After Akwan sensibly gets captured by an unknown enemy, The Wanderers and the others return to the village in a fluttering motion. Their faces mix in terror, recollecting the horrid memories they experienced.
The sun... sets on the horizon, with its vibrant dark haze hovering over the expansive horizon. Asahi whispers to Sadiki as they swiftly race up the hill.
"The Ending? That person said it knows the Creator..."
His mind flashes back to the dark-haired figure floating in front of Asahi and Aletha, shattering Aiyana to Eight Fragments and ordering it to swoop the flaming past world. The vision flashes back, remembering the appearance of the Creator. Aletha shares the same memory too, and even she speaks about her in a gruff tone.
"Yes, the self-proclaimed Creator that took our younger sister. I know who she looks like, but I hardly know who she is."
Sadiki's amethyst eyes broaden. He shockingly yells out as they reach the ends of the grass hill.
"Hold on, you two MET the Creator?!"
The wanderers nod their heads in confirmation with a serious look on their faces. Determined by their faces, Sadiki can see the despair hidden within them and the hatred towards her.
"Indeed." Asahi said as he trampled over a dandelion.
At last, they finally reach the village's perimeter. However, when the group looks across the hill, it seems like half of the buildings were scorched in the same purple flame by the ruthless faction called The Ending harnesses.
Clover fearfully screams.
"What happened to the Village?!"
The rest of the group remained silent as they watched countless structures crumbling into purple and blue flames. The cobblestone roads were tossed into the grassy meadows, and there are many items, including clothing, furniture, supplies, wagons, and even parts of carriages, scattered around half of the village.
As they approach the clear alley furthest from the debris, they see Belial, Samantha, and Drimi forming a shield and fending off countless violent star-filled monsters, leaping from an Ending's general's portal. Sadiki grits his teeth in anger and unsheathes his blade.
Clover was shocked at first, then transformed into an extreme fit of rage at the monsters. Her green hair extends even further towards half her back. Both of them leap high into the air, both forming green and purple streaks behind their backs, then plunge straight through the monsters' path.
In a hoarse tone in The Ending's General's voice, it shouts out to the wanderers.
"There they are! Capture those two bright-haired beings at once! Expel everyone else."
The monsters slowly nod their heads and pull out their blades. Belial tilts his head behind him and sees Asahi, and Aletha, racing towards him. Belial shouts in anger as he pulls his brown hood off from his head.
"Where in the heavens have you two been?! The village suddenly got ambushed, and now, me, Drimi, and Sally are fighting these beasts!"
Asahi bends down and digs his fingers through the rich, half-scorched Soil. He rubs his fingers tightly and shuts his eyes. Belial lowers his arms, and his emerald eyes broaden. He faintly whispers as the others fight the beast.
"Asahi, you learned how to use The Soil?"
Asahi slowly nods his head with a confident grin. He dissolves The Soil into green particles, his palms emit a bright purple luminance, and he charges in front of everyone. He yells.
"Stay back!"
The group listens, and they sprint further from him. Aletha's gray eyes widen while seeing Asahi getting engulfed in a blinding white aura. Asahi yells as he releases his concentrated beam of light.
"Take this!"
His fist plunges straight into the ground. Right after the tip of his glowing hand slightly touches the ground, a massive green shockwave bursts through. The buildings and tosses the Ending's creatures into oblivion.
He stands still, grinning slightly and staring at the sun.
"That feeling reminded me of a slight increase in divine power. But, using the power of The Soil, this magic feels entirely different from my past abilities."
Aletha, Sadiki, Drimi, Sally, and Belial all sprint to Asahi with worried expressions on their faces. Aletha yells out.
"Bro, are you alright?!"
Then Belial screamed as well, tossing his ancient dark oak spear to the side.
"Asahi, what was that?!"
Then, Sally questions too, fallen into complete shock and stuck in her second, tiny form.
"I have never seen anything like that before. Not even in Astait."
Instead of Drimi worryingly yelling, she deeply chuckles and claps her hands.
"Woah there, vanilla boy. You do have somethin' strong in ya' after all!"
"Drimi, not the time." Belial rudely whispers to her.
As the portal from the general closes, Asahi lies on the ground. He felt uneasily powerless, fallen into the exhaustion of using all his ability at once. He feels like his mind is wrapped around endless strings, stuck among the border of power.
Clover desperately screams out to someone as she holds the back of Asahi's head.
"Someone, anyone?! Take him to the hospital, please!"
Somehow, the same nurse the wanderers met before, and a few others sprinted down the crater and pulled Asahi upwards. The nurse says to the group and Clover.
"We will escort Asahi to the hospital immediately. For now, just make sure none of those monsters are secretly roaming around the village."
Belial, Drimi, Belial all reply to her in a severe manner.
"On it!"
Aletha catches her voice and desperately asks the nurse while pulling her arm.
"Can I come with Asahi?"
"Oh, you're that girl I saw before. You two are siblings, right?"
Aletha hurryingly nods her head 'yes' to the nurse. The nurse shakes her head and sighs. She answers the worried Aletha calmly and gently.
"Okay, you can come, but make sure to not interfere with him for this night."
Aletha grabs her palms and clasps them together while quickly nodding.
"I won't, I won't!"
The nurse nods slightly, smiles, and grabs Aletha's hand while escorting Asahi towards the village hospital with a wooden wagon. From there, dusk was approaching, and Akwan remains to be missing.
* * * * * *
The moon shines brightly among the vast sea of darkness and bright white pupils of stars. The grassy plains are tame, with wildlife and night breeze blowing along with the soft, frolicking grass bristles as if the events never happened.
The lights in each of the village's windows are filled with a bright hazy orange, with lanterns and blazing torches everywhere. The village's half-destroyed scorched buildings finally settle their last smoke before the last purple flames vanish in the cool air.
The remaining villagers clean up the scattered mess around the torn cobblestone roads, slowly recovering from the abrupt ambush The Ending caused.
Aletha softly sleeps on a chair next to Asahi's bed, and Clover gets relieved to see that her house and her parents are safe. Belial helps others by sweeping the scattered objects away using his tame magic; Drimi entertains the children by playing a daring yet safe game of tag. Sally kindly helps the elderly people get to a safer area, and Sadiki wanders elsewhere, grabbing seeds from the meadow to restore the stolen crops from the village.
All of them were aware that Akwan is gone, but they couldn't deny the fact of leaving Asahi, so they spend another night in the village, helping all of the villagers just for the thought of helping and not for reward.
* * * *
The room was blanketed with shadows and moonlight. A calm, tame silence resonates within the space. With Asahi's face pointed upwards at the ceiling.
Aletha subconsciously taps her toes onto the hardwood floor. Her long white hair glimmers in the mixture of darkness and shadow. She softly snoozes on a wooden chair while giving cute snores and leaning her head downwards.
Her eyelids shut, her mouth is half-open with drool, and her shimmering black eyelashes bask in the moonlight. She softly whispers to him as the bright evening moonlight illuminates the whole dark room.
"You will be okay, bro."
She hovers her soft palms over Asahi's eyes and smiles.
"I see that you have a relationship with Clover. You two look so cute together, holding hands. Clover seemed so happy with you, and I really support that! But... I need to tell you something..."
Aletha covers her mouth and shuts her eyes. She rolls her thumbs over the air in a circular motion and takes a deep sigh. Her face slightly warms up in a red glow while whispering to Asahi.
"Sadiki and I... also have a relationship right now. I couldn't control myself, nor he can, too. The swings of his blade, his cute face, and his silver hair. He just charms me. S-So... if I can allow you to have a relationship, maybe you can do the same for me?"
Aletha swiftly tilts her head down in embarrassment. Her long white hair dangles on the chair, and her glistening gray eyes peer straight at Asahi's mark on his face. She slowly slides her pretty nails down Asahi's silky white hair, then faintly whispers to herself.
"It just doesn't feel the same... without our family. We are the only ones left, how are we going to--"
Aletha's gray eyes broadened, and she slowly pulled up the blankets for him.
"Even if we fight, we know that we are siblings, and we do our best to protect each other.
Asahi's eyelids slowly open for a moment, hearing everything Aletha whispered, and then fell back to slumber. Aletha comfortably sleeps on the chair while the moonlight shimmers over both of them. Amidst a cool night, Belial and the others return to their rooms and fall asleep. They all wait until dawn, waiting for the new day to rise.
* * * * * *
At last, the rising, shining ball of light slowly rises up from the extensive grassy hills. The morning sun shines vividly along the vast, vibrant meadows, and the peaking snow-capped mountains pierce through the clouds far in the distance.
The beautiful birds' chirps sound over the misty plains, singing its beautiful songs out to those who wake. Wagons roll over the fixed cobblestone roads, and the village seems to be a lot cleaner than yesterday.
The church bells ring, resounding over the quiet tame walls of the village. The villagers were ready to start a brand new day by doing their daily chores like pulling the wagon, washing clothes, cleaning up, and harvesting. To no avail, the crops seem to remain on the farm, with no sign of traces of theft anywhere.
The sunrise's luminance pierces through the transparent windows and onto the bed of Asahi and the chair of Aletha. Both of their white hair glimmers in the radiant yellow sunlight while Belial and Sadiki walk along the hallway of the small hospital.
Sadiki turns his head to Belial, who's pulling his hood off from his head. He peers his crystal emerald eyes at Sadiki and pays full attention to him. Belial rudely asks.
"What do you want?"
Sadiki clenched his fists and tries to be polite. His tail slightly leans down as they walk past four oak doors.
"I was going to meet Asahi and Aletha. Remember, Akwan is still missing."
Belial's eyes broadened.
"Akwan's missing? No wonder I hadn't seen his face this night. Usually, he would be examining the villagers creepily or the dandelions. Do you possibly know the reason why he was missing?"
Sadiki resists unraveling it at first, but he thought of the healing powers Belial possesses and then says to him in a quiet tone.
"He has been captured by a creature that calls himself, The General. He used strange magic and halted us from approaching it."
Belial stops Sadiki by pushing him. The look on his face fills with pure sincerity and worry. Even the look on his eyes could show his dedication to Akwan. He roughly whispers to Sadiki in a concerned tone.
"Do you know the faction the General belonged to?"
Sadiki tremblingly replies as Belial pushes him against a wall. His ears flop down, and his eyes shake in fear.
"T-The Ending."
Belial shouts, then calms himself down.
"The Ending?!" He takes a deep breath and slowly backs away from Sadiki. "That would be the last thing I would like to hear from you. I had made an oath to Akwan decades ago, promising to protect him. I realized that making him go with you and Aletha was a bad idea."
He turns away from Sadiki and clenches his fists, recollecting his memories. His voice trembles even heavier, falling into shock and surprise.
"If Akwan is in the hands of The Ending, we absolutely must go to their outpost at once! It would be drastically dangerous to even allow members of The Ending to ever lay hands upon Akwan. This world, no, rather the entire universe, is at risk with Akwan in the hands of The Ending! You don't understand how important he is."
He swiftly pulls Sadiki further into the hallway and hurryingly approaches Asahi's door. Sadiki remains silent, understanding Belial's worry. He swiftly grabs the golden door handle and busts the door open.
"Wake up--"
Sadiki was interrupted by the single, most adorable sight imaginable. Both Asahi and Aletha drool and quietly snore, with smiles on their faces. Their white hair gleams under the morning sunlight, touching every darkest corner of the room.
The dust particles float in the room, and a calm, gentle silence resonates within it. Sadiki's amethyst eyes broadened with awe.
"They look so adorable when they are sleeping. Wait... how old are the wanderers?"
Belial responds with a direct and sarcastic tone.
"They're gods." He takes a deep sigh and shakes his head. "Who knows? They might be thousands of years old and are just reaching young adulthood. I'm only judging that by their appearance."
Sally comes up from right behind with her platinum hair scintillating in the faint bits of morning sunlight. Her pink eyes glitter in awe; she mumbles like a child, while her height surpasses Sadiki and Belial.
"Aww, the wanderers look so adorable."
Belial mutters while feeling Sally's chest pressing against his head.
"Yeah, yeah. I still can't believe that you act like this. But oh well, your power pays off for it."
Sally smacks the back of Belial's head and pouts.
"You don't have to b-be so mean about it. Hmph."
Sadiki turns his head to Belial and asks him while the wanderers softly snore.
"So, Belial, are you having second thoughts on abruptly waking up."
Belial's chest tightens in terror, then he takes a realized sigh.
"Just for a few moments... we'll eat breakfast before they wake up. Then, we have to--
Sadiki interrupts Belial.
"Wouldn't the wanderers want breakfast too?"
Belial's emerald eyes slightly broaden, then he shakes his head.
"Fine. We Will bring some Pladtioa's Glaze Butter Croissants during the trip there. But next, we need to ask someone where The Ending has the most activity in Pladtioa. Surely there has to be SOMEONE in this village who knows..."
Sadiki shrugs and pushes Belial and Sally away from the door. He slowly grabs the doorknob and quietly shuts it. Belial mumbles to Sadiki while they walk along the hallway.
"If we all die, just to make it clear, it will be your fault."
Sadiki grits his teeth and settles his anger while both of them walk out the front door of the building.
From there, Sadiki and Belial went to the village's diner and musters up delicious floppy, sticky syrupy Pladtioan pancakes with a side of crisp golden hash. As they walk along the tables, Belial grabs four steamy fresh, flaky croissants and puts them in the bag. A man asks Belial.
"That will be 15 Gincoins, please."
As he pulls the Gincoins out from his pocket, he stares at the steamy croissants and grabs more Gincoins. He slides it on the counter and grabs three more croissants. The man questions with a smile.
"You changed your mind, eh?"
Belial faintly blushes in guilt and silently nods his head. The man slightly chuckled and politely asks Belial.
"That will be 38 Gincoins, please."
Belial gives the Gincoins to him and grabs the two bags. He walks out the door and puts his hood on his head. Sadiki questions him.
"What's making you rush? We didn't get to eat-
"Let's just go," Belial said as Sadiki swiftly returned to the hospital. "We don't have enough time." Sadiki looks at his second bag. He slightly gives a smirk. "So, you have extra? What, couldn't you resist?"
Belial tremblingly mutters in a quiet tone. "Y-Yes..."