Chapter 6 - The Reaping of the Dragon

Teams Hinomé and Astra stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the briefing room. The space was a sterile, featureless white, save for a single desk and a few utilitarian chairs that felt out of place. Akari and the others moved quickly as the rustle of fabric filling the room as they donned their Lucent uniforms.

Kagemura paced before them, his footsteps echoing against the linoleum. He let out a long, weary sigh.

“If I could be pissed about you all blowing my money, I would. I don’t get paid enough for this!”

In a blur of motion, the instructor zapped across the room, his fingers snapping forward to flick Akari and Rika across their foreheads. “Do it again, and you’re working like hell. Understood?”

The two girls winced and dropped their heads in unison. “Yes, sir…”

He cleared his throat, tucking his hands behind his back. “Your first official job as Lucents is as follows. A man in the heart of Shinjuku was afflicted with the Blight. He's spread his influence, creating a massive Blighted Zone that’s trapped several civilians. Normally, you wouldn’t be assigned such a tough mission, but thanks to the tampering during your test, the veteran Lucents are swamped. Your goal is to eliminate the target, save any survivors, and investigate the situation before it gets worse.”

“Understood!” the group shouted in unison.

Kagemura turned toward Akari, a small, rare smile tugging at his lips. “By the way, your special weapon will be ready soon. We’re dropping it in when you arrive; a field test should see to its durability. When you call its name, it’ll appear.”

A little vague, but… my own weapon! Finally! Akari's heart hammered against her ribs.

“It’ll take a while to get there…” Kana noted, her gaze drifting toward the door.

Kagemura shook his head. “Nope. My power allows me to transport myself anywhere I’ve been before. I’ll just drop all of you in. Better than walking, eh?”

Junpei let out a raucous roar of laughter and slammed his fist into his palm. “Very well! Let’s do this! A little friendly competition between teams!”

A vein popped on Kagemura’s forehead. “Teamwork! TEAMWORK!”

Akari punched her own palm, her eyes alight with competitive fire. “Oooh, competition, huh? Sounds good to me!”

The boy with the goggles smirked confidently. “Then whoever takes out more Blighted foes wins!”

Yuto rolled his eyes, though a challenge flickered in his gaze as he accepted. “I won’t be outdone by Saito, so I accept these terms.”

Ami and Mira shared a long, tired look of mutual disappointment for their respective teams.

“Alright, that’s it!” Kagemura zapped behind them, his hands glowing with a sudden surge of Aether. “You kids don’t learn, so have fun!”

In the blink of an eye, the floor vanished. The group was in a dead free-fall, barreling toward a pitch-black bubble that swallowed the Shinjuku skyline. Akari adjusted her weight mid-air, her white cloak billowing behind her like a chasing sunrise.

“Thanks, Old Guy! Alright, Team Hinomé, rolling out!” she shouted.

The water-wielder beside her didn't respond, his face set in a grim mask of focus, while Ami and Rika flailed their arms frantically. “I’m gonna get you for this, Kagemura!!” the mechanic screamed, tears of terror trailing from her eyes as they plummeted.

Astra, by contrast, shifted into a tight formation. “Astra, just like we practiced—shoot for the stars!” Kana commanded.

“Got it!” her team replied, shouting over the rushing wind.

They breached the black bubble, and the atmosphere shifted instantly. The warm morning sun was snuffed out, replaced by a cold, hazy mist that tasted like iron. Shinjuku looked like a city made of shadows. Black, pulsing vines choked the skyscrapers, and a heavy, unnatural silence hung over the streets.

Team Astra touched down cleanly, their boots clicking against the cracked asphalt as they dusted themselves off.

“Alright, infiltration completed. Junpei, if you would,” the leader asked.

The boy rolled up his sleeves, revealing his heavy bronze gauntlets. A small holographic screen flickered to life over his wrist scanning the area.

“High concentrations of Aether around us—only a handful! Just scouts, we can take them!”

Mira nodded, adjusting the shimmering blue fabric of her scarf. She held her hands out, a soft glow emanating from her palms. “I’ll get to improving your skills then. Take my blessing.”

Junpei’s face flushed a deep, embarrassed red. “Th-thanks Mira! You’re a really important part of the team…”

Kana scanned the ruins, a frown deepening on her face. “Hey, where’s—”

She was cut off as Team Hinomé crashed down directly onto them scrunching up into a ball of white uniforms.

“We’re okay!” Akari shouted from the bottom of the pile.

Junpei stood up slowly, tapping at his gauntlets. “Couple signatures coming for us! Get ready!”

“What an idiotic leader…” Yuto mumbled, pushing himself off the ground.

A pack of Blight Hounds—creatures of matted fur and glowing purple eyes—converged on the scene. Astra moved before the monsters could even growl.

“Just sit back and watch how we do it!” Kana exclaimed. She lunged forward, grabbing a discarded metal pole from the debris. With a fluid motion, she pierced the skull of the lead hound, twirling the makeshift weapon and kicking up a cloud of ash.

From the cover of the dust, Toru moved swiftly, his small knife flashing as he struck with surgical precision. Beside him, Junpei stormed through the pack, laughing with an intense, wild energy. He slammed a hound into the pavement with a powered punch before kicking the carcass toward Kana. The leader crushed the next foe with a series of metallic objects manipulated by her Aether, only for Junpei to finish the job with a ground-shaking blow that vaporized the remaining scouts.

“So fast, and so strong… How do you guys do it?!” Akari exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Junpei flashed her a grin. “We’ve been childhood friends for years! Kana has been leading us like this for years now!”

The veteran girl chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. “I haven't always been a leader… this is a recent hobby.”

Mira shook her head. “Don’t be modest, Kana. Remember when you wanted to hunt for bugs and you led us on an all-day wild goose chase?”

Toru nodded silently in agreement.

Kana’s face turned bright red. “Don’t tell them about that! That’s embarrassing!”

“What’s wrong with bug-hunting? I still do it to this day!”

The group fell silent, staring at Akari with looks of pure, unadulterated confusion.

“You didn’t grow out of that…?” Rika whispered, horrified.

Kana sighs loudly, before straightening herself. “Alright, alright… Come on, our first goal is to find survivors.”

They set off, their boots pounding against the derelict streets. A thick, soot-like ash began to rain from the dark sky, making Akari’s skin tingle with a strange itch. A low, rhythmic rumble vibrated through the pavement, like a heartbeat. As they moved deeper, a thick miasma clouded their vision until they reached a gaping station entrance.

“This is… Shinjuku Station, isn’t it?” Mira asked, her voice hushed.

Junpei checked his HUD one more time. “There’s a spike of Aether in the subways! Although, there’s another signature above us I can’t pinpoint…”

“Well, we can’t fly, so there isn’t anything we can do about it,” the mechanic responded,

Akari rubbed her temples, looking down the dark escalator. “I guess if there are survivors, they’d be down there! So let’s head out!”

She leaped down the stairs, only to slam into a wall that shouldn't have been there. The barrier was soft, pulsating with a fleshy, squelching noise on impact. Akari slid back, looking at the obstruction in disgust.

“A Blight Membrane. These only form when… Blighted creatures consume enough,” Yuto explained, his face twisted in a scowl.

Toru walked up and pressed a hand against the wall. He turned back to the teams with a worried expression.

“How do we break it?” Ami asked.

“These things go down to really hard hits,” Junpei noted, cracking his knuckles. “I’d think two really strong attacks at the same time would destroy it easily!”

Mira and Ami shared a look before turning to the water-user. “You did this once before, right? Could you help us out again?”

The boy sighed, adjusting his silver cape. “Fine, if I have to.”

Yuto and Junpei stood side-by-side before the membrane, while Ami and Mira placed their hands on their backs, their Anima beginning to glow.

“Grant us sight, grant us hearing, grant us clarity… for everyone, resonate and give us strength!”

Yuto unleashed a high-pressure beam of water at the same moment Junpei lunged with a rocket-boosted blow. The membrane exploded with a wet, destructive force, clearing the way.

“How do they… do that?” Akari wondered aloud.

“Aether and Anima work in tandem, right?” Kana explained as they descended. “Some people have a deeper connection to Aether—usually people from calmer areas—and they can use their Anima to boost others. Like our Mira; she mainly uses her power to make everyone stronger. You know, she actually has a complex about that… she—”

She was cut off by a sharp, icy glare from the girl in the scarf. “What’re you talking about, Kana? Wanna share with the class?”

A bead of sweat rolled down the leader's forehead. “N-no thank you…”

“Hey, stop chattering and look at this,” Yuto interjected, his voice tight with nerves.

They reached the subway platform, where the flickering emergency lights revealed hell on earth. Hundreds of people lay on the ground in fetal positions, their skin a sickly, translucent purple. Dark veins and vines wrapped around their bodies like parasites. One man’s eyes darted toward the group, looking glassy and hollow.

“Help…” he whispered, the sound a dry rasp.

“They’re all… alive?” 

“Barely,” Mira added, her voice heavy. “Prolonged exposure to Blight makes your Anima go haywire. Best case… you die.”

Akari’s eyes widened. “...Zanshu…”

“When exposed to an overflow of Aether, people can become Zanshu,” Ami explained, her voice shuddering. “It makes them stronger, but you lose all sense of self. It’s like pure madness seeping into your bones.”.

“Whatever the case, we need to get these people out of here!” Junpei exclaimed.

“One of us will go back and get Sensei,” Yuto commanded. “The rest of us will carry as many as we can and leave. This is a job for people above us.”

“That’s what you said last time, and we killed a Daiyo!” Rika interrupted. “A full team of Lucents takes hours to do that, and Akari did it in one blow! I think we can have a little more confidence.”

A set of heavy, dragging footsteps echoed through the tunnel. A man in a tattered suit gripped his head, his fingers digging into his scalp. “He… he promised… One touch, and…!”

He let out a pained, guttural scream, kneeling as thick black smoke began to pour from his pores.

“It’s him…” Kana whispered, her grip tightening on her pole.

Ami took a tentative step forward. “Sir… It’s okay… Don’t let it take you!”

The man stared up at her, his face contorted in agony. “That man… That pale bastard…! I’ll kill you…!”

Yuto’s eyes went wide. “Get away from him, Ami!”

The man hunched over, his spine snapping and elongating. “I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you!”

Massive black wings tore through his suit, sprouting from his back as his body stretched and warped. A thick cloud of soot covered the area, and a sudden, violent gust of wind forced everyone to shield their eyes.

When the dust cleared, a massive, winged beast hovered in the air, its roar vibrating the very foundations of the station. It spewed a caustic smoke that began to fill the chamber.

Akari coughed, shaking off the debris. “I feel like we don’t have much time left… We need to win quickly, or else…”

“But this isn’t a Daiyo,” Mira said, her voice trembling. “It’s… something else! How do we…?”

“Do what we do again,” Yuto said, his gaze shifting to the girl with the sunrise cloak. “Akari, go ahead and steal the show as usual. I’ll allow it this time.”

The girl smirked, feeling the weight of her team’s expectations.

I have to show them that I’m ready… but how? I don’t even have a weapon… Wait a minute!

Suddenly, a crackle of static filled her ears. “Hey, it’s Kagemura. Tapped into your ear, finally. Your present is ready. If you need it, call its name.”

Call its name… alright then! Let’s test this out!

“Rain down, Komorebi! Let me see you, and fight with me till the end!”

The ceiling of the station buckled as a white pod slammed through the concrete, embedding itself in the platform. It hissed open, revealing a white and silver bo-staff with a pulsing green core and long red ribbon tied to it. Akari grabbed it, feeling a hum of energy vibrate through her palms. She spun the staff experimentally.

“Let’s do this, Kibi!” she yelled.

The staff’s core resonated, the metal expanding and shifting with a mechanical hiss. A massive, curved blade of shimmering Aether snapped into place, forming a seven-foot scythe.

Akari stared at the weapon, a goofy, triumphant grin spreading across her face. “Hehe, thanks a lot, Sensei…”

Chapter 6 - The End.