Chapter 17: The Curse of Fate
[Hellion Arc]
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Sumire sighed as she sat on a relatively huge rock. It has been exactly five hours since both Shimozoku and her walked all the way to this place. They were supposed to go to the Moon Fields and to go there, they must not use any powers lest they activate the warding there. Being a mystical and magical place, it doesn't allow foreign creatures to roam around lest they prove to be dangerous.
And now she thinks they were lost.
She glanced beside her to see Shimozoku standing there and gazing at the moon. His silver hair flew with the wind and his midnight eyes reflected the fullness of the moon.
At that sight of him, it would seem he was...nostalgic about something.
"Shimo, are you alright?" Sumire asked as she frowned in worry. She was pretty sure sometging was bothering her knight.
Shimozoku diverted his attention to Sumire and shook his head. "Yes, I'm doing fine. But I think I sense a field in the distance. It's probably the one we're searching for."
Sumire stood up, now excited. "Really?!"
He nodded and lent her his hand. Sumire gladly accepted it as they walked once more to reach their destination.
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Their eyes went wide with what they saw.
There, at the center of the field, lay a huge magic circle they've never seen before. And that's saying something because the both of them learned almost all magic circles. Magic was considered as something evil in the kingdoms most of all in heaven.
Shimozoku and Sumire slowly walked up towards the magic circle's edge, feeling apprehensive
"Shimo, does this magic circle seem familiar to you?" Sumire asked him. He was her knight and often times had a much sharper memory than she had.
He shook his head in a no. "I don't think I've seen this kind before but according to my calculations, it seems to be one of those moon drawing ones."
Moon drawing magic circles were exactly as its name suggests. It draws energy from the moon for someone to come and harvest it. Someone must've cast this circle just for that purpose, but maybe this is also a trap to lure someone.
"I see." Sumire replied and lowered her head to further examine the circle.
She closed her eyes and tried to feel any traces of magic in the air. A few moments later, she felt a familiar hum. It was the luna, the moon's energy. It would seem this was exactly the Moon Fields because the luna in here is much stronger than any other place they've been to in this realm.
Sumire continued to close her eyes but then suddenly, she felt the energy getting stronger, like it was beckoning her to walk further. She tried to resist but the energy was getting stronger and stronger until she felt her own two feet walking forward against her will.
Sensing something to be wrong Shimo observed his princess carefully and noticed her walking forward towards the inside of the circle.
"Princess! What are you doing? Don't! It's dangerous!"
Sumire heard Shimozoku's protests and opened her eyes. But they suddenly widened when she noticed that she was now stepping into the circle. There seemed to be a warding just right at the edge of the huge magic circle that made him trapped outside and unable to get to her.
Sumire tried to resist against the force beckoning her forward but it just wouldn't budge. The magic was even stronger than expected and to her surprise and horror, she couldn't even activate her powers.
She glanced at Shimo as he seemed to notice it. He stared at her, his eyes full of worry and anxiousness. Instantly, she felt something in her, hurting at the sight of him like that.
Sumire shook her head and stared back into his eyes.
'I'll be alright. I promise.' she mouthed for strangely, she couldn't speak.
After she conveyed her message, she arrived at the center of the circle. Suddenly, earth shattering pain made her senses numb that she could do nothing but scream in agony.
"Princess!" Sumire heard Shimozoku scream but suddenly, all seem to fade like a distant memory, as her gaze filled with darkness.
The last thing she saw was Shimozoku's agonized face as a single tear escaped his ebony eyes...
Shimo, don't cry...
ðŸ’
I stood.
I stood there and watched as war erupted everywhere. This seemed like a highly familiar scene. I glanced around me and saw blurred faces. I seem to know some of them but I can't figure it out exactly. But one stood out amongst them.
A hooded figure stood at a distance, her face filled with a slight smile. It was Rose Reaper. But something doesn't feel right. Her usual mocking smile was instead replaced by a smug one, but nonetheless still filled with slight sadness. And in front of her, stood a silver and red armored woman. Even though her face was blurry, I can still sense that it was Saya and that she was wounded.
But then, the entire scene changed...
This time, I was standing above a really tall cliff overlooking a large expanse of land. The sun shone brightly above my head that made me squint a little. I flew with my aquamarine wings and landed right down the grassy fields.
But at the exact moment I landed, the sun was replaced by the brightly shining moon. I glanced above me, up to the direction of the cliff. I don't know why but somehow, something tells me there's something I needed to see.
My eyes widened with amazement as a majestic silver wolf stood there, alone and stared straight at me. It's midnight eyes familiar, like it was always there, right beside me.
Then, the scene changed once more. I was back at the battlefield. But this time, it was different. The silver wolf was with me, was in fact fighting our enemies with me and protecting me. But then, I felt like crying. I felt the wolf did so much for me that I felt hurt and grateful at the same time.
The wolf attacked the hooded figure and pushed back the figure's hood, making her face visible but before that could happen, the entire scene blacked. But before the vision completely reached its end, a voice sounded in my head.
"There are things meant to be hidden and things meant to be revealed. All is as it should be but not all things should be."
ðŸ’
Sumire felt something wet dripping down her cheek as she slowly opened her eyes. At first everything was somehow blurry but when she finally adjusted her vision, her eyes widened at her tear steaked knight.
"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly. But instead of an answer, she just got hugged tightly.
Shimozoku hugged Sumire tightly, like he wanted her to meld right into his bones. At his gesture, she relaxed and hugged him back. She must've really worried him for him to be this way.
"Don't ever do that again. I thought I was going to lose you." He said, his voice deeper than usual and filled with immense relief.
"I promised I would be alright. So how can I not be?" Sumire told him softly now melting into his arms. She almost forgot how comfortable this felt. Shimozoku was always there beside her since they were young and he was always there to shield and comfort her when she felt down or in danger. And whenever she felt afraid, he would hug her like this and say everything's alright.
"Still, don't do something reckless like that again. You almost gave me a heart attack." Shimozoku said and this time, he looked straight at her and leaned his head until their foreheads were touching.
Sumire stared back and in his midnight eyes reflected her very own. It was like she was the only one that mattered. She also noticed his eyes were very similar to that of the wolf in her vision. Maybe, just maybe, he was the wolf. And if so, does that mean something? If that's the case, she'll be forever grateful.
Sumire continued to look into his eyes and it was the very first time she felt her heart thump faster in her chest, like it was trying to break free. Their faces were too close that it almost seemed that their lips were touching.
She didn't know why but she suddenly had this desire of kissing him.
Shimozoku's eyes had that same look of desire and looked down to glance at her lips but then, he suddenly had a trace of reluctance. Sumire didn't give him a chance to hesitate for she placed her lips on his, then!