Prologue

I've never knew what it was to be alone, no,
’Cause you were always there for me,
you were always waiting

“Vice-Chief, you called for me?” the raven-haired girl bowed her head in respect as she sat on the tatami mat, her legs folded neatly underneath her as she kept her hands placed on her knees. Her bangs fell forward, into her face, as she stared down at the dark crimson sleeves of her uniform.

“Yes,” the deep and wise voice of her vice chief and superior replied. The young kunoichi could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke gently. “You may relax, Sheena. I have an important task for you.”

She felt her blood chill slightly at the words ‘important task’. The last time those words had been uttered in her presence, not by Vice-Chief Tiga, but by the Chief himself, it had been to send her to form a pact with the Summon Spirit of Lighting, Volt. It had ended in the massacre of three quarters of the village, and the Chief was in a coma because had protected her. That day was something that she could never forget and it haunted her still.

Sheena glanced at the sliding door that isolated the comatose Chief from the main conference room almost out of a guilty reflex before turning back to face the Vice-Chief. She slipped into the ancient and more formal Mizuhoan dialect as she spoke. “Hai, Tiga-sama!”

The Vice-Chief seemed to muse on something, as there was a slight pause before he spoke. “Meltokio is…suspicious of our activity. The King of Tethe’alla no longer trusts Mizuho.” Vice-Chief informed the young kunoichi almost stiffly. His eyes didn’t waver from Sheena’s disbelieving ones. When she realized that, yes, he had said what she’d heard him say, she sprung up in outrage.

“What?!” she burst out with shock written on her face. She took one involuntary step forward as her hands clenched into fists at her side. She couldn’t believe how this could be. Mizuho had never committed any acts that could, or would be taken as an attack towards the capital of Tethe’alla. Not to her knowledge, anyways. “Why?!” Sheena demanded.

This time, the young kunoichi could easily see the hesitation in his face and tone as he spoke almost reluctantly. “They… misunderstood Volt’s rampage upon our village as a sign of aggression from Mizuho against Tethe’alla.”

Effectively silenced, Sheena felt her knees weaken and allowed herself to sit back down before her knees gave out and she collapsed without the grace of a ninja. Out of the flurry of thoughts rampaging around in her mind, one stood out with sharp contrast. This was her fault. If only she’d been able to control Volt before he had killed anyone. And now Tethe’alla was against them because they thought the massacre had been an act of defiance?

It was absurd.

“However,” Vice-Chief continued. Sheena snapped back to attention and fixed him with a tense look. Her hands bunched into fists again on her thighs, wrinkling the dark crimson material, which was covering said legs. “Meltokio has proposed a way to rid our village of this suspicion.”

“What is it?” the kunoichi asked without hesitation. Surely if there was a way to diffuse the suspicion falsely placed against their village –the result of her failure- she would do it. She would do anything to protect Mizuho, even if the villagers and ninja who lived in it wouldn’t appreciate it. Everyone… seemed to hate her for what happened. And who could blame them, really?

“They request an envoy from our village.”

“An envoy?” Sheena repeated to herself. Why would Meltokio need a representative to be sure of their loyalty?

Vice-Chief nodded solemnly. “And the one they requested was someone who could benefit their research.” The young kunoichi was starting to get an idea of where Tiga-sama was heading with this as a feeling of dread bubbled up within her along with mild panic. “Someone who has powers that hadn’t been seen in several millennia. Someone like you, Sheena.”

“But-!” Sheena protested, rolling back so she was kneeling down on the front half of her feet. Her heel was arched up as she placed one hand on the ground to steady herself as she looked at the Vice-Chief uncertainly. “I have no experience. I couldn’t control Volt.”

Anything but this. Anything.

“Your summoning ability comes from your blood, Sheena, your lineage,” Vice-Chief explained patiently and gently. Sheena squeezed her eyes shut and laid her head on top of her arms, which were folded on top of her knees. She could feel the tears threatening to escape and she didn’t want them to. She didn’t want to hear this, she didn’t, she didn’t, she didn’t!

Sheena was only half aware that she let out a muffled sob.

She jerked slightly when she felt a warm presence on top of her head. The kunoichi looked up into the kind eyes of Tiga. His hand was extended and resting gently on top of her head in a motion that was incredibly comforting to the girl.

“It will be alright, Sheena,” he reassured soothingly, holding out his hand for her to take.

Sheena merely glanced at it for a moment before uncurling herself from the ball she’d unintentionally wrapped herself into. She nearly drew back when she saw how much her arm was trembling but Vice-Chief grabbed hold of it and pulled her up into a standing position. Sheena looked at him in surprise when he held out a small packet for her to take.

“I know the Chief wanted you to have these,” he said quietly, watching as she carefully pried open the packet, sliding out several pieces of paper. They may have looked like ordinary paper to a bystander, but the raven-haired girl knew just how deadly these slips of paper could be, and how much they meant to her. She looked up at the Vice-Chief with shock in her eyes.

“These- these are grandfather’s guardians!” she spluttered. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the coloured pieces of paper she held in her hand. Green for wind element guardian, dark purple for lightning element guardian, red for fire element guardian, blue for water element guardian, brown for earth element guardian, yellow for light element guardian, light blue for ice element guardian, and one that was simply white, with silver kanji on it.

“He wanted you to have them,” Vice-Chief repeated. “To protect you now that he can’t. To summon them to your aid, you merely need to speak in ancient Mizuhoan, ‘release!’.”

“Vice-Chief…” Sheena gazed at the man before her with admiration. She quickly tucked the summoning slips away safely into her dark red yukata. Then she discovered two teardrop-shaped cards at the back, and looked up at the Vice-Chief with confusion dancing in her eyes. “Vice-Chief, what is this…?”

“Those cards are one of a kind, and they are called ‘Vajra’,” he explained calmly. He said no more, watching a look of glee appear on Sheena’s face. She knew perfectly well what the Vajra were. They were her grandpa’s most treasured spell cards, and there was no other in the world like them. She could hardly believe that Vice-Chief was entrusting these to her.

Sheena could feel tears welling up in her eyes again, but this time not out of grief. Instead, she was so emotionally moved by how much the Vice-Chief trusted her.

“I won’t let you down, Tiga-sama, Grandpa!” she vowed, tucking the Vajra into her yukata, with her new guardian summons. The raven-haired girl bowed deeply out of respect and gratitude to Mizuho’s Vice-Chief before leaving the house. If it had been her grandfather, Sheena would’ve hugged him but she wasn’t that close to Tiga-sama and it would have been considered incredibly awkward and disrespectful if she had done so.

She took a deep breath as she stepped out of the house, plastering on a bright smile for the benefit of the villagers who felt spiteful towards her. She would show them who was stronger!

“Sheena, what did the Vice-Chief want to talk to you about?” she heard Orochi’s voice, turning around to see Kuchinawa and him appear in a cloud of smoke. Sheena didn’t bother waving away the smoke that wafted into her direction. She was used to the slightly unpleasant odour of the smoke bombs by now, and it hardly fazed her.

“He assigned me a new mission,” Sheena replied cheerfully, placing her left hand on her waist. Kuchinawa and Orochi were the only ones in the village who bore no grudge towards her for the Volt incident. To them, their family honour meant everything to them, and they would be disgracing it by being spiteful towards her. That was what they had told her when she had asked them in a fit of tears. “I’m to go to Meltokio to assure them of Mizuho’s loyalty to Tethe’alla.”

“Why were they suspicious in the first place?” Kuchinawa asked curiously. That immediately put a damper on Sheena’s bright mood. Kuchinawa seemed to sense her mood change and immediately bowed in apology. “I apologize, it is not business of mine.”

“No, it’s alright, Kuchinawa,” Sheena offered him a slightly forced smile. They had a right to know. “It was because of the… the Volt incident. It only makes sense that I would be the one sent to prove that Mizuho isn’t trying anything against Tethe’alla, and Meltokio.”

“Will you be alright?” Orochi asked in concern. “It will be your first time away from the village for so long. Do you want Kuchinawa or me to accompany you there?”

Sheena wanted to laugh and cry at his worry. She didn’t understand how the pair of brothers could not detest her for being the reason of their parents’ death. “Nah, I’ll be alright, Orochi. It’s only Meltokio. I’ve been there before. I can just think of this as an… extended mission of peace. Or a small vacation, whichever way you look at it, heh.”

“They’re going to be looking at your summoning abilities, right?” Kuchinawa asked, for confirmation. Sheena held back a well-deserved wince. It was like Kuchinawa always seemed to unintentionally press on her worse buttons. But he was just like that, abrupt and to the point, most of the time. She could hardly blame him for that. She nodded, nonetheless. “Good luck, Sheena!”

“Heh, thanks,” the kunoichi smiled. “I’ll do my best!”

Her blood turned cold when her mind processed what she had just said, an eerie imitation of what she’d said to reassure the villagers right before she had unintentionally caused all of their deaths. But that wouldn’t happen this time. She would make sure of it. She would give Meltokio no reason to persecute Mizuho.

“I’m leaving tonight,” she continued, mentally listening the items she would have to stock up on and bring with her. Some gels, perhaps, a few thousand Gald. She already planned on bringing Vajra and the guardian summoning cards with her, no matter what. They were a memento of her grandpa’s, and she would be damned if anything happened to them while under her watch. “I’m not sure when I’m going to be back though. I won’t send letters, because they might be intercepted, but I will come back every few months.”

“Are you going to be staying at an inn for so long? That will take a good chunk out of your Gald.” Orochi pointed out.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll find somewhere to stay!” Sheena grinned, trying to put his worries at ease. “Really, you guys, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine! I might look girly, but I’m a kunoichi, remember!”

“Ah, right,” Orochi nodded, reaching into the folds of his clothing top. Sheena took a few steps back, knowing what he was going to do. She absolutely despised the popping noise a smoke bomb made and tended to avoid it as much as possible. The blue-clothed shinobi tilted his head towards her before Orochi and Kuchinawa both disappeared in a large cloud of smoke.

Guess it was time to start preparing for her journey to Meltokio.

I carry the things that remind me of you,
in loving memory of
the one that was so true.