Chapter 8 – What’s the plan?

Jasmine wakes up in unfamiliar room. She sees no window but she sees bunkers and bed around her. "A sleeping quarter perhaps?" she mutters as she pulls herself out of the bed. She noticed a stand, on it is a bowl filled with water and a mirror beside her bed. She walked towards it and looks at herself at the mirror: messy hair, large patch of dirt on her face and a lot of dust all over her face and hair.

She washes herself and get ready for another day. She walks around and sees a door with the words Sleeping Quarters on it. "Right . . . I am on Amihan's flying ship and I passed out after the fight against the demon" She exits the room and was greeted by a busy crew running around the ship and she sees the other guardians by the deck talking.

She sees Gil at the top of the mast. "Woooohh! So this is what the birds feel like!" Gils shouts in amazement. Kislap beside him also shouts "Yeah! I miss being up here!" The two celebrate in their new fondness of flying. Jasmines loved that. She loves to see the guardians bond and relax unlike the first time they met, they immediately fight one another.

Jasmine turns and walks by the deck and sees Kulog and Tala asking the sailors how they can manage to fly this huge ship across the sky. One crewman replies that the ship is flown with wind magic, and the take turns supply the ship with their magic so they won't all get tired and fall to the ground. Kulog is amaze by ingenuity of the magic of these elves while Tala inspects the wooden carving along the deck – such splendor and craftsmanship.

Animals of different sizes, creatures of verifying shapes and other sort of carvings are displayed in large pedestals along the deck of the ship. The crewman says that these are made by Amihan. Whenever they travel across to visit other lands she will carve one creature that caught her attention the most.

Jasmine takes a moment to breathe in the fresh air as the ship nears the group of clouds in the sky. Jasmine reaches for the incoming cloud and grabs a hold of it. But as she grabs the cloud it passed her hands. "Huh, so that's how clouds work. I thought they are like those from the cartoons".

"Well, it depends if the cloud is frozen or not" Amihan says as she floats down from deck above her. Amihan then lands beside her and ask if she is freezing, Jasmine replies that she can take it and besides she is enjoying the cool temperature of the sky. Amihan smiles and she is glad that the Chronicler loves sailing the skies as she does.

Amihan then waves her hand to call the other guardians to gather at the gallery so they can talk and have their breakfast. Jasmine and the others reached the gallery and sat on an oval table. Amihan's crewmen served fruits, bread and water for their breakfast. As they ate Jasmine and Juan tells the group what transpire from the moment Juan stop time at Vale and up to the moment they encounter the devil.

Tala and Atlas is mad at Juan's action. "I thought there was someone wanting to kill our Chronicler and you think that is funny?!" Tala shouts as she slams her hand in anger.

"Yeah, for me it is." Juan smirks.

"You don't deserve the title of a guardian if you're going to abuse its power just to make jokes Juan! That is selfish and irresponsible." Atlas supports Tala as he finishes his food.

"Well aren't we all here for our selfish reasons? Plus! Chronicler made sure the devil won't come back for us!" Juan replies to the two angry guardians.

"Well, I did tell him to stop harassing us. But I think he will still honor the contract you made with him." Jasmine says as she sips on her mug.

The room grew quiet as they thought they are safe from the devil's grasp. All are quiet except for Leshin as he is chewing on some nuts on his bread. "I chose this path to protect what I have and what can be. If the devil will have my soul, then let it be. I am happy I die protecting others."

"Ugh! Again with your words Leshin. I prefer if you would say something less wise and more normal. You sound like an old man . . . you're not even that old!" Tala replies as she finishes her plate.

Leshin giggles and replies "I thought that was a charm of mine"

Tala blushes for a moment then she pouts and turnaround from Leshin.

Jasmine ignores the banter of the other guardians and she lays the White Chronicle in front of her. "So, why aren't you shocked that I am a new Chronicler and not the old one? Isn't that strange for you guys?" she asked the guardians.

"Yes, as you were telling us that a while ago but I kind of shocked! That's was the reason you're a bit childish than usual or more childish rather compare to the last Chronicler. She was serious but she knows how to play but you're here and I am just happy that you can still lead us" Kislap replies.

"Yes, she was. Unlike you, the previous Chronicler was cool headed. But both of you know what to do at times of difficulty and manage to pull us out in trouble. You might not be her but I am glad you're a Chronicler I can respect." Kulog adds to her brother's reply.

Gil stood and raises his mug "I salute to the new Chronicler that saves us from the devil! And I am happy to work with you."

The other guardians raise their mugs in agreement and cheer for Jasmine. Other guardian also expressed their concern to Jasmine but they are confident that Jasmine can lead them fine.

Gil then asked a question "So what now? What was this prophecy or darkness stuff we need to clear? That prediction was made by the previous Chronicler right?"

Juan claps and his green magic fills the table. He makes illusion of the anito statue that he and Jasmine saw at the underworld. Jasmine flips her book toward the guardians and show the page about the Bakunawa.

"Around the world, different snake cults, snake people and other snake monsters are making a mess. This is serious. Here at Antrian, elves and other creatures are being abducted and scarified to this anito of the Bakunawa." Juan says as he uses his magic.

"I believe that there is an organized attack made by these snake monsters around the world." Juan's magic project an illusion of the army oni he killed and a figure of a man.

"These are Onis from an island east of Antria. They were goofy bunch and won't harm anyone unless you trespass their territory. They attacked me and the Chronicler when we were on our way to the underworld; they declared that they are working for this scum, Orochimaru!" Juan says with a tone of disappointment and anger. Other picks that up and he was asked why he was talking as if he knew the guy.

"Oh, I know that bastard. He was my friend and I exiled him for betrayal. He somehow returned and gained the trust of the Onis." Juan adds.

"Hold on Juan. You exiled him? Are you a lord or king on that island?" Amihan asks.

"Kind of like that Amihan. During my travels on the island, I became a lord of some lands there and left its care to my subordinates." Juan replies as he claps his hand and the magic disappears.

"I assume none of you knows the Bakunawa? The White Chronicle had no information about it and its information was only added when I saw the anito." Jasmine states as she pushes the White Chronicle to the middle of the table.

The entire group looks at the page of Bakunawa. All they see is a drawing and a short description of how large it is. All of the guardians don't know this creature and Jasmine is left again with questions.

"I believe that I was transported from my world to help you guys. And I think that these attacks associated with snake people and other snake cult is the warning that the previous Chronicler gave us." Jasmine says as she flips the pages to the entry the devil.

"I as was fighting him in his realm, I was blessed with light that gave me strength on defeating him." Then she grabs the leather bookmark. "This one gave me that very same power and there was a person living from here – I haven't given her a name yet."

As she was speaking about the bookmark, the woman gracefully leapt out from the leather bookmark and landed in the middle of the table. "You called me Chronicler?"

"There she is!" Jasmine exclaims in excitement. The other guardians looked confused.

"Is there someone we should be looking at?" Amihan asks.

"Maybe you need more rest. You are starting to see illusions" Leshin adds.

Tala then waves her wand and cast a magic on the table. Small fire encircles the top the table. As the fire swirls around it pass through the woman like a ghost. As Tala finished her cast, the magic disappears in an instant.

"I cast a simple fire spell that allows me to detect magic in the area. It detects no magic or life form around it. Chronicler, please rest more. I agree with Leshin on this one."

"Chronicler, I must inform you that I am a construct of your mind and the White Chronicle. I embody the confidence of your being and can be seen only by the holder of the White Chronicle" the figure adds.

Jasmine is felt speechless. She withdraws the bookmark and sat on her chair. "It seems I can only see her. She said that she is a magic of the White Chronicle."

The others are worried that Jasmine might be getting tired from all this action while some of them are understandable towards her; this is Jasmine's first rodeo as the Chronicler. The figure then disappears and returns itself to the bookmark.

"What's the plan?To stop these snakes am I right? So how do we proceed on dealing with them? We have guardians but the world is vast for us to explore." Atlas asked the group.

"Well, Amihan and I was the only ones awake after the fight against the devil. I ask her to take us to the island. I want to see Orochimaru and kill him this time." Juan replies with anger on his voice.

"What other regions have this snake attacks I wonder" Kislap says as he looks at his sister.

"Maybe the other regions have their problems. I wish the other guardians are well" Kulog adds.

Hearing this, Jasmine shivers for a moment. She and Juan never told the group about what the devil told them the death of other guardians. "Should we?" Juan asks.

"As the Chronicler, I think I should tell them." Jasmine then asks everybody to pay attention to her. "The devil showed contracts that were recently fulfilled: Aero was killed in his voyage by lighting from a king. Ura was killed in action while fighting with Asura and Kaen was consumed by Orochimaru."

The look of the other guardians' eye widen from the news. Jasmine fells the room grew cold and none of the guardian's cheerful faces are replaced with gloom. This grim news is hard but it seems that it hit them harder.

Atlas slams the table in anger. Splinters are stuck on his fist as tears began to fills his eyes. "No! Not Aero! Why?! DID YOU ANGER ZUES, AERO?!" his sobbing is large. The scene of a large man with huge muscles crying over the death of his comrade reminds Jasmine of a gentle giant. Atlas might look scary but he seems to be a kind soul.

Atlas covers his face with his hands but no amount of hiding can shelter the other guardians from his wails.

"Wait. Zeus? That old man? What did you know about him?" Kulog asked as she stands up from her chair. Kislap also stand up.

"I remember you tell us you were from the Land of Origin. Zeus is located at Tymar. What are you hiding Atlas?" Kulog asked as the siblings began to glow in unison.

"Did the old man send you to find us?" Kislap adds as his magic begins to flow. Sparks began to fly from his hair and nails while Kulog's body began to vibrate.

Leshin and Tala stood up trying to calm the siblings down. Gil then tries calm Atlas down. Juan looks at Jasmine and said "See? It's Vale all over again"

Amihan then used her wind magic and swept the twins across the room and holding them down with strong gust. "No fighting in my ship!"

Amihan's long hair turned from black to red. Her calm expression turned into anger as old red leaves from falls from her hair. Her green armor turns to red as well. And her magic grew intense as the siblings began to fight her winds.

Jasmine then shouts "Hey! Calm down everyone please! I need you guys to act civil." Then the whole room got silent and they returned to their ship. The siblings looked at Atlas with disgust and distrust while Atlas starts to sober up from his tears.

"No. I apologize for not answering immediately. I was taken from what the Chronicler told us." Atlas wipes the last tears on his eyes. Atlas was about to speak but Jasmine raised her hands and began to speak.

"Firstly, can the three of you spill your secrets here and now to prevent any more fighting among us? We are about to lose a war that we haven't even began to stop."

"Wow, that pretty mature of you." Juan adds as he claps for Jasmine.

Atlas raises his arm and Jasmine nods. "I am Atlas. Yes I am from Tymar but I was born from Land of Origins. I travel the land and decided to settle on Tymar but one day there was a civil war against a new race that was birth from our king. Eventually his son – "

"Zeus was victorious and seized control of Tymar. Then he sent you to retrieve us!" Kislap cuts Atlas off. The siblings clearly have a reason to hate Zeus and it seems that they reject Atlas story.

"No Kislap. I was imprisoned after the war and until today my true body is ever holding the world itself. And how dare you associate me with that monster. I would gladly kill Zeus over than killing you!" Atlas retaliates with his own harsh tone towards the siblings.

"Care to spill your secrets then Kislap?" Jasmine asked as she gave the floor to the siblings to speak.

"Me and my sister are the thunder that the kings of world decides to use to do their bidding. Zeus and Thor are two gods that loved to call us when they want to kill immediately their foes. We grew tired of being thunders of war and decided to escape . . ." then Kislap was cut off by Atlas.

"Just like me. I used The Ritual of Power to leave my true body and leave Tymar. See the world which I carry on my back and enjoy the life I miss."

Kulog then nods her head. "Yeah, I and my brother heard about the ritual too. We were given bodies to live as a guardian. At least we escape their grasp and started to see this world that everyone seems to enjoy."

"Never thought we would have another guardian that wanted to escape Zeus." Kulog says as she bows her hear to Atlas. Atlas bows in return as they have made their peace.

"Sorry about that big guy. I just hate the Zeus so much and we thought we dragged back to the clouds." Kislap also bows to Atlas.

The siblings and Atlas paused and the three have a moment to look at each other's eyes. Jasmine seems happy that the two parties are having a mutual understanding and she pans over the other guardians they seem content. She's Amihan change back to her usual color and as she pans over Juan, all she see is him rolling his eyes.

"Emm, Juan what's the matter?" Jasmine asked the troubled guardian.

"My brother, Thor, seems to destroy everything he is involved with. First he made a mess with my family and now the siblings. Hate that guy" Juan replies with irritation from mentioning his brother's name.

Atlas then explains that Aero was a fellow guardian just like Amihan. He was fast and free spirited that loves to travel. Aero was the one who introduced him to the ritual and gave him the ingredients he need. He and Aero were best friends and decided to travel the world. Aero decides to travel to Incein, the newly formed continent while Atlas decides to travel north and found himself on Antrian.

The group didn't know the other two guardians, Kaen and Ura, but they seem troubled. Juan especially concerned that a guardian was defeated by Orochimaru.

"Hey Juan, what's this island's name?" Jasmine asked.

"It has many names but I would like to call it the Sun Rise Island since the sun always lights their land first before any other" Juan replies.

Leshin then remind the group to Atlas' question: how are they going to investigate the whole world.

Jasmine smiles with confidence and says "One continent at a time Leshin."

Leshin smiles and is glad that Jasmine has the confidence and charisma to lead them.

As they are finishing up their discussion they heard a huge squabble above them. The elves are running everywhere and are shouting to man the cannons. As the guardians heard the shouts, a crewman enters the room and informs them that they got incoming huge crow approaching them and the crows started to scatter their sharp knives towards the ship.

Other guardians hurries to return to the deck and there they see a large swarm of crows flying towards the ship. Jasmine then looks at the distance and they seem look like crows from afar but she doesn't seem to get why a crow would have knives thrown at them.

Juan then informs Amihan of the incoming enemies "Amihan! Take your men to prepare to wind magic that negate projectiles. These are not crows. These are tengu and they have wind magic like your men do."

Amihan shouts instructions and the crewmen follow her word. Juan then informs the other guardians that Tengu are evil spirits and but they never been this away from their land.

"Maybe they were pushed away to migrate, like birds" Amihan adds and Juan nods. "Maybe or I think the worst his here. Orochimaru has gain the trust of the Tengu and orders to attack anyone nearing the island"

Atlas then informs not to worry he can use his magic to form sharp rocks and throw them at the air. He flexes his hands and waves but no rocks formed around him.

"Drat! I forgot we are in a ship. I cannot manipulate rocks or the land if there's none!"

Gil looked at his hands and seems to realize there is no water for him to manipulate and Leshin look at his spear and informs the others he needs soil and roots for him to use his magic. "Not you two! I was expecting you can just tangle them or wash them away." Jasmine exclaims.

The swarm of tengu approaches them. Huge humanoid avian creatures with black wings in armor are flying towards them. Some of the tengu launches their knives to the ship but was repelled by the magic of the elves.

The ship's cannon open fired at the group of tengu swarming the side of the ship.

"Amihan and Tala flies and lands on the top of the ship.

"Amihan lend me a tornado. Ill cast my fire on it and we will fry these crows for lunch!"

Amihan smiles and they both cast their magic together and created a huge fiery tornado that burns anything that approaches the ship.

Kislap and Kulog stack their metallic rods on each other and hold each other's hands. They began to concentrate the magic towards them. "A favor please. Always protect the both of us but it will take time for us to prepare this magic."

"Atlas, Gil and Leshin listen well. The tengu got Kiri-Tengu, swords made from their sharp beak and metal. The swords have one edge sharp and the other blunt. Don't be afraid to get in and use that to your advantage. Plus their armor was made to withstand minor magic, cuts and stab but not crushing attacks. That's their weakness – crush their armors and you crush them." Juan instructs the three.

"With pleasure" Atlas cracks his knuckles while Gil laughs as he ready his hands for another beat down. Leshin readies his spear and Juan assumes his battle position as they assign themselves near Jasmine and the two siblings.

The fire continues to prevent the tengu's approach and the canon fire began to weaken the resolve of the tengu attacking them from the sides. The smell of burned powder and fried birds fill the area.

"Nice we are repelling them!" Jasmine yells then as they the tengu clears.

"That was the first wave. Prepare for the next!" Juan says as the crewmen of the ship began to prepare for the next wave.

Then as Juan finished yelling, a larger swarm of tengu began to fly towards them. The fire tornado burned some of the tengu but most managed to pass thru the flames and dived towards the deck.

Then a third wave manages to fly below the ship; the only area that the fire tornado didn't protected. The tengu began tearing the ship's exterior and made holes underneath the bowels of the ship. The crewmen immediately run down to the bottom of the ship and started to fight off the tengu.

As the some of the men left the deck more tengu began to target the elves that were casting magic to protect them from projectiles and the same team who are keeping the ship flying.

Atlas rushes towards the first batch of tengu that land near him. His fist made quick work of the tengu's armor as his fists are the very definition of power. Each blow he made manage to break the bone of the tengu. He swing of the sword he dodge, he enters the blind spot and lands a straight uppercut to the beak of the tengu.

Gil on the other hand breaks the sword by biting into it. Each bite shatters a kiri tengu and cast a fear over the tengus' faces. He laughs as he lay beat down while the crows runs for cover. Each sword he breaks the more and more piles up on his location.

This manages to instill fear to the squad of tengu he is facing and decides to attack Leshin and Juan instead. But they are no slouch either. Leshin kept his distance, stabbing the eyes of the tengu even before its sword reaches them.

Juan with his knife manages to trick the tengu. With his illusion he made 5 more copies of himself and distracts the other tengu to attack the illusions. With the tengu distracted, he manage to slice their necks open with ease.

"Ha! This is easy! Is this the best the tengu can do?" Gil shouts as the pile of broken swords nearing to reach his height.

"You said it my water brother. My boxing and reflexes are the only things I need to beat these black and blue. No need for any fancy magic" Atlas proudly stands in the bodies of dead tengu, nearing the same height of the sword heap that Gil has.

As the two are celebrating they heard the shouting from the deck below. Looks like the crew are having more tengu downstairs and Amihan yells for Gil and Atlas to help her men downstairs.

"Gil at Atlas please go! Juan and I will handle the rest" Leshin shouts as he parry the incoming sword attack and stab the tengu between the open armor and skewed its body. Juan then blocks two swords from the tengus and slips underneath them and slices their knees. The two tengu knelt in pain and Leshin swipes his spear; clearing the head off the two tengu.

Then they heard a huge flapping sound in the distance. The fifth wave of tengu came above them. It is so large that they began to block the sun. The fifth wave acted different as they all flap in unison – as if they are linked on one mind.

The tengu from the fifth wave also moves and talks in unison "Gochisō suru jikan!" the large group yells toward the ship as it prepare for an attack. They began to flap their wings so hard that their wind began to overpower the elves' wind magic. Eventually the tengu's flapping of their wings manage to blow the fire magic of Tala and Amihan and eventually exhausting the magic of the wind protection they have.

Tala and Amihan is on their knees catching their breath from their magic combo. Leshin yells for the two to stand up or the fifth wave will demolish the ship. Jasmine looks at the sky at it began to darken. The tengu began to rain down knives upon them.

Leshin jumps infront of Jasmine and the siblings; he spins his spear to deflect the knives. Juan dived under the dead tengus and used them as cover. Amihan then shifted her color again to red and her winds began to blow the knvies away and back to the tengus above them. Tala also recovers and uses her wand to start a huge fireball.

"Amihan, Ill start casting fireballs. You throw it to them!" Tala shouts as she prepares.

Amihan then uses her wind magic throw the fireball to the flying tengus. But as the fireball approaches the tengu, they disperse and manage to dodge the fireballs. The tengus laugh and proceed to throw sharp knives.

"The fireballs are too slow! We need to hit them with something faster!" Amihan yells.

"I can see that! But casting a faster fireball means that I must reduce its size and effectiveness to burn them. We need something faster that can hit them or something that can stop them from flying!" Tala replies as she starts to cast a smaller fireball.

Suddenly the siblings light up and electric began to pour out of them. The shock manage to give Jasmine a small static shock but nothing harmful. The siblings are now glowing with intense lights. Their eyes glow with electricity. Their hands sends sparks and their skins are tainted blue and yellow.

"You want something fast Tala? I got you?" the sound of crackling lighting came from Kislap's mouth. Kislap grabs his metallic stick and turns to the darken sky.

"Something to stop them from flying? I got you too Tala!" Kulog smiles toward the two guardians atop of the mast. She grabs her metallic stick and apologizes at Leshin for making him defend them.

Kislap closes his fit and raises it in the air. In response, Kulog closes her fist and bumps her brother's. As their hands made contact, the two become living lighting and thunder! The sound of thunder roars across the sky and lighting take itself streaking around the ship. Then both take flight from the deck and flies to towards the flying tengus.

Juan and Leshin are in awe while Tala and Amihan continues their barrage. They see Kislap flying across the sky as living lighting and he began to tear the tengu's formation. Kulog roars manage to create large sonic booms that disorientates and knock the tengus off the air. The falling tengu are burned by the fireballs of Tala and Amihan's winds.

The siblings attack begins to look like dance. A dance that have the tengu's formation broken and defeated. As a two streak across the sky more and more tengus drop and the crewmen of Tala began to cheer for the two!

Juan then looks up and laughs. "Orokana tori!" he says while he crawls his way out of the dead tengus. Then as they are celebrating they heard a large crash came from inside the ship. Atlas and Gil came tumbling down after being hurled from underneath the wooden floor. Their impact breaked a lot of the statues that Amihan carved.

Gil and Atlas looked bloody and bruised as a large tengu appeared. This large avian is different from the rest. His face is being covered by a mask, his body is protected by a red armor that Juan used to wear when Juan fought off the Onis and this tengu is carrying a large fan on his left hand and a long kiri-tengu sword on his right.

"What a surprise Jiraiya! I never thought you will come back after you left the island!" the large tengu approach as he laughs.

"Jiraiya? Is he talking to Juan?" Leshin asked and Jasmine replies that Juan used many names in his travels and Jiraiya was one of them.

Juan stands up and looked nervous. "Yokoshima Tori, the leader of the tengu clan. How it going?". Juan stands up and readies himself.

Juan rushes toward Yokoshima with his knife on hand. Yokoshima didn't move and instead waves his fan and a large dark gust of wind pass thru Juan. As it passed him Juan stops on his track and yells in pain. Blood splatters from the wind and scattered his blood across the deck.

"Stay back! Something manages to hit my shoulders." Juan orders to Leshin and Jasmine to take cover. Juan tries to stand and Yokoshima laughs at the bleeding guardian.

Leshin aims for the teng's head and throw his but again the tengu use his fan to unleash gust of winds towards the spear. The spear flung and manages to find its way atop another mast. Leshin manage to dodge the wind and wasn't hit by anything that made him bleed.

Jasmine remained calm and took cover. She begins to scan the White Chronicle, looking for clues on what hit Juan. Her eyes manage to see that the path that the wind travelled and sees sharp scratches travels with it.

"Leshin, can wind magic be form to cut?" Jasmine asks and Leshin replies no. Wind magics can only blow you away or rip you into shreds if you made a large tornado but never to cut.

Jasmine yells at Tala and Amihan but they yelled back that they are busy at the moment at hurling more fireballs at the flying tengu. The crewmen are also busy fighting other tengus that manage to land on the ship and ones inside the ship.

Atlas and Gil are clearly knocked out from the beating they got from Yokoshima. Jasmine looks at Gil's armor and Atlas clothing and sees that it is filled with the same scratches. The two strongest heavy hitter of the guardian are down. Tala, Amihan, Kislap and Kulog are busy holding off the large tengu wave above them and Leshin and Juan needs to deal with the leader of the tengu.

Jasmine sees an entry on the White Chronicle that no wind magic can be used to cut but sharp weapons can be blown with the wind to create a slashing effect. Then Jasmine remembers what Amihan did early, she used her wind magic to return the knives back to the tengu.

"That's it! There must be small knives with his wind magic. We can't see it but I am sure that is what managed to cut you Juan" Jasmine yells to Juan and Leshin.

Yokoshima was surprised to hear that the secret of his wind magic was reveal by a small girl. He sees the girl with the White Chronicler on the corner and he smiles underneath his mask.

"Ah, is that the Chronicler? Jiraiya, this day is indeed surprising! First, I saw this ship entering our territory and then I see you here and the Chronicler. I can get two heads of the most important people in one day!"

Yokoshima begin approach the three and readies his sword. Juan stands up and uses his magic to don his armor. Leshin stands and stretch out his hand. His spear from the mast manages to unstuck itself and flies back to the hands of its master.

"What's the plan? Are you still going to resist your inevitable death?" Yokoshima says as he waves his fan preparing for another gust towards the group.