Kaze: Rebels

Found Something!

Jackson POV

After we dealt with Kaze and Kage, I decided to wander, as I normally do when I don't want to be bothered. After a while, I found my way into the Guardian History Museum portion of the Relations HQ. We put it up to increase awareness and, in theory, lessen the widespread fear of, well, us. It was a beautiful place, if you didn't read the plaques lining the walls. I'd already read them a million times. Tan walls with drawings in black ink, under a ceiling of several-colored fake crystals. In fact, glass crystals were everywhere. I had no clue why we designed it that way, but they were the main piece of decor. If something belonged somewhere, but we didn't know what, we'd put glass that looked like crystals. Of course, we didn't have the funds to get the real deal. I thought. I read the one of the plaques.

The history of the Guardians is a sad, but mysterious one; full of magic and conflict. This is because Guardians, although more powerful than most humans, are less in number. Almost all Guardians are less inclined to fight humans because of the power difference between them and their opponent.

Mainly true. Guardians will sometimes fight in self-defense, but attacking humans without good reason is almost unheard of. I turned the corner to see my favorite mural in the place. It was a picture of a civilization called Hima full of humans and Guardians living in harmony. It was attacked by a group of radical Romans who saw Guardians as monsters. Hima was a peaceful civilization. It fell without a fight about 2,000 years ago. It's now sitting right in the middle of modern-day Turkey. There are still ruins there to commemorate the ones who died in the attack. That was my goal. To create a civilization where our special talents aren't feared, but celebrated. It would probably never come. I shrugged and was about to move on, when something caught my eye. Something I had not noticed before glittered from the mural. I reached out to touch it, when it fell from the wall. I panicked and picked it up to put it back on the wall. It glowed brightly to my touch. I closed my eyes and waited for it to stop blinding me.

When I thought it was safe, I saw a burning city before me. I recognized the royal palace from the mural. I was watching the destruction of Hima playing before my eyes! Screams pierced the air. "What?" I looked around for an explanation, but found nothing.

"Come on, Kasumi! Hop on!" A Guardian boy a little younger than Kaze and Kage tried to get (what I assumed to be) his sister to climb on his back. I walked up to them. The sister looked at me and seemed to expect me before turning back to her brother. Just give me a second, Kaze. I'm greeting a friend. I looked around to see if there was another girl, but there was none. I was looking at Kaze, but how?! Kaze was only 15 years old when he was captured, right? Kasumi had spoken with her mind. She turned to me. Hello, friend. I think...you should go now. You are in a wrong time. With that, she hopped onto Kaze's back and rode away, leaving me in front of the burning city.

I shut my eyes. "No, this doesn't make sense! I must be seeing things! I must be dreaming! Wake up, Jackson! Wake up, wake up!" I heard a whoosh. I opened my eyes and found that I had returned, laying flat on my back in the museum. "I didn't expect that to...!"

"Jackson...?" A tiny voice asked. I jumped at the similarity to Kasumi's voice. I looked over to see Lily.

"Lily!" I gasped in relief and jumped to my feet. "What are you doing up? It must be 11:30!" I said. I picked up the rock that fell out of the mirror and walked toward her.

"You didn't come into my room to warn me that you'd be gone." She said.

"Oh man. I'm sorry, Lily. You know, I knew I was forgetting something."

"Also, I had a really, really bad dream." She said.

"Your old family?" I asked. She nodded. "Oh, Lily..." I picked her up and hugged her tightly. "How about we both go to bed, huh? I'm tired, and I'm sure you could use some more rest."

"Okay." She said.

I stuck the stone in my pocket and, leading Lily by the hand, turned the lights off on my way out.