The Cursed Iris

Sprout 7: The Four Eastern Powers

The night finally came, and Ayame's group decided to stop to make camp. The air was brisk, the moon was full, there was a slight breeze, but it wasn't strong enough to even move someone's hair. Natsume started a fire, then she looked at Katsumi. "So, are you going to explain everything or not? Because if not, then you get nothing to eat."

He stared at her, "Okay, fine," he replied.

Ayame had that curious sparkle in her eyes, and Katsumi smiled. "I guess I can't deny those eyes. Alright gather around."

She sat crossed legged in front of him, Atsuko sat next to her with Kumo on her head, and Natsume sat to the left of Katsumi, "Seems like you two are best friends," Ayame said looking at Atsuko and Kumo.

Atsuko smiled. "Well badgers are my favorite animals, and a talking badger is a bonus. That's why I like Kumo, plus Katsumi is always a jerk to him. Kind of like how you are to me sometimes," she replied in a teasing tone.

Ayame ignored her, and Atsuko got depressed, "There, there," Kumo said as he patted her on the back.

Natsume looked at Katsumi. "So, I have a question."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"That ability where you speed up the flow of your spirit energy, it's kind of similar to a soul force but at the same time it's different."

"Oh yeah, that's my stage 1 ability. My sister told me that same thing; that it was close to one, but not there yet. I'll tell you more about soul force as well Ayame and Atsuko."

Natsume stared at him. "You're getting more and more interesting."

"Alright," Katsumi said as he cleared his throat. "So where should I start? Oh, I know. The first country is Shangri-La, I haven't been there before, but my sister told me that it was a very prosperous country with a very kind king and queen. That was at least six years ago since Chiyoko visited though. I'd like to go there myself one day, maybe we can after Natsume's teacher?"

Ayame and Atsuko looked at each other, "I have a quick question about Shangri-La. Is it an island nation to the south of us?" Ayame asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Katsumi and Natsume asked in surprise.

"We just have a feeling that the geography of this time is similar to ours," Atsuko replied.

So that means that this is the same timeline but a slightly different history. I wonder what happened to cause it to go back to the same course, Ayame thought.

"So, the abilities that the Shangri-La people use are called gears," Katsumi continued. That seemed to catch Atsuko's attention. "Gears originate within a person's body, it's basically their will power manifested. It's a simple system, that pretty much is varied from person to person even in families. So, one person can have a flame gear and their sister or brother can have a water gear. That's all I know about that one."

"Gears huh?" Atsuko mumbled. "Hey, have either of you ever heard of the Phoenix Gear?"

Natsume seemed bewildered, but Katsumi was more confused than anything, "Yes, I heard of it. It's one of the Ten Mystical Abilities of the three realms. It has the power over forces I don't know about, but I hear it's powerful. It's a gear that Homura Tsukiyama uses, and it hasn't been seen in some time since she's disappeared," Natsume stated.

"Ten Mystical Abilities? What are those?" Ayame asked.

"The Ten Mystical abilities of the Three Realms are the most unique abilities in the far east, although I only know seven of them, my master never informed me on the other three. From top to bottom are Alpha Centauri magic, the Senryu Gear, Ryoma's Kami-Komora, the Sacred and the Cursed possessed by the Sixth Dragon Emperor, as I've said before Homura's Phoenix Gear, the Half Breed King's Ashen Flames, Heavenly Chi, Holy Seven. I'd say the most interesting one is Alpha Centauri magic, it's magic but it doesn't use spirit energy."