Gyaku's Story - Written by .:Lapis_Lazuli:.
"Mom... I still don't understand what I'm supposed to be doing..." Gyaku whimpered. "What do you mean, dear?" The tall, slender fire-elemental asked. "Well... don't all Keepers have to you know... 'keep' something? I know mine, but I don't know how to work with it..." He sighed. His mother knelt down next to him, stoking the boy's head gently, "Well, even if you don't know now, I'm sure one of these days it'll become clear. Just be patient, it'll come to you." She said warmly. Though Gyaku always treasured his mother's opinions, he had a feeling that he would need to find out soon, incase something bad happened... that's the whole reason he brought it up. Something was just... tugging at him constantly, but he didn't know what it was.

Later that night, Enkou had both gone to bed, the young Keeper somehow got the feeling that he should stay up a bit longer - and so he did. He just sat on the edge of the bed, kicking his legs silently as not to wake his mother, when a faint 'whoosh' sound made it's way to the little Keeper's ears. Eyes glancing around, his heart raced for some reason. Only natural for him. Looking over towards his mother, Gyaku was about to just come to the conclusion that he was imagining things when... it happened again. Whoosh. "Wh-What is that...?" He asked himself faintly. Again. Whoosh. This time, louder and... scarier. This was followed by a rather loud rumbling sound. "What's going on...?!" He asked himself, covering his ears. It didn't appear as if Enkou even heard it, as she continued to sleep soundly, not even phased. Gyaku, however, was both hearing and feeling it. For whatever reason, his body moved on it's own, stepping over to the window and peering out.

"What in the...?!" Gyaku's eyes shot wide instantly when he saw what was outside. Up in the sky, there was a gigantic, swirling mass. He definitely wasn't imagining things this time. "Is th-that a... a... a p-portal...?" He asked himself, stuttering like crazy and having quite a bit of trouble getting any words out whatsoever. That's when he realized something, "W-Wait... I'm the Keeper of Alternate Dimensions... and mom doesn't even notice it... th-then is that..." His eyes peered up into it, "... A... worm hole...?" How he knew what that was called, was even unknown to himself. Either way, if what his mother said earlier was true... could this be that time? When he found out what his duty as a Keeper was…?

Taking that chance, he slowly, silently climbed out the window. His eyes flickered over to where his mother lay asleep, then continued climbing and ran directly underneath the mass, staring up into it. "How can I get up there...?" He wondered, looking around. Wait! He had wings! He could just fly! Going with that idea, he focused, his small wings flapping faster and faster until he was hovering. With a small grin, he flapped them even harder, soaring up and going straight through the mass. It was completely black for the longest time, nothing but silence all around him. Then again... he had his eyes closed. Shaking his head, he opened them again. It looked exactly the same as just a moment ago. His house was behind him, the woods looked exactly the same. The only thing that was different was the fact that the huge mass in the sky had vanished. With a sigh, he turned around, heading back into the house.

When he opened the door, his eyes widened again. "What is this...?" He wondered. The house looked the same, except for two things. What were those things? Well... the fact that there was two totally different people in he and his mother's beds. Wait... where was his mother? She wasn't anywhere to be seen. Panicking slightly, he ran over to the bed that was supposedly his mother's, looking at the person in it. She... she looked nearly the exact same as Enkou... only... she was... blue? There were still flames, but... like... blue fire? Now really freaked out, he spun around, going over to the other bed.

In that bed, there was another Keeper. One that looked just like him. Well... sort of. It was practically Gyaku, but... the colors were mixed up. For instance, the right side of Gyaku's hair was cyan with golden tips - well... the right side of this boy's hair was gold with cyan tips. It was the same on the rest of his body. When a groan came from the Keeper, Gyaku jumped back, falling onto his rump roughly. The Keeper sat up, yawning as his eyes drifted downwards. "Eh?!" The other Keeper jumped, eyes wide. "Who are you?!" He demanded. "W-What...?", "Who. Are. You?" He repeated. "G-Gyaku...", "Gyaku? That can't be...", "W-Why?", "Because, that's MY name!" The boy snapped, jumping out of bed. "What? How can that-", "That's what I'm wondering! Anyhow... why are you in my house?", "I-I... I came through a big worm hole and-", "Worm hole? That's ridiculous...", "B-But...", "Either way, you gotta go. My mom is going to be awake soon, and she won't be happy to find another Keeper in the house." The Keeper said, helping Gyaku to his feet.

"W-Wait, where is this?", "Hm? Where do you think?", "Well... I don't know....", "Ugh... If this 'worm hole' of yours is real. Then I'll play along and call it a 'different dimension'. Do you understand now?" Gyaku shook his head, "... I don't get this-" He silenced when a groan sounded through the house. "That's my mom. Get out of here! Now!" The Keeper said, spinning Gyaku around and pushing him out the door. "But I don't know how!", "Figure something out!" The boy said, closing the door. Gyaku gulped, looking back into the sky. "Huh?" He blinked when he saw... the worm hole? It was back? But it was gone just a moment ago... "I have to get out of here... I want to go home!" He shook his head, flapping his wings as hard as he could until he flew back through the worm hole.

Before he knew it, Gyaku was sitting on the grass again, eyes closed just as they were before. "... That was weird-", "Gyaku? Gyaku, where are you?" His mother called. When he heard that, Gyaku scrambled to his feet, running to the door and swinging it open. "There you are. You had me so worried." Enkou sighed. "S-Sorry... I uh..." It almost seemed as if Enkou could read his mind as she knelt down next to him, "It's okay, Gyaku. Just... don't worry me like that. Okay?" She said tenderly. Gyaku nodded quickly, "... Got it." He told her, all the while wondering how he was supposed to explain that whole incident to her... it wouldn't be easy, that's for sure...