The threads of his white hair drifted in the warm river. He strained to hear, heart pounding with dread, each movement hampered by fatigue. Above, light glimmered, distant and unreachable. His foot brushed gritty sand, grounding him in this liminal moment. When realization struck, memory tightened his chest, bringing grief and longing.
(I can't breathe.)
Asahi scanned the scene. He moved his eyes slowly over the wealth of seaweed, coral, and lush vegetation scattered across the lake's surface. Noticing the beautiful flowers now submerged, he realized they concealed the foliage below like a blanket. He followed the green, red, and purple hues as they blended together, everything shimmering under the shifting light.
He turned right, twisting his body in the water. There, he noticed the silhouette of tall brown cliffs behind the blue ceiling of water. Asahi pushed with his arms to swim toward them, but his body was caught in a current and forcibly pulled away in another direction.
A ball of light shone down, illuminating the leafy surface. Seeing bubbles rise from his mouth, Asahi quickly kicked upward, desperate for air. Telos' voice echoed in his mind.
(Interesting... it appears that the blue meter is depleting at a rapid rate.)
Asahi poked his head out of the water. Panic clawed at his chest as the current tugged him forward. A cold terror squeezed his throat; he coughed up gritty river water. His legs thrashed wildly to stay afloat. Rolling over, dread and desperation churned inside him. He realized he was trapped in a churning river. Shadows of treetops blotted out the golden light. Crushing isolation gnawed at him, curling cold around his heart.
Asahi kicked his legs to stay afloat, drifting like an inflatable through the current.
"I can't... hold it any longer."
This river didn't lead to another lake; it flowed toward a tall waterfall, rushing down from thousands of meters above.
The sun blinded Asahi as he emerged from the water. He glimpsed water cascading over the rocks. Suddenly, the current swept him forward. Without warning, his body plunged down the waterfall into another body of water below.
. . .
As he soared through the air after going over the waterfall, Asahi caught a fleeting view of mountains circling a massive lily-pad lake before plunging into the water below.
After his dizzying fall, Asahi crashed into the water again. He thrashed his arms and legs, fighting to stay above the surface as the world became a blur of muffled sounds and pressure.
(I have to keep swimming.)
Asahi turned and saw the waterfall thundering like a gigantic waterspout.
When it toppled into the ecstasy lake, foam formed at the bottom. The rest of the lake was as clear as cellophane; Asahi could see the rocky bottom. Fronds of forest-green plants waved gently in the depths. The waterfall looked like a sheet of blue velour, its edges hemmed in whipped-white lines.
As Asahi swam toward a shallower part of the lake, he looked up and realized a thick canopy of vegetation now surrounded him on almost all sides.
(It's so different here. I have to go to shore, now.)
Asahi gulped in the crisp air, lungs burning as the wild scents of the lake clung to him. Far off, jagged mountains carved their silhouettes against the sky.
He moved in a wide circle around the towering, sparkling waterfall, pausing now and then to catch his breath. Drawing in the tang of mineral-rich air, he forced his weary body forward through the shallow water toward the waiting shore.
Telos' voice replied in Asahi's head.
(I feel you have landed in Lily Leila's Garden. It's several kilometers from where you came. The method of travel was most likely the giant tornado you encountered before.)
Butterflies danced on the breeze, and the gentle warmth seemed to lift the weight from Asahi's shoulders. A trembling sigh escaped him as, for a fleeting moment, hope fluttered in his chest, fragile and surprising after so much turmoil.
Wading out of the shallow water, Asahi noticed a white-haired youth lying still near some trees and pointy bushes, only a few metres from where he had come ashore.
Approaching her carefully, Asahi kept his eyes fixed on the youth as he walked forward. He shook his head and whispered to Telos, his hands tucked in his pockets.
"Do you know what happened when I was unconscious?"
(Unfortunately, no. I can't recollect anything at that time.)
Telos' voice sighed.
(I can't believe that this nation could sap away the magic from others; it's no wonder why everyone in Linuxinia is weak.)
Asahi scratched his head.
"Can you explain what happened in the city?"
(Hardly. I believe the varmints you encountered belonged to The Ending. These are not ordinary enemies. They are a shadowy group, notoriously known as The Ending, who possess an ominous agenda. Their primary goal is to harness untapped powers and reshape the world according to their own mysterious ideals. Utilizing the power of advanced technology and dark magic, they strive to dominate every nation by any means necessary. Most likely, they were behind the invasion, the lasers, and the tornado. The stakes are higher than we thought, and their threat is an intricate web of danger and intrigue.)
"Oh, okay."
Asahi continued along the sandy shore, feeling rocks beneath his feet and droplets running down his hair and body as he walked.
All he craved was rest. A single day of peace had never been enough, but maybe, just maybe, this moment would finally be the one to last.
. . .
Peace. For the first time in ages, a gentle calm soothed his nerves, releasing deep tension. He held onto this sensation, wanting it to last.
A grin blossomed across Asahi's face, his eyes drinking in the sky's reflection of the world below. When he spoke, his voice barely rustled, gentle as new grass.
"I do have to say... I feel relatively more at peace here than in the city."
When he saw his sister in the distance, Asahi stopped walking, planted his feet down on the sand, and mumbled.
"Just a little longer..."
* * *
Birds trill sweetly high above. The chorus is as playful as the birds themselves. With closed eyes, Aletha's heartbeat began to drum in time to the melody.
"Sigh..."
Aletha squeezed the moisture from her white hair, the repetition calming her nerves. Each press brought peace, loosening the tightness chaos left in her chest.
Unlike Asahi, Aletha landed on a soft patch of grass just a few meters away from the pathway winding over the beautiful, crystal clear waterfalls.
Dizziness throbbed in Aletha's head as memories from the chaos surfaced—surges of fear and helplessness tightening her chest. Her sight wavered, tears brimming as she slowly picked a glistening leaf from her shoulder, hand trembling. Emotions surged close to the surface, confusion and ache overwhelming her. She mumbled just above a whisper, her voice thick with confusion and sorrow.
"Where am I? This looks nothing like Linuxinia city."
The ground was dark, cast in shadow by tall mossy pines. The sun must have been brilliant beyond them.
Every tree glowed brightly, virescent just at the edges of the trunks, forming a line across the vast mountains.
Flowers sprawled everywhere. Small glass pillars. Broken wheels. Aletha sighed, her breath shaky as she surveyed the scattered objects. She pushed her doubts aside and stepped out. Fresh air embraced her. A smile trembled on her lips as brief contentment welled up inside her.
"This place is a lot quieter than the city."
She took a deep breath and relaxed against the tree, meditating and listening to the beautiful sounds of nature unfolding.
Vigorous trees tangled their branches overhead. Aletha breathed in the tranquil air, rich with the scent of earth and memory. The warmth beneath her felt like home itself.
"I don't want to move."
. . .
"I want to stay." Asahi's voice remained as warm as early spring. He absorbed the view of his surroundings and was relieved that he had awakened here.
Asahi couldn't even hear Telos' voice anymore.
All he could do now... was RELAX.
(Sniff)
Asahi gazed at the flourishing turquoise lake, mesmerized by its rhythmic ripples. Sunlight gilded his face as he stared at the horizon, the playful wind teasing his skin.
This was the balm he had longed for: troubles melting away, replaced by the gentle embrace of nature's calm.
Compared to the busy streets of Linuxinia City and the plains of Pladtioa, this place was more of a blessing to him.
Both siblings eased into serenity, bathing in the wilderness's peace.
When Asahi finally walked over to his sister, he nestled in the soft grass and let his anxiety fly away.
(One... two... three... four.... five... six.... seven... eight... nine... ten... eleven...)
* * *
"Okay, let's see what this place has to offer."
Thoughts and feet wander, lungs fill, and time rolls by. Calm follows the storm. Asahi and Aletha wandered as usual.
A turquoise-blue stream wound its merry way through the forests. Aletha, moving closer to the water's edge, gasped in delight and pointed out the twigs flying with the current to Asahi.
"Ooo, look at how sparkly the water is."
Asahi chuckled softly.
"Haha, I can see the flowers at the bottom. I guess Sally was right when she said that this nation is the cleanest. Okay, come on. Let's go."
Babbling and burbling, the stream sprang over the limestone rocks in its way. Pebbles whisked about in the underwash like pieces of glitter. As they gleefully strolled, an old brown hut came into view, lying around the stream's passageway.
They chose to ignore it and continue along their way through the wilderness.
Despite walking away, they never noticed a person in the hut, prying her dazzling orange eyes on the wanderers, catching every movement.
She slowly stepped out, smiled warmly, and pointed while her red skirt flew in the wind.
"HA! They ARE here!"
* * *
Asahi trembled while staring at the dancing flowers, his hands tightening unconsciously. He felt the last bits of droplets on his body dry up, but a deep ache remained in his chest—uncertain, anxious, longing for comfort and fearing for the friends he could not see.
"I wonder where all of our friends went. So much was happening before that I couldn't keep track of it. I hope they're okay."
Aletha patted Asahi's back, her face warming up from the humidity lingering in the forest.
"I'm sure they're fine."
"Are you positive? There were monsters everywhere."
The white-haired girl shook her head and sighed.
"Yes. The city looked untouched when we were flying in the tornado."
Asahi raised an eyebrow.
"I could have sworn--"
Aletha interrupted.
"Stop being so anxious, bro. Follow me. Let's see if anyone has landed here with us."
Asahi's eyes leaned silently upward.
Chords of soft light speared down from above, bathing Asahi and Aletha's heads in gold. It was glinting with little sparkles like a thousand diamonds blessed by an inner fire.
Not too long after, their concerns were scrubbed away like dirt.
But as Asahi and Aletha strolled along the stream, walking out from the cramped, lush forest, their sights were greeted with a vast, open field of rolling hills, cliffs, ravines, lakes, and smaller mountains, teeming with old and new structures.
Aletha expressed with her face filled with awe.
"WOOAH! This place is huge!"
Asahi chuckled and smiled.
The extraordinary panorama of the landscape warmed his heart. Asahi kept his bright smile and grabbed Aletha's hand, following the stream that sloped downwards to the rest of the field.
He acknowledged while Aletha pointed out stuff in the distance.
"I can already feel at peace here. Linuxinia is more vibrant compared to Pladtioa."
"Ooo, bro, look!"
Aletha pointed to what looked like distant railroad tracks spanning far in the distance.
"Isn't that the same railroad that the chef told us back in Drimi's ship?"
Asahi gasped.
"Wait, you're right!"
With excitement, Asahi rushed Aletha down the slope. As they trekked across the extensive topography, Aletha tapped Asahi's shoulder and yelled.
"Hey, look behind you!"
Asahi turned over with his smile fading away into a bewildered expression.
What he saw that shocked him was that the forest they had traveled through was all a part of a more prominent, colossal mountain. Its peak stretched and wound down far through the clouds, with a dense fog shrouding the top of the mountain.
The summit was so tall and expansive that Asahi couldn't even see the entire thing.
It stood out from all the other smaller mountains, with a silhouette of a beast soaring around the peak with the clouds.
And to make it all the more surprising, not a single speck of snow was seen on the mountain.
Everything was covered in trees, a forest, and dense vegetation.
* * *
Suddenly, Asahi and Aletha's path was obstructed by something.
Their sights never caught that beyond the hill they had passed was a massive, foliage-infested ravine that spanned from one horizon to the next —a lonely crevasse surrounded by gigantic trees and glass pillars.
Aletha sighed and panted, feeling the blistering heat touch her body.
"Are you kidding me?! How are we going to get to that place now? Why is it so... hot, too, all of a sudden?"
She took a deep breath, planted her bottom against a patch of thick dark green leaves, and sighed, still recovering from the "cookie craze" she had made in the morning.
While Aletha was goofing around, Asahi, on the other hand, was investigating and analyzing each corner of the ravine.
Luckily for the fellow, though, Telos' voice unexpectedly appeared after the long silence from awakening on the waterfall.
(Strange. In some areas, my voice may not be active, much like how some nations prevent me from entering their territory. Despite my soul residing inside another's body, the same laws work as they do when my body is.)
Asahi's eyes widened, confused by Telos' silence.
"Telos? You're back? Where have you been...?"
Telos's voice responded sarcastically.
(I could have sworn I just told you why I disappeared. *sigh* Nevermind about that.)
A group of butterflies flocked across the whimsical, warm streams winding all over the place toward the deep ravine below. Asahi admired them before Telos began snapping him back into reality.
(Are you just going to stand here and fool around? Where exactly are you heading to? You have no knowledge of whereabouts, you don't have your powers, and you don't have your allies with you either. Except for your sister.)
Asahi's mouth made a lop-sided grin, turning to Aletha, snoozing along the ground. His voice mumbled as he trekked around the stream and prancing pink sheep.
"I'm glad Aletha is by my side."
Telos' voice got aggravated.
(That's NOT my point! I'm concerned about your peers' fate; you bear no care for them? Why is that? A god does NOT abandon their allies, no matter how corrupt they are. Do you still remember what I have asked of you?!)
A metaphorical bulb of remembrance bloomed outside Asahi's head. He jumped up and pointed to the sky, his gray eyes gleaming brightly.
"Oh, r... right! You mentioned a woman with long, black hair. She wore... a robe, right?"
(She's not just ANY woman, Asahi. That woman had a heart that could meld into any shape. She had the power to drive darkness to bend into any shape or form. Creature or human, all of it could be mimicked by her ability.)
Telos' tone sounded as if he was absorbed in the thought of her, reminiscing.
(A magnificence that could carve nothing into anything. That woman sculpted and created living things called Buildinias from the faintest of ashes. She was everything everyone wanted to be.)
Both Asahi's palms were pressed against his forehead as he tried to process the flood of information Telos was sharing with him. It was too much for his head to handle.
"T... Telos, okay, okay... I get it."
The overwhelming amount of information Telos provided, combined with the knowledge he had gained since returning, left him feeling overwhelmed to the point where he no longer wanted to continue.
But as Asahi lay down on the soft bristles of grass like a bed, Telos asked him with a gentle voice.
(Asahi, I know you're overwhelmed, but that's just the beginning. There's still much more to your changed world than meets the eye.)
The calm winds blew over the open, lush hills.
"Yes, I know, Telos. It's overwhelming. I don't know what to do. I just... I... wish..."
He turned toward the distant horizon.
"... I had a guide. I feel like I lost everything I knew about my world. I don't know the creatures, the religions, or anything. It's just a mindless swirl of chaotic proportions to me. Everything has changed."
The voice of Telos chuckled lightly.
(Yes, I know. Five thousand years is a tremendous amount of time to be absent. I understand your confusion. Say, Asahi, how about I offer you a deal?)
Asahi raised an eyebrow.
"Like... what?"
(Since my soul is virtually locked onto your body, I have no way of reaching my goal.)
Asahi grew impatient.
"So, where's the deal?"
(The Deal is that if you can so happen to help me reach my goal... in return, I will provide all my knowledge and help you pave a safe way in your journey...)
Asahi's heart leapt, drawn to Telos' offer.
.(..I will tell you the entire history of this world, its people, and their origins. As long as you ask. With that, combined with The Tenth Eye that you have now manifested, I assure you that wherever or whatever destination you choose... it will be reached. So, what do you say? Will you accept this offer?)
A silence formed in the quiet field.
Asahi closed his eyes and thought about the agreement and how much it would benefit him.
"If I accept Telos' deal, that would allow me to learn more about my changing world. That would mean I would have to sacrifice my original goal to find Aiyana."
Asahi continued to think while the sun slowly leaned its way from the center.
"It's a considerable opportunity to simply be given all the uplands of knowledge and thought just by a simple command. But that means I would have to follow everything that Telos asked me to do. Perhaps, along the journey, I could find Aiyana's fragments?"
Asahi snapped his fingers, pushed himself up, and answered Telos while Aletha gazed at him curiously.
"Alright. Then THAT SETTLES IT! Telos, I accept your pact!"
Telos' voice lifted in a bright tone.
(Granted. From now on, Asahi, when you say the word 'Blink", I will be there to hopefully answer your every question and curiosity. There is no limit, as long as you agree that you will accompany and assist me in my goal.)
Asahi's eyes blazed with confidence.
"I promise you I will find a way!"
From that moment onwards, Telos will guide Asahi through his changed world, navigating potential conflicts, stranding him further from confusion, and drawing him closer to understanding.
Even though it was only a voice, learning can come from anything.
Whether through seeing, hearing, or education, knowledge can be imparted in many ways.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the forest behind Asahi and Aletha,
"White hair...? That exists in this world, too?! They look so beautiful. Like something from those TV shows I watched back when I was at home."
An old adolescent girl stood by, gazing at the wanderers.
Her long hair was a light, warm red, where the red was barely visible.
The sparkles draping down her silk hair, along with her exposed, slender arms, gave the view of youth in her, while her stance conveyed maturity as well.
Despite wearing minimal clothing on her torso, just a breastplate, a gray skirt dangled with dark chains was attached to her hips. Her chipped sienna eyes widened as she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey, do you need help?"
From the martini-haired girl's perspective, she couldn't understand a single word the mint-haired girl said. She slowly tried to reply with a flushed look on her face.
"U...Um... eri... no, gi gin solophy yo nai va pichin..." (Means ... 'Yes, I'm lost here. Could you help me? In Gincad Language.)
Pridia lightly giggled and sighed, speaking in Gincad's language.
"Pinchin asnods dhi sai lo fa sdi." (Means, "Your speech is rough" in Gincad language.)
Pridia laughed lightly and raced down the hill, making the poor girl blush in embarrassment.
While slowly rubbing her fingers and stepping out of the forest, trying to approach Asahi and Aletha, the martini girl mumbled.
Why is it so hard for me to communicate with people in this world? Why was I summoned here? I just wanted to watch my show and role-play... not get summoned to a fantasy world that doesn't even speak my language. As she pondered, a faint memory flickered in her mind of a glowing portal hidden in the pages of an ancient tome, intriguing yet strangely familiar. She sighed while leaning over a tree, trying to avoid social contact.
"I don't even have any magical powers. At least some sort of mage would give me a power, but NO! I don't even get that." She sighed. "I wish there was someone... ANYONE who could speak my language. If I weren't wearing my role-playing costume before I awakened here, maybe people in this world would have taken me seriously."
She slowly turned to the wanderers standing in the distance.
"Maybe... those two know my language? Their shoes appear to have come from Earth. So, perhaps?"
The girl clenched her fist, feeling brave and confident toward Asahi and Aletha. The otherworldly girl spoke to herself as her dark, black stockings glistened in the vibrant sunlight.
(It's worth a shot! I've been begging for someone to speak my language!)