literature

Lost in the Echo: Chapter 12

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“So… A map of Snowy Mountain…?” Gingka said.

“All of these maps together… The mountain’s at the center and it makes one large map of that mountain.” Ryo frowned.

“Is he on the mountain then?” Gingka wondered.

“That would match up with what he said in his letter. You have only been to the mountain once, after all.” Ryo said.

“So… Do we have to search the whole mountain for him? Because… That’d take a ridiculously long time. It’s huge.” Madoka frowned.

“There has to be some other clue…” Gingka frowned.

“Can we find this ‘other clue’ in the morning?” Madoka yawned. “It’s getting late. Ren already went to bed.”

“And I’m about to.” Zero said, running his fingers through his orange bangs.

“Sorry…” Gingka looked sheepish. “I guess I lost track of time. Sure, we’ll continue in the morning.”

“Goodnight then.” Benkei said, getting up and leaving.

“Well, I suppose these old bones could use some rest.” Kentaro said, grunting as he got up from the ground before walking slowly back down the hallway and disappearing into a room.

“Goodnight, Gingka.” Madoka said quietly, kissing the redhead on the cheek before going to the room that had been prepared for her.

Gingka flushed a light pink, finding that he was now the only one left in the room. With a heavy sigh, he got up and switched off the lights, then blinked confusedly and looked at the switch, then at the lightbulb.

“My eyes… Are that bright?” He muttered in surprise, walking to his own room with absolutely no problem at all. The redhead looked in the mirror hanging on his bedroom wall, narrowing his eyes slightly as he noticed that a horizontal streak had appeared, illuminating the golden brown further than before.

“So… I’ve got a built-in flashlight now, huh?” Gingka muttered sarcastically to himself, smiling slightly in amusement at his own joke. The redhead then closed his eyes with a sigh, lowering his head slightly.

A sudden clap of thunder nearly blew Gingka’s eardrums out as his window shattered. Before the sound had even faded, Gingka had whirled, throwing up his arms to shield his face from the flying glass. Once the rumbling sound had faded into the distance, Gingka heard a low groan from just outside. He darted to the window, looking down, his eyes widening in surprise.

“One… Of the Liberators… They’re here.” Gingka gasped in surprise.

“You’re welcome.”

Gingka’s head shot up, but he saw nothing. “Pegasus…?” he called softly.

No response came. Gingka watched as a blue feather identical to the ones in the box from earlier floated to the ground. The redhead jumped out the window and picked it up, examining it.

“So… You’ve taken this deal too, huh?” he muttered, looking up and around. “I will find you… Mark my words… I will find you.”

“If you last that long.”

Gingka’s eyes widened and he whirled, then dove to the side as an attack flew at him.

“We meet again.” The leader of the Liberators said. “And this time, your little friends aren’t around to help you.”

Gingka narrowed his eyes.

“I will stop you before you have a chance to fully transform.” The black-clad man said.

“Who are you?!” Gingka snarled.

“Is that really all that important since I will soon wipe you off the face of the earth, permanently?!” the Liberator exclaimed, lunging at Gingka with a raised knife.

Gingka gasped sharply and leapt back instinctively. His eyes reflected a sudden bolt of lightning as it flashed, narrowly missing the leader.

“Stand down, Kusari. You know I’m stronger than you are.”

“You.” Kusari, as his name apparently was, looked around and growled as he saw no sign of the lightning’s source. “Come out!”

“No. Now is not the time. Now leave!” Pegasus’s voice echoed as another bolt of lightning struck. Kusari growled and leapt away, disappearing into the night.

“Get inside, you fool. You’re too out in the open.”

“Why won’t you just show yourself?!” Gingka demanded. “Why all the secrecy?!”

The redhead then waited for a reply, but there was none.

“Stupid… Pegasus.” Gingka grunted, climbing back in through his window and closing the curtains over the gaping hole. He winced suddenly, glancing down at his hand and finding that he had cut it on the sharp edges of the broken window.

“And here I thought I was going to actually get to sleep.” Gingka sighed, heading for the closet to find something to bandage his hand with. It took him several minutes to remember where the first aid kit was, and several more minutes to get the supplies he needed. The redhead grabbed one end of the gauze under his thumb, then blinked in surprise, dropping all of the medical supplies on the ground as he stared wide-eyed at his hand.

“It… Healed? That quickly?” He muttered, looking at his other hand to be sure that it really had healed. “Man… No kidding about the advanced healing rate.” he sighed, then yawned. As more lightning flashed outside, Gingka decided to sleep in the living room rather than his own bedroom.

The next morning, Hyoma walked out of his room, only to trip over Hokuto, who was just outside the door.

“Hyoma! You have to see this!” The small dog whispered loudly before trotting off down the halls. Hyoma followed, curiosity overtaking his mind. When he reached the living room, he gasped in surprise. Madoka, Ryo, and the others looked over at him. They were all standing in a circle around Gingka, who was on the floor, still sound asleep. A small pair of wings had sprouted from the redhead’s back. Each wing was about one foot in length, or so Hyoma estimated judging by the short length of the folded limbs.

“He… Has wings…” Kentaro said in surprise as he entered.

“Apparently so.” Ryo said, reaching down and gently shaking Gingka’s shoulder to wake him up.

“Hnn…?” Gingka muttered sleepily, rolling onto his back.

“Don’t-” Madoka began, then winced as a cracking noise came from Gingka’s back. The redhead’s eyes widened before he yelped sharply in pain and sat bolt upright, looking over his shoulder in confusion.

“You, uh… Sprouted wings overnight.” Ryo explained.

A pained look crossed Gingka’s face. “I… Noticed… Ow….”

“Are you alright?!” Zero asked.

“No clue. Dislocated or  broken?” Gingka asked, straining to see the wing over his back.

“I’ll look.” Kentaro said, coming over. Gingka stood so that his grandfather could see without bending down.

“He used to fix bird wings all the time.” Ryo explained to the others. “These shouldn’t be too different.”

“It’s just dislocated.” Kentaro announced. “Brace yourself, Gingka. I’m going to pop it back into place.”

Gingka nodded, closing his eyes as Kentaro grabbed one part of the wing, pressing his hand against Gingka’s back.

“One, two!” Kentaro suddenly yanked Gingka’s wing back into place. The feathered appendage made a loud popping noise as Gingka yelped in surprise.

“Three.” Kentaro chuckled, releasing Gingka’s wing.

“This feels weird…” Gingka muttered, looking over his back.

“They’re… Smaller than the ones you had when you faced Rago.” Ryo commented.

“Well they weren’t exactly the real thing, just the instant aftereffect that time because I had to beat Rago right then.” Gingka grunted, spreading the wings to their full two-foot wingspan before folding them again with a sigh.

“A place Gingka’s only been once before, huh?” Ryo muttered, looking back at the maps that were still laid out from the night before.

“And a map of the Snowy Mounta-” Madoka froze, her eyes widening. “Oh.”

“What is it?!” Gingka said, looking up at her.

“Snowy Mountain. The maps make a map of the mountain, and you’ve been there before, but only once!” Madoka exclaimed.

Gingka blinked in surprise. “How… Did we not notice that yesterday?”

“Probably because we were all tired.” Ryo chuckled. “Running from the ‘Liberators,’ traveling here, then it was fairly late…”

“True.” Zero chuckled. “So… We go to the mountain then?”

Gingka frowned. “Guess so.”

“We’ll get through the wall. No worries.” Ryo said.

“I suppose we should plan to head off ASAP then?” Kentaro said, walking out of the room.

“Guys… The Liberators are here.” Gingka said.

“What?!” Madoka yelped.

“I saw them last night. I heard Pegasus’s voice, but didn’t see him. I think he was defending the house from them. It looked like he could fire lightning at will.” Gingka said. “That’s why I was sleeping in here. Also, their initial attack broke my window, so…”

“We’ll get that fixed.” Hyoma said. “Let’s make plans and head out as soon as possible.”

“And we have to make sure that Gingka stays safe. Apparently Pegasus is helping, but we can’t depend on him too much, just in case.” Ryo said.

“Why not?” Ren asked.

“Because we don’t know enough about him.” Ryo sighed. “We don’t even know exactly what he looks like.”

“I… Think we can trust him though.” Gingka said. “I’ve seen enough about him that I think we can trust him.”

“Still, we’re going to protect you as well.” Zero said.

Gingka smiled slightly. “Thanks guys… I wish I could just protect myself though.”

“That’ll come. Once you’ve learned how to use your powers, it’ll come.” Ryo said, patting Gingka on the back between his wings.

Gingka sighed. “It’d better. And soon…” the redhead looked down.

“Are you alright?” Madoka asked, concerned.

“Just… Thinking.” Gingka said, smiling at her.

“Well, you can think and pack up supplies at the same time.” Kentaro said, walking in with a large backpack.

“You’re coming?” Ryo raised an eyebrow.

“These old joints can still stand to hike. You’re stuck with me!” Kentaro said, shaking his cane at his son.

Ryo chuckled. “Alright dad. If you’re sure.”

“Of course I’m sure!” Kentaro said, heading for the door.

“Hold up, we’re not ready yet!” Ryo yelped.

“Well then, better hurry, or this old man’s gonna beat you all there!” Kentaro kept walking.

“You heard the old man.” Gingka laughed. “Let’s get to it!”

The others laughed and began to scramble for their stuff. Within an hour, they were all out the door and had caught up to Kentaro, who had stopped to wait for them on a bench near the edge of the town.

“You sure you wanna do this?” Ryo asked.

“I’m going to be useful for once and help my grandson who I haven’t seen in years. You’re still stuck with me.” Kentaro said, shaking his cane at Ryo again.

“Thanks for coming, Grandpa. You really don’t have to though.” Gingka said.

“Well, who else is gonna fix up those wings of yours if you mess them up again?” Kentaro chuckled.

“Good point.” Gingka chuckled, glancing back at the wings. He had been forced to remove his jacket and scarf after finding that the scarf inhibited the movement of his new wings, and that the jacket could not be worn without also restricting wing movement.

“So, you’ve traded one pair of wings for a real one.” Madoka joked.

Gingka half-snorted. “Suppose so, huh?”

“May I?” Madoka asked, reaching out towards Gingka’s wings.

“Go ahead.” Gingka nodded, spreading the wing nearest her and allowing her to run her fingertips across it.

“It’s… So strange… Actually seeing this…” Madoka said.

“Even stranger feeling it, but… It strangely feels normal at the same time.” Gingka said. “Like it’s always been there, yet so new at the same time…”

Madoka tilted her head slightly, listening as Gingka continued.

“It’s… Been like this since I woke up, I suppose. The feeling of paradoxes, constantly. Even when I woke up, i felt weak, but you know that there was that strength coursing through my veins at the same time…”

“I see.” Madoka said, rubbing his back between the wings. Gingka smiled at her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She put one hand on his opposite shoulder, making sure that her arm was below his wings, and leaned her head on the shoulder closest to her. Gingka leaned his head atop hers, and they continued walking in that position, following the others who were ahead of them.

“We’re almost there.” Kentaro called from the front of the line. Gingka looked up, instantly spotting the high wall surrounding the mountain. Soon enough, they came to the enormous gate, where, fourteen years before, Gingka had stood and began the climb that had gained him back his confidence.

“Whoa… That’s huge.” Zero whistled.

“The only way it can be opened is by a bey.” Ryo explained. “Gingka did it on his own when he did it, and so did I.”

Gingka walked up to the door, pulling off a piece of paper and a feather that was attached to it.

“Is that from Pegasus?” Zero asked.

“Yeah…” Gingka muttered, sighing.

“Uh oh. What’d he say this time?” Ryo asked.

Gingka wordlessly handed the paper to Ryo, who took it and read it aloud.

“I figured you would make it this far. The Liberators are likely not far behind, but I believe you will only have to worry about them at night from now on. Do not worry. I will be keeping watch, but I will not show myself to anyone until you find me. I am on the mountain, in the ice caverns. However, there is something you must be able to do before you can come find me. You have to open the door yourself. None of your friends or family can help you. The strength is already there. You just have to figure out how to use it. Whether you open it by a rapid charge or by a strong steady push is up to you, but you must open it, and you must do it alone.”

The others stared at Gingka uneasily. The redhead’s eyes were wide at this new challenge.

“First figuring out his location… Now this?” Madoka whispered.

“He can do it. He’s got to be able to. Pegasus knows more than we do about Gingka’s new powers, so we have no choice but to listen to him.” Zero sighed.

“True.” Ryo sighed. “Gingka?”

“Suppose I’d better get started.” Gingka sighed. “You guys may as well set up camp. The sooner we get through this gate the better.”

As Kentaro and the others began setting up camp, and Gingka began trying to open the door, Pegasus watched from a nearby section of the wall, although he was out of sight.

“So… They now know my exact location. It is only a matter of time until we fully meet. It is only a matter of time until they know… Until then… I will keep the Liberators… Occupied.”
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MoheiNeko's avatar
I freaking love Kentaro -rofl-