The Crooked Silhouette

Chapter 17: The Leo Spy

            The remaining Zodiacs were gathered at The Angels’ meeting room – the first place they assembled to meet the rumoured owner of the impenetrable purplish stone in The Hollow of Cain. All the upper-class Angels assisting Tsuya on that day, and they were teleporting to The Forest of Eve to send The Five Zodiacs to The Earth in order to perform the mission as constructed.

            They could not mask their inquisitiveness on how Tsuya picked those five to be delivered to The Earth. It was too fortuitous, plus they were perplexed to be disclosed the fact that even Mizugame was going there. Yagi was a fighter. Otome too, but with more techniques. Oushi was quite hot-tempered like Sasori. Ohitsuji was always average than Yagi and Otome in fighting, but he was a wise Zodiac almost like Tenbin The Libra.

            Mizugame? Backing up the medical team was always his spoken purpose to avoid specific commitment in operation, in fact he was too scared of blood stain and cut off limbs. He could not stand all those mishaps and the outcome once the war has come to its end.

            Taking in their secondary ability to execute the mission, it might help them quite a lot. Yagi had self-regenerating, but he could only heal himself. However, he had vast familiarity of plants and living things in the forest since his own Valley consisted of mainly woods. Oushi could detect presence of Dimensionals within certain range, depending on how much energy he had at the moment he was implementing it. Otome could read and control the mind of other Dimensionals, but he always avoided implying the mind controlling ability since he disliked its custom. Ohitsuji had the vision fazing ability, very fruitful in manipulating enemies’ sight and balancing. While Mizugame could do telepathy, but it was limited only to Dimensionals that he had knowledge of.

            Gabriel and Uriel swung the door open. Then The Spirit came in. A mixture of fulfilment and desolation depicted on the face, and it was basically idiotic if they did not notice it. However, no one dared to even yawn. Their eyes were fixated on Tsuya with their knuckles kept under the table just in case if Tsuya suddenly launched a massive bombing. Anything could happen when it was initiated by this despicable Spirit.

            “I need Ite The Sagittarius, Kani The Cancer, and Shishi The Leo, to follow me.”

            At the same time, those three which declared rose abruptly. Ite, Kani, and Shishi exchanged looks, baffled and dreaded. Yesterday, The Five Zodiacs were called to go to The Earth. What about these three? Was Tsuya going to send them to The Planets such as Uranus or Jupiter? To distinguish pebbles?

            “Let’s do like how we agree, Uriel,” Tsuya said and turned his back towards the attendees.

            Uriel nodded once. He stayed behind while Gabriel was seen tailing Tsuya exiting the meeting room. The mentioned Zodiacs followed Tsuya and Gabriel, sent looks by those who left and watched by Uriel.

            Junctions to junctions until an isolated tall building came into their view. The building was literally connected by a brick bridge. Gabriel led the group, striding across the bridge to get into the unknown building. The architecture seemed fairly timeworn likened to the one they had meeting at. It had only doors without small windows permitting anyone from outside to peek inside the rooms.

            “Is this… a prison?”

            “Gabriel, Tsuya. Why did you guys summon us in the first place?” Instead of replying to Ite’s curiosity, Shishi reflected the question to Gabriel and Tsuya.

            Gabriel remained quiet, but he did not wince. He was as composed as Dimensionals were aware how he usually was, and he indeed knew what they were doing. Tsuya decelerated his pace to match with Shishi’s, thus walking side by side to him. Kani and Ite trailed from behind, and Gabriel was still the front guide.

            “We want you to be our co-operator,” Tsuya was almost murmuring, “Of The Five Zodiacs who have gone there, I believe at least one of them will breach the mission. So, I would like to send you guys to monitor them at The Forest of Eve.”

            “The three of us?” Reimagining the ability The Five Zodiacs possessed, Kani frowned in disagreement, “Especially Yagi, I think picking us is quite a bad idea.”

            Ite covertly nodded concurring, “If you did research all of us, you might discover what their abilities are, right? Sasori and Shishi are a better pair.”

            Shishi chirped and squinted at The Sagittarius.

            Tsuya halted in the middle way, hindering them from advancing. He turned to confront Ite, Kani, and Shishi altogether, curving a simple yet meaningful smile which amused them. How on Dimension could this Spirit envisage the earnest beam? It was ridiculously contrasting in term of personality compared to himself one day ago. The heartening smile somehow soothed their contemplation and the consternation inadvertently presented on their expression was gradually loosening.

            “I believe in you guys,” said Tsuya while patting Shishi’s shoulder.

            From this point onwards, his memory was fuzzy. He remembered lying on a smooth platform in a white plain room. It had only the platform, and the only creatures available the moment he stepped in were him, Gabriel The Angel, and the one he once wished he never met in his whole life – Tsuya The Spirit. He knew he was with Ite The Sagittarius and Kani The Cancer, but they both have disappeared the moment they arrived at the entrance. He had no choice but to proceed.

            Gabriel helped him lying on the platform. No struggle needed – not even attempt on betraying. Tsuya did not seem as dangerous at all. He talked a bit with Gabriel while The Angel prepared him for the plan.

            “Listen, Shishi.” The attention concentrated on Shishi.

            Tsuya’s voice penetrated into his eardrums, ringing right at his side.

            “I would like you to-“

            “……”

            While Tsuya was explaining the structure of the plan, Shishi was already dozing off. He could not listen more to Tsuya’s description when his sight hazed and he lost consciousness soon after.

            What about the plan?

            “… …”

            What plan?

            “… …”

            He could not recall.

            Darkness flooded his whole field of view. He could not observe anything including his own limbs. He doubt the presence of floor beneath his feet, and his suspicion exalted when he looked up to nothing but murkiness. Screaming for help was to no avail as his voice stuck at the throat, and the strangling milieu aggravated till he had dyspnoea. The pitch black stifled him despite the crawling urge from within his stomach threatening to blurt out – those two sensation contradicted each other too much.

            Seconds, minutes, and hours unconsciously flew by.

            The moment he opened his eyes, an unknown Human was pinning him down into the ground. Jolting pain bowled over his body especially his chest. As he was fully awoken, it was his broken ribs which he did not know why he had it in the first place. He could not remember wrestling with Tsuya before he was told to lie on the platform. He could not even breathe in relax when other creatures were trying to seize The Human away from his torso.

The Leo could not even push Tatsu away from his body. Tatsu was nailing him down to detain the latter from counterattack. It was barely one minute after Shishi has woken up from his faint, and Tatsu already pounced onto him. Hikari and Mizugame frantically tried to seize him away, but the incognito brutality he has just acquired favourably crashed the attempt. He shoved Shishi deeper into the ground, as if he beckoned the soil to devour Shishi due to his fault for split Takeru from them. Yagi from behind could only watch the pathetic scenery while loitering for his broken rib to reattach to the sternum by his regeneration ability.

            “Hurry up and tell us!” Tatsu caught Shishi on the collar. The latter winced as his body was in resting mode and he did not have the ability to self-heal like Yagi, hence the recovery took longer time and effort compared to The Capricorn. “How can we get out of The Forest of Eve? I expect direct answers.”

            The Human was practically neglected. Shishi averted and abandoned Tatsu’s eagerness to find the truth. The other three were waiting for his answer, yet he refused to cooperate. Tatsu pushed him on the sternum, pressing against the heart which chortled him. Even though sorts of perils he has perceived, he did not seem to give in just simply.

            Everyone’s patience has its limit, so did Tatsu’s. Concluding how tenacious Shishi was to not respond to him, he tugged Shishi’s shirt, exposing Shishi’s apart of abs including the bluish chest. Pressurizing more on the bruise, and the whole forest would resonate by Shishi’s howling. However, it was what Tatsu did.

            The ground quaked by Shishi’s loud roar, distressingly. Trembling overwhelmed Hikari as it sounded so vulnerable, thus his fear towards Dimensionals, specifically The Zodiacs, intensified right away. Shishi’s bruise sprung up blood, but it unfortunately unstopped Tatsu from worsening the effect it bore.

            “Stop it!” Shishi groaned until he arched his back to endure the stupidly painful wound. “Few of my ribs are broken!”

            “Do I need to be concerned of your injury?” Tatsu purposely drew his face close to Shishi, huffed his carbon dioxide out and clenched his teeth until veins were visible on the temple.

            “I can’t give you the answer! I don’t know!” cried Shishi desperately. “I… really don’t know…” he panted when The Human finally rose from pinning him down. “I don’t know how I came here either.”

            “You must be kidding me, Shishi,” Mizugame, while grasping Tatsu’s forearm to hinder him from going on rampage again, said, “You have occasionally come to us for several times already. Appearing and vanishing in thick mysterious fog which I don’t know whose ability it comes from, not even yours, and now you are saying you don’t know how you transport here. Heh.”

            “Tell us already. What kind of spell or trick can we use to get out of The Forest of Eve and directly confront Tsuya?” Tatsu still shot a deadly glare towards the perplexed Shishi.

            Forces by forces Shishi has received irritated him too much to the point he grunted in displease. He rose and hissed. The broken rib felt poking to his flesh, but he tried enduring it himself. He analysed the surroundings. There were two Humans, The Aquarius and The Capricorn watching him cautiously, as if he was a time bomb that would explode in no time.

            What is this? How can I be here?

            His head must have knocked somewhere before he arrived here.

            But, wait. What was he doing here?

            His view was completely different a moment ago. A moment? He could not say how long he has been trapped into the infinity darkness, traumatizing him too well. He knitted his brows together while seeking on memory recalling.

            “I was in a very white clean room,” Shishi began, dodging everyone’s sharp stares at him. “There were Tsuya and Gabriel together with me. Ite and Kani were supposed to be with me, but soon after we arrived at the entrance, they’ve gone already. Then I was told to lie on a platform, and when I did, I passed out.”

            Excluding Yagi, the other three gaped in disbelief. What room was he talking about? Tatsu seemed dissatisfied that he knelt by Shishi, cupped his face and lifted it up.

            “You’ve been coming to us to snatch our friends away!” Tatsu was scolding Shishi for deceiving. “And now you said you had no idea what was happening? Did I hit your head too hard until you got amnesia?”

            “He doesn’t. He still remembered the room thing and such,” Hikari crossed his arms against his chest. He was frowning, thinking hard on the possibility, “What did Tsuya do to you?”

            “Nothing much. Gabriel prepared me on the platform, and he just stood there, chatting with Gabriel meanwhile,” Shishi scratched his back of head, still in confusion. “Where is this place? Forest of Eve?”

            Hikari and Mizugame nodded, telling Shishi that his guess was correct. The Forest of Eve was one of the forbidden place to The Zodiacs, however he could be there almost effortlessly. His broken ribs was probably the result of breaching the rule, but he did not know who gave the punishment on him.

            Impossibly these Humans and Yagi and Mizugame. They were given consent to only be there since the mission has begun. Hence, they could be there unharmed.

            Yagi and Mizugame exchanged glances. Shishi’s revelation surely intrigued them as Shishi seemed really serious about not knowing how he arrived at The Forest of Eve. Informing him about his sudden appearance from thick fog and such did not help at all. Was he brainwashed? But he could reminisce incident before he passed out.

            Something was unsettled, and they still failed to find out how they could escape the woods. One thing coming into the mind for sure – they must capture Ite and Kani instead.