After the intense battle, a brutal, heavy, and impalpable silence drowned their ears.
The Guardian's breathing was slow, steady, barely perceptible, not even moving a millimeter. Despite his apparent lack of motion, the knight's stillness omitted a sense of intensity.
At times, Asahi could hardly count how long he had stood there.
He refused to move. Not because he was scared but because he had Kendra cradled in his arms, bruised and seemingly beyond repair. Though the peaceful quietness abruptly entered this moment, terror still thundered down in Asahi. He knew that even though blessed by the temporary power of that shard of glass, he would still fall into weakness.
As his eyes tremblingly and fearfully anchored at the living statue, he felt something move between his arms. Kendra.
Despite all the bruises she had worn from the relentless attacks of The Guardian, she started to twitch her arms slowly. Then, as seconds passed, her legs made small movements before gradually transforming into quick stutters.
"Asahi…" She slowly uttered as a green luminance emerged from her body. "Let… me down."
Struck with the aspects of confusion and profundity, Asahi, for the first time in minutes, spoke.
"W… Why?" Asahi said with hesitation.
"Just… do it."
At first, Asahi was confused about why Kendra would suddenly ask him that. But as he tilted his head down to her, he noticed that the bruises and injuries that had once covered her body had vanished. This moment could be nothing short but a miracle for them.
To ensure that The Guardian wouldn't approach suddenly, Asahi kept his gaze on the knight as he slowly lowered Kendra. Following this, a tingling, soft sensation suddenly tickled Asahi. For some odd reason, the weight of weakness that had once attached itself to Asahi during the fight slowly and unusually lifted away from his body.
(Huh? What… is going on?)
Biting his lip, Asahi grounded himself with the sensation, allowing it to consume his whole body. A feeling of hope and recovery surged and overcame him. He hadn't known what had caused it, but it seemed after every moment the knight were to stand frozen, that recovering essence would heal Asahi and Kendra's wounds.
After that, Kendra stomped on the ground, feeling more optimistic than ever. The fog in her blue eyes slowly lifted as a green, vine-shaped, luminescent essence coiled around her body. She quickly heaved her hand upward and summoned a liquid-like blue magic on top of her palm.
And despite all of this, The Guardian remained still on the ground.
"What is happening?" Kendra mumbled with a shocked, unsure smile as she retained her posture. "I feel great for some reason. I feel powerful. I… I feel…" As she felt consumed in this fantastic aura, she noticed a green luminance pulsating from the roots dangling on the far stone ceiling.
Though barely visible, it sparked and illuminated a beautiful swirling pattern before hastily soaring downward and entering both Asahi and Kendra. "Unstoppable!"
At that moment, Asahi and Kendra's eyes caught the knight moving again. However, not with fear, but with confidence.
After it had stood still like a statue for minutes, The Guardian slid his boot back and the other one to the left, repeatedly, swerving back and forth with their peculiar helmet.
As he approached the edge of the stone cliff, the knight gracefully twirled his spear with precision before falling back and snapping out cyan sparkles into the air.
Witnessing The Guardian dance strangely, Asahi and Kendra took two steps back, drawing their heads quickly in confusion.
"Did the knight just dance? Also, why have I recovered so quickly?" Kendra asked with her normal voice returning.
With that question, Asahi nodded, picked up his blade, and answered.
"I have no idea."
As the thrumming, fading rhythm of an approaching tune whispered into Asahi and Kendra's ears, the mysterious knight slowly sprang back up and began to twirl and spin with his spear as if it were a bride. Then, a light show of glitter fluctuated across the cavern.
Glowing cyan strings dispersed and flew from his presence. All of which had soared and danced in a vague and fragmentary way.
"What is it doing?" Kendra whispered to Asahi as they slowly backed away from the dancing knight.
In the knight's unwieldy compass, Asahi was at a loss for words at this strange phenomenon. If he were ever to ignore this chance, there might be consequences. And so, he stepped forward and hollered at Kendra as the knight continued to dance.
"The knight is exposed. Now's our chance!"
At that moment, Asahi and Kendra approached him swiftly with precision. The knight, despite dancing, immediately managed to twist evasively before twirling his spear once more, knocking them back. Asahi and Kendra rolled onto the floor, their bodies covered in dirt. But they pushed themselves back up and attacked The Guardian with powerful blows. One by one, the knight was reeled back from the cliff toward the plains with the partners' attacks.
Kendra hurriedly leaped into the air at once and clenched a glowing blue ball of essence from her fists. Soon after, a group of water-like rings surrounded The Guardian's body before squeezing it tightly. Immediately, the dancing knight broke free and shattered the water cage before striking Kendra again with its potent blade.
"Foolish magic from a failed hero." He uttered after being silent for so long. "Exploitation of powers of this world is no match for me."
Watching as Kendra crashed into the open field of dead flowers and cold rocks, Asahi invaded the knight and struck freely with his blade. He kept his glance strong and targeted the legs of the knight before swooping back and doing a backflip, dodging the approaching swings of The Guardian.
The more he swung, the more the powerful feeling weakened.
He struck The Guardian hundreds of times with rapid blows. From behind, from above, left, right, and yet, he had used so much of his strength that it quickly drained away. Soon after, he found himself in his previous position, Exhausted and powerless.
The Guardian mocked Asahi's approaching powerlessness with weak dances, jumping back and forth and swerving like a hummingbird. He played with Asahi's life by rapidly swinging his spear back and forth, forming glowing cracks in the ground. Asahi attempted to escape by rolling around but was instantly repelled and nearly crushed by the force of The Guardian's dance.
As the time of demise ran thin, Kendra witnessed all this transpire right before her eyes. The hope that had coursed in her quickly flew away as she watched Asahi get tossed around from The Guardian's spear. Her heart plummeted with despair, seeing what once was a god lose to an impossible being. While she slumped her shoulders in shock, Kendra slowly stepped forward with a flashing luminance, mumbling.
"N… No… Asahi. How could you lose, despite all of this power? You're… a god." She couldn't take this sense of despair anymore. Kendra knew she was a human. A being far weaker than a god, like Asahi. But even so, when Asahi was around, she had always felt more potent. Now, after experiencing all of this, Kendra had learned something. She had recollected more memories than she ever could back on the surface.
Kendra's mind flooded with past recollections as the time came to a standstill.
* * * * * * *
The sun had hung high above the scaling lush mountains of Linuxinia. A young man with a square-faced chin, a long nose, and vibrant aqua-green hair watched as a little girl with long azure hair sprinted freely along the yard. He sat on a chair overlooking the fields of the mansion, monitoring the girl's every movement. As he adjusted his monocle, the man whispered to himself as he saw the shepherds run along with the girl.
"I still am in utter disbelief that man was willing enough to care for a child that isn't even his. It makes me question… is there more in this child than I thought?"
From behind, a young crimson-haired maid with a face similar to an eighteen-year-old entered the warmly lit room and brought over a glass of wine on the steel tray she had carried. As she slowly lowered the wine to the man's desk, the maid bowed and asked.
"Is there anything else you need, Mr. Toivo?"
Trying to keep his gaze fixed on the child, the young twenty-one-year-old man waved a hand of dismissal and replied.
"I'm afraid not, Realma. I appreciate your patience. As you can see, I'm monitoring the young one right now." Toivo paused and took a sip from the glass before gently placing it back on the tray. Although he had wanted to keep an eye on the powder-haired girl, Toivo turned over to the red-haired maid slightly and changed his tone of approach on her.
"Say, Realma. Should we keep the girl? She's one, if not the youngest, who had ever resided within the mansion. Twelve years old, perhaps? No matter. Would it be okay to teach her at such a young age?"
"What's her name?" Realma asked.
"Her name is Kendra," Toivo replied as he turned back to the window. "A man with white hair had told me that she came from the rural part of Destia before running away and losing all her siblings. Despite that, because of that man had raised her to become a strong girl. Forcing her to eat healthy fruits from the tropical forest of Obrus, teaching her literature and how to speak, and most if not all taught her the ways of respect."
"Wow. So Kendra's an early bloomer." Realma added as she took a seat next to Toivo. "She must be a strong girl."
"Yes," Toivo replied. Should I still make her undergo the trials I do for my students? Usually, most, if not all, of my students who come to my mansion to learn my ways are young men. Never in my years here have I ever put a girl through the same training as them."
As Kendra stopped to look at the beautiful scenery surrounding the mansion, Realma scratched her chin before answering Toivo once more with a tone of sureness.
"Hmm. It would be interesting to witness a girl such as Kendra put in such a relentless training session only meant for males."
As she slowly took the empty wine glass away from Toivo, she turned to the door and slowly walked out of the room. While doing so, Realma answered Toivo with a warm smile before she left the room.
"I recommend you try to put her in training. Let's see how it goes. If she fails or gives up, she could be a part of us. After all, this huge mansion is too large just for four maids."
After Realma had wholly left the room, before Toivo could realize it, he stood up with a strong posture and snapped his fingers, nodding with a tone of agreement.
"Hmm, that idea piques my interest. Then it is decided," As Toivo slowly walked up to the large window in front of his desk, staring at Kendra cheerfully sprinting and wandering the gardens around his mansion, Toivo cracked a grin of confidence and said, maintaining a straight posture.
"... I will put Kendra through my training."
When Toivo finished his sentence, the sight of the lush and beautiful sun-bathed yard flashed to a stormy night.
"Huh? How did I get here?" Kendra mumbled as she felt her attire soak up with water. "I was just in bed a moment ago."
Approaching thirteen, Toivo decided now was the time to start her training.
Rain droplets soaked her hair as she felt the mud and moist grass bristles tickle her bare feet. Only a weak wooden blade and her sheer confusion had accompanied her. She hurriedly ran to the front door and slammed her fists at the door, begging desperately to get in. But like all the other students, Toivo ignored her and left her outside in the rain.
Peering from a dark curtain, Toivo watched Kendra frantically run around the muddy yard, afraid and lost. He released a light chuckle of amusement and sighed, whispering to himself.
"Oh, this is my favorite part—the beginning of the student's training."
As Toivo stalked from a covered window, he slowly lifted his hand upward. A magical blue luminance fabricated atop his palms, sparkling and glowing a ghastly essence. He turned his head back to the window and mumbled as the sight of hundreds of silhouettes of blue hands emerged from the damp ground.
Realma watched Toivo from the sidelines, confused about what he was doing.
"Mr. Toivo, what are you doing?"
Immediately, Toivo's heart leaped. He quickly bounced up from the chair and turned to Realma, shouting.
"Huh? Who told you to come into my room? What on earth are you doing here?"
Realma, stunned by what Toivo was doing, dropped an empty plate in exasperation and asked.
"I should tell you that. Why are you not allowing that child to come back in? Don't you know she's in danger?!"
As he lifted his hand again, Toivo sneered at Realma before sighing in defeat.
"Oh, that. It's for training." He replied as he guided Realma toward the window. After Toivo had snapped the glow out from his hands, hundreds of green zombies emerged from the field, sprinting and lumbering toward the defenseless Kendra. Realma gasped in shock as she watched Kendra run away from the monsters.
"Strange. Training? I think what you are doing is some ambush. There appear to be zombies roaming around the field."
"Do not worry." Replied Toivo. "Although the zombies can afflict pain, the students can not truly die. I'm using a sorcery spell I learned in Destia's Academy to do this." Toivo replied as he showed the maid a green spell book. "It's the only one I had truly mastered before eventually quitting magic and becoming a warrior instead. If the student succeeds and awakes The Sealed Beatific's powers, I will force all the zombies to disappear, and my healing spell will immediately heal them."
Nodding her head elegantly, Realma sighed in relief and mumbled.
"That's good. If Kendra ever finds a way to succeed, know I have a healthy dinner prepared for her in the dining room."
Just before Realma had walked away, Toivo invited her to watch.
"No, no. You can do that now. Now that you know my secret, watching everything unfold is best. Does that sound good?"
After moments of silence, hearing Kendra scream in terror outside from the chasing zombies, the crimson-haired maid nodded silently and replied.
"Okay. Anything for my caretaker."
And so, after nearly an hour of being chased and almost injured by the zombies, just like the other students, Kendra awakened the blistering power of ecstasy, The Sealed Beatific, by kicking zombies in the face. When evening approached, Kendra was invited back into the mansion. Although she showed signs of resistance and aggression after Toivo explained everything to her, she settled down, and her actions rewarded a fine meal to her.
Days, Weeks, and Months would pass by. Just like Asahi had undergone the trials, Kendra followed suit. Unlike Asahi, it took nearly two weeks for Kendra to win against Toivo in the sword duel and almost a month to finish the training dummy lesson and the workout part. Toivo grew concerned, seeing Kendra nearly pass out during her session. He had almost thought about taking her out of this relentless course, but Kendra persisted until the final session despite everything.
A year afterward. The final trial began. Kendra had to swim across the river to prove she had learned.
It would be months after the first lesson that Kendra would finally show signs of improvement. After being fed healthy meals and doing relentless cardio exercises, she could eventually undergo the final trial. All the things Kendra had done surprised the four maids. They would never have thought a girl like her would reach such a state, especially for something young men should only do.
On that fateful day, the four maids agreed to give Kendra the best meal of her life, treat her with absolute respect, and encourage her to continue. There were times when she would lose herself in her sanity. But because of the maids, especially Realma and the white-haired man who had raised her, she persisted until she couldn't.
That afternoon, when Kendra finished with preparation, Toivo and the maids guided her toward the river. It was an expansive river, with a wide stretching for miles. The sheer speed of its flow matched the rapids one would experience in streams. If she got caught in it, there would be nothing they could do to save her. So…
"You only have one shot," Toivo said to Kendra as she planted her feet on the shore. "Successfully swim to the other side, and you will finally be recognized as the first female student to pass my training session and be free to become an adventure." After he had said that, the four maids watched in anticipation as Kendra stretched.
During that moment, memories flowed inside her mind just like the pattern of the giant rapid river.
Destia, the sparkle-coated fields and the lively rural community she dwelled in, and Obrus, the sight of dense and warm jungles, the wooden hut, and the voices of her voluntary caretaker.
The man who never needed to save her decided to do so anyway. With all the shuffling memories gathering in one place, his voice echoed inside Kendra's mind.
(://:/ "I have given you a head start, little one. All you have to do now is pursue a chance and make yourself happy by exploring the wonders of this world… just like my daughter."://)
It was the perfect setup for success. However, things had yet to go according to plan. Kendra underestimated this test. When she began swimming, her arms started to cramp up from the food. She gritted her teeth and held her breath, frantically paddling and losing all control of her movement. Her head rapidly plunged up and down the river, swallowing the water and feeling her lungs fill up. The cheers from the four maids transformed into screams of terror as Kendra desperately tried to stay afloat on the river.
Realma hurriedly paced to Toivo and screamed as Kendra started to drown.
"TOIVO! STOP THIS!"
Although he had cared for Kendra, he couldn't feel the sense to help Kendra. There were no exceptions to this trial. Either they swim to the other side or find a way to survive. Instead of running over, Toivo crossed his arms and looked the other way, hearing Kendra gurgle up water.
"There are no exceptions. It has been an entire year since Kendra's training session began. If she didn't reach the other side, even after all the training I had done for her, I would recognize her as a failure."
The four maids looked down at Toivo in a look of disgust. Realma even stepped in to intervene.
"Toivo, she's just a child." She said as she felt the wind whip across her crimson hair. "Even if she fails this, at least save her. I know you have the strength to do so. You did this before."
As they stood there, waiting for Toivo to reply, a maid tried to sprint over to Kendra. Yet, the moment her feet touched the cold water, a blonde maid hurriedly pulled her away and pushed her back.
"Milna, you know very well that you can't swim."
As the green-haired maid Milna shivered in fear, she hurriedly jumped back up and screamed.
"That poor girl is going to drown!"
They were too weak. No matter what they could do, only Toivo could save her.
Despite droning, Kendra could hear the maids screaming. But because of her rapid plunging, the maid's voice was intelligible.
She kept swimming, but her strength was fading fast. Every stroke felt like she was dragging her body across the bottom of the river, and she could feel herself getting pulled back to the river bed. In her desperate attempt to stay alive, she thrashed her arms, and her mouth filled with water.
Yet, despite her frantic attempts, Kendra slowly sank to the riverbed and tried to relax her muscles. Her lungs were full of water, but somehow she was still conscious.
Suddenly, an enormous amount of bubbles came out of her mouth. She realized that she was still holding her breath. As she exhaled, the weight of her body lifted off the riverbed. It wasn't from the force of the water but from a grip.
"I knew it." Sighed the man, "I shouldn't have done this to you."
Coughing up and feeling the air return to her, Kendra opened her eyes to the sight of a man with aqua-green hair and blue eyes picking her up. Though her vision was blurry, she knew it was Toivo.
With all his strength, Toivo carried Kendra through the rough currents and swam back to the shore. He took a deep sigh of defeat and gently placed her on a soft grass bed. As the four maids hastily sprint to her with faces of shock and worry, Toivo turned to the maids and asked.
"Check if the girl is breathing."
Without hesitation, all four maids hurriedly ran up to Kendra. As they noticed she was still pulsing, Realma answered Toivo with a tone of relief.
"Thank you. Thank you… so much for saving her."
And just like that, Kendra's life took a turn.
Who once was a strong, healthy, and optimistic child had slowly transformed into a maid. As the memory thickened, Kendra mumbled to herself.
(I chose a life of slothfulness and fear. To become a maid of the house instead of becoming an adventurer because I was afraid of this world. And it's people. Because I never wanted to become independent and strong.)
She mumbled inside her head.
(That moment… was my biggest regret. I… failed that white-haired man. My savior. The one that saved me from having a horrible life. His purpose... was ruined because of my cowardice and laziness.)
As the memories steadily drifted away, Kendra hunched over into tears and trembled, mumbling.
"I… I failed you. I failed everyone: mother, Father, Estrella, Bourne, Jal. I wonder. What would happen if they had seen me as a maid? Would they be disappointed? O… or would they be relieved to see me safe?"
Despite everything she was, Kendra was a maid.
A lady whose only duty was to clean up the mess others left behind.
Ironically, throughout her life, Kendra was the one who had left that mess for others to clean up. She was the sole reason for that man to clean up, for her siblings to wash away, and for her parents to digest. She was guilty of all of it.
However, there was one power that redeemed herself. One that lifted Kendra's pride despite all her problems; was the faint, liquid, water magic she possessed. After she had looked back to her hands, a familiar voice echoed in her head.
(://:/ "Kendra, your powers are more connected than you think.":///)
This voice.
This soft and modulated tone came from a familiar rippling shack near the rural lands of Destia.
It reminded Kendra of someone.
Lavender eyes, dark hair, and a soft smile. The Prot…
The young woman had stood in the shadows of the corners of that house, holding a crystal blue ball in her hand with a smile plastered on her face. The illusion of this female could only become so clear for Kendra before all of it had dissipated from her consciousness.
But even so, her voice still echoed back to her.
"Take this, young one. Unite with others. Then, the gift I gave you will truly shine. It is one you wholeheartedly deserve."
Though the woman's voice was faint, Kendra heard it despite having been on the other side of the building. As her consciousness returned to the present, Kendra's voice inside her head continued to utter truthful words about her life.
("For years, I had this power inside me—the power to wield the water. But… I refused to use it. I couldn't use it because I was lonely and confused. It was uncontrollable. The maids refused to help because their only task was house cleaning…")
Kendra's eyes drifted over to the white-haired boy Asahi. When she saw his face, the voice inside her head transformed into audible sentences.
"But… When I met Asahi, things changed. For the first time in years, I felt that sensation once more. I could feel the power of water flowing in me. I could wield and feel all the memories return. And it has only grown stronger the more I'm with him."
A warm pulsating feeling beat in Kendra's heart after she realized it.
"If there were others like Asahi out there, perhaps… maybe… I can become someone more than just a maid. Maybe I can make the father that wasn't mine proud. Maybe I can… I can make my family proud!"
With the realization that came to her came the urge to stand.
And when Kendra stood, the pain of her wounds disappeared along with her exhaustion. As her heart pounded with newfound vigor, she began to speak.
"I refuse to let anyone stop me."
Her eyes flashed with determination as she shouted and charged toward the cosmic knight. Even though The Guardian was in the middle of fighting and finishing off Asahi, he had turned his full attention towards Kendra and began his spear dance once more.
"I'm going to turn my life around."