Ethereal Guardians

While Ren awaited their arrival at the temple, he felt himself grow more exhausted and struggled to keep his eyelids propped open. The wound on his arm still throbbed, turning cold the longer it was exposed to the elements, but there was nothing he could do without Mizuki. "Fuck," he whispered, kicking his feet around the dust to distract from the discomfort, both physical and mental.

His free hand brushed absently against his pocket, where the strange amulet he'd found earlier rested. Ren had kept it with him, thinking it might be important, but now he was thinking it was just a stupid trinket. His eyes drooped as he stared vacantly ahead at nothing in particular; everything appeared strangely distorted, distorted, and warped. After what felt like a short while, however, Ren fell into a dreamless, fitful sleep; no matter how hard he tried to stave it off, his body simply could not keep up with the stress of his injury.

In the dream, Ren was standing in a vast, endless expanse of water. The surface was perfectly still, reflecting a perfectly blue sky. He took a few steps forward into the liquid until his entire body was submerged, then waded about a little bit more. He spotted something floating a short distance ahead. As he swam closer, he realized it was the amulet. "Oh," he remarked, picking it up and looking at it carefully.

Blue faded to pitch black, and the water around him thickened, clinging to his skin like syrup. Ren's breath became heavy and strained as his vision blurred into static. The amulet grew hot in his hand, and he dropped it with a startled wraith. The amulet hissed as it met the liquid, hissing as though the sea itself was burning away the stone.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, his body jolting forward as he gasped for air. Mizuki was crouched over him, her hands pressed against his arm, softly singing a sweet-sounding melody. The wounds disappeared completely, and his arm healed over without even a trace of a scar. "It wasn't that serious," he muttered quietly. Mizuki simply shook her head with a small smile and stood up. Ren noted Kaoru, standing in his signature pose, behind her. "Tenmei-sensei," he acknowledged gruffly.

"We didn't keep you waiting for too long, did we? That wraith got you pretty good," Kaoru mused, a hand tucked inside his pants pocket. Ren chose not to respond, simply shrugging half-heartedly, and turned to observe the young woman who had just patched him up. Mizuki helped him up and began dusting his back off.

"You could have bled to death, Ren. Please, you have to be more careful next time," the brunette said worriedly. "That gash was pretty deep. How are feeling right now? Any dizziness? Pain? Anything like that?" She rambled on, checking over his shoulder and upper bicep area for signs of lingering pain. The guardian pulled away and rolled his newly-healed shoulder a couple times. "He seems okay. At least for now," she added under her breath. Mizuki looked at her bloodied hands and shook them, trying to fling some of it off, the crimson liquid flinging against the stone with a sickening splat.

Looking around, she noticed a fountain by the temple that she could use to cleanse herself. "I'll be right back. I really need to wash my hands."

Ren sat up slowly, still feeling a little lightheaded. "I'll go with you," he offered, shifting to stand up.

"I'll go too," Kaoru chimed in unexpectedly. The urge to tag along came as an impulse. Now wasn't the time for him to be overprotective of Mizuki, but he simply couldn't resist.

Mizuki looked between the two men, noting their simultaneous offers, and smiled a little. "It's just around the corner." She pointed towards a small fountain only a few meters away. "See? If anything, I'll scream at the top of my lungs so you hear me and come running, okay?" Both men turned to look at one another before shrugging slightly. She was right. It was hardly a stone's throw away, so taking their eyes off her for such a short time shouldn't be a problem. They conceded and motioned for her to go.

While keeping a close eye on Mizuki, Ren absentmindedly brushed his pocket, only to frown when he didn't feel what should have been there. 'Shit! The damn amulet!' The only thing he could were pieces of the once-pristine artifact. He pulled what was left out, scrutinizing its broken edges and fractured surface. "What the hell…?"

Kaoru caught sight of what Ren was staring at, intrigued by the look of utter bewilderment on the young man's face. "What's that?" Ren glanced up at him, momentarily forgetting to speak, so confused was he by the strange occurrence. It didn't appear damaged in any way before. At least not that he recalled. Maybe he simply sat the wrong way and broke it when he fell unconscious from blood loss, yet the fact it shattered into dozens of tiny fragments remained puzzling.

"I found it in my grandfather's stuff," Ren mumbled, showing the object. Kaoru reached out and picked up a few bits and held them together like jigsaw puzzle pieces.

"Looks cursed." Kaoru was rather blunt with the truth, stating it casually enough, while Ren, however, was slightly alarmed.

"The hell do you mean it looks cursed? That can't be, my grandpa would never have kept anything related to cursed items," the younger man argued, adamant in his assessment.

"Then I guess you didn't know your grandfather as well as you think." A pointed, almost barbed retort that hurt and irked him at once. A glare formed on Ren's visage, lips curved downward. "Oh, don't make that face. Relax," Kaoru continued on, grinning all the while. After studying it for a few more minutes, he concluded, "Yeah, it's definitely a Shikomei Amulet," Kaoru finally said, tossing the fragmented pieces lightly in his hand. He never he'd ever see something like this in the possession of a regular citizen like Ren's grandpa. That, in and of itself, was quite bizarre.

"Shikomei? What's that?" Ren inquired with obvious interest.

"Well, it's a really old, and extremely rare tool. It's meant to bind something—either to protect it or to seal it. In most cases, these things are used to anchor powerful curses or entities. Your grandpa might not have been keeping this around for fun but rather to keep something nasty from getting loose." Kaoru studied the artifact again, cocking his head curiously at the item. There was no obvious indication of what it may have bound; he just hoped nothing broke free, which would be pretty problematic.

"So, what, you're saying this thing might've been holding something dangerous? And now it's broken?"

"Exactly," Kaoru said, still grinning like this was all just a game. "Congratulations! You've probably inherited a big problem, kid."

His casual attitude toward the whole situation annoyed Ren more than the actual discovery did, and he grumbled something under his breath about Tenmei being a jackass. They simply would have to remain cautious during their current trip back home and make sure to inform the higher-ups about the incident once the opportunity presented itself. "Let me take this off your hands for a bit," Kaoru said suddenly, slipping the fragments into his pocket. "I'll get it examined. Best case scenario, there was nothing there to begin with and this was a completely useless object that did nothing whatsoever. Worst case scenario, some evil spirit wakes up and comes to wreak havoc at any moment now."

Ren grimaced, leaning back and sighing loudly at the prospect. How he dreaded the thought of facing an even bigger enemy in the near future. Who knew what lay dormant within this shattered piece of stone? A creature that hadn't seen sunlight or air for generations, that may be far too corrupted to have any mercy left inside its dark soul... It sent a shiver down his spine and caused the hairs to stand up along his arms and neck. No doubt it was dangerous, and certainly not something he wanted to confront on his own anytime soon. "Better with you than me."

"Smart move," Kaoru jested lightheartedly. The next steps to this little excursion were going to be more complicated than he liked and, by the looks of it, this day wouldn't end without a considerable amount of stress. A visit to the higher-ups and the archive center were necessary and unavoidable. Before he could dwell too long, Mizuki returned, her hands now clean and hemoglobin free.

"All set," she announced, clasping them together and rubbing them softly. "Can we go now?"

Kaoru kicked at the ground suspiciously, hissing air through clenched teeth. "Yeah, about that," he drawled uncertainly. "My teleportation technique isn't designed for more than two people," Kaoru explained, crossing his arms. "If I try to bring all three of us, it could destabilize the space and dump us somewhere random—or, worse, tear us apart mid-transit. You know, the usual fun stuff."

"Uh, yeah, let's not do that," Ren commented, grimacing at the image his teacher was painting. "I don't mind going back alone," he added quickly, waving a hand dismissively. "I still have a few more things to sort out back at my gramps estate, anyway. I probably won't be back home until late."

Mizuki looked guilt stricken, biting her lip gently. The poor girl was clearly still concerned for her friend's safety after she treated him just a little while ago, though he assured her it really wasn't anything major. "No way," she started, turning to Kaoru. "Can't you just come back for one of us right after bringing the other?"

Kaoru considered the prospect for a second before replying, "Do you think I'm made of infinite energy?" He laughed as he continued on sarcastically. "Sorry, but it doesn't work like that."

The girl exhaled heavily, tilting her head back. She didn't want to leave Ren here all alone by himself. It simply didn't feel right to her to abandon her best friend in a place where there may be hostile spirits afoot. "Well, then…" She tried to surmise a potential solution for this dilemma, but was only able to come up with the obvious answer to the predicament: she would stay behind and accompany Ren instead. "Let me stay. Being by yourself doesn't make a whole lot of sense when I could stay and help."

Ren immediately felt responsible for the dilemma at hand. "Stop that. It's really not as bad as it seems, seriously. Thanks for the help, but I can take it from here." He continued to reassure her once again, as politely as he could muster, hoping she'd reconsider and just stick to the original plan. To his surprise, though he shouldn't have been, Mizuki responded with an insistent , "No." She was hell-bent on getting her way, it seemed, even if it meant fighting him tooth and nail over something so ridiculous.

Under his breath, Kaoru whispered, "Are you serious right now?" He thought neither heard him, but Mizuki did. Her brow twitched and her eyes widened slightly in aggravation. Did he really want her to ditch a friend just to accommodate him? Because that didn't sit well with her, nor was it proper manners as an adult. Kaoru rolled his eyes and groaned under his breath, glancing sideways toward the ground. "Alright, fine. Be my guest. Just be sure to report back to the office sometime tonight, please," he declared with an exasperated sigh. "And Ren, stop trying to act all self-sufficient; you know you need all the help you can get."

With that, Kaoru was off without a trace. "I guess that settles it, then," Mizuki noted softly, looking around the eerily quiet area. She couldn't lie that the aura here didn't freak her out a tad bit.

"You didn't have to stay, you know," Ren whispered under his breath. "I could have managed."

"Excuse me. Could you allow someone else the chance to be chivalrous here? Anyway, I don't mind, honestly," the brunette countered. Her feet turned, twisting away from him. He nodded at this and took a step toward her.

"Alrighty. But if you change your mind—"

Mizuki cut his sentence off by simply extending her hand to him, placing two fingers against his lips, stopping him completely. Ren gave a light chuckle at the action, finding it extremely cute. "Okay, okay, I get it." He backed off with a chuckle. "First, we'll go back to gramps' house to grab a few things. Then we can head back home. Sound good?" She nodded at the proposal and followed his lead.