Restarting

The Spirit of Amber Skies

" That made me look stupid didn't it?", he stood there with his hand still in the air and his head down in embarrassment.

" Yeah you look like an idi-", before she could finish, Yuna came running out and jumped on her brother in excitement.

"Akai!!!", she blasted right into him and tackled him to the ground. She looked at him and spoke genuine words. " You really shouldn't try to play the hero like that Akai. You could've been killed.", she knelt down next to him and gave him a disappointed glare.

" Why are you looking at me like that"?

" Because you need to go talk to Mori, remember". Her eyes narrowed as she had increased the disappointment in her expression to a previously inconceivable amount.

This comment hit Akai hard and his eyes had a burning rage to them now. His voice darkened and he clenched his fist as he looked down at his stomach.

" You alright Akai?", Shiina noticed the almost evil look on his face.

" I'm fine. This isn't over yet you guys. There's a spirit that's been hunting me.", He looked towards Mori and Yuna. " Her name is Valentina and she seems to like using knives. She's kil-", Before Akai could finish his sentence, the shadows overtook the world around him and his head felt like it was being crushed. His eyes started bleeding and blood shot out from his nose as he fell over screaming in agony.

" Gyuuh Ha HAAAAA!", his screams were terrifying and everyone around him except for Mori stepped back holding their ears.

" Akai! I'm coming!", Mori ran over to him and held him in her arms as the pain continued to tear his mind apart. " I've got you Akai, you're ok", she held him close and comforted him as the others kept covering their ears.

" GAAAH! What is that damn sound. It burns my ears!", Kanda shouted in searing pain.

" What the hell is this!", Shiina could hear the crushing sound too as her ears began bleeding.

  After 10 or so seconds the sound dissipated and the others got up. Akai hadn't gotten back up and he was still unable to move and Mori was holding him up and leaning his head on her shoulder. After she noticed the others get up, Mori gave Akai a light hug and put her right hand on his chest.

"Jinsei no kagi"

Mori chanted this strange phrase two more times

"Jinsei no kagi"

When she chanted a second time Akai's eyes stopped bleeding and the pain seemed to lessen leave his body. Before she chanted the third, Mori moved her hand from Akai's chest and covered his eyes with it.

"Jinsei no kagi"

A bright green light flashed from under her right hand and then it flashed again, this time it covered Akai and Mori's entire bodies. Her hand began sending off all sorts of light streams of dark greens and bright blues in every direction. These glistening beams of life all remained in the air for several seconds before they all combined into the shape of a leaf above Akai and Mori.

" Woooow. She has the Key of Life.", Kanda stood there, mesmerized by what he was witnessing.

The leaf had formed a golden droplet at the end of it almost like a drop of water. The golden light seemed to be a fluid but when the other beams touched it, they rolled over the top of it and spread out like it was solid. The leaf itself was just as amazing with it's bright blue lines and symbols mixed with the multiple shades of dark green that had made up most of the leaf.

"Winged Tears"

Mori's words sounded like what you'd expect an Angel to sound like. Her voice was softer yet it had a feeling of power to it as well. Her presence itself was crushing and relaxing at the same time and her eyes were the only distinguishable features of her ever-glowing body. The whites of her eyes had been replaced by an amber glow that snatched the attention of her surrounding allies.

"M-Mori? How are you doing this?", Yuna was completely unable to tear her eyes off of Mori for even an instant. She was to captivating to dare miss a single second of her magnificent light.

"And now it's time. Jinsei no kagi". A moment of silence followed her words but this lack of amazement was sent off once more as the drop of golden light fell onto Akai and consumed. A beam of light was shot into the air as a pool of Dandelion essence formed beneath Akai. Cracks in the asphalt from Kanda's crystal wall were filled with streams of golden life and then. In an instant, all of it formed a bright yellow sphere around Akai's body and gave off one more flash of mystifying light.

The others watched in amazement as the light show came to an even more breathtaking finish.

"That was beautiful.", said Yuna.

"I've never seen anything like that before.", said Kanda.

The light disappeared and Akai's wounds were gone. There was no more blood plaguing his clothes and his eyes had been cleaned of any curse.

"Feeling better Akai?", Mori looked down at Akai with golden irises and a strange triangle like symbol replacing her pupils.

"Woah, my wounds are all gone and I can't even feel any pain.", Akai sat there in his own shell of astonishment and gratitude. He spoke these words with a voice of amazement and surprise.

"H-he's completely healed! It's like nothing ever happened to him!", Kanda had his hands on his head and elbows straight to the sky looking like he was totally thrown by what he had just seen.

"Is this the same girl that was talking about Akai in Yuna's room before?", Nao almost couldn't recognize the girl in front of her despite the little change of appearance.

"I definitely love this girl. No doubt in my mind, not one bit. yep yep, definitely marrying this girl.", Akai lost himself in thought for a moment before returning to his senses and locking eyes with Mori.

"Thanks Mori. I really owe you one don't I?", his gaze stared deep but not in a creepy way.

"Don't worry about it, I just didn't want you to die after all of that proud dancing you just did.", A smile drew across her face and she closed her eyes with her c****d slightly to the right.

"You're mocking me aren't you? You definitely are.", Akai covered his face in embarrassment before he sadly left the warmth of his heroine's arms and hopped right back up full of life again.

"Well that was a trip. Can't say I've ever seen something that beautiful before.", Shiina looked at Mori with an impressed look. "I think you'd make a good hunter Mrs What was it?

"Mori Sora.", she looked away towards Akai and fiddled with her hair a bit. Her expression seemed like she was bracing herself for something, and then it hit Akai.

"Are you-.", Akai's words caused her to jolt to a stiff upstanding position and shout out to everyone in her vicinity.

"I'm a Spirit!", silence followed once again. The silence lasted for almost a minute, a minute of no words or sounds from anyone.

The silence was broken by Shiina when she responded with an unexpected answer. "And?", her right eye brow was c****d up a bit like she didn't understand why Mori looked so frightened to speak.

"We don't just slaughter every spirit we see yah know. We only hunt down the psycho murderers and send them back to the mirror.", Kanda said in a reassuring tone.

Akai walked up to Shiina with a worried and clearly anxious expression. He needed to speak but he knew he needed to choose his words now.

"Shiina. Are you able to identify to capabilities of a Key with that shock thing you did earlier?", he was standing only about a meter away now and had a serious tone behind his words.

"I can make a guess depending on what it looks like. Yours looked pretty unique though I mean and infinite clock is definitely a new one to me. How about you Kanda?", She turned to her cousin who nodded his head in silence.

"Wait what's a key again?", Yuna seemed to be confused and excited.

Shiina responded without hesitation. "Your key gives you access to the Manu Angeli you were born with. As far as we know, everybody has some sort of Manu Angeli regardless of strength or ability. The only problem is that there isn't enough keys on our side of the mirror to know what exactly those abilities are".

"So Shiina gets a super rifle and this guy can teleport but I just die over and over? Seriously!", Akai loses himself in thought again as Shiina continues to explain.

"A Manu Angeli is something that all living beings above a certain level of intelligence are given no matter the case. That level of intellect is usually around the age of 12 to 14. By that time, the Soul's Territory should have enough density to manifest itself in several forms". She looked back to Yuna and was immediately disappointed when she saw her pointing her hand at Kanda.

"Manu Angelo!", she shouted as a whole lotta nothing happened.

"That's the wrong passage and there's way more to using a Manu Angeli than just saying it's name. You have to visualize how you use it and this heavily depends on the Angeli you have".

"Ahhhh mannnn! Why can't it be easier than this. It's so complicated!", Yuna grew in frustration as even more nothing happened.

"Hey you guys.", Akai chimed in.

"Yeah? What yah need Akai? We have to get you guys back to base after this so hurry it up.", Kanda put his sword back into his sheath after admiring it during Shiina's life lecture.

"What time is it?", Akai turned to Mori who was watching Nao now.

"My phone got shot in the bathroom so I don't know.", Mori answered.

"6:53AM. We should get back to base before 7AM you guys, come one.", Shiina had a drop of sweat running down her face and fear dominated her body language.

Once again, the world around Akai seemed to have the torn from it. The color remained but it was like Shiina's fear had infected everyone else as well. They all seemed scared and Mori looked like she was going to collapse now. Yuna looked as if she was ready to get up and go. Nao and Akai were the only ones who hadn't lost their composure.

"Akai? Why is everyone so scared?", Nao looked up to her brother as the infection over took her as well. She looked as if she had seen a monster feeding or maybe a ghost. The way she stood even looked like she was going to take off in a to be determined direction.

Then, it happened once again. Shiina's alarm went off once again. It was 7AM and Akai understood through his gruesome punishments that 7AM meant Valentina was here, somewhere. She was surely watching them now, she had to be.

"Shiina. Kanda. It's happening.", Akai's eyes turned into those of a demon. He had changed to the monster that had been forged by 6 hours of endless torment, Valentina and her psychotic nature had given birth to Akai's monstrous fury. This fury slowly creeped up on him and took a hold of him as the colors, once again, disappeared from the world around him. Time slowed to almost zero and the only people that were conscious were Akai and Kanda this time. Shiina wasn't aware of it for some reason. This didn't matter to either of them though, Akai and Kanda looked at each other and made direct eye contact, like they were speaking telepathically.

"You ready Akai? I might need you on this one.", Kanda snapped his fingers. He could move! But the colors hadn't returned yet, how could he move? These thoughts flooded Akai's mind until he felt the phantom winds blowing in his face, this time a hand followed them. The hand was a dark as pitch, it reached into Akai's chest as another hand appeared to grab Akai's right hand.

"Return to me, my love".

The hands disappeared and life had returned to the world, eerie sounds from all around were picking at the groups minds now. Kanda, Akai and Yuna could hear the park children playing with their eerie distant laughs from 3 streets over now. The wind seemed to howl now instead of just gently caressing the world it touched. Every bird that took flight was a threat, every drop of sweat was a drop of blood.

Nao was the only person who didn't feel this petrifying hex that had cursed the others. "What's going on guys, why is everybody so scary looking?", she looked to her sister who now had a knife in her hand and a bloodshot left eye. No, that wasn't her hand, the arm attached to that hand was to short.

"Hello, Kanda-kun. It's been a couple weeks since I saw you hasn't it"?