see the confusion and frustration on his face. At the moment, he decided to just leave without notifying anyone than take it all out on Helen. Not that he intended to do it like that since he knew very well that the novelist didn't do anything bad.
To be honest, he couldn't understand himself when it came to that particular issue. That feeling of irritation that bubbled up as soon as Hideoki declared that Helen would be helping them train to become full-fledged Vessels remained a mystery to him. There had to be a reason for that. He only needed to figure out what it was.
There was only one place that Itsuki had intended to go to as soon as he left the mansion. His favorite place --- the lake near the cliff that Shuichi would usually frequent. He didn't understand the intense need to go there. But he knew it was the only place that usually helped him clear his mind before.
At the moment, he was hoping that the place would actually provide him the peace of mind or at least the little bit of clarity that he needed.
Then again, the dreams that he had about a mysterious woman and also the blood-covered little girl hadn't stopped appearing. The appearance of those dreams, especially the ones about the little girl, had escalated ever since his awakening as a chosen Vessel. He didn't know if his Hasureiki had anything to do with it. But he was aware that the dreams had something to do with their mission as Seitengers.
The only problem was trying to figure out the identity of the woman and even the little girl. If these two were indeed crucial in their mission, how come they would only appear to him?
Could there be some sort of a link to him and to these two female characters that he just had to discover? One that the scrolls and even other records had kept a secret?
He could only groan and scratch the back of his head, because of this frustration. Normally, reading books or going to these nature walks heading to his favorite spot would have helped him. But it seemed that none of it had provided any help for him this time, though.
Itsuki finally reached the boulder that he would constantly sit on whenever he'd go to that lake. He sat there for a little while as he looked at the calm waters of the lake while the trees around rustled. With a sigh, he took out the rolled music sheets from his inner jacket pocket. He was thinking of maybe focusing on his compositions in the meantime as he tried to clear his mind.
Not to mention, the composition had something to do with the little girl from his dreams.
He was halfway to completing the piece, and he would've completed it already if it was a normal day for him to do so. But not for this composition. For some reason, his head would ache whenever he'd see the last line he wrote there.
'Let's look at our truth one more time in this new life...'
This was in reference to the words he would constantly hear in his dreams with the little girl. He wasn't sure why those words stuck with him since the dreams started. But he could feel his heart hurting at the sight of that teary-eyed girl asking for his help or would assure him that he'd find the answer.
That last part was what would confuse him at times.
Itsuki looked at the music sheets once again and surprisingly, his mind wandered back to Helen once again. He should really do what he could to figure out the reason for the irritation he was feeling for her. As he went over the lyrics he wrote, he frowned.
Why would that last lyric he wrote made him think about Helen? It wasn't like Helen was a representative of someone from a past life or something.
Or was she?
Would he be able to know the truth about that?
xxxxxx
The training ended in another half an hour and the four Vessels left in the mansion had exhausted their Hasureiki because of the intensity of the task that Helen had set for them. To be honest, all of them were surprised that Helen could cast high-level illusions like that without tiring herself. But they mostly attributed it to the fact that Helen trained longer than them. Not to mention, it was the topic that Helen had studied deeply, for some reason.
But it wasn't the intense training that occupied their minds at the moment. After heaving a deep sigh, Misae faced Helen who was busy casting a rune circle beneath the tired Vessels.
"Helen-chan, are you sure you're fine?"
That question only made the novelist frown, though. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, about the way Itsuki-kun is treating you. Whether we know the reason or not, it doesn't change the fact that he's hostile to you."
Helen chuckled. "Misae-san, 'hostile' is too much of a word for you to use just to describe his attitude."
"Helen-chan..."
"He has his reasons, and it seems like it's something he had to deal with by himself for now."
The Vessels couldn't believe that Helen would respond to the issue so calmly.
"Are you sure you're still in your right senses, Helen?" Shuichi spoke this time. "We couldn't even breathe at the tension that always formed whenever you and Itsuki were in the same room. I know that guy can be cold or indifferent to some people. But not something like this that's coupled with such thick tension."
"It's hard to stay in the same room as the two of you whenever that happens," Eichirou added and the girls nodded in agreement.
But only a resigned sigh escaped Helen's lips and smiled sadly. "There's nothing I can do if Itsuki-san really doesn't like me in any way at all. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to do my job as a Vessel Support."
"But this is really unusual for Onii-chan and I'm not liking it at all," Erika said, her voice filled with concern.
It was around that time that the rune circle beneath the four Vessels disappeared and Helen sat on one of the stools.
"There has to be a reason why Onii-chan would treat you like that."
"Maybe there were a lot of things going on in his mind. You'll never know," Helen said and shrugged before holding one of Erika's hands. "Right now, you have to worry more about getting stronger. The Triske Monsters you've been dealing with are getting stronger. And to think you've only just begun training and fighting. Even if you did succeed in awakening two Elemental Guides, it would also pose a threat to the Tareans. It would only make them even more eager to end you all and proceed to their plans of taking over the world."
As much as Erika wanted to retort, she and the other Vessels knew that Helen had a point. Even when the novelist said that she didn't have to worry too much, she couldn't help but continue worrying.
At one point, she knew she had to do something about it.
'Asking Onii-chan about it isn't a good idea, and I know that. But he has to tell me his reasons or this tension won't go away.'
With that thought, Erika had settled on what to do. But she had to do it without Helen knowing about the confrontation that she was about to do to her older brother.
xxxxxx
Thunders and lightning in the Tareus Dimension continued to roar and cackle around the fortress. Then again, it was a given that such an atmosphere happened to be conjured. But this time, it wasn't Emperor Darshao who was doing it in his slumber.
The five Great Shadow Defenders vented out their frustrations by trying to blast the ceiling of the Throne Room, but to no avail. It was a magical fortress, after all. They could throw their strongest attacks to the ceiling and it would just stay there, unbothered with all the chaos. This was done when the fortress was first built, since it was capable of sealing the emperor's strongest attacks whenever he would vent out his anger for failed missions or just about anything that vexed him.
"This is ridiculous!" Alvre screamed and threw a ball of dark energy to the ceiling. "This soon! How could they have awakened two of the Elemental Guides this soon? This has never happened before!"
"Yes, this is ridiculous. But it already happened. None of us had expected any of this to happen. Those kids are not like their predecessors," Siriso stated as he, too, had thrown his attacks to the ceiling.
Soon after, more lightning crackled and thunder roared louder than ever. But none of them cared. They needed to vent out their frustrations on something. But it didn't take long before Karkino noticed something. He then turned to the scholar who was calmly throwing beam shots to the ceiling, but not in the same manner as Alvre and Siriso did.
"You sure are calm about this, Orcus," the commander commented.
It soon caught the attention of the assassin and the general. But Orcus paid no mind to them. He focused on throwing his beam shots instead. That is, until they noticed something else.
"It seems you're trying to create more cracks in the surface world," Siriso said.
"It's a long shot with just my powers alone. But let's worry about what I'm doing later. It will take time before any of us Great Shadow Defenders could even get out of here."
"How come you're not even surprised about all that has happened?" Alvre ended up asking, feeling fed up at the lack of reaction and emotion on Orcus.
But Orcus didn't answer. He soon pulled out a black scroll from his robe and spread it out. Moments later, it glowed before summoning a purplish black rune circle and in it came a Triske Monster. This one was a cross between a lyre and a griffin.
"You called for me, Master?" the monster asked and bowed to Orcus.
"Do as you're usually asked to. Gather more energy from hopelessness and despair. We need them for the emperor."
"As you wish, Master."
"And also..." At this point, Orcus trailed off and looked at one of the cracks that he ended up creating on that enchanted ceiling. The smirk on his face soon caught Nemia's attention. "Don't forget to defeat the Seitengers. But focus on the green one first. Take him out and kill him first before you deal with the rest."
The Triske Monster bowed once again before leaving the Throne Room. After that, Orcus continued firing beam shots on the exact spot he was firing at earlier.
The others couldn't understand what had transpired other than the fact that Orcus chose to do the job this time. But Nemia heard the scholar's orders to the Triske Monster. From there, she had an idea on the reason why Orcus decided to take a shot in defeating the Seitengers this time.
xxxxxx
Itsuki didn't realize how much time had passed since he spent it on the lake and trying his best to finish his composition. Much to his surprise, he actually did despite his mind being in pieces because of so many thoughts lingering around.
"I can't believe I did it..." he muttered as he went over his latest composition.
To be honest, he could only look at it, feeling unsure of what to think about his finished piece. This wasn't the first time he actually felt this way about his composition, especially recently finished ones. But there was only one particular topic or theme in his composition that he felt anxious about.
The compositions he had about the little girl in his dreams. He would always talk about certain moments in those compositions that he wanted the girl to know.
To find her.
To save her.
To protect her.
To let her live.
All those frustrations that he had for being unable to do all that in his dreams were vented out in each of those compositions. He always had this aim to let those compositions reach her in some way, though he had no idea how. Many times, it would drive him crazy that he couldn't. Not to mention, he wasn't aware if that little girl actually existed or not.
A ringing from a phone startled Itsuki, prompting him to stop his musings and take out the phone from his pocket. He couldn't help frowning as he did so since he wasn't expecting any call. That frown deepened as he saw the name Kuraki Makoto on the Caller ID flashed on the screen.
"That's rare. When was the last time he actually called me?" he couldn't help asking himself as he continued looking at the ringing phone.
It wasn't unusual that he had that name registered on his contacts because Makoto actually said to him that he'd call one of these days so he shouldn't delete it. The man tried to connect with Itsuki and Erika, even when the Hoshiyama siblings' parents died. Makoto was Itsuki's father's former piano student. Makoto quit after some time to focus on studying history under one of the famous historians by the name Taiga Mitsuharu.
That was when he froze at the sudden realization. Didn't Hideoki mention a while back that Helen's guardian was someone named Taiga Mitsuharu?
"Urgh! Why didn't I listen fully when people would tell me important things?" he mumbled in frustration and even scratched the back of his head. But it wouldn't change anything, anyway.
He would have to deal with the consequences later on.
In the end, he decided to answer that call since it had been a long time and it was a rare chance, after all.
"Hello? Makoto-san?"
"Wow! You actually kept my contact number. That's amazing!" The man chuckled, which only made the composer smile. "This is a surprise, to be honest. I actually thought you would forget about what I said to you."
"You're strange right from the start for me. But that doesn't mean I would forget a talented pianist and a good friend who stuck with us, especially when my sister and I needed it," Itsuki said, his tone serious.
Then he heard the man chuckle on the other line once again. But he could tell that it wasn't a mocking kind. It could be amusement, but he wasn't sure. At least, it wasn't something condescending.
"I'm glad to hear that, coming from you," Makoto responded. "By the way, how have things been in your new home since I left? Life's been faring well for you and your sister?"
"Makoto-san, that was ten years ago already. And you said you were leaving us to a man who was every bit as righteous and strict as my dad. Erika and I trusted you that day. What do you think happened after that?"
"Well, I want to hear the answer straight from you. And it's for the best if you actually do that."
It didn't take a while for Itsuki to come up with a reply. He took a deep breath before speaking. "Life has fared well for me and my sister ever since living with Hideoki-san. It was hard trying to move on with our lives after that tragedy. But he stayed with us all the way. We got to continue our passion and hobbies. He didn't stop us when we decided to chase them and aim higher. Now... both my sister and I think that we couldn't think of anyone else that we can entrust our dreams with other than Hideoki-san and Nanami-san."
The composer doesn't usually speak of his fondness and adoration towards Hideoki and Nanami to anyone at all. But Kuraki Makoto wasn't just anyone to him. The man was his father's former student who entrusted him and Erika to Mizuhashi Hideoki that one fateful day after the tragedy ten years ago. And he knew he would eternally be grateful to the man who made it happen.
"By the way, what made you decide to call after such a long time? I already thought you forgot about us," Itsuki joked after asking.
Makoto laughed before answering. "I wasn't too busy these days since I managed to finish all that I needed to do after my mentor's death. Which reminds me..." The man paused that made the composer frown. "What do you think of Tennouji Helen?"
His eyes widened at the question before frowning. Without a doubt, that question had caught him off-guard. Of all the questions, did Makoto really have to ask that to him? And seriously, he wasn't sure how to answer that question at all, considering his unexplained irritation to the said girl.
Though before he could ask more about the reason, Itsuki soon heard a click on the other line, followed by a busy tone.
"Hello? Makoto-san? Hello? Are you still there?" he repeatedly asked. No answer came.
He looked at his phone with a deeper frown this time.
"I wonder what happened..."
That click he heard indicated that the call got abruptly cut. But why?
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