"Ever since that encounter back in the decrepit ruins of Pladtioa, my presence has been residing. Communication with people is... difficult for me; that's why I tend to avoid conversation outside of others I know. But even that, I still can't stop wondering why your world is the way it is." Telos commented.
Asahi scratched his head, not having a clue where he was. All he remembered was that he closed his eyes, and now he awakened in this place; a heavenly expanse of puffy pink, white clouds and a forever stuck ball of light gleaming its rays on the horizon.
As determined by the memories of awakening in a hospital room, Asahi's panic dawned on him, commenting on the realm around him.
"This doesn't look like a dream. Wait a minute, did I fall asleep so quickly?! What about my sister?! Where am I?"
In a panic, Asahi sprinted across the shallow horizon, bumping into a tall man with dark hair, blue eyes, and chalky skin.
The moment Telos turned, Asahi asked him, brushing dust fragments lingering on his metal arm.
"Do you know where we are now?"
(I can't believe Asahi ignored my comment so swiftly. It seems this is more urgent than I thought.)
Telos shrugged and examined Asahi's appearance quietly, turning toward the fleet of thick clouds underneath his feet, then back to Asahi. Despite not meeting him for so long, he could feel his heart trembling in shock, seeing Asahi's sleek brown boots planted on the white blanket.
"It appears that you have awakened in the heavenly abode of your mind. Empty as it is, it still harvests blurry memories from your travels at Pladtioa. I must say, that was one rough awakening. Not to mention all your other memories that are still blurry. I can't believe you have awakened underwater."
"Eh?"
Asahi's gray eyes broadened, recollecting the time he swam in that deep blue abyss. It was a terrifying moment for him that immediately acknowledged his weakness was inevitable. One of the memories that had latched on him like an urchin.
As the memory faded away, Asahi scratched his head and eased out the traumatic memories like a sponge, responding to Telos in an unsure tone.
"Y... Yeah. That traumatic event left a mark on me. I still can't believe, after all those years, my powers could just vanish in a blink of an eye..."
Asahi froze in place and paused, staring at Telos for a moment.
"Wait, Telos, how do you know that?! Have you been intruding upon my memories? Were you actually there when I was underwater?"
Telos answered quietly, looking over to the sky above him.
"No, not at all. Here, Asahi, if you want to know so badly how I know..."
He pulled Asahi closer and forced his head upward, revealing a massive expanse of what looked like ceiling lights.
"What is this?"
Asahi noticed the oblique lines of fluorescent shining white rectangles that stretched several kilometers across the heavenly abode, hovering above the clouds and shining its light on the ground like spotlights. Telos commented while Asahi's eyes dazzled with curiosity.
"These are what I call windows. They are the reason why I know that drowning memory of yours."
He took a deep sigh, stepping back as Asahi grew attentive.
"When I wandered here, I noticed that these "windows" transmit a glassy, translucent surface covering what looks like specific images like a distorted tree or a vast shoreless beach. It seems to me that the windows are that of how you envision your memories.
Asahi's gray eyes leaned over to the horizon, feeling memories scatter and latch onto his mind from left to right.
"So, you're saying all of these are my memories?"
Telos scratched his head.
"Basically. It's nearly countless how many memories you have. Some of the windows far in the distance are painted in black. I can't see a thing beyond it."
A thought floated in Telos as Asahi pondered something as well.
(I can't believe the sheer number of memories you have. Most of these environments I have seen don't resemble Asahi's world. Most of them are landscapes that I have never seen before.)
As Telos stared into the distance, Asahi thought as well.
"Black. That word reminds me of someone."
. . .
He remembered now.
The tall woman with inky black hair holding a withering spear. He never knew who she was. Even her mention of a dragon and Kali disoriented him to the trembling bone.
In a quick response, Asahi stepped forward and questioned Telos as he sat on the glassy, transparent floor.
"What was with you and Morwenna? I've heard a few things come out from her, and even you... but I still don't understand. Do you two have some connection? She mentioned some sort of dragon, summit, and other things-- I'm just genuinely confused."
Telos stopped Asahi, trying to keep with his swift pace as his arms reached over to what looked like a separate memory window.
"Please, settle yourself down. The one you have seen before was my lover from long ago."
Asahi's heart froze, and he gasped in shock.
"Huh?!"
Telos chuckled lightly. He gently placed one of the separate, clear white windows over the centimeter-deep water and pushed the mist hovering over it away. He commented as Asahi peered over and leaned back.
"I believe before you fainted, your eyes were still open, and my soul could still see her face for a moment. This was the first thing that I found when I was here. Take a look."
Asahi agreed, looked over to the shining white window, and saw its white light engulf his face, body, and everything in the realm to a past, clear sight.
* * * * * * *
Morwenna watched her weakening powers consume everyone; she grabbed her chest, stepped over to the fainted Asahi, and bent over to the tattoo on his chest, whispering to the soul behind it.
"I know you're there, Telos. I can still see that young face plastered onto you, that powerful, dominant strength in your soul and azure blue eyes. You look afraid, scared, and terrified, looks that don't match you...."
Telos' soul tried to speak to Morwenna, but nothing worked. His face was in disarray as he saw his love phase through her like a distant mirage.
(Dear, why are you doing this? We've been asunder for so long that we forgot everything that defined us. All twenty-one of them. Your splendor is the same as when we met, yet your attitude is as cold as the void. Just why are you doing this?)
Morwenna's fringed sharp eyelashes lowered downward in guilt, biting her lip and closing her eyes. Her mind flickered with distorted memories so long that it could well just be identified as nothing but void.
Her long black hair swayed back and forth like an animal's tail, ripping the spear from the chipped ground. She gritted her teeth, feeling her heart wither slowly like a black flower. As she heard Telos' voice inside her mind, Morwenna snapped her fingers and said as black particles surrounded her, Chloe, Pridia, Asahi, Aletha, Canyon, and Kali.
"My dear Telos, how much have our souls been intertwined. How many souls have we formed with our unchained adoration, I do not know. But like the feeling of creating, I, too, can't stop yearning for hedonism.
Though Morwenna couldn't hear Telos' voice, she knew her lover was listening.
(Darling, I've been seeking your soul for so long that I forgot where I started. If only you understood the consequence of our actions, the outcome of the deceitful essence of Angel Factors, and the beauty of the heavenly creatures we made.)
Morwenna sighed and closed her eyes, speaking fragments of truth from her echoing voice.
"I am forging a path to reorganize the aspects of this world. To bring all dangerous residue of The Outside into oblivion. The flow of time is distorted, scrambled, and torn apart in the World of Gincad. Problems are situated in the inner core of the two beings. For now, I bid you farewell. Until my goal has been reached, we will forever be apart."
(No, please... listen to me!)
The memory faded to the heavenly abode, the glistening ball of light rising above the sea of clouds and sparkling particles. Telos wiped a sigh of dismay and closed his eyes, sighing while he heard Asahi stunned by the information.
* * * * * * *
"So you see, Asahi... Morwenna, my beloved darling... had completely changed. She isn't the generous, gifting woman I knew before. I've known that my wife and I have made twenty-one beautiful children, each with varying abilities, but from nowhere... many have disappeared. I have searched every corner of the universe for them, but I can't find a single one."
Telos clenched his fists and forced his eyes shut.
"Our love was kindled in harmony like a speck of dirt to its grass. A beautiful witness to behold. But now, I've lost it. I've lost all of them and her. My heart is aching for the past to return... but destiny told me no. It's... strange that Morwenna has a goal, just like I do. But just how different is her compared to mine?"
Asahi scratched his head, feeling emotions that he never had felt before. His mind bounced with countless ideas, but not one was inevitable, for all he knew; sounds were being made outside his mind abode. While feeling time ooze and spill away from the glass of sustainability, Asahi nodded and replied to Telos.
"I get what you feel, Telos. I understand."
Asahi put his hand up to his own chest, his face expressing a look of pity.
"I have felt the same way when I have lost everything. My mother, my father, my little sister, and my kingdom; all of it was lost to an unknown cause. But with only Aletha and I, the last people left of my family, at least a glimmer of hope dawned on me. So should you."
Telos' knees fell onto the floor, his cyan heart rapidly increasing in moisture and sadness.
"Oh, Asahi. How arrogant of you to amplify my feelings for the one I lost. I appreciate your effort, but... it's just not enough."
Telos relaxed his body onto the ground.
"This conflict is different from yours. When I'm outside the world of Gincad, my sight gets blinded, obstructing my pathway to find my lost children. Morwenna is someone different. That's why I arrived here. If only you knew."
Asahi backed up. After what Telos had just explained, it made him even more confused.
"Knew what...?"
"About--
Before Asahi could hear more of Telos' voice, a loud shout sounded outside the heavenly abode of Asaih's mind.
"Big brother!"
* * * * * * *
At an instant, Asahi's eyelids opened to the sight of the same ceiling, seeing a youthful fair-skinned face leaning toward the corner of his eye.
Her face and blemished rosy cheeks shone with the vibrant sunlight shining through the window, touching the floor, revealing his sister standing on the right of his bed. She asked.
"Brother, are you okay? You have been asleep for more than an hour now. I'm just checking with you if you're alright."
The corner of Asahi's mouth quirked up to a soft grin. He couldn't feel more relieved knowing his sister had made it to this building with him.
He thought he had lost Aletha or was separated from her once again.
Remorse clouded his face. He felt his energy increase, and quickly pushed himself up, answering.
"Yeah, sis... I'm fine."
Aletha rolled her eyes and backed away.
"Good. You look healthier too! I'm guessing you have no clue where you are either? I have been walking from counter to counter in this building, but no one responded to me."
A girl who looked similar to a nurse, having long light-black hair, crystal turquoise eyes, and wearing two layered clothing, stepped into the room and added to the conversation with a friendly voice, bowing down and introducing herself.
"You're located in Oksanna Village's hospital. My name is Emine, a pleasure to meet you two."
Though her greeting sounded friendly at first, her voice and face continued to part away from each other's tone, not matching the emotion.
. . .
An awkward silence dawned in the room. Emine shook her head and sighed as she tried to keep her smile.
"Oh, both of you are fine, don't worry. If it wasn't for me, you two would still be stranded in the forest, without anyone to guide you."
Asahi scratched his head nervously, feeling anxiety glowing inside him. He thanked the girl while showing an expression of relief on his face.
"I show you my greatest gratitude."
Emine sneered and looked away.
"Oh! I forgot to mention! Now that both of you are all reinvigorated and healed up..."
What once seemed like an act of a friendly girl shifted to the tone of a serious businesswoman. Her posture, stare, and voice all intimidated the wanderers.
"... to compensate for me saving both of you, the two of you will have to participate in a foot race; within the upcoming days. You must be trained by me, informed by the books I have prepared, and fed healthy proportions to induce calorie intake and hydration."
A look of worry slowly crept on the siblings' faces.
Asahi and Aletha thought the nurse was joking, but as they looked closer at her, that serious expression didn't match her appearance.
Emine wore a dark lavender shirt, another layer dangled with fuzzy white latches, and an oddly made azure, cyan skirt slumped to her toes. Her appearance matched a look of authority and casual but mostly somber-filled.
"So..."
Emine's tint on her skin was the hue of a faint blue-green hue resembling a ghoul's face with proportional human features, except for her pointed ears.
Asahi positioned his body to the clear window on the wall, tightened his fist, and asked, trying to keep the mellow aura of the room intact.
"Why do we need to participate in a foot race?"
Emine leered her turquoise eyes at Asahi's arms and scrunched her face, releasing a sigh of irritation at him.
"Just go along with it!"
As an eerie silence flooded the cozy room, Aletha placed her two hands onto her sides, drew back a snarl, and responded to Emine with a sarcastic smug.
"And so what...? What if my brother and I resist?"
It was at this moment that Aletha knew she had messed up.
Emine forced Aletha up the wall, tremblingly pulling out a gleaming silver dagger from one of her pockets and pointing to the tip of Aletha's throat.
The poor white-haired girl struggled and wheezed, unable to comprehend the sheer speed of her action.
"Ack!"
Asahi quickly jolted over but was stopped by Emine's other arm.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"
Emine ignored him and frenziedly leaned over to Aletha, whispering at her with a blend of intimidation and despair.
"I-If you dare to run away, I will track you two down until both of you are slain by either my dagger or my minions."
Fear touched Aletha coldly. She gulped a breath of panic and looked to the door noticing that a man was passing by. Asahi pushed Emine's arm and gritted his teeth, aggressively and angrily shouting as the man in the hallway saw.
"Don't you dare!"
The young man's crimson hair waved back, feeling alerted and scampering to the door.
"H...Huh?"
Emine's ice-chipped eyes darted at Aletha slowly, looking back at the dagger and realizing what she was doing.
"W...What? N-no, I'm not supposed to do this. What am I doing?!"
Guilt touched the woman coldly, noticing Aletha's trembling gray eyes and reading the room around her. She knew this wasn't on purpose but out of her instinct.
But soon enough before the tip of the blade touched Aletha's skin.
"Nurse Emine! Not again..." A masculine voice sounded out.
Suddenly, Emine felt her wrist clenched and was forced back from Aletha, dropping her dagger on the floor and onto the bed. Asahi swiftly grabbed the two blades and tossed them to the other side of the room, confused and scrambled in disarray.
He gave the monster girl a fiery exclamation of wrath.
"What were you thinking?!"
Emine's shiny eyes flashed up in remorse, loosening her fists and blowing out her cheeks with an expression of relief.
"N...No. I wasn't supposed to do that." A glistening, innocent tear formed in her eye. "Please, forgive me. It's... it's an accident..."
Asahi sneered at Emine suspiciously.
"Are you sure?"
A soft but masculine voice sounded behind his back.
"Yes, it is one of Nurse Emine's flaws. I'm dearly sorry, my patient. I promise it won't happen again."
Who had barged in the room and pushed Emine away was a reasonably appealing, elegant young man with nearly short hot pink-crimson hair, sharp red-rimmed ruby eyes, and milk skin. His attire was that of a fancy suit, with a red tie dangling over his chest, dark pants, and thick eyebrows.
The man presented himself as a gentleman, kindly escorting Emine out of the room without bearing a word to the others.
But as he stepped out, Aletha raised her arm and hollered at the man.
"Hey, who are you?!"
The bright-haired man stood still, kindly pushing Emine to the hallway as other people tried to barge into Asahi's room, asking what was happening.
"What is happening? Let us through!"
"Is that Asahi's room? What is he doing?! Let me in, please. I know him!"
"Come on, let us in! I've been trying to find that guy all afternoon!"
Several people started rushing in and pushed the crimson-haired man back, hollering while Asahi and Aletha cower in the corner of the room, trying to find a way out.
"Please, let us in!"
"Were they the ones that saved Pladtioa from disaster?"
"Let us through!"
The crowd immediately fell silent as they saw a purple-green-haired girl with glistening jewel-like cyan eyes budge through the group, waving her hand and warning everyone.
"Will you please excuse me? I must speak with that boy at once."
Everyone in the group, including the gray-haired boy, stepped back and made a pathway for the girl to enter the room, praising her long untied hair glistening under the ceiling light.
"Yes, Princess of Linuxinia!"
"Understood, your majesty!"
"With much love..."
. . .
"Will you please shut the door?"
The elegant crimson-haired doctor quickly nodded his head and slowly exited the room, closing the door and allowing the Princess to pass.
Her soft purple-green luminous, lustrous, straight long hair followed the rhythm of her bright lime-colored dress stretching down to her ankles.
The girl's face looked as soft and smooth as a baby, with a faint copper tint on her skin. She mumbled while approaching the wanderers.
"I can't believe this appearance is the only one that can make me identify as The Princess of Linuxinia. They wouldn't even bat an eye if I tied my hair or changed my dress."
The moment that Asahi's eyes caught a glimpse of the dazzling girl approaching him, his heart raced and pounded heavily in his chest, wheezing as he saw the glitter shining on the girl's neck.
"I recognize that face..."
Disbelief flew in him. Words trembled out of his lips as the girl pulled her high heels off her feet.
"K...Kali Leila? Is that you?!"
She quickly replied with sweat sliding down her face.
"Shh! Don't holler out that name!"
Aletha stood still in shock, staring and admiring the fancy patterns on the girl's dress. Even she thought the girl was a completely different individual. She slightly nudged her elbow at Asahi with a smug creeping on her face.
"Ooo, so is that your CRUSH, bro? She looks gorgeous!~"
Asahi's face flustered red.
"N...No. I don't know who she is!"
Kali Leila made a pouty face and squinted at Asahi with disbelief.
"Come on, I thought you were smarter than that! Of course, I'm Kali Leila! Remember?"
Asahi gulped and trembled, feeling heat and sweat sliding down his anxious face.
"W...Why do you look like that? You look so..."
Aletha added in, with her smugness growing powerful each second.
"...preettty...?"
"N-NO!"
Unexpectedly, Asahi slapped the back of his sister's head, forcing her to whine and rub her bruise.
(SMACK)
"OW! That hurts..." Aletha whined while jumping up and down like a baby.
Kali gasped in shock.
"Asahi? What are you doing?!"
"N...Nothing. It's no big deal. It's just... that you look really different, Kali."