To Be Free! (Noragami Fan-Fic)

Preparation For War

    My breaths were shallow and my face was dotted with sweat as the blight continued to consume my body and soul. The regalias were panicking as they rushed in and out of the room carrying buckets of cleansing water and pouring it into the tub I was placed in. Bishamonten and my regalia were standing next to me having a meeting of sorts. I struggled to open my mouth and managed to get a simple word out.
     "Kuro"
     That caught everyone's attention as the regalias stopped pouring the water into the tub and Bishamonten and my regalia flinched at the sound of the name. I weakly managed to get up and stumble out of the tub.
     "Crystal, you shouldn't be walking around." Aoi grabbed me by the arm to stabilize me allowing the blight to flow to her as well.
     "She's right, Crystal," Kiiroi agreed, "Stop being reckless and let us handle Kuro. He is our problem and we don't need our master to be sent to an early deathbed. It was our fault that he managed to hurt you like this."
     "Stop that, Kiiroi!" Akai said smacking him on the face. "Can't you see that your negative emotions would only quicken the spread of the blight? Think about your master's safety..."
     "Sorry everyone... for making you fight," I rasped. "But, no matter what you say, I am still going after him."
     "Not on our watch you aren't!" Kiiroi exclaimed folding his arms.
     "At least not without us and the other faithful regalias that you have gathered and called 'family'." Aoi smiled.
     "In that case, Aoi, Kiiroi, Akai, bring me back home. We are going after Kuro. Together." They cheered. I laughed a bit and let them lead me through the corridors of Bishamonten's fortress and all the way back home where we prepared everyone for war. Bishamonten and Kazuma followed us saying that they would come to fight as well.
     "Crystal, as your underling, I cannot allow you to go to war and just stand by and watch! It would be a disgrace as a Guardian of Fortune!" She complied, bowing. "Please allow me to fight this battle with you!"
     I smiled at her gently and said, "Of course, Kuro is my problem, but soon he will become everyone's problem if we're don't take action now." I turned to face my regalias that had gathered and yelled, "Get ready for war!" They yelled together with me and ran off to their separate workplaces and gathering their equipment while I assigned the leaders of each group. All of them were led by the main seven in this shrine. The group of seven who were made of the seven colours of the rainbow. The seventh in charge was Violet, a girl that was only the age of fourteen when she died.
     Sixth was Iris, a woman who died around the age of twenty-four. The fifth was Aoi and fourth was Midori. Third in command was Kiiroi and second was Blaze, a five-year-old boy who died trying to escape from a burning building. And at the top of this board was none other than Akai who fought as my first regalia on the battlefield before anyone else came along.
     "Everyone to their groups we have exactly an hour, twenty-four minutes and four seconds left before the battle!" Midori ordered fixing her glasses by habit. "Find your partners!"
     The regalia of the clan have a sort of secret weapon that we only use for occasions like these. It is called The Regalia Puppet. This just a pair of regalias who fight with each other and while one of them is fighting, the other is in his or her weapon form for their partner. This move allows them to switch out whenever either of them is tired. I smiled as I saw how much my clan had grown without me even realizing it. In fact, it made me forget all the pain the blight was giving me.
     "Crystal, you need to take care of yourself," Bishamonten said behind me.
     "And miss watching my clan grow? I think not. They had bad times that I had to help them fix and yet, here I am. Now they are the ones helping me. I don't want to sleep and wait for them to be finished preparing, I want to watch," I said to her, looking down from the balcony we were on.
     "In that case, please tell me something."
I looked at her when I noticed the seriousness in her voice.
     "Why did you never sever your bonds with Kuro when you had the chance?"
     "That would be because, when I first saw him, he had a look that told me that he was lonely. And yet, deep inside his eyes, was a fire burning with determination to live. I saw the day he was born. As well as the day he died. When he committed that sin a hundred years ago, his heart was thrown into a series of emotions from sadness to fear. The regalias tried to get him to calm down but he just ran away and when I found him a few years later, he was living a happy life in a village full of bright and happy people. For the first time since he was born, I saw him smile. That made me rethink about releasing him. That way, I could always know what was happening to him without watching him constantly."
     "You've all been through a lot..."
     "No..." I interrupted. "All we have done... was live as a normal family would."