Chapter 119 A Spark

After Matt made his way back, he made his way into the Jade capital's palace.

Soon after this, the bell's chimes stopped.

"Finally..."

As he made his way through the halls, greeting the peacefully humming servants, Matt made his way up a tower.

As he reached the top floor, he was greeted by a large group up at the top.

"Hey, he is here."

"Alright. Everyone is here besides Tat, Mae, Sumsa and Joan." Jade said.

"Tat and Mae can be informed later. Don't know about the other two." She continued.

Deniss then said. "I saw Zi earlier at the entrance. They were probably caught by her inside her place."

"Well, go on then, Deniss. We still have stuff to do. And, did you get the letter?"

Deniss then took the letter out of his person before placing it onto a table before everyone.

He then stated. "Shan, can you confirm if that is his writing?"

"Hmm? Sure...?"

As Shan opened the letter, she read it's contents, causing her to look baffled and furious. She then said. "What is this about, Deniss?"

"Shan, can you confirm it's his handwriting?"

With a heavy sigh, Shan said. "...Yes."

"What's in the letter you two? Share it with us."

Upon Jade's request, Shan placed the letter onto the table, allowing everyone to read it's contents.

It simply read. "Prepare. War is coming."

The entire room went silent.

Then, Jade spoke. "Is this all of it? Where did it come from?"

"That's all I got. And unless you can talk to a bird, I don't know where it came from. But I do know this..."

Deniss then picked up the letter, saying. "This letter was delivered by Dragon Boy's bird, and it even has his writing."

Brad then said. "Is there some sort of hidden message on the paper?"

"No. I already had it tested."

"I see..."

The room was plunged into silence once more.

"Is it possible-"

"No, it can't. THIS IS his writing, no doubt. But..." Shan stated.

"But, what?"

Shan then continued. "This writing... it was written in blood. And it's probably his."

"Then, he was in a hurry... or worse..."

"The possibility IS there. But I refuse to believe someone can take him."

"But the fact that he decided to write to us instead of taking care of it... is concerning."

After a bit of pondering, Jade ordered. "Dianne, go and get Joan and Sumsa and inform them."

"Yes, princess."

"Brad, do the same for Tat and Mae."

"I got it."

"Kenny, Sun. You two go and inform the guards to keep an eye out."

"I understand."

"Even the people in the mountains?"

"Yes, Sun. Shan, Deniss."

"Yes, Princess."

"Yes, Princess."

"You two go back to Ling's place and ask her if she could find where his bird came from."

"Aye."

"Yes."

"What about me?" Matt asked.

"Stay with me. I'll go and talk to father. It seems that our concerns began to take form. Now, go!"

Then, everyone left the tower on their own missions.

"Are you sure it's wise to take action immediately without knowing everything?"

"I know enough, Matt. My father and I, even you guys, probably felt something was off long ago. And this... this is the tipping point. Like the letter said. We must prepare for war is coming."

"I see... Then let's go."

As Matt and Jade hurried to tell Lord Jade, on the otherside of the valley, atop a certain cliff that overlooked the city, Morgan sat.

With a heavy sigh, she stood up from the balcony that overlooked the city. She then walked inside, grabbing a wooden bow and arrows that hung on the side of a wall.

Going around the blind set up at the front, Morgan left the confines of the building.

She then loaded the wooden bow with an arrow before firing.

Her arrow whizzed in the air, flying high above the heads of the crowd before her as it caught the cherry blossoms that where dancing in the air.

The arrow eventually embedded itself into a tree with a total of four petals on it's tip.

Morgan then spoke. "Anyone who can shoot better than me, I'll give you the chance to talk to me.

Then, Hanabi approached from the side, saying. "Mo-chan, you don't need to deal with these guys. They'll leave on their own."

"I know how to deal with suitors, Hanabi." Morgan said as she loaded another arrow.

And with another shot, Morgan managed to catch seven petals mid-air before her arrow embedded itself right next to the first arrow she shot.

Seeing the hopeless expressions the men before her were making, Morgan continued to fire.

Six, Nine, Five, Eleven, and Thirteen. Every arrow that Morgan shot, the more hopeless the men's expressions turned.

Just as she was about to fire her next shot, Morgan pointed the arrow a bit to the right.

After she fired it, a sudden gust of wind came, knocking the arrow off of it's course. But somehow, it caught fifteen petals before it embedded itself into a tree with the rest.

As she loaded another shot, Morgan said. "If you're going to cheat..."

"Make sure you don't get caught." Morgan continued as she drew her bow and pointed it towards the crowd.

Like how the wind parts whenever you move, the people before spread apart, not wanting to be at the other end of her arrow. All except one man.

The man wore an extravagant outfit as his hand held a jeweled fan. And with a slow succesion of claps, he walked forwards, not a single bit terrified of Morgan's arrow.

After making his way into the front of the crowd, the man said. "I agree. You shouldn't cheat if you will get caught in the end, Miss?"

Before Morgan could do anything, Hanabi stepped forward, saying. "Hello, Ma-kun. How are you today?"

As Morgan withdrew her bow, the man with the fan, said. "Still as impolite as ever, Hanabi."

"That's just the way I am. So, what brings you here today?" Hanabi asked with a smile.

"Unlike these monkeys, who's interest were sparked when a rumour of a beautiful lady coming up and down this place spread, I came here on the rumour that you had a new friend, Hanabi." Replied the man, his tone filled with a sense of pride and arrogance.

"Yes, I did in fact have a new friend. Her name is Mo-chan."

"What? Like Ri-chan, Ko-kun, Tu-tan, Go-chan, and whatever nickname you decide to call the next person."

"Exactly! Ma-kun! Hahaha!"

As Ma-kun returned a forced smile, he continued. "Why are you like this? Haaa, if only father could see you now..."

"Ha! That old fart was able to see me like this when he was still alive."

"Haaa, why did you waste your face for him, Hanabi?" Said Ma-kun with a deep sigh.

Placing her hand on the scar on her cheek, Hanabi replied with a smile. "It's a promise, Makoto. And you know it."

With another deep sigh, Makoto turned to the group of men behind him, saying. "You guys will go home and no longer bother her, you here me?!"

"Yes, Master Makoto!"

Makoto turned to Hanabi once more, but as he opened his mouth, a large explosion happened, nearly knocking down everyone off of their feet.

As Hanabi regained her balance, she turned around and saw a line of black smoke erupting from within the city.

"Makoto, that's-"

Before Hanabi could finish, Makoto has already started making his way down the cliff and towards the source of the explosion.

"That explosion... it's near..."

"Shit! That's near the factory! Let's go!"

As the men began heading down as well, Hanabi turned to Morgan, saying. "Mo-chan, I think it's best to stay here for now."

"Are you not going to help?" Said Morgan, gripping her bow tightly.

Wearing a face full of displeasure, Hanabi replied. "I can't. It's my responsibility to guard this place."

With a relieved sigh, Morgan said. "If you don't mind, I'll stay with you... just in case."

"Thank you, Mo-chan."

On the site of the explosion, a raging fire was swallowing up a massive building.

"Oh my god! The building is already gone!"

"Don't give up yet! Quickly! Get some water or someone that has the ability to help!"

As the people outside tried to quell the fire, inside, a man was running through the smoke.

"Dammit! I need an exit?!"

"Suzu...ki?"

Hearing his name get called, Suzuki turned towards the source of the voice.

He then found the old Tanaka under a pile of rubble, blood pouring out of his body.

"Senior Tanaka!"

"Suzuki... stay away *cough* it's dangerous... Leave!"

As Suzuki tried to pull away the rubble, he said. "I can't leave you here to die, Senior Tanaka!"

"Suzuki... Leave! You have your entire life ahead of you *cough* leave this old man... Save yourself!"

"I can't! How could I?!"

As Suzuki continued to claw away the rubble, he heard a few footsteps approaching.

He then called out. "Who's there?! Help us! Senior Tanaka is pinned! Help!"

After seeing a vague outline of a person coming over, Suzuki continued to try and free old Tanaka.

As the blaze around them turned into an inferno, Suzuki heard the footsteps stop just behind him.

Suzuki turned as he yelled. "Help-"

His scream was cut short when a blade went through his chest.

Suzuki coughed up a mouthful of blood as he tried to grab the person wielding the blade.

And with a swift pull back and horizontal slash, Suzuki's head left his body.

As Suzuki's lifeless corpse laid before him, Tanaka stared at the culprit as he said. "You monster! Why would you do this?!"

With a sadistic smile, the person raised their blade overhead.

And with a strike, completely devoid of any hesitation, they struck Tanaka down.

As the two men's corpse laid in the rubble, their murderer walked into the fire, following the distant cries for help that dared reach their ears.

Outside, a bald man named Sora, wearing an extremly distressed face, approached an incoming group.

"Master Makoto!"

"Sora! Move!"

Obeying Makoto's command, Sora moved to the side.

And with a swift motion of his fan, Makoto used a ball of wind to blast a hole onto the side of the burning factory.

"What happened, Sora?!" Makoto yelled.

"I do not know, Master! Everything was going fine until a massive explosion happened! After that, everything was already ablaze!"

With a furious expression, Makoto ordered. "I will personally lead a group to try and find survivors inside! The rest will try to douse the flame, got it?!"

"Yes, Master Ma-"

"No one will do no such thing!"

Everyone's attention was then gathered to the source of the yell.

Walking down with almost all of her entire manpower, Queen Ame personally arrived onto the scene.

"I will not tolerate idiotic actions today!" She yelled.

Makoto kneeled before her, saying. "But Your Highness, there might still be people-"

"I will not let you risk your life for nothing!"

And after taking a deep breath, Queen Ame yelled. "The factory is lost! All effort shall be focused on making sure that the fire doesn't spread further, got it?!"

Then, the army behind her, alongside her Weavers, yelled. "Yes, Your Highness!" Before doing as they were told.

As the entire Sun capital tried to control the calamity that befell them, a certain group of people remained indoors, looking through the windows as the roaring inferno's light illuminated their faces

"Shouldn't we help?"

"No, the fire is already out of control. We can do nothing more than what is already being done."

"But... this is..."

"What do you think? Are they behind this?"

Then, a golden eyed man took his eyes off of the window, staring back at the group behind him, saying. "That confirms it. 'They' are here."

"After the dust settles, as the Sun capital recovers, we will focus our efforts into finding where they are hiding."

"This action means War. Everyone, Prepare."

^End of volume 3-Brilliant Dawn^