The Peach Spirit

The Cracks

At the wood temple hotel, inside Taro's room.

"C'mon! C'mon!" Exclaimed Taro sitting in front of a screen and next to Zuzu in a serious tone as he held a game controller in his hands. "I'm so close."

"You're never beating me, buddy." Replied Zuzu calmly as he held a second controller. Both companions were pressing buttons as if their lives depended on it. On the screen appeared a wild battle between two warriors of immense skill and strength and when all was said and done, one sentence appeared on the screen; Player 2 wins. Zuzu laughed victoriously as Taro groaned in frustration.

"If I just had my old fingers instead of these...ugh." Muttered Taro glaring at his hands with a deep frown before holding his face with his hands.

"Whatever helps you cope." Replied Zuzu with a smug smile as he hopped onto Taro's head earning a glare from the peach boy before Zi flew down from his nest and next to Taro. The pheasant's gaze switched between the screen and his companions for a few moments before the golden pheasant spoke.

"I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but aren't we forgetting something?" Asked Zi raising a brow as he stared at Taro and Zuzu as Zao grumbled in his dog house in the corner of the room. They all waited for Zi to continue before the pheasant blinked. "So? Are we? I feel as if we are, but i can't recall anything."

"The Lady Bone Demon." Deadpanned Zao grumpily with a growl.

"Yes, her. Forgot about her for a moment." Replied Zi nonchalantly as he combed his head feathers using his wings. "Shouldn't we be looking for her?"

"Sorry, guys, but we're still grounded. And I'm not ready to disappoint the others again." Replied the peach boy with a sigh as he stared at the floor dejectedly. The three Z's went silent as Taro paused. "We can chase her when we're no longer grounded...or if we can't ignore her."

The three Z's nodded in acknowledgment. Though Zuzu avoided eye contact as he did, there was one person whose face wore a frustrated expression in the room and that was the manic silver dog, Zao. The dog stared at the wall to avoid his expression being seen as he remembered the Lady Bone Demon. The dog's gaze switched to Taro and Zao's ears fell dejectedly with an almost unnoticeable whimper.

The manic silver dog walked out of his dog house and out of the room. He looked around the hallway where all the spirits' rooms resided only to find it empty. Zao paused for a moment before heading downstairs. Suddenly, a certain smell penetratef his nose. It was retched, yet familiar. Zao rushed downstairs to see the hotel's main lobby littered with the injured bodies of the other spirits with one man in a suit standing above them with a nasty grin.

"Oh, it seems someone slipped through my concealment." Said the man cheerfully before he teleported behind Zao, making the dog jump back. "I'm sorry, little puppy. But I can't let you alert the peach boy, yet."

"The Lady Bone Demon!" Growled Zao before he quickly bared his teeth against the man. But before he could do anything, he felt his hind legs drop. One look revealed that his legs fell into tiny blue portals. And in this unbalanced state, Zao could only watch as the man landed a kick on him that sent him crashing into a wall.

The manic silver dog glared at the man as he limped his way back onto his feet. The man dashed towards Zao for another attack to knock him out with another kick only to feel it make contact with something hard and unbreakable. In confusion, the man blinked as he eyed what was under his feet to see glittering golden wings blocking the path. Not even a second later, the man jumped out of the way as a pink beam of energy landed where he was before.