The Village Disciples

"Regashi…?" Oritsu murmured, his mouth hanging open from shock. 

Everyone stared at Regashi Ketsueki in apparent bewilderment, mentally and physically preparing themselves for the unknown. Reactively, Tanjo slid his feet apart and glared at the brown-haired man, his white wings gradually stretching outward defensively. Yuso mirrored the jet-black-haired boy's stance, his Shirugeto eyes whirling cautiously.

After clapping his hands together, Regashi inhaled, his green eyes shimmering eerily. 

"Good job, people! To make it through everything I've thrown at you—I've got to say, I'm impressed!" Regashi exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. 

Not a single person responded to the man's praise. The remaining Tansu vessels—Nozomu, Asami, Manabu, and Shototsu—analyzed Regashi intently, failing to detect an Aura Sense emanating off of his body. The revived rulers of Furusato were uncertain who Regashi was, but they were quick to realize that the man had turned them into mindless zombies thanks to Tanjo's brief explanation. Oritsu, on the other hand, was devastated; his son was the assailant behind countless deaths and tragedies, and he was potentially the one to launch the invasion on Furusato sixteen years ago.

Regashi's hair swept past his eyes as a light breeze traveled through the area, and he found himself gazing directly at Tanjo. A shudder rushed down the boy's spine, and a headache caused by post-traumatic horror developed. Regashi was just staring at Tanjo, ignoring the presence of everyone else. 

'He's planning something.' Tanjo thought to himself, unknowingly triggering Regashi to widen his grin.

*CACKLE!*

Out of sheer anger, Nozomu accidentally let his lightning burst out of his body, causing multiple bolts to dance around his body. A war started because of Regashi; Reiwa returned to their universe because of Regashi; Seijun died because of Regashi. Even when taking his last breath, Seijun vocalized his fear of the brown-haired man, unsure that Nozomu could take him down either. 

"I've been waiting for our reunion, Brother." Regashi spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone, his arms hidden beneath his Furusato Unit cloak. 

A few eyes widened at Regashi's declaration—Asami was the first to react.

"Excuse me!? You're related to him!?" Asami shouted, her eyes flitting between the two Ketsueki brothers before her. 

That explains why Tanjo grew so quickly: he hailed from the Ketsueki, the royal family of Adonai's former number-one village. Asami remembers addressing Nozomu about Tanjo's actual parents, but the white-haired man never divulged their identities, just stating that both parents had died. Although Asami was cognizant of Oritsu, Tanjo's biological father, claiming that Regashi was his son, the dots in her head had not quite connected, owing mostly to the older son's sinister actions, which contrasted Tanjo's amiable mindset.

"Old Man," Tanjo called out to Nozomu, not taking his eyes off Regashi. "Can you sense him at all?"

Nozomu did not reply. He was too focused on Regashi, narrowing his eyes at the brown-haired man. Nozomu remembered seeing Regashi as a small child, being vaguely capable of discerning when a mental switch occurred in the prince's life. At a young age, before he was fourteen, Regashi was the most exuberant and kind boy that Nozomu had met since Seijun, only for such benign behavior to vanish on his fourteenth birthday. He had grown cold and distant, always disappearing without a trace. 

"Hey!" Tanjo hollered, almost daring to peel his gaze away from Regashi. "Old Man!"

The lightning vessel blinked, redirecting his eyes to Tanjo. "No, I can't." 

Capturing Regashi was not a possibility. The only two options were to kill him or be killed. If a Tansu vessel like Nozomu could not sense Regashi's Aura Sense, then that could only mean that the leader of the Furusato Unit had magic that was on a higher level. The brief notion that Regashi was using a curse to conceal his Aura Sense flashed across his mind, but he would only be wasting magic since he had purposely made his presence known regardless. 

'I don't know the extent of Regashi's powers. He seems to also be able to cast illusions like Ms. Tassei, which I was capable of breaking on my own. But, I can't even compare to Imawashiki just yet and he was just a minion to this guy.' Tanjo racked his brain for ideas, gritting his teeth. 

Manabu's voice abruptly echoed through the battlefield, "What do we know about this guy?"

"He warps everything around you. I'm unsure how to avoid it, but do not be fooled by your surroundings." Tanjo declared, his voice being heard by those around him. 

Yuso leaned toward Tanjo, his long red hair flowing in the wind. "So are we going to squander our Aura Senses by waiting here or will we fight?"

Tanjo shook his head; his thoughts scrambled. Simply rushing Regashi as a group would only lead to failure—there was no possible way that the man had willingly walked out into the battlefield without a few cards up his sleeve. 

"Do not engage. He wants confrontation." Tanjo replied, hating the feeling of being vulnerable. 

Asami grunted, letting water revolve around her hands. "We'll never get anywhere by being apprehensive! Reiwa only got as big as he did by scaring the entire world, and we're giving this guy the same steps to walk on!"

Regashi's eyes shifted toward the blue-haired vessel. 

"Reiwa was, unfortunately, a blabbering idiot who had no real plan. He died to an even bigger moron." The brown-haired man admonished, shaking his head back and forth. 

*CACKLE!*

The lightning bolts that bounced off Nozomu became increasingly dangerous, each arc thickening. Gradually, the black lines that traversed Nozomu's body returned, affirming the Tansu transformation he previously used against Reiwa. 

'I only need one punch…' Nozomu thought, restraining himself. 

"Poor Seijun Hotaru," Regashi drolled, stretching his right hand out from underneath his long cloak. "Personally, I preferred the name Imawashiki, but he made for a good henchmen!"

*FWOOSH!*

Everyone watched as fire erupted from Regashi's palm, shock spreading through each of their hearts at a rapid rate. 

"He had a biological brother, too, who also happens to be here." Regashi spoke mischievously, tilting his head toward Oritsu. "He would have loved to have you around, Father."

Oritsu's heart struggled to process any more information, his legs threatening to give up. Seijun was Oritsu's biological brother. How was that possible? They must have been separated at birth. Oritsu knew his parents were not the best of people, but to sweep another son under the rug for the rest of their lives was horrible. 

"I could revive him," Regashi suggested, clamping his hand shut and distinguishing the flame floating above his palm. "For a price."

"He's bluffing." Nozomu's voice ripped through the area, anger seeping through the lightning wielder's words. 

Regashi hummed and said, "All I need is for you guys to step down and submit to me, and you'll see him again back here on Earth."

Those words set off a mental alarm in everyone's mind. 

*ZIP*

Without warning, Nozomu dashed forward and reeled his right fist back, swinging a ferocious punch toward Regashi's face. Seijun questioned Nozomu's chances of subduing the brown-haired ruler, but with all of his magic from both deep within his and Kanden's soul, the vessel was confident that he could wipe Regashi off the face of the Earth. Nozomu was an inch away from Regashi, who had not yet turned his head to acknowledge the lightning wielder. 

'Got you.' Nozomu narrowed his eyes, going in for the kill.

A plethora of gasps rippled through the battlefield, unable to process the sheer speed Nozomu employed to get near Regashi. For a brief moment, a flash of excitement and relief was apparent in everyone's features. 

Until Nozomu was frozen in space. 

"So quick to fight." Regashi mocked, his left hand raised and pointing at the lightning wielder. The man was not even looking in Nozomu's direction but was able to cease all of his movement. 

Nozomu was completely frozen, his muscles unable to operate as his body floated over the ground. The lightning that swirled about his body stopped as well, showing Nozomu's inability to react in any way. He was forced to gaze at the tip of Regashi's index finger, with his heart the only moving muscle, pumping at an irregular pace due to Nozomu's disturbed state of mind.

"I guess you'll be the first to go." The brown-haired man stated, sighing. 

Tanjo's eyes widened as he watched Old Man Nozomu's head split open from an invisible force, his body flying backward lifelessly through the air. Nozomu's black lines vanished, his wings crumbled, and the lightning around him died. His body eventually tumbled into the scorched dirt of the battlefield, becoming motionless.

Trauma struck the remaining Tansu vessels as they watched their strongest companion and childhood friend crash into the earth. Manabu felt her body reflexively spike with worry and gradual realization. 

Before he lifted a single foot off the ground, Tanjo yelled:

"Dad!"

*WHOOSH!*

Activating his yellow Aura Sense, Tanjo dashed toward Nozomu's body, sliding against the ground as he kneeled over the Tansu vessel and parental guardian. The boy gazed at Nozomu's split skull, hoping it would heal. He was a Tansu vessel—he had to regenerate, right?

Unfortunately, the blood spilling out of Nozomu's head never stopped, and the split skull never mended itself back together. 

"Dad!" Tanjo cried, gripping the man's shoulders and lightly shaking him.

Shototsu, who happened to be the closest, looked at the sight with a heavy heart. The amethyst-haired vessel knew that Nozomu would not survive, especially since it was Regashi who unleashed the fatal strike. 

"Tanjo, right?" Shototsu hesitantly called out to the teenager, inching closer to him. "I'm sorry… He isn't coming back from that. I know from experience."

Tanjo's world shattered. It was not one of Regashi's illusions. Old Man Nozomu was not coming back. He would not be able to mentor Tanjo through any more battles, protect him from any opponents, or be the fatherly figure he had been for the last sixteen years. Nozomu, despite his harsh words and rigorous lifestyle, recognized the best in Tanjo. He had witnessed the worst of the world and still opted to help birth a new light via the young boy he was compelled to foster after the Ketsueki family was murdered.

Tanjo's dad was not coming home. 

Tears escaped from Tanjo's eyes, trailing down his face and dripping onto Nozomu's lifeless form. 

"Dad… Please…"

Asami clenched her fists, the water around her hands morphing into serrated ice. No matter how much Tanjo had trained, how many warriors he battled, and how many witty retorts he offered, he was still just a teenage boy who loved his father—his only family member who was present throughout his entire life. 

Nothing was more disheartening than the sight of a little boy yearning for his family. 

XXX

I honestly do not know what compelled me to mold the story in this way, but as I construct this part of the novel, I've come to realize how deep the moral of this story really is. Nothing around you will last forever, or even for a long time when compared to the overall length of time itself. You only have so much time to hold onto what is close. This death, albeit extremely abrupt and without warning or explicit foreshadowing, is just an example of what can truly happen out in the real world—sudden change. Obviously, these characters and their abilities are fictional, but the feeling of having something ripped away is entirely real for us at home. Rest in peace Nozomu—a good friend, a great brother, and an outstanding father. 

(Chp. 1-262)

Have a Great Day!

Peace - Cr1itcalz_