The Seven Wonders of the World

25. One Down

Uyutsu would be sitting by the edge of the mountain, as he would be leaning back by a tree to give him some shade, he was on his lunch break during his shift, and he wasn't that far from the mansion so he could still make his way back.
What Uyutsu didn't expect, though, was for someone to find him, and that person was Rater, as he surprised him from above.
“Ah -- holy crap!” said Uyutsu, looking up to see Rater sitting on the tree branch. “What are you doing here?”
“I can ask the same about you,” said Rater, as he jumped down and looked down at Uyutsu, “i thought you would visit us at the inn or something.”
“Yeah, well, I just need some time to myself.” said Uyutsu.
Rater laughs somewhat, as he said, “Ahh, so you’re one of those lonely types, wanting to sit by yourself, huh? Well, that’s certainly fair enough. I figured you would've joined us at the inn though, you always enjoyed our talks before. What made you decide to suddenly isolate yourself like this?” Uyutsu frowned. “I'm not lonely!” he then sighed, before he continued, “I don’t know, I just couldn’t bring myself to join you guys. It’s not that I don’t enjoy your company, I just needed some time to relax on my own for a bit.”
Rater chuckled, as he said, “Well, I can respect that. Everyone needs a break once in a while, and alone time can certainly be nice. I can relate to that idea, to a certain extent at least.” Uyutsu nodded slightly, as he responded, “Yeah, it just feels good to be all alone and to not have anyone around to bother you or to interfere with your thoughts. It’s like a quiet sanctuary that allows you to think things over without anyone bothering you.”

As the two of them stood there, they used some muffled talking from below, as if there was a conversation, and there was a certain voice that Uyutsu recongized.
“Wait, I know that voice!” said Uyutsu, as he crawled to the edge and looked below, as he saw Zaba and Kaio talking, with Kaio's massive blade in hand as it struck fear into Uyutsu.
“Hm?” said Rater, looking down at the two also.
“That blade,” thought Uyutsu, “it looks like it has snakes in there, it's all wrapped up and everything. But what does it do..? Better question, who is he?!”
As the two were talking, Kaio was going on, as he said, “So the plan of action is set, hmm? We kill the girl, take the deity away from her, and then we leave this place?”
Zaba nodded. “And no one will notice, her death will remain a mystery, maybe even a suicide if we are lucky enough.”
Uyutsu thought to himself more. “They plan to kill... Saori? After all that laughing and talking? He wants to kill her? I knew something was up with him! I may aswell shoot the bastard while I can!”
As Uyutsu slowly drew his pistol, Rater yelled at the two, as he said, “Hey! What are you two doing down there?!”
Uyutsu's eyes widened, as he looked at Rater. “What are you doing?!”
Zaba and Kaio looked up at Rater and Uyutsu, as Kaio said, “Huh? Who are they?”
“Uyutsu,” said Zaba, glancing at Kaio, “one of them is called Uyutsu, not sure about the other guy though.”
Kaio drew his snake-skin blade, as Uyutsu moved back so he was clear from Kaio, but Kaio was looking at Rater.
“That dumb bastard is just gonna stand there,” said Kaio, “as I take his energy and kill him.”
As Kaio's blade was planning to take Rater's energy, a few moments later the snakes in the blade shrieked, much to Zaba and Kaio's confusion.
“What's wrong?!” said Kaio to the sword, before looking up at Rater. “Hey, what did you do to them you bastard!”
Rater smirks in response to being called a bastard, as he said, “Well, maybe you should try to use your own brain and think of who that might be before you start firing your blade. It might just happen to backfire once I explain myself.”
Kaio glared at Rater, before he said, “So you are going to explain yourself then? Or should I just try to take your life regardless?”
Rater shrugged. “I will give you one chance before I start fighting back.”
Kaio and Zaba’s expressions turned from ones of anger to disbelief, as Kaio said, “Your inner spirit? What the heck does that mean?”
Zaba added, “You mean you have an inner spirit too, similar to your deity girl Saori? How come this is the first time we’ve heard about this?!”
“Because you've been in denial all this time,” said Rater, “trying to see if it is real or not, rather than actually trying to find it. I am a Phantom, one of the nine Phantom Users in this world, and what you tried to do was mess with phantom energy, which is not recommended.”
“Phantom?!” thought Uyutsu.
“No way!” thought both Zaba and Kaio.
Zaba said, “So that’s why it backfired.” Kaio added, “We both feel like we should’ve figured that out a while ago, didn’t really think about it much past that.”
Kaio smirked. “So the spirit inside you is what allowed you to do that little trick with my energy?”
Rater replied, “I guess you can say that, but it was all accidental.”
Kaio nods his head, thinking of the possibilities that this information could give them. “Well, now we know that one more Phantom User is out there. I was beginning to question whether or not they even existed.” Zaba added, “Yeah, it’s been so long since we’ve heard about any of this stuff that I wonder if it even is real in the first place.”
“Oh, they are real,” said Rater, “there was another Phantom User in the South Blue, his name was Oxolo, great fat Ranger he was.”
“I heard about that,” said Zaba, “so you must be the great Goldfish L. Rater, hmm? You're quite the sensational rookie.”
“Yep!” said Rater. “And this is only the start!”
Kaio laughed at the name, as he said, “You sound like a fish, Rater.”
Zaba laughed aswell. “Wow, that’s quite a name, it is certainly fitting. Well, I am sure that you would be a fine player on the battlefield, especially with that Phantom Power of yours.”
As a few moments had passed, Zaba sighed. “Well, now that we learnt this information, we withdraw our request for a battle,” said Zaba, “but don't think this is over, kid. We will still go through with our plan and kill Saori.”
Uyutsu gritted his teeth. “Damn you!” said Uyutsu. “I won't let you near her!”
Kaio turned around, holding his blade. “That Uyutsu kid isn't a Phantom, if you want, I can suck his energy out and kill him.”
“No, he's deadweight and a waste of time,” said Zaba, “he will have little to no impact on this situation, but we better watch out for that Rater kid.”
Kaio smirked, as he took out a shuriken. “I don't think we need to.”
As Rater and Uyutsu got up, a shuriken was flying their way as it pierced Rater in the neck, making him fall onto the grass as his eyes were wide open.
“Rater? RATER!” said Uyutsu, shaking his body as he took the shuriken out of his neck and looked at it. “A shuriken..?”
He turned as he saw Zaba and Kaio, as they were staring into his soul, as Uyutsu got up and ran off.
Uyutsu would be running through the streets, terrified of what may happen to the town, as he presumed Rater was dead, he had to warn Rater's friends.