Burst_Swords to the Skies

by Adam Wan

  I was pretty surprised to find you here though. You really are a man of greatness. Not as great as me though!!!"

  Sora was enraged when he said those words. Her fierce eyes appeared and made me tremble slightly. It was not a good sight to see because it meant that she was really angry, and I mean it, really angry.

  "Now, here I am. I devised a plan to use almost ten thousand of the Cryses to take over the kingdom, and soon enough, all three worlds.

  Oh, Sylus. You must be proud of me! I'm about to avenge you! I'm going to take that little Cel Alt's life for you!

  Now, Cel Alt. Please come at me whenever you are ready. When you reach this side of the room, I will teleport you to another place for us to settle this thing with a fight. Come on!"

  I stood up and started to walk forward. Sora grabbed me by the arm. I looked at her, her face was in worry. I knew that she did not want to lose me and I knew that our wedding had not taken place yet.

  "Cel, don't!" shouted Spica.

  "It's dangerous, Cel!" said Vergus.

  "Stop!" shouted Ayla.

  Sora had tears flow down from her beautiful light brown eyes.

  "Cel... Don't leave me alone, in this world..." said Sora.

  I held her hand and looked at her in the eyes.

  "Don't worry, Sora. I will come back, alive. And we will have our special wedding, together. I promise"

  "Promise?" she asked.

  "Promise" I reassured.

  She let go of me and I looked forward at Kohaya. I started to walk forward slowly approaching the crystal wall.

  "Cel! Good luck!"

  Sora shouted at the top of her lungs to tell me that. I turned my head slightly and nodded. I then looked forward and activated both of my swords.

  With Crystallite and Oblivion in my hands, I ran at the crystal wall at full human speed, without using my wings for a boost. I raised my sword over my shoulders and swung with all my might, breaking the wall.

  A flash of light made plain white the only thing that I could see. I could not feel a thing. "Here I go, no turning back now. This is for everyone, for the innocent people of the world. No, the three worlds"

  CLO 36: Crashing

  I opened my eyes and looked around. My surroundings were unrecognizable. It was nothing like what I had seen before in my whole life.

  The clouds was closely above my head. The distance between my head and the clouds was around 3 meters. The floor was blue in color and had a thin layer of water all over the place.

  The clouds were dark like it was about to rain. There were no walls at all, it was a seemingly infinite space. It was a mystery to me since there were clouds above my head.

  I looked behind me and saw the man himself standing there, looking at me with that similar smirk. He walked forward a few steps and placed his hand behind his back when he stopped.

  "Welcome, Cel. This is a place in the sky, above your beloved world. We will have our showdown over here. I won't go easy on you. Just wait until the world comes crashing down into my hands!" he said as he clenched his fist.

  His crystal spikes turned into full body armor, covering everything including his head. His hands became sharp like those creatures we fought the whole time.

  On his chest was a glowing red light, similar to that of the Crys Generator. The generator that teleported Vergus and I to the forest that Rupin Village was located in.

  I got into my ready pose. My swords were placed at waist level, my knees were slightly crouched and my back leaned forward slightly. My eyes were sharp and focused on him.

  "This battle is for everyone. This fight would affect the fate of the three worlds. I can't lose!" I thought.

  Kohaya charged in, he ran rather quickly with the armor on him. I was raised my sword as I ran at him, I was ready to lock my swords with his hands.

  The clang echoed throughout the near endless area. The water splashed and made a wave from our encounter. The small pieces of crystals were flying in the air.

  I backed off with a large leap backwards. He charged at me with his right arm raised over his left shoulder. I raised my right hand and did decided to do a dual wielding version of the "Both Clockwise" skill.

  My swords gave off a white glow as I unleashed a hit with Oblivion on his left arm. I twirled my body clockwise and hit his right arm with Crystallite. I repeated this movement, slowly twirling faster and faster.

  He stepped back, step by step every time I hit him on either side. There were sparks coming from every hit I did on him. Along with the tiny pieces of crystals, the air was filled with these objects.

  The water splashed everywhere when I twirled. The sparks and light made a shaking colorful image on the water.

  Kohaya jumped up high and disappeared in the clouds. I waited 3 seconds or so but he did not come back down. "Where did he go? It has been 5 seconds!" I thought in wonder.

  "Gahh!"

  I was slashed from the back. I fell to the floor from the impact. My fall made the water splash fiercely. As he was about to hit again, I rolled out of the way.

  I was on my back. He tried to hit me again with both of his hands. I crossed my swords and blocked the attack. We locked swords, my hands shook from fatigue.

  I did "Heat Blast" on him, knocking him back and landing far in front of me. The skill made waves in the water, the splashing and crashing sounds were heard.

  My blood was in the water. It leaked out from the wound on my back. My back felt a painful sensation when I was struggling to stand back up.

  I eventually stood back up, my back was wet from the water on the floor. I ran towards him because he was on the floor. Just as I got near him, he twirled on the floor and stood up with an attack.

  "Gahh!!!"

  The attack knocked me 15 meters away from him. It was the skill called "Meteor", it was a skill that was considered rare to find because no one really learnt it. It blows the opponent away with one horizontal hit. It needs the person to be a strong person. Kohaya was able to use it because he was probably assisted by the crystals.

  I stood back up, I was in pain. The wound on my back hurt the most. The "Meteor" skill cut through my thigh, causing it to bleed. The blood flowed into the water and made my pants red.

  "I can't lose... Ugh... I can't let... Sora... Down!!!" I thought.

  "What is it Mr Tough Swordsman? Hurts to much?" he said with an annoying smile on his face.

  He ran up to me and before I got to act, he sliced me up with a combo move. Blood drops got into the air and fell to the floor, making the water splash.

  I fell and tumbled on the wet floor. I struggled to stand back up on my feet. My chest was starting to feel the pain from the combo attack.

  "I can't lose!!! No! This is for Sora! Our wedding! My friends! My family! The whole world! They rely on me!" I thought as I stood back up.

  My feet were shaking in pain, my chest was bleeding and my back felt wet from not only the water but my blood as well.

  "Hahaha!!! This is the end, Cel Alt!!!"

  "Never!!!!!!!!"

  I shouted as I ran at him with all my might. I held in the pain that came from my legs as I ran. I raised my swords over my right shoulder and started the skill I did not use for a long time.

  My original skill, the "Light vs Dark" skill. It was a skill that had a 64 hit combo and finishing with the clash of light and dark magic. Crystallite used light magic while Oblivion used dark magic.

  I did not use "Burst" because it would destroy the area we were in. The 100 hit combo was powerful, too powerful.

  The swords gave a white and black glow from Crystallite and Oblivion respectively. I swung both of them at him in one slice. Then, I hit him with Oblivion. After Oblivion, my right hand hits him a split second after the first hit.

  The attack continued, left then right. The 64 moves were made in 10 seconds. I was hitting him non stop. Alternating between my left and right hand in just splits of a second, he had no time to react at all.

  The final move
was with both of my swords together. My swords were place next to each other, I thrusted them at him at the same time. It caused an explosion that happens when light and dark magic get combined.

  He was blown at least 20 meters away from me. I deactivated my swords and walked towards him slowly, my right hand was placed on my chest to endure the flaring pain.

  "How...? How?! Sylus! I failed you! Cel Alt! You!!!!"

  Kohaya spit out those words before he shattered like the other crystal creatures he called the Crys. When he shattered, a white image was seen before me revealing the dining room.

  "Cel!!!"

  I heard people calling my name from behind. The footsteps of them running towards me were heard. I fell backwards and hit the ground. I let out an "Ah" when my wounded back hit the ground.

  The last sight I saw before everything turned into nothing but darkness was Sora's face. When I saw her face, I unintentionally smiled in happiness and murmured her name.

  "Sora"

  CLO 37: A Battle's End

  "Cel!"

  "Cel!"

  "Cel!"

  My name was repeated three times by three different people. Two of them were female while the other was from a male.

  "Cel!"

  Another voice suddenly joined in, making it four voices. Three were female and the other was a male's. I had an idea of who was calling my name.

  My eyes were closed, making darkness the only thing I saw. I was starting to wonder what happened to me previously. I was slightly confused as to why people were calling my name and why I was unconscious.

  I feeling was slowly sensed as I regained consciousness. It was a numb and painful feeling, the pain increased as time passed. It felt like I was bandaged tightly.

  "What happened? Ouch... Why am I wounded? What are they worried about?" I wondered as I started to wake up.

  I was wondering what happened. Something big actually happened. It was something that was important, something that saved the world, something that would seem crazy.

  I opened my eyes, a flash of glaring light entered my eyes and slowly faded away. I saw my future wife, Sora and my friends, Spica, Vergus and Ayla.

  A worried and then relieved expression was seen on their faces. I smiled happily when I saw them surrounding me in the evening. The sky was red and I could see the sun setting. I felt like I was on a mat that was placed on the grass.

  I tried to sit up but struggled to do so. I felt almost unbearable pain down my back and on my chest. There was pain on my right thigh, it was preventing me to sat up because I needed to use my thigh muscles.

  I used my left hand to try and push my body up. Vergus and Spica helped me up. When I sat up, Sora suddenly hugged me tightly and started to cry.

  "You're safe! Cel... I was so worried... I thought that you were leaving me..." said Sora as she cried.

  I looked down and noticed I was only wearing pants and my right side was rolled up. My thigh was wrapped up tightly with bandages. There was blood stains on it too. It was not the only part of my body that was wrapped in bandages.

  I did not have a shirt on, I was wrapped in bandages instead. The blood stains were everywhere on my bandaged body. The blood was no longer red but brown.

  I remembered what happened in a flashback. The fight was replayed in my mind. I remembered how I got the injuries and what happened. Most importantly, the promise I made to Sora.

  I hugged Sora tightly in my arms. I felt the warmth of her body as she cried her heart out. Her tears made my bandages slightly wet when her tears touch my bandages.

  "I'm here, Sora. Like I promised. I'm alive, and we will have our special day" I said near her right ear.

  "Cel... I love you! Thank god, you're alive..." she replied.

  "I love you too"

  I placed my hand below her chin and looked at in her in her eyes. I pulled her face slightly closer to mine.

  "Hey, hey, hey. I know you're getting married and all but don't act like that in front single people... like me..." said Ayla with her arms crossed.

  "Hehehe..." laughed Sora embarrassingly.

  "Oh, whatever. These two are getting married next month!" Spica said.

  "It isn't postponed or anything?" I asked.

  "The castle is pretty much in a wreck. We need to get new furniture, we need to clean the place up, we need to renovate the place a little. It would take around 2 or three months. So, we need to use a different location"

  "Oh, alright then" I replied.

  Sora pulled my arm closer to her and said "We're getting married soon!" Sora said happily. I patted her head with my left hand, she seemed to love it.

  We were at the safe place that everyone was taken to. The place was a field 10 kilometers away from the castle. The place was an empty area in a forest north of the castle. There were white colored tents set for everyone there.

  We were having a good time, we were laughing and having conversation. As we talked, I heard someone's voice from behind me.

  "Cel Alt"

  I turned around and saw the king standing behind me. He had a smile on his face.

  "You saved the kingdom once again, Cel. I'm proud to have a son-in-law like you. You deserved to have my precious daughter. You have my thanks, Sir Alt" said the king.

  "Thank you for the compliment, dad. It was my duty to fight for the kingdom. I fight for everyone. It was a pleasure to do so"

  The sun eventually set and we had a peaceful night. I was still waiting for my wounds to heal. Sora did you healing magic, it meant that it would heal faster. I never felt so at ease before that year.

  CLO 38: Friendships

  It has been a few days since the battle against Kohaya, the battle that took place in the sky above this world.

  It turned out that the battle took place in the sky above Cielo Plains. There was a lot of crystal debris laying on the grassy plains. The travelers even took the debris and sold it in town!

  The debris was sold at a pretty hefty price of 1,500 Cies. They literally got rich from selling things that they got for free. They got one hundred percent profit!

  The workers have started their work on renovating the castle. The castle needed new windows, redecorating, new furniture and many more. They were also setting up the lighting system made my the TRC.

  The lighting system used electricity to light up a object that would be placed on the ceiling. The light would be release to the public in a week or two.

  It was lunchtime in the afternoon, the sun was above our heads in the clear blue sky. The lunch was being prepared by Sora and the other staff members. Spica was helping out too, she was cutting the ingredients and washing the dishes.

  A campfire was made to cook the food. I could smell both the tasty aroma of the food and the bitter smell from the smoke. I ignored the latter smell.

  I was sitting on a log while being accompanied by Vergus, who was sitting on a log opposite of mine. I had limited movement due to the wound on my back and chest. I needed to keep my body straight.

  Sora told me to take a break on the log with Vergus because of my condition. I wanted to help but I could not do any good with the wounds.

  "Those wounds would take a while to heal, but I think you'll be alright for that special day of yours" said Vergus.

  "I never got so injured in a fight before..."

  "But look on the bright side! You saved the world! I wished I could see that fight, but I also don't... want to see you get hurt..." said Vergus as he tried to cheer me up.

  "Your personality changed quite a lot, you know" I said with a smile.

  "What? How?"

  "You used to be gloomy and all but now you're much more cheerful"

  "Oh, I guess it's because I could be myself"

  "We haven't seen Mia yet, but I'm sure she's fine"

  "Yea..."

  Suddenly, Sora came and sat down next to me. In her hands was a tray with two bowls of soup on it. She placed the tray aside and took the bowls.

  "Here you go
" said Sora as she handed a bowl over to Vergus.

  "Thanks" he said.

  Sora faced my way. She grabbed the spoon and tried to feed me. My body unintentionally leaned away from the spoon.

  "I could feed myself. My arms aren't hurt" I said.

  "Nope. I want to feed you!" Sora replied.