Not long later, we were all sitting at a large table. Upon it was loads of different types delicious looking food. The smell was heavenly. As it drifted into my nostrils, my mouth watered like crazy. I had never seen so much delectable food in front of me before. I licked my lips hungrily. It was like a royal banquet.

"Alright! Dig in everyone!" Matsuo announced.

We all started to tuck into the specially prepared dishes. The flavours were indescribable, they were just melting in my mouth. It felt like my soul was melting too.

"Hikaru! I've told you a hundred times! Don't put your feet on the table!" Enyo scolded Hikki who had his feet up.

"Whoops my bad! Natural habit!" Hikki laughed as he put them back down.

"If I didn't know better, I think you do it on purpose just to annoy me". Enyo droned.

"Hehe.. maybe." Hikki chortled.

"Mmm...this is delicious Matsuo!" I said as I finished my mouthful of food. "You're a great chef!"

"Thanks. Glad ya like it." He responded gratefully.

"Told ya it was good!" Hikki spoke with a mouthful of noodles.

"Don't hold back, there's plenty to go around" Matsuo said.

"Do you get to eat like this everyday?" I inquired.

"Yes pretty much and so have all the Celestial Guardians that have lived here." Matsuo comfirmed. "This shrine has stood here for countless years yet it hasn't aged in the slightest. It is truly a place of wonder." 

"Amazing." I breathed. 

"We basically eat and sleep like everyone else. But since the monsters only come out at night. We train during the day so we can hone our skills and abilities further." Chiyu noted while stuffing her face with food.

"Each guardian has their own special power. In order to unlock yours, you need to find your own unique skill." Kira addressed.

"Unique skill?" I repeated.

"We learnt what our animals powers were due to the previous records of the past celestial guardians. But in order to make the power own, we needed to recognise our own special abilities and strengths to help that power inside us grow and manifest." Raiden described.

"Unfortunately we don't know anything about Vulpecula's power yet. But once you start actually training, you will soon discover it." Enyo told me.

I looked at the mark on my arm. 'I wonder what I'll find. I hope I DO find it' I pondered to myself.

"So how do you go about training and fighting?" I asked. "How does it work?"

"Everyday we improve our abilities by challenging each other with combat training and also  mental training techniques. At night, whenever a threat appears, the celestial map signals us to let us know where the threat is. Then we transform and warp there." Raiden clarified.

'Wow just like what superheroes do!' I thought with a smile. Just then, I thought of Raidens outfit when he saved me. I gasped in delight.

"Does that mean you all have a special outfit just like Raidens?" I inquired.

"Yes. We all have a celestial form." Misa confirmed proudly.

'Wow! They are just like superheroes!' My eyes lit up in wonder. I cannot wait to see what they all look like! I hope I would be able to get one too! Then I remembered, I would have earn the right of being a guardian first. I couldn't get ahead of myself.

"We cannot allow people to see what we look actually look like. It's a major priority of being a celestial guardian." Enyo stated.

"Though to be honest, we must try not to let people see us in anyway we can." 

"Why not?" I queried. "You're heroes aren't you?"

"I asked the same thing when I first came here." Hikki noted.

"The Celestial Guardians are supposed to be a myth to people. But lately more and more people are starting to become more aware of our existence due to more threats occurring."

"But is that really a bad thing? I don't mean the threats!" I quickly corrected.

"I mean, if people knew that you truly existed, it would give them hope. When I found out you guys were out there protecting us, I was so enthralled. The way you saved me that night, I'll never forget it. You're a miracle to society." I praised.

"We admire your praise Sakura, though the Celestial Guardians are meant to stay hidden. The only other ones who know about us, are a group of elders from a Church. They have always worked alongside the Celestial Guardians. They're like priests who help exorcise negative dark energy and aid the guardians when necessary." Raiden explained.

'Wow, so there are others who are aware of the Celestial Guardians existence.' I thought.

"They're the ones who explained the origin of the Celestial Guardians to us and helped us with our abilities in the first place. Since we were all children at the time, they were there to teach us the ways of the Celestial Guardians. Also, my Father is one of them."

"Really?" I asked curiosity.

"Not only that! Raiden's Grandfather was also the previous Leo!" Hikki proudly pointed out.

"What!? No way!" I exclaimed. 

"It's true, normally the powers are chosen onto specifically random people. But Raiden's case is special, since his family is already part of the Celestial Guardian history." Souta explained. 

"So his grandfather was Leo the lion too?! That's amazing!" I grinned.

Raiden looked down. "Yes it is, but unfortunately I didn't get to know him. He died before I could." He uttered sadly.

My happy mood suddenly dropped and my hand flew to my mouth. "Oh no!"

"We'll more accurately, he sacrificed himself to save everyone." Raiden revealed.

I gasped in shock. "What happened?!" Then I realised what I had just said. "Never mind ! Forget I said anything!" I stuttered, while looking away from him.

"No it's alright." He assured. "I shall tell you the story of my Grandfather."

"It was about two decades ago, I was still an infant at the time." He began. "The realm of darkness had unleashed an army of horrifying monsters into the human realm. They were the led by the most evil, ruthless and ultra powerful demon of the all....Lord Akuzuran." 

Just the sound of that name sent shivers down my spine, I didn't even want to imagine what he looked like. 

"The monsters invaded everywhere they could, they spread like black wildfire. It was the biggest and most horrendous attack that ever occurred in Celestial history. Thousands of people almost died. Akuzuran's dark power so was unfathomable and relentless, that the Guardians were starting to loose the fight. But my Grandfather had a secret weapon. He used all of his powers combined with the others guardians magic, to unleashed an ultra powerful attack that would obliterate any trace of darkness, no matter how powerful it was. Because in the end, light is more powerful than darkness. With that, he defeated him and his army once and for all. But since the attack so powerful, he ended up destroying himself along with it." He concluded.

I was just speechless, I could not believe what I had just heard. A terrifying battle and the tragic death of a hero.

"I'm sorry" I said.

"There's no need for you to apologise." Raiden reassured me. "My grandfather did what needed to be done. He made a noble sacrifice, to save thousands of people. Now that I have been chosen to be the next Leo, I swear I will continue to be a great leader and guardian just like him. I will live up to his name and carry on his line of duty. I want to make him and my family proud."

I awed at his determination, it was just like how I felt when I wanted to help people.

"Well, I think you're already doing a great job." I complimented.

"We all think so." Kira agreed

"We wouldn't be anywhere without Raiden." Yuto added.

"I want to do whatever I can to protect everyone around me." Raiden stated. "I have a strong feeling that Akuzuran's might still be alive somehow and his power is still lingering. We believe that's whats been bringing about more monsters. I cannot let that same event occur again, we must do whatever we can to prevent more demons from crossing from the realm of darkness into the human realm. The realm of darkness is where they belong and where they should stay."

"My Father, he's very devoted to the elders. He's strict about everyone doing the best they can. He expects the guardians to be strong, so they can protect themselves as well as everyone else. He expects me to succeed especially. Though sometimes I think I'm not doing enough."

'Raidens father sounds like a complex guy.' I thought to myself.

"Don't say that Raiden! You're already doing enough!" Hikki protested.

"You don't need your father's approval to be a great leader Man." Matsuo asserted.

"We all know your the best leader we can ask for." Aimi approved. 

"And Sakura thinks so too, even though she's only just met you." Kuro verified.

"Thank you everyone. But still we must all continue to grow stronger, so we strive to be great guardians. We can't always rely on the elders help, we must know our own goals and achieve them ourselves." Raiden then turned to me.

"Sakura, When the time comes, we will introduce you to them." He declared.

"Do they know about me already?" I questioned.

"Yes they do. I contacted them the day you came." Raiden responded. "They said to keep track of you and to update them on your progress, to see if you really can become a Celestial Guardian."

"Oh." Was all I could say. I didn't realise that those people were analysing me, much less knew about me.

Hikki put a hand on my shoulder. "Right now, we'll help you to become a guardian so you can impress them!" He winked at me.

"I hope I can. I want to prove my worth." I uttered.

"It'll come in time, for now you just have to prepare yourself and we'll show you the way. After we eat, how about we show of our fighting skills so you can see how we train." Raiden suggested.

Hikki's ears instantly perked up. "ALRIGHT!" He yelled out excitedly. "I'm always pumped for a training session! Whaddya say Foxy girl? You wanna see our awesome skills?" He asked me enthusiastically.

From the way Hikki spoke of it, it sounded exciting. "Yes I'd like that!" I replied willingly.