Training Begins

CHIRP! CHIRP!! CHIRP!!!

The morning sun birds raised their alarms, going about their busy day. Amidst the noise was Momo laying down on a soft mattress, stirring awake.
[MOMO] "Oh man, that was a good sleep"
She yawned, stretching as she made her way to the clear, bright and sunny sky.The door swung open and a warm, soft air blew her hair a little, throwing back waves of memories to her.She staggered a little, trying to throw off the sudden burden of sorrow with her eyes becoming teary.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Don't force it to go away. They are necessary for your future journey. Did you sleep well?"
He asked, facing Aoi who was training, holding a long walking stick.
[MOMO] "Yes Sensei. I see you are training Aoi but, shouldn't she be learning how to fight?"
[HORIKOSHI] "NO!"He sternly replied sharply."Sure she should learn how to fight but training and surviving isn't all about fighting; you'll need to master your powers and currently, you haven't mastered yours."
[MOMO] "I haven't even awakened"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "You see? Also, the training of a Soul manipulation hunter is different from others and so are the rest too different from each other"
[MOMO] "Of course I have, I've learnt martial arts, footwork, strength and even endurance all from my dad"
[HORIKOSHI] "And what about flying and others? What about......the three Light techniques?"
He scolded, poking her with his staff right into her side with surprising accuracy an old man shouldn't have.
[MOMO] "Ouch! Well.......I haven't learnt all those yet because.......I haven't awakened. But you can't blame me for that"
She grumbled, finally pausing in silence to digest what Sensei Horikoshi had said.
[MOMO] "Wait a minute; hunters can fly?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Yes they can and maybe I can't blame you for knowing that........or maybe I can. You seem like someone that can do hard labour but you don't know how to apply your inner strength. Every hunter is born with Modes, and if you may ask......."He cut Momo shut with a hand noticing she was about to ask a question.".......Mode one is the stage of a hunter's growth where their strength becomes superhuman, this is the first mode unlocked at birth; you'll get to know other modes as you train....."
[MOMO] "Cool"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Stop interrupting me"
He yelled, hitting her again but this time, on the head.
[MOMO] "Aish, sorry sensei"
She whimpered, apologizing with a rub on her head.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "As I was saying, you must learn to control your powers because phantoms, as you've witnessed, don't show mercy to anyone"
Momo raised her hand again, signalling she was about to ask a question to avoid getting hit again.
[MOMO] "Is it possible to unlock special modes that have never been seen?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "........yes, there are other modes unlocked by different clans. And, it's possible for you to see other hunters with totally different powers like earth manipulation and so on. Now cut the chatter, we have training to do"
[MOMO] "But what about Aoi who is doing the log balance thingy or whatever it is called?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Let her train, she has to maintain balance and peace, she is a Soul manipulation hunter after all"
[MOMO] "Yeah, She's a.......wait, what? Soul Manipulation? But, how did you know?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Unlike you, she has awakened Mode Two but just doesn't know how to operate it yet; Soul Manipulation hunters don't do elaborate aura burst like normal hunters, theirs is subtle. Maybe the trauma caused her to awaken it as a means of protection. Now come"He explained walking to a river not far from the hut.
Momo followed after minutes of glancing at her sister in shock.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Do you remember this river?"
[MOMO] "No, not really"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "It is called the Photon Lily River, its water flows straight down from the Volcano far off known for its abundance of Photon Roses. You jumped into it five days ago"
[MOMO] "Photon Lily Roses? What are they?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "White roses that emit great light and excrete a large amount of water because of the great amount of heat in the volcano."
[MOMO] "Wonderful"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Wonderful indeed, they are the only natural things that can repel phantoms because, phantoms are evil creatures born from hatred of mankind and these Roses are the only natural plants that excrete light in form of liquid. Some say it was due to the goddess's actions. No one knows its true source."
[MOMO] "Why bring me here though? What is it used for?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "It's used for healing and power enhancements which unlocks the true potentials of a hunter"
[MOMO] "I want to ask again, why did you bring me here, to this river?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Because it is a place of healing, silence, peace and it connects greatly to light wielders, especially strong ones. When you dive into the river and it washed you to shore, it glowed for two days straight like remembering something long forgotten"
[MOMO] "Something long forgotten"
She muttered, testing the words on her tongue.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Now I want you to focus your energy into the river, connect to it and become one with it"
Without hesitation, Momo took off her shoes and walked slowly into the river which glowed brighter with every footstep she took deeper into it. She paused and then held her breath before fully immersing herself under the water.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Connect with it"
For five whole minutes, Sensei Horikoshi watched the water glow brighter and brighter but she rose up gasping for breath.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "What is it? Can't hold your breath for five seconds?"
[MOMO] "Don't blame me, I'm still a child, you know?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Pish pish, even my grandson could do it. Try again,"
Again, she immersed herself into the river, instantly rushed with memories of her family. Their voices echoed in her mind, shouting for help. Even memories she never knew, memories of war and sorrow she never witnessed rushed into her mind, forcing her out of the river again.
[MOMO] "I....I can't...do it. Too many memories"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Try again"
[MOMO] "But......."
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Try....again"
Finally, she snapped, kicking the water angrily as she yelled.
[MOMO] "I SAID I CAN'T, OKAY? I CAN'T KEEP GETTING HUNTED BY MEMORIES OF SORROWS AND KEEP GOING BACK TO THEM. DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME? HUHN?"
Despite the yelling, Sensei Horikoshi smiled and moved farther away from the water.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "You remind me of your father. He said the exact same words as you when he was young""Do you want to kill me?"
He added, testing the words on his tongue.
[MOMO] "You knew my....dad? How?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Who do you think trained him? Me of course. Look child, you asked me if I wanted to kill you. If I don't kill you in training, those phantoms will kill you in battle, just like your family. You are all your little sister has. Do you want her to lose another family member? Or, do you want to lose her too? Living the rest of your lives in regret that you couldn't save her?"
Momo became silent, unable to speak. She opened her mouth but nothing but air came out. No words. No sound. Only a weary expression.
[MOMO] "No"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Then do as I ask of you. Face your fears, face your sorrows whole heartedly. Face your shame with boldness and tread the path of tomfoolery with passion in as much......as it takes you to your destination. Try again, don't ever give up and when you feel like the entire multiverse is not in your favour, you make it turn to your favour. That's just how the world is. Try again and this time? Don't rush it"
Reluctant to do anything else but obey, she got back into the water but this time it was different. Instead of holding her breath......she let go. Drowning deep into the water as memories rushed her head.And for what seemed like an hour, she hit the bottom of the river, staying there lifeless-like.
[MOMO] "If I were to die.......I will come back again. Just to save my little sister over and over again. And nothing........I mean nothing........WILL STOP MEEEEEEEEE!"
At the yelling of those words and the opening of her glowing sky blue eyes, the clouds darkened, lightning reigned down the sky into the river and it shook the earth, rising tiny drops of water into the air. Then suddenly, a huge amount of lightning struck the exact location Momo was, sending a large shockwave that hit and cracked the cliff a little but had zero effect on Sensei Horikoshi who was basically standing there with his eyes covered with wrinkles.
The lightning then lifted her to the surface level of the water, standing with blue sparkling eyes and her right hand etched with permanent and unbreakable golden skin and claws from her right fingers all the way to half of her back.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Interesting, you are a fast learner"
He praised her with zero smile on his face to show he was serious.After the dying down of the light, she jolted awake, spitting out the water that had gone into her lungs.
[MOMO] "W-what? Did I also unlock my power?"She asked as she hovered over the water.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "No you have not unlocked Mode Two. This is just a sneak peek of your future power, every hunter who goes through this same process has the same result except your own is very.....different"
[MOMO] "Uh dang it, and here I thought I could start learning to master mode two" She replied, grumbling as she descended beside him quietly.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Don't worry, it seems like you are new to the way hunter powers work. The Midorikawa family also have a special gift. I thought you'd wonder why you don't have light powers yet" he said with a little smile.
[MOMO] "Yeah, I totally forgot when I was drowning in the water, I saw three floating crystals, one was purple, the other was blue and the one in the middle was golden; then the blue crystal came close to me while the others kept standing there until I found myself out of the water. I also saw two other crystals but they were very far away. I don't understand at all"
Sensei Horikoshi's eyes widened a bit before he chuckled a little, deciding to speak;
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Yes, Light powers can be refined into lightning and Fire, that is the special gift. You are from the Light family but your innate ability is lightning; you can use it but not at its full power yet because you haven't unlocked Mode Two"
[MOMO] "Mode Two? Is that what they call it? Well that explains a lot. Except this hard skin on my arm all the way to my back"
She pointed out, poking her changed arm.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Even I don't understand. I have seen a lot of things in my days but this.....is not one of them"
[MOMO] "I just hope I will be okay. But it does look cool. Oh"
Upon touching the changed right arm, she accidentally brought out claws which instantly shot out Lightning line-like strikes that both had to jump out of the way of its explosion.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Be careful, you don't wanna hurt yourself"
At the mention of those words, Momo snapped again, glancing at the little old man walking away. She placed a hand on his shoulder, tightening her grip just enough to halt him in his steps.
[MOMO] "I don't wanna hurt myself?"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Yes?"
[MOMO] "THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME WHEN I WAS DROWNING. I CLEARLY HIT THE ROCK BOTTOM!"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "It was not my problem"
[MOMO] "HUHN? WHAT THE!"
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "It's not like you could die in the river. It would basically bring you back to life and if it didn't......let's just say we'd have to wait for your next reincarnation"
He muttered, leaving the area.
[MOMO] "HEY, COME BACK HERE!"
She raced after him, boiling hot.