A Guardian's Possession. Amy Blankenship

to take the weaker, lowborn demons within himself and thrive on their dark power. He could also release that power with devastating affects when the time was right… like in battle.

      With ability like that… why would he bother with the guardian heart crystal? What would he have to gain by gathering the talisman? Did he truly believe he would gain everything he desired once it was complete and in his possession? Again, those were questions that only led to more questions and secrets that were never meant to be known.

      Kyoko looked into the stone eyes of the maiden wondering what secrets it held. Reaching up with her hand, she touched the marble cheek gently and asked, “Hyakuhei seems almost unstoppable even without the help of the talismans, so why is he trying to find them?” Silence was her answer.

      Realizing she was once again talking to a stone object, Kyoko clamped her mouth shut so she would keep her thoughts to herself. “Gee, I really need friends,” She mumbled. Lowering her hand, she turned her back to the shrine that transported her between worlds.

      Resuming her thoughts, she bit her bottom lip as she pictured the enemy within her mind. As Hyakuhei gained more of the scattered talisman, he became more dangerous to deal with. If he ever gained all the pieces of the talisman, he would then be able to breach the barrier between the demon and human world. This was the true answer to her question.

      If that happened, neither world would be able to stop his deadly obsession with the power of darkness. “I won’t let that happen, you know.” Her shoulders dropped with the weight of keeping that promise.

      Her mind shifted back to the dream she’d had less than an hour ago… the same dream that left her in a cold sweat and bolting upright in her bed. The sounds and feelings of the dream had been so real that she could have sworn she’d really been there. It was as if she was watching it all happen and feeling it at the same time.

      â€œBut that’s impossible… right?” she glanced back toward the statue as the memory of the dream came back to haunt her. Hyakuhei had captured her in her dream and although she had fought him… did she really stand a chance?

      Kyoko blinked hoping the remembrance of the dream would soon vanish. She didn’t want to feel the fear that she knew would come with the vision that bordered closer to a nightmare. Seeing the maiden statue staring back at her, it dawned on her. Whether it had really happened in the past or was truly just the memory of a dream… it was still a memory in the fullest sense of the word.

      She felt the images crashing back toward her, making her feel like a deer caught in the headlights. Her eyes slid closed again as if fate were demanding that she remember it all… even remembering the enemy’s thoughts. This time it was not the same visions as the last.

      In the dream, she’d come through The Heart of Time. But instead of the guardians being there waiting on her, it had been the enemy… Hyakuhei. As she turned to flee back the way she had come, he’d reached out and grasps her wrist in an iron grip to halt her flight. No matter how hard she fought to get away from him… it seemed the more she struggled, the closer he got.

      He reached his other hand out and gripped her chin to raise her frightened gaze to his and she stopped struggling the moment their eyes locked. Instead of the cold black eyes of the enemy, she was looking into warm brown eyes.

      â€œWelcome back,” Hyakuhei whispered softly just as his lips descended on hers.

      Kyoko pinched herself so hard that it made her jump and the daydream came to a sudden stop as if she had turned a power switch off. Were the daydreams and nightmares trying to warn her of some unknown fate or had it already happened and was reminding her of the mistake? Either way she hoped the next time she closed her eyes to sleep… it would be dreamless.

      â€œKissing Hyakuhei…” she put her hands on her hips as if to lecture herself, “what in the world is going through your mind girl?” she felt like a traitor just for saying it out loud. “That’s… that’s almost as bad as kissing Kyou for crying out loud.” She smirked at the comparison even though it wasn’t that funny.

      â€œLack of sleep will do that to you,” She mumbled still fussing at herself. “It also causes one to have full-fledged conversations with themselves,” She continued before sighing in defeat. “I need a vacation.”

      However, despite her vocal ravings, the mental image of kissing Kyou jumped to the forefront of her mind and wouldn’t go away. A rush of warmth traveled from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She wondered where these thoughts had come from. Again the picture popped up out of nowhere and she made an almost physical effort to push it back down.

      With an unsuppressed shiver, Kyoko’s mind did a boomerang back to the five brothers whom were predestined to be her guardians in this dangerous world… or so they said. Her thoughts became centered for a moment on Kyou, the oldest and most powerful of the five brothers. Kyou presented himself just as dangerous and unnerving as his evil uncle Hyakuhei.

      To everyone, even to his brothers, Kyou was an enigma. With the beauty of an archangel, he hid within himself the power to help destroy or heal this demon-racked world. But she could tell by his cold demeanor that Kyou cared not for either alternative. It was as if he had decided that his evil uncle wasn’t his problem.

      She was kind of glad Kyou didn’t travel with the group but kept to himself. Kyoko had only seen him a couple of times since accidentally becoming their priestess and most of those times she had only seen him from a distance… those encounters had been disturbing enough.

      She still didn’t know a lot about Kyou but sometimes wondered if he thought he was too good to be around his brothers… or was it her that he avoided at all cost?

      Kyoko lifted an eyebrow thinking out loud again, “Well, it’s probably for the best anyway, because all he and Toya do is fight when they’re within seeing distance of each other… and Kyou pretty much ignores his other siblings.” She heaved a sigh. He seemed to hold a grudge against her for being the priestess he was supposed to protect.

      â€œIt’s not like I need his help.” Her thought flashed back to the past. Upon their first meeting, Kyou had narrowed his golden eyes at her saying that she was nothing but a weak human and not worthy of his protection. Right before that, he’d been even more frightful.

      When she first came into their world by mistake… Kyou and Toya had tried to kill her, thinking she was trespassing through The Heart of Time with the help of their uncle. It was the guardian heart crystal that had shielded her from their attack and that’s what started this whole mess.

      Somehow, while the guardian heart crystal was protecting her from the brothers, it had shattered into the four winds… sending the demons within their world into a destructive frenzy. If the demons that roamed this world collected enough of the shattered pieces, then they could have the power to cross into her world and plunge it into chaos.

      She and the guardians would have to find the talismans before the demons did or all would be lost.

      Since then, the five guardian brothers had realized that she was the true priestess of the guardian heart crystal and therefore… very much under their protection. Kyou was the only one of the guardians that kept his distance from her. The few times they had crossed paths, she had the sensation that he was more of an enemy then an ally. His golden eyes seemed so hard and cold when he had looked at her… as if destroying her was more to his liking.

      Toya had told her once that Kyou thought humans to be beneath him. That was putting it mildly. In Toya’s own words Kyou was a self-centered, conceited asshole that couldn’t develop a heart if his life depended on it. Kyoko would remember this occasionally and it always brought a smile to her face. For some reason, the aloof demeanor Kyou possessed just seemed… right.

      â€œHe definitely wears it well,” She said aloud.

      The other four