章 30: The Soil
Asahi screams at Clover after the swift confession.
"Clover, you can't just say something like that, well at least, not right now. It's too sudden."
Clover approaches Asahi and yells with tears over her eyes.
"You don't understand how long I have waited for someone to listen to me truly!"
"--Listen to you? Just by the way you act, I assumed they had all listened to you?! What's going on with you?"
Clover jumps angrily up and down, trying to give him the proper thought.
"It's f-fake! My actions towards them are all fake!"
Asahi confusingly screams.
"FAKE?!"
Asahi backs away from Clover and scratches his head. He couldn't believe that her positive and friendly actions were all false. So, he thought of communicating by traveling to the nearest rock large enough to support both of their backs. They sit down on the soft-bristled feeling of the green grass and lie their backs against the stone's unusually smooth surface.
Asahi softly asks Clover while holding her four-leaf Clover.
"Why do you fake being friendly to others? "You should be yourself and ignore what others say," is what my father said in the past."
Clover tilts her head down to the floor and shuts her eyes. Her tone sounds rather earnest and doleful.
"It's because... of my affiliation."
Asahi mutters hesitatingly.
"Affiliation?"
Clover slowly nods her head and peers her eyes at Asahi's mark on his face. There is a massive absence of any sign of cheerfulness or silliness within her look. Instead, it's filled with sorrow and misery. She quietly pulls some of her green hair upwards over her head to reveal a pointy shape on her ear-piercing outward from the silk bristles of her hair.
It seems that she wanted Asahi to know something, but he remained silent and clueless. After the calm winds blew over her frolicking lime hair, Clover faintly whispers.
"You... don't know what this implies?"
Asahi shrugs and grabs his white strand dangling over his chest. He nods his head and interrupts the faint silence.
"No, I have no clue on what that implies."
Clover gives an extensive sigh and shakes her head. She tilts down and anxiously rolls her thumbs.
"It means... I am an Elf. One of the most hated races in Gincad..."
Asahi cluelessly mutters.
"--The most hated race in Gincad?"
"Yes... I feel comfortable talking about it with you since you showed that you never knew about this. But just in case..."
Clover hovers her pinky finger over Asahi's fingers and stares at him thoughtfully.
"You must promise that you will not flee from me, no matter how awful the story may be. I am not the elves in the past. I am a kind person who, unfortunately, has the affiliation of Elves. You mustn't tell Aletha too."
Asahi wraps his pinky finger around Clover's, nods his head, smiles, and replies.
"I will not break the promise."
Clover slightly giggles and tilts her head down.
"Good. Now, listen carefully. Sigh, here we go."
* * * * *
"1,000 years ago, when the War of Dreams commenced, Wraileza was under attack against the entire world. It is said that the Queen of Wraileza, Cecilia, wanted to destroy the whole world to 'free' the eye that had been hidden. No one, not even her followers, knew what it meant, but her followers took the term as giving Light to the Eternal Darkness in the world and were forced to follow her orders no matter how relentless it was.
Most of Wraileza's race was a mixture of dark and light elves, which led to many getting slewed by Obrus' dreadful nightmares. Even the Queen of Wraileza was a dark elf, which led to extreme hatred on her behalf.
Most despise Cecilia without knowing her motives. She went to The Tree of Knowledge and accidentally destroyed it, not her fault.
Although the nation she ruled is supposed to be Wrath, she was relatively passive to her followers.
All the seven nations despised Cecilia without knowing her plans, thus leading to the genocide of Elves. Gods slew the cities, and beasts wreaked havoc upon the rich land. The Rift made from the Queen, which was supposed to engulf the entire world, transformed her nation in purple crystals and void and slew a million people in each country."
Clover points her fingers to a tiny dot far in the distant sky, across the sea and south of Pladtioa to where Wraileza is. The wind blew on her long light green hair before settling down. Asahi tilts his head to where Clover was pointing and sees a small white dot hovering in the stars as if it was one.
"That right there is the remains of the Rift that killed millions of individuals and plunged half the continent into the ocean 1,000 years ago. It forced the nation to be heart-shaped. That's where those pesky individuals called Chutots originated. It's still there today, creating a threat to The Divine that she will release the 'Eye'; But, something was stopping her from reaching her inhumane goal."
Asahi lends full attention to Clover and tilts his head.
"And what is that?"
Clover resisted telling Asahi at first but then sighed and answered.
"The Magical essence called The Soil..."
Clover turns her head backward to see a horse galloping across the grass plains and a large group of individuals wandering on the fields. She quickly grabs Asahi's hand and whispers.
"It's best if I explain this in private. I don't want to get caught explaining to you the Soil's powers because there could be some 'watchers' spying on us. If we get caught, we could be captured and slain."
Asahi's gray eyes broaden. He nods his head and pulls Clover upwards, and he faintly tells Clover.
"Yeah, I can see that same dark-haired girl spying on us when we spoke in the alley."
Clover nods her head and nervously grins.
"Yeah... let's go to the forest."
Clover speedily pulls Asahi down the grass hill and enters the shadow-covered depths of Milmoor's forest. The aura and atmosphere of the situation change as the sounds of nature fill both of their ears.
The vast expanse of trees stretches for kilometers, seeming as if the forest would never end. However, the forest is filled with beautiful flowers, animals, flowing streams, two crystal clear ponds, and a few lakes.
As they travel, Asahi asks Clover.
"Can you tell me more? You act completely different from what I saw before. Also, why did you confess so suddenly?"
Clover tilts her head down to the ground and shuts her eyes. She takes a deep breath and replies to Asahi with a relaxed tone.
"I don't know... I remembered that I was slightly attracted to your beautiful appearance before the amplification, and then suddenly, once I stepped into the natural ground, the attraction amplified to drastic amounts. I tried to control it, but... I-I don't know."
Clover suddenly presses her palms against his abs and smiles.
"But without the amplification, I do think you are gorgeous."
Asahi's face swells with a warm red flush while smelling Clover's minty scent on her hair. He tries to back away but feels her chest pressing against his.
"Clover, what are you doing?!"
Clover's green eyes fill with a radiant violet glow while staring and drooling. She caresses his long white hair and kisses him on the cheek. Asahi blushes immensely. His hair reflects the rays of the sun, and swiftly, the violet glow on her eyes fades away.
Clover's eyes broadened, she hastily backed away while breathing heavily.
"I'm... s-sorry Asahi! I don't know what happened to me just now."
Asahi nods his head and wipes his cheek.
"It's... n-nothing. It seems you stopped when the sun shone on your face."
Clover shakes her head and forms a faint blush on her round cheeks.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Asahi lightly grins and pats her shoulder.
"It's okay... Clover. Now I know that you are not some sort of maniac who falls in love with me at first sight. Though, I do think you are pretty."
Clover says to him as she flatteringly rubs her face.
"You think so?"
Asahi nods and chuckles. He whispers to her with a genuinely truthful tone in his voice. "Yes! You are beautiful. Like the soft leaves of a four-leaf clover."
Clover brightly blushes and broadly smiles.
"Aww, Asahi... you're so sweet.~"
She grabs his hand and stares straight through Asahi's gray eyes. A smile forms on her cute face while she pins her Clover back on her hair.
"I trust you more than ever! I guess... I will explain to you what The Soil is. After all, it's quiet here, and no one seems to be around. Now that I know the source of the attraction, perhaps we can go to an open area in the forest? You know where the sun is!"
Asahi nods his head and smiles.
"You're right."
Asahi and Clover calmly walk through the forest while holding hands. She smiles happily while leaning her head against Asahi's shoulder. Asahi tilts his head to her and lightly grins. He takes a deep breath and says in his mind.
"The people here are so different from other worlds."
Clover and Asahi slowly approach an opening in the forest. The bright afternoon sun shines its brilliant, vivid rays at the circle of grass and moss. Clover pulls Asahi's hand forward, eager to show him.
* * * * * *
Clover stands next to Asahi and nods her head while examining her surroundings.
"This seems secluded enough!"
Asahi tilts her head to Clover. She bends over, slowly digs her soft fingers through the grass, then onto the dirt, and cups her hands together. The rich brown color of the soil rests on her hands, spreading apart and scintillating under the sunlight.
She pours the brown mocha-colored dirt towards Asahi's hands and flows more ground on her hands. Asahi questions her while rubbings his fingers on the moist soil.
"So, what is the significance of this? All it is is dirt."
Clover lightly giggles and nods her head.
"No, silly!~ That isn't what it is. Here, watch me closely, and examine what I do."
Asahi silently nods his head and peers at Clover's hand. Her fingers slowly crawl and wiggle back and forth over the rich moistness of the dirt, and suddenly, a faint green luminance shines on the soil. Asahi's eyes broaden.
A small chime comes from the luminescent particles, slowly packing against each other and dissolving the soil into light. Clover's hand pulsates a green wave underneath her skin, leading straight to her heart.
Her eyelids part from each other and reveal a bright green glow on her eyes. The dirt dissolves into particles, and swiftly, Clover leaps eighty meters upwards into the air and plunges straight down through the ground, forming a crater.
Asahi's eyes widen in shock.
"What?! How did you do that?"
As the glow on her eyes fades away, Clover brushes the remnants of light into the ground and dissolves it back into the land. She covers her mouth and giggles once more while seeing Asahi's astonished face.
"Oh! Tee hee. I think I forgot to explain. See, in Gincad, The Soil is the very essence that creates magic. Each nation in the world has its type of power within the soil. I so happened to be compatible with the ability in Pladtioa's Soil and became a Soil Wielder."
Asahi shakes his head and mutters.
"So, you're saying that The Soil in this world is its source for magic?"
Clover slowly nods her head and mutters.
"Precisely, yes! However, there IS one side effect."
Asahi asks while fiddling with the dirt.
"And what is that?"
Clover tilts her head down to the ground and answers Asahi with a low, serious pitch in her voice.
"Not everyone can use The Soil. It is only compatible with those who Dream of something."
"What does that mean?"
Clover slowly approaches Asahi, then replies.
"It means that you have a particular faith to be something. Ambition is the better term. If The Soil can see that you have a strong amount of faith in your Dream, The Soil will grant you the ability to wield it."
"So, The Soil is like... alive?" Asahi faintly mumbled.
"That's what they say... but I'm not too sure about it. There are different responses to everybody and every nation. Some may be good, while others may be bad. It all depends on your personality and if you genuinely have faith in a particular category of emotion."
Asahi mumbles.
"Category of Emotion?"
Clover nods her head; a bird flies by. As a humble silence forms, Clover replies with a friendly tone.
"It's hard to explain. But I am optimistic that you can be a Soil Wielder! All you have to do is shut your eyes and FEEL the surface of The Soil. Try to categorize your emotions and think of your Dream while rubbing it. There, if The Soil can recognize it, maybe it will grant you the power in Pladtioa's Soil."
"O-Okay." Asahi faintly replied while staring at her.
Clover grabs Asahi's arms and whispers.
"Now, firstly... shut your eyes."
Asahi's eyelids shut tightly while Clover grabs his wrist.
"Then, FEEL the Soil. Try to connect your feelings into it."
Asahi slowly nods and responds while rubbing the moist brown dirt.
"O-Okay..."
Clover grabs Asahi's left hand and screams.
"Now, Dream!"
Asahi's blank image in his mind bursts with light scattering all over every corner. A faint mist hovers over the sight in his mind. He sees a small luminescent blue hand reaching out to him with the fog fading away.
"So, what do you see?"
"I-I see..."
The luminescent blue hand slowly slides against his soul, gently rubbing it and caressing his soul's hands. The sound echoes within the reverberating breathing the blue hand gives.
After a few moments, Asahi slowly grasps onto the blue luminescent hand, then it holds back onto him. The black abyss surrounding his soul fills with white luminance, with the blue hand forming into the figure of a luminous faceless bare girl.
The luminescent girl slowly wraps her arms over Asahi's soul, with her blue hair slowly swinging back and forth. Asahi remains silent as the echoing voice of Clover vanishes. He feels her warm embrace and sees the faceless figure staring at him with interest.
"It's you..."
Asahi stands completely still with the voice of the figure echoing over the white void. After a few moments of complete silence, the void collapses into itself and kicks Asahi's soul out.
But just after the image faded away, the face of a young silver-haired, purple-eyed girl wearing a bright white dress fills his vision for a mere second.
Asahi swiftly opens his eyes, and the luminance on his hands forms a violet luminance. Clover's eyes broaden as she stands there, confused. Asahi swiftly tilts to Clover and screams.
"WAS THAT HER?!"
Just as his hands point directly at the sky, the luminance quickly charges up and releases a massive light laser beam filled with a mixture of many colors into the atmosphere. The colors swiftly merge into light and soar at the speed of sound. It blasts through the clouds and forms a massive purple explosion. A shockwave pushes a majority of the clouds away and almost blinds the world for a moment.
"Asahi?!"
The beam fades away into the air, with Asahi knocked back thousands of meters away from his original position. The trees powerfully get knocked backward from the potent shockwave and then slowly return to their normal position.
Clover swiftly sprints to Asahi after the collision. She holds her breath and tries to calm down before screaming with panic to Asahi.
"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"
Asahi faintly mumbles, with his eyes trembling and shrinking in shock.
"I saw... Aiyana."
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