Chapter Nine: Yurei

The young ghost looked at Seven, only to be in shock of Seven's appearance. The young ghost took a step back, only to trip on the white fabric that covered the furniture around the room. The violin that was floating in the background dropped to the ground as it's ability to fly was disturbed. The humming had also stopped, which proved the humming came from the young ghost.

"Are you okay-?" Seven asked.

The young ghost would sit up in surprise, she didn't expect Seven to have a kind personality towards the young ghost. As Seven got a closer look at the young ghost, she realized that the ghost was a very young child. But knowing that the young ghost could possibly be scared of Seven, she attempted to calm the young ghost.

"My name is Seven. I was sent here on a mission."

"Seven-? Have you been sent here to revive our guardian-?"

"I… think so."

"Oh… really?! You can save our realm!?"

"Maybe, I am looking for the blade of dust."

"The blade of dust is held in our guardian's hands… I can show you!"

The young ghost would quickly stand up before running out of the room. Seven quickly followed along, attempting to not lose the young ghost. She ran through thousands of halls, left and right, left and right, left and right, left and right.

Seven soon finally made it to a stop as she walked in a bright room. It was obvious the room was different from all the other rooms. The bright room was elegant, full of white flowers. Barely any darkness was shown. Meanwhile all of the other rooms had no color but darkness. The room felt like a garden, but because of the color effect, it was only filled with white. It wasn't able to blind Seven's eyes or the young ghost's eyes.

"What is this-?" Seven asked.

"This is the guardian's room. It looks like a plain garden full of white, but it's his room."

"His?"

"Oh yes! Our guardian is a he! And he was presumed dead after the great war of realms."

"The great war of realms? What is that supposed to be?"

"Huh? It seems like that brutal event is new to you, but that's okay."

The young ghost turned around, facing Seven.

"The great war of realms was one of the most brutal events from every realm. Somehow, most of the guardians in each realm wanted more realms. Meanwhile the other half didn't and enjoyed their own realm. But a war soon broke out between every realm as all realms were forced to be involved with it. Many had died, and many lost their realm as many gained realms. Meanwhile some of the realms stayed the same, or were left with a gloomy effect."

"Like this realm?"

"Yes. Our realm was affected when the mirror realm attacked ours. The realm of dust was full of colors, but because our guardian died, we lost all life and color to this realm. Which is why… you can save it!"

"You think I'm chosen?"

"Definitely! Just follow me!"

The young ghost turned, continuing to lead Seven to the guardian. As they traveled through the white colored flowers, they finally approached a large tree. Though, it was the biggest tree shown in the garden. The branches were black, but the small petals were the color white. Matching along with all the white flowers they passed. But just next to the tree, was the guardian. His appearance seemed to be matching along with the color effect, but it wasn't. He was able to fit in, due to his short white hair and his white suit.

The guardian was sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree. His eyes closed, but his face full of cracks. He truly was dead. But the other thing that was noticeable was the Blade of Dust. It was stabbed deeply onto the ground, but it's black colored aura kept it safe. Although, it chased the people away.

Seven slowly approached the tree, getting a better look at the guardian and the blade of dust. She could feel the endangered aura from the Blade of Dust. Seven immediately understood that if people that were a much lower level than her were to approach the blade, it'd instantly kill them. But because Seven was an RTO, even the dangerous aura was afraid of Seven even when her aura was shown to be harmless, not menacing.

"So… what do I do?" Seven casually turned, but she saw the young ghost's face in shock.

Wha- she thought.

"How did you casually approach it like that without getting killed-?" the ghost asked.

Seven, of course, knew that the aura from the Blade would instantly kill people. But she was stupid enough to not realize that her RTO identity could be exposed if she were to casually approach the blade. Seven gave out a confused look to pretend she didn't realize it.

"What do you mean?"

"If people were to ever approach the Blade, they'd be instantly killed! Just who exactly are you?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Wait, what-? I- Nevermind, let's just quickly get onto it!"

"So what do I do?"

"If you can approach the Blade, can you grab it? If you can, you could be able to revive our Guardian!"

"Okay."

Seven would get closer to the Blade of Dust, before slowly reaching her hand for it. Soon, the dangerous aura of the Blade suddenly disappeared. Seven was close enough to the blade to the point that her approach scared the aura away. Seven thought the aura had turned off, so she quickly grabbed the handle of the sword. She looked back at the young ghost in confusion, not knowing what to do next.

"Pull the sword out-"

The next thing the ghost saw was Seven and the blade of dust as it was already pulled out of the ground. Seven was casually wielding the blade, but the young ghost was just full of shock.

Just who are you!? The ghost thought.

Seven would observe the blade with her eyes as if she was some kind of scientist that could define things just by a single sense. Seven slightly swung the blade a few times, but she was careful not to hurt anyone with it. After a few minutes of swinging the blade, she soon spun the sword with her fingers at light speed before stopping as she warmed up to the blade.

Seven looked at the guardian, still leaning against the tree. She approached the guardian, getting a closer look at him. His pale skin and white colored suit and hair almost made it look like he was turned into stone when he wasn't. As Seven stared at the guardian, she could slowly see flashbacks of how the guardian was slain.

Fought a guardian from a different realm…

Was cut by a sword…

Fell to this garden…

He woke up…

Said goodbye to them…

Closed his eyes…

And never woke up.

Seven's eyes widened a bit as she snapped out of the flashback. She realized how the guardian was slain. Seven looked at his dry wound. It seemed like he'd been lying there for decades. She raised her sword up to the guardian's forehead as she closed her eyes to focus.

A few moments later, the blade of dust would suddenly glow with a white aura, similar to Seven's white colored aura. The white aura would soon increase at a rapid speed as it slowly reaches for the guardian. As soon as it reaches the guardian successfully, the white aura would connect to the guardian as the guardian began to slowly breathe. Seven would keep her eyes closed, so she wouldn't break it off if she was distracted.

Seven would then open her eyes as she felt the connection of life from the guardian. She lowered the sword, but she stood still. Making sure if she truly revived the guardian after sharing a small part of the connections of RTO. Though, as the guardian was slowly breathing, the guardian slowly opened his eyes.

The small creatures that were surrounding Seven and the guardian gasped in shock as they saw the guardian's head slightly move up.

The guardian would suddenly stand up as he gently sweeped some of his hair away from his eyes, revealing his black color scleras and white colored eyes. It was obvious his appearance was different but unique to the entire realm. But it seemed like he had no colors either.

"Huh…? Who did this-?" he asked.

The young ghost would slightly push Seven towards the guardian a bit, but not too much that Seven would lose her balance. As soon as the guardian looked at Seven, he gave a smile of joy. Seven could see the signal that he was happy to be alive once again.

"I see… but you must be?"

"Seven."

"Seven-? Not Seven… labyrinth? Seven Acres? Seven Apples?"

"Just Seven."

"I was just playing with you silly. But I thank you for reviving me. After all, I sensed your presence. Especially when I noticed you came here for one thing."

"One thing… right. The sword."

"But you didn't just go for that one thing. Honestly, you could've just left be dead and snatched the sword like a cookie. You grabbed the sword and decided you revive me with such a powerful aura. But let's talk further in a more… place just between us two, shall we?"

Seven would look down at the sword, before looking up as she nodded.

. . .

Seven and the Guardian would be walking down an empty hallway in the palace as they seemed to be alone. All the ghosts and creatures would only be outside of the palace or quietly on the other floor doing their work.

"I didn't quite get your name or introduction… Someone told me I should at least get some information about you."

"Ah right… but you will need to give me more information about yourself if you want information about me, deal?"

"Deal."

"My name is Yurei. I am the true guardian of the Path to Dust. But I was killed by a friend of mine who went crazy and soon tried to kill all the guardians. I was her first and last victim. After I was cut by her one killer blade, I was able to pull her core out. Which killed her entirely. Yet, I feel guilty for doing it. She was my best friend who stayed by my side. But I was forced to kill her because of her rampage."

"Really…?"

"I never got the chance to tell her how much I loved her. I loved her sweet smile she always gave no matter how dark time was. Her personality was the cutest and the happiest than all of the other guardians. But after she snapped… she was no longer who she was."

Seven stayed silent. But she never realized the pain she felt on the inside hearing his story. Yurei was forced to kill his soon to be lover because of her rampage. Seven wanted Yurei to feel better and to not feel grief in killing her. So Seven thought for a minute as the silent conversation began filling the awkwardness.

But it was all cutted off after Seven finally spoke up.

"Do you know where her body is?" Seven asked.

"Behind the palace, in the lake." Yurei answered.

Seven would stop walking down the hallway. After Yurei noticed she stopped following him, Yurei paused in confusion. Seven's expression of sadness and guilt had changed into confidence. Seven would then run off as she entered a room with a window that faced the lake as Seven immediately jumped out of the window and used her foot to slow down her fall.

Soon, Yurei followed Seven as they rushed to the lake. As they arrived at the lake, they saw the female guardian's body. As soon as Seven saw it, she rushed towards the body.

"Wait, what are you doing Seven?" Yurei asks.

"Reviving her." Seven replies.

Yurei's expression would change to surprise, but Seven could feel a bit of excitement from Yurei. Though, as confident as Seven was, she continued the process. Seven would raise the sword of dust as she lifted it up above the guardian. Though, Seven would soon have a bright blue aura as she concentrated and concentrated until her aura was being shared by the guardian. As a few moments passed by, Seven's aura would fade away as she placed the sword down.

Yurei and Seven would wait. Waiting for anything to happen. But seconds became minutes and Yurei was already losing hope. But soon, the female guardian would slowly open her eyes as the female guardian would sit up from her long sleep.

"Huwa…"

"Ayamu!" Yurei shouted.

"… Yurei-?" 

Yurei would have a huge smile on his face as he hugged Ayamu. But soon, Ayamu hugged back. After her long sleep, she was finally awakened. Ayamu was no longer corrupted and Yurei was able to share the rest of his life with her. Seven smiled as she walked away, giggling. Both Yurei and Ayamu would look at Seven in confusion, before only Yurei was able to understand why.

"I'll leave you two alone." Seven giggled.

"You-!" Yurei mumbled.

Ayamu would look at Yurei as her surprised expression changed into a heartwarming smile. Ayamu would soon get up as she walked towards the garden where Yurei had once died. Yurei followed as they headed to the garden.

Once Ayamu and Yurei entered the garden, they could hear the water streaming in the fountain nearby. The sky was dark, which only meant it was night as there were beautiful lights in the garden. Yurei would hold Ayamu's hand and lead her to the small fountain that was full of flowers.

"I hope we can forget the conflict between us."

"I already forgot it. Right now I just want to give you something…"

"And what is that?"

Yurei would smile as he slightly giggled. He was happy to see Ayamu again.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Really?..."

"Yes really. Ayamu, you've been my best friend ever since… and I've always admired your pretty smile you always gave to me."

Ayamu would lean close to Yurei as the full bright white colored moon had raised high up into the sky. And soon, Yurei and Ayamu had shared a romantic kiss just under the moonlight. But that wasn't all. A few moments later, the dark shades of color of black and white had faded away as there were true colors behind it, revealing the beautiful and true beauty of the Realm of Dust. Every creature had cheered, their colors had come back.