The orange haze of the eclipse seemingly turned into a thick liquid, coating Tokita's body. He couldn't breathe. He was choking. He struggled as his body screamed out, in desperate need of oxygen. The eclipse suddenly changed, going from a cozy orange to a blood-red, swarming the city. While he noticed the city, he saw nobody other than himself drowning.
Everybody else had seemingly vanished, and he himself was the only one facing punishment. The lively community of his city was depleted to zero. He tried to swim up, but it only seemed like the ocean of the eclipse got larger.
Suddenly, like a wave crashing against the rocks, Tokita was thrown to the ground by the ocean. It abruptly all evened out, the water moving over the entire city. It lowered him to the ground, causing his back to rest against the cold, wet ground of his neighborhood.
Tokita was silent for a moment, murmuring a quiet "Is this hell?" to himself before he picked himself up, soaked in what he now noticed was thick, viscous, blood. The haze from the eclipse hadn't just turned red; it turned into genuine blood that had covered the city in a dark red pigment. He looked across the path before him, and he heard footsteps. The blood crashed as if heavy, steel plates stepped through them, creating an audible noise that felt like it could be heard for miles. Tokita turned to the noise, a look of fear and suspense settled on his face as he saw a creature striding toward him. Its face was shrouded in shadows, eyes of a piercing red. Its body seemed to be wrapped in a cloak, with long, bone-like spikes around its neck.
Crows flocked around it, almost as if it were made of them. It could only be described as something out of a nightmare. It stopped just a meter or two away from Tokita, looking down at him. Tokita didn't pay much attention to school, as he wasn't the most academic type. But that didn't deter from the fact he paid just a tiny amount of attention during his lessons on Mythology, and from what he understood, this being that existed in front of him could exclusively be depicted as Death itself.
"What...are you?" Tokita asked, eyes gazing into the creature's red ones. He had several questions, was he dead? Did Akane survive? What happened to everyone!? He carefully awaited a response to no avail, the creature stood stonefaced; its glaring eyes seemingly judging Tokita. The mere seconds that they stood there looking at each other felt like eons like they had spent an infinite amount of time there, simply examining each other.
"That information of which you seek," It said simply, It raised its hand in out of its cloaked body, the hand scarred and obviously aged. "You are not ready for." It spoke with a harsh and straightforward tone, like a man that had been through a myriad of wars. It struck Tokita in the chest, causing Tokita to feel his very essence depart from his body. "It's time for you to arrive."
Almost as if he had an acid trip, the world ostensibly broke apart into nonexplainable sequences, the conceptual identities of all existence being ripped and torn apart by a force beyond all conceivable numbers, he could feel the very the universe collapsing around him—the buildings shattering into dust particles that separated from their atoms and transformed into imaginary masses; the space bending and warping the eclipse beyond recognition.
Everything in existence condensed into a small mass, including the galaxy, the stars, the very universe, everything the human brain could comprehend. Then that mass disappeared, leaving only darkness.
...
..
.
Opening his eyes, Tokita saw the morning sky. No clouds, just the warm sun. He noticed the grass fields that he was lying on, and he got up. He looked around; he was in a field and noticed trees in the distance. He laid on the ground for a moment, taking a deep breath in; his eyelids closing and opening slowly. The true realization of his situation had yet to hit him.
He could hear the sound of a waterfall crashing into the rocks beneath it. He could listen to the birds chirping, the wind flowing through it all. He yawned, at peace from the 'vacation' he was given. To him, this must've been a dream, it all must've been. He rested his head on the grass that felt just a little too real, with a slightly damp feel on the back of his head. He began to feel sleepy until he thought "That's a little odd, isn't it? Feeling tired in a dream."
That's when he realized, he wasn't dreaming.
"WHERE THE FUCK AM I?!" Tokita suddenly bolted upward, boosting himself off the ground and into a standing position, his eyes darting around hazardously. He suddenly brought his hand up to his face, slapping himself a few times. Feeling that he still hadn't confirmed his suspicions, he slapped himself one more time. "This isn't a dream." He said, deadpanning as he looked around in a mix of awe and complete confusion.
"This..definitely is not look like the neighborhood..." Tokita said to himself while glancing around the area he found himself in. His location looked surreal, like something you would read about in a fairy tale. His senses could barely keep up with the pure amount of information sent into his brain. The pure brightness of the fresh and fragrant colors was almost too much for the senses.
"Did I die...?" Tokita pondered. He suddenly grabbed his head, an intense pain coursing through it. His head thumped like a marching band on the first parade of the new year. He groaned, his hands moving to his chest where he had been shot; No gun wounds to be seen. "Dante's Inferno warned me about this." He chuckled to himself, the English joke making him break up into a laugh; just a tad bit. "So, what circle is this?" He said while looking around.
He stood up from the grassy plain and tried to focus and see if he saw anything other than the field and the trees that surrounded it. He brought his hand up to his forehead to block the sun from his eyes and noticed something in the distance. Someone was lying down in the field like he was. As he got closer, he quickly recognized them. It was Akane, sleeping peacefully as if nothing had even happened.
He ran forward, calling out her name.
"Akane!" He screamed, and he watched her stir. He got closer and kneeled beside her. She opened one eye and saw Tokita looking down at her with a worried expression on his face.
As if all her memories suddenly flooded into her, she sat up, feeling her chest. Her injuries were gone, as was Tokita's. She turned to Tokita, hugging him tightly, crying tears of joy down her face. The fear of her own death beginning to dissipate in his arms.
"It's ok...It's ok..." Tokita whispered as he rubbed her back while she cried into his shoulder. The two of them were like that for a while, before she gently pushed herself off of him and looked into his eyes. She then looked around, confused about where the two of them had found themselves. It was as if she woke up in a fairytale. They looked at each other with polarizing faces;
Tokita had a worried expression plastered onto his face, he didn't know where they were and was scared for Akane's safety.
Akane has a curious and excited look resting on her face, she reveled in the idea of being in a new world, for reasons unknown.
"Tokita...where are we?" She asked, looking around.
"I have no clue; I'd assume that Eclipse had something to do with it." He said while helping her up. He looked at her, watching her in slight amazement at how little she seemed worried about the situation. "Hey, Akane..." Tokita started.
"Yes?" Akane asked.
"While you were asleep, did a man in black-" Tokita was cut off.
The two of them stopped completely as they heard the trotting of a horse approaching them from the distance. Tokita hurriedly moved in front of Akane to protect her. They turned to see a Knight on horseback, trotting towards them. He stopped once he got closer, taking off his helmet and waving.
"I didn't expect to see such a beauty in this region!" The Knight said, insinuating Akane. Tokita and Akane stood together, with Tokita in front of her for protection.
The Knight approached, leaping off the horse and landing in front of the two. The Knight had a confident general appearance, speaking in a strong voice. "No need to be so alarmed...weirdly dressed travelers. I am not here to harm you, I'm merely patrolling the area in search of a beast."
"Who are you?" Tokita asked, still majorly cautious of the Knight. It was a mix of both strong emotional needs, one, they want to protect Akane, and two, a form of jealousy that has risen up in his brain after Akane looked at the Knight with a star-struck look in her eyes.
"I am Sir Charles of Setale, pleased to meet your acquaintance!" Charles spoke with a confident demeanor, speaking mainly towards Akane.
He wore a set of steel armor that you'd expect from traditional Knights. He had short, dark brown hair with a matching set of brown eyes. On his chest draped a blue symbol, likely the symbol of his kingdom, that went down to his knees.
"A Knight? That's certainly not a sight you see every day." Tokita placed his hand on his chin, deep in thought. He felt like pinching himself, but he could tell what he was experiencing was real. Where ever they were, was real.
The Knight walked up to Akane, kneeling down and kissing her hand. Akane blushed, not knowing what to think. An angry tick appeared on Tokita's forehead; so he spoke up.
"Hey." Tokita pushed Charles's face off her hand, making Charles get up. Charles locked eyes with Tokita, lightning seemingly moving between their eyes.
"My apologies, your appearance was so unordinary bland, I must not have noticed you there," Charles said with a smug grin, trying to goat Tokita.
Tokita clicked his tongue, his anger slowly beginning to grow. He walked forward, butting heads with Charles.
"What about you, you some sort of creep!? She's only seventeen!" Tokita stated as Charles pushed back with a smile.
"Well, then she's in luck, as we are the same age!" Charles laughed out loud.
"You motherfuck-" Tokita started rolling up his jacket sleeves before stopping himself. While rolling his jacket sleeves up, Tokita noticed their difference in clothes.
Charles wore seemingly light medieval steel armor, equipped with a sword by his side and a shield strapped to his arm.
"Hold that thought. Are you two local?" Charles asked as Akane spoke up.
"Erm...We're not exactly from around here." Akane stated as she was still in her dark blue school uniform.
Charles scratched his chin as he walked back to his horse. He dug into the pouch that hung by its side and pulled out a handful of clothes.
He walked back to the pair, handing each of the clothes that fit into the current year.
Tokita was given a black leather tunic with long brown pants, and Akane was given standard female armor used by the Setale military and a coat to hang over her shoulder.
Both of them took turns changing and returned to where Charles was sitting by the trunk of a tree. Tokita could feel him gazing when it was Akane's turn to change, with very few words being said between them.
It was silent for a while until Tokita decided to make small talk to break the ice.
"So...you're a Knight," Tokita said with a nervous chuckle. Charles turned over with a slight grin.
"You bet I am! Finished Initiation not too long ago." Charles stated. His eyes gleamed with childish excitement, if only for a few seconds.
"Initiation? Is it some sort of ceremony?" Tokita questioned.
"You could think of it like that, it was a tough and very difficult ceremony." Charles chuckled, with Tokita did the same, despite not knowing the context.
Charles's personality then shifted slightly as he coughed. "That reminds me of my reason for being here." He spoke with a cold tone, his eyes wandering off into the sky.
"What's that?" Tokita asked, raising his eyebrow.
"A beast has been reported to be attacking and killing some villagers near here." He sniffed, rubbing his red nose. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a long scroll and unraveling it. "Mission Report: C Rank Beast reported attacking locals; deaths have been reported. Remove the threat to complete." He finished reading off the words.
"C Rank Beast? What's that?" Tokita asked questioningly.
"You really are new around here, aren't you?" Charles chuckled. "Here in Ethrea, hell, probably the rest of the world, we rank the combat value of all creatures by letter grades."
Tokita simply stood, waiting for him to continue. Charles stood up, performing a somewhat visual presentation.
"They go from F, D, C, B, A, and S generally," Charles stated, crossing his arms. "There are things like D+, B-, etcetera. On extremely rare occasions, there are people granted the rank of SS or the highest I've seen, 'God Rank'" Charles satirically laughed at himself. "I'm in the middle, a C+ rank Knight."
Tokita pondered for a moment before speaking. "That's not bad, right?"
"Of course, it isn't; I'm the pride of my family for being the first one to become a Knight." Charles laughed before dying down. "There are always people better than you though," Charles mumbled, obviously, something about that had bothered him.
Tokita could read the situation, so he just nodded.
[-❦-]
After what seemed like an Eternity, Akane finally finished changing and approached the two boys.
"Sorry! The armor was a bit difficult to get on..." Akane nervously chuckled to herself. She walked over to your side as the two of you looked towards Charles.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "Look, I know I only just met the two of you today, but I'd like to ask for your help."
Tokita sweatdropped, preparing a 'No thank you' before Akane cut him off.
"What do you need help with?" She asked, her red orbs staring into Charles's brown ones.
"I already explained the situation to Tokita, but a beast is running rampant. If you two would help me, I feel we could greatly eliminate the possible deaths." Charles kneeled, his eyes covered by the shade.
"I've only been in small scraps, and Akane has never even fought before! I feel like you should ask-" Tokita was cut off.
"No! I cannot delay any further. I've already spent days just pondering if I'm going to die on this mission or not!" Charles screamed, but not in an aggressive tone. It was as if he was pleading.
"Alright," Akane stated bluntly. Tokita looked in surprise as she walked forward and patted Charles's light brown hair. "We'll help you."
"Fine, It's not like we know anyone else around here..." Tokita mumbled.
Charles stood, a bright smile on his face. "Thank you, Ma'am!" He brought them over to his horse, where he suddenly turned around. He grabbed Akane by the hips, making her face turn a bright red as he threw her onto the horse. He himself climbed onto the horse as he held the straddle. "I'm sure you can walk, right?" Charles looked down at you with a smug smirk.
Akane looked with a sympathetic smile, waving her hand as if to say 'Sorry.'
"You mother fu-..." Tokita stopped himself. "Fine, I'll walk."
He underestimated how much walking 32 miles (51 km) would hurt his feet.
Five hours and twenty-six minutes. That's how long Tokita had been walking before they reached the town of Bruma. It was a small, cozy town, at least that's what he'd been told on the walk.
By the time they reached the gate, that information was incredibly wrong.
Bodies were strewn out in the streets; dangling corpses were lazily thrown over buildings, blood bored down the slight slant in the road. Organs, bones, it was almost as if the devil himself had decided to torture this poor village.
Charles looked with a serious expression, his eyes covered by shadows once again. Akane covered her mouth with her hands, forcing her vomit to stay down, and Tokita fell to his knees.
"This isn't real," Tokita said to himself, his mind racing. He saw blood all the time, but corpses? That was something he never wanted to experience, but it wasn't even the worst part. Gods, the smell was inconceivable.
The smell of fresh corpses, skat, and general body waste plagued the entire area.
Vultures swooped down and picked at some of the bodies.
What a mess.
With a heavy heart, Charles helped Akane off the horse before getting off himself. He approached one of the corpses and felt it. "It's still warm; that means the beast is still here," Charles stated roughly. He gripped the broadsword at his waist, pulling it out of its sheath. "I'm gonna kill the fucker!" He screamed.
Screaming was his mistake.
"Kekeke..." The creature chuckled quietly. A sharp shiver went through the trio's spines as they turned. A mountain of skeletons stood with a creature standing atop it. Its body was out of a nightmare, with a bug-like humanoid body with sharp-mantis-like claws on its back. Below that was a grotesque pair of wings.
"W-What the fuck is that...?" Tokita mumbled, frozen in fear. Akane almost fainted, her face turning pale white. She gripped the ground so hard that one of her nails broke off.
Charles stood up, gulping. "Calm down, Charles...It's just a C rank beast!" He screamed to himself, stopping his hand from shaking.
"When humans are confident...They taste even better." Its laugh was horrifying, almost mimicking the sound of a swarm of beetles.
"It seems far more intelligent than an average C Rank Monster...Is it possible it ranked up on its own?" Charles thought to himself. "Could this thing be the Eater? No, that impossi-"
He was cut off by the creature appearing in front of him. Faster than the sound of its own movement. He blinked twice; he couldn't even process its next move.
In which the creature used one of its arms to slice Charles's hand off.
Akane and Tokita stood in silence as Charles roared, holding his stub of a hand. He screamed with tears flooding his eyes. Blue energy circled through his body as he swung his sword back. The blade of his broadsword was cloaked in blue energy, as a hammer-like shape appeared on it. It roared with power as his eyes began to glow with a bright blue.
He used the total rotational energy his body could produce, slamming the energy construct straight into the creature's face, sending it flying through a building.
People are ranked via their innate potential and their unique abilities, known as Catalysts.
Charles's Catalyst? The Ability to create Energy Constructs.
Charles panted; his sword was cloaked in energy that changed its shape to look like a massive hammer. "Eat that, you asshole!" He screamed, the adrenaline stopping the pain of his lack of a hand.
"Once I finish it, I'll just bring my hand to one of the Knights in the Medical Ward; I'll get my hand back in no time," Charles said to himself, trying to relieve the stress he was going through. He shifted his position so that his sword wouldn't be affected by the loss of his hand.
The creature once again moved faster than sound, breaking through the house and appearing a couple of feet in front of Charles.
"That was a good hit." It stated simply. It dusted off its body like it didn't even take damage.
"You fucker-!" Charles screamed, kicking his heels and charging at the Eater. It raised its arm, throwing two jabs before Charles could even react. They both landed square in his face, making Charles stagger. It raised its leg and simply kicked forward, making Charles gasp and spit out all the air in his lungs. The Creature didn't let up, palm striking Charles to the ground.
"T-Tokita...What's going on?" Akane whimpered. She paled even further when she saw all of the blood Charles was losing.
"That monster...It's playing with him!" Tokita exclaimed.
The Eater stood there, waiting. Charles grunted, lifting the large hammer projecting above his head and slamming down. Mid-attack, the creature kicked Charles straight in the liver.
Charles could feel it. His liver was exploding.
Blood surged through his mouth as he felt his body ache with the worst pain he's felt in his life. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small yellow vial. He ripped the cork off with his teeth and drank it. The blood stopped flowing as his wounds closed.
"You humans and your potions." The creature laughed before appearing behind Charles, throwing a punch. Charles was able to react, slamming his hammer against its hand. That's when Charles could tell that the monster wasn't even trying. He screamed, for a split second, changing his hammer back into a sword, and stabbed the creature through the hand.
It grunted for a second before closing its hand and shattering Charles's sword. He yelled at the top of his lungs; his only hand left being covered in his blue aura.
It condensed as he focused all his power into his hand. He leaped into the air before punching down at the Eater with every bit of strength he had.
An explosion of dust covered the entire town as Tokita, and Akane struggled not to get blown away from the shockwaves. As the dust settled, they widened their eyes.
In one hand, the Eater had caught Charles's hand.
In the other, it impaled him.
Its mantis claws dug into Charles's back as it ripped its hand from his chest cavity. Its mantis arms threw his body towards Tokita and Akane. Charles looked at Tokita, blood dripping from his eyes and mouth, a hole the size of his head in his chest.
Using the last bit of strength he had, Charles grabbed Tokita by the chest.
"You must take Akane away from here and run..." Charles gripped Tokita by his collar. He pulled him down to his level. "There's no way you can defeat this thing...but maybe you can survive." He got out before he died from his injuries.
"He's dead," Tokita stated, eyes wide. The man they had been talking to just twenty minutes ago was dead. His eyes went blank.
"Don't be broken already." The monster chuckled, its laugh sounding like an echo from its chest.
That snapped Tokita out of his trance. He looked up and saw Charles's broken sword on the ground. It still had roughly half of the blade left, so Tokita leaped for it.
The monster, looking at the two of them as trash, barely cared to stop Tokita from getting the sword.
Tokita stood, broken sword in hand. His entire body couldn't stop shaking in fear. What was he doing? He'd never used a sword before, and this thing was faster than the speed of sound! What was he going to do?
He clenched his teeth, looking at Charles. He thought back to their conversation in the five-hour walk.
[ "My dream?" Charles asked. ]
[ "Yeah, what are you striving for?" Tokita asked. ]
[ It would probably be...Money? No, that isn't it...Women? Nah, nothing like that..." Charles grew quiet. "My dream...Is to be recognized by the people as someone who can protect." ]
[ "Sounds like a superhero." Tokita chuckled. Akane chuckled as well. ]
[ "H-Hey, what's a superhero!?" Charles exclaimed. ]
[ Akane and Tokita simply laughed, thinking that maybe this new world isn't so bad. ]
"Charles...Thank you for protecting us..." Tokita shifted his stance into the same stance Charles took. "I recognize you!' He screamed. He gripped the blade so hard he was scared the skin on his hands would tear.
"Humans always were the sentimental race." The Eater stated as he rushed forward at the speed of sound. Tokita closed his eyes and acted on instinct.
And he blocked the attack.
It was an extremely casual attack, but he blocked it. He can do this!
Tokita brought the blade down, but the monster just side-stepped and kicked his side. Tokita crashed into the wooden wall of a building before the Eater rushed him.
He rolled over as the Eater impaled the wall. It ripped its hand from the wall and threw two punches that Tokita parried. He stepped forward, swinging upward. He managed to scratch the Eater.
"Almost!' He screamed, tightening his grip as he threw another series of slashes at the Eater.
The Eater threw out punches and kicks and Tokita parried all of them each time.
"I...can do this!" Tokita exclaimed with a sparkle in his eyes. "I can fight-"
He was cut off as the Eater landed a haymaker to his face that sent him flying. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. He landed hard, crashing into the tough ground below.
"Don't get cocky yet." It started as it walked to Tokita.
"Tokita...Move!" Akane screamed. The Eater turned its attention to Akane, growling hungrily. "S-Stay away!" She screamed. It began to open its mantis arms, preparing to sprint.
"What a snack-" It was cut off by half of a sword going through its chest. It turned its head to see Tokita stabbing it from behind. "Y-You...human!" It screeched as its wings came out and bashed Tokita backward.
"I'll ground your bones into paste!" It screamed, its chest beginning to glow. Its wings spread out entirely as it prepared its most potent attack.
Tokita grunted, holding the sword up. Its punch from earlier already knocked the wind out of him, and he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid its next attack.
The Eater glowed, and its entire body shifted a gear. Its speed increased, from two times to four times, to eight, to sixteen, to thirty times.
Its most powerful attack had it moving at thirty times the speed of sound. It is prepared to rip Tokita into pieces.
It dashed, moving so fast that Tokita couldn't even process it, and yet, he could perceive it.
Tokita could see it but could do nothing about it.
"Is this what they call a near-death experience?" Tokita pondered. "I'm sorry, Akane..." He thought to himself.
"STOP!" Akane screamed, as everything seemingly did. A shockwave of pure energy rose out of her body as she gripped her chest.
Tokita opened his eyes, seeing the Eater stuck in place. Its entire body was frozen as if something froze it in time. Akane's red eyes glowed brightly as Tokita looked in shock.
The power of a Catalyst is determined by two factors: the person's innate potential and the deep emotions brought out from a situation.
For Akane, everything she had experienced today helped her push herself to achieve a great height.
Akane had unlocked her Catalyst, Chrono Axis; the ability to control time.