The sun shines behind the scattered clouds on the vast blue sea of the sky. Belial and Sadiki remain speechless while staring at the wanderers' shimmering luminescent attire. They now know that the bright shade on their hair resembles the light, specifically of a shimmering star.
Not only were they surprised about that, but also the fact that the twins are gods. Beings that were worshipped and praised in some way or another. Sadiki's eyes widened, fallen into a constant state of realization.
"Now that you mention it, I have seen quite an amount of ancient statues resembling both of your figures somewhere within the ruins the nurse mentioned."
Asahi tilts his head and faintly responds, thinking of how much memory vanished when they returned home.
"So, you know where the ruins are? You mentioned that Aletha and I have statues?"
Sadiki nods his head and sighs. In his mind, he stiffly thinks the wanderers are pretty ignorant, blatantly forgetting that beings worshiped them. However, it wasn't their fault that led to that outcome. Rather, someone else's, that has yet to be revealed.
"Yes, their figures represent that of you two. I think the ruins are at the bottom of that cliff, exactly how the nurse explained it."
Belial, Sadiki, and the wanderers jolt towards the edges of the cliff, seeing a vast green forest and a large snow-capped mountain far at the horizon on the shores of Pladtioa. They see the same natural ramp covered in pine trees and streams, leading downwards to the forest.
Knowing of the directions, Asahi opens his map in his mind. The vibrancy of the terrain they're in blends to a dark green hue, showing the tall topography of the location and how steep they have to travel. Asahi closes the map and vanishes in his mind. Belial questions, guessing what he could've seen on the map.
"So, how steep do we have to travel?"
Asahi tilts his head below, thinking of the possibilities available for methods of travel.
Quite some time later, Aletha's patience runs dry. She stands up, walks to Asahi, and snaps her fingers, rushing him.
"Bro, what's taking you so long?!"
Asahi pushes Aletha away from him in a tone of frustration. He directly shouts to all three of them, with his voice resounding over the steep cliff.
"Far. Near that pond over there! And sis, stop rushing me! You know I need time to think, right?"
Aletha's gray eyes broaden in shock, thinking of the reason why Asahi would choose to push her near a cliff. She harshly steps on the ground and screams at him in a fit of rage and fear.
"Why did you push me? We are near a cliff, remember!"
Sadiki enters in defense of Aletha, not because he absolutely is attracted to her, but because anyone with a fraction of common sense would know to not push your sibling near a cliff.
"Asahi, don't push your sister like that! You could've gotten her killed, possibly ruining your mental state."
Belial pulls his hood up, revealing his silky, fluctuating dark braided hair. He peers his empty green eyes to the wanderers and steps forward. He thinks it's time to travel instead of messing around the cliff and threatening their very existence.
"Come on. We need to get there, now!"
The wanderers and Sadiki all fall silent, thinking about the danger that remains with Akwan in The Ending's hands. They all nod their heads and follow Belial, beginning their journey from Milmoor to the ruins.
* * * * * *
They travel down the natural ramp, walking alongside large jagged-edged rocks, abandoned wooden huts, and a few outposts that didn't seem to have been active for years. The atmosphere of the area swiftly became more somber as they continued to survey the area. Aletha faintly whispers as she bends over to grab a stick.
"This area feels a lot different than up there."
Asahi thinks the same way, feeling though as if he has been here but hadn't. He observes the strange formation of the forest, the ground, and nature, tilting his head upwards, left and right. He walks near fungi and a peculiar environment.
The ground blankets in mist, flowers welt along the dry ground, and the vibrancy of the day seems to rot among the faint rays of the daylight. Strange fungi stretch from the zigzag trail towards tall, slender dark trees, spreading their thick spores towards the wildlife.
He shuts his eyes. For a moment, a flash of a location with a pure pond, waterfall, and thriving green mountains fills his closed eyes. Just before Asahi can grasp the thought, his eyelids part away from each other and reveal the sight of the dense forest, Belial, Sadiki, and Aletha.
He jumps up and steps on a branch, breathing heavily and feeling his heart race. Belial tilts his head and questions in a calm tone.
"What's wrong?"
Asahi takes a deep breath and sighs. He guesses the image that flashed in his mind was a grim message of what he saw in the past, on the exact location. Asahi feels like he even recognizes it as if he traveled there with Aletha five thousand years ago. He shakes his head and responds casually.
"Nothing…"
Belial nods his head and looks forward along the path. Aletha could feel the sense of unease Asahi has; Even she knew that they had been in this particular place before, but couldn't honestly recollect the memory, so she remains silent and continues to wander the forest.
At last, they approach the perimeter of the ruins. The distant structures look crumbled, destroyed, torn, and eroded, with small streams and dirty ponds within the opening of the trees. A long narrow pathway is made with eroded ancient stone bricks and bushes.
A bright crystal blue river runs in-between both paths, with a long arch-shaped wooden bridge running across it. Suffice to say, that's the only clear stream within the ruins. The rest remains covered in filth and dirt.
Approaching closer towards the entrance of the ruins, a distorted aura lingers within the scorched grass and tossed trees. Patches of the soil are paved in the dark essence of small piercing stars and thick mist nebulas.
The wanderers approach the distorted ground. Asahi stays back in caution while Aletha pricks the stem of the distorted starry flower and mutters softly in a curious tone.
"That's… strange. I have never seen these types of flora."
Asahi crawls from behind and tilts his head towards the flower.
"What do you have there, sis?
They both silently gaze at the flower while hearing crickets chirp along the forest. Half of the stem is imbued in empty black, while the other is covered in a rich, natural green. White and black petals hang along with the flower, slowly detaching away and dissipating into thin air. Aletha whispers while tossing the flower out.
"It's so strange."
Sadiki hastily sprints to the wanderers and screams while waving his arms in the air.
"Asahi, Aletha! Belial found the entrance!"
The wanderers nod and jolt towards Sadiki, snapping a branch and tossing pebbles out to the side. As they sprint, they see a heavy amount of ancient mossy stone structures matching the shape of churches, houses, sheds, graveyards, and one large cathedral all dug into the ground, buried in rocks and vegetation. They traverse around the large eroded dome-shaped structure and keep quiet.
As they traverse halfway along with the dome-shaped building, the wanderers slide their hands along the ancient shapes carved deep into the stone walls. Fortunately, they were symbols that the twins could understand. Characters that match their writing and language that belonged to their past nation, Cleira. Asahi and Aletha's eyes widen in immense surprise.
Both couldn't believe their eyes once they read the ancient scripture. As Asahi's gray eyes squint at the symbols, he faintly whispers.
"C… Cathedral of… Cleira." He raises his voice and swiftly pushes himself up.
"It says it is the Cathedral of Cleira!"
Sadiki faintly mutters while shutting his eyes and placing his thumb over his lips.
"The Cathedral of… Cleira?"
Belial shakes his head and questioningly tilts his head. As his dark braided hair dangles a few meters over the ground, he quietly says in a dull low tone.
"Am I supposed to know what that means?"
Belial and Sadiki jolt towards them and see the strange divine patterns covered in rich vegetation and long crawling vines. Belial raises his voice.
"Hadn't you forgotten that there is a threat?!"
Asahi interrupts Belial while angrily gripping his fingers. He lifts his voice and stands up. Aletha and Sadiki's eyes broaden in desperation lingering within his vocals.
"Our kingdom is more important, than your weak self.
Aletha swiftly grabs Asahi's shoulder and worryingly whispers to him using his name, conveying the seriousness she had at the moment.
"A-Asahi… you don't have to be—
He interrupts.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Asahi ruthlessly pushes Aletha, meters away from him. She slides on the floor and rubs her head against the dirt. She screams in shock, thinking of what possibly was inside his mind that made him act this way.
Even with the thousands of years, they have supported each other, she has never seen Asahi filled with this much fury.
Sadiki sprints towards Aletha and pulls her up while grabbing her arm. He wipes the dirt off from her white hair, and his ears point upwards. He softly whispers.
"Are you okay?"
Aletha nods her head and rubs her head. Belial stands there, utterly speechless, witnessing the fight. He pulls his hood up and tilts his body away from the wanderers and Sadiki. Asahi's gray eyes shimmer in tears. Sadiki tilts his head upwards towards Asahi, grits his teeth, and shouts at him.
"She's your sister! Why are you so careless right now?!"
Asahi slams his fist against the ground and shuts his eyes. He covers his face with his arms and tries to wipe off his own clear tears. His breathing grows thin, his heart pounds rapidly, and sweat slides down his pale face.
Memories of the past surge through him, remembering the destruction of Cleira, the scorching flames, and the painful loss of his younger sister to the Creator. He couldn't process the number of emotions that are rushing through his soul.
In pure rage, Asahi scurries away from them into the entrance of the dark depths of the ruins, with his cries resounding over the eroded, mossy walls. Tears fall down his cheek and into the dry, scorched dirt while Aletha pushes Sadiki away and chases her brother into the ruins.
"Asahi!"
Sadiki shakes his head and sighs.
"I wonder what makes the wanderers gods? They act just like humans."
Sadiki said in his mind as he chased Aletha into the darkness.
Belial sighs and shakes his head. An eerie silence lingers within the forest. The breeze rests, nature stays still and quiet, and the sun shines on the lonely treetops. As his empty emerald eyes peer at the falling leaves, he shuts his eyes and forms into a four-legged wolf.
His long eight brown tails perk into the air, his claws touch the ground, and his green canine eyes glow among the shadows. He squints his eyes at the ruins and whispers to himself in a trembling tone.
"I'm sorry dear Akwan, I have failed to be your guardian. Let the true gods save you. They are not weaklings... like me. I don't deserve to be your guardian; I'm just worthless... like humanity. Although I can heal anything I please, I can't... heal the tenderness of my heart. And that is what you must understand, Creator. I am what remains… ruined."
He jolts and leaps across the hills, swiftly jumping through the bushes and exiting the forest with his swift wolf form. As he travels back to the plains of Milmoor, he has one potent emotion that surrounds his mind and eclipses the rest; A pressure so intense that it could decay his rotting soul. And that... is the severe constraint of Guilt.