The Cursed Iris

Sprout 44: Ayame's Hope

Ayame and Kaiya had entered the castle and she was getting even more nervous. With each step that echoed off the wall, a chill down her spine followed.

"Calm down," Kaiya said.

Her saying that suddenly caused Ayame to jump, "I-I am calm," she stuttered.

"No you're not," Kaiya noted with a grin. "How about this? You can ask me any question you want, and I'll answer."

Ayame was curious about Kaiya and her past with Ryoma, but she was more interested in Kaiya's abilities. "Okay then, Kaiya I want you to tell me what exactly are the Ten Dragon Emperors?"

"Oh, so that's your first question? Where should I start; I know! Okay Ayame this is going to be long, so I'll break it down that each Dragon Emperor does represent something. Just as each of the four abilities that we use in the each represent a mortal's qualities: Hope, Tranquility, Determination, and Imagination."

"That I didn't know," Ayame replied. That answer did help her, but that's not the question she wanted answered.

"The Ten Dragon Emperors are number from one to ten, and the lower the number, the more powerful the being. So me as the Second Dragon Emperor I am the second most powerful; Ryoma as the First Dragon Emperor is the most powerful. So on and so forth. I want you to remember that because I will be coming back to that point later."

Ayame nodded, so Kaiya continued on. "Nine of the Ten Dragon Emperors or better known as the Daiyoshin originate from the Primordial Dragon the Guardian of Arcturus and Alpha Centauri."

"Wait those are just the names of stars. Do they really have meaning?" Ayame wondered.

"Everything has meaning," Kaiya assured. "The Primordial Dragon was the one who created this universe. It all started with the two beings known as Arcturus and Alpha Centauri; they were then bestowed with two halves of its energies: Astral and Cosmic."

Ayame tilted her head in confusion. "So does that mean Minori has a primordial magic?"

Kaiya nodded. "Yes and you can ask her about that yourself. But let me tell you how we came to be. So as the Primordial Dragon's soul was exhausting he decided to create a realm where nine parts of his soul could watch over the universe: The Dragon Spring. If he hadn't the universe would've possibly collapsed and that would've been the end of it. We nine were intended to keep the balance of the universe. Forces of the universe, spiritual forces, even minute things that flow through your bodies like blood we are all responsible for the balance of them. My ability to deals with the yin energy of the universe which branches off from cosmic energy. Yang branches off from astral energy which is something my twin Kotaro deals with."

They continued to walk, and Ayame sighed. "Seems interesting that Minori continues to surprise me."

"Now I can get into each Dragon Emperor starting with myself. I was chosen to represent the Yin forces of the universe as I was the first one to emerge from the Dragon Spring into this world. That's when I met Ryoma who had declared herself as the First Dragon Emperor. Ryoma had told me of everything, and that's when I noticed something."

"What did you notice?" Ayame asked nervously.

"I noticed that Ryoma had the same presence as the Primordial Dragon. Almost as if she were the reincarnation of it. I never understood why, and I never asked her as to why; maybe we can ask her at a later time, yeah?"

Ayame nodded in agreement as Kaiya continued. "Anyway each Dragon Emperor is unique. I have control over most Yin forces in the universe, my twin brother the Third Dragon Emperor has control over most Yang forces. Rumiko," Kaiya scoffed in disgust. "She deals with both spirit and calamity magic and probably is the most dangerous one of us. Then there's Fusako the Fifth Dragon Emperor who deals with metal and thunder magic."