Pure Hearts of Gold

It has taken quite a bit of convincing for Emmett to come along on this trip. The sun was not something he was terribly fond of. Reapplying sunscreen every few hours was annoying enough at home. Forget a subtropical, perhaps tropical, area like Bermuda.

There really wasn't much reason for him to go either. He didn't know this Azuma figure terribly well. He'd met him a handful of times. He couldn't recall much other than he was a bit out there, even by his families standards. His father had convinced him that he'd enjoy the trip but he wasn't so sure. If his girlfriend had been allowed to come along then that may have been a different story. Long, romantic walks on the beach, a few cocktails, some cuddling under palm trees... none of that was going to happen. As much as he loved his father and brother, he was afraid he wasn't willing to do any of the above with them.

"I'm afraid that the building won't be the most appealing to the eyes." Nyyrikki glanced back as Emmett and Eric through the front mirror of the car. "Azuma has a few children. They're considerably younger than you, Emmett, but one of them is only a few years younger than you, Eric. He didn't elaborate too much but perhaps you guys could get to know them? I imagine Azuma doesn't let them wander too much, therefore they must be terribly bored."

"Maybe," Emmett responded. "I don't want to make any promises, it depends on what they're like. I am sure they're good kids but if they're younger than Eric then I won't have much in common with them. At best I'd be like a babysitter that they happen to like."

Nyyrikki winked as they came up to the building. "Babysitting can pay well you know."

"So does playing the cello and violin. I prefer that over babysitting."

"Oh hush," Nyyrikki said. "Put on your big boy pants and enjoy your time here. I'm not going to chain you two down. If you want to explore go ahead. I recall you wanted to bring your girlfriend. That'll give you the opportunity to have some ideas as to where to bring her."

Emmett nodded. He hadn't been paying too much attention. "So, Eric, how does this all sound to you? Exciting? Adventurous? Boring like to the poor kids who are imprisoned here?"

The 16 year old sat in the back of the old car, his father driving and his brother next to him, sullen over the fact that his girlfriend didn't come with. Apparently the Guardians wanted to stay secret, probably cause they were at barely a 100th percent strength and that's coming from the freaking leaders mouth. Eric stared out the window, watching the tropical setting fly by and happy that he was a mutt. It meant that, unlike the other men in the car, he didn't have to bathe in sunscreen 24/7. With his arm out the window, the werewolf tried to enjoy the beautiful weather and ignored his brother complaining. "Fuck, I hope I don't get so whipped when I finally get a girlfriend." He muttered to himself while Nyyrikki attempted to cheer up Emmett.

"Hell, I'll probably have a better time then you will." Eric replied to his brothers question. "I mean, you'll either be burning your ass off or moping in the corner for your girlfriend." He smirked at Emmett as finished his comment. "Don't worry though, I'm sure she'll be allowed to come eventually. I mean if she can put up with, she can probably deal with a secret order of protectors that can make massive constructs and are lead by a man who could literally have blown up the damn son a few years ago. You are way more difficult than that." Though, once he brought up Azuma, Eric wondered why they were all brought down. After all, they didn't know him that great. Sure they had met him before and talked a bit, but ultimately they weren't the closest. Unless after Azuma lost most of his powers, or got married, he got closer with Nyyrikki. Or maybe after he got kids. Fuck if he knew.

Eric felt to antsy just sitting in his seat waiting to get there. He unbuckled his seat belt and stuck like half his body out of the window. "Ah just smell that air! You can almost smell the sun trying to burn your skin!" In fact he smelt something strange. Some combination of sweat and a perfume that he never smelt before. The scent increased at a rapid pace. "Wait... Dad, stop the car!" The werewolf shouted as he fell back into the car. A massive wall of red aura came up right in front of the car and spread around it. "Then again, maybe you shouldn't bring your girlfriend"

---------

On top of the wall stood a woman. This woman wore loose fitting white robes and a featureless mask on her face that was surrounded by hair as dark as a ravens. Her hands glowed red, her aura swirled around her fists as if it were water spinning inside a bowl. Through the mask the only thing that was visible were her bright crimson eyes, which showed off her obvious killer intent. In a slow but deliberate motion, she pointed her finger towards the vehicle encroaching on their sacred land. "Do you have any idea where you are?" She asked, her tone blunt. "Actually, it matters not. You've come to a sacred place, a place off most of your maps. Clearly you've come knowing where you were going. So I must conclude you mean to cause us harm. And I can not allow that. Prepare for a swift death." As she spoke, the walls grew massive spikes and began the slow process of moving towards the car. Then, once she stopped, the walls accelerated at a rapid rate, in an attempt to crush the car.

However, before the walls could get even close to damaging the car, a small green line rose through the wall towards its center. Once it reached the center it start spiral in on itself before cracks ran up and down the wall. A moment later the wall shattered and the green energy flew back towards a more wooded area. Azuma, while recreating his left forearm and hand with his aura, walked towards the attacker. "Seliah, what did I tell you!?" The guardian shouted at one of his pupils. "We have guests coming and instead of remembering you decided to instead attack them!? And on top of that you use some big flashy technique that easily shows were you are! Here I thought I had taught you better." Azuma ended his yelling with a sigh, approaching his pupil and helping her to her feet. Seliah stared at the ground, embarrassed beyond belief. "I'm sorry Grandmaster." She whispered. He pushed a finger against her masked forward, forcing her to look up. "Don't apologize to me, girl. Say sorry to the people you almost freaking killed. Well attempted to kill. They probably would have gotten out and kicked your ass. Still doesn't mean you shouldn't apologize." Seliah nodded and with great care, she turned towards Nyyrikki and his family. As careful as possible, she removed her mask. Her skin was a dark coffee color however her entire face had been burned for what appears to be a long time and in a very hot fire. "Umm guests, I hope you can forgive my stupidity for attacking you." Seliah bowed, bending her body in half, regret drawn deep into her face.

After her apologizes, Seliah put her mask back on. Azuma patted her back. "Now go back to your post and next time, before you go full murder mode, let me know alright?" He asked, a small smile on his lips. She nodded and ran back into the tropical woods, vanishing from sight. "Sorry about her." The Guardian said with a sigh. "She's a bit over protective, but she's a cupcake. Assuming she knows you." Azuma clears his throat. "Anyway, umm glad you guys made it. Welcome to the last fucking bastion of the Guardians."

--------

Amelia found herself pacing back and forth on the balcony overlooking the training field. Her brother, Calder, was down in the field, sparing with a man who was several years older than him. Yet her brother, who had just turned 12, was putting his opponent on the ropes. His bright silver constructs were being created and change with such ferocity that all the older man could do was try to block. Then, on the rare occasion that he could fight back, Calder deflected as one would swat away a simple gnat. Soon enough, Cal threw a massive right hook made from his aura, a clear feint, but the man put all of his energy in blocking it. The man stood no chance to stop the other stack. Calder dug his bare feet into the dirt, letting a sliver of his silver aura enter the ground. It moved like a snake, quick yet subtle, subtle enough in fact to sneak between the mans legs. A smirk appeared on the boys face as the construct burst from the ground, wrapping around his opponent and squeezing him, causing the man to stop focusing on the shield. The second he stopped was when the massive fist came through and hit him out of the ring, making it his loss. Yet, despite the easy victory, her brother still ran towards his opponent and helped him up, congratulating him, though Amelia couldn't be sure.

Once the fight was over, she headed back into the room, not wishing to see them kiss Calders ass like usual. After all, they seemed to do every time he does just about anything. Amelia used her purple aura to shut the outside doors. Compared to her brother, her skills were adequate, though she could never beat him in combat. She was a river but he was a raging waterfall. And on top of that Calder was a firm believer of whatever Father said. He followed Azumas words like they were the writ from God. He would go along with every excuse that the 'Great Grandmaster' would give for why they must stay hidden, why they must do things a certain way, and why they couldn't actually have a damn life! Amelia's purple aura flared around, being fueled by her anger. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to calm down, and with that her aura went back to a more controlled, simple glow.

Soon she found herself pacing again, wondering why they were even having visitors. Her dad seemed to like them isolated, fearing that some massive group of killers were always around the corner. Amelia sighed, falling back into a nearby chair. While she didn't hate her dad, he was nice and obviously cared deeply for them, he was overbearing, always afraid of the worst. Azuma would always tel them stories of some of the dangerous thing he had done when he was there age but would forbid them from doing anything similar. It was that we had to train and train and then train some more. It was ridiculous! He was preparing them for a war that only he knew about. And on top of that, he had a hard time getting along with us. That is except for Calder. Her brother was more then willing to be Azuma's little solder boy, doing whatever he was told and only wanting praise in return. But Amelia wasn't some robot like him. She wanted to be free, to explore, to experience the world instead of just prepare for a possibility that would probably never come. However, maybe with these guests it would be her chance. Yeah that might work.." She muttered to herself as an idea formed in her head.

------

Calder sat on the bench outside, wiping the sweat from his face and more than content enough to watch the next few sparing matches. His last dueling partner, a man that went by the name Jackson, sat on a different bench across the training field. The older man was holding a towel to his head while another Guardian used their aura, a bright yellow, to heal him. Calder played with the sleeve of his training gi (I don't know how to spell yo), counting the strips that came up from the stomach, over the chest and down each arm. In truth he didn't have many but he had the most by far compared to anyone around his age. Each stripe, colored in the same color as the owners own aura, demonstrates a technique or lesson that the student had mastered.

The current match was nothing special. Both of the sparers were being far too defensive. Each perceived that the other was too much of a threat though, in Calder's opinion, they were pretty well matched. Either way, he was already bored of the fight and decided to head back inside to make sure his sisters were awake. Well sister. He had already seen his older sister on the balcony, pining to leave like usual. He never understood Amelia's want to leave. They had one of the most amazing powers on the planet, so what if you had to spend a long time to truly train it. She just didn't seem to understand that. After all dad had been doing ridiculous things when was around their age but it was terrible for him. But that didn't matter to her, she just wanted to be free.

Either way Calder had reached his younger sisters door. "Rose? You awake?" He asked while knocking on her door. "The guests should be coming soon. So you might want to get ready." He tried to make it sound more like a suggestion then an order but he might have failed. It was always hard to interact with Rose. After all, for whatever reason she couldn't shape her aura. And that made her different. Of course Calder tried to talk to her and when she was younger they were a lot closer but recently he had started training more, which lead to them being unable to connect on anything that they were doing. Not hearing her response, he sighed and simply left, needing to prepared some more himself.

Nyyrikki had enough experience with women, or strange figures on walls, that a pointed finger was not a good sound.
Especially when the lady muttered under her breath. When that happens, expect your shit to get fucked up.
The next best thing was to come up with a game plan. But, before a solid thought came to mind, Eric had to screech.
"You can't even drive!" Nyyrikki responded. "If she was a moose or some shit yelling at the driver is a fast way to crashing the vehicle!"
Before Azuma had ample time to speak to the woman, Nyyrikki slammed the car door and pointed at her. "You dumb fucking bitch! You know what a guard does? Guard against a threat. No guard worth a fucking dime decides to try and murder random visitors." He took a moment to take another breath and lowered his hand. "You know who would be pissed if we died? Azuma. I'd hope he'd beat your ass till it was read. You're sure as fuck not mature enough to protect anything, you can't even recognize a threat."


As if Emmett's resolve wasn't strong enough already, his resolve to not go here was ten times stronger. His dad was more than adequately handling the situation, so he decided to walk ahead. He had his sunscreen on, had a bottle in his pockets, and had a good 30 minutes till he needed to apply more.
Today was not the day to become crispy duck.
Before getting too far ahead he turned back around to Eric. "You should watch. You can tell that Nyyrikki has been spending too much time around Luke. Yelling solves all the problems."