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Chapter 8: PREPARATION

I couldn't sleep through what I had encountered last night. I held up the little piece of paper Edel gave to me; her words reoccurred in my mind: "If you go, be careful for there are many guards in the building."

"They would probably kill first then ask questions later," I murmured to myself. I can't just walk in there and ask for Azusa-I'm not that crazy. Furthermore, I probably cannot compete with armed forces that may be there. I need to get a crash course in my spirit control.

"Ryuuuuu!" Maia called through the walls within the inn. "We got breakfast!"

Spreads of eggs, bacon, sausages and tea was set on the table. Rosalyn stood there, wearing an apron and smiling.

"Enjoy the meal Ryushin and Maia as a token of thanks."

"Rosalyn cooked this all by herself." Maia sat down to eat.

"Ahh, call me Rosa now."

Rosa and I finally sat down and stuffed our faces. Suddenly a thought went through my mind...I need to ask Rosa something.

"Rosal-I mean Rosa, can I talk to you after breakfast...alone?"

Maia's face looked shocked, as well as Rosa's.

"Sure..." Rosa picked up her finished plate and headed into the kitchen.

Breakfast went quickly and was delicious and Rosa and I had time to go out and talk while Maia went to visit Olfonso. We ended up right at the same courtyard and both watched the ocean. I finally summed up the courage to ask her my question.

"Rosa, the reason why I wanted to talk to you alone is because I wanted to tell you about what happened last night."

Rosa looked at me intently. I then told her about the Otoki, Edel and the note she gave to me. Rosa looked shocked when I mentioned the two.

"Edel killed her own brother?" She got up from the bench. "I knew them so well...it was a lose-lose situation for Otoki. He fails, he dies. That's the way of The Sect."

I looked out at the ocean. It was so compelling to me how it can be so calm, yet has the possibility to be deadly when the time comes. I would have to become like that and start being more rational. With that, I summed up the courage and asked.

"I want to stop all of this nonsensical killings and I decided to go to Azusa tomorrow, before the festival. I need your help in teaching me about sprit manipulation."

"Finally...time to get serious!" Rosa smiled at me. "Let's get Maia and start. We don't have much time. I also have to pick up a couple of things." She then grabbed my hand and we ran to the diner.

Curious, I asked, "Which weapon are you?"

"You'll see how much in common we are."

Rosa led me and Maia to a hidden rocky beach, behind some abandoned seafood factory, very far from the main city streets. As she put down a big burlap sack, she was excited but serious.

"There are gifts in here for all of us." When she pulled out the object, my body went numb. It was a black katana with a silver blade. There were engravings on the blade, but I couldn't make it out from the angle that Rosa was holding it.

"Ryushin, before your death in The Sect, you were assigned a weapon. I managed to grab it before I ran away. It's your katana that you handled once and you never named it."

As she handed it to me, she continued. "Every bio-weapon has their own weapon, in which they earned their right to name. Their weapon is also fused with the bio-weapon's DNA, so only that person can bring out its full potential. An inscription forms when you first touch your weapon, acknowledging that you are the true owner of it. I think that the inscriptions are a key to something, probably within us."

I was astonished as I held my nameless weapon. I read the inscription and it brought a smile to my face. It ironically read "As It Pleases You." This weapon can be my final key to freedom.

"Meet my friends." Rosa pulled out twin short ivory scythes. They are named Oren and Orin. It also has an inscription on each of them: 'Hope' on the left scythe and 'Pain' on the right. It has been a while since I've used them." Rosa reached once more into the sack.

"And finally, a short sword for Maia. You'll need something to defend yourself." Rosa handed it to her.

"Are you serious?" Maia asked. The sword trembled in her hand.

"You were attacked before Maia and I don't know why," Ryushin looked her in the eye. "But I swear it will never happen again."

Maia felt assurance in those words and she nodded.

"Are you ready Ryu?" Rosa took her stance. "Since we have one day, I'll have to get those moves out of you."

I took my stance; it was second nature as soon as I held my katana.

"Before we start, here's a little secret. You didn't know this but you are not the only bio-sprit weapon." She started to smile. "I'm the second bio-spirit weapon of water. I was to surpass you after your death, meaning defectiveness."

Ice ridges quickly formed on the blades of her scythes.

"What?" Mai and I both screamed. Before I had time to respond, Rosa charged towards me.

"Keep focused!!"

Rosa swung left, then right. As she swung, shards of ice flew towards me. I tried to use my Gravitas shield but I had not enough time to stand my ground. I barely managed to back away in time with a few shards in my left leg. She was fast; I had no time to do a counter attack. Rosa was a good fighter, as good as Jett that it was a bit threatening.

"Coward!" Rosa screamed. She was like a wild beast, very superhuman. "Don't let pain scare you into defending; eventually, your defenses will need time to recover. Let go! Focus on your offenses!"

She then jumped back and charged in again once more. I then remembered my motive for seeing Azusa: I had questions. I can't be a weakling. As instinct, I attacked with an unnatural force within me. I let it all go--slashing, defending, counter...just like breathing. In every swing of my blade, gravity force was released. The clashes of weapons were deafening but I was somehow seduced to the thrill. Something also started to grow inside me...the bloodlust to be better. In a blink, I realized I slashed Rosa on her left arm. She then looked at her wound and smiled. She was probably in bloodlust as well.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you. I'm just warming up!" Rosa took another stance, crossing both Oren and Orin together. "Spirit of Zeiagat around me...my blessing...my curse," Rosa then screamed out, AQUA STRIKER! A giant ball of water rose from the ocean, spinning with such force behind it and honed in on me. I knew it was all or nothing now. As if I had known all my life, I spoke these words: "Spirit of Gravitas apart of me, hasten with chaos...," then I screamed out "GRAVITON PULSE!"

A heavy force of concentrated gravity exited my body and quickly covered Rosa's elemental attack. Rosa snapped out of her trance when she saw her attack stalled then quickly compressed until there was nothing left. Droplets of water started to rain down on all of us.

"How did I do?" My voice quivered through my hard breathing. I was proud that I managed to get another move out.

"Not bad, Ryu," Rosa smiled. "But I could've gone all day."

I looked towards Maia, and she was in awe. She threw down her short sword and fell to her knees. I walked slowly to Maia to help her up.

"I can't believe what I saw..." she looked toward me and Rosa. "This is the power of bio-spirit control?"

"Nope," Rosa responded. "Our powers can be limitless, but it is hard to master. Even I have struggles, but most of the time, I try not to fight."

A thought finally hit me, "Is Zeiagat your spirit, Rosa?"

"Yes. That name was with me as long as I could remember."

A stomach growl broke the serious moment. Rosa was beet red. "That's it for the day! I'm hungry and still have to plan our infiltration for tomorrow." She then walked off.

"Maia, you okay?" I was getting concerned.

"I'm just stunned. I wonder how many people are out there with powers like that and why Jett wanted to kidnap me. What if we see him again?"

"Don't worry. Tomorrow I'll let Rosa take care of you. I don't want any of you to get caught up in Jett or Azusa."

"Ok," Maia became her usually bubbly self again. "Let's catch up to Rosa."

As we stood up, Maia reached for the short sword and her voice started to shake.

"R-Ryushin..." I turned around quickly and I couldn't believe what I saw. Maia's short sword had a faint glow. Suddenly an inscription started to appear on the blade and it read "My Restless Novae".