Asahi and Aletha's arms, legs, and faces departed the shadows of the bottom and touched the leaking rays of the brilliant sunlight. The rays traced Asahi and Aletha's outline of their clothing and reflected against their silky white hair.
However, they were concerned about climbing this route. Just as the wanderers could process how lofty they were, Asahi peeked down and saw only Drimi and Belial below him. Curious about where the other part of the group went, he hollered to Drimi.
"Where did the others go?"
Despite Drimi's stance on her posture, she looked aware of where the others went. The mask was the only thing that made it difficult for the wanderers to know what she truly felt. As Asahi and Aletha stared into space, Drimi slowly nodded, pointed her fingers toward her right, and clamored.
"Oh, those two?! They traveled the easy route. You know; where we came from when we first left Milmoor Village? Yeah, that place."
Asahi and Aletha turned their heads toward the location where Drimi was pointing. Their eyes broadened once they saw what was in the distance.
A natural ramp made of solid earth, moss, and foliage climbed from the bottom toward a zig-zag shape at the middle, all the way to a straight path at the end. It consisted of tall firn trees, bushes, and flora.
The wanderers freed a deep sigh, knowing that they had messed up. Just from that idea alone, Aletha felt foolish every time she bats her eye onto the ramp. She turned upward and stared into space, faintly murmuring.
"I can't believe it..."
Asahi lightly scratched his head and nervously chuckled, realizing his mistake. He took a deep breath, turned upward, and slowly kicked himself up.
As their legs dangled over the air, a loud yell sounded from beneath their feet.
"Keep your eyes above! I can only climb for so long!"
Asahi swiftly shook his head and tilted downward. There, he saw a young man with long dark braided hair and glistening emerald eyes waving at him with his beastly arms. Sweat slowly slithered down his heated, red face as he heaved and panted, tightly holding on to a ledge for his life.
"Hurry up!"
Asahi nodded his head, gasped, and caught his breath. He lunged his body upward with a deep sigh, latched his fingers onto a sturdy rocky edge, and turned to Aletha. He could practically feel the gravel slipping through the openings of his fingers.
"I'm going.. as fast as I can."
Aletha took a deep breath and held her chest. Beneath her fingers, she could feel her heart thumping rapidly like a reverberating stereo. Energy pulsated through her veins like a rushing waterfall.
She leaned the ledge closest to her, forced all her leg strength toward the other, and grappled onto the rock. She huffed and panted, her arms began to ache, her legs started twitching, and her palms drenched in sweat. Aletha turned to Asahi and sighed.
"Why did we choose this path?"
Asahi slowly grappled his two hands against the solid rock, climbed up, and lunged his body from rock to ledge. His abs hardened and bulged, with his heart thumping rapidly and sweat drenching his skin. He pushed all of his strength and reached the next ridge.
As he was heaving and puffing, Aletha closed her palms and leaped to another ledge. Her abs solidified and bulged underneath the fabric of her top, with the wind evaporating her sweat. She pushed her long white hair to the side and leaped to the second to last ledge.
Grappling onto it, Aletha turned her head to the ground and was exasperated. Her face gradually brightened to pink, heat shrouded her face like steam, and her eyes trembled. She whined as she took a rest on the ledge.
"Asahi... it hurts. W-We should have gone the... easier way up... hah."
Though he looked hyper and active, Asahi still had doubts springing up in his mind. 'Was it worth it?' or 'Was this necessary?'
Despite these complaints, he continued to grapple onto the ledge and had the energy to still holler to Aletha.
"It's... too late for that now. Stop whining. You climbed many mountains in the past when we were still traveling worlds."
Aletha crossed her arms, sneered at Asahi, and raised her voice as her face turned red.
"B-But... I had no choice. In some of the adventures, we couldn't travel anywhere unless we climbed the mountains."
Asahi didn't even care that he was hanging on; he still had the energy to chuckle and sigh lightly.
"Sis, we sprinted like tens of thousands of kilometers across vast plains, snowy terrains, deserts, starships, volcanic areas, jungles, temples, and plenty more environments that I can't mention, and NOW you're just starting to complain?!"
Aletha slammed her fist on the wall, sighed, and pouted. She was too exhausted to contemplate and interrogate Asahi.
"We didn't have a choice. We were practically forced to do quests and help the people in all those worlds. We couldn't do anything because, in some worlds, it took our powers away."
Asahi lightly chuckled and slowly lifted his arm.
"Yeah, and now look at you! You're fit, healthy, and stronger than ever, just like me, despite even having powers. Our attire was made for wandering and physical activity, remember?"
He was right; Aletha and his clothing were explicitly designed to be as light as possible so that the attire wouldn't cause difficulty for drastic physical activity. Yet even with that, when they first began going to other worlds, their human-like bodies were at their unhealthiest state. The appearances they have currently and the form of their attire served as a reminder of how far they have grown.
If their parents were still around, they would be proud to see their children healthy and strong.
Asahi took a deep breath and continued by raising his voice.
"Keep it up, sis! You're doing a great job maintaining your shape. I promise this exercise will pay us off in the long run. Though... I still can't understand time... as I once did."
Aletha's face turned a bright red. She slowly shook her head, turned to her body, and formed a prideful grin.
"You're right..."
She hastily boosted her adrenaline and forced all of her strength to climb up the remaining bits of the cliff. As Asahi saw Aletha leap and reach the top of the cliff, he nodded his head and lunged upward toward the remaining three ledges, with pure adrenaline and energy filling his body.
* * * * * * * *
Reaching the top, Asahi and Aletha felt the sun's mellow light softly touch their faces.
"Almost… there."
The breeze blew against their hair; they were almost there. As the wind howled through the roof of the cliff, Aletha hollered back.
"O...kay!"
Quickly, both of them grappled onto the crisp edge of the cliff, dangled their legs in the air, took a deep breath, and then heaved themselves up the ridge.
Feeling the rush of refreshing cold breeze gust against their faces, Asahi and Aletha crawled toward the nearest tree and fell to the ground, panting and wheezing.
The birds welcoming chirps touched their ears, soft grass tickled their faces, insects buzzed around them, and their bodies lay against the soft bed of flora. It had been a few moments since the wanderers passed out.
"...uh."
Aletha's eyes parted. She curled her fingers, took a deep breath, and sniffed the fluorescent scents gliding across the air. She could vividly feel nature peacefully welcoming her.
She rubbed her eyes and turned toward the dancing trees and rolling hills. A smile formed on her face as she observed the beauty of the environment.
"Thank you…" She softly whispered to nature.
Suddenly, a soft groan sounded out from her right. Aletha turned her head and saw Asahi rubbing his eyes, releasing a loud yawn, and shaking his head.
"H-Huh…?"
His eyes suddenly flashed with the view of a vast expanse of green landscapes, forests, and meadows. A dark hint of blue traced the distant shores, the shadows of clouds drifted over the hills, and a flock of birds soared down the path.
He inhaled the pleasant, fresh scents and exhaled his hot breath. Asahi rubbed the dirt off his attire and body and turned to Aletha.
"Sis, are you alright?"
She silently nodded her head and smiled.
"Of course!"
Asahi lightly chuckled and turned back to the panorama of the plains. Instead of the swindling view, it looked somewhat different.
It was an expansive view of tall green mountains, tall rushing waterfalls, lakes, towns, sacred pillars, and heavenly gardens; a flourishing land with all continents and landforms connected as one place.
The vision faded away. Asahi could barely grasp what he was seeing. He vividly knew what that past vision was.
"All of this was our home… we owned it, we ruled it. I could still vividly remember it. Now, I can't recognize any of it at all."
He can't let go. The memory, his past world; all of it was too difficult for him to allow it to simply just… disappear.
Asahi clenched his fist in rage, gritted his teeth, and faintly mumbled to himself.
"Reclaim… what you lost."
By staring at the vast expanse, it made Asahi feel guilty. He continued to drone on about his lost world; regardless, Aletha sprinted to Asahi behind him. Before he noticed, Aletha lightly tapped his shoulder and shouted in an eager tone.
"Asahi, come on! We don't have all day!"
He slowly nodded his head and closed his eyes.
"Hold... on."
Asahi took two deep breaths, calmed himself down, and turned to Aletha. He wasn't as excited as his sister; however, he was relieved that he and she had made it back safely. Before taking another deep breath, Asahi patted Aletha's back and whispered.
"Wait until Belial and Drimi arrive. We can't forget about them."
Aletha crossed her arms and pouted. She looked away from Asahi and mumbled behind his back in a sarcastic tone.
"Okay, whatever."
She planted her rear against the grass and impatiently waited for the others.
* * * * * * * *
Not much later, loud sounds of struggle and panting sounded from beneath the cliff. The sounds alerted both the wanderers, and hastily they raced to check what it was. To no surprise, Belial made those noises, panting and wheezing. Aletha kindly asked as the wind blew on her back.
"Do you need help?"
Shockingly, Belial responded with a tone of aggression.
"Get out of my way!"
He gritted his teeth, roughly cupped his hands over the edges, and forcefully heaved himself up the cliff. Belial stumbled and toppled down to the ground, panting and breathing heavily out of exhaustion.
Asahi and Aletha bent their heads down the cliff to see if Drimi, and to no surprise, she was climbing the mountain, determined. Her long dark hair flew to the side, her dark amethyst eyes poked out from the edge, and her fingers clenched tightly against the rim.
Both the wanderers questioned.
"Drimi?"
"YUP!"
She nodded her head, hurled, and forcefully pushed herself upward. Drimi rolled on the ground, sweat flew into the air, and her mask rested over her mouth, showing how brave and strong she really was.
Drimi thought of nothing but returning to Milmoor Village. She really wanted her weapon back. Drimi scrambled to the wanderers without any concern, perked her chin up, and yelled at them in a demanding tone.
"We have no time to waste! Let's get the reward so that we can return to Pladtioa city and retrieve Belial, Sally, and my weapons now!"
Belial slowly shook his head, sighed, and moaned. He was exhausted and overwhelmed, thinking that climbing a cliff was the worst option the wanderers chose. His exhaustion made him descend into fury.
"Let me rest first! I just climbed the tallest cliff in Pladtioa!?"
While Drimi and the wanderers scrambled down the hill, Drimi lifted her arm then screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Okay, Bebe! Just let your doozy self rest while the wanderers and I meet the villagers!"
As the wanderers stared at Drimi, she crossed her arms, kicked dirt toward Belial, and snickered.
"Alright, you two ready?"
Both the wanderers silently nodded. They didn't want to mess up Drimi's mood or dare to interfere with her.
They knew that Drimi was currently more potent than both combined, so they remained silent and followed her every order.
"Okay!"
She snapped her fingers, made a long smile, and raced down the hill with the wanderers.
While sprinting and approaching Milmoor village, Drimi turned to her right and saw two distant figures running the opposite way from the forest. She gasped and assumed that the figures were the rest of the group, Sally and Phthonus. Without alerting or even acknowledging Asahi and Aletha, Drimi parted from them and jolted toward the two figures.
* * * * * * * *
Approaching the village, the wanderers still thought Drimi was following them. However, as they came to the first watermill that collected the water from the poisoned stream, Asahi and Aletha turned behind and realized that Drimi was not there.
Immediately, Asahi questioned out loud.
"Where did Drimi go?"
"I... don't know. But we're close to the village. Let's just see if the villagers are okay."
Asahi nodded his head and curled his fingers.
"Okay..."
By reaching the village fences, instead of excitement that filled their minds... it was...
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Aletha shrieked.
The village looked almost razed; however, they discovered that only perspective made it look that way.
Still, the buildings were imbued with a foul stench; many of the remaining structures were empty and had dullness lingering in the air, and debris was scattered on the ground. The wanderers' eyes trembled in fear, but they continued despite the damages.
Advancing through the village, the sight of the place gradually grew worse.
Wooden crates were scattered across walls, wagons were tossed on roofs, fences were damaged, materials were thrown in a pile, buckets were scattered, rigid weapons got split, farming materials, and even thick coats of crops were bestrewn on the walls.
A lavender slimy type essence was splattered on some parts of the ground, spewing out utterly repulsive and disgusting aromas in the air. As Asahi sensed a chill run down his spine, he tremblingly murmured to himself.
"Where... did everyone go?"
Aletha felt goosebumps rise over her skin. She added as they stepped over debris.
"We were only gone for two days..."