edelweiss - &team

7

They arrived at a hot, but less harsh expanse of the desert. A few green plants rustled in the gentle breeze, and Harua beelined for a stone hut situated between two stone pillars.

As the others ducked through the narrow door, they were serenaded with an icy cool interior. Yudai brushed grains of sand from his top, then swept his eyes across the room they were in. They were in a wide hall with a lofty ceiling that allowed rays of sun to stream through, yet they didn't feel as though they were in a greenhouse.

Lining one wall were a row of weapons, glinting invitingly. With a gasp, Riki joyfully grabbed a scythe leaning against the wall, twirling it deftly and narrowly slicing through Yixiang if the latter had not immediately let the scythe morph through his body. Yixiang shot Riki a dirty look and Riki clasped the scythe near his body, bashful.

Yuma slid a finger across a case of throwing knives fixed to the wall whistling as he brushed the thick grey dust from his fingertips. Harua noticed and winced, "Sorry, I haven't been keeping this clean. I spend more time at the hearth."

"Ah. The hearth," Maki sighed, shaking his head and taking a walk around the room, plucking at books and scrolls.

"Oh, it'll go there for sure," Fuma shook his head, staring into the floor in thought. "Harua, where is the hearth located currently?" Euijoo asked.

Harua bit his lip, "Japan."

"Then he'll go to Japan first."

Uncomfortable silence fell like a too-thick blanket, as they all helplessly searched each other's faces for something. "So what's the plan?" Yixiang looked meek for the first time, like an anxious puppy.

"We have to kill him! If we just capture him again, what, maybe in the next hundred years we'll have to do this again," Riki all but yelled, gripping his scythe tightly. And there was the unspoken concern of "and what if we don't succeed the next time?"

"Um..." Harua raised a finger slowly, "Another thing... The hearth isn't just in one place in Japan. It's in...a few."

"What."

Never in a thousand years have the eight looked so confused, so Harua quickly elaborated, "We've had a lot of time on our hands, so I've been experimenting. I thought it would be safer for us all if the hearth was split up."

"Is that...even possible?" The researcher in Fuma was struggling to withhold his excitement, a tinge of fascination and disbelief in his voice.

"So we have to split up too," Euijoo said as he crossed his arms tightly.

Yudai , sensing everyone was starting to panic, stepped forward quickly, "Alright. Before we split up, let's spend some time here to catch up, train. I'll start figuring out the best way to split us. Then we'll head back to my place, grab our stuff and go, okay?"

Unable to offer a better alternative, everyone got to work, taking down their weapons from the walls, others mulling through old books and things.

Riki flung the main door open and threw himself into the heat, slashing his scythe with rigour.

"Riki you're gonna tire yourself out," Yudai yelled after him, but the younger immortal let the words fall to deaf ears. Maki shot after him with a delighted cackle, and Jo closed the door before sand started flying into the room.

Yixiang removed a menacing curved scimitar from the wall, an equally frightening expression on his face. Yuma, without raising a finger, opened his box and the knives floated out, encircling him as they spun, dust gradually shaken off. Yuma then offered a sword to Euijoo, but he shook his head, preferring to talk through plans with Harua and Yudai .

"Wanna spar?" Yixiang asked Yuma, the other strolling through the room, with his knives trailing behind him. Yuma wrinkled his nose, "You know I don't like to. Spar with Riki or Maki, I bet they're more than willing."

Disappointed, Yixiang darted out the door to find the duo.

Meanwhile, Yudai , Harua and Euijoo were bent over a table, Harua swept papers and jars to a side to make space for a large, aged map, his large eyes scouring the map's surface.

"So, where are the locations?"

"There's four in total. One in the bamboo forest, one under the lake, one in the mountains and the last one is the original one." Harua pointed out the markings on his map. Fuma and Jo gathered around, looking over the others' shoulders.

Yudai's eyes followed Harua's finger, lingering at the last point, before he jerked his head up, "You mean-"

Harua nodded, "Yeah. The original is now in the heart of a city centre."

Yudai's shoulders tensed as he gripped the table, leaning his weight against it. "Okay," Euijoo said carefully, "We can make it work. There's nine of us. We'll be okay."

Yudai looked unconvinced, but Euijoo pulled out a blank piece of paper and together they started planning.

Outside, chaos was ensuing. Poor Riki was simply trying to get back into the rhythm of using his powers and weapon, while Maki and Yixiang were unintentionally starting a sandstorm.

"I can't see with all this sand!" Riki shouted, then coughed out a mouth full of it. "Just do your light thing," Yixiang helpfully suggested, slicing his scimitar through the air. Maki was currently controlling two astral projections of his fists, and managed a quick insincere "Sorry!" , before he plunged the projections into the ground, churning even more sand up into the air.

Yixiang was hardly bothered, only laughing maniacally as the sand around him dusted to the floor, "Maki you know this won't work on me."

Maki scoffed, "I know what matter is, I've graduated from thirteen high schools!"

Riki stood there miserably, coated with sand. Eventually, he gave up, slinking back in to cool down. Yuma took pity on him and helped to remove as much sand as possible, after Riki shook himself like a wet dog.