Burst_Swords to the Skies

by Adam Wan

  "Tss vrmm" from this sound alone, I knew who it was, it was that guy who tried to kill me.

  I turned around quickly. With the timing skills that I got from years and years of training, I raised my sword at an angle that I predicted he was about to swing at.

  "Tss"

  I was right. Sparks can be seen from the clashing of our blades. We were both attacking each other endlessly.

  The attacks were hitting the walls, it cut through the wall leaving cut marks on it. I did "Speedster" on him, it was a dash skill that was similar to "Speed Demon".

  The skill "Speed Demon" could only be used on the Sword of Demise, which was destroyed during the battle with Sylus because I used "Burst!".

  "Tsstststststs"

  The sound of my quick attacks was heard in our ears. He was getting hit a few times. I then started doing "Both Clockwise".

  He was blocking my attacks as much as he could. He slashed horizontally and did a thrust. It hit my shoulder, he then started doing quick slashes at me. Some hit me, I wasn't wearing my uniform, so I got sliced more than what I wanted.

  "Why didn't I wear my uniform???!!! Damn, whatever. I got to end this" I thought.

  I jumped backwards and did "Dash", I ran at him while doing 3 long slices. He avoided the first two but got hit on the third.

  "Time to end this!" I thought. I did "Rapid Fire" at him. He got hit many times. He quickly retreated around the corner. I chased him down but the second I look around the corner, he was gone.

  "That should do it for now" I thought. That guy, though unidentified, was counted as defeated to me due to the damage I did to him. I was damaged too.

  "Oh no... Gotta go!!!!" I thought as I ran to the restroom and closed the door. I was so relieved after that.

  I returned to our room door. I took out the keys and opened the door. I looked at the bed and saw then peacefully asleep.

  "Good. Now... how should I treat these wounds?" I thought.

  I went to take a bandage and wrapped it on my wounds. I went back to bed after wrapping the wounds, they weren't too serious. I should be able to heal quickly.

  Ordeal 14: Back

  "Cel!!!"

  "Cel!!!"

  I heard the voice of both Sora and Ayla calling my name. I felt them shaking me to wake me up.

  I opened my eyes and saw them with a concerned face. Sora had some tears in eyes. By that moment, I knew what they were concerned about. They were concerned about my wounds.

  "Cel! How did this happen?!" asked Sora.

  "You're wounded!" said Ayla.

  "Oh... That..."

  "What that?! Tell us..." said Sora as tears flowed down her face. Her eyes were sparkling with the light reflected from her tears.

  "I was targeted by an unidentified person. He attacked me before dinner on the day we came to Ayrus, the night when we were asleep half way to Eradicus and last night, when I went to the restroom..."

  "Why didn't you tell us?!" Sora asked.

  "I don't want you two to get hurt by this guy... I can't afford to lose you two..."

  "I understand how you feel, Cel. Your personality was formed due to your childhood. But you should seek help sometimes"

  "I'll try..."

  I heard the words from the two of my close friends. Spica was back at Cielo, I couldn't hear her words. She might've been upset because she couldn't come with.

  We left our room and gave the keys back. We got on the carriage and left the town.

  In the carriage, Sora was trying to heal me. My sleeve was pulled up and my bandage was unwrapped. She was using magic to heal the wound on my left shoulder.

  "I'm sorry..."

  "Huh?" said Sora in reaction of the sudden apology.

  "I'm sorry for not telling you..."

  "I understand why you didn't tell me, it was a good reason. You were quite an insecure person at times. I forgive you"

  "Thank you... And thank you for healing me too"

  "You're welcome!" Sora replied with a cheerful voice and face.

  After a few hours, the sun has already set. Sora was sleeping against the wall. I was sure that it was because she didn't want to cause my shoulder any pain. I could understand how much she cares about me. The healing time for my wounds were accelerated thanks to her.

  I was thinking about doing something for her. Like getting her a present or something like that. "I'll get something for her back in Cielo" I thought. "Something that can prove I love her..." I thought a little more.

  We reached the castle at midnight. The moon was full that night. It was like a shining pearl that was shining bright in the dark sky that was accompanied by the twinkling stars.

  I tapped Sora's shoulder. Her sleeping face was like an angel to me. She was my twinkling star that keeps me moving forward.

  "Sora... We're here"

  "Mmm...? Cel... Are we home?" she said when she was mostly asleep.

  "Sora?"

  "Huh?" she was surprised. She just woke up. She must've been dreaming.

  "She was probably dreaming about the past" I thought as she got off the carriage.

  I woke Ayla up, she was really sleepy. It was like she was searching for a bed to dive back to sleep.

  We eventually got to the portal room. The king of Ayrus, though he doesn't want to be called that, was there waiting for us.

  "Welcome back! Good job and thank you for your help!"

  "You're welcome..." I replied.

  "Have a safe trip home!"

  "Bye" I said.

  He was waving his hand. Sora and I stood in front of the portal.

  "This must be making you happy" said Sora.

  "Yea, the memory of saving you..."

  "Let's go through together"

  We stepped through the portal together. Ayla was following close behind.

  Through the portal, no person was in sight. We expected that since it was just after midnight. We decided to go to bed.

  "Yawn*!!! I'm going... To bed..." said Ayla as she walked to her room.

  "K. I'm going too. You don't have to accompany me if you want to jump straight into bed" said Sora teasingly.

  "Its fine. I'll follow you"

  "As expected from my best knight"

  I accompanied her to her room and headed back to my room after wishing her goodnight. I jumped into bed and slept immediately.

  Ordeal 15: Pardon

  I woke up thought of what Mia said the other day. The day when she arrived at the arena.

  "TRC!"

  I still couldn't figure it out, I was sure that it was something simple. It must've been something that I didn't care much about.

  "How does Mia know this stuff? How did she know that the guy coming to attack me? I have no idea..." I thought.

  After thinking about it for a while, I decided it was time to stand up and get ready for the day ahead of me.

  The sun light shun through the window. The silky purple curtain was blown in the wind. The shadow of the curtains could be seen on the floor and on the bed.

  I sat up and got off the bed. I went to take a towel and entered the bathroom to have a nice morning bath.

  After taking the bath and getting dressed, I went to the dining room to join everyone for breakfast.

  In the dining room, I saw Sora sitting on her seat. The golden chandelier lit the room with a nice golden light. Mia was sitting on her VIP seat.

  "Hi!" greeted Sora.

  "Hi. What's for breakfast?"

  "Driyala Stew. Its like mushroom soup, basically"

  "Did you cook it?"

  "Some of it. The rest were by the cooks"

  "I could tell if you were the one who cooked just by the taste"

  "You ate my food the most anyway"

  "Yea, true. Haha"

  We laughed happily in the grand dining room. The king has just arrived at the table. He looked at our direction and said "Good job on your part, Cel"

  "Thank you..."

  The breakfast eventually arrived at th
e dinner table for everyone to savour into. A plate with a steaming hot smoked Bryloin was placed on the table in front of me.

  I tasted the beef. It tasted like a sensation bursting in my mouth, there was something special to it too, it tasted like Sora's.

  "I think you cooked this" I said.

  "Mhmm!" she said with a happy face with her head tilted to the side slightly.

  I continued to eat the delicacy until everyone else finished. Everyone ate along with the king. Whenever he stops, we stop.

  After leaving the dining room, I was walking with Sora in the hallway. I felt like there was someone tapping my shoulder. I turned around and saw Mia.

  "Is she going to give me a clue? Or is she going to talk like normal?" I wondered.

  "Thank you for defeating the Gyronorme! Ayrus is my home world"

  "You're welcome" Sora and I replied.

  She just talked, which meant that there was no more clues. But I still didn't figure out what the first one meant. I wasn't really thinking about it much.

  A few hours later, Sora and I went to check on the stage. The stage seemed almost ready for the concert.

  The curtains weren't there yet. The band's instruments were placed on the stage. The stage was round because it was an arena stage.

  Spica was there talking with the contractors. Sora said "I'll go and check on Spica for a bit". She walked off to see her.

  Mia was taking a break off stage. She then noticed that we have came. She sat up and walked towards me. She walked and stood in front of me.

  "TRC"

  She said and did a 'V' sign with both hands.

  "Ayahok!"

  She said it with her hands behind her back with her head tilted to her right slightly.

  She then just left me in the blue. The way she walked off with was like she was skipping.

  "TRC... The same thing... Then, Ayahok... What is she trying to tell me?" I wondered.

  Sora returned to me and said "Hey! What's up?"

  "Oh, sorry. I kinda spaced out..."

  "Heehee! Let's head back"

  "Yea"

  We walked back to the castle. Dinner was going to be served soon since it was almost sunset.

  Ordeal 16: Puzzling

  Dinner was just getting served. I was thinking to find it out. I had the time to think about it more.

  A Coliagh Fillet was served. It was like a piece of steak that was softer and juicier. The gravy was like a thick golden cream flowing at the speed of oil flowing.

  I tasted the fillet. The gravy tasted like heaven on earth to me. The Coliagh was soft and juicy as expected.

  "The gravy most be your cooking"

  "Wow, you're good at guessing!"

  "Haha... Thank you"

  "I want to go shopping in town soon"

  "Ok, I'll follow you"

  "Of course I would! I'm her knight!" I thought to myself. Though I had a lot more freedom than any other princess's personal knights.

  After dinner, Sora and I headed out to the village. We just walked there because it wasn't too far of a walk.

  When we arrived, Sora wanted to buy something from the chocolate shop. I waited outside the shop. The shop was a brick building that had chocolate spinning on plates that could be seen through the clear glass window.

  Next to it was a jewelry shop. I looked through the glass window and saw a dazzling diamond ring. It had a silver band that fitted with the blue feature stone well. I decided to go inside and check it out.

  The place was lit with golden light from the lantern. It was sparkling inside because of the light reflecting off the brilliant gem stones.

  The staff came and asked what I wanted. "What's the price of this ring?" I asked pointing at it, "1,700 Cies" the staff replied.

  "Wow, that's almost all that I brought. I brought 1,800. I'll get it" I thought.

  "I'll take it" I said. The staff took it to the counter. I paid for it and left quickly. I put it inside my pocket.

  Outside, I saw that Sora was at the counter. She just paid for the stuff she bought. She left the shop and came to me.

  "These chocolate chip cookies are just the best!"

  "Really? I bet yours is better though"

  "I'll buy whenever I want to buy them"

  "Ok. Can I have one?"

  "Sure!"

  We walked back to the castle. It didn't take long to be back in my room. I placed my precious ring inside of my drawer and locked it. I left the key in a box that I put in the closet.

  I jumped in bed and thought hard about Mia's clues. "TRC... What do you mean...?" I thought.

  I got out of my room. I saw Kohaya walking with something in his hand. I ran up to him.

  "Doctor Kohaya!"

  "Oh, it's Cel! Not sleepy?"

  "It's quite early to me. What are you doing?"

  "Just playing a crossword puzzle"

  "Trial? Where is it?"

  "Hmm... Here!"

  "What? How is that 'Trial'?"

  "It's reversed. You must be seeing 'LAIRT', right?"

  "Yea"

  "Try reversing the spelling"

  I reversed each letter. I read from the T to the L.

  "T... R... I... A L! Trial!"

  "Correct!"

  "Wow, cool!"

  "You would have to reverse things to solve things sometimes"

  "Ok, see you!"

  "Bye"

  I went back in bed. I was thinking of solving it that way. "TRC... CRT won't make any sense... Ayahok... Ko... Ha... Ya?! Kohaya?! How?! What? Ok, something is weird here... How is it his name...? And TRC... All I can think of is Center... What relates TRC and Kohaya...? Hmm... Tech... Research Center?! What?! I need to get more information about this... It just couldn't be right!" I thought.

  I shouldn't deny if it was true. People can just lie to be good anytime. I went to sleep after thinking about it.

  Ordeal 17: Clue

  The birds were chirping a song like usual. The nestlings were also chirping. The morning was like how I would imagine a peaceful morning. The morning I always wished to have everyday.

  I was starting to open up my eyes. As I saw the rays of light shining into the room, my mind returned to thinking about the events that happened the night before.

  "The ring I bought for Sora... I would give it to her tonight, after the concert. And, oh... About Kohaya's connection to this thing... I would have to piece this together by myself" I thought.

  I got up and did my usual routine. I took my towel from the closet and saw the box that contained the key to the drawer.

  "I'll put that in my pocket soon. Or should I take it before the concert? I don't want to lose it. I got to wear some pants with a sealed pocket" I thought.

  After the warm and soothing bath, I got dressed up. I wore that uniform, the one I usually wore. I decided to go and eat lunch since it was already noon.

  I walked to the dining room. I was guessing that it was quite early for lunch. I arrived at the dining room.

  I saw that Sora's seat was empty. Mia has just arrived and sat on her seat. She made a gesture that meant to come over.

  I walked up to her and asked "What's up?". She replied with "You didn't have breakfast", "Oh, yea. I woke up later than what I wanted to" I replied. "K, see you soon" she said, "O...k".

  "That was weird... It was like she called me for no reason. Why would she do that?" I wondered. I walked and sat on my seat.

  Sora came out of the kitchen. Sora seemed to have finished her part in cooking lunch. She does love cooking.

  "Hey! You skipped breakfast, eh?" said Sora as she sat down.

  "Hi... I woke up quite late, haha"

  After the chat, the lunch was served as the king arrived. It seemed to be Reyghot Meat with some bread was sauces. The meat was soft and tasty. I didn't eat it with all of the sauces due to some being spicy.

  After eating the luxurious meat, we went to get ready for the concert that Mia was performing in.