Chapter 1: Introductions

Strength, what is strength?

Is it possession of immense power, endless riches, vast fame, or unrivaled political status?

Where does strength come from?

Those around you? How others perceive you? How you perceive yourself? Accepting your past? Accepting your flaws? Achieving goals others had set for you? Would you be able to reach your own goals?

In such a vast world, there are infinite possibilities for what defines strength...

"Kimiro, Kisete; I want you guys to remember something, life is a plethora of infinite possibilities and while everything is inherently not the same for everyone, we can all find our strength within ourselves. When you two grow up; no matter what happens, stay with each other, build off each other, true strength is found within oneself." 

"Promise me you guys will never leave one another no matter what happens, find what makes you guys strong, trust each other, and learn to trust others." -A

Kimiro awakens in a vaguely familiar place…

He observes his surroundings in a dizzying haze as he recollects himself from what feels like a previous attack.

In a trance-like state, he realizes that this place, this location, it's familiar…

This place, the sound, the smell, it's familiar because it is the hometown of both he and his twin sister Kisete, it is Gifu.

The town he can scarcely remember from ten years ago is yet present in front of his very eyes.

Figures from his past are yet lively and visible to him, beautiful lights, smiling people, and sweet spices fluoresce the smell in the air.

Though this scene of nostalgia lies present for Kimiro, he cannot move his body, he lays dormant in his younger body, displaying a memory from his past.

At this moment, Kimiro is walking through the village attempting to reach his house, a bustling and happy village.

He keeps to the side of the road where it's most crowded hoping to fit in with the crowd, staring down at his feet as his heartbeat slowly escalates.

Starships are passing through, families are happy, and shops are conducting business in a seemingly perfect village.

A shop owner happily asks Kimiro if he would like to purchase any merchandise, although Kimiro unprepared to speak with anyone looks down awkwardly and politely refuses.

After refusing, he subtly escapes the view of the shop owner and runs toward his house.

The atmosphere around him is exultant as Gifu is at a golden age era throughout this time.

Once he reaches his house he begins to search for his sister.

"Kisete!" He yells,

"Let's go play at the ocean again!"

The twins Kimiro and Kisete Orimobe (16) are significantly younger in this memory as present-day Kimiro is observing his past through his younger self's eyes.

Bang!! " hahahaha"

Kisete, a bit of a joker softly hits Kimiro in the head after sneaking behind to play a joke on him.

The two laugh it off and then proceed to find their parents.

The twins speak to their parents and [ ] relaying their plans to play at the ocean, and once they had received permission, proceeded to run there.

He remembers visiting the ocean that day; though Kimiro was rarely allowed to go.

So forth, Kimiro has strong memories of every time he visited the ocean with his sister, it holds a very endearing spot in Kimiro's heart for reasons he is unknowing of.

The twins Kimiro and Kisete have always been together, despite having such contrasting personalities.

Kimiro has always been a shy individual, never initiating action or initiating any leadership roles. Whenever he engages in any social interactions he constantly feels nervous. He faces trouble figuring out how to engage with others, fearing he may do it wrong and bother whoever he speaks with. 

Kimiro is the only person Kisete could properly hold eye contact with and communicate with without his heart passing dangerously high beats a minute.

Contrastingly, Kisete has always been cordial and friendly towards anyone she meets, always radiant with life and personality.

Consistently maintaining an abundance of energy and seemingly full of life. Everyone in the village looked up to her as a pillar of their community, a beacon of hope, life, and reliability.

Despite such stark differences between the two, they were seldom seen apart from one another.

They were and have remained a duo with a unified purpose until the present day.

Kimiro observes his past as after playing on the ocean for several hours, they begin to feel hungry and head back to their home.

However, Kimiro distinctly remembers this day; it's not a normal day, it is not just a distinct memory for the twins, it is the day that has plagued the twins, a day ten years past from the present, the day that the Orimobe twins had begun a lifelong journey.

The memory that Kimiro is observing is the moment that their once laudable leader laid waste to their home, the day that their village had become naught but a wasteland desecrated and ravaged by said honorable leader.

Kimiro and Kisete walk hastily toward the village as the sunlight begins to diminish.

" Brother, what do you think we're eating!? "

" Mom said we're going to eat our favorite, I think [ ] will eat with us too! "

As the twins ascend a mountain and near the peak, they continue with a happy and nonchalant tone of voice, unknowing of what would soon become a moment that changed their lives thereafter.

Kimiro is terrified as he continues to face this disturbing day from within his mind, although he abhorrently is a pariah to stand witness and watch the memory unfold.

Nearing their destination, they descend a connecting second twin mountain, and present-day Kimiro continuously attempts to suppress the dream until he seemingly is blind, blind to the truths that reside in the memories of this day.

A vision is now clear as Kimiro is unable to restrain this dream any longer.

They arrive at the village; confused by its distinct lack of human interaction, there is no light, sound, or life.

The village is seemingly lacking in its most bountiful treasure, soul.

They walk swiftly towards their home and enter an unlocked front door.

The dawning sky of the Ikias moon sings the new night sky as a person is perched in the view of the twins' house, they have long hair and their face is shrouded in darkness, this individual is standing there, holding a family heirloom, a cloak clad in red and gold.

At this moment, a blast of light is illuminated by the moonlight when suddenly,

Kimiro is thrust awake.

He scans the landscape surrounding him; confused and in a daze, before acknowledging he was dreaming and slowly lifting himself off an old tatami mat. 

Kisete swiftly enters the room where her brother is residing.

" Kimiro! Are you okay? I hit you pretty hard back there; I reckon you've been resting for around an hour now. "

" Yes, I'm fine. What happened? " Kimiro responds in an uneasy tone of voice.

" We were sparring again. You said you saw something, and I had already initiated contact, so you did not dodge and in turn, it was too late to prevent my attack, so... I punched you in the nose... " Kisete says, drawing out her words to hide the situation.

(In a soft, playful, yet apologetic whisper)

"He he, Sorry"

(In a surprised tone) " Hmmmmmmmm, Ahh, my entire face is covered in blood!!" "How hard did you hit me?! "

" Um, my ba-, so what did you see out there?

" Kisete asks, followed by an excited and intrigued expression.

" I don't know. It seemed like red lightning had passed by the trees behind where we were. "

" Maybe I'm just tired from all of our training. "

Since the day Kimiro had dreamt of the person illuminated by light, the twins have dedicated their lives to finding the person responsible for taking their family heirloom and forbearing the destruction and desecration of their village. 

A figure, the last image from that night, has solidified itself in the twin's minds as an obsession, for any previous dreams and hopes the twins had now became plagued by the thought of seeking the individual.

Henceforward, leading the twins toward their current goal of obtaining the title of Celestial, a highly sought-after item for all in the universe.

Throughout the Gifu planet, the solar system Gifu resides in, and the entire universe beyond which the title has become known, it has become an item of significant value and the most desired item in history. 

Anyone with the title of Celestial is usually universally recognized as a higher being; they are pinnacles of strength, intelligence, curiosity, and potential. 

The Celestial Guild is held without ties to any political or governmental authorities throughout the universe in which it is known.

With a Celestial title, you are socially held with the highest esteem. Celestials gain intrinsic benefits such as more financial gains, leeway in certain laws, and more. However, this is only where applicable, for instance, leeway in laws or fees may be available to Celestials present in Ikias but are unavailable to those present in Maiku, a planet under the diction of the UGSM. (Union of Galactic Silya Marines)

Previous Celestials had become prominent or notorious figures in history or the present day; such as Yaroslav, a previous Celestial who is now the King of a solar system and is well known throughout multiple galaxies.

Others had become acclaimed scientists and notorious pirates, discovered new galaxies, invented groundbreaking technology, or possessed such overwhelming strength that they are well known throughout some of the furthest depths of space. 

Since the day ten years ago, the twins have spent almost every second of the past ten years training their intelligence and physical strength to the best of their abilities with aspirations of passing the Celestial exams.

While Ikias itself is not a poor planet, the twins have never accumulated any sort of financial stability given their previous ties to the now-desecrated village of Gifu.

They have aspirations of finding the person responsible for taking their family's heirloom and initiating the destruction of their village.

" Tired? We have barely been training for 2 hours today, are you sure there was actual lightning? " Kisete asks.

The two have decently toned physiques given the substantial training they have ensued upon themselves.

Kisete can grow muscle at a constant rate, enabling her to stay consistently stronger than her brother.

However; when Kimiro does increase his strength, the bursts are substantial, leading to explosive strength growth in minimal time as opposed to a linear growth path such as his sister.

" I'm not sure; I feel better now, thanks for bringing me here let's keep training. "

" No! We should eat I'm hungry! " Kisete responds. 

" Ah, I forgot you're a glutton. "

" Whaaa come on! "

The two begin to hunt for an animal native to Ikias known as a Kamaitavhen.

Kamaitahven are agile creatures with a tough hide and can produce sickles in their arms, they are extremely tough to deal with yet contain highly sought-after meat.

Kamaitavhens often are found alone but require a group to perform a successful hunt.

As Kisete and Kimiro begin to hunt, they wait patiently as a Kamaitavhen is still excitatory and not yet ready to rest, the ideal time to launch an attack. 

In a whisper, " Kisete, do you ever think maybe it wasn't their fault that the village got destroyed, maybe it would have been ravaged regardless. "

" What?, That's impossible, with the amount of power they had they easily could've saved our village but they chose to leave us, to let us beckon by their wraith while they left us and did nothing. "

"Oh I see, anyways why are you so tired are you getting weak haha. "

" Weak? I didn't get knocked out by one of my punches haha. " the two start laughing and enjoying their time hunting, when suddenly a flash of red illuminates the trees, and Kisete is thrown across the air.

"Kisete!" Kimiro is instantly panicked as he runs toward her.

" What was that? " She asks while in slight pain.

" I don't know, I didn't see an- "

Kimiro is suddenly kicked in the stomach as a flash of red lightning passes.

Kisete attempts to chase the flash but is instantly left behind by its overwhelming speed. 

While in their most vulnerable moment throughout the entire day, the twins were hungry, tired, and laughing letting their guard down when they started getting attacked.

" Kisete watch out! "

As soon as Kimiro said this, she had been hit.

" Hahahahaha, you guys want to be Celestials? What kind of losers ever thought you would have any hope of becoming Celestials?! " A person clad in white and gold clothing yells at the twins mockingly.

" Oh too scared to speak? Haha. "

This person keeps flashing around the twins, echoing his voice throughout the wooded area, giving his voice an intimidating and commanding aura.

" I overheard you two talking about Gifu, real shame what happened there, too bad I couldn't see it fall for myself haha. "

" If people like you two were its most prominent defense no wonder it's such a wreck nowadays. "

Kimiro is too anxious to speak with this person as he is worrying about Kisete, the Kamaitavhen, and this mysterious red lightning that this person is seemingly controlling. 

This person then flashes by the twins as he taunts the beast and continues a barrage of attacks on Kisete.

Simultaneously this person then snaps their fingers and a small red bolt of lightning strikes Kisete, scorching her arm and cutting open a wound.

" Weak… Your sister gets attacked and you're still too scared to do anything, absolutely pathetic, just like Gifu's old leader. " the person says in a scorning tone of voice.

Overtaken by anger Kimiro stands up to say something back but the person is gone, leaving nothing but Kisete's injuries and doubt to fulfill the night's silence.

" Kisete! "

Suddenly, the Kamaitavhen notices the twins with an enraged tone and begins to charge at them.