"My friend, you've been following me all day long, don't you have a stand you wanted to visit?"
Two young men walked through a market. It was crowded, everywhere decorated with colourful ribbons and balloons, an atmosphere full of festivity.
"No, I'm not very fond of these things…" Aurora responded, eyes wandering in another dimension.
"Besides, why are we wasting time on these things? We need to hurry up and progress…"
"Oh look, a caramel apple stand!" Kael hurriedly over, leaving Aurora behind.
He remained in place, standing. He wasn't waiting for his friend to come back, he was simply unsure about his direction — to stay here, or leave.
Just as he was about to take a step forward, a step in the apple stand's direction, he was cut off by a huge wave of human traffic.
And that forward step became backward, he was closer to the festival light, but became further into the shadows.
He went against the crowd, shutting his ears from the echoes of laughter. Step by step, he ended up inside an empty street.
'Why am I even here…'
"Aurora!"
He looked back, and saw a giant caramelised apple floating in front of his face.
'Did this apple just talk?'
"Where are you going, my friend?"
Aurora looked from another angle, and saw Kael was actually the one who talked, his face was behind the enormous apple he held.
"Why is it so big?" Aurora felt speechless.
"Oh, this?" Kael smiled, seemed proud of his findings.
"The stand owner was a String Master, she had the core Instrument that could enlarge fruits!"
"She was so nice as well," he lifted his other hand, there was another apple.
"Even gave us a two for one discount!"
"Dude." Aurora looked at his friend, flabbergasted.
"How are we meant to finish them?"
"Haha, don't worry about it!" Kael put his thumbs up while holding the treat.
"You need an energy boost after all that Tuning!"
He passed the apple to Aurora, but to his surprise, his friend did not accept it.
"What's wrong?" Kael looked at his friend, but there wasn't any response.
He paused, realising what might have happened, and asked gently.
"...Do you want to go somewhere?"
They walked for about 10 minutes, and ended up on a grass hill, with the festival scene right below their feet.
"So, did you want to say something?" Kael took a bite out of that big apple.
"No… actually, yeah." Aurora signed.
"Why are we doing this, Kael?"
"What do you mean?"
"This!" Aurora pointed at the apple, then the town immersed in the festival.
"There is a great war coming up, our Kingdom will be a flame sea, Gods and Angels will all partake — yet you still have the mood to explore a festival market?"
"Every second right now for us should be used on Tuning, for preparation against those monsters!"
"… then why did you accompany me, my friend?"
Aurora froze, speechless. Kael was right, he could've stayed behind in his room, practising Tuning all day. But he didn't, and now he regretted displaying an attitude even though it was his decision to tag along, worrying if his friend's mood might have been ruined too.
"Sorry," he murmured.
"I guess I just wanted to know why… the purpose behind all this."
"I'm doing this because it's fun!" Kael answered immediately.
"And it's more fun with you, so I guess you could be my purpose, haha!"
"What?" Aurora looked up, not hiding his surprise from what he just heard.
"Look, my friend, there is a reason I prefer being human rather than a deity!" Kael smiled, the festival lights were reflected in his eyes, becoming more bright against the backdrop of the night sky.
"But you're nowhere near a deity yet."
"That's beside the point!" Kael put his hand out, signalling the rudeness of Aurora's interruption.
"Gods are boring, you know? The moment they reached a divine status, they began to feel like they needed a grand motive behind every action."
"They will pretend to not have emotions, because that to them, is reserved for the mortals. I think it's their ego that's making them seek purpose to everything, everyday, people who worship them present the best food across the land as offerings, and guess what?"
"They wouldn't eat anything!" Kael laughed, so much even tears came out.
"Gods don't need to eat to survive, sure. But they could still taste, if they had savoured a good dish, I'm sure they could feel happy. After all, they were once human, and that human behaviour doesn't fade just because you've become the strongest String Masters in the world."
"But they wouldn't, to them, there's suddenly no purpose in eating. And that's where I believe they are too fixated, trying to prove their difference to us by not behaving like us."
"And that's what you're doing too, my friend." Kael pointed at Aurora, pointed in the direction of his heart.
"What do you think is the difference between a normal person and a String Master?"
"Alot? I guess…"
"No, no, no." Kael wagged his index finger.
"There is no difference."
"We are humans, Gods are humans. Just because we have more responsibility on our shoulders, doesn't mean we cannot enjoy what others are enjoying without a purpose."
"In fact, enjoying something should be our purpose!"
"All String Masters have a little more pride than normal people, and to justify that pride, they began to seek purpose behind every little action the others do. Why consume deserts that bring no nutritious value? Why attend festivals? Why have fun?"
"...I don't want to see that in you, my friend."
The air became quiet, Aurora looked at himself in the reflection from the caramel coating of the apple.
"...You're right." After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"I have fun with you, Kael. Our journey was fun from the day we met; deep down, I still enjoyed some activities we did as kids, but was too ashamed to admit it."
"We shouldn't feel anything wrong with having human emotions, people, us and Gods, we are all the same."
"Hehe," he chuckled softly.
"I feel so stupid. I was having more fun when we were kids, not questioning the reason behind anything. How ironic, a child would have a clearer mindset to life than an adult."
He paused, waited for his friend to respond, but there was nothing.
Curious, Aurora looked over at his friend, and saw two trails of tears were streaming down his face.
"I—I'm glad you've finally opened up to me, my friend!" Kael cried, the apple in his hand was covered in snot and tears.
"You know how long I've waited for this? Throughout our journey, you've become colder and more empty about everything around you. I thought it was your way of maturing, but to think you've been carrying this weight by yourself for so long…"
"You said you enjoyed the activities we did as kids right?" Kael grabbed him by the shoulders, eyes full of excitement.
"Let's do that roleplay story again! I'll be the knight this time, you be my princess…"
"WAHHHHHH!" Aurora rolled around on the ground, face more red than the apple he was holding.
"Shut up, SHUT UP! I hate you, I HATE YOU!!!"
"What's wrong?" Kael panicked.
"If you want to be the knight, I can be the princess again…"
"WAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
A little later, things had calmed down.
"Look down there, my friend." Kael pointed at the town miles away.
Aurora followed his gaze using a distant vision spell, and found a little girl crying in the corner of a street.
"She must've gotten separated from her parents by the festival crowd." Kael continued.
"I want to help her, what do you think?"
"If you want to, I guess that's enough of a reason, right?" Aurora stood up, smiling.
"Well said."
In the little dark alley, a little girl sat alone, crying.
She had lost her way in the crowd, and couldn't find her mother anymore.
Just then, two guys wearing black hoods came out from the shadow of the alley.
"This is the last one before we hit our quota, right boss?" One of them asked.
"Yeah," the other one nodded.
"Take her away."
They began to approach the little girl, yet she couldn't recognise them because they were blended in by the darkness.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a blonde man in golden armour appeared from nowhere.
"Is everything alright, child?" He asked gently, kneeling on one knee.
"Mommy… I can't find mommy…"
"That's alright, we will help you find her."
The black hood duo looked at each other, seeing someone had arrived, they began to retreat into the shadows.
But just then, a voice called from behind them.
"Where is your base?"
One man reacted instantly, yet the moment he turned around, ready to slash his blade, he disintegrated into thin air.
The other man kneeled on the floor, his brains felt as if it was about to explode.
"Behind the old tavern, underground…"
The moment his words landed, he collapsed onto the floor.
Everything happened within seconds, inside the shadows, away from the blonde man and the little girl.
Rumors had spread, that in the same night, a huge, evil organisation had disappeared with no traces left behind.
Some thanked the Kingdom, some believed it was an act of God—
But the true heroes were just two young men.
Aurora climbed out of a collapsed building, and found his friend was waiting for him.
"Well done." Kael smiled.
"Did you become stronger?"
"I can't afford you being always ahead of me." Aurora wiped the dust off his clothes.
"Did she find her parents?"
"Yeah." Kael nodded.
"Let's go get breakfast and celebrate, my treat."
He turned and took a step forward, but then, he heard his friend ask from behind.
"Kael, what if one day you're not here?"
"What?" Kael looked at Aurora, not saying a word.
"I know I wouldn't have fun without you…" Aurora continued.
"If I'm by myself, and I no longer have fun, what would be my purpose then?"
The sun was rising from the horizon, its light painted blue on the dark canvas of twilight.
"Well…" After a long silence, Kael finally spoke.
"When you figured it out, I would love to hear it."