Arcbound: Tale of The Guardians

---

The sun rose bright and sharp, like it had something to prove.

It was the fourth day since the Arc, and things had shifted again. Small things. Little pulses. Flashes. Instincts.

They met at the old amphitheater behind the language department—early, when most students were still sleepwalking through breakfast.

Henry stretched his legs. "Alright. Today we stop being magic potatoes and start figuring this out. Agreed?"

Carl cracked his knuckles. "I'm already magical. I just need better aim."

Nora rolled her eyes. "We concentrate. Channel. No distractions."

Kai yawned. "We do this before class. I want points for effort."

Natasha lit a small flame in her palm—just a flicker—then quickly extinguished it. "Let's just try."

---

Nora stood in front of a water fountain.

She exhaled. Focused.

The water stream trembled… then froze mid-air—just a thin arc of ice. Not long. Barely a second. Then it burst into mist.

She blinked. "Okay… I'll take it."

Carl clapped. "Frost Queen unlocked."

---

Kai dragged a heavy campus bench out from under a tree.

He flexed.

"No offense, Bench. But today, you're mine."

He lifted it—grunted—but it rose. Slowly. Unevenly. His legs wobbled.

Then—crack.

The bench snapped back to earth, just as he leapt back, barely dodging it.

"Close," Henry said.

Kai grinned. "Closer than yesterday."

---

Natasha held out her hand toward a small twig.

It caught fire—too fast.

She panicked, waving it like a mad juggler. Nora rushed in, smothering it with her jacket.

"Maybe… don't practice near grass?" Nora muttered.

Natasha winced. "I got excited."

Carl stood in front of a small pile of leaves.

He took a breath. Focused.

"Alright, wind spirit. Time to show off."

He snapped his fingers dramatically—nothing happened.

Then he waved both arms like a conductor and whispered, "Gust... breeze... cyclone... something!"

A sudden puff of air burst from his hands.

The leaves scattered in a wild spiral, slapping Kai in the face.

"Hey!" Kai yelled, flailing.

Carl grinned. "Boom. Airbender. Told you."

Kai picked a leaf from his hoodie. "You're lucky I like trees."

Henry chuckled. "Carl's powers are petty."

Carl bowed. "And stylish."

---

Henry focused on his stopwatch again.

1… 2…

Suddenly—he vanished. A blur across the field.

Then, reappeared beside the oak tree.

Panting.

"I can't stop once I start," he said. "I'm like a runaway roadrunner."

---

They all regrouped under the amphitheater arch, winded but grinning.

"We're getting better," Kai said, proud.

"Still not stable," Nora warned.

"But better," Natasha echoed.

---

Lunch break.

They sat scattered near the campus steps, snacks in hand. Caleb was showing off a meme on his phone. Leo was recounting how he nearly got hit by a Frisbee and called it a "life-defining moment."

"I'm telling you," Leo said dramatically, "it was inches from my eye. I almost died."

Carl snorted. "Truly tragic. The world would've lost a real treasure."

Kai nearly spit out his drink.

Natasha, who had her hands tucked in her sleeves, kept her fingers from heating up too much. The effort made her sweat, but she said nothing.

Henry was vibrating slightly in his seat. He kept his legs crossed to hide it.

Nora pressed a hand against her bottle—condensation froze slightly at the rim, but she turned it quickly before anyone noticed.

"Anyway," Caleb continued, oblivious, "you guys missed it—last night I saw lightning over the art building. Total mood. Wonder if the weather's being weird?"

Nora said nothing.

Kai nodded slowly. "Probably. Climate change and all that."

Leo pointed at Carl. "Hey, didn't you say you were working on a wind turbine design for that environmental class?"

Carl froze mid-sip. "Yup. Wind. Very eco. I'm basically one breeze away from being a sustainability god."

Henry buried his face in his sandwich to avoid laughing.

---

The five walked back through the east courtyard once Caleb and Leo split off.

"That was close," Nora muttered.

"They don't suspect a thing," Carl grinned.

Kai adjusted his hoodie. "Good. Let's keep it that way."

Natasha glanced back once. "It's better they don't know yet."

Henry nodded. "If we're gonna learn to control this… we need to do it together. No distractions."

---

Evening draped the sky in dusky purples and starlit streaks as the five stood in the old courtyard again, their breath misting from focus and effort.

Carl had a small whirlwind hovering over his palm, leaves spiraling as if caught in his personal weather pattern.

Kai grunted, pushing against a boulder that now slowly scraped forward under the pressure of his hands.

Nora had successfully frozen a line of droplets mid-air—tiny floating icicles shimmering in the light.

Henry zipped from one side of the courtyard to the other in a flash of wind and sneakers.

Natasha, her palms flickering with embers, lit and extinguished a candle with a slow, practiced motion.

Above them, two glowing forms floated and commented freely.

> "Kai, less gorilla, more control," Carl's eagle said, perched on the gate arch.

"Tell your muscles not to go full bulldozer."

> "Nora," Natasha's salamander called lazily from the railing, "stop squinting like you're trying to freeze your taxes."

> "Carl," the eagle added, "stop spinning the air just to look cool."

> "It is cool," Carl grinned.

Suddenly, the others gasped—because now they could see them.

"What the—?!" Henry blinked, backing up. "I see them now!"

Kai pointed. "That's… that's your lizard!"

"Salamander, thank you," the creature said, blowing a tiny flame toward him.

Nora stepped closer. "And the eagle—wait… they're ours? All of us?"

> "We're your Shigami," the eagle said simply. "Took your brains long enough to sync."

> "Welcome to the cosmic club," the salamander added with a smirk.

They were training. Laughing. Feeling stronger. For once, things felt good.

Then—

The sky changed.

The air turned cold. Wrong.

From the far end of the courtyard, the light twisted. It wasn't nightfall.

It was a tear in the world.

A dark rift opened, flickering like broken glass and oil. And from it crawled the monster—taller than any human, stitched of shadow and smoke. Its face twisted like melted wax, hollow eyes glowing with eerie blue fire.

It let out a low growl.

The ground trembled.

"Wh-what is that?!" Nora stepped back.

The salamander hissed. "That's not natural."

> "That," the eagle said grimly, "is a Shade Fiend. Not supposed to exist here."

The beast lunged.

Screams echoed from across the courtyard—students were nearby.

Kai turned, panicked. "We have to run—get help!"

Henry grabbed his arm. "We can't. If that thing sees the others..."

"It'll go after them," Natasha said, fire already flickering from her fingers.

Carl stood frozen, fists clenched. "We're not ready. We barely got our powers working."

"But we've got them," Nora said. "We have powers. They don't."

A beat passed.

They all looked at each other.

Then—nodded.

Together, they turned to face the creature.

"Let's do this," Henry whispered.

Kai was first, charging forward and trying to tackle the Shade. It swiped him aside like paper, but he rolled and sprang back up.

Nora hurled frozen shards, but they melted on contact.

Carl whipped the wind in slicing gusts—useless.

Natasha threw a ball of fire. It only scorched the creature's arm before it regenerated.

Henry ran in tight circles, disorienting it—but it only slowed slightly.

"Why isn't it working?!" Natasha shouted.

> "Because you're still learning," her Shigami snapped. "It's not just about power—it's about harmony."

> "Then teach us faster!" Carl yelled, blasting another gust.

The monster struck again—nearly knocking Nora off her feet.

Suddenly—

THWACK.

A blur.

A human figure.

One man, in a long black coat, no visible powers—just movement.

With a flick of his wrist, he struck the creature with a long staff—something ancient and cold. The monster screamed.

He spun once—fast, precise—and slammed it again, this time into the heart.

A sickening shriek. The creature split in two and burned away into smoky ash.

Gone.

Silence.

Only their heavy breathing remained.

The man turned slowly, staff lowering.

He had short hair. A scar across one cheek. Eyes like thunderclouds.

He looked directly at them.

Unblinking.

"You're not supposed to be using those yet," he said calmly.

The five froze.

"…Who are you?" Henry asked.

The man said nothing.

He took a slow step forward.