ATLAS REYES' POV:
Once my recovery was over, it was merely the packing up left before we began our journey to the capital. The Lizards had organised a carriage to take us from this small town all the way there, but my mind continued to wander back to my battle with Anthony. From what I had learned, it wasn't like him to withdraw so suddenly, or give up. And Nessa refused to elaborate on the matter, as well.
I couldn't begin to fathom what had caused such a reaction, but I attempted to pay it no mind as I pushed the worn books I had bought seemingly so long ago into a brown leather satchel I had purchased. Noticeably, however, I didn't have many possessions– I had spent more time training than attempting to acquire sentimental objects. Hua would certainly have more than I– admittedly, however, I was sad to be leaving this place behind. The only home I'd ever had.
From here, the path was clear. Arrive at the capital, get my affinity tested– if I was lucky enough to have one– then, perhaps, I'd look into the Yggdrasil Academy. The Yggdrasil Academy, Hua had told me, was a magic school open to all those 17 and over, hosted in the central plateau– a flying city and a neutral area in the middle where Huagong, Sumeria, and Krystallos met, open to people from all 3 countries to learn, as long as they could get in. It opened every winter, before ending in summer with a break.
However, that gave me 6 years of time to kill. Training, I thought, but that would get boring, fast. Perhaps I'd adventure, and go visit the other continents after joining the Adventurer's Guild. I wasn't sure.
After exiting the small study, I noticed Hua down the end of the hall, gazing into what looked to be a necklace or locket of some kind. I approached her, shuffling quietly so as to not make any noise, before tapping her on the shoulder. She jumped, letting out a yelp, before turning to face me.
"Atlas! You surprised me," She said, quickly shoving the item into her pocket, attempting to shield it from view. I raised an eyebrow, pulling on her arm and dislodging it from where it nestled, taking the locket.
"What are you hiding?" I questioned, holding it in one hand.
"Nothing." She muttered.
I turned the locket over, noticing there was a gold emblem emblazoned on the back, the symbol of a crane etched into it. I vaguely remembered seeing that symbol somewhere, but before I could take a closer look, it was taken back by Hua with a click of her tongue.
"Don't touch my stuff," She snapped, turning on her heel and stalking off. Well, a nerve certainly had been touched. Blatantly stepped on, even. Lately, as the time to leave grew nearer, she had grown more and more agitated, and was prone to being caught on her own, wistfully pondering on things nobody had any idea about.
Picking up my bag, I took one last look around the place, heaving a sigh. It was my past, and all I could do was gaze towards the future, to the life I was there to forge. Xeno. From what I had seen, he was a lonely man. He'd had friends, but in truth, he was always by himself, so strong he stood on a pedestal. The stronger and more intelligent a person grew, the more lonely they were in the end. He was an example of that. I had been an example of that. And even though I didn't know much about him, about us, I wasn't planning to do the same in this life. In this life, I would live a full life, with those I cared for. I didn't need strength, power, fame, money… all of those were useless to me. Those were his mistakes.
I wasn't about to repeat them.
Waiting outside, it wasn't long before Hua made her way out the door, carrying a large bag. Had she come here with that much stuff? She hurried over to me, placing her hand in mine. It was a friendly, kind gesture, as we ventured into the unknown, placing our bags onto the carriage and taking our seats, ready to enter a different world.
–
The ride was full of songs and making merry. Every so often we'd stop for a break to stretch our legs, and the driver would switch as the Lizards took shifts. We were all quite excited, however, Hua often fell asleep on my shoulder, and I didn't blame her. The ride from the village to the capital took around five days, which was quite a long time, for both of our ages. However, the Lizards had told me I was rather mature for my age, which I had… chuckled at, feeling a cold sweat run down my back.
At the end of the fourth day, we stopped for the night as I nudged Hua, who had fallen half-asleep. It wasn't good for her to be taking naps so close to her bedtime, as she wouldn't be able to sleep later on. In her sleep, she seemed to be mumbling, whimpering, crying. I didn't like that she couldn't sleep peacefully, it tugged at the very core of my being. And I gently shook her, dragging her out of the nightmare she'd been having.
As she awoke, she wiped her tears, not saying a word but letting out a small 'thank you', barely audible, but I heard it and nodded in response, getting to my feet and pulling my shirt down, stepping off the carriage in a single leap and making my way over to wear the other 5, and now Hua, had set up the tents, and a small fire crackling in the centre– likely Jasper's handiwork. I could feel its warmth as I edged closer, now taking note of how much my body was shivering. They had huddled around it, sharing food and singing songs. All was well.
Taking a seat next to Hua and Mari, my eyes glanced across to each and everyone. They all seemed happy, except Jasper. I couldn't bring myself to like him, because there was something off about him. Something that didn't make sense, something that was off. Behind his smile, something far darker than our imaginations could bring to life lay. And I didn't want to drag that beast out, but it seemed to be rousing from its slumber, slowly but surely.
"We'll be arriving in Xing tomorrow," Nessa said, "And to think, this is all because we met these two." She said, gesturing to Hua and I. Anthony, Makko, and Mari nodded, and Jasper did too, albeit far more hesitantly.
"To Hua and Atlas!" She said, raising her glass towards the starry sky, to which the others followed, chanting our names as well. They continued to chat long into the night, but I had gotten up and made my way off, taking a seat on a rock just a ways off, hearing their words blend together into a murky mess. The wind brushed past my skin gently, like an angel's cold touch, feeling it rustle my hair in the silence. I let out a sigh, eyes turned toward the sky. Although it should be a happy occasion, I couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. As though something was going to go wrong, like something was wrong. Hearing footsteps behind me, my hand immediately shot to the blade in its scabbard. Monsters? Breaking the seal, I pushed it up, until the figure made their way out of the darkness. Nessa, with her hands raised where I could see them.
"Relax, relax, kid. It's just me." I let out a breath, pushing the standard steel sword back into its holding as she took a seat beside me on the rock. "What's got you looking so glum? You should be celebrating. This is your night, y'know."
I shook my head and shrugged nonchalantly in response. "I…don't know. I just feel like something's going to happen, going to ruin it all. I can't shake it." I said, crossing my arms as I leaned back on the rock, feeling the cold in contrast to the warmth of my body.
"Well, don't worry," She dismissed, "Even if something bad does happen, there's no point dwelling on the 'what ifs', since it hasn't happened yet. Focus on the here and the now."
I supposed she was right, really. I couldn't do anything but that.
"You should be enjoying yourself. How about a trade off? Since you don't know much about this world, I'll teach you one of the fundamentals: dance. And then when we have time, you can show me some of those 'cool sword tricks' you've been trying to pull off."
She didn't wait for my answer, pulling on my arm and dragging me to my feet, spinning me around, the stars above and the other's voices in the background as we danced into the night.
–
In the morning, we set off, quite weary from the celebrations the night before. As such, the cart was rather quiet, with Jasper taking the reins as everyone else was somewhere between awake and dozed off, myself included. Through my sleepy gaze, I could only see Nessa and Mari in one corner, though I also felt Hua on my shoulder as I was propped up by the corner of the cart.
Feeling the wood press unbearably against my shoulder blade, I pushed myself up groggily, putting Hua down on the bench as I got to my feet, the carriage rattling as we entered rockier terrain, closer to the city. That was odd. The map said we should have been going through the woods right about now. Taking steps towards the front, I peeked out whilst Jasper had his back turned.
We continued forward, crossing an old wooden bridge. It became clear to me that we were by the side of a cliff face, and I edged closer to the side of the carriage, peering over. We were by the edge of a cliff face. But why hadn't Jasper said anything yet? A chill ran down my spine, and I turned, slowly.
Jasper stood behind me, halberd pointed towards the sky. Flames converged at the tip of his halberd, compressed into a white-hot glowing point that made my eyes hurt. Then he slammed it downwards.
[Hellflame Spear]
And everything went to hell.
An explosion echoed as the carriage was blown to bits, sending us all flying, flames licking whatever grass grew in this flame. The smell of charred wood filled the area as we lay amidst the wreckage. The smell invaded my nose, and I choked, smoke settling over the area, along with the scent of blood and tears.
My body hurt, and I had been sent flying the farthest. My skull ached, and my limbs felt like they had been shattered in numerous places, muscles torn to shreds. The air itself, as I took gasps, felt like it had been lit aflame inside of my lungs. The taste of iron, no, blood, filled my mouth.
From every corner of the rocks came five bandits, holding crossbows, knives, every weapon one could think of. It occurred to me at that moment: he had planned this.
"Brother… why?" Mari's voice echoed, and I could barely hear it above the sound of the flames, above the sound of my blood pounding in my head, in my ears, as I rolled over, attempting to pull myself up to my feet. Her voice sounded pained, shaky, anguished, screams ripping through her throat until they too, died out, and she could no longer speak. Tears ran down her face like rivers as she steeled her heart, grasping her staff in both hands, sobs slowly subsiding.
My eyes found Hua, being taken care of by Anthony. She looked in better shape than me– then again, everyone was likely in better shape than me, considering the blast had been closest to me.
Hair sticking to my forehead, vision red, eyes hurting.
My hands, running across my face, came out wet, red with blood. My blood. Fortunately, I could only feel small cuts, though I was certainly sure my ribcage was at least fractured. Black and white hair tumbled over my shoulders, in front of my eyes. Obscuring them, as nothing gleamed in my eyes but pure and unbridled rage.
Jasper laughed maniacally. The flames only grew hotter, the air itself beginning to waver under the heat. I could almost feel my skin beginning to cook simply by being near them.
"Why? Money, of course. With money, anything can be achieved. And when I was offered money by the two older princesses of the Xīng family…"
His eyes glanced at Hua, settling on her, his smile growing wider, nothing but insanity visible in his crimson eyes. His face was contorted with nothing but ecstacy, the thought of killing her, clearly, driving him crazy with pleasure.
I felt like tearing out his eyes with my bare hands, but I was still struggling to stand.
"...Well, why wouldn't I take up the offer to kill the youngest princess, Xīng Hua, herself? After all… her knight cannot enter the Succession Ritual Tournament if she no longer lives. They've asked me to bring the runner's head back to them on a platter…"
I had pulled myself to my feet, but my eyes had widened, shock coursing through my body as I was unable to move. A… Princess? I had known something was up with her. So she had run away? Run from her older sisters? Because they were trying to kill her?
My eyes darted once more to her unconscious body, wounded from the explosion, cuts up and down her back. There would be time to ask her such questions later. However, now… my rage had bubbled to its breaking point, and was now overflowing as I clutched my blade in hand.
"If you all deal with the bandits…" I said to Mari, Nessa, and Anthony– who had given Hua to Makko to take care of.
"I'll cut the head off the traitorous serpent." I said, anger brimming in my tone of voice as I thought about killing him. They nodded in response, turning to deal with their own foes. 6 to 4…
Jasper looked towards the sky, his smile growing wider as he seemed to be somewhat amused. So this was what he was truly like. The snake had slithered from the darkness, and it had pulled its lips back to show fangs in an ugly grin.
"More importantly, killing's quite fun. Their helpless screams… their blood running through my fingertips as they gasp desperately, pleading with whatever deity they believe exists above to save them… I can't hide that from myself, after all!"
His eyes turned to me, head still tipped back. "Care for a dance?" He asked, voice quaking with happiness. Absolutely disgusting. How could a person gain pleasure from murdering another person, trading their lives with money stained by blood?
"I'll gladly oblige."