Note: I have nothing to do with Haunted Junction and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the series a lot. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as seen in Bandai's subtitled release of the series. I apologize if the subject matter is inconsistent with the original intent of the creators or the original Japanese. Note: episodes during which specific events took place are identified in brackets.
Haruto's breath caught in his throat as he looked out on the sea of ogres massing by the front gates. He suddenly realized that the flash of white light that had momentarily blinded him had come from the activation of the protective barriers around the school that even now held the ogres at bay. But, as more and more ogres became visible, he wondered how long the barriers could hold.
The Chairman burst into the Holy Student Council room, for once not trying to scare Haruto to death.
"Haruto! It's--" The Chairman broke off, his eyes widening. "Have I interrupted something?" his voice heavy with suggestion.
Haruto felt like blushing, suddenly realizing that he was still wrapped up in Red Mantle's cloak. Red Mantle, however, simply shook his head. "We were talking, and the activation of the barriers took Haruto by surprise," he said smoothly. "He stumbled back, and I caught him before he hurt himself."
"Oh," the Chairman said, sounding disappointed. Then he shook himself. "Never mind that for now," he said. "Haruto, you have to summon the Council. We need to support and reinforce the barriers around the school, and we have to do it before the eclipse starts."
Haruto nodded, leaving--somewhat reluctantly--the folds of Red Mantle's cloaks. Without they around him he suddenly felt vulnerable and helpless. Taking a deep breath, he did what he could to settle himself down. "Not here," he said. "Let's get down to the main hall."
"Good idea," the Chairman said.
The three of them raced out of the room and down the stairs to the main entrance to the building. Kazumi and Miss Hanako were already there, and Asahina and Nino-kun joined them a few moments later.
"Now, Haruto," the Chairman said.
Haruto nodded. He reached up and removed the badges from his shirt.
"We have an emergency! Everybody report to the main hall, on the double! WELCOME!"
Auras flared around the four spirits already there. Then Mirror Girl appeared, floating over Nino-kun's head. Haruo Sato and Bones Suzuki dropped in next on either side of the Chairman, and the Giant's foot--all anybody ever saw of him--crashed to the floor behind Red Mantle.
"The ogres are preparing to attack," Haruto told them. "We have to keep them out. Each of you choose a side of the school and reinforce the barriers there."
"Right!" All the spirits except the Chairman disappeared.
"Now what do we do?" Asahina asked.
"All of you, come with me," the Chairman ordered, leading them upstairs to his office. There they saw the door to the spirit world that had once housed the seven badges. However, the Chairman was opening another door on the opposite side of the room. They all leaned in for a peek.
Weapons of all shapes and sizes lined the walls. Suits of yoroi guarded each corner and formed four more clustered in the center, each one facing a cardinal point of the compass. Neatly stacked spears and bows sat amidst piles of arrows and throwing stars.
Haruto's eyes narrowed. "Is this what you've been spending all the school funds on?" he asked the Chairman.
The spirit smiled. "Of course! Each and every one of these has a powerful enchantment on it. That shakujo there once belonged to--"
"Never mind," Asahina said. "What are we doing here?"
"To get these." He selected three slender swords from their racks on the walls and turned to them.
"Asahina," he said, handing her the shortest of the swords, "this is Kokoro no akari, the heart of fire. According to the person who sold it to me, this sword has a hidden power that blazes forth when confronted with enemies within whom not a single spark of goodness exists."
"Kazumi," he continued, handing over the next sword, "this is Asahi no iki, the breath of the rising sun. The monk who gave it to me said that in the darkest hour this sword will pierce the veils of darkness with the pure light of the sun."
Then he turned to Haruto. He extended the last sword hilt first. To Haruto's surprise, the sword was rusted and chipped. "I don't understand," he said as he grasped the sword. It felt strange and unwieldy, as though the craftsman had done a poor job of making the blade fit the grip.
"That is Genki no gekido, the fury of life," the Chairman said. "If you believe in the sword and you believe in your purpose, then there is neither blade nor armor that can stop its edge. But if you doubt or lack conviction, it will look as it does now and will prove unable to stop any blow."
"I don't see how we're supposed to use these weapons anyway," Kazumi said. "We'll be using our own abilities, won't we? I mean, none of us has had any training in kendo."
"They're for your protection," the Chairman said firmly, "in case the ogres break through the barriers and try to attack you before the spirits can rally."
"But--"
Haruto waved Kazumi to silence. "Okay, but how are we going to contain the ogres?"
"In this." The Chairman held out a wooden box. On its cover was a relief of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. "I know, it doesn't look like much, but this will hold all the ogres, at least until we can figure out what to do with them all."
Asahina poked at the box skeptically. "You're right, it doesn't look like much. It--" She broke off as the Chairman opened the box. The inside had been lined with mother-of-pearl, and written all around the inside in smaller pieces of nacre were the sutras. The bottom of the box had another depiction of Kannon, also done in nacre.
"But this is a last resort," the Chairman said, "and unless we can find some way to overcome the weakening of our power by the eclipse, it won't work at all."
"We'll find a way," Haruto said grimly. "We'd better get back out there and prepare."
The others nodded. They quickly returned to the main hall and started to go outside.
Asahina stumbled to a stop. "Look!" she shouted, pointing up towards the sky.
Haruto followed her gaze. His heart sank as he realized what was happening.
The eclipse had begun. A curved shadow had begun encroaching on the moon.
"The barriers!" Kazumi hissed.
Haruto whirled around.
As he watched, the white aura around the main gates began to dim and fade. The Giant was there, doing what he could to sustain the barrier, but his own strength was waning. The ogres pressed against the gates, chanting something in a language that Haruto didn't understand and didn't really want to.
The Giant suddenly stumbled back as the light around the gates flickered and vanished completely. The ogres gave a roar of triumph and dashed in.
The other spirits suddenly appeared around them. "We couldn't hold them," Miss Hanako said. "Not once the eclipse started."
"Get ready!" Asahina warned. She drew her sword and pointed.
Haruto swallowed and drew his own blade. It looked silly and pathetic compared to the shining swords in his friends' hands, yet it was all he had to defend himself with.
Then the ogres were upon them.
* * *
Haruto stared at the carnage around him.
He'd been unable to contribute anything to the battle. His enchanted sword had been practically worthless. He'd have been slashed to ribbons if Asahina hadn't stepped in and skewered the ogre with her own blade, which had burst into flame as soon as she'd drawn it from its scabbard. Then, it had been Kazumi who'd saved him, his sword beginning to glow with a light all of its own.
Finally, the spirits had arrived, and between them, the fire of Asahina's sword, and the increasing light of Kazumi's blade, the ogres were held at bay.
Suddenly, the ogre that had been Himeko reared up behind the mob. "Enough of this!" she roared. "Leave them! We will feast on them after we have completed the ritual!"
The ogres growled and grumbled, but they withdrew, following as Himeko led them towards the field.
Haruto breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew that the battle was far from over. He looked at the Chairman. "Now what do we do?"
The Chairman sighed. "Now it's up to us," he said, gesturing to the other spirits. "We'll form a hexagon around them and try to contain them the way we did to Yocho."
"But...your strength?" Haruto asked. "The eclipse is well underway. Didn't you say your strength fades with the eclipse?"
The Chairman nodded. "But we have no choice. We'll do our best, but we may not succeed." He turned to Kazumi and Asahina. "Do what you can to protect yourselves. If we fail, it will be up to all the temples and shrines in Japan to trap and imprison the ogres."
The two nodded slowly.
"Kazumi," the Chairman said, "raise a barrier around you. If you can protect yourself until after the eclipse, lock yourself in the Holy Student Council room. Then tomorrow, you must close up the school."
"Hai," Kazumi said.
"Good." The Chairman motioned to the other spirits. "Let's go," he said. "We'll start the hexagon out very big and shrink it gradually. We can't let the ogres see what we're doing."
The other spirits nodded, then began to move away. Before they left, Miss Hanako and Nino-kun turned and embraced Kazumi and Asahina. There was something very sobering about it all, and Haruto felt all his fears returning. Then he glanced at the retreating spirits.
Red Mantle had stopped and was looking back at them. For a brief moment their eyes met. Then the spirit smiled briefly.
Haruto felt his fears ebb, but now they were replaced by another: would he ever see Red Mantle again?
* * *
"They need our help!" Haruto shouted. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. He felt it in his heart, felt it in the cold that was growing around where the badges rested on his breast.
He hammered at the mystic barrier--the Senryu Temple Monster World--that Kazumi had raised around them. "We have to go and help!"
"And do what?" Asahina demanded. "You don't have any special powers, and we won't be able to do much more!"
"I don't care!" Haruto whipped out his sword and slashed at the barrier. It disappeared in an explosion of spirits. He ran towards the field.
"Wait!" Asahina shouted.
"Come back!" Kazumi yelled.
Haruto ignored them. He ran around the corner...then stumbled to a stop.
The ogres, caught up in their dark ritual, had paid no attention to the spirits that were steadily pressing closer. However, the moon had nearly disappeared behind the shadow, and the spirits were having a terrible time as they tried to shrink their hexagon further.
Haruto charged forward, running to the side of the closest spirit, who happened to be Red Mantle. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Red Mantle glanced briefly at him. "You shouldn't be here," he said in a hoarse voice. "It's too dangerous."
"You're my friends," Haruto said stubbornly. "I can't just stand by and watch you all struggle like this. I have to help."
"But you can't--"
"Yes, I can!" Haruto held up his sword and slashed at the nearest ogre. To his intense surprise, the ogre fell into two pieces, its upper torso sliding to one side as its lower body toppled in the other direction.
Haruto didn't bother to think about how he was doing it with such a weak-looking sword. Instead, he slashed again and again, cutting a swath in the mass of ogres.
"President, you're a fool," Asahina said, suddenly appearing at his side. "All you're going to do is get us all killed."
"Oh, shut up and just swing your sword," Kazumi said from his other side. "Whatever else we might be doing, we're weakening the ogres. The spirits are having an easier time moving in."
"I'm not talking about the ogres," Asahina snapped. "Has it occurred to either of you that we're inside the hexagon now? If the Chairman tries to seal the ogres away, we'll be trapped, too."
"We have no choice," Haruto said. "We have to keep going until the Chairman can seal away the ogres."
They continued cutting their way through the ogres, who didn't even seem to notice that they were dying. Finally, the spirits had pressed inwards to within a few yards of each other. Then, there was only one ogre left: Himeko. However, Kazumi's sword abruptly burst into intense light. Looking up, Haruto saw the last brief sliver of the moon vanish as the eclipse reached totality.
"Fools!" Himeko shouted gleefully. "All you've done is make me more powerful than ever!"
Haruto stared at her. "What?"
"You think I didn't know what you were doing?" she demanded. "You think I didn't realize that your school spirits were trying to trap me? I was only waiting until you'd slain all my followers. Now, with the power their deaths have given me I will destroy you all and ascend as the rightful Queen of the Ogres!"
"Queen?" Kazumi asked.
"Baka!" Asahina cried slapping herself on her forehead. "She called herself Himeko. 'Hime,' as in 'princess'!"
"And now she's planning to become queen?" Haruto asked, horrified.
"Not plan, fools," Himeko snapped, sneering. "I will become queen! And none of you can stop me!"
Power suddenly flared outward. It knocked them all back several yards until they lay at the feet of Red Mantle. Vaguely, Haruto heard the spirits groan. Looking up, he saw Nino-kun and Miss Hanako collapse, and he felt rather than saw Red Mantle sink to his knees.
"Nino-kun!" Asahina shouted, scrambling to her feet and rushing to the fallen statue.
"Hanako!" Kazumi cried, leaping up and running to her side.
As Haruto got to his feet, he felt a sudden wrenching inside of him. "What--"
"The triangle of power!" the Chairman's voice suddenly rang out. "It's here!"
Confused, Haruto stared at the Chairman. Then his eyes widened. Without realizing it, the three humans had taken up positions equal distances from each other and from Himeko. The ritual had been taking place right in the middle of the school's field, which was also the exact center of the school. Therefore, it was also the center of the triangle formed by their homes. And now, they had unconsciously taken up positions that represented the locations of their homes, only on a smaller scale.
Asahina had gone to help Nino-kun, who had been standing at the northwestern point of the hexagon, representing the Asahina Shrine, which lay in that direction. Kazumi was with Miss Hanako in the northeast, probably in line with the statue of Buddha in his family's temple to the northeast. And he was in the south with Red Mantle, and in line with his own home as well.
Haruto felt power building up in him, yet he had no way of releasing it as Kazumi and Asahina did. But there had to be a way!
Haruto spun around. He helped Red Mantle to his feet, then stepped behind him and wrapped his arms around the spirit's waist.
"Haruto, what are you doing?" Red Mantle asked.
"Red Mantle!" Haruto cried. "Take the power inside of me! Take every last bit of energy inside of me and use it to stop that ogre!"
"But I--"
"We both know that the badges draw energy from me when I summon the spirits," Haruto snapped. "So draw out my energy and use it!"
"I can't!" Red Mantle protested. "You'll die if I do that!"
"Better that I die than that ogre roam free!" Haruto countered. "Please, Red Mantle, there isn't time! I feel like I'm going to explode!"
For a moment, there was silence. Then...
"All right."
Haruto suddenly felt very cold as the energy that had been collecting in him drained out of him. Then he felt hot as more flooded into him, then cold again as the spirit drew it all away again. Over and over again he felt first cold then hot, until it was like a constant, pulsing rhythm. Haruto felt himself growing weaker and weaker. Finally, he sank to his knees. Still, he clung tightly to Red Mantle's waist.
He was vaguely aware that the spirits--all the spirits--were glowing with increasing intensity. It seemed as though Nino-kun and Miss Hanako were brighter than the others, but it was hard for him to see beyond the intensity of the aura that surrounded Red Mantle.
"No!" Himeko's voice rang out. "You can't! It isn't possible! Noooooooooo..." Her voice trailed off into silence.
There was the distinct sound of wood knocking against wood, then the auras of the spirits faded away.
"And stay in there," the Chairman said, sounding smug and satisfied.
Haruto lost his grip on Red Mantle's waist and sank to the ground. He tried to stand up, but his limbs buckled. Darkness flickered at the corners of his eyes, and his vision began to blur. He toppled forward.
Strong hands caught him and rolled him over. "Haruto!"
Haruto struggled to focus his vision, but all he could see was a white face framed with red. "Did we win?" he whispered. He formed the words with difficulty, and it was a struggle to get his mouth and throat to work.
"Look up," Red Mantle said softly. "The eclipse is over. The moon's full again."
Haruto managed to raise his eyes to the sky, but all he could see was a blob of white against the darkness. Still, he knew what it meant.
He smiled slightly, then his eyes began to close. "Oh..."
"Haruto?"
"...my..."
"Haruto, hang on!"
"...God..."
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