Burst_Swords to the Skies

by Adam Wan

  "Hi!" greeted Mia from afar. Her voice could be heard from where we were.

  Ordeal 5: What

  "Hello!"

  It was the voice of someone popular. The voice that many people wish to hear, in a talking way. People hear this voice was music that will always stay in their head, they're tied to the music. The music that has this person's voice in it. The voice of the famous singer, Mia.

  "Hello! Nice to meet you! I'm Sora, the princess of Cielo. Thank for coming here from Ayrus"

  "Everybody knows you. You might even be more famous than me! Not everybody listens to my singing"

  "No! I'm only known in Cielo. You're known in both Cielo and Ayrus..."

  "Umm, do you go to Galaya?" asked Ayla.

  "Nonononononono... That place is dangerous as hell!"

  "I knew it" Ayla whispered to Spica. It was loud enough for me to pick up.

  "And you're Cel Alt, right? Thank you for saving Ayrus. I can finally stop pretending to worship that damn Sylus that they think is a goddess... You must be a superstar! Right?"

  "Yes, I'm Cel Alt. I'm happy to hear that me and Spica's work is noticed. Superstar... I don't know. I'll just say that I'm 'known', not everybody knows my name, other than in Cielo and Ayrus. In Galaya, they call me Sword Guy, Other Worldly Knight or Hero..."

  "Let's go for a tour of this place. You will be sleeping in the castle" said Spica as she led the tour.

  Mia started to follow them. Her bodyguard was still at her carriage, he was gathering her stuff.

  Mia stopped in her tracks. She turned and looked at me. She raised both of her hands up.

  "TRC!"

  She said making a 'V' gesture with her fingers with both hands. I was confused, I asked "What?".

  She just walked away without answering my question. She caught up with the others, they didn't go far at all.

  Her bodyguard came up to me, he looked at me and said "Don't try to hit on her", he continued to walk off.

  "I wasn't. What's your name, by the way?" I asked.

  "Vergus, Mia's bodyguard. I won't let anyone else touch her, not even you"

  He continued to walk towards the castle. He was carrying Mia's luggage bag, it didn't seem that heavy. It was only one bag, I thought that she would at least have like 2 or 3 bags or so.

  "TRC... What did she mean by that? It seems random though... But it couldn't be..." I thought. I had no idea what she meant by 'TRC', she said in such a cheerful way.

  I went and followed Sora. She wasn't far away. I also wanted to see Spica touring.

  After giving a tour of the place, everyone went to the castle. Spica said that she wanted to give a tour of the castle too.

  I followed them to the castle. She gave a tour of the important rooms. She also showed some of the bedrooms just in case.

  "This is Cel's room" said Spica.

  "I think I should get ready for tonight" I said as I opened the door.

  "Ok, bye!" said Spica.

  "Se you soon" said Sora.

  They walked off to show the other rooms. Mia stopped again, she turned around and said "Be careful!" with her finger pointing at me.

  She then turned around and left with the others. I was, again, left confused.

  I entered my room and sat on the edge of my bed. I wondered "Again, she gave me a weird message. First was 'TRC', and now 'Be careful'... What did she mean? She sure is mysterious..."

  I went to get ready for the journey to Ayrus. I went to take bath. It was a nice warm bath.

  Ordeal 6: Killer

  "Haaa... That was a refreshing bath..."

  I had a nice bath. The water was warm. My body felt it was just created the moment the water touched my skin.

  I had some scars on my body. They were mostly from the fight with Cyan in Galaya two years ago. Some others were from fights like the fight with Sylus.

  I got dressed and went to find my sword. I was looking through the closet to search for it.

  "Where is it...? It must be sharpened before tonight..."

  And then, I remembered something. "Wait... I use that Portable Sword now... Damn, I forgot that. I don't need to sharpen that thing!" I thought.

  I went to the table next to my bed. The sword was resting there. I took it and placed it on my belt. I felt a bit weird because it had no blade attached to it.

  I left the room and went to the garden. It was getting dark, the light was so little that it looked like it was nighttime.

  "This is relaxing... I have to come here before I leave..." I said to myself quietly.

  I walked alone in the garden. I was thinking "What did she say...? I should've followed Sora... I am her knight anyway... Damn...".

  "Phewshh*"

  I heard the sound of the plants and flower getting blown by some wind. But there was no wind to be felt.

  "Tap tap tap tap*"

  Footsteps from behind. The person must be running. It wasn't Sora because she would call my name. I took my sword and activated it.

  I turned around...

  "Tsss..." the sound of lasers clashing.

  It was a dark male figure, he had a portable sword too. "A portable sword?! No one else has that! Well, from what I know of though. These things aren't even released yet..." I thought.

  "Vrmm Tss Tss Tss Vrowm Tss"

  The sound was a sound that I'm not used to. The sound was different from the sounds of swords clashing with each other.

  I couldn't see the person's face. It was so dark that even the light from the laser couldn't light his face up.

  He attacking by swinging his sword from one side to the other rapidly. I was blocking his attacks. He seemed to be doing "Sweep".

  I jumped further back, he started to charge at me. I did "Rapid Fire" at him. He was blocking and retreating to avoid my attacks.

  He ended up running away from me. I still didn't get to see a glimpse of his face. I decided to head back in the castle to eat dinner.

  "Hi" greeted Sora.

  "Hi... Sorry that I didn't accompany you on the tour of the castle"

  "That was nothing! You don't need to protect me through every little thing"

  "Yea, you're right"

  "You're sweating... Didn't you get some rest in your room?"

  "I went to the garden. I wanted to be there before we leave for Ayrus. I got attacked by an unknown person there. He had a portable sword like us... I didn't get to see his face"

  "Attacked... Who would it be? No one else had the sword..."

  "I don't have any new knowledge about this sword project. I don't know who has them... But, I do know that the person who did this isn't up to any good"

  "Yea... We have to solve this problem soon"

  Mia entered the dining room. She sat on the VIP seat. Not long after, Vergus entered the room.

  "Isn't he suppose to be with Mia all the time? Maybe not..." I thought.

  The king arrived at his seat. Dinner was being served. I wasn't worried about not being able to enjoy any food at Ayrus because Sora would come.

  Ordeal 7: Portal

  "We have a special guest for dinner tonight. The singer, Mia has come to join us" said the king.

  "Clap clap clap"

  Everyone clapped from hearing what the king said. Mia stood up and waved her hand. Some people waved their hands when she was facing their way. "Some people just want attention, it doesn't matter in what way" I thought.

  After eating dinner, everyone going to Ayrus went back to their rooms to get ready. I was walking back to my room. I just wanted to stay in my room for little while before leaving it.

  On the way there, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw Mia behind me.

  "What is it?" I asked.

  "Be aware"

  "Be aware... This evening, she said 'Be careful'. That guy appeared... And now 'Be aware'... I must stay alert" I thought.

  "O-ok..."

  She left without saying a word. Just like the few other times. "Now I know, whatever short line she
says is a warning, a hint, a clue..." I thought. She didn't even say 'Goodbye', which was a short line.

  I entered my room and laid on my bed. I was thinking about the possibilities of something to happen that night.

  "Could that guy attack me? But he's here in Cielo. People go to other worlds without portals. Wait, there's a portal in town... Mia's carriages came through that portal. The portal leads to Ayrus Castle Town's portal" I thought.

  Eventually, it was time to go. I went to the castle portal room. On my way there, someone called my name.

  "Cel! Wait up"

  It was Sora. She wore a uniform that was similar to the knight's uniform. The parts that were black on mine were yellow on hers.

  We walked to the room together. We had a chat along the way. The king was there.

  Ayla arrived a minute later. She wore her knight's uniform. She brought her bow too, as expected from a master archer.

  "Why aren't you bringing your crossbow?" asked Ayla.

  "I'm not good at bow... Haha" I said scratching my head.

  "Being an 'Ok' archer doesn't mean you're a complete beginner!" she shouted.

  "Sorry!"

  "Haha!" Sora laughed.

  "I don't really do things that I'm not that good at. I'm not good at cooking, archery, dancing... Yea... I don't want to think about it anymore..." I thought.

  "Good luck" wished the king.

  "Thank you" we replied.

  Ayla went through the portal. When I was about to through, I started remembering the time I chased Arsceil through the portal.

  I was panting, I was scared. It was like I was scared of losing Sora again.

  "Why?! I wasn't scared of going through the Galaya portal. Why am I scared of this one?" I thought.

  It has been a long time since I went through any portal. The last time I went through a portal was after the Galaya mass murder case.

  "Its ok. I know that your mind can be weak sometimes. You're thinking about the event four years ago, right?" asked Sora as she hugged from from the back.

  "Y-yea..."

  "Let's go through, together. I'm here with you, I won't go anywhere"

  We went through the portal. I was relieved because of Sora's words. "Even I need help sometimes. I had helped Sora many times before, she helps me from time to time. That's what my relationship is like, we help each other" I thought.

  "What took you so long?" said Ayla.

  "Nothing much" said Sora.

  "Welcome to Ayrus! Oh, Cel! I'm so happy to see you. Your rooms are ready"

  "Hi. Thank you for having us"

  "And thank you for helping us, Cel"

  "You're welcome"

  We were brought to our rooms by the staff. The castle walls were painted in pearl white color. The lanterns made the wall seem shinny.

  "Good night, Sora"

  "Sweet dreams"

  I entered my room and jumped in bed. I was afraid that the guy will attack me but I thought that it was impossible, maybe. I fell asleep knowing that the guy would most likely not appear in the world of Ayrus.

  Ordeal 8: Journey

  "Chirp chirp chirp*"

  "Flap flap*"

  "Shhh"

  The peaceful sounds of birds chirping and tweeting could be heard. The sounds of birds flapping their wings to fly of in the sky freely. The sound of the leaves moving in wind.

  The sounds were heard when I was waking up. The sounds that I usually hear in the morning.

  I opened my eyes and saw a ceiling that I was unfamiliar with. It was white in color while the edges were blue. I remembered that I wasn't in Cielo.

  "Oh, right. I'm in Ayrus with Sora and Ayla. We're here to defeat the Gyronorme" I thought.

  I left out a breath of air and sat up. I wiped the sleepiness off my eyes. I turned my head to my left and saw something unexpected.

  "Snoring*"

  "Whaa!" I was not expecting to see her.

  Memories of the days when we slept together in our home in the village started coming back to me.

  Sora was sleeping next to me. Her face was cute like an angle when she was asleep. Her eyes slowly opened up and looked at me.

  "Oh, morning..." she greeted.

  "M-morning... Why are in here?"

  "Last night, I had an urge to see you. Ayla was asleep at the time I left the room and headed to yours. I knocked on the door but you didn't answer. The door wasn't locked, so I opened it. I saw you sleeping in bed. I decided that I should sleep with you, to feel what its like again"

  "Ok... I'm starting miss to those days"

  "Me too"

  I got out of bed and stood up.

  "Let's get up. Umm, will Ayla be ok with this"

  "Oh, I should go back to our room. See you soon"

  "Yea, bye"

  I took a towel and went to the bathroom to take a bath. I was thinking about the days that I lived with Sora while I was taking the bath.

  During lunch, I wanted to ask the king something.

  "Your Ma-"

  "Don't call me that! I'm really thinking of turning this kingdom into a world that is ruled by the person with the most votes or something"

  "Oh, k. How far is Eradicus from here?" I asked.

  "It's quite far from here... If you go soon, you'll have to sleep halfway there"

  "Oh, that's quite far..."

  "We'll leave soon" said Sora.

  "Ok, then. I'll get you a ride"

  "Thank you" Sora replied.

  After lunch, we went back to our rooms to prepare to go, but I was already prepare. So I just went back to lay down in bed. Then, we got on the carriage that would take us to Eradicus.

  The sun was setting, I felt warm. I remembered the days when the only sign of the moment of time is the amount of light. The day was a little bit more lighter than night but it wasn't to much of a difference. You might not notice that it was morning sometimes.

  "You seem to be thinking about past there" said Sora.

  "Yea, it was about the sky. Neither the sun nor the sky could be seen. It was clouded in darkness"

  "You have experienced quite a lot of stuff, Cel" said Ayla.

  "Yea..."

  It eventually got late. It was two hours since the sun had set.

  "We'll stop and camp out here. We'll continue the journey tomorrow morning" said the coachman.

  We got out of the coach. We were then given sleeping equipment such as pillows and a big piece of cloth.

  "Good night, Sora"

  "Sweet dreams, Cel"

  Sora closed her eyes and fell asleep. The night was cold. I was shivering, I was hoping to fall asleep soon, but I don't know if I could.

  "How could they sleep so peacefully in this place..." I thought.

  Ordeal 9: Again

  I was shivering from the cold. I wasn't getting much rest as I keep waking up from my sleep due to the cold.

  "I just want to sleep... I want to sleep..." I thought restlessly. I kind of felt desperate because I need some sleep.

  I never knew that Eradicus was in the Snow Region of Ayrus. I would've brought my winter jacket. "Why didn't I ask Spica what Eradicus was like...?" I thought.

  The temperature was colder than the temperature when I slept in this world last time. It was as if I got shoved into Snowheart without a winter jacket.

  The wind howled loudly. The wind was cold, it felt like I was blasted with ice.

  I suddenly heard a sound that didn't seem natural. The sound was like footsteps in the snow.

  I started to look around. I saw a silhouette of a man in the distance. "Who's that?" I wondered. The man looked like he was taking something out of his pocket.

  "Zzz vrmmm"

  It was a portable sword. The moment I saw it, I knew it was him. "No way! This is what Mia warned me about! I don't know how but she has useful information!" I thought.