1 No. 1

-- Guardian Spirit Research Facility No. 199

Eight children wearing snow-white gowns stood 6 feet apart from each other. Within a white room, which strange white lights the illuminated everything, and a white silence that could drive you insane.

"Number four, summon your guardian spirit." The cold and stern voice of a middle-aged man commanded one of the children.

Hana, a young girl with blue hair richer and deeper than the sea itself stood idly. Her pale black eyes, devoid of any emotion but longing, fluctuated slightly.

She held out her hands, as if begging for something, before closing her eyes and speaking under her breath.

The small space around her wrinkled like a piece of paper, and a silhouette appeared shortly after.

A sword about 30 inches long hovering mysteriously in the air behind Hana. It was a traditional sword, yet its appearance could fool anyone.

The handle beat the night sky by a long shot in terms of darkness. On the guard of the sword, a crimson-red gem lie embedded within, and the blade was grey.

The sword itself had a faint red outline that was easily noticeable due to the color of the room.

In front of Hana was a window made of sturdy glass. And behind that window check of glass was a man with both gray hair and a gray beard. His face was riddled with wrinkles, along with a pair of oval-shaped glasses.

His bright yellow eyes betrayed his initial appearance as they revealed a brimming vitality that belonged only to the youth.

His lips curved into a smile and his eyes exposed a sense of pure greed.

"Beautiful. You're a descendant of the Maken clan. I'll have a fun time extracting your guardian spirit." The middle-aged man's face showed an expression of violent greed that'd make anyone uncomfortable.

"But, for now, we'll have to wait. You may withdraw your guardian spirit now." He stated with a suddenly downcast expression.

His gaze slowly moved towards a boy standing to the right of Hana. An expression of sudden interest sparked within his heart.

The boy, Kaito, had chilling white hair that was somehow purer than the snow. Yet, within his hazy golden-yellow eyes, which were brighter than the man's, lied an infinite darkness that could swallow any and every one whole.

"You, number one." He pointed at the boy.

Kaito's hazy eyes didn't fluctuate in the slightest. He only raised his gaze to meet the man behind the glass window.

Raising his hands and closing his eyes before the man could instruct him to, Kaito spoke under his breath and a silhouette appeared.

Ancient-looking and feeling chains immediately wrapped around Kaito, latching onto the ground and embedding themselves there. Kaito showed an uncomfortable and troubled expression.

As if he was being splashed with strokes of paint, black tattoos resembling thick and thorny vines appeared. They started from his fingertips, quickly growing their way over his arms and eventually up to his neck.

Kaito felt as if was suffocating and his expression turned into one of desperation as he struggled to reach out to the man behind the glass window.

The man watched Kaito with an eager and interested expression plastered upon his face.

A grin formed on his face before he waved his hand at Kaito.

"You can withdraw your guardian spirit. Although I may not your origin, there's no doubt your guardian spirit is special. I wonder what kind of power it is."

The man, despite previous observations, didn't hold a single ounce of greed within his eyes. He only showed a look of interest at first, and was ready to move on to the next subject.

Though, he noticed Kaito's guardian spirit hadn't been withdrawn yet. He thought Kaito was disobeying his orders, but he quickly noticed Kaito's expression had only grown more pained.

'Hm?' The man was confused at first and planned to grab his walky-talky from his science coat.

"Hm, assistance is needed in Room Number 17." His eyes harbored a cautious expression as he observed Kaito.

The children around him eventually grew concerned and backed away from him. The seemingly portal of darkness that had opened on the ground brought them great fear.

"This is Agent Minato, can you describe the situation?" Another man besides the one in the room spoke from the walky-talky.

The man in the room kept his gaze on Kaito and brought the walky-talky up to his mouth.

"An X level emergecy has emerged. Immediate assistance is required." The man suddenly had a downcast expression on his face. He turned off the walky-talky before leaving the room through the door on the left.

The children beyond the glass window then felt a sense of crisis when seeing the man leave the room.

None of them spoke but only backed away further from Kaito, who was now on his knees. The chains were dragging him further and further onto the ground against his will.

The thorny vine tattoos had covered everywhere but his face and he looked utterly terrified.

"...Help." His plea for help was frail and silent. The children within the room were far too concerned with the expanding darkness to even think about helping him.

As the darkness began to envelop the children themselves, a continuous thud could be heard from on top of them.

The ceiling caved in shortly after.

None of the children were harmed, but their expressions became even more frantic.

But, when they gazed upon the silhouette of the person that had fallen through the ceiling, the frantic emotions within the children began to settle down.

All of them instinctively rushed towards the person.

It was a woman with curly blonde hair that was nothing but normal. Her regular blue eyes made her look extra-ordinary, but she donned a weird uniform.

It was all red except for a few zippers and white lines that reminded people of the ones on motherboards. They were precise and sort of intricate.

Despite her ordinary looks, she radiated a golden light.

She observed the children for a moment before glaring at Kaito with an expression only of disgust.

"A mix between a fallen and a human. A wretched guardian spirit has been born. You should be killed immediately, but be lucky I'm only here to rescue these kidnapped children. If you weren't such a being, then you would've been rescued as well, but unfortunately your fate is as such."

Kaito couldn't move or react in any way, all he could do was listen to the woman's horrible words targeted specifically at him.

'A wretched guardian spirit...You should be killed immediately...If you weren't such a being...'

These words echoed in Kaito's mind.

Snip-

Something seemed to have snapped in Kaito's mind. The chains binding him onto the ground snapped one after another.

The pit of darkness slowly receded and the chains disappeared into the darkness. Though, the vine tattoos remained on his body.

Thankfully, they weren't strangling Kaito anymore. He turned around and looked at the light-radiating woman.

His golden-yellow eyes were no longer hazy. They fluctuated slightly, hiding within them a feeling of anger.

Though, Kaito was mostly frustrated and confused at the moment.

"Kill me then." He said resolutely as he held his arms out, defenseless.

The woman's gaze turned firm, erasing the expression of disgust harbored within her eyes.

She held out her hand and a briefcase made of gold appeared. The briefcase opened by itself and a thin and long katana came from within it.

It exuded a bright golden radiance that repelled the small lingering bits of darkness near Kaito. The woman grabbed the katana and aimed it at Kaito.

The woman's gaze remained firm.

She threw the sword with immense speed. It flew directly at Kaito without stopping.

Kaito's expression became pale out of fear and he tried to avoid the katana. Much to his surprise, it followed him and pierced right through his chest.

No blood was drawn, only a searing wound that burned with a faint golden light.

"I won't kill you just yet since you're but a child. In ten years, this sword will activate, giving you a specific location that I expect you to come to. If you don't reach the location within an hour, this sword will automatically kill you."

Kaito's vision turned hazy and he felt himself growing extremely tired despite a searing pain assaulting his entire body.

If there was an analogy he could use, it would be one where he felt like a body of fire being extinguished by a bucket of water.

"...It...hurts..."

The last thing Kaito saw was the woman approaching him before he completely fainted.