Chapter 5:
The New Chosen Ones
As soon as they stepped inside of the temple, they all were even more surprised upon seeing its interior: the entrance hallway was lined with dragon statues, its floor was covered in checkered black and white tiles, and after they walked for a bit, they began seeing precious stones shining in six colors: blue, red, green, yellow, white and blac; embedded in a few of the walls and columns, which decorated the white marble with their shine.
- "This temple is even more marvelous than I thought..." – said Miroku with a voice that pretty much stated he was about to faint from the impression.
- "It's beautiful…" – said Kagome as she took Inuyasha's hand, making him blush.
- "Kagome…" – he began looking around so no one else would notice it.
- "Gerar…" – said Gabriela – "Is this place what I think it is?" –
- "I think so, Gaby" – replied Gerardo.
- "By the way, now I think so… our countries speak completely different languages, right?" – said Kagome – "Then how can we understand each other like this, with no problems?" –
- "Maybe it's some kind of magic" – said Gerardo shrugging his shoulders – "Otherwise, I don't think we could understand what we're both saying" -
They continued their walk through the hallway until they reached the main room of the temple: it was a large and beautiful circular room, with a dome-shaped roof that was so high it was hard to see it. It also had several doors leading to other rooms, each of which had a symbol above: a blue droplet, a red flame, a yellow cracked rock, a green whirlwind, a white sphere, a black sphere, a purple thunder, a green leaf, a light blue crystal, an orange sun, a silver crescent moon and a golden four-pointed star. There also were other statues near the walls, but these had the shape of men and women wearing armors similar to the one Gerardo had during his fight against Sesshomaru: they looked like typical knight armors, but with dragon head-shaped helmets and wings. All of the statues had solemn expressions and were carrying different weapons in their hands: swords, spears, naginatas, bows, javelins, bos, staves, shields; among others. In the very center of the room there were two sets of stairs that led to a large altar that had the shape of the hexagonal emblem that they saw carved in the temple's entrance, which was suspended above a pool of crystal-clear water. There were also several hexagon emblems with a dragon taking off and roaring inside being drawn at several parts of the room. The whole place was illuminated by the light pouring from above due to the dome being transparent, as well as there being several lamps that seemed to be made from crystal emitting a white light.
They continued standing still at the entrance of the room, admiring its beauty and magnificence, until…
- "And well… have you finished admiring the place?" – asked a voice.
Everyone was startled from this, and when they looked at the direction they came from, they noticed a shining dragon was flying towards then, but it was green instead of blue this time.
- "Hmm, we have four people here with a great potential, though we still have to check if they are worthy of it…" – said the dragon.
- "Okay, enough already!" – said Inuyasha impatiently – "Who the heck are you and what is this place!?" –
- "Inuyasha!" – said everyone.
- "Time for questions, is it?" – said the dragon letting out a roar that sounded more like a laughter – "I am the Dragon God of Wind, Kiols, and you are right now inside of the Temple of the Dragon" -
- "Dragon God of Wind?" – asked Kagome – "Who was the dragon that greeted us outside then?" –
- "Oh, that? That was Iadlast, the Dragon God of Water" – said Kiols closing its eyes.
- "Kiols-sama… then, what reason did you have to call us to this place?" – asked Miroku.
- "To see if you worthy of being bearers of the holy power" – said Kiols.
- "You said the holy power?" – asked Kagome.
- "Yes, young one. The holy power fueled by the emotions and the heart: the Seirei Magic and the Power of the Dragon" – said another dragon that appeared at Kiols' side, but this one had a more serious and solemn appearance to it, and was of a white color – "Please excuse my intromission. I am Illyusea, and my role is being of Dragon God of Light" -
- "Ah! I recognize its voice, Gerar! That's the voice I heard when I began singing that song!" – said Gabriela jumping up and down excitedly.
- "Really!?" – said Gerardo about to faint from excitement – "This is amazing… I've been waiting so long for this to happen…" –
- "Oh, but are you worthy of it?" – asked other dragon that was flying above them. This had a rather irritated and fiery appearance to it, was of a bright red color – "Oh yes. I am Pyrazsyec, the Dragon God of Fire" -
- "Wow, amazing… the element I like the least questioning my abilities now…" – said Gerardo in a sarcastic tone as he crossed his arms.
- "Gerar!" – said Gabriela in a reproaching tone.
- "Well…" – said another dragon of bright yellow color as it emerged from the floor, though it had something of a sleepy feeling to it – "The only way to know for sure is carrying out the ceremony right. And if I am allowed to introduce myself, I am the Dragon God of Earth: Tiarrashe" -
- "Agreed. Otherwise, it shall always remain a mystery" – said one last dragon emerging from the few parts of the room that weren't reached by the light. It was of a black color, though its scales shone when the light reached them beautifully and had eyes like pearls: it seemed very mysterious, yet gentle – "I am the Dragon God of Darkness, Phinambrea" -
- "So, what does this ceremony entail?" – asked Kagome as she began feeling nervous.
- "It's nothing dangerous or complex: just climb the stairs to the altar and stand on its center" – said Iadlast as it came out from the pool below the altar – "I apologize for my lack of manners, but I had no time to introduce myself when we met outside. I am Iadlast, Dragon God of Water" –
- "Well then, what will you do?" – asked Illyusea as he looked at Inuyasha, Kagome, Gabriela and Gerardo – "Will you carry out the ceremony, or would you rather leave without even trying it?" -
- "Of course we're doing it!" – said Inuyasha angry.
- "And won't that be dangerous?" – asked Kagome as her face filled with worry.
- "Hmm, I don't think so" – said Sango looking around – "This place doesn't seem dangerous at all, and the ceremony doesn't sound like anything life-threatening from the explanation they gave us" –
- "Okay! Let's do it already!" – said Inuyasha excitedly.
- "But who'll be going through it?" – asked Shippou.
- "The siblings, the miko and the hanyou…" – replied Tiarrashe.
Acknowledging Tiarrashe's words, Inuyasha, Kagome, Gabriela and Gerardo aligned themselves in a line in front of one of the stairs leading to the altar. Inuyasha was the first to step into it.
- "So? What I've gotta do now?" – asked Inuyasha impatiently.
- "You just have to grab the crystal floating in front of you" – said Illyusea as it made a small shining object appear in front of him.
- "This one?" – said Inuyasha as he looked at the object: it was a small gray sphere of glass, which had a very realistic depiction of a dragon's eye on its inside.
- "Yes. If you are worthy, that Seirei Crystal will accept you, but otherwise, you will expelled from the temple…" – said Phinambrea in a warning tone.
- "Meh, how easy!" – said Inuyasha as he extended a hand to grab the crystal.
When he did so, the hexagonal mark drawn in the altar began shining in the points of the hexagon that corresponded to the elements of Fire and Wind, making pillars of green and red light rise from them. The crystal in Inuyasha's hand took a red color while the pupil of the eye inside became green.
- "Looks like I'm worthy!" – exclaimed Inuyasha, however, both the crystal and the magical circle with the hexagon mark stopped shining the next instant, and then the entire altar was filled with an energy that expelled Inuyasha from it. However, his fall was slow and he landed on his feet next to Kagome as if nothing had happened.
- "What the hell was that!?" – asked Inuyasha angry.
- "Are you okay, Inuyasha?" – asked Kagome worried.
- "Yeah, I'm fine, but…" – said Inuyasha turning to look at her briefly, but he then turned back in the direction where the dragons were.
- "Apparently, the powers accepted and rejected you at the same time" – said Phinambrea in a severe tone.
- "What!?" – asked Inuyasha weirded out upon hearing this, which also confused all the others.
- "What does that mean? How could the power reject him if it had accepted Inuyasha in the first place?" – asked Miroku.
- "It is because he has a pure heart and that should allow him to handle it. However, given the special nature of his blood and heritage, it rejected him" – explained Iadlast as it shook his head to the sides.
- "This means that even if you have a pure heart, you won't be able to wield these powers if you're hanyou…" – said Gerardo with his hand in front of his mouth, deep in thought, as he looked at Inuyasha.
- "Keh! I'm strong enough as I'm right now anyway…" – scoffed Inuyasha.
- "Then you'll continue trying to become a full youkai?" – asked Kagome with bright eyes while she took Inuyasha of the hands.
- "Of course not, you fool!" – said Inuyasha as his face turned race and he violently pulled his hands away. Kagome just sighed in exasperation, and knowing this wasn't a good occasion for sitting down anyone, she walked up the stairs to the altar.
- "Grab the crystal now" – said Kiols annoyed. The crystal Inuyasha tried to grab had been replaced with another one.
- "Okay, I'll do it" – said Kagome as she closed her hand around the small glass sphere. Similarly to Inuyasha, the Elemental Seal began shining, this time with the points corresponding to the elements of Light and Water, making pillars of blue and white light rise from it, while the crystal took on a white color and the eyes turned blue.
However, a pink and blue light came out from Kagome's body, making her let go of the crystal as if it had burned her hands, and this in turn caused the seal to stop shining.
- "W-what happened?" - asked Kagome scared. She checked her hands to see if she had gotten burned, but they hadn't even gotten red: the burst of light didn't do anything to her.
- "Looks like the powers you hold are incompatible with the ones we are trying to bestow upon you…" – said Illyusea in a sad voice.
- "My miko powers don't allow me to receive these powers?" – asked Kagome disappointed.
- "Looks like that is the cause…" – said Iadlast closing his eyes.
- "Just great: neither hanyous nor mikos can handle these powers… will we even be able to do it?" – said Gerardo worried.
- "Oh well, I better step down and let the next one try it…" – said Kagome feeling dejected as she walked the stairs down while Gabriela went in the opposite direction.
- "And what's gonna happen now? The brat will get to use these powers?" – asked Inuyasha
- "While I don't like how you said it, I've got to agree here. She's too young to handle that burden" – said Gerardo as he looked at his sister in a mocking manner.
- "SIT DOWN!" – said Kagome and Gabriela at the same time, making both crash into the floor with double the strength. They couldn't stand hearing these words, and adding to that Kagome's irritation for Inuyasha's attitude, they decided to disregard formalities. All the other people present here, including the Dragon Gods, sweatdropped from seeing this.
- "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" – screamed both when they managed to get back on their feet.
- "For your cruel comments! Inuyasha, you should treat children better! And you Gerardo, you should have more trust in your sister!" – said Kagome feeling slighted. Inuyasha just crossed his arms and turned away his head, while Gerardo just apologized. However, they instantly turned around to look at the altar when they noticed a flash of light coming from it.
Gabriela had taken the crystal, and to the surprise of everyone present, the circles that lit up this time around in the Elemental Seal was the one corresponding to the light, and also, one of the points of the triangle located in the center of the emblem: these corresponded to the Attributes, the strongest elements. The point that lit up was the one representing the element of the Moon, making the seal release pillars of white and silver light, while the crystal had turned white with the eye colored silver.
- "Either she's gonna get thrown out from the circle or getting rejected by the power" – said Inuyasha with a mocking smile.
But unlike him and Kagome, a string appeared alongside a metal holder around the crystal, and it floated to Gabriela and tied itself around her neck. Then, a smaller copy of the Elemental Seal appeared at Gabriela's feet while the cry of a dragon was heard throughout the room. In her forehead appeared other copy of the seal, while a Dragon Emblem appeared over her chest, right in the spot of her heart. Finally, a white circle with the emblem of the Light appeared on her right hand, while a silver one appeared on the left with the emblem of the Moon, while cut-in-half versions of both them superimposed appeared in her palms.
- "Ist Alttyaok Zosph, Gabriela, Fyatusepth Lyacchi Pawatz cChia Gyalaz Zosph" – said Gabriela as if she was in a trance, and at the next instant, her body shone intensely in a white and silver light.
- "Welcome, Gabriela! New bearer of the Seirei Magic and the Power of the Dragon, chosen by the essences of the Light and the Moon!" – exclaimed Illyusea – "Now, please choose your weapon" –
Illyusea then summoned a group of floating weapons so Gabriela could choose whichever she wanted.
- "I want this!" – said Gabriela grabbing a bow, which upon turned white and its bowstring silver when she touched it. The bow itself had the Elemental Seal embedded near the nocks, while the arrow rest was shaped after the open mouth of a dragon and was made of silver.
- "You can go down now" – said Phinambrea in a tone of satisfaction – "There is still one more we must test" –
Gabriela bowed in response, and began walking down the stairs to allow her brother to go into the altar. Once up, another crystal had been brought in and was waiting for him.
- "Go ahead" – said Tiarrashe.
- "Very well" – said Gerardo as he closed his hands around the small crystal, feeling excitement, joy, anxiety and fear at the same time.
The crystal began shining, as also did the Elemental Seal, but unlike all the others, the only point of the hexagon that was shining was the one corresponding to water, creating a pillar of blue light, while the rest of the emblem shone in gray. The crystal also took on a blue color while the eye turned gray.
Then, like with Gabriela, a dragon's cry was heard throughout the room, and the same emblems that appeared over his sister: the Elemental Seal on the floor and on his forehead, and the Dragon Emblem over his heart, appeared on him, though with a different color. The Elemental Marks also appeared over his hands as also did their cut-in-half forms in his palms, but while the one that appeared on his right hand was the emblem for Water, in his left appeared something no one was expecting to see: a gray circle enclosing a strange symbol (?).
- "Ist Alttyaok Zosph, Gerardo, Fyatusepth Lyacchi Pawatz Chia Gyalaz Zosph" – said he in the same tone of voice as his sister when she received her powers while his body shone in blue and gray. After the light faded away, he looked at the marks that appeared on his hands.
- "What does this mean?" – he asked confused at Illyusea while he showed it his left hand.
- "Unknown, huh? It means that it was impossible to determine your second element" – replied the dragon – "Most likely, it will be revealed later on, so you will have to continue like this until that happens. Therefore, we won't be able to provide you with a weapon, but at the least we will supply you with the necessary items for creating one. So, what kind of weapon do you want?" -
- "A sword" – said Gerardo as he stopped looking at his left hand and fixed his eyes on Illyusea.
- "Very well" – said Illyusea as it made appear a small brown sack and made it levitate to his hands – "This sack contains one of Iadlast's fangs and some of his scales and claws, as well as some elemental crystal dust" –
- "But what about the blade itself?" – asked Gerardo.
- "You can use the decorative sword you have in your house" – said Illyusea.
- "How did you know about it?" – said Gerardo surprised.
- "Remember we are the Dragon Gods: the Wills that created Dragonia and maintain its existence. You shouldn't be surprised for something as simple as that" – said Illyusea as it laughed at Gerardo's surprise.
Gerardo just smiled at how he didn't think about it, and walked down the steps to reunite with the others. The marks that appeared on him and Gabriela then disappeared.
- "Now, we will explain the reason we had to summon you here" – said Pyrazsyec impatiently as he looked at Gerardo and Gabriela – "Are you both familiar with the legend of the Crystal of Shadows?" –
- "Perfectly, in fact" – nodded Gerardo.
- "Very well, that speeds up things and allows us to skip the boring exposition" – said Pyrazsyec – "Well then, the fragments of that crystal have arrived to this world, and we need your help to keep Tenebross from coming back to life" –
- "And why…" – began Inuyasha, but Gerardo raise a him to make him shut up as he shook his head side to side and muttered in a very low voice: – "I'll explain everything later" -
- "Understood. We'll do everything we can to prevent its resurrection" – said Gerardo with a soft but very determined voice.
- "I am glad to hear that. Now, before you depart, we must give you some items that will surely be of help to you in your quest" – said Iadlast with pride as some lights flew from behind it and fixed to the wrists of everyone. After a few instant, they took on the shape of circular wristwatches that had a circular crystal screen with six risen parts on the rim around it – "These devices are called Dragtemns, and they serve as a communication network you all can use to talk to each other regardless of how far you are from each other, and they take their colors from your elements. Additionally, the bearers of the Power of the Dragon will require them to even be able to use their powers, so make sure to take good care of them" –
Gerardo's wristwatch had a blue screen with a gray rim, Gabriela's was white and silver, Kagome's was white and blue, Inuyasha's was red and green, Sango's was yellow and red, Mirou's was green and black, and Shippou's was green and light green.
"But how is it that we have elements if we didn't take part in the ceremony or receive the test?" – asked Miroku disconcerted.
- "Because you have been in contact with those that were tested. While they are worthy of this honor, unfortunately our powers couldn't become one with them due to unforeseen circumstances"- said Phinambrea in an enigmatic tone – "And you have also become friends with the two that did become chosen ones" –
- "And that reminds me… Gerardo and Gabriela, please take this" – said Tiarrashe making two kimonos appears out from the thin air – "You will need these clothes, as I am afraid the people of this place and time doesn't take kindly those that have an appearance outside of what they consider normal" –
- "Tiarrashe-sama's right about that…" – said Kagome saddened.
Gerardo was given a blue kimono that was very similar to Inuyasha's, with the difference that the sleeves of its haori were a bit longer and also had characters in a strange language sewn into its sleeves and collar. On the other hand, Gabriela's kimono was very similar to the traditional outfit of the miko, but with the hakama in a silver color instead of red and that the entire outfit was decorated with white spheres and crescent moons; and similarly to Gerardo, it had characters sewn on its sleeves and collar. When they touched them, the screens of their respective Dragtemns shone and absorbed them, while a notification saying "Item Stored!" appeared on their screens.
- "Whoa, it can also store items!?" – said Gabriela surprised.
- "That sure is gonna come handy!" – said Shippou surprised. However, Gerardo looked at Gabriela, and both knew what they had to do now.
- "Thank you very much for everything" – said Gerardo and Gabriela as they knelt down before the Dragon Gods in the same way a medieval knight would in front of their lord.
- "Now you should get going" – said Illyusea – "The temple will disappear once you have left it, so we won't be able to see each other for some time. However, we will always be watching over you all" –
They all left the temple in silence. As soon as they did, the temple disappeared as if it never had existed in the first place. They then sat down in the grass, expecting Gerardo's explanation.
- "Okay, kid" – said Inuyasha impatiently – "Now spit it: what's that Crystal of Shadows and who is that Tenebross whatever?" –
- "It's funny you call me like that when I'm your senior physically speaking," – said Gerardo in a resigned tone, making Inuyasha scoff and the others laugh – "But oh well. I'll explain things with this legend: long ago, only the Chaos and Nothingness existed, but at some point, six essences rose out from the Chaos, took the shape of dragons and they became the Dragon Gods. They created the elemental crystals, and thanks to that, the world of Dragonia was born. It was a peaceful and beautiful world, but then, an evil being was born from the Nothingness, and taking the shape of a shadowy dragon, it began causing destruction and havoc everywhere it went. The name of this evil shadow is… Tenebross" –
- "And what happened then?" – asked Kagome a bit scared but interested in hearing the rest, like all the others.
- "The Dragon Gods challenged it to a battle at the peak of the highest mountain of Dragonia, but as they were unable to defeat it, even uniting their powers, they decided to seal it away. They weakened it using their strongest spells and attacks, and then used magic to imprison it into a crystal, which they called the Crystal of Shadows. Then, to make sure it wouldn't return, they broke the crystal into hundreds of fragments and scattered them throughout Dragonia. However, Tenebross used the evil influence it still had to create monsters to search for these fragments, so it could be revived and become able to destroy the world" – ended Gerardo with a sigh. He was out of breath.
- "It sounds similar to the story of the Shikon Pearl" – said Sango surprised.
- "I guess so. However, none of the monsters in search of the Shikon Pearl compare to Tenebross: that evil creature is capable of annihilating entire dimensions, so if it comes back, it'll be the end of all worlds…" – said Gerardo with a terrified face.
- "I see… our searches are very similar in several aspects, but they also have a great difference" – said Kagome thoughtfully.
- "If Naraku learns about this, things could get ugly…" – said Shippoy scared.
- "Yeah. That goddamned bastard would like to use the evil energies from that crystal to increase his powers beyond what he intends to do with the Shikon Pearl" – said Inuyasha as an irritated expression appeared on his face and he flexed his claws.
- "I think the reason why we were called to this world was because we have a very strong emotional connection to it" – said Gerardo thoughtfully.
- "But how do you know these things about Dragonia?" – asked Sango – "You aren't from that world, right?" –
- "Nope! Gerar knows all these things because he had dreams about it lots of time, and I also did!" – replied Gabriela cheerfully.
- "Hmm, it does make sense then. I have to say that it's quite surprising to hear that something from a dream became real in such a way, though" – said Miroku amazed – "Well then, what are we going to do now?" –
- "First we've got to return home to get ready for this journey" – said Gerardo excitedly.
- "Okay, then I'll do the same and begin getting ready!" – said Kagome cheerfully.
- "Go ahead, I've gotta talk something with old man Totosai" – said Inuyasha bitterly.
- "Huh? For what?" – said Gerardo surprised, as Tessaiga didn't seem like it needed reforging or repairs.
- "So he can make you a sword, stupid" – said Inuyasha as he took out another sword aside of Tessaiga: it seemed to be just a decorative katana which had eastern-styled dragons carved in the guard and drawn on the scabbard.
- "Where did you keep that hidden?" – asked Gabriela surprised.
- "Didn't you notice I had it on the belt when I was wearing the uniform, or that I had it behind Tessaiga?" – said Inuyasha with a mocking smile.
- "Looks like I need to watch out better for details, as I didn't notice it even while we were changing…" – said Gerardo a bit dejected.
- "Anyway, I took it from your house before we returned here, and you better give me the things that dragon gave you" – said Inuyasha at Gerardo.
- "Okay, here you go" – said Gerardo giving to him the bag containing the fang, claws, scales and crystal dust, which he had on his hands all this time – "Just tell Totosai that if he doesn't make a good sword with it, or if he ruins its decorations, I'm gonna beat him up as badly or even worse than you do… Oh, and by the way… I've decided that my sword will be called Ryuuga!" –
- "Hmm, not too shabby for a name!" – said Inuyasha surprised.
- "Yeah. It wasn't easy deciding on a name for it, but I settled down on it" – said Gerardo with a smile – "Well, I just hope you bring me back that sword in one piece" -
- "By the way… why do you have a sword?" – asked Kagome confused.
- "Because they are the only weapons I really like, and I had to save up a lot of allowance to buy it" – said Gerardo proudly.
After a while, they were ready to go: Gerardo was holding Gabriela by the hand next to the portal which Kagome made appear again with the Shikon shard she had, Kagome herself was carrying her backpack preparing to set off with Miroku, Sango and Shippou, and Inuyasha was at Kirara's side, which had transformed into her larger form.
- "Okay, see you in two days!" – said Gerardo crossing the portal with his sister.
- "Bye-bye!" – said Gabriela waving with her hand as she went in.
- "See you! Take care!" – said the others.
- "Okay, time to go home" – said Kagome as she began walking away with the others – "See you later!" –
- "Okay!" – said Inuyasha.
They four began walking away while Kirara took off with Inuyasha on her back, carring him to Totosai's lair.
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