The Lost Memories

Kuro(Black)

*Eiji*

That palladin is here again with a girl who they called Melora. The weird thing is, that Gaul isn't with them. Princess Charlotte rushes towards them, asking the whereabouts of her beloved brother. Melora hugs her and the start to cry. "Princess... Actually..." Melora tries to stay strong to deliver the news but she ends up crying, making it impossible figuring out what she wants to say. The palladin holds her right shoulder, holding himself from shedding tears. "Aisitti was under attack. And I'm afraid that... We lost your brother too." the palladin steadily delivering the news. The news shatters our hearts, the most affected is Princess Charlotte. She keeps on crying as the other girls remain giving her morale supports. Why? Just why? That jerk... I want to punch your face! Ahhhh!!! I need to cool my head. I leave the group and head to the training ground. Since it is a holiday, no one is using it. That guy is really strong, he can even dogdes my attacks. If he been defeated, then the attackers must be stronger. I have no choice but to get stronger in order to protect them. I have to protect my friends! By any means necessary!

I punch the training dummy a lot of times to let my thought of Gaul's death to slip by. Ughh... As I thought, I just can't. That jerk... I close my face with my bare hands and cry. "Eiji..." a sweet voice calls me. I quickly wipe away my tears. "It's ok to cry. You're not heartless." the voice continue. "I am here for you, I'm always here. Yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever." she says as I begin to shed tears more. I feel something heavy on my head. I look up and notice something red. I see. The voice belongs to Minori. I lift her from my head and hug her. "Thank you, Minori. I almost forgot about you." I pat her head. She closes her eyes, enjoying the good sensation. I put her down on the bench nearby. "I'm going to train to become stronger! Please watch by me, ok?" I tell her as I walk towards the training dummy. I take a deep breath and deliver an all out punch. The punch makes a loud noise when it touch the dummy. I continue chaining the punch with kicks, trying to search for a perfect combo.

I practice for about 30 minutes before I'm out of breath. I still can't figure out the best combo yet. I hear someone clapping hands nearby. I turn around and see a short black haired man sitting next to Minori. He wears a normal plain shirt that make me wonder of his identity. "You're so strong! I can feel the punches packed with massive power!" he praises as he walks towards me. I tilt my head, still wondering his identity. "How rude of me. My name is Kuro. Nice to meet you." he holds out his hand for me to shake hand. I shake his hand. "My name is Eiji." I introduce. He smiles as I shake his hand. "Want to have a practice battle?" he invites. I nod, agreeing with him. Maybe I will get strong if I have a practice battle. And perhaps, this body will... He walks towards Minori and reaches for his lance next to the bench. I see, he wants to have a weapon battle.

I randomly select a practice steel sword. He smiles as he remain standing still, waiting for my first attack. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Here goes nothing! I open my eyes and rush towards him. He still smiling with no attempt to dodge or defense himself. I slash to his left side, which I thought he won't have time to defense nor dodge my attack. I was wrong. Right after I slash my sword, he somehow blocks my attack and hits my back using his elbow. Before I fall onto the ground, I get kick on the chest, which hurts a lot. I quickly recover from the attack. Gripping my sword tightly, I make a second attempt to attack him. As usual, instead of defending or dodging my attacks, he counters all my attacks. I wipe out the blood coming out from my mouth. Urghhh! I can't lose now.

Minori flying slowly to me. I catch her and put her in my arms. "What's wrong? Are you hungry?" I ask. She looks up to me. "I want to fight too!" she tells in telepathy. Urghh! She has sparkles in her eyes. There is no way I can refuse. I nod as she hugs me happily. Suddenly, our bodies start to glow. I transform into the form that I use during the fight I won against the palladin. I smile, I still has a chance. Kuro puts down his lance. "Woahhh... This is metaphormosis?" he grows excited as he circles around me. "You know about this technique?" I ask him. He nods as he keeps on examining my body. "It is an ancient technique which allow those who master this technique to fuse with other being with the being who also master this technique. The requirements for this technique is varied for each person. There is time where a person needs to reach certain level of emotions such as anger, calm, happy or depression." he explains. I see. During that time, I was angry and the bite probably wanted to calm me down. So, the requirement for me to fuse with Minori is calm.

I position myself properly. He smiles as he goes back to his position, ready for my attack. I take a deep breath again, trying to focus on him. I rush towards him, ready to give a punch to his abdomen. He smiles as he knows what I'm going to do. He prepares his elbow to hit my back. I already see this coming, I sidestep, cancelling my attack and avoid his counterattack. I gives a quick punch at his left rib. Finally! A hit! He rubs his injured ribs. "You're so good." he praises. "It's time to get serious, shall we?" he adds. He stares directly into my eyes, intimidating me. I gulp as I know, he will attack. He grabs his lance and vanishes. I look around, searching for him. But, he is not around. I realize that he might attack from either up or down. "Looks up, Eiji!" Minori says. I look up and there he is, ready to make a drop. I quickly back off, dodging his attack completely. He getting pumps up and start swinging his lance when he stands on his feet. I dodge his attacks with big chances of getting hit.

Urghh! This is hard. Dodging and attacking without weapon. "Imagine what kind of weapon you want and my fire power shall make it happen." Minori explains. Seeing an opening, I dodge Kuro's attack and punch his abdomen, backing him off a little, buying enough time for me to concentrate. That kind of weapon sha help me. I close my eyes as I concentrate. Kuro doesn't waste any time and rushes towards me. I open my eyes, just to see he is nearing. I raise up both my hands to chest level and take a deep breath. He points his lance towards my chest and try pushing it into my chest. But, I block the attack. He suprises to see that I block his attack using my burning red dual blade. He smiles and draws back his lance. "Today is fine, right? I was too excited!" he says in exhaustion. "Yeah... Thanks to you, I understand more about my new discovered power." I thanks him. He thumbs up. "I think it's time for me to go. It's already late." he says in depression. Minori and I seperate from being fused. I nod as I look at the sky. The sky has turn orange. It's already dusk. Just how long we were practicing? I wonder about that.

"See you again soon, Kuro." I bid farewell to him as I go into the castle. "We will meet again... Soon. Just a little more time." he says slowly. I turn my back towards him and he is not there anymore. What left is a black feather. I put the feather into my pocket, thinking it might be important. Inside, there is a commotion happens. "Hey! Where did you go, Eiji? We have a big problem here." Milhi tells. She drags me to Leo. Leo looks worried about something that make me curious. "Eiji... I need your help... Not just you... But all of us." Leo starts to talk. "I found this letter on my desk after I returned from getting my lunch." she shows us the letter. "I will read what it is written here."

[To Gallete's Empress, I wish you could surrender to the dark force due tomorrow at 10 a.m.. If you failed to do so, the dark force shall force you to surrender by burning down your castle.]

"I found this too on the letter. A black feather." she shows us the feather that resembles the one that I picked. "That's what our prince got before Aisitti been attacked by the dark force!" the palladin voices out. If it's true, then the culprit is the same. And I finally have the chance to avenge Gaul's death. The next day, all of the Gallete's troop get ready for the upcoming war. When the clock strike at 10, suddenly a black smoke appears. It's time for our fight!