บท 146: To Dwell under skies such as these (Asahi: Part 17)
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(In the past...)
With Asahi's fading words, his body quietly collapsed onto a thick grass bed surrounded by waterfalls. His fall, peacefully cushioned by the soft bristles. All surrounding heads reeled back in stupefaction, watching as their lord faint without any explanation.
"Lord Asahi?" Said one as he kneeled down.
"Has something happened to you?" Said another.
All followers surrounded them, sharing indistinct murmurs as he laid there. On Kendra's lips arose a fiendish expression. She couldn't express her panic in words, but in her actions. She hastily flew both her arms left and right, sprinting over to the resting body in disdain.
"A… Asahi?" A blue arose from her face as she placed her palms against his shoulders and rocked him back and forth. "Asahi, answer me!" And yet there was silence, not even a moan or a murmur could be heard.
Soon after, storms of panicked screams echoed across the firmly-shaped walls. Loud, reverberating trembles that released shrill and thin roars arose out from the deep chasm beneath. All bounced alert and shuddered at the sounds of climbing arms beneath. They shuffled back and forth, placing all their gazes at the silent body of their lord.
For most, they hadn't cared or even ignored those tremulous, husky, and low disembodied squalls because of the presence of their lord. But after a disturbing cry came from the proposed leader of the followers, that being a thin slender man bearing a brown beard dand necklace, all began to squirm.
There came a light at first. It wasn't small nor was it big. Then, a wave of squirming and tingling arms gathered with a rattling sound, grasping at the cliff's edges; All of which sported nasty rigid arms covered in an unearthly essence of purple and white.
The tall primeval trees positioned at the cliff sides rocked eternally hither with a crashing and mighty sound, the grass following their convulsive motions. Kendra stood still near Asahi's arm and had kept herself close as she felt the screaming winds that had passed by her. She knew for a fact, that within this toilsome journey of traveling in this forgotten underground world, were inevitable conflicts.
Not even words could describe this incident.
The fear that dawned on the followers was a violent and soul-snatching one. A feeling you would feel if you were stuck in a dead-end. Then, while all were alarmed of the ghastly presence that beheld them, one of the followers forced their lungs upward with one shuddering scream.
"THE DECAYED ARE HERE!"
Yet, had not the group departed, all would be well. Instead, a pendulous cluster of creatures approached the scattered group with prying claws. The irregularities of their wretched prism-shaped faces, of which were consumed in blackness and corruption, terrified the group to their very core, to which their arms were rooted to the ground.
To accompany this strict embrace of shadows and unknown, Kendra hurriedly rushed forward toward a canopy of vegetation resting near a mouth of stone. Her trembling eyes followed the movements of the creatures, reigning in their stead. Their loud croaks, their repulsive movements, all of which rendered their character as unearthly.
And yet, Kendra wouldn't dare to leave Asahi in this indistinct conception of throbbing danger. She stood up on her feet and unleashed several blows, all of which furiously impeded the folding creatures. One by one, magenta stained upon her body, bleeding in pores at it repulsively flew away from her legs. Shreds of those wicked monsters floated in the air before collapsing down and shredding into dust. She hadn't even known how she had done this, but embraced the action nonetheless.
. . .
Unable to take it any longer, Kendra clenched her grasp onto Asahi's wrist and desperately dragged him away from the creatures. But their anger bolded this action. Their grasp finally touched him and almost pulled him away like a tightrope. A sharp cry came from Kendra as she tried to avoid the purple lines moving upon their visage. And then finally, before she lost hope seeing many retreating figures distance themselves away from the monsters, white arms moved in rapid succession through the air, their fingers striking a number of these monsters that held a firm grip on the ground and their hands.
"Stranger, allow me to escort Lord Asahi."
Kendra slowly turned her head to face where the speaker was coming from. She saw a short figure with mousy brown hair and a long tail, the end of which was shaped like a dragon. The girl was wearing light brown leather armor over her torso and her arms, and a thick black belt at her waist that housed a short curved sword. A large round shield rested on her shoulder along with a quiver of arrows and a large pouch. Her eyes glimmered like a clear river that sparkled under the light of day, her voice was warm with a soothing touch.
"Are you sure?" Kendra asked with a raised brow, showing a look of judgment on the height of the girl. "You don't…"
"Dare to doubt me, stranger?" The girl said as she hoisted her bow. "I've known a lot, and had lived a lot through millennia of absence of sunlight. You dare to provoke me?"
As a silence opened in the clearing of the conflict, the girl pushed Kendra out of the way and hurriedly grabbed Asahi with her two arms and carried him toward a slope leading downward to an ancient palace overlooking a horizon of primeval fields. Kendra, struck aghast by this reaction, quickly followed the girl, asking.
"Where are you taking him?"
"To safety." The girl said as she showed no sign of struggle carrying the boy. "I'm certain that The Decayed will not lay a finger at Lord Asahi if I were to escort them there."
* * * * * * *
"Thus, after two days have transpired, the moment leads us here." The girl finished the recitation as she kept her head down at Asahi. "It is with great respect that we grant you our greatest hospitality, our lord. For we would have never expected such creatures to dwell under skies such as these."
Left speechless, Asahi tried to imagine the scenario inside his head.
Despite his best efforts, he couldn't possibly picture how such a petite girl could carry a figure like him. It almost made him concerned about her strengths.
But he realized, that thought doesn't matter.
It's the idea that he was escorted by Kendra, and the event at which he was safe that mattered.
Looking at Kendra with a different perspective, Asahi grew curious about what she had done whilst he was in his dormant state. He leaned over and asked her with his normal tone.
"Kendra… What have you been doing for the last two… days in this place?"
"I have been wandering around." She said unsurely with trembling eyes. "Exploring, meeting these strange people. It seems to me that you are highly worshiped here, if not everywhere. It's… really strange to be honest."
"Don't worry. This stuff is normal for me." Asahi unhesitantly replied, turning over to the narrow white stone hallways in front of him. "My sister and I got used to it after a while." He turned over and paused, trying to remember the sight of his old world in his head. Though not much could be seen, the walls in this hallway eerily matched the church Asahi was at several thousand years ago.
Shaking that thought aside, he redirected his gaze back to Kendra and continued.
"See, if you were to know just how much power my family and I held, you would react the same."
"Oh, really?" Said Kendra with a disbelieved look. "I feel like you're lying to me."
"That's because you haven't really seen how I was before. Of course you would feel that way."
"Um…"
Kendra could only account for how much weight had been put on her after she almost allowed a few sentences through her lips. There was a quick realization that had dawned on her mind the moment she heard Asahi's voice. That boy sporting perfect white hair, and clear, fair skin, was a god. Not some human, nor somebody, but a celestial, unknown being that could only be interpreted as a being higher than humanity, or even… her. She couldn't even look at Asahi the same anymore, nor could she believe that she actually dragged his body back in that waterfall place when she was in danger.
. . .
After a while, silence enamored the atmosphere.
Not even the voices of the followers could be heard.
Kendra was unsure of what to do next, trying in her best to imagine how Asahi was in the ancient times. But no matter what she had done, the silence permitted her to keep the image blurry.
(I… can't believe he's a god. How is… how is…)
Perspiration bursted from her every pore as she saw Asahi stare at the ceiling with an unsure face. She tried to look left, but saw the followers dwelling there. She tried to look on her right, but saw darkness envelop every corner of the cold stone hallway. With nowhere else to look, Kendra's trembling blue eyes shot directly up at Asahi's torso. Her face warmed up, noticing that Asahi was still topless. But then, for some reason, her anxiousness faded away as if she was reminded of something.
Upon her glare, Asahi stretched forth an arm and quickly flinched, noticing Kendra's observant face.
"Kendra, is there something wrong?"
"No… not at all…" Kendra replied as she redirected her gaze back at the gloomy floor. "It's just… the way you look, reminds me of someone."
Thoughts flooded in her mind as she kept her eyes anchored at the glimmering brilliance of Asahi's silken white hair.
"Someone… that saved my life, years ago."
Like a puzzle, memories connected to each other as she dug deep into her own past. Memories that she thought she would have never recalled again.. Without hesitation, Kendra started to share the thoughts spiraling in her head to Asahi.
* * * * *
Your white hair, those gray eyes, that fair face… Your features have reminded me of a man who saved me before.
Before I arrived at Toivo's mansion, I was a citizen of The Nation of Destia. I lived in the rural areas, next to a hallway of waterfalls like the ones we saw in this underground place. I had always wondered what was out there beyond the horizon, but was stopped by my parents who cared too much for the safety of me.
At that time, I was little… unable to even travel a single kilometer without my parents screaming at me. Honestly, without them, I would have been better off traveling. My bigger brother, Jal, always loved adventuring so he took the initiative to go to Destia's Academy and focus only on the subject of adventuring so that he could wander the world too. Younger me always dreamed of going to the academy, but I guess my parents think I'm too stupid to do that.
One day while walking down our road with my mother, she said: "I want you to be careful around here." She pointed her finger towards an old building made from wood. It looked as if it hadn't been touched since its construction hundreds of years ago. We walked over and went inside; it was dark because all the windows were covered up. There wasn't anything else except a few chairs placed near each other along one wall. On top of a wooden table stood a lamp which gave us enough light to see clearly. When I asked my mom why we came into such a creepy house, she told me not to worry about it, but instead focused more on getting home quickly. That's when I heard someone call out my name. It sounded croaky and uninviting, nothing like the citizens of Desita.
"Kendra, your powers are more connected than you think."
He spoke again, saying something like: 'Don't worry about it.' Then, after that, everything became blurry…
When I woke up, I found myself being cradled in the hefty arms of my brother, surrounded by a crowd who stared at someone one from afar.
"Don't worry, Kendra, I took you out of that house. We will be here for a moment. It's just an assembly." He whispered to me as I felt the rain droplets tap my head. "After this, how about we go home and eat some cake!"
Oh, cake. That tasty desert.
Of course, me being young, never knew what happened at the time and only desired my favorite treat. So, I nodded back and agreed.
"Okay!"
But little did we know that this night would be more than just some discussion.
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