Chapter 10
Some time had passed since Hoku sprinted out from the Return's shadow.
After minutes of running beneath the slivers of sunlight filtering through the branches, he began glancing back to see if anything was following.
He already felt the blood rushing to his head.
He was sure that he had already surpassed his limits, but beyond certainty on how long he could keep up.
The sunken reverberations in the distance pursued; however, it wasn't until he heard the immense impact of a collision that he reached a complete halt on the path.
He stumbled, the force of how fast he was running caused his leg to lift as his boot that remained on the ground slid forward, burying under grains of dirt and dead leaves.
'Damn it...'
His reflexes played favorably, and he managed to catch his balance before he could slide onto his stomach.
A vicious current of wind followed the blunt sound of two bodies colliding.
His legs shook, but it wasn't from fear or exhaustion, setting aside how presently he was plagued by both.
The forest was trembling beneath him.
'Did the creature form a crater on the surface this time?'
However, that thought was quickly swept away by a separate one.
'How is she supposed to handle it without dying?'
The Return was far larger than either of them, yet Hoku forced himself to stay calm after seeing how she responded to its sudden presence.
She hadn't shown the slightest panic, and her composure held a certainty that could only come from experience.
'She couldn't have been killed, otherwise it would have caught up.'
The movement beneath him slowly subsided, and he stood still, cautiously staring down the path.
'Am I supposed to keep going?' Hoku struggled to think past the thumping in his ears.
"Strange how it fades, isn't it?"
Hoku flinched, his heart nearly stopping, as a young male voice spoke.
He raised his shoulders, pointing his attention in the other direction.
"Shh! Imbécile!"
Another person with a higher pitch responded, shushing the one who had spoken.
The proximity of their voices came from a place that drew noise almost directly.
Hoku tensed his jaw and looked up into the trees.
The queasiness in his stomach worsened before two figures came into focus.
A man with tawny beige skin and short daintily waved locks peered down.
Shallow dimples surfaced high on his cheeks, adding detail to the smoothness of his clumsy smile.
'Sorry… Did I scare you? It wasn't my idea to hide up here, I swear.'
A woman stood on a branch behind him, her posture straight. One hand rested against the trunk, offering fragile support.
The tiny dimple was displayed on her face as well.
"Who are you?" Hoku pressed his hand below his collarbone to ensure that his pulse was steadying.
The man stared above him with an awkward smile.
"He probably thinks we're weird now, can we get down?"
The woman looked away from Hoku and nodded fervently.
"Thank goodness! My damn legs were starting to cramp," the boy said, evidently relieved.
Hoku watched quietly as he gripped the branch with both hands, crouching briefly before letting his legs dangle.
Using another branch for leverage, he swung forward and landed away from the tree.
The woman, on the other hand, climbed to the lowest branch before leaping down.
Hoku took a step back from the two, his fists clenching unconsciously.
Light refracted in their brown eyes, lending them a warmth that felt almost tangible.
"I am Fleur, and this is Abel," the woman said. Her accent gave her voice a distinct allure.
She didn't wait for a response before asking, "Will your head be alright?"
Hoku cleared his throat and muttered, "Yeah. I Got thrown into a tree."
Fleur's posture stiffened and she nodded sympathetically.
The sense of unease settled a bit in his stomach.
Up close, he noticed how the color of her lips matched her complexion without contrast.
He peered at the man beside her and immediately noticed a resemblance; the shape of their eyes, the contours of their noses, even the structure of their faces were unmistakably akin.
Fleur seemed to catch his scrutiny. She gestured toward Abel and said calmly, 'We're fraternal twins.'"
Abel grinned and added, "Yeah, but I'm the smarter one—if you have questions, ask me."
Fleur stomped her foot near him without warning. Abel instinctively jumped back, swinging a leg toward her.
She caught it with ease and pressed her fingers into the sole of his worn brown shoe.
"Wait—"
Fleur let out a quiet snicker before yanking his leg upward. Abel lost balance at once, his other foot kicking into the air before he landed hard on his tailbone.
Hoku chuckled without much thought, watching them bicker.
Abel grabbed Fleur's ankle, refusing to let go. It quickly became apparent who was stronger.
Fleur simply dragged him along as if his resistance was meaningless.
"You call this smart?" Fleur remarked, dragging Abel further from where he had stumbled.
Hoku took the chance to interject their argument.
"I have a few questions."
Fleur let go of Abel's ankle and he sat up on the ground, crossed his legs.
Fleur adjusted her posture as well and cleared her throat as she patted down her clothes.
"Go ahead, kid," Abel said.
"Just call me Hoku. Do either of you know Juno Mirai?"
"Hoku?..."
"Mirai!"
Their voices overlapped, folding into each other. Hoku held back, uncertain of how to react.
Abel, who had been the one to repeat Juno's surname—was the first to offer an explanation.
"She's a binary star, one of only two voyagers in the timestream. She and Li are—" Abel abruptly halted. "Why hasn't she returned?"
'Binary star? Voyager?'
Hoku inhaled and gave a direct account of what had happened.
"She slapped me, said there were others, and warned that the forest was crawling with monsters. We were scouting a path to some place called the Nucleus when a massive creature—she called it the Return—crashed down, left a crater, and began floating above us. I ran after barely escaping with my life, but she stayed behind."
Abel's lips parted, and the creases of his mouth expanded.
Fleur turned to Abel, and her eyes widened briefly before her expression steadied.
"Was she using her fan?"
Hoku raised an eyebrow.
"A red Chinese fan."
Abel exhaled, brushing off the tension that had built up. He got to his feet and dusted off his clothes.
"Then there's nothing to worry about. She'll be back soon."
Hoku let out a slow breath as a quiet sense of reassurance settled over him.
"That's good to hear. I also wanted to ask ab—"
Fleur abruptly lifted a hand in front of his face.
"Wait."
Abel peered over, a frown forming at the unexpected gesture.
Without another word, she glanced ahead. Hoku took notice of the intensity in her expression.
Abel stiffened, realization dawning a step before Hoku.
His voice turned grave. "Someone's following us."
The Memoir Chapter 7
Rule 12
The safe zone should be utilized under highly restrictive circumstances. It has a capacity that can be exceeded and will weaken with the presence of each individual. If commotion outside fades rather than halts, consider searching for a new region to reside. It generally takes around a day and a half for the safe zones to become completely ineffective.
「This section has no objective」
-The Memoir Chapter 7 end-