Burst_Swords to the Skies

by Adam Wan

  He turned away and looked down at the ground. I was starting to feel uneased. "Don't make it worse for me. I care about them, not only them, but Mia's parents too. I am so worried about them" said Vergus in a depressed tone.

  "S-sorry for bringing it up..." I said.

  "No, thank you. You reminded me of everyone who is important to me. And I just tarnished my family's name... I'm sorry, father, mother..." said Vergus regretfully.

  "He has changed. He is not like the person that I knew last year. He is finally being himself, I think" I thought as I looked at him.

  "Let's try our best" I said as I put my hand on his shoulder. "Yes. Let's do it" said Vergus with a clenched fist. His eyes were practically twinkling due to the tears in his eyes. They were not flowing out, they just made his eyes wet.

  We arrived at the blacksmith's place. The blazing heat could be felt outside. I was even sweating from it. Melting metal, fire and smoke, the scents that were unpleasant yet normal to a blacksmith. The place that was made of red brick was the place that Dean works.

  The dusty floor and the dark black stained floor and walls were a sight that could not be missed. The blazing fire was glowing with a red colored light that lit the room. Swords and other equipment could be seen inside.

  "Hey, Cel!" said the man who ran the place, Dean.

  "Hey! We're here to get the sword I ordered" I replied.

  "Wait a second" said Dean as he went to the back of the room and took a sword that would be Vergus's. He returned to us and presented the blade that I ordered.

  "Here you go!"

  CLO 13: Rosemary

  The blade that Dean presented was a blade that had Vergus's style in it. The color and design seemed to be quite fitting for him.

  Dean gave me the sword along with its scabbard and gave it to Vergus. Vergus accepted the sword. The blade that was in the scabbard was drawn out.

  The sword had a white blade. The edges had a hint of pink on it. Which gave it a stylish look to me. The hilt was a mixture of both blue and purple colors. It gave a dreamy feeling when you look at it. It had a Sapphire on its crossguard. The grip had purple and blue stripes that did not look odd.

  "Rosemary" said Dean suddenly. My look at the sword was interrupted. I did not know what Dean said.

  "What?" I asked. "Rosemary" he repeated. I did not fully understand. I did not know the reason he said a herbs name. "I named the sword Rosemary" he added. I guessed so but I was not sure of it. Around 60 percent of me was sure about it being the sword's name. The rest was kind of random.

  Vergus used to wear a blue and purple colored jacket last year. There were also pink outlines to the pockets, collars and some others on it. The blue tunic that I gave him also fitted him well.

  The scabbard had a royal blue body and a golden locket and chape. The locket had gemstones as its decoration and so did the chape. It was indeed an expensive looking sword, the price should be a few digits in length too.

  "What's the price, Dean?" I asked as I was searching my pocket.

  "It's free of charge!" said Dean. I was surprised that such a grand blade could be given away like grains to Coocoos. "What?! Seriously?!" I said.

  "Besides. If you didn't save me from those bandits, I would not be talking to you" he said patting my shoulder with a thankful smile.

  "Oh, really. Well, umm... Thank you" I said.

  "No, Cel. Thank you"

  We left after some more chat. It was already around 2 o' clock by the time we left Dean. Vergus had his new sword in his scabbard that was on his back.

  He mentioned that the sword was quite light for him and that he could do quicker attacks with it. He also said that the portable sword was lighter though. Which I agreed, but the portable sword could get a bit uncontrollable at times.

  The sun was still shining bright upon the world in the blue daytime sky. The clouds made random shapes in the sky, people with great imagination would be able to see cool figures or shapes in the sky.

  We were walking on the path to the castle. It was a dirt road that was shaded by the cool shade made by the trees. The light that got through an opening in the trees could be seen on the road and on us.

  There was also a cool and light wind blowing at us. I could feel the fresh air entering my lungs and getting pushed out, it was then replaced by some more nonstop. The wind could be felt flying past my face, hair and the other parts of my body that were exposed.

  The chirping of the birds in the sky and the cracking of the tree branch and leaves were present on that road. Some harmless animals were seen roaming in the forest of trees.

  We got closer and closer to the castle gate with each step we take. Step by step, one after another, we arrived at the gate.

  A creek was made as the gate opened before us. The guards greeted us as we walked in the castle grounds. The creek was heard again as the guards closed the gate.

  We entered the castle through the main door that was also opened by the guards. "The knights should be practicing by now" I thought suddenly. I think it was due to hearing some shouts and grunts coming from my nine o'clock or basically the west.

  "We would eat dinner then go to Ayrus. Get prepared" I said.

  "Alright. I want to get there as soon as I can!" Vergus said as he started to walk to his room. "Bye" he said walking. I replied those same words and headed to my room.

  CLO 14: Return to Ayrus

  The sound of spoons, forks and knife were heard making slight noises in the dining room that was greatly lit by the golden chandelier above our heads. The smell of the luxurious food could be smelled throughout the room. I even felt sorry for the guards who were only standing at the doors.

  The king sat up, everyone else in the room stopped eating and sat up as well. The scraping of our chairs were heard, it also echoed throughout the whole room.

  "For those who are involved in the Ayrus trip, please go and prepare yourselves" said the king. He stood up and left the room, as well did everyone else.

  Dinner was over. I did not get to enjoy every part of the delicious Brisonn Meat and baked potato. The gravy that shone in the light was perfect on the salt side of things. I did not get to finish the side dishes but did manage to eat most of the meat, I left a bite or two left.

  I was walking out of the room with Sora. She was wearing a white and pink dress. It was not puffy, it was just a bit loose and not too tight. She commented that it was comfortable before.

  I had a few thoughts in my mind. Some were about myself and others were mostly about Sora. Mainly, I was worried and was thinking about how I would handle situations. I was worrying about me being separated from Sora and what would happen to her.

  "You seem to be thinking quite hard, are you worried?" asked Sora in concern.

  "I'm worried about you" I released the words out of my mouth.

  "I know that you always worry about me when I go on missions like this with you, but please don't. I want to do what I want and I want to go on this mission, please don't stop me. I want you to be happy for me" said Sora looking into my eyes and saying it with a sound and calm voice.

  "I understand. I won't stop you. I'm sorry" I said hugging her suddenly.

  "Thank you. Let's protect each other" said Sora as she wrapped her hands around me.

  Sora waved goodbye and walked to her room to get ready. I already knew what she would do there. She would take a bath first. Then, she would wear her battle outfit. It was a mainly white colored uniform with artistic outlines that represent the Cielo kingdom.

  It was the year 2363, the month of Lya, the fifth month of the year. It was spring this month, it has actually been spring since Res, the third month. Spring should end by next month which is Fyala.

  I entered my room and took a bath. I was getting better at dual wielding again. I thought that I should learn or maybe make some dual blades skills. The first one I made, "Light vs Dark" was heavy on the use of magic.

  Magic is an ability that some of the Cies race have. It is q
uite hard to find a person that could do magic though. The other races like Intalia, Firaga and Diminia are better at it. Magic is a manifestation of one's energy. Our energy would be converted into magic energy through our minds.

  After taking a bath and putting on my clothes, I decided that I should go outside to wait for the others because we were taking the big portal that was located east of the castle with the arena on the west.

  It was a quiet night, I could only hear the crickets making its sound in the distance. I could also hear frogs croaking. I expected that it was because the castle was near a river.

  Sora and some others came. The knights were holding weapons like swords, axes and so on. They also wore armor that was made of metal, it should be quite heavy.

  I noticed that Sora had her glove on, her sword was a light one. She was the kind who loves attacking quickly and swiftly.

  Vergus was there too. He wore the blue tunic with noticeable armor under it. He also had some over it too. His sword was behind his back.

  After waiting for a while, I guessed that everyone has arrived. Around 50 people were going including us. It was not a lot of people, at least around 200 people were needed but this mission was not as serious as that.

  With everyone there, we walked to the portal and the knights went through first. Vergus, Sora, Ayla and I were behind. Spica was busy so she did not come along.

  When we were about to go through, I looked around. Sora smiled at me sweetly and Vergus nodded. Ayla nodded as well with her bow in her hand, sword in his scabbard and arrows filled in her quiver.

  We went through the portal. My eyes were closed as we travelled through. I still felt Sora's hand as we were travelling. I felt the warping as we went through.

  CLO 15: Starry Night

  We have gone through the portal, everyone appeared on the other side of the portal. It was located in the fields. I had only been there only once before. It was already around 10 o' clock there, we were supposed to go to sleep by that time. Though I usually slept at midnight or an hour before that.

  I was actually standing there wondering "Where are we all sleeping tonight? We have 50 people anyway, we couldn't just go to a hotel like this!", that thought was circling around in my head for a while.

  "We'll sleep here tonight. We'll wake up early in the morning and start our journey to Cylius" said Sora with a strong voice.

  She has always been a strong figure. She was the princess and heir to the throne of Cielo anyway. When my mother found out that I was marrying her, she was overjoyed to hear it. She did not even need to pay for the wedding.

  Everyone took a fairly large piece of cloth that was about the size of our whole body and placed it on the ground wherever we would sleep the night. Mine was placed next to Sora while Vergus's was placed near the edge of the group of people. Ayla was sleeping near Sora.

  The soft wing made a sigh as it passed by us. The moon was a whole in shape. The completely round glowing object that was the shape of a sphere was floating in the sky and constantly moving.

  The stars were twinkling brightly in the sky. It filled the dark sea of emptiness, which was sky into a show of lights. It filled the sky like how the city light glow in a dark world.

  The grass that was a bit longer than the area we were sleeping was located around 10 meters away from us. The grass swayed in the wind, almost like it was dancing.

  Other than the sigh of the wind that was just mentioned, there were animals, insects and more who were making its own sounds. For example, the crickets were making those chirping sounds and frogs croaking not too loudly in the distance.

  The wind that was blowing made feel a chill. I unintentionally grabbed hold of the cloth that I was laying down on. The wind was actually quite soothing without the chilling feel. I could feel it blowing pass my hair and face. My face may look clean and did not seem to have any sign of facial hair but there were actually extremely short and soft strands. I could feel the blowing pass it. I did not think that I would sweat much that night.

  I had my uniform took off and I used it as a blanket. I wore a white shirt under the uniform everyday. That white shirt and my pants were the last pieces of clothing that I had on me besides my undergarments.

  Ayla had her bow, quiver, sword and any other of her stuff beside her. I did not know why she did not bring the crystal sword. She just brought the normal sword that the other knights use. Though I think that she had her own reasons. But the glove should be easier to bring.

  Sora had a red blanket on her. She did not take off any of her clothes, which was not unusual. She would mostly likely not feel hot at all due to her clothes. Her glove and belt was placed next to her.

  Sora turned around and looked at me. The moonlight was reflected from her eyes, making them look like they were glowing. Her bright brown eyes were looking into my dark brown eyes calmly. She gave a sweet smile too.

  "Good luck tomorrow" said Sora in a light voice.

  "You too" I replied with a smile.

  "Sweet dreams, Cel" she wished as she closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Sora..." I wished her as I saw her slowly drifting to sleep.

  It was about time to drift away too. My eyes were starting to feel heavy every second. I looked up at the starry night sky and closed my eyes. Not long after, I eventually fell asleep.

  CLO 16: Trip to Cylius

  "Cel..."

  A voice was calling me. I had no idea where it was coming. I do not even know if I was even conscious at that moment. It was basically like I was in a dark world where I had no idea of what was happening. I could not even think straight.

  Though I could feel myself slowly drifting into reality. The voice got clearer and clearer as time passed by. I could eventually feel my physical body, I slowly moved my weak muscles in small movements.

  I could feel my heavy eyes again. I could feel my own breath passing by the part that was over my lip, or you could the area where my extremely faint mustache grew.

  "Cel, wake up..."

  I heard it again. I was around 10% awake by that time. I was slowly opening my heavy eyes in order to see my surroundings. I slowly saw the person who was waking me up.

  "Cel, wake up. It is time to go" said Sora. I saw Sora next to me. The sky was dark, it still seemed like it was nighttime. Though I could see the small amount of light coming from the edges of the sky.

  I raised my still weak body up. My uniform that was my blanket was on my lap. I wrapped it and put it on. My hair was a mess, I could feel the stiff strands that were tangled to each other.

  I looked around and saw everyone standing up. Ayla was doing something with her quiver while Vergus was sharpening his sword. Some people were doing warm ups.

  I got up and folded the piece of cloth that I slept on, I gave it to Persey. Persey was in charge of our equipment like sleeping cloths, swords, food, water and so on. I brushed my hair with my hands to straighten my hair a bit.

  Everyone got in line, I followed Sora to the front. There were two carriages, one was filled with equipment while the other was for Sora.

  "We'll head to Cylius now, we should go straight from here. We should arrive there by noon. Let's go!" said Sora with a commanding voice.

  "Yes, Your Highness!!!" shouted everyone.

  Sora and I entered the carriage. I kind of felt a bit awkward because I get to be comfortable and sit while the others would have to walk under the sun. It may be a little unfair but I was her knight and future husband anyway, they might drag me in the carriage some day.

  The sun became visible after about an hour. The sky was red in color but was still dark in most parts of the sky. The clouds were more visible than it was during the night. The stars were starting to fade away as the light started filling up the sky.

  "Isn't it a beautiful sunrise, right?" I asked Sora.

  "Yes, really beautiful..." Sora replied gazing at the sunrise.

  I could see the light in her eyes. The red colored light entered the carriage through the open window. The
re were the shadows of the curtains too. The clip-clop that the horses made could be heard loud and clear inside the carriage.

  The carriage was not bumping around a lot. It felt quite stable for a normal carriage. The coachman was named Fres, he was a coachman for around 3 years. The coach had two horses pulling it. The horses neighed a few times.

  "Yawn*"

  I heard Sora yawn. I was looking outside the window for a bit. I felt some weight and hair strand on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Sora taking a nap on my shoulder. "Sleep tight, Sora..." I whispered while stroking her hair.

  "..."

  It has been a few hours already, noon has already arrived. I decided to look out the window. I tilted my head to the left, I was trying not to wake Sora up.