The Raven Guardian

I didn't tell him. It wasn't that I didn't trust Morgan, but rather that I didn't want to hurt him...to scar him. The last thing I wanted was for him to think any less of me than he already did, so I kept my secret to myself. I made up some sad excuse about why I ran away, and surprisingly, he bought it. Either that, or he was pretending to. No matter what, though, there was no changing his mind. He would be staying by my side from then on.

Of course, we had to call my mom to let her know that I was still alive. The phone call lasted about 15 minutes, and 10 of those minutes were spent with me just listening to her and Aki cry. Even through this, I still managed to talk to them a decent amount of time. I explained what was going on (in a sort, because I wasn't going to tell them I was a demon, and then just run off again) and told them that Morgan would be joining me. I had expected my mother to start thoroughly scolding me, telling me what a great disappointment I was.

But she didn't. However, she and Aki were both extremely upset. Their words seemed to merge into one single voice as they begged and pleaded for me to come home. Yet I could not comply to their desires, and to be honest, I wasn't so sure if I wanted to. Just by hearing the sound of my voice, I knew that Aki would be better off now. The sound of his sweet little voice whispering my name softly through the phone let me know that this was the end of his reckless actions, and that he would finally go back to his usual self. No doubt that Aki would still be sad that I wouldn't be around, but I knew that he would be okay. And just knowing that he and my mother were okay was good enough for me.

April 16

I shifted in my seat and heaved a tiresome sigh as I pressed my face to the train window. I glanced at the person who was sitting across from me, who had also been staring out the window, but with a more peaceful expression on his face. Niall's wounds had been cleaned up for the most part, but I could still tell when he was in pain. Those eyes don't fool me...

"Is something the matter, master Hanako?"

"Hmm? Oh, no. Nothing at all."

"Are you sure?" He asked, his eyes now focusing more on me. "Is something bothering you?"

"Tell me again where exactly we're going," I said, my eyes turning once again to the scenery which was passing by way too slow for my liking. "And why are we taking the most sluggish train in the universe?"

Niall smiled politely and answered my question. "Our destination is Lake Chiyu. The name translates to 'the healing lake.' It was Jeremy's suggestion. He said it was mainly for my health benefits, but I like to think of it as a way that everyone can take a break from all of the stress and confusion, and simply relax in the lake's tranquil atmosphere. That way it doesn't make it seem like I'm being selfish. And as for our mode of transportation, I apologize. I do not believe that Jeremy thought of the train's speed when choosing it. But in his defense, I'm sure he had a good reason. My guess is that it is probably the only train nearby that can get us to our desired location. I hope that you will forgive me."

Is this guy for real? "No, you're not being selfish at all, Niall," I insisted. "And you have no reason to apologize. I'm just not a very patient person, that's all. I should be the one apologizing. I'm the one who hurt you so badly in the first place."

"No problem, master," he said, bowing his head. "I still owe you everything for allowing me to be your servant."

After that I decided to remain quiet the rest of the ride. No matter what I would say, Niall would just turn it back on himself. The selfless idiot...

Morgan was also especially quiet. He seemed a bit depressed that Gabriel couldn't come along, but of course Jeremy wouldn't allow the cat anywhere near him when it didn't need to be.

Just then, I noticed the train beginning to slow down even more, and it had soon come to a complete stop.

"Alright, you brats, we're here!" shouted Jeremy. He was now standing at the train door, waving his arms and signaling us to follow him as he hopped out of the train. Morgan perked up, and his spirit was instantly raised.

"Come on, Hanako!" He urged, tugging at my sleeve. "You too, Niall."

Niall smiled warmly at Morgan's enthusiasm, and he stood up from his seat. Then he looked at me. "After you, master Hanako," he said, gesturing at the door. I nodded and soon head out, Morgan and Niall following behind.

The air was warm and welcoming, with but a gentle breeze cutting the still atmosphere. Like Niall had said, it was a very relaxing place, even upon arrival. My edginess went away entirely, and my mind was set at ease. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all."

"The lake's this way, twinkle toes," said Jeremy, snapping me out of my daze. I shot him an irritated look, but he ignored it.

Morgan, Niall, and I followed Jeremy to the dock of the lake. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Lake Chiyu seemed to stretch on for miles. Its pale blue waters shone brightly in the warm, afternoon sun, rippling at the slightest pick up of wind. Niall walked over to the edge of the dock and rolled up the hems of his pants, then slowly placed his feet in the water. Morgan was practically glowing with happiness. Jeremy, on the other hand...

"What are you waiting for, twinkle toes? Jump...in!!"

I had the chance to spin around, right as Jeremy had charged up a powerful kick and was ready to release his wrath on his unexpected victim. Me. My gut unwillingly made an acquaintance with his foot, and I was soon launched into the still lake. A few feet under, I went, and when I surfaced, I glared at Jeremy with a furious look in my eye.

"I hate you..."

"What's the matter, kid? Can't swim?" He mocked, laughing in spite of me.

"Jeremy, I do not think master Hanako approves of your games," said Niall. He threw out one hand to me and beckoned me to take it, at the same time gripping the wooden post next to him with the other. I gratefully accepted his offer, and he heaved me up onto the dock.

"Thanks, Niall," I said, smiling slightly.

"It's my pleasure."

I stood up and turned to look at Jeremy, a fixed scowl on my face. "Why you little~..."

"Now there's no point in getting mad about it. That would prove that you aren't a good sport," Jeremy smirked. "After all, these waters are meant to soothe the soul. Not anger the spirit. Be honest: don't you feel more relaxed now?"

"You think this is funny, cyborg?" I snapped. "I'm freakin' soaking wet thanks to you."

"Oh, lighten up, twinkle toes. It's not every day we get to go to a place like this."

"You think this is some kind of vacation?"

"Well what else would you call it?"

"Remember that this is for Niall! Not you! So quit being such an imbecile!!"

"Wow, how insulting..." Jeremy rolled his eyes to the sky. "Ah, we sure picked a beautiful day to come didn't we?"

"Don't ignore me!!"

"Shut up, brat!"

"That is enough!!"

Jeremy and I fell silent at the sound of a new voice interrupting our feud. Although when I looked around, the only other people I saw were Morgan and Niall. "Did you guys-?" They both shook their heads, already knowing what my question would be. I glanced questioningly at Jeremy, who looked just as confused as I was.

"That was weird..." He said in a low voice. "...helloooo...? Anybody there?"

No answer.

"Maybe we were just imagining it," I shrugged.

"Guys! Check it out! There's something strange in the lake!"

Jeremy and I turned to Morgan and soon discovered that he was telling the truth. Just a few yards away from arm's reach, there was a giant sphere of some sort bobbing in the water.

What the heck? I took a few steps towards the end of the dock, only to be once again shoved in by Jeremy.

"Go check it out, brat."

This time I wasn't about to let the idiot provoke me, so instead I just swam in the direction of the oversized spherical object. "This is way too big to be a beach ball..." I tapped the sphere lightly with my finger, only to hear a knocking sound echo from inside it. "H-hello?"

"Quit talking to the ball and bring it over here!" Jeremy shouted.

"Stupid cyborg..." I muttered, but began pushing the sphere towards the dock anyway. Once I reached the dock, Niall helped me up. Then we heaved the sphere up onto dry land.

Everyone stared with wide, curious eyes at the peculiarly large ball. For a few seconds, the sphere was absolutely still. Then it began to rock back and forth, and eventually snapped open. Inside the sphere sat a little boy, curled up into a tightly compressed ball. The boy had raven-black hair that was tied in a long, thin ponytail. He was wearing a Japanese style robe with a funny looking black leather belt tied around the waist.

"Is it dead?" Morgan whispered. I smacked him on the head.

"Shut up, Morgan." I tilted my head and looked at the boy's peaceful expression. He doesn't look like a threat, but should I wake him up? Before I had the chance to make up my mind, Jeremy began poking the boy's cheek. "Jeremy!" I hissed.

"What?" He said ignorantly.

The little boy shuffled and shifted in his sleep, then slowly stirred awake. "Wha~...?" He blinked his baby blue eyes and gazed up at us innocently. "What the heck are you?"

'What'? Not 'who', but 'what'? "Um, hello, little boy," I said softly, offering a polite smile. "What's your name?"

"Where's Edithania?" He asked, completely ignoring my question.

"Is she your sister?"

"She's my guardian," he answered.

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry."

Niall hadn't reacted much to the sphere nor the boy up until now. But all of a sudden his eyes filled with a sense of alarm. "Did you say...Edithania?"

The boy cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at Niall. "Yes. Do you know....her...? Wait...are you...?"

"Yes, I am Edithania's brother."

"What?!?" I exclaimed, a bit louder than I intended. Niall nodded his head.

"That's right," he said. "Nathaniel, where is she?"

Nathaniel...so that's his name. So this Edithania character is the boy's guardian, as well as Niall's sister, huh? That means she must be a member of the Midnight Legion. Great. That's the last thing I need.

"I dunno," said Nathaniel flatly. "I was hoping you could help me find her."

"Look no further than right behind you," a voice announced. Everyone turned around and spotted a short woman standing there. She had long, wavy black hair and a knee length black dress. In her hair was a barely visible black ribbon. (In short, she basically looked like she had just been attending a funeral.) Her dark brown eyes glared accusingly at each one of us as she noticed we were surrounding Nathaniel, but her gaze softened upon seeing Niall with us. "Niall..." She whispered softly. "It's been a while."

"Indeed it has, sister Edithania," Niall greeted, standing up and showing off a welcoming smile. "It's good to see you are doing well."

"Please, drop the formality. We're siblings, not business partners," she chuckled. "Just call me Edith. And by the way, I have to ask of you this, Niall. Where is Reiha? I would have expected that you two would be together, just as you always used to be. Did something happen to her?"

I felt my heart drop like a rock, making my chest ache again. No, please, don't bring that up again. I'm trying to put that incident behind me...

Much to my surprise, Niall didn't hesitate to cover up for me. "I am afraid I do not know the current whereabouts of Reiha. But I'm sure that she is alright, so please don't worry, Edith."

The look in his eyes when he said this almost made me wish I hadn't been alive at the moment. How can his own sister not see through this lie? Niall...I'm so sorry.

Edith let out a sigh of relief. "Well, that's good to hear. Anyway, since you're here, Niall, how about you and your friends join Nathaniel and I back at out campsite? There's someone I'd like you to meet. Also, I can, uh, explain how exactly Nathaniel wound up in a giant beach ball..."

"That would be very kind of you," said Niall. He glanced at each of our faces, and smiled upon our looks of approval. "It appears my friends have no objections, so that would be wonderful."

"Great," said Edith. "Follow me, then."

+++

A campsite, huh? Well. This is one heck of a campsite.

There had to be at least a hundred tents, all lined in two equivalent rows just about a quarter-mile from the lake. Yet somehow it was completely silent. "Do these tents belong to any one?" I asked.

Edith shook her head. "Not at the moment, no. They are all vacant. Nathaniel and I live at that cabin there," she informed us, pointing at said cabin just 20 yards away. "Come. There's no time to waste." We followed Edith to the cabin door and waited patiently as she unlocked it, then invited us in.

The inside of the cabin was well furnished, having a long, wooden table, several chairs, a sofa, and two, medium-sized beds. Lying on one of the beds was a small, white haired girl that looked about the same age as Nathaniel. Are they related, I wonder.

"Please, you all may take a seat if you'd like," she offered, gesturing at the chairs around the table. We accepted her offer and joined her as she sat down. Nathan, however, walked over to the girl and knelt down beside her, while Edith began her story. "First of all, about Nathaniel. The truth is, I had been careless. I was on the scent of the Shadow Keeper."

You have got to be kidding me.

"That's right. The one and only. I wanted to track him down so badly, I had lost track of Nathaniel, and he ended up in the lake. I had a feeling this would happen someday, so I took the liberty of attaching a protection installment in his belt. In an emergency, all he has to do is press a button on the belt, and it would activate. I know it sounds irresponsible of me, but I knew that he wouldn't be in any real danger. I would never let anything like that happen to him." She laughed softly as she glanced over at Nathan. "Anyway, it's obvious I never found the Shadow Keeper on my own, so I'm grateful you brought him to me, Niall. I was hoping...that maybe, he can help her."

She glanced back at Nathaniel with a sorrowful expression, then sighed deeply and said, "You see, that girl is Nathan's sister, Eliana. There was an accident several days ago, one that had occurred while I had been out with the children in the forest. I just so happened to run into a couple of not-so-friendly acquaintances of mine, who apparently had been holding a grudge against me for quite some time. They stole Eliana from me and took off. Luckily I was able to catch up to them before they could escape the forest, but by the time I had reached them...they had already done something horrible to her."

Edithania slowly rose from her seat and walked over to Eliana. She then carefully rolled up the young girl's left sleeve, revealing a dark, purplish wound that covered nearly her entire arm. "This isn't just a bruise, as you can see. It's a poison wound." Hanging her head sorrowfully, Edithania whispered, "I'm responsible for her life just as much as Nathaniel's. But as you see, I have failed in my duties. I got her hurt, thus hurting Nathan in the process." She faced me and gazed desperately into my eyes. "Although the wound was inflicted by poison, it's still a flesh wound, so you should be able to heal it, correct? Please, Hanako. Can you help her?"

I flinched. "W-what are you talking ab-"

"I know you are the Shadow Keeper," she said. "But it's alright. You don't need to be afraid of me. I am merely asking for your help."

Once again I had been lucky enough to meet a member of the Midnight Legion with a kind heart. But nonetheless, I was still nervous about what she had asked me.

Help her? How could I possibly do that? I'm a demon. But then again, so is Edithania, yet she somehow ended up as a guardian. Gabriel told me that I could heal wounds with my powers, but what about a poison wound? Could I cure that? Even if I could, I would feel immensely guilty. After all, I refused to help Niall before, even after how loyal he's been to me. But I can't just sit here and watch her suffer...especially after what I did to Reiha. I owe her that much.

"I made a promise to Reiha," I said aloud without second thought. "I promised her that I would do my best to protect her family, and that I wouldn't allow a single one of them do die after her. I never had an intention of causing anyone suffering, and now, after what I did to her, I can't help but feel the fountain of guilt inside me overflowing. Edithania, please accept my apology, and allow me to help Eliana."

"Apology accepted."

"What?"

"I forgive you," she whispered softly.

"B-but why so willingly? I...I killed her."

"I've known Reiha a lot longer than you have, Hanako, and I know where her darkened heart truly lies. Unlike the rest of us in the Midnight Legion, Reiha can never love. She can never dream, she never hope, and she can never imagine. She has one sole purpose, and that is to follow our father's commands. Reiha is one of the few who actually cares about our father's plan, which is, as you probably know, to bring you to him.

As for me and Niall, along with most of our family, couldn't care less. We have no intention of bringing any harm to you. In fact, many of us are seeking to prevent that. We want to make sure that you stay as far away from our father as possible. Because we don't want you to end up like we did. So forget about that promise you made our sister. Our one true desire is to protect you."

Tears were filling up my eyes at this point, and soon they began to run down my cheeks. Morgan, who hadn't spoken in a while, took a napkin that was on the table and began dabbing the spots under my eyes. I snatched the napkin from his hand and wiped away the tears myself. "I'm so sorry...about everything..."

"You may think you lurk in darkness, but don't let your title fool you," Edith said encouragingly. "You may be called the keeper of shadows, but what is a title but a name that people use to try and depict what they think you are? The shadows are not with you, Hanako, but following you. Keep your face towards the sun and eventually, they will get bored. Now..." She took a deep breath and smiled warmly at me. "I think you've had enough of my therapy lesson. Could you take a look at Eliana now?"

I pushed away the thought that was on my mind and decided to focus on what was most important. This is my chance to prove to Edithania what kind of person I was, or at least, the kind of person I wanted to be. I stood up from my chair and walked over to the little girl's bed, then knelt down beside Nathan. I'm practically useless...so I have to try and change that. Even if it's just once, I have to.... "Tell me, Nathaniel," I whispered, and he lifted up his head to show me he was listening. "What is Eliana to you? How would you describe her to a person who never knew her?"

Nathan didn't hesitate to answer. "She's more of a friend to me than anyone ever was. She's always sweet. And kind. She always thinks of others. And...I love her. I really, really love her. I feel weak now, though. After all, I'm her big brother. I should be the one protecting her." He reached over and carefully picked up the little girl's hand. "I want her to be safe."

I smiled fondly at the boy. "Everything will be okay."

Maybe not today, but eventually.