Guardians of the Mirror Moon(Part 5)

Zexal stood in the ruins of his village in Green Hill Zone. He was a seemingly ordinary fox, even though he had seven tail. He loved life and he missed all those who lived in the village. But when the Demon Lexaz distroied his village, he took Zexal to the underworld and revieled that Zexal was a demon himself, Lexaz was his brother. But thoguh Zexal's power changed him, he refused to fall into the darkness and defeated Lexaz in battle. Demons have constanly hunted him down for his tratoris actions, and one by one they fall to Zexal's zeal. Zexal looked to the sky and thought, 'Will this madness stop? Will I ever find peace from these Demons?' As night fell, Zexal could swear the ghosts of his village walked about as if they were still alive. Suddenly a voice boomed, "I have found you Luxor." Only a demon called Zexal 'Luxor'. Zexal turned to see the demon standing a few feet from him. "I will distroy you Luxor!" boasted the Demon and it charged at him. Zexal stood his ground, waiting for the demon to get closer. Then, in a flash, the demon turned to dust. Zexal stood behind it as it disintagreated, his sword, the Dawning of Darkness dripping with demonic blood. "Hmp!" snorted Zexal, "Amateur!" Suddenly two more demons appired and attacked Zexal. Zexal pulled out his gun, named Morningstar, and shot the demons in their tracks.

Zexal looked to the sky once more, this night was suppost to have a lunar eclipse. But to Zexal's surprise the moon looked normal. 'Hmm...No blood moon...' he thought. He then saw a secound moon fade into exictance. 'What?!...' he thought as he looked on, 'Another moon in the sky?' The other moon was pale to the normal moon. But it seemed odd that it would just appire as such. 'Must be a reflection before the blood moon begins..' he pondered. As he watched he noticed a beam of light coming from the second moon heading for the ground some distance away. Zexal rushed to investigate. 'Could this be the work of demons?' he thought as he arrived at a spot near by. Zexal looked on as he saw where the beam of light hit. Nearby this ring of light was an old steel ball and some rusted chain. Zexal did not know where it was from but it had been there for sometime before head had arrived at the village. The ring of light on the ground was just beside it, however, to Zexal's intreage, he felt no presence, demonic or otherwise, about this oddity. He approched the light and touched it. A streange fealing ran through his arm, the sensation that could not be discribed in simple words. With his mind full of questions, Zexal walked into the light.

The black landscape that greeted Zexal was almost unwelcoming. "What is this place?" said Zexal, wanting to be heard. "Welcome, Demonic one!" called a voice with some distaste. Zexal turned to see a ghostly deer fawn floating behind him. "A Spector?!" he said scatching his head. "Who or what are you?" "I am Esper" said the fawn sternly, "I am the guardian of the Mirror Moon. May I ask why a Demon walks here!" Zexal did not like the tone of where this was going. "I entered a ring of light that the moon sent down to the planet below." he said sharply, "How do you know of what I am? Are you a demon yourself?" "A Demon come through the ring of light..." mumbled Esper, "So it is true..." "What are you talking about!" shouted Zexal, "Will you awnser the question?!" Esper cleared her throught, "I am not a demon. I am a victem of one." Zexal rasied an eyebrow, he normaly could tell if someone is lying or not. But he could not figure out if Esper was telling the truth. "A Demon called the Foul Lord attacked my home five milenia ago, killing all those I cared for." she continued "With my last ounce of strength I sealed it within this moon. My soul is bound to this place till the end of time itself."

"That still doesn't tell me how you know what I am!" growled Zexal. "As I am bound to this place, the knowlage of all who arrive here comes to me." she replied, "But I myself am confused by you, Zexal Shadowsong. You are a Demon, yes, but yet I sence no evil in you...How can this be?"  This got on Zexal's nerves. "Not all can be evil!" he roared, "All I wished for is to live a normal life with the mortals down below!" Esper was taken aback with fear. "I...I'm...Sorry...I must have touched a nerve..." she trembled. Zexal saw her reaction and calmed himself down. "What can you tell me of this place?" he asked. "The Mirror Moon once had eight Guardians." said Esper, still sounding fearful. "When the Foul Lord was sealed I thought that it would be the end of it. However ever seven hundred years, the seal I placed weakened. With nothing left to do, I felt that all hope was lost. But then Seven from the planet came and for a time I was revived, bring strength to the seal. They stayed for seven hundred years before returning to the planet below and seven more came to take their place. Now another seven are due to arrive but so far only four have shown up."

"Does this place always look like this?" asked Zexal. "No." said Esper, "Each guardian has their on 'Zone' of infulence. This Zone shapes itself to those that stay." "Do you mind if I stay?" asked Zexal. The comment shocked Esper. "Let a demon stay here?!..I...Why do you wish to stay?" she asked. "As I said before, I wish to live in peace." sighed Zexal, "Demons attack me ever day and night. I grow weary of it." Esper looked at Zexal and saw that he was being sincer. "...If you wish to stay, then It is o.k..." she said. The ground shook as cracks ripped the blackness. The smeel of sulfur filled the air as the landscape turned to a quagmire. Lava run like rivers through the swamp and patchs of calm green spaces popped up everywhere. Esper looked about with wonder. "Such a darkness around but even the light shines here." she said in awe, "Order and Chaos living in peace and harmony...Such beauty in..." Esper trailed off as Zexal looked at his new home with some dissapiontment. "I welcome you Guardian Zexal to the Mirror Moon." said Esper, "I must take my leave for now and see to the others. I will call for you to meet with them soon." Zexal watched as Esper faded away then looked upon the swamp. "This ain't no Green Hill but I guess it'll have to do." he mumbled.