by Adam Wan
"Keep my sword and use it for practice, Sora..."
"Thank you... Lumi... for everything you've done, to this world, this village, and to me..."
"There's no need for that"
My heart and brain could not accept this situation. Everything was so sudden and I did not know what to do or even think anymore. It was a feeling of deep emotion, sadness, desperation, loss.
"Lumi...!" said Gonnda in a quiet and demotivated voice.
"I thought that we'll be together, the four of us, forever..." said Conn.
"I'm sorry, guys... This is goodbye"
"Wait for us.. on the other side..." said Conn as he cried endlessly.
"I will.."
And with her final breath and the tears that flowed from her golden eyes. She said her final words,
"Thank you... Goodbye..."
Her eyelids slowly closed shut, hiding away her golden eyes forever. Her eyelashes were wet from her tears that once flowed from the person who was once alive.
I placed my hand on her chest to check for a heartbeat, but there was nothing to be felt there. She was gone, for real. I held in my tears and said quietly,
"... Rest in piece... Lumi Lyla"
...
2nd of Alias 2363
I was sitting next to Cel on a bench outside of the church. His hands were wrapped around me, hugging me as I cried my heart out. In fact, we just attended her funeral.
"There, there, dear. It must be tough..." said Cel as he tried to help me.
He wore a tuxedo that had a black coat, tie and pants. I was crying so much that his coat got wet.
The sky had dark cloudscovering the sky that was suppose to be blue. It actually felt suitable for a day like this, a day of sadness.
I remembered the times I spent with her in the carriage. Although our friendship only lasted for a few hours, the connection was so close that it was like we knew each other for years.
I remembered the moment that her soul left her body with us under that tree in the evening. The feeling I felt when she died was something that was heartbreaking.
I then saw the picture of her inside the church. Her name was written alongside some other details: "Lumi Lyla, 22 Miya 2343- 1 Alias 2363, The best swordswoman"
"Your Highness"
I heard a few voices call me. I lifted my head from Cel's coat and wiped my eyes. I looked up and saw Lumi's friends in front of me.
"Thank you for coming, Your Highness" said Conn as he bowed along with the others.
"It was nothing... Its a friend's funeral, so I had to come"
"Oh, and you could to come to our dojo anytime you want. We will manage it even without her"
"Thank you..."
A voice of an older man was heard from my left,
"Sora, Cel..."
It was my dad, the current king of the kingdom. Some knights were standing behind him, it meant that it was time to go.
Lumi's friends bowed to the king as they said,
"Your Majesty, thank you for coming"
"It is my pleasure"
Cel and I stood up, I held his right hand as I placed my head on his shoulder for a moment. I lifted my head and said,
"Farewell, I hope to see you again"
They waved goodbye as we left the church and returned home, the castle. I tilted my head to the left and placed my head on his shoulder again as we walked back to the carriage that would take us home.
...
3rd of Alias 2363
I held Lumi's sword in my hand and looked at the crossguard. I could see the reflection of my face on the polished metal. I could see the tears that were coming from my eyes as I looked.
I raised the sword over my shoulder and swung it vertically. Suddenly, the field that I was standing in disappeared and my vision of the place turned to black. I could still see my hands, feet and anything else clearly.
"Sora..."
A voice was heard echoing from behind. It was the voice of a female, a young girl. The first thought that entered my mind was "Was that... Lumi?"
I turned my body around and looked at who was behind me. It was a girl in a white dress. Her skin was fair and her hair was black. Her face was of a cute girl and her eyes were golden in color.
"Lumi?!"
I unintentionally shouted in shock with my left hand slightly over my mouth. She walked towards me, barefooted, and gave me that sweet smile. I could not help but smile in joy. Though the thought of it being a dream was thee.
"This isn't a dream, Sora"
It was like she read my mind, but it was a logical thing to ask since that would be what people would think at first.
"Mother's Requiem isn't only a skill. It's a connection between you and the previous user of the skill. And I will teach you this one thing, the special skill"
She grabbed hold of my wrists and guided me. The sword glowed with that purplish pink light and a combo of such skill was released from it. She moved my body, making me move how she would.
"You've learnt it. You could use it on any sword. And whenever you use this skill, I would guide you and be by your side"
I opened my eyes and saw that I was back in the field. I looked up and saw the clear blue sky without much clouds.
I raised the sword over my right shoulder and charged it with the purplish pink glow. I swung my sword and moved perfectly how Lumi would. At the end of using it, I heard her voice again,
"Nice one!"
I looked at the sword again and smiled happily. I saw the reflection of myself in the shiny blade. Quietly, I said,
"Thank you, Lumi"
Author's Notes
Hello! Thank you so much for reading the first half of this long story! Well, not too long. It's around 73,000+ words, including the side stories, during the first draft so basically its a full novel. And that's without any remakes of any chapters.
I wrote this when I was 14 years old and decided to publish it on that same year. Basically, this novel is a journey of not only the characters, but me, and even you. You, the reader, would go on a journey with Cel. Besides that, your going on my writing journey, you saw how my writing changed from arc to arc. This was my learning curve.
This part was the part I had the most fun doing, I had so much freedom when writing this because it was something new and fresh. It was partly why I called it the freedom saga, the other reason was because of the thing that would be covered in the next saga.
I had a slight mistake in choosing a rapier during the first arc but I thought of how it could be logical. A knight had to look good, and a rapier was the most elegant sword that I knew of. Cel uses it like a normal two bladed sword because he was used to it.
This arc would be a perfect ending to a novel. And if I wanted to publish this is book form, I would make this first half the manuscript that I would send. I would keep the name Burst -Swords to the Skies- and use the next saga's name for the sequel.
Talking about the next saga, I have not revealed the name yet, right? Well, let me give you the name that would conclude where this arc left off. The next saga, the New Era Saga. A name that is perfect, in my opinion, to this series' final part.
Aside from the next saga, I have been planning on the story that would continue in this universe that I'm really connected to. I'm serious, I'm so invested in the world and characters that I made. And I'm pretty surprised by that.
The characters were never planned out in fact, I just made them out of nowhere. The character's personality just builds up as I write. And I didn't know where I got the idea of Sora being a great cook, it might be from my wish to eat extraordinarily delicious food xD. Literally, this was wish fulfillment for myself at times.
Cel was made from a small part of my personality. Mainly the part about him being pretty strong. People would see me like someone who could do many things, basically, talented. But inside, I'm slightly insecure. Keeping my reputation, living up to expectations, yea, you might get it now.
I hope that I could do my best in the next
saga and give this series a great boom for the last arc, which is arc 10. And by the way, wish me luck!
I actually have a wish of having this being adapted into a movie, a television series or maybe an anime. Oh, I should tell you that if it wasn't for anime, I wouldn't be writing a novel now. There were so many light novels and anime that influenced me in my journey.
Apart from anime, I was influenced by gaming. Mainly Nintendo games, and maybe some Sega games and some other PvP games. There were also things like legends, King Arthur for example, which influenced me to make the side story "Callias"
I wanted to make a book that could be read and seen on shelves in stores. I tried to make this something that could be a great story. Though I needed the writing skill to do that first.
I think that's enough for now, there's an author's notes right after this one anyway so I'll see you there, in the new saga. Thank you so much to the people who helped and supported me and even you, the reader for reading this story. I hope that you'll enjoy the rest of my works. Well, its goodbye for now then. Wish me the best of luck! That's all from me, thanks again for reading and I'll see you all next time. Goodbye!
Adam Wan
26th June, 2018.