The Legacy of Guardians - Kivvora Heroes: Guardians & Destines

TWENTY-FIVE

IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS SINCE Lord Raiden kidnapped Harumi. It hap­pened again... Raiden or his workers made an appearance only to go silent after their attack. It was a strange pattern. It was like... they only attacked when they wanted to and knew when to attack.

Though, if Lord Raiden wanted Akira and the other Guardian's gone... why not try every day to dispose of them? It's what Akira would've done if the roles were reversed. Great, now he's got her thinking like a villain.

Over the past three days, Akira and the others have been working on strengthening their beast chi which they have earned during their battle at Lord Raiden's home. Akira was amazed she could summon a whole tiger from her being.

The Guardians have also looked into decoding the Order... the little bit from the picture Yamiyo took in Lord Raiden's office. The seven kivji symbols Master Yuuto had on stones, hanging on his wall. So why would Lord Raiden be interested in anything like this? Not unless there was more to this order, and these were the parts that piqued his interest. Still, it was strange he would be curious of these virtues. Maybe he wanted to become a better person? No... not very likely.

When Akira asked Master Yuuto about the Order of Guardians the other day, he mentioned at was a Code written by his mother. A Code every Guardian must follow. Thankfully, it wasn't a bad thing if it got into the wrong hands. That eased Akira a bit, knowing that Raiden couldn't do much with a set of rules. But she was still confused why he wrote down those kivji symbols. What if he could do something more with this? It was all she could think about since they came home after saving Harumi.

Akira sighed a laugh and told herself she's overthinking things again and should refocus her mind on becoming a stronger Guardian. But that was another problem...

Shingetsuma was over – and Master Yuuto still instructed Akira and the others to patrol Blue Harmony village, to be on the safe side. After what happened three days ago, the villagers had different views on the Guardian's now.

The villagers gave her nasty looks. Whisper horrible things about her, calling her evil... and she and her friends should be replaced im­mediately. Or should be banished from Kivvora for misuse of power.

Akira hated what she heard, hated herself. She disguised herself today before leaving and didn't patrol at all. She leaned against a build­ing with her head in a newspaper, reading the headlines about her and the others... how they were bad Guardians.

Did Lord Raiden have something to do with this? Was he trying to sabotage them? One article called Akira and the others worthless heroes – another read sorry excuses for Guardians. The worst article stated that the Guardians let Harumi get kidnapped.

Instead of honor and respect, the Guardians were looked at as curses. Inhuman. Monsters. Akira ripped the newspaper in half and shoved it in the bin beside her.

The people passing by were talking about it. But they mainly spoke about Akira. How she earned her power late in life... how she wasn't even considered a Guardian... why she shouldn't be a Guard­ian. No one believed in her or her friends. They were nothing to these people. They were nothing to Kivvora.

As the sun set, Akira returned to the mansion. She saw the others as they followed beside her. The day seemed to have them down too.

Akira sighed. "I'm guessing y'all heard the same thing today?"

"It's all lies." Harumi said. "You guys didn't let me get kidnapped."

"And we aren't playing around with our powers." Umiji added.

"Someone is spreading false news about us — they want others to be against us." Yamiyo began. "I say this is Lord Raiden's doing. He's making up these headlines so people will trust in him."

Even though she knew this news was fake, she let it replay in her mind. Now, no one trusted in them. How could she surpass her dad now? The worst part was that people began using how Akira earned her power late in life against her. They said she couldn't be trusted. Said she wasn't worthy of being a Guardian. A defect.

The Defected Guardian is what Kivvora was calling Akira now.

A new anger, coursed through her blood, festering in her heart. Her power throbbed in her veins as she focused on not exploding in painful, uncontrollable light.

Akira squeezed her wrists, wincing at the boiling Light underneath her skin. She didn't want to be angry.

And for the first time, she didn't feel like being a Guardian anymore.

* * *

Later that night, Akira called Uncle Jiang — his phone went to voice mail. Akira sighed, shakingly and dialed again, getting the same response. Maybe... he got the news and was disappointed in her as well. Losing faith in her. Akira didn't care, holding back tears, and proceeded to leave a voice message.

"Hi, uncle... it's me, your niece. Heh — if you even want to call me that anymore." She paused, pacing around her room. "I — uh... don't know what went wrong. A lot of people to hate me, Yamiyo and the other Guardians right now." She rambled on about what happened, what she's been through over the month she's been in Shizukana. She let out a nervous laugh, sighing again. "Happy late Shingestuma, uncle. I miss you. Love you tons." She stopped. "Bye..."

She clicked her phone off, hugged her knees as quiet tears streamed down her face. What went wrong?