The Outset of a Tale
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|| CHAPTER 3 | The Outset of a Tale ||
"This story will be about the tale of a certain Grand Summoner in the past.
"It's the start of her very own journey for us to unveil. The beginning of her story knows no end and no bound. She's a soul as free as a bird, exempt from all chains and boundaries placed upon all living kind.
"This tale will be a long one, child. Are you ready to open this story with me?"
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Monday, 13th of July, Lunar Year of 3020
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"RUN...!!!"
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Running. That was all she did. Running.
In the middle of the rain, a young girl sprinted through the gloomy city where she was born. That voice kept chasing her. It cursed her to do the same thing over and over again, tempting her to do what she hated the most.
"Kill... Kill... KILL!!!"
It kept chanting the same words.
"KILL THEM!"
It followed her everywhere she goes.
"KILL! KILL!!!"
It was a curse she never wanted.
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"SHIZUKA, RUN!" her beloved mother ordered firmly. Dread and concern were visible in her glistening orbs.
"Shizuka?! What are you doing?! Get away from here!!!" her precious sister called out, warning her of danger.
The rain drowned their voices, wetting her nose with the smell of petrichor.
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"Run."
That was their last wish.
However, when time stopped moving, she stopped running as well.
Her ragged breath and overly exhausted state didn't compare to what she felt three years ago. The day she saw their bodies lay lifeless before her eyes, the day they left her without fulfilling their promise.
Did she... cause this...?
Or was it the voice that kept trailing after her?
Her breathing became distorted and her eyes suddenly widened at the horrifying sight. She just realized the fact that two of her closest ones were already walking past death's door.
They weren't moving. They didn't breathe.
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–– they died.
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Shizuka woke up abruptly from her sleep, gasping for air.
Her lungs were burning and her whole body was on fire. It seemed that the same nightmare kept repeating over and over again.
She fluttered her bright azure eyes close and leaned her body back, letting it fall to the warming comfort of her own bed. Her left arm went to her eyes, covering them as she heaved a deep sigh.
It was in the dead of night.
The ticking of the clock by her bedside table filled the empty room. There were only her and the silent furniture.
The hidden memories of her past that she hated so much–– it kept haunting her, following her wherever she goes. The same memory kept replaying over and over again in her head like a broken record.
"Why... Why must it be this one...?"
Her voice was quivering and her throat was stinging from the result of crying. It was a miracle that she hadn't shouted in her sleep for three years in a row, even after the nightmare was repeated over and over again.
–– ever since they died, she suffered.
After one last sigh, the female went back to slumber, attempting to forget the painful past she never wanted to see once more.
–– if only fate was that kind.
If only reality was that accepting, then none of these would've happened. If only... they weren't Spirit Wielders, then none of these would've happened.
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"Konata-sama, Hinata-sama! Do cease your acts from running around the halls! You'll fall!" the Head of the Maids yelled as two twins ran through the hallway of their home. They dodged the walking maids and went past them, rushing towards the dining room.
"Nah, it's fine, Erin-san!"
"I promise we won't slip! We'll be careful!"
"That's not what I––" Erin sighed and gave up. "When will those two grow up..." the woman muttered to herself, finding herself sighing once more.
The woman with greying hair exhaled heavily at their antics, looking out from the windows to the outside world. The morning view outside was fantastic if she would say so herself.
Erin could see the sun started showing up from the east side of the horizon, shining brightly tow and gold through the crevices of the verdant trees.
The birds were chirping sweetly with clarity while a certain place stood out more than the rest of the town of Aeorece.
The home belonging to one of the noble families in Aeorece–– a mansion with white dominating its form and dark wooden roofs stood tall. Greeneries of various kinds adorning the cleared-stained windows and white walls.
It was a four-stories building for the big Ichijou family consisting of nine members, excluding their maids and butlers. Their garden was two times their house size.
From the front view, a tall black gate that stood tall was attached to equally towering stone-brick walls surrounding the land. Moss and vines slipped through the crevices, giving more colour to the wall. There's a stone pathway leading up to the main entrance of the building.
The woman would say that she was fortunate enough to work with the Ichijou Family. They're one of the most benevolent and loving nobles she had ever seen.
Humming to herself, Erin continued her work while passing three doors belonging to the three famous triplets of the clan.
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Behind the first door that the maid passed by was a certain platinum-blonde girl who was sleeping peacefully in the comfort of her own bedroom. Her quiet mumbles could be heard echoing throughout the quiet room, bouncing off the sky-painted walls.
A thick, soft blanket was enveloping up her whole body in warmth whilst her pillows drowned her head. The female's light-coloured tresses were rested messily above her pillows.
Outside her white door was a written sign spelling her name, 'Ichijou Shizuka,' in a light-blue colour over a cream wooden board decorated with all sorts of pins and charms. Most could tell that they were her favourite colours quite easily.
"My, Shizuka-sama is sleeping peacefully today..." Erin giggled gleefully, happy that the young female was able to get some sleep. "She used to cry every time the night scares her when she was little. How time went by so fast."
The maid knew not of what happened every night.
Shizuka never told anyone.
Next to Shizuka's room was her older brother's room, or should one say 'triplets.' The room next to hers belonged to the oldest of the triplets–– as she's the youngest one out of the three.
Mizuto's door was also decorated with the spellings of his name written neatly.
The maid took a small peek into the brunet's room after seeing the time, pointed on the clock. She was worried that the three of them wouldn't be able to wake up.
Erin, the Head of the Maids, could see that the walls of Mizuto's room were decorated with some books placed on a dark wooden shelf, with one of them being on top of his head as he slept.
'Seems like Mizuto-sama fell asleep whilst reading last night.'
The said boy was also sleeping on his wooden-framed bed with his wood-brown strands everywhere. The oldest triplet's room was white and tidy, though there were books stacked messily on his desk.
Erin smiled softly at the boy's peaceful sleep. It was still early. She knew that the previous two could wake up. However, she then sighed for the third time that day.
"I do hope that they will be able to wake the young man."
She shook her head and walked past the next room that belonged to the second oldest of the triplets.
Her chocolate-glazed eyes gazed at the big words that spelt his name messily too on the door, 'iCHiJOU YUzURu.'
Erin gave in to the urge of peeking inside as well, worried about the young male's state when she heard thrashings inside.
This particular room was a big mess. There were papers about all kinds of things everywhere on the floor.
"Oh, goodness Gaia... Yuzuru-sama sure does well in wracking this place..."
Yuzuru had much darker locks than Mizuto. His taupe-brown hair almost seemed black. His hair was shoulder-length and his long, dark lashes were visible even from afar.
The top of his bed was adorned with all sorts of posters and scribbly notes. Some of his pillows were even on the floor.
The middle-aged woman sighed at the odd state Yuzuru was sleeping in. To say it was a peculiar state would be an understatement. Erin didn't bother to look anymore and continued with her duties.
"Less peeking, more working. The newly-recruited maids sure did wonders with the garden. They're horrifying."
Erin shuddered and scurried away, crooning soft notes alone.
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The alarms that were placed on the side of their beds rang at the same time— 08:00 AM— stating clearly that it was time for them to wake up.
Shizuka jolted up immediately, revealing her crystal-blue orbs that had a slight tinge of gold colour which went unnoticeable by most. Her crystalline blue eyes looked like crystal gems to others.
The female then quickly turned her alarm off and went to bathe in her bathroom, which every bedroom in this house had.
"Good morning!" Shizuka squealed cheerfully to herself, stretching her arms high. "All right, time to change."
Shizuka grinned giddily to herself.
Getting out of her light-blue pyjamas, Shizuka returned wearing her newly ironed high school uniform.
Though she didn't mind the colour beige, she would prefer blue more. The female Ichijou fixed her red ribbon-like tie in front of her mirror.
Running out of her room with a pair of black sneakers and her bag, she bumped into none other than her brother, locking eyes with his soft light-blue orbs.
"Whoa, careful there, Shizu. Don't want to fall down first thing in the morning now, do you? Hahaha~" Mizuto chuckled at his sister's eagerness.
"Right, sorry about that, Mizu-nii! I'm too excited for today!" Shizuka responded airily, followed by her gleeful giggles.
Shizuka soon forgot about her nightmares. Each day was bliss for her, she couldn't ask for anything more.
The female then took a look at her brother's newly worn uniform, knowing that today was the first day they would enter high school.
The male Ichijou wore the same uniform as his sister, a collared white, long-sleeved shirt, and a beige checker long pants.
The same red-coloured tie and the same school coat to finish his looks. He also wore short white socks underneath, not that anyone could see them.
They both then realized that the last member of the trio wasn't present yet, so they decided to go to his room. Shizuka knocked loudly so that the person inside was able to hear it, in case he hadn't woken up yet.
"Yuzu-nii! Wake up! School's waiting, you, sleepyhead!" she yelled so loud that Mizuto practically had to cover his ears since he's right beside her.
Not a moment later, it was Mizuto's turn to yell,
"Yuzuru!! Wake up!!! You're gonna be late if you don't!"
There's silence for a while and nobody answered from the other side of the door. Mizuto and Shizuka decided that they're going to barge right in if he's not up for another minute. Then suddenly, a loud thud and a crash were heard, and they both burst right in.
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The sight was clearly unexpected.
Yuzuru was on the floor, face first planted on to his pile of papers on the floor. His alarm by his hand, falling along with him. It seemed that he's still half awake, revealing half of his mesmerizing golden eyes.
Mizuto ran towards him to help him up while Shizuka was holding her stomach, clearly aching from laughing too much at the sight of her fallen brother.
"Yuzuru! Are you okay? What happened?" Mizuto panicked while trying to help his brother up.
Keyword: trying.
"PFFT––"
Because of all the papers on the floor, Mizuto ended up slipping and falling along with Yuzuru. The scene caused Shizuka to laugh more that she ended up rolling on the floor, still holding her stomach.
"DON'T LAUGH, YOU DAMN FOX! HELP US!"
"Yeah, how about a 'no~?'"
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They arrived downstairs with their school bags and shoes towards the dining room, where breakfasts had been served after waiting for Yuzuru to change into the same uniform as his two siblings.
The whole family was already there waiting in their respective seats, as per usual.
The farthest seat was taken by their father, Ichijou Eito. His dark-brown hair was neat and tidy, framing his young-looking and handsome face. His gold orbs were locked down to the book in front of him while chewing his breakfast.
"Ohayou, Tou-san~!"
"Good morning, Shizuka," Eito replied with a stoic face. It was normal for them to converse with the man of a never-changing visage.
"Mizuto, Yuzuru, good morning to you two as well," Eito greeted the other two as well. The two said boys nodded and greeted their father back.
"Mornin'!"
"Good morning, Otou-san."
From the black suit that he wore, it seemed that he's about to go to work. Because of his young looks, one could mistake him for a young adult, or even a teenager, when in reality he's a father of eight children.
On his right, sat Ichijou Kaoru, the oldest of the Ichijou siblings. Kaoru's dark-brown hair was slightly messy and his bangs were clipped backwards, to avoid any disturbance while eating. His eyes were clear cerulean-blue and his skin was to be compared with the palest of snow.
By the left side of their father, there's Kazuto, the energetic one of the siblings. The strands of his hair were tawny-brown and his eyes were as vast as the blue sky. His tanned skin completed his looks.
Even from the stairs, the trio could hear his loud booming voice. "O-Oi, Konata, Hinata! Don't take my portions of bacon!"
"They're not yours, Kazu-niichan! They're for Shizu-neechan!"
"That's right! Don't hog them all by yourself!"
"Now, now. It's still early in the morning, you three. Don't fight over slices of bacon," Mitsuru chided softly and smiled, giving Kazuto some of his portions for them to not argue.
Next to Kazuto was Mitsuru.
He's taken in and was the same age as Kazuto. The two got along really well with each other, since their personalities were completely different, but fitting in some way.
Kazuto was more of the loud one while Mitsuru was the reserved and calm one–– similar to Kaoru somehow.
His hair was a desert-brown in colour, a lot darker than Shizuka's platinum-blonde hair, but lighter than the rest of the family. His eyes were teal in colour, seeing that he's adopted. His parents were Eito's cousins, so when they passed away, Eito took in Mitsuru as his own.
The youngest twins were sitting beside Mitsuru. Konata was the older one of the twins. He donned a dark-brown hair fading into light-brown, and his eyes were dirty-yellow.
His younger twin sat beside him. Hinata had similar hair and eyes. The skin of the younger twin was a bit fairer than Konata and his eyes were a bit softer.
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The trio then sat down on their chairs. Shizuka sat down in front of Mitsuru with Yuzuru and Mizuto beside her, putting their bags down beside them.
A muffled voice then called out to them, "Mornin' Shizucchi, Yuzucchi, Mizucchi! Did you sleep in again?" The owner sounded as if he had just noticed the triplets' presence.
Kazuto's cheerful demeanour seems to have woken Yuzuru out of his half-asleep state, Mizuto and Shizuka looked at their older brother, indicating that they were listening.
"Ohayou, Kazu-nii. Yuzu-nii woke up late. You should've seen his face when he's kissing the floor! The amusement I got from it exceeds my expectations," Shizuka replied happily while grinning.
Yuzuru then turned his head to his sister's direction almost immediately with wide eyes and eyebrows knitted together after hearing her response.
"Huh?! Why in Gaia's name are you happy about that?! My forehead is aching and bruised after that fall! And don't give me that blissful look!!!" he kidded.
Also, a little hurt that his sister was laughing at him, bringing his right hand up to where his heart is.
"That's what siblings are for, dear Brother~! You should get used to it because I will be doing it more often. It's quite entertaining to see your reactions."
Shizuka smiled again while filling her mouth with food, chewing slowly. Mizuto and Hinata laughed a little at their antics, while Konata deadpanned at them both.
"Good to see that you're all energetic in the morning! Pity we didn't go jogging together this morning, I already went with Kaoru-nii and Mitsucchi!" Kazuto exclaimed while smiling.
He picked his plate up while shoving the last of his meal, running towards the kitchen. "Kazuto, don't run! You'll slip! And chew first before you talk, you're gonna choke!" Mitsuru, Kazuto's 'caretaker,' walked up to Kazuto, also bringing his plate.
The sounds of their chatters were getting smaller and smaller as they walked away from the dining room. Eito closed his book and continued to sip his dark coffee.
Remembering something, Konata began to query curiously, "Say, Tou-san, you said that we're going somewhere tonight, right? Where to?"
Eito looked at Konata, hearing his name called.
"You'll see, Kona. Just know that it has something to do with the youkais. It seems that they're restless lately."
"Oh, that's right! I just saw a couple of them on my way to the market yesterday, pacing back and forth towards the south. I wonder why?" Hinata chimed in shortly after finishing his meal.
"They're probably worried about the upcoming festival, no? Besides, we have more things to worry about right now," Kaoru spoke up finally while closing his eyes, followed by the small sound of him sipping his warm lavender tea.
"And why were you going to the markets, Hinata? You know you're not supposed to go outside in your ill condition," their father stated the last one firmly, raising an eyebrow at the younger twin's statement before.
Starting to get the feeling that he's going to be interrogated by his father, Hinata quickly changed the topic, "Uhh... S-Say, Kao-niichan, just confirming. You borrowed one of my books, right?"
Hinata then put a finger on his lower lip, tapping it.
"Which one was it? Oh, yeah–– the one about Xedorries Woods, I believe?"
Kaoru arched an eyebrow and was about to mention why the younger male changed the topic so quickly. He soon stopped himself after seeing Shizuka's gesture to not mention any of it and played along.
"Yes, I did. I'm currently using it for studying the devil herbs for my class. Hope you don't mind me borrowing it a bit longer."
"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it! Kona, you're done, right? Let's wash the dishes!"
Smiling in relief at Konata's nod, they then proceeded to take their plates and cups to the kitchen for them to wash, away from their father's interrogations toward Hinata. At the same time, Kazuto and Mitsuru walked back in, done with their dishes.
"Shall we get going then? We only have about half an hour left before school starts. Hurry up you guys, don't wanna be late now," Kazuto chirped the moment he entered the room.
"Oh right, school. Let's hurry!"
Kaoru and the triplets walked to the kitchen together, with Shizuka also holding her father's plates and cup, him thanking his daughter afterwards.
|| CHAPTER 3 | The Outset of a Tale - To be continued... ||
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