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VOICES WERE SCREAMING then there was a silence. Zen's eyes slowly focused opening up as he felt like he just got shocked. The room was bright yet, the ceiling was dark. Smoke bit his senses as they heightened with his body smelling the smoke then he ripped part of his blanket and covered his mouth and nose surrounded by fire. Bricks and charred wood were everywhere; the inventory had caved in leaving a little hole for air. I'm not going down again! Zen thought. He looked around for something long and thick enough to push out the debris from the hole. The bedpost he thought. Zen then tore one off that had not broken in half from the roof and secret wall now caved in to. He poked it and some rocks came loose then the doorway opened up, the debris falling on the fire leading out to the church hall. Zen got to his feet then ran in and stopped in the middle of the hall. He looked up pulled down the scarf of fabric from his face and gasped. There was a vortex of fire leading up into the central tower. He stood silent for a bit then something fell down the stairs and he jumped and ran outside into the torii across the field as fire engulfed the place in flames. Then he looked ahead and froze as two men stood before him in the fog.
––––––––
"TAILOR COME ON STAY with me!" A man's rough yet soft and familiar voice rang through her head. She open her eyes and met her dad's face, blurred screaming and pushing on her chest. "Tailor! Wake up for me please." He kept yelling and saying her name until her vision cleared and she recognized the familiar haircut. "Tailor" He cried.
"Kaze" She whispered and looked into his watery crystal blue eyes and at him drenched. It must have rained. They stayed like this for a while and she remembered the picture. The little boy. "Kaze? Keyriku?"
"Call me wind it's raining outside the forest so we need to hurry and find shelter. We are near-"
"Base camp?"
"No, anything else before I finish my sentence?"
"Home? The orphanage castle?"
"It burned down remember you breathed in too much carbon dioxide and smoke. Its rubble and ashes now."
"Zen? Is he..."
"Ok? No he went down with his church." He answered and Tailor started to cry. No Zenny he can't be gone. "Don't cry. Tailor its ok." He wiped her eyes and helped her sit up under a shelter of branches against a thick oak tree he must have made.
"Where are we?"
"My forest I inherited. About the fire the demon and Zen's sevenfold burned it down yet I went back and found something you may need." Kaze took out a box with a note on it and she recognized it.
"Hichigo's present." I was shocked and he put it back in his pocket and began making a small fire.
"Yeah. We will get some sleep first cause it is almost twilight and then we will be off. If you want I will carry you through the dark forest like a child?"
"I will be fine." I felt nervous and he smirked going back to using a spark stone from his bag and a knife to light some dry bark and a bit of cloth. "Where are we going Kaze?"
"Italy." Kaze got a flame and blew it too get it going then sat in front of it. "I help at the institute over there. It's in the Vatican city."
"What?"
"It is in the angel city. Night Tailor." Kaze saw her faint and yelled but his voice faded. I drifted off into an endless void. The next thing I knew I felt a warm hand hold me, heard a voice crying for me to get up, and I woke. I was surrounded by Kaze and several other guys who looked a lot older than him and found myself in a bed covered in a soft blanket as Kaze held my head up smiling and he laughed so did the others all smiling.
"Morning sleepyhead!" Kaze laughed.
"Yeah morning sleepy" One of the boys next to him replied laughing and teasing them.
"Morning Kaze... Whose?"
"Welcome to the Vatican undergrounds where all your needs are taking care of and secrets come out true to wondrous walls!" The boy spoke again and Taylor saw something that made him differ away from the other seven. Despite his posture, lean muscular body, his sharp build and high cheekbones, flawless complexion and his overwhelming beauty something was off. His black hair was slicked to one side; he wore black diamond earnings and a cool calm look with his black motorcycle jacket and spiked gloves. His eyes were a deep seducing green like a forest of evergreen trees on a peaceful swamp. This guy was different and his eyes seemed like they caught hold of me and were wondering me toward him. Kaze was holding my line of vision and nudged him. "What" the boy grunted.
"Taylor, this is the leader of my band the fallen trees Rikugun. We made it up and practice in the underground hideout. Well we made some adjustments-"
"Quiet!" Rikugun nudged him back harder in the shoulder.
"Owe...sorry." Kaze rubbed his shoulder.
"She doesn't know anything or should."
"All right let's go then!"
"Fine. Bring it!" They left and started wrestling in an open area of the dome like room.
"Guys! Chill down!" One of the brown haired boys ran to help but stayed back after he got knocked over. "Sorry...this happens quite a lot now and then." The other boy sat on the edge of the bed with the others. "I'm Vatican like the city then that over there is Ikavi and the others are Aranui Amaranth, on the right then Brad and Legion." He patted a guy next to him "and this guy is my brother Sairukun."
"Hi. So question." Tailor sat up and touched his soft and silky hair. "What is with the hair color?"
"What?" Vatican laughed, "You're curious about why we all have different hair color and the same similar style? Not why we are under here in the Vatican in what sometimes is a labyrinth?"
"That to." Tailor giggled laughing with him and smiling.
"Nice. Well my hair is a darker shade of brown than Ikavi. Aranui has blue hair, Legion and Brad have violet with a reddish tint Ke- Kaze has white gold blonde hair, Rikugun has black hair, and Sai here is white." Vatican nudged his brother and he pushed him away.
"Hey!" Sai scowled.
"Yo!" What did she call him? Kaze!" Vatican waved to Kaze and the two paused. Rikugun held a fist above Kaze's face then Kaze pushed him off, got up and dusted his clothes.
"What's up?"
"You're girl here wants to be a hairstylist." Vatican yelled to him.
"Nice!" Kaze tackled him laughing as Rikugun walked around them and held out his hand to me.
"Get up Tailor." She took his hand and he pulled her off her feet and into his hands.
"What?" Kaze and Vatican whined.
"She needs to learn. Your great uncle said not to until the time comes, well that time is now. Hold your breath Miki. "
"What!" Tailor gasped as he dashed through the dark through what must have been a maze of tunnels and entered a lit room and stopped as she gasped trying to catch her breath.
"I said to hold your breath." Rikugun smiled looking into my eyes soft and luring.
"Where are we?" Tailor asked looking up.
"Here directly under the center of the Vatican." I looked up at the columns leading to a small window that let in a beam of light. Rikugun let her down on her feet and she watched as he walked to the center under it. Silver wings shone from his back and torches were lit with reflecting beams glittering around in the dome shaped room.
The room was full of pictures of angels, biblical figures like in the 16th chapel, hieroglyphics, different paintings of events, Gods from other religions, and buildings nailed to the pillars and the columns. In front of him was an altar with a huge silver sword with an old handle on its side against the wall hung with wooden nails. Rikugun looked over his shoulder at me, smiled and I flinched. He was in armor and stretched his wings before walking to the altar and lit candles with a copper like stick engraved with markings. I recognized the stele and markings as runes which also covered the floor and the walls. Above the sword was an engraving in Latin: Sancte Michael grande.
"It's Saint Michael's sword." A voice spoke out of nowhere and they looked behind them to see Kaze with a bunch of boys crowding into the room around me. I backed into the light and stood there as they began laughing.
"What?" I asked him.
"You are a marked one." Kaze replied to her and she felt a cold warmth and looked down at her arms.
"What?" Runes and thin white patterns lined my arms and I looked up and met his eyes.
"A Nephilim..." Rikugun spoke and I looked over at him then he leaned on the altar and looked from me to the sword.
"What's up Rikugun?" I asked and walked over to him.
"This is the great sword of Saint Michael." Rikugun replied calmly and I could feel some agitation in his voice.
"Whoa. Didn't it have to do with something?"
"With Nephilim? Yes. Michael cast some out of heaven into the elements and this is one way they are known as Nephilim. They live in that specific element and wait until the end of days."
"What?" Kaze came up behind me and spoke at the same time and it caused me to jump into Rikugun's arms.
"They become Dea'mons or regular demons and can breed pure Nephilim like you or Hachi. Then if during the unholy week of cheasalvan at the end of summer if a pure mates with human or a Nephilim that child is tainted. There are those during the time that can control humans and Nephilim."
"Fallen angels." Taylor whispered.
"Precisely Tailor. Let me show you the story that spans time, passes generations, and slips through history like leaves in the wind. The second born child, who was struck down, buried, and then risen again by the angel his new father; the first Kamikaze, who made our five clans a mixture of the elements and the supernatural. The son, our great uncle, and my godfather." Rikugun took down the sword from the nails that went in the wall and it opened into a door. He slashed the wall and it disintegrated and he knocked down the altar. A veil like liquid with a whitish glow stood behind it. "Your father his real first name before Abel was Jade the divine wind. This is a time portal. Come and don't worry we will be right behind you the whole way."
"Don't worry Rikugun is not fully intelligent on the fact you can get split up." Kaze added. "Her father would kill him just like his since he ran away."
"Come on Tailor." Rikugun pulled her through hearing Kaze laugh behind them.