\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Trying to organize a group of people as large as they were wasn\u2019t a simple task, nor was finding a place big enough to hold them all without drawing unwanted attention to themselves. As such, it was a few weeks after they\u2019d defeated Draco and had their encounter with the red-haired sehashi that they all found a free evening that coincided with a time that they could meet in the basement of Dionne\u2019s house without her parents walking in on them.<\/span><\/p>\n This time, Dionne didn\u2019t bother with organizing snack food as she had the last time there had been a sehashi meeting at her place. Her lips twitched, remembering that her brother Allan had walked in on that one before she knew that he was the sehashi warrior known as Joker and before he knew that she and her school friends were sometimes known as Archer, Pyre, Shield, and Fate.<\/span><\/p>\n Since then, their circle of friends and associates had grown a lot with the addition of Corentin, Hyun, Jin, and Dumia who were also known as Storm, Typhoon, Silence, and Vega. During the last battle against Draco and Monoceros yet another sehashi had joined them, a boy who\u2019d identified himself as Knight. They\u2019d later learned was another one of Dionne\u2019s schoolmates, Kousei Prince. He claimed to have two other teammates, but he\u2019d remained tight-lipped about their identities since that day, stating only that they would come to the meetup but weren\u2019t sure about revealing themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n It was something Dionne could almost understand as Jin\u2019s team had felt the same way about revealing their identities. She was looking forward to seeing who these two people were.<\/span><\/p>\n She glanced up at the clock hanging on the living room wall. It wasn\u2019t quite time yet for even the habitually early Cory Davis to be arriving, likely with her best friend and sehashi partner Hatemi Summers in tow. She could count on her own partner, Hana Dawson, to arrive a little later than the others. As to Jin\u2019s team, she had no idea what to expect. Kousei would probably be punctual, though.<\/span><\/p>\nThey\u2019ll get here when they get here,<\/i><\/span> the familiar voice of Laira, her spirit guardian, scolded her. <\/span>There\u2019s no sense fussing about it.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t help it,\u201d Dionne admitted. \u201cI\u2019ve been looking forward to this for weeks now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAs have we all. Fussing won\u2019t get them here any sooner.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The sound of the front door opening interrupted Dionne\u2019s reply. She got up to see who it was to find her brother coming in and taking off his snow-covered boots. \u201cMan, it\u2019s gross out there,\u201d he complained.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s March,\u201d Dionne reminded him. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be gross for at least another month. Then it\u2019ll be worse while it all thaws when, if I remember right, you\u2019ll complain about your snow mould allergies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Allan glared at her. \u201cBad enough that mom gets on my case about that every year. I don\u2019t need you doing it, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo stop complaining about things that won\u2019t change and we won\u2019t have to. Either that or move to a warmer climate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Allan snorted. \u201cWarmer climate usually means the coast or the states, neither of which are too appealing to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know, I hear Victoria is lovely this time of year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo\u2019s Australia. I\u2019d rather live where the air hurts my face than where the wildlife is out to kill me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIs that true? <\/i><\/span>Laira asked.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat, about Australia?\u201d Allan asked. \u201cA slight exaggeration but only slight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nYour world is strange.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI bet we\u2019d find your home planet to be equally weird,\u201d Dionne said.<\/span><\/p>\nPerhaps that\u2019s true,<\/i><\/span> Laira admitted.<\/span><\/p>\n Eventually, the others showed up, taking off their heavy coats and slush covered boots, and picking a place to sit. Dionne was still getting used to knowing that Typhoon and her teammates were students from Elysium Valley High\u2019s rival school, Khun-Lun High. That fact was illustrated quite plainly when Kousei showed up. She barely had time to register the fact that he had Yan and Teir in tow before Kousei and Corentin locked eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPrince,\u201d Corentin said stiffly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBlair,\u201d Kousei replied with an equal amount of barely constrained hostility.<\/span><\/p>\n Cory, seated not too far from Corentin, rolled her eyes. \u201cLook, I know you two jocks have some kind of stupid court rivalry going on, but would you mind keeping that separate from this?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hyun nodded. \u201cI\u2019m sure that Dionne would like to not be cleaning blood out of her carpets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, I wouldn\u2019t be doing it,\u201d Dionne commented. \u201c<\/span>They<\/i><\/span> would be. On their hands and knees. If I\u2019m feeling generous, I <\/span>might<\/i><\/span> even consider giving them each a toothbrush to do it with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOy, vicious much?\u201d Yan asked, sitting down.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo you two must be the teammates that Kousei mentioned,\u201d Jin said, getting straight down to business. <\/span><\/p>\n Teir nodded. \u201cI\u2019m Teir Whitmore. My sehashi name is Balance. Blondie here is Yan Diamono. He\u2019s known as Phantom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSee, I don\u2019t get that,\u201d Hatemi said. \u201cFor as long as I can remember, you\u2019ve called him that, but his hair is as dark as Hana\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Yan rolled his eyes as Teir and Kousei smirked. \u201cIt\u2019s…kind of an inside joke. You\u2019ll find out soon enough,\u201d Teir explained.<\/span><\/p>\nNow that we know who we all are, we can get down to it,<\/i><\/span> Laira said, startling the three newcomers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSorry, we forgot to mention our spirit guardians,\u201d Dionne said. \u201cThat was Laira. Peltoren and Teerla are also here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nHello,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren said helpfully.<\/span><\/p>\n Yan and Kousei exchanged a look. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard about those, but we\u2019d never actually seen one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOr known anyone who had one,\u201d Teir added.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo have three in one place is more than a little strange,\u201d Hyun commented. \u201cBut then, from what I know of how sehashi are supposed to function, to have so many of us in one town is more than a little odd.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis does seem like overkill,\u201d Kousei commented.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just us, either,\u201d Allan said. \u201cI used to have a team before they and our spirit guardian were killed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt helps that Jin\u2019s team only arrived here recently, chasing Draco,\u201d Dionne said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut why were we all drawn <\/span>here?<\/i><\/span>\u201d Yan asked. <\/span><\/p>\nPart of it has something to do with the Ssu-Ling,<\/i><\/span> Laira said. <\/span>The Talismans are linked to sehashi, and my thinking is that the easiest way to get access to those is to get a lot of sehashi in one place.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s also possible that you were all pulled here by the energy of the Ssu-Ling,<\/i><\/span> Teerla said. <\/span>I know you yourselves had little influence over the decisions your parents made to come here, but something about this place would have been made very appealing to them and thus you would have been brought here.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s an interesting theory,\u201d Teir said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t mind my asking, what <\/span>is<\/i><\/span> the normal distribution of sehashi for a town this size?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIf something this size had a team of two or three along with a spirit guardian, it would be considered overkill,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren said. <\/span>Generally, something this small isn\u2019t worth bothering with. It\u2019s usually only the big cities that get hit with trouble.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo you\u2019d say it\u2019s strange to see the Lords of Chaos here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nYes, but now that we know that the Ssu-Ling are here, it makes complete sense that they would have had a team here. Vulturia\u2019s defeat is most likely what drew Draco here and with them Typhoon\u2019s team.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNow we have that strange red headed sehashi to deal with,\u201d Hana grumbled, folding her arms.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s hoping that she\u2019s not possessing some poor sap the way Draco was,\u201d Cory said. \u201cIt\u2019s bad enough that Danika, Melanthe, and Eglantine were messed up by this. No one else needs to get hurt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHow are they, by the way?\u201d Dionne asked. <\/span><\/p>\n Jin shrugged. \u201cI\u2019ve been monitoring Melanthe since we freed her from Ophiuchus, but she doesn\u2019t seem any different than she did before we knew the truth. A bit better adjusted, but no major differences. She and Eglantine don\u2019t seem to know if they should stay away from each other or bonding over their mutual trauma.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDanika started coming back to school last week,\u201d Kousei said. \u201cShe won\u2019t talk to any of us. Not that I can blame her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe was more aware of what was going on than the others, I think,\u201d Cory said. \u201cShe called me out on who I was before changing into Draco.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt makes one wonder if Melanthe and Eglantine were pretending to not have been aware of what was happening to them,\u201d Hana said.<\/span><\/p>\n Hatemi shot her a dirty look. \u201cAnyone who\u2019d see Melanthe after we freed her from Ophiuchus wouldn\u2019t say that. You can\u2019t fake a reaction like that. Draco was the strongest of the three. Maybe that affected Danika somehow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a plausible theory,\u201d Hyun admitted. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot we still don\u2019t know about them and how they could possess those poor girls in the first place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s not likely that we ever will,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren said. <\/span>I shudder to think what kind of power it would take to stick the essence of one being into the body of another and having the two people essentially coexist.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDo you three have any thoughts about that red haired woman?\u201d Corentin asked. \u201cIt won\u2019t be long before we\u2019ll be hearing from her again, and I\u2019d rather not be caught with my proverbial pants down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThere\u2019s not much we can offer on that score,<\/i><\/span> Teerla admitted. <\/span>We\u2019ve been trying to figure out who she could be but we\u2019ve come up with nothing. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\nNo, not nothing,<\/i><\/span> Laira corrected. <\/span>At the very least, we\u2019re quite sure that she wasn\u2019t responsible for putting Draco\u2019s team into those girls. Her power just felt…wrong for that.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou could tell that from our brief encounter with her?\u201d Kousei asked, sounding impressed.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen you\u2019ve been around as long as I have, you learn to get a quick read on other sehashi. Her power felt wrong for that. More destructive in nature. I can\u2019t be more specific than that, though.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The bad news is this tells us that there\u2019s someone else out there who did this and whoever that is could work with the redhead,<\/i><\/span> Teerla said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell, that\u2019s lovely, but at least we know there\u2019s a chance we could expect more than one of these people to pop up,\u201d Dumia grumped.<\/span><\/p>\nAlso given her connection to Draco and Draco\u2019s connection to Vulturia, I think it\u2019s safe to say that our new enemy is also a Lord of Chaos, one powerful enough to be manipulating our previous enemy,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren put in. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me, Lord of Chaos?\u201d Teir asked.<\/span><\/p>\nSorry, I forget that the three of you haven\u2019t been fighting with us,<\/i><\/span> she apologized. <\/span>The Lords of Chaos are a group of people who are followers of a group of ancient sehashi known as the Ssu-Ling.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI know that word,\u201d Teir said. \u201cThose are the four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations. What? I did a report on it in junior high as part of our astronomy unit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIn reality, the Ssu-Ling are a set of five sehashi from that part of the world. As I told the others before I can\u2019t quite recall what their individual names were. Somewhere along the line they went rogue. Those who follow them, civilian and sehashi alike, are known as the Lords of Chaos. It took a group of five uncorrupted sehashi to seal them away, ending the Great War. Our last battle with Draco brought together the five Talismans that had been used to lock their prison and if we can believe the redhead, they\u2019re now free.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd you don\u2019t think we\u2019ll be hearing from these Ssu-Ling?\u201d Yan asked doubtfully.<\/span><\/p>\nImagine that you\u2019ve been locked away in a cage for many thousands of years and have just been released. You don\u2019t have the first clue where you are, what language the people around you are speaking, or even what something as simple as a pen is, let alone something as potentially terrifying as a car.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Those still get me,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren admitted.<\/span><\/p>\nYes, well, we know what your world was like,<\/i><\/span> Laira said, her tone one of teasing. <\/span>No concept of technology whatsoever.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFocus, people,\u201d Allan growled.<\/span><\/p>\nRight, sorry. So, not only are they likely to be extremely weak from their time locked away, but they need time to adjust to how things are now. Aside from the Lords of Chaos, no one is going to fall down on their knees to worship them like they did in the past.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSehashi were worshipped?\u201d Allan asked.<\/span><\/p>\nYou all have as much power as you do and the potential for even more still and you can ask that question? <\/i><\/span>Teerla asked, incredulous. <\/span>Primitive societies such as early humans weren\u2019t known for their intelligence. What they don\u2019t understand, they fear or worship. Considering the alternative, worship usually seems like a good idea. Until it goes wrong, though it rarely goes wrong on a scale such as the Ssu-Ling.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t have been the only ones to have been so corrupt,\u201d Cory said.<\/span><\/p>\nNo, they weren\u2019t, but the resulting war was the worst and its effects are still being felt. Before them, there was a group called the Andulai from a world called Yenus Prime that was almost as bad.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\nI know that place,<\/i><\/span> Laira said. <\/span>Or, rather, what\u2019s left of it. My lifegiver used to tell stories about it. They say it was a paradise before the Andulai became corrupt. One of the sehashi I fought beside in the Great War was from Yenus Prime. It\u2019s a harsh place now. He fought harder than most to take down the Ssu-Ling, though he didn\u2019t live to see it happen.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry for your loss, Laira,\u201d Dionne said.<\/span><\/p>\nWhy? I didn\u2019t know him that well, and it was a very long time ago.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Yan rubbed his head. \u201cWhile this is all fascinating, we\u2019re not getting anywhere. Yeah, great, we\u2019ve met you all and learned some things, but I feel that this is as far as we\u2019re going to get until the enemy makes a move.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt least we\u2019ll be ready for it this time,\u201d Allan said. \u201cWe know she\u2019s coming. It\u2019s something we\u2019ve never had before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all well and good, but our three new allies won\u2019t be all that much help,\u201d said Corentin, folding his arms.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d Kousei sounded hurt.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not wrong,\u201d Teir pointed out. \u201cWe\u2019ve known about our sehashi selves for how long, and we aren\u2019t much stronger than we were when we found out about it. Frankly, I\u2019m amazed that Kousei manifested one of those Talismans at all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThose have more to do with strong personality traits than power,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren commented. <\/span>Knight\u2019s is the Talisman of strength.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, he\u2019s just a strong person, is that it?\u201d Corentin asked.<\/span><\/p>\nPossibly. Who knows how those things actually work?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Kousei shrugged. \u201cAll I know is I\u2019ve had that stupid thing for years, but in the last year it changed shape to look like that double ended dagger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAs to your powers and relative strength, if I could see what you\u2019re capable of, then perhaps I could offer you some advice on how to grow,<\/i><\/span> Teerla offered. <\/span>
![\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trying to organize a group of people as large as they were wasn\u2019t a simple task, nor was finding a place big enough to hold them all without drawing unwanted attention to themselves. As such, it was a few weeks after they\u2019d defeated Draco and had their encounter with the red-haired sehashi that they all found a free evening that coincided with a time that they could meet in the basement of Dionne\u2019s house without her parents walking in on them.<\/span><\/p>\n This time, Dionne didn\u2019t bother with organizing snack food as she had the last time there had been a sehashi meeting at her place. Her lips twitched, remembering that her brother Allan had walked in on that one before she knew that he was the sehashi warrior known as Joker and before he knew that she and her school friends were sometimes known as Archer, Pyre, Shield, and Fate.<\/span><\/p>\n Since then, their circle of friends and associates had grown a lot with the addition of Corentin, Hyun, Jin, and Dumia who were also known as Storm, Typhoon, Silence, and Vega. During the last battle against Draco and Monoceros yet another sehashi had joined them, a boy who\u2019d identified himself as Knight. They\u2019d later learned was another one of Dionne\u2019s schoolmates, Kousei Prince. He claimed to have two other teammates, but he\u2019d remained tight-lipped about their identities since that day, stating only that they would come to the meetup but weren\u2019t sure about revealing themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n It was something Dionne could almost understand as Jin\u2019s team had felt the same way about revealing their identities. She was looking forward to seeing who these two people were.<\/span><\/p>\n She glanced up at the clock hanging on the living room wall. It wasn\u2019t quite time yet for even the habitually early Cory Davis to be arriving, likely with her best friend and sehashi partner Hatemi Summers in tow. She could count on her own partner, Hana Dawson, to arrive a little later than the others. As to Jin\u2019s team, she had no idea what to expect. Kousei would probably be punctual, though.<\/span><\/p>\nThey\u2019ll get here when they get here,<\/i><\/span> the familiar voice of Laira, her spirit guardian, scolded her. <\/span>There\u2019s no sense fussing about it.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t help it,\u201d Dionne admitted. \u201cI\u2019ve been looking forward to this for weeks now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAs have we all. Fussing won\u2019t get them here any sooner.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The sound of the front door opening interrupted Dionne\u2019s reply. She got up to see who it was to find her brother coming in and taking off his snow-covered boots. \u201cMan, it\u2019s gross out there,\u201d he complained.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s March,\u201d Dionne reminded him. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be gross for at least another month. Then it\u2019ll be worse while it all thaws when, if I remember right, you\u2019ll complain about your snow mould allergies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Allan glared at her. \u201cBad enough that mom gets on my case about that every year. I don\u2019t need you doing it, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo stop complaining about things that won\u2019t change and we won\u2019t have to. Either that or move to a warmer climate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Allan snorted. \u201cWarmer climate usually means the coast or the states, neither of which are too appealing to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know, I hear Victoria is lovely this time of year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo\u2019s Australia. I\u2019d rather live where the air hurts my face than where the wildlife is out to kill me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIs that true? <\/i><\/span>Laira asked.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat, about Australia?\u201d Allan asked. \u201cA slight exaggeration but only slight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nYour world is strange.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI bet we\u2019d find your home planet to be equally weird,\u201d Dionne said.<\/span><\/p>\nPerhaps that\u2019s true,<\/i><\/span> Laira admitted.<\/span><\/p>\n Eventually, the others showed up, taking off their heavy coats and slush covered boots, and picking a place to sit. Dionne was still getting used to knowing that Typhoon and her teammates were students from Elysium Valley High\u2019s rival school, Khun-Lun High. That fact was illustrated quite plainly when Kousei showed up. She barely had time to register the fact that he had Yan and Teir in tow before Kousei and Corentin locked eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPrince,\u201d Corentin said stiffly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBlair,\u201d Kousei replied with an equal amount of barely constrained hostility.<\/span><\/p>\n Cory, seated not too far from Corentin, rolled her eyes. \u201cLook, I know you two jocks have some kind of stupid court rivalry going on, but would you mind keeping that separate from this?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hyun nodded. \u201cI\u2019m sure that Dionne would like to not be cleaning blood out of her carpets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, I wouldn\u2019t be doing it,\u201d Dionne commented. \u201c<\/span>They<\/i><\/span> would be. On their hands and knees. If I\u2019m feeling generous, I <\/span>might<\/i><\/span> even consider giving them each a toothbrush to do it with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOy, vicious much?\u201d Yan asked, sitting down.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo you two must be the teammates that Kousei mentioned,\u201d Jin said, getting straight down to business. <\/span><\/p>\n Teir nodded. \u201cI\u2019m Teir Whitmore. My sehashi name is Balance. Blondie here is Yan Diamono. He\u2019s known as Phantom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSee, I don\u2019t get that,\u201d Hatemi said. \u201cFor as long as I can remember, you\u2019ve called him that, but his hair is as dark as Hana\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Yan rolled his eyes as Teir and Kousei smirked. \u201cIt\u2019s…kind of an inside joke. You\u2019ll find out soon enough,\u201d Teir explained.<\/span><\/p>\nNow that we know who we all are, we can get down to it,<\/i><\/span> Laira said, startling the three newcomers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSorry, we forgot to mention our spirit guardians,\u201d Dionne said. \u201cThat was Laira. Peltoren and Teerla are also here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nHello,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren said helpfully.<\/span><\/p>\n Yan and Kousei exchanged a look. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard about those, but we\u2019d never actually seen one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOr known anyone who had one,\u201d Teir added.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo have three in one place is more than a little strange,\u201d Hyun commented. \u201cBut then, from what I know of how sehashi are supposed to function, to have so many of us in one town is more than a little odd.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis does seem like overkill,\u201d Kousei commented.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just us, either,\u201d Allan said. \u201cI used to have a team before they and our spirit guardian were killed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt helps that Jin\u2019s team only arrived here recently, chasing Draco,\u201d Dionne said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut why were we all drawn <\/span>here?<\/i><\/span>\u201d Yan asked. <\/span><\/p>\nPart of it has something to do with the Ssu-Ling,<\/i><\/span> Laira said. <\/span>The Talismans are linked to sehashi, and my thinking is that the easiest way to get access to those is to get a lot of sehashi in one place.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s also possible that you were all pulled here by the energy of the Ssu-Ling,<\/i><\/span> Teerla said. <\/span>I know you yourselves had little influence over the decisions your parents made to come here, but something about this place would have been made very appealing to them and thus you would have been brought here.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s an interesting theory,\u201d Teir said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t mind my asking, what <\/span>is<\/i><\/span> the normal distribution of sehashi for a town this size?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIf something this size had a team of two or three along with a spirit guardian, it would be considered overkill,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren said. <\/span>Generally, something this small isn\u2019t worth bothering with. It\u2019s usually only the big cities that get hit with trouble.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo you\u2019d say it\u2019s strange to see the Lords of Chaos here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nYes, but now that we know that the Ssu-Ling are here, it makes complete sense that they would have had a team here. Vulturia\u2019s defeat is most likely what drew Draco here and with them Typhoon\u2019s team.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNow we have that strange red headed sehashi to deal with,\u201d Hana grumbled, folding her arms.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s hoping that she\u2019s not possessing some poor sap the way Draco was,\u201d Cory said. \u201cIt\u2019s bad enough that Danika, Melanthe, and Eglantine were messed up by this. No one else needs to get hurt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHow are they, by the way?\u201d Dionne asked. <\/span><\/p>\n Jin shrugged. \u201cI\u2019ve been monitoring Melanthe since we freed her from Ophiuchus, but she doesn\u2019t seem any different than she did before we knew the truth. A bit better adjusted, but no major differences. She and Eglantine don\u2019t seem to know if they should stay away from each other or bonding over their mutual trauma.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDanika started coming back to school last week,\u201d Kousei said. \u201cShe won\u2019t talk to any of us. Not that I can blame her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe was more aware of what was going on than the others, I think,\u201d Cory said. \u201cShe called me out on who I was before changing into Draco.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt makes one wonder if Melanthe and Eglantine were pretending to not have been aware of what was happening to them,\u201d Hana said.<\/span><\/p>\n Hatemi shot her a dirty look. \u201cAnyone who\u2019d see Melanthe after we freed her from Ophiuchus wouldn\u2019t say that. You can\u2019t fake a reaction like that. Draco was the strongest of the three. Maybe that affected Danika somehow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a plausible theory,\u201d Hyun admitted. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot we still don\u2019t know about them and how they could possess those poor girls in the first place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s not likely that we ever will,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren said. <\/span>I shudder to think what kind of power it would take to stick the essence of one being into the body of another and having the two people essentially coexist.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDo you three have any thoughts about that red haired woman?\u201d Corentin asked. \u201cIt won\u2019t be long before we\u2019ll be hearing from her again, and I\u2019d rather not be caught with my proverbial pants down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThere\u2019s not much we can offer on that score,<\/i><\/span> Teerla admitted. <\/span>We\u2019ve been trying to figure out who she could be but we\u2019ve come up with nothing. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\nNo, not nothing,<\/i><\/span> Laira corrected. <\/span>At the very least, we\u2019re quite sure that she wasn\u2019t responsible for putting Draco\u2019s team into those girls. Her power just felt…wrong for that.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou could tell that from our brief encounter with her?\u201d Kousei asked, sounding impressed.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen you\u2019ve been around as long as I have, you learn to get a quick read on other sehashi. Her power felt wrong for that. More destructive in nature. I can\u2019t be more specific than that, though.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n The bad news is this tells us that there\u2019s someone else out there who did this and whoever that is could work with the redhead,<\/i><\/span> Teerla said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell, that\u2019s lovely, but at least we know there\u2019s a chance we could expect more than one of these people to pop up,\u201d Dumia grumped.<\/span><\/p>\nAlso given her connection to Draco and Draco\u2019s connection to Vulturia, I think it\u2019s safe to say that our new enemy is also a Lord of Chaos, one powerful enough to be manipulating our previous enemy,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren put in. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me, Lord of Chaos?\u201d Teir asked.<\/span><\/p>\nSorry, I forget that the three of you haven\u2019t been fighting with us,<\/i><\/span> she apologized. <\/span>The Lords of Chaos are a group of people who are followers of a group of ancient sehashi known as the Ssu-Ling.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI know that word,\u201d Teir said. \u201cThose are the four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations. What? I did a report on it in junior high as part of our astronomy unit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIn reality, the Ssu-Ling are a set of five sehashi from that part of the world. As I told the others before I can\u2019t quite recall what their individual names were. Somewhere along the line they went rogue. Those who follow them, civilian and sehashi alike, are known as the Lords of Chaos. It took a group of five uncorrupted sehashi to seal them away, ending the Great War. Our last battle with Draco brought together the five Talismans that had been used to lock their prison and if we can believe the redhead, they\u2019re now free.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd you don\u2019t think we\u2019ll be hearing from these Ssu-Ling?\u201d Yan asked doubtfully.<\/span><\/p>\nImagine that you\u2019ve been locked away in a cage for many thousands of years and have just been released. You don\u2019t have the first clue where you are, what language the people around you are speaking, or even what something as simple as a pen is, let alone something as potentially terrifying as a car.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Those still get me,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren admitted.<\/span><\/p>\nYes, well, we know what your world was like,<\/i><\/span> Laira said, her tone one of teasing. <\/span>No concept of technology whatsoever.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFocus, people,\u201d Allan growled.<\/span><\/p>\nRight, sorry. So, not only are they likely to be extremely weak from their time locked away, but they need time to adjust to how things are now. Aside from the Lords of Chaos, no one is going to fall down on their knees to worship them like they did in the past.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSehashi were worshipped?\u201d Allan asked.<\/span><\/p>\nYou all have as much power as you do and the potential for even more still and you can ask that question? <\/i><\/span>Teerla asked, incredulous. <\/span>Primitive societies such as early humans weren\u2019t known for their intelligence. What they don\u2019t understand, they fear or worship. Considering the alternative, worship usually seems like a good idea. Until it goes wrong, though it rarely goes wrong on a scale such as the Ssu-Ling.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t have been the only ones to have been so corrupt,\u201d Cory said.<\/span><\/p>\nNo, they weren\u2019t, but the resulting war was the worst and its effects are still being felt. Before them, there was a group called the Andulai from a world called Yenus Prime that was almost as bad.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\nI know that place,<\/i><\/span> Laira said. <\/span>Or, rather, what\u2019s left of it. My lifegiver used to tell stories about it. They say it was a paradise before the Andulai became corrupt. One of the sehashi I fought beside in the Great War was from Yenus Prime. It\u2019s a harsh place now. He fought harder than most to take down the Ssu-Ling, though he didn\u2019t live to see it happen.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry for your loss, Laira,\u201d Dionne said.<\/span><\/p>\nWhy? I didn\u2019t know him that well, and it was a very long time ago.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Yan rubbed his head. \u201cWhile this is all fascinating, we\u2019re not getting anywhere. Yeah, great, we\u2019ve met you all and learned some things, but I feel that this is as far as we\u2019re going to get until the enemy makes a move.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt least we\u2019ll be ready for it this time,\u201d Allan said. \u201cWe know she\u2019s coming. It\u2019s something we\u2019ve never had before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all well and good, but our three new allies won\u2019t be all that much help,\u201d said Corentin, folding his arms.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d Kousei sounded hurt.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not wrong,\u201d Teir pointed out. \u201cWe\u2019ve known about our sehashi selves for how long, and we aren\u2019t much stronger than we were when we found out about it. Frankly, I\u2019m amazed that Kousei manifested one of those Talismans at all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThose have more to do with strong personality traits than power,<\/i><\/span> Peltoren commented. <\/span>Knight\u2019s is the Talisman of strength.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, he\u2019s just a strong person, is that it?\u201d Corentin asked.<\/span><\/p>\nPossibly. Who knows how those things actually work?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Kousei shrugged. \u201cAll I know is I\u2019ve had that stupid thing for years, but in the last year it changed shape to look like that double ended dagger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAs to your powers and relative strength, if I could see what you\u2019re capable of, then perhaps I could offer you some advice on how to grow,<\/i><\/span> Teerla offered. <\/span>](\"https:\/\/keverynn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/symbol_sehashi.png\"){kind=link}