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atomic-taco-muffin · 2 years

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The Legend of Hana Chapter 130

Warnings: Same warnings as last time. I might skip to the end, depending on how fast I can come up with ideas. We’ll see

Rating: SFW

The Foretellers had assembled in a room of the clocktower at the host of their leader, Ira. Ava was getting closer to her due date. And it seemed time was going faster too.

“There's a traitor among us,” Ira declared once they had all arrived. It was hard to tell if anyone there was surprised--the masks they were forced to wear by the Master of Masters concealed any emotions that might have slipped.

“Are you certain? What proof do you have?” Invi was the first to speak up. Ira summoned a black Chirithy above the palm of his hand.

“I found this sniffing around,” he said.

“Is that...a dark Chirithy?” Ava asked uncertainly as she held her pregnant tummy, while Invi froze.

“Is that...a Nightmare?” she asked as she stood up. It was the word they were all dreading. All eyes went to Ira.

“It's not me,” Aced said as he broke the silence. He was probably remembering the jokes from when the Chirithy came into the world.

“There's an easy way to solve this. If we all summon our Spirits, then we'll know,” Gula suggested softly. But Invi calmly shot down his idea.

“Unfortunately, there are countless wielders in our Unions. It would be easy for any of us to summon a Chirithy that isn't a Nightmare. I'm afraid that your suggestion wouldn't help us get to the bottom of this.” She was right; there were as many Chirithies out there as there Keybearers. No one could argue with Invi’s levelheaded reminder.

“Yeah, in that case, who's to say that the Nightmare you saw belongs to one of us? It could belong to anyone in our Unions,” Ava said, unable to bear the distrust brewing between them. She knew she shouldn't get involved with fighting the darkness, but she knew she couldn’t sit there and do nothing.

“That's highly unlikely,” Ira said, brushing aside the notion. “Do you recall the tool the wielders were given in order to make them stronger? We generally don't concern ourselves with what they have at their disposal. However--I believe those tools were the Nightmare's doing. Which means, we must do everything in our power to keep you safe, Ava.”

Ira was referring to the power bangles and how close Ava was to her due date. Her babies would be born any day now.

“The bangles? I know when they're equipped, they have the power to collect dark energy, but I thought we all agreed that was okay. And I can take care of myself.” Ava desperately tried to argue, but it wasn’t enough for Ira.

“Ava, you can barely stand up without help. Anyway, collecting is fine. But using that power is the equivalent of using the power of darkness.”

“It's a brilliant plan. Everyone knows that all Spirits look the same, and wielders exist in spades. There's no way to tell,” Gula mused.

“Oh, no. Everyone's already equipped their bangles.” Ava was on the verge of tears; beneath her mask, she might’ve already started crying. Ira was right, she needed to get somewhere safe and away from the fighting. To protect her babies. Aced took a step toward Ira.

“So what now? How do we find out who's behind this?” he demanded, but Ira kept his cool.

“Seeing as those bangles couldn't have been acquired by just anyone, I believe it's one of us here in this room.” It sounded like he’d already decided there was a traitor, so Invi stepped in before he could take it too far.

“No, Ira. I respectfully disagree. What proof do we have that the bangles are tied to the power of darkness, or if a Nightmare is to blame? We shouldn't simply jump to conclusions,” she said. She was trying to call everyone back to their senses, but Aced had more to say.

“Ira. Some leader you are. You've managed to plant seeds of doubt in all of us with that speech. What? Did you expect the traitor to give themselves up with that accusation of yours? That was foolish,” he said.

“Aced, that's quite enough,” Invi said in an attempt to calm the situation. Ava lowered her gaze and rested her hands on her hands on her pregnant tummy, while Gula was lost in thought. Meanwhile, Ira was peering at the other four suspiciously, trying to suss out who was the culprit. “It looks to me like the Master made the wrong choice.”

As if he couldn’t stand to spend another minute with them, he turned his back on the other Foretellers and stormed off.

“Wait. Where do you think you're going?” Invi tried to stop him but Aced didn’t even look back.

“I think we're done here. I trust you'll keep us all updated,” Gula quipped in his usual affable tone, a stark contrast to Aced’s angry accusations, before he left, too. Ava watched them go, lifting her head.

“I hope... I hope we can all resolve this soon...” she murmured, bowing briefly to Ira and then taking her leave herself, using the table to help her stand. The only two still there were Ira and Invi.

“That didn't go as expected,” the leader of the Foretellers said with a sigh.

“What's wrong, Ira? This isn't like you,” Invi asked.

“A Lost Page...” Ira said as he raised his head slightly. That got Invi’s attention. “Something's missing from our Book of Prophecies. Each of our copies were said to contain the events of the future. But this incident, well, it's nowhere to be found.”

“And how does this whole thing with the traitor tie together?” Ira responded to her question by taking up his own Book of Prophecies and opening it.

“Like I said, it's nowhere to be found...in my Book,” he said.

“Ira. Are you implying that someone is in possession of the missing page? And the person with the complete Book is the traitor?” Ira nodded at Invi as she arrived at one possible answer. A Lost Page, and a traitor. At this point, the identity of this mysterious double-crosser was still unknown to everyone.

“There is something going on, and a page is suspiciously missing from the Book. It's not so far-fetched to assume that the one who has the Lost Page has been turned, that they have fallen into the hands of darkness. Trust me,” Ira said as Invi opened her own copy of the Book of Prophecies.

“There seems to be no record of it in my Book either. You may be onto something.” She paused for a moment, still unsure, then cast a glance at Ira. “I wonder... Could this have been the Master's plan all along? To grant the Lost Page to only one of us.”

“We have no way of knowing,” Ira instantly replied, and a hint of sadness crept into his voice. “The Master is gone. Along with his daughters.”

That’s right, the Master and his daughters were gone. The Master had vanished, dimmed, faded while his two daughters went on a mysterious mission with no explanation. No one knew their whereabouts. It was entirely possible that they were gone for good. Invi spoke again, as much to dispel the gloom as anything else.

“I understand what you are saying. I promise to keep a close eye on the others. I will keep you informed, as always,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“Of course. After all, that is what the Master asked of me.” Invi started to walk away, but then came to a halt, turned back to Ira, and offered one more bit of advice. “And Ira, may your heart be your guiding key.”

☽✧☽✧

Aced, Ava, and Gula were together in a warehouse in Daybreak Town. Aced, the eldest of the three, was speaking to the younger two.

“I was wrong about Ira. I thought he would make a great leader, but he let me down,” he said. Gula didn’t seem particularly troubled--he never did--while Ava appeared somewhat dispirited. “Well, what do you two think? You don't believe what Ira said, do you?”

“Of course not.” Gula was the first to reply. “His argument was unconvincing. It’s like Invi said, he's just making baseless assumptions given the situation. There's no evidence to tie his accusations to anyone, let alone one of us.”

“Maybe there's something he hasn't told us,” Ava gently admonished--mostly because she didn’t want to believe Ira’s claims herself.

“Then he needs to tell us. How dare he look at us with suspicion. We're his comrades!” Aced snapped with genuine anger. Gula just shrugged.

“I wouldn't call us ‘comrades’... Anyway, could you get to the point? I know you didn't call us here just to complain,” he murmured. He wanted to cut to the chase and get this meeting over with as quickly as possible, which was why Aced didn’t beat around the bush before laying out his proposal.

“I want the three of us to form an alliance,” Aced said.

“But alliances are forbidden, Aced!” Ava immediately refused, while holding her pregnant belly protectively.

“I knew it. I had a feeling it would come to this. So, we join forces, then confront Ira?” Gula seemed a bit exasperated, but he knew where Aced was coming from.

“Confronting him is pointless. Ira won't change his mind,” Aced retorted. He was normally so blunt, but here he was being just a tad equivocal. It made his two comrades wonder if he didn’t actually suspect Ira at all. Meanwhile, Aced kept laying his cards on the table. “I know there's darkness at work. There's no question. But, I don't believe for a second there's a traitor among us. Unfortunately, Ira doesn't share the same belief. He's just wasting time trying to figure out who the traitor is. But darkness won't wait and neither should we. We need to band together now and find a way to fight it.”

“Guess it makes sense,” Gula said, impressed by Aced’s fluid presentation of his idea.

“I agree that we need to do something to fight the darkness, but combining our Unions? That was strictly forbidden by the Master,” Ava said. It seemed that she was still unsure of what to do as she was at the meeting the other day and that she was told to protect her and her babies as much as possible.

“He's no longer here,” Aced said quietly, his eyes drifting away. The three Foretellers all fell into thought. Gula was the first to break the short silence.

“I'm in. But let's be clear: the alliance is just between the two of us right now. I don't want my Union members involved,” he said.

“Gula!” Ava raised her head to look at her friend, who had just chosen to go against the teachings of their Master. Ava looked away once she realized Aced was watching her. “I want... I want to follow the Master's teachings.”

But then Ava remembered what Mukuro told her and started to have second thoughts. The Master has lied to them one too many times. Was the Master really going to take her babies as his apprentices, or was he going to do something horrible to them like what she went through growing up? There was no way of telling.

“Understood. That's your choice to make. You should do whatever you feel is right,” Aced replied, expectantly kind. Ava nodded with relief, and her gaze drifted downward towards her belly again. She could feel one of her babies kick and she placed her hand on top to feel it. But Gula still had questions.

“By the way, Aced. Do Ira and Invi know?” he asked.

“I haven't talked to Ira about it for obvious reasons, but I did ask Invi to join us,” Aced said. His eyebrows moved to the entrance of the warehouse--just as Invi herself arrived.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked as she stopped short as he noticed the younger two. “Gula, Ava, what are you doing here? What's the meaning of this?”

Gula gave an easy wave of his hand, while Ava kept her eyes focused on her baby bump, wondering what her babies would look like once they’re born.

“Hear me out, Invi. I want an alliance among our Unions. Gula here has already agreed. Will you join us and together we can--” Aced began.

“And disobey the Master's teachings!?” Invi cut off Aced harshly, but he didn’t give up.

“We don't have a choice! Darkness is approaching and we need to combine our strength to stand against it. What about Ava’s unborn babies?! They must be protected from the darkness!”

“The Master bestowed each of us with a different role and he specifically told us to keep our Unions separate to maintain the balance of power. He told us that any imbalance would lead to a desire for more power, which leads to darkness. I know you haven't forgotten! Perhaps...it's you who has been tainted by darkness.” Tainted by darkness...the Foreteller in the bear mask trembled in anger at such an accusation.

“I'm tainted by darkness? Then what about you, Invi? You spy on us and report everything you see back to Ira! You really think you have no darkness in your heart after what you did!?”

“Because that is my role,” Invi replied coolly to her furious comrade.

“To observe us, yes. But not to disclose everything we say and do to Ira!” Invi averted her gaze at Aced’s fierce reproach. And he still wasn’t done.

“For all we know, you and Ira could be allies, scheming behind our backs!”

“That's enough.” All Ava could do was watch their angry exchange uneasily.

☽✧☽✧

Now it was evening. Ava was in the square alone, sitting on the edge of the fountain and gazing absentmindedly at the sky.

“When will it stop? I don't want us to turn against each other. When will Luxu return? He should at least get to meet his unborn babies...” she whispered. Just then a lone Keyblade wielder approached--Ephemer, the boy with the silver hair.

“Master Ava!” he called. The two of them had met before. All thanks to Mukuro, who was also gone.

“Oh. Hello! Your name is Ephemer, right?”

“Uh-huh! Uh, hey, can I join you?” Ava nodded and Ephemer sat down next to her. “Why the long face? Did something happen?”

“Hmm... Long day...especially with these two growing in me,” Ava replied as she placed a hand on her tummy. “Do you remember what you asked me before? About why the Unions compete against each other instead of working together. Actually, I always wondered the same thing.”

“Huh? Isn't it just because Mukuro’s father said so?” Ephemer asked, confused.

“Yes, and as such we must obey. The Master said so, so it is. But lately, I've really started to wonder. You once told me that you were looking for answers, that you wanted to solve the mysteries of this world and look for Mukuro. Well, I think that's how things should be. We need to question things and think for ourselves.” Ephemer shrugged. Was that how she really felt? Were her pregnancy hormones getting in the way?

“Whoa! You're really not yourself today. I guess even foretellers have their off days. Hey, maybe talking about the Book will cheer you up! Maybe even telling me a clue about Mukuro!” he offered cheerily and hopefully. He wanted to find Mukuro. She was the love of his life.

“Not a chance!” Ava said.

“Awww,” Ephemer complained with exaggerated petulance.

“You were trying to pull a fast one on me, weren't you?” she scolded good-naturedly, like a teacher to a misbehaving student.

“No. But I really want to know what happened to Mukuro. She just disappeared one day. You were one of the closest ones to her. You have to know something.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to tell you anything about what happened to her. And also the book as well.” Ava stood, with the help of Ephemer, and the conversation could’ve ended there. But then she seemed to have second thoughts again. “But, to be honest, I think it would be great if all the Unions could work together and be friends.”

Ephemer perked up and hopped down from the lip of the fountain.

“You know, I made a friend from another Union today. Wasn't much of a talker, maybe just shy. We're meeting again tomorrow. We’re gonna search for Mukuro together,” he said.

“You really do love her, huh?”

“Yeah. She’s the first girlfriend I ever had. We loved each other so much and I still love her. I just wish I knew what happened.”

“Well, I may not be allowed to tell you a clue but I really do hope you find her. You’d better go home and get some sleep so that you can have enough energy.”

“'Kay!” Ephemer replied enthusiastically. “Well, it was nice talking to you. I don't know what's got you down, but please cheer up! I heard that stress isn’t good for babies.”

With proper bow, Ephemer hurried off on his way.

“Thank you,” Ava murmured as she watched him go. “If the worst happens, I'll be glad to leave the future to the kids who see the world in the way that you do.”

With this resolution in her heart, Ava looked up at the sky. A single fuzzy dandelion seed danced in the air, brought to her by the breeze.

“Let the wind carry you far, far away...my Dandelions,” Ava said as the sun set over Daybreak Town.

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