Author's note: A music score is made for the children characters showing up in this chapter. Feel free to have a listen while reading. Cheers! Youtube link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMnQyUrHhJQ
<Ⅳ>
Demons, born of the holocaust eons ago, thrived upon the decline of Earth and feasted on the helpless progress of civilization and the dwindling essence of nature. The origins of their vile kind are not fully observed, for the networks mankind had established to obtain insight had long been cut off at the age of their rise, which poses the question of how they came to be not as paramount as the question of how to exterminate them. Sadly, the answer was found only after the decline of man, weapons that could withstand Demon kind only to be produced at the beginning of the fall, dimming them unable to turn the desperate tide.
Remnants of the last beacons of defense left behind insubstantial amounts of ammunition and meager knowledge of these cataclysmic beasts, titling them “Demons” to the hellish tragedies they brought upon the world. It was the later works of the remaining observers that through their hazardous journey to restore the prominence of man, took notes and classified the Demons by their vulnerability to their offenses and their unique abilities of destruction. Graded from Alpha to Delta, deadliest to less lethal kinds, the last scientists hoped future generations and themselves could merit from the knowledge of these dread beings, only to realize how powerless mankind was affront these inevitable creations of the doomed Earth.
Their faith in bringing back the age of man, shattered by the existence of a higher threat than just mere Demons.
Archdemons.
As illusive their origins were as the Demons, they are stronger, larger, and more detrimental to the natural orders than any careless attempt mankind had onto the Earth, plunging the ecosystem to a never-before-seen low, wiping out nearly all of survival.
The documented numbers of these forlorn amalgamations of demonry may be counted through fingers of the hand, seven to be exact, but still, they are enough to bring down a planet of what was once a thriving civilization, let alone those that are not documented.
As documenting of the Demon race goes, codenames have been given to easily describe these terrifying Archdemons through simplicity and accuracy. For the one serpent-formed Archdemon, with its indestructible hide of rock and solid anti-matter, a beastly nature to devour all in its wake, and the berserk ferocity that perishes all with its sharp spiked protrusions, they bestowed it a name of terse recognizable calling.
Death.
Archdemon Death, first upon many Archdemons to come, now soars through the air in unsavory speed and maneuvers, determined to devour the escape jet full of children laying in plain sight, just a transparent shining barrier of light away. Hitting and thrashing its spiked crown and sinking its sharp fangs upon its jaws, with all its berserk ruthless effort to bring down the luminous wall hindering its path, surprisingly, to no avail.
The shield, the emerald circle emitting force and blaze, refused to give in.
Standing before the mighty shield, powers, and aura emanating, this figure, this Starbreaker knight blocked the darkness in its cataclysmic path and stood his ground, in the air.
It was this emerald prince of stars that Yuri could not pull her eyes, which, as if riveted by nature and the mystic affinity within this emerald knight that called far beyond to the depth of her memories, stared in unfounded longing unable to turn away.
It was until the rough reconnected voice through the network speakers that did pull Yuri back to the calamitous world she currently resides.
" Yuri! Bring them back to ship, immediately!" Reina’s voice cried, her hastiness passing through the microphone.
Then did Yuri see myriads of pure white columns sail across the air beside her and the children on board, searing laser beams that struck the Archdemon on all sides, catching its attention more than dealing actual damage, coming all from one same spot, a silver sword of the open skies, the Betelgeuse airship.
Though acres away, the flagship was steadily heading toward them, firing each and every arsenal to repel the adamant serpent.
But the Archdemon, Yuri saw, as was only slightly perturbed by the showering flares and ejected lasers, must be stopped for the children to make their way safely.
Yuri’s grip tightened around her rifle as she was ready, with her anger alongside her, to confront the vile beast.
Yet the figure standing in thin air before her, stopped her trail to face the undefeatable.
“ Lead them.” The emerald Starbreaker urged Yuri to stay with the frightened children behind her, with the shield still raised and guarding the escape jet.
“ I’ll escort you there.”
Not just his voice, but the firm assuring cadence of how the Starbreaker knight phrases his words with deep sincerity did it change Yuri’s trajectory to stay by the children’s side. His words were like a promise to a better outcome, so Yuri thought she felt, and so believed.
“ To the Batogeese, Neliya!” Yuri cried, boosting all the terrified children’s wavering morale as she let her jet-pulling grappling hooks lead the way as she pushed from behind with her rifle bursting with streams of power as it took them all out of the ravine.
The emerald Star knight hung close to the back of the jet, wings spread and shield raised, forming an invisible repelling shroud of air with the runes activated around the outer circles of his shield.
So the jet started to set sail once more, toward the Betelgeuse’s hangars.
The Archdemon serpent gave chase.
“ HOLD UP, YOU!!!!”
A loud booming cry echoed throughout the empty barren plains, followed by a thunderous clatter as if the skies were shattered and crumbling in humongous pieces. The children screamed at the deafening growls, to see the skies darken and lightning flashing down from above, crashing its bolts all over Archdemon Death in boorish brutality. Finally, something seemed to have forced the Serpent Archdemon back.
The lightning bolts danced all over the rock serpent’s hide countless times before jolting down to converge onto one enormous bolt-shaped piercing shard, a metal greatsword that shimmered bright yellow the runes carved upon the blade. The more lightning that was absorbed by the weapon, the more bright it glowed, and the greater the wielder of the greatsword seemed to become, a towering herculean figure, clad in round bulky Starbreaking armor of radiant yellow, stood tall affront this Archdemon Death as if facing but a flying worm.
“ KEEP YOUR EYES ON NOTHING BUT ME, YOU FOUL DEMON!! FOR I AM WORTHY OF YOUR AUDIENCE!!!!!”
Shouted he who had no fear; He who could watch a mountain crumble before his eyes and not even blink once; the one Starbreaker that had battled against the strongest Demons cataloged and undocumented and survived, only to finally face a brawl with an Archdemon.
To other Starbreakers, this may be their most dreadful day.
But to Seito the mighty, it was not just Tuesday, but a great privilege for his life and epic.
“ Good, Good!” Seito laughed, seeing that he had successfully caught the attention of the Archdemon, thus spinning his greatsword above his head at inhuman speed, sweeping the deserts clean, channeling the winds to his reign, and summoning a massive hurricane forged out of nothing but sheer electrifying bolts of searing might.
Even to Bradson Captain’s experienced eyes, a feat such as this was outstanding even by Starbreaker standards.
Reina, however, was not amazed by the lightning hurricane. Her eyes were wide still, but her amazement was of the one that held the storm.
It was a person she once knew, one she never thought would meet again.
Firren, riding on a single-driven air strider bike, halted in his tracks as he neared the Archdemon’s perimeter. The commander was sure the lightning storm could destroy anything in its path, including Starbreaker armor. What left to be seen was how much it does to an Archdemon with such incredible proportions of defense as the Archdemon Death.
Yuri had never seen anything like this conjured by a Starbreaker before. The hurricane of lightning started twice the height of the wielder, now but a second past, and the Lightning charges towered endlessly to the skies, reaching off above the murky heavens.
Is this how real Starbreakers fight demons? Compared to this, what she attempted to do was but poking the serpent demon with a stick. And the shield this emerald Stranger wields. Such an impenetrable shield that is to affably block dozens of smashes of the Archdemon and leave not a single scratch. Yuri couldn’t help but feel at a loss as to what she tried to be was so minuscule before what other Starbreakers could already achieve. She is definitely unable to do anything close to that amount of power, even with the help of the illusive strengths hidden within her. How is she ever going to achieve anything? How is her power ever important in the first place??
With all those heavy thoughts weighing down on her, Yuri could but point her rifle ahead, pushing the escape jet in doubting silence to her own worth.
On the other side of the spectrum of caliber, Seito the one and only was feeling sublime. He had waited for this ever since he was born, onto the lands a Starbreaker, dutied to the cause to smite all spawns of Darkness. This be his proudest calling. The magnum opus of all his Demon Slaying works.
Seito was ready. He swung his bulking body around. He smashed his one foot down with a crash. His waist twisted as did his arms dragging his greatsword that anchored the lightning cyclone to its tail, spinning the storm like a bat and striking the Archdemon serpent’s face like it was the ball. Skies depart. The lands separated. A new ravine was formed just by the crushing force. All those blistering electrical currents launched off in streams of devastation and one hurricane erupted into a myriad of hurricanes of lightning, spreading light and bolts all across the lands, enveloping the globe with that one storm of flare and blaze that expanded nonstop, conducting currents on anything even those that are non-conductive.
All that force smashed onto the Archdemon’s hide. The heat exceeded the thresholds and the sharp protrusions broke; the spiked crown started to shatter, and the rocky husk broke apart!!!!
Archdemon Death was pulverized by that one blow!!
Firren thought he was in a vivid dream.
Bradson Captain had to put on his glasses to check.
Yuri knew she was far from ready to face a Starbreaker on her own.
Reina had tears in her eyes.
And Seito himself smiled, as the storm dispersed, and the clouds parted, beaming down shafts of warm light onto the world a new day. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief. That was a great hunt.
Yet, the emerald one has his shield raised still.
“...Seito! IT IS NOT OVER!!!!!”
Seito’s eyes shot wide as saucers.
From the brightness of day, a spec of dark lingered. Two specs gathered. Three emerged. More and more, specs of dark, like ash, swam slowly with a mind, one mind to reforge what was the strongest Archdemon, now proven to their eyes.
In no time, the black ash merged, and a shadow of a serpent slithered its way out to being, plunging into the dusty surface of rocks and soil, to resurface once more, a spiked protrusion-filled, rock serpent of Darkness.
It gave out a roar of mad anger that echoed to outer space beyond the universe.
Archdemon Death returns, unscathed.
With its new tail of sharp projectiles, it swept without warning at the yellow Starbreaker, sending Seito flying to oblivion before the man could raise his rested greatsword up for a second round.
Firren sped forth and enveloped the Archdemon’s long arching body with merciless flames, only for it to burst out unharmed and thwart the red Starbreaker out of its way, its one goal to devour the children and their Light Hearts all.
The winged Starbreaker flew forward to face the unyielding foe, sending a strong vehement breeze backward pushing Yuri and the escape jet closer to the Betelgeuse, as he raised his shield at the face of the Archdemon, capturing it with his unbreakable barriers of light.
Learning from its past mistakes, Archdemon Death simply turned sideways in abrupt speed, evading the shield altogether to bypass away, only to hit on another invisible wall. The serpent snaked away quickly, to hit another wall, another, and another, as if the whole world was cut away from reach, a solid wall of light so high so wide, hindering the Archdemon’s path through.
There was no way the Archdemon could slither its way into the sky past this blockade.
So they all thought.
With a scream, jaws wide open, Archdemon Death dematerialized itself! Letting its hardened hide fall apart at shatter, only to release its true form, a smog of a million howling specters traversing frantically in all directions, dispersing into subatomic levels small enough to squeeze through the photon fields, passing through the light barriers one spec at a time.
The emerald Starbreaker knew his shield and defenses were of no use that instant, and as he turned around to warn Yuri, he saw the smog of Death had already reforged and sped faster than the speed of light towards the escaping jet.
There was no way out.
She was the only one left.
Yuri was the last to defend the children from this unstoppable Demonry. Though it seemed to her that it was impossible, she had made a promise, an oath to all the children huddled in fear behind her that she will protect them.
Nothing matters anymore.
Whether powerful or not.
Yuri had to face it.
Pushing Lima gently back inside the jet, Yuri stepped forth, sword rifle in hand, leaping out forward to the gaping mouth of the Archdemon smog.
The demon was about to devour one frail Starbreaker before it devours the light hearts behind her. As its jaws locked together in one crushing munch, the Archdemon felt nothing within its snout.
A trace of light soared up affront its vision.
With one grappling hook she summoned back to her, Yuri pulled herself out of the gaping mouth she lured the Demon forward, to reveal one weakness that Yuri with her simple mind can only think off now that the serpent had released all its impenetrable hide.
With all her anger and hatred upon the devilish memory-destroying kind, Yuri pierced her sword rifle rightfully into the Archdemon’s left eye. Sentient liquid of red and black burst out snaking about violently out of the penetrated eye, as the whole serpent of smog, swam and struggled in the air, dispersing and regorging into form repeatedly to no avail as Yuri, captured in her trance of power and anger, pulled the trigger of her weapon on at a time without sentiment, sending blow after blow of blue energy bullets across the Demons’ vapor-like insides, incinerating parts of the frenzied ash.
As all watched in awe and terror, the Archdemon fighting against the young Starbreaker, about to break free at any given moment, Yuri saw not the serpent.
Yuri saw blue snow,
drifting down around her slowly.
There was no one but shadows, blurred and afar in the vague world brightened by lights above,
contrasting the figure that stood close in front of her, kneeling to her level with warm hands over her cold insecure shoulders.
“ …Mom……?” Yuri couldn’t help but whisper.
The figure moved slowly, as if in recognition of what she called her.
Yuri was sure she had reached her first memory. She had control over herself. She is living in the moment, with her mother right in front of her eyes!
“ Mom!” Yuri cried out, in longing, in grace.
“ Mom…where are you?! Tell me where I can find you!”
The figure answered, but in muffled incoherent whispers.
Lan…….o………..it………
“ …What?!” Yuri asked, begging her mother to speak once more with a clearer enunciation. And indeed, the shadow did reply, this time Yuri could make out a few words.
Do…Se……Land…..of Light…….
“ Land of Light…! Of course!” It couldn’t have been more obvious where her mother was at the very place she had been trying to convey to Yuri. The problem is where the exact location was.
“ Where is the Land of Light, mom?! Where is it?”
And by that moment, the figure before Yuri knelt no more but stood up slowly, bending forward with the two warm hands pressing harder onto Yuri’s shoulders.
Yuri…….
“ Yes, mother…?”
Go, Yuri…
…Do Not Seek…The Land of Light…….!
Before Yuri could ask, the arms, pressing hard in a tightened grip, swung her backward in a push, loosening those fingers as they let go, letting Yuri plunge down. Down.
Sharp glass shattered as light returned to Yuri’s world, pulling her back to the swirling sky to see that her hands held her weapon no more, but shards of her shattered sword rifle scattering out of her numbing palm.
Her weapon had broke, pulverized to pieces as the smog of Death reared up and loomed its dark presence over Yuri.
There was nothing she could do.
Her purpose, her efforts, her training, were all but a waste of time.
Fear was no more the prominent feeling of her concerns.
It’s the deprivation, the desperation knowing that what she did, what she used to believe, whom she used to look up to, denied her purpose as well as her existence entirely.
If there was one thing Yuri last felt before her senses plunged back to an exhausted blackout and her body crushed by the ruthless jaws of the Archdemon Death,
it may be of disbelief.
Instead, that was not the last thing she saw before her vision blurred nonexistent.
Light.
Sheer light, in the shape of a long, ornate—
…
………….
When her eyes reopened to the lights above, Yuri thought it was all just a dream.
Everything that had happened, was but a nightmare of strife.
Starting now is just about to be fun and sweet and—
“ Guys!! Yuri’s awake!!”
Tiny heads swarmed to her bedside, rocking her already dizzy world side to side with all the cheers and chatter rumbling around her, erupting the once quiet place into a sonorous space of enthusiastic speech.
So that was not a dream…? Yuri looked around at the kids locked in fervorous discussion around her bed.
Then what happened after…?
“ Did you see that?! That Light from the sky?!”
“ Yeah! That was Awesome!!”
“ And it blew everything away!! Even the giant Demon!”
“ Wait, What?!” Yuri blurted out in disbelief, as the children all paused momentarily, only to explain in quick succession, each kid talking at the same time, retelling their side of the event with great detail.
But all Yuri heard was the incoherent buzzing of a thousand voices blasting her face all at once.
“ Calm down, everyone. Lower your voices and speak gently, please. Yuri is still recovering, you know?”
The gentle reminder from the ever-considerate Reina helped clear the sound pollution out of the hospital wing. The secretary came forth among the children and checked Yuri’s vitals through her scanner, nodding assuringly.
“ You’ll be alright, Yuri.” Reina smiled, a genuine smile that invoked the sheer essence of joy that Yuri had never seen Reina before in her short time on board the Betelgeuse.
“ Some rest and the company of friends will suffice.”
“ But—what, I mean…Am I not eaten by the Archdemon?” Yuri tried to recall of the happenings after her fall in front of the Demon but found nothing.
“ Well, seeing that everyone else in this room knew what happened, I’ll leave it to them to explain.” Reina with a playful wink, went to the door about to leave.
“ Remember, keep your voices down.”
“ We Will!” The children shouted excitedly, before answering once again with discreet whispers.
“ We will.”
As soon as the doors of the hospital wing slid to a close, enthusiastic voices erupted once more around Yuri.
“ Stop! Stop! Everyone!” Yuri hollered them eager children to silence. “ Neliya, what happened?!” Yuri chose the most soft-spoken of them to recite the tale of the aftermath, to which the little girl nervously began.
“ …You wounded the Demon’s eye with your sword, remember…?”
Yuri nodded.
“ But that didn’t work because you suddenly lost control and fell over…”
Yuri nodded, feeling terribly sorry for her ineptness.
“ And then the Demon snake was about to devour you, when suddenly, suddenly, a light burst out—”
“ It was like a sun blowing up!” Rio, brother of Neo excitedly cut the timid girl short and started his own retelling.
“ It sped towards the Demon, giving it a punch, and soared away! Awesomely!”
“ It was like a spaceship! Sharp and powerful!” a kid at the back added.
“ No, it’s a sword! A flying sword from the sun!” another kid proclaimed.
“ No, It’s a person! A Starbreaker!” A girl exclaimed.
“ No, I saw it clear, it’s something long! A long sword space shuttle thingy!” a kid acclaimed.
“ Alright! Whatever that was!” Yuri stopped the debate before it heated into a quarrel. “ What happened next, Neliya?!”
“ …The Demon snake simply followed the light and swam away. The green Starbreaker with wings caught you and carried you back on ship.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The green Starbreaker with wings…Yuri quickly realized who that was. It was him. The one who…wait. Who was he? Surely he was there, among many of her sharded memories, leaving traces here and there, but unable to piece out his whole character.
But undeniably, that person, that emerald Starbreaker, his dark green eyes, his light sandy hair, his whole silhouette, fitting striking resemblance amongst all the vague sites of the shattered past, a figure that was close by her side, slowly gaining color.
Was it him…?
If it really is him, then…
…does he remember…?
Does he know about the Land of Light…?
…and why I can’t go back to it…?
As Yuri pondered on ways to seek her answers from the emerald Starbreaker, the children around her were also figuring out their own answers of the entity that lured the Archdemon away and saved all their light hearts.
“ I told you, it’s a sword!”
“ A spaceship! The flashing wings it has!”
“ No, no. Only a Starbreaker could do that! Have you not seen what the yellow Starbreaker can do? It is definitely another Starbreaker’s work!”
“ It is much stronger than Starbreaker! It is something more…something like…a Big Starbreaker!”
“ You are not making sense, Rio.”
“ Well, what do you think it is, Lima?” Feira, the armor smith girl asked her friend, the purple-haired girl who had been silent albeit the garrulous children around her. That was when Yuri noticed the girl, Lima, who also was there in many of her fragmented memories, playing a dominant role that she could barely grasp. Yuri made to seek Lima, yet before she could, the little girl turned away and left, without answering a word Feira had just asked her.
“ Is Lima alright?” Yuri asked, perturbed by Lima’s indifference, as if a shroud of sorrow the little girl did cast upon herself to hide away from the hospitality and warmth towards her.
“ What happened to her?”
“ Her necklace…” Neliya whispered sadly to Yuri, also noticing Lima leaving the room morosely.
“ Lima had lost her necklace during our flight…that necklace meant a lot to her…”
Yuri sank into deep thought, letting her hands sail along the quilts and soft bedcovers freely. As her hand slipped into the depth of the pocket of her garbs, her fingers touched solid cold metal.
Quickly, despite the children’s slight disapproval, Yuri jumped off the bed and hurried down the corridor.
…
………..
She called her name.
She heard her, loud and clear, calling her name.
That was real.
That was the real Yuri, calling her name. In the clearing of the village.
She knew her.
But how……
Lima waited. Waited for Yuri to say her name again when she woke up back in the caverns where she dragged her away from the coming Haiju swarm. But Yuri never did.
The Yuri that knew her name was gone.
And she was forced to introduce herself to this utter stranger, as she did to all the time.
“ My name is Lima.” Lima had said while bringing Yuri the tray of breakfast the day before , hoping it will somehow bring out something, anything hidden back to light inside Yuri. But all that came in return were her blank bewildered gaze.
The Yuri she knew, the Yuri that knew her, was gone.
No.
Yuri is still somewhere in there. She mustn’t lose hope. She mustn’t give up, not this time. Not this time that she had promised never to let go. But somehow…she had let go of something as important as the memories she bear of others she deared.
Something that meant almost everything to her, was gone.
And it was this sorrow of loss that led her out of the room filled with joy and discussion to face the sadness alone, the sentiment that none could reach. None could understand.
That was when it hit her.
The familiar voice she knew and longed, calling her by the name once, twice, and again until she was right behind her, panting in her presence.
Lima could feel the heat emanating off the lush pink cheeks, where the light blue hair swayed close to her face.
She is taller now…Lima realized, backing from the shadow that was cast upon her.
They used to be of the same height. Now…
…
……….
Seeing the slight gaze of disdain towards her, Yuri let go of her hand upon the little girl’s shoulder and stepped back apologetically, feeling that she had hurt the girl in some way.
“ Lima…”
Yuri asked, wishing she had called her correctly, the name that was obscured among the many lost fragments of her past.
“ I…I —”
“ Leave me alone.”
Lima turned away solemnly.
She wouldn’t understand. She doesn’t remember—
But Yuri, as she is, as the stubborn self she always was, rushed to the front and cornered Lima in her distant trail, producing the ornament kept firmly in her grasp, which dazzled throughout the corridor, outshining the setting sun beaming over the glass aisle.
It was the golden necklace.
…
……….
“ Here, Lima.” the small blue-haired child handed the sparkling chained pendant to her with a smile that could outshine anything in the world.
“ Don’t lose it next time—”
…
………..
“ How……”
Lima jolted back to the glass corridor, trembling with tears rolling down her cheeks.
It was like yesterday.
But all was never the same.
With both hands clasping the golden necklace thoughtfully, Yuri knelt slowly to Lima’s level.
“ let me help you.”
…
………..
“ Lima, turn around.”
“ What…? What are you doing??”
“ I’ll help you put it on. Trust me!”
“ Yuri, wait…!”
…
………..
Lima didn’t reply, unable to answer through her silent sobs as Yuri tied the golden chains back firm upon her nape.
The center jewel glistened once more on top of the girl’s chest.
“ I grabbed it when it fell off, while you took my hand in the skies. You saved me, again, Lima. Thank you.”
Yuri caressed the straight smooth purple hair, comforting the girl who now wept out loud, catching some nosey children’s attention who peaked out of the hospital door, watching in bewilderment.
“ It’s alright now. It’s alright now…there.” Yuri wiped the tears off the girl’s wet cheeks, yet the tears came rolling more and more, and the sorrow anew and irresistible which Lima could not contain.
“ Lima…what’s wrong?”
“ …Nothing…” Lima shook her head in denial, giving out an answer even she herself would not believe.
“ I am fine…I….I……”
Resisting the kindness, Lima took flight, into the dark end of the corridors she ran, leaving Yuri and all the witnessing children at a loss.
This time, Yuri didn’t follow, and gave the girl her time of silence.
Somehow, Yuri believed, she had carelessly hurt Lima with her ignorance. She needs to find answers, more insight into her past before facing Lima once again.
…
………..
Later the next day, with permission from The captain of the Betelgeuse, a feast was to be held in celebration for the new crewmates that were to join onboard, a barbeque festival at dinner time at the upper layers of the ship.
“ Barbeque…?” The children asked as they were told of the news by secretary Reina.
“ …’ It is a special cooking method, involving roasting of meat and other ingredients with an open fire.’ Documented here in Sensei’s book.” Neliya told the others as they gathered around the thick hand-written book and followed Neliya’s finger where she pointed at a sentence among many.
“ Haha! Count me in!” Laughed the large figure, the muscular bro, the herculean hero man that stood behind the pack of children, cheering along.
“ This Seito shall partake of this barbeque party!” Lo, Seito the mighty, still huge in person without his hulking armor, of sinewy build from top to bottom, in tight nylon shorts which accentuated his robust features generously.
Reina tried hard to lay her eyes away from Seito’s robust figure, only to catch more than glimpses from the edge of her eyes. Yet, it was not just the splendid shape of the hero man’s body that caught her attention.
It was something, close to a calling, from the far past.
“ Say, my lady.” Seito’s booming chuckle pulled Reina back from a staring trance.
“ When will this feast get started?”
“ It will start— now!” With a click of a remote button, the curved ceiling of the Betelgeuse opened slowly, leaving just one layer of fortified glass intact, and letting in the light of the million stars and galaxies above dazzling their night abright.
The children and all gasped and marveled at the magnificent sight as the fragrance of sweet intoxicating meat and sauce filled the air and aroused all their excitement. Androids with their mechanical arms holding platters of roast foodings entered the wide glass enclosure hall and served the hungry children who savored the meal with utmost delight, chattering and laughing as they admired the stars and share their tales of adventurous ordeals.
“ Remember that time I scared away the Demon Dire Wolf with my club alone?! It was Epic!” Rio, the fighter kid boasted to the girls, who jeered instead of praised the boy.
“ Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard of that a hundred times already.” They waved off the topic.
“ Tell us how your terrified scream scared away the Bird Demon, Rio! That is a funnier tale to tell.”
“ No, I will Not!” Rio refused. “ And that is not me! That was Finnir who screamed loudest!”
“ What?! What of me?!” Finnir the sick kid turned around and choked on his drink.
“ Stop picking on my brother, Rio.” Feira scoffed, patting her brother on the back to help ease the coughing.
“ We know you owe me a ton of swords and clubs to fix.”
And all laughed at the defeated look on Rio as he munched his morsel of roast meat grimacingly.
On the other hand, Kai the advisor kid, with a platter of smoked pork, approached his friend and leader of the children Neo, who stood at the side leaning to the wall, away from the merry-making, and simply watched from afar.
“ The food is not poisoned, Neo,” Kai assured his friend who refused to even sip the cup of water given by the drink bar android.
“ See? Even Tricia is eating. There is nothing to worry about.”
Neo eyed the middle of the circular hall where a couple of cozy divans were placed row after row for the children to sit and enjoy the night sky and a decent meal.
Among them, was Tricia, sharing a plate of chicken wings with Lucky and the other girls.
Seeing that Lucky, the one that refused to leave for her loved one, now had company and is willing to dine with the others, Neo nodded and put away his concerns.
“ If you insist…” Neo picked a morsel with his fork and tasted the fresh pork. It was a taste he had never had in his entire life, brushing all those starving days of to feed the younger children back far behind him, and deeming his strife and perseverance worthwhile.
“ We’ve made a long way, haven’t we.” Kai smiled as he watched Neo slowly savor each juicy bite.
“ There’s still a long journey ahead of us Kai.” Neo looked up to the stars that twinkled back in answer.
“ It will go on and on……until I find Nia……”
“ And we will be there with you, my friend.” Kai promised, as a bro should.
Neo nodded back, confirming Kai his bro.
Two bros, celebrating their endeavors in cool silence.
Yuri walked around, listening to the girls’ chatter and joining the boys’ discussion along the way. She enjoyed every second of it. This is how family is supposed to be! A warm gentle congregation of those you love, enjoying a sweet moment together!
Nothing could ever be more enjoyable than this moment, Yuri thought, but quickly remembered why she was walking around.
She was looking for Lima.
Before she made her way forward, she caught glimpse of a shimmering glow of a crimson jewel, a bright dazzle upon the crown which sat on top of Lucky’s red hair. The girl was sitting on the sofa in the middle, currently enjoying the meal alone, which Yuri decided to approach.
“ Feeling better?”
Lucky looked up in surprise, and turned slowly away from eye contact, hiding her blushing cheeks away from the starlight.
“ Yes…Kind of. The food here is decent. I give praise to the chef.” Lucky replied, brushing her shimmering red hair back proudly, acting like a princess that deserves much to be desired.
“ Oh, you mean the androids! They do cook a lot of nice dishes.” Yuri chuckled in reply, as an android drove past them, handing out full platters of roasted vegetables that no one took.
Then Yuri sat closer to the proud girl and whispered gently in a lowered voice.
“ I am sorry that I dragged you without your consent. I just hope you can join us, and bring the memories of Kiro with you, instead of letting it all fade away. Kiro will never be gone as long as we remember him, don’t you think?”
To this, the proud princess didn’t reply, but stared at the stars, filling her eyes with all the sparkling cosmos she could muster.
“ I will find him.” Lucky promised herself, and Yuri.
“ And now that you have dragged me here, it is also your duty to help me find Kiro! Do you understand?”
“ Yes, your highness.” Yuri bowed playfully and the two both chuckled.
Minutes later, Yuri was on her way once again, looking for Lima amongst the feasting crowd.
That was when Yuri saw the huge frame of Seito the mighty, standing at a corner laughing wholesomely, his laughter like thunder in the clouds.
Yuri was planning to approach this heroic Starbreaker and ask him a dozen of questions on how to improve in the Demon Slaying arts but stopped at mid-trace when she saw who the Mighty one was laughing with.
…Sister Reina…??
Yuri quickly hid behind the vegetable serving android and watched the two carefully, trying hard to listen to their conversation over the loud chattering of all the children in the dome-shaped hall.
She heard nothing, and she felt inappropriate to just bug in to interfere with their moment. But still, Yuri’s curiosity urged her to sneak closer and closer, with the android as cover.
“ Interesting! Interesting!” The Seito hero man seemed to be laughing after what Reina told him.
“ But if we really had all that behind us, how come none of us remember?”
“ It’s because of this system. To have this hypothetical to work, this system has to cover all the minds of us sentient beings so as to…”
The voices were drowned by the laughs of the children and Yuri couldn’t make out the rest. But it seems that they were chatting on something serious that Yuri had not much interest in, so Yuri continued on her search for Lima.
She stood up from hiding behind the vegetable serving android and before looking straight ahead, Yuri bumped headfirst into the arms of—
“ Co…Commander! I am sorry!”
Firren commander looked down at his shirt, which was stained by the beverage of which his empty cup once held.
Yuri frantically looked for the cleaning android and dragged it to Firren’s presence, asking the robot to help clean Firren’s tainted shirt.
“ It’s nothing. I have my handkerchief…” Firren sighed and bade the cleaner android away as he wiped his shirt dry.
“ Always be aware of your surroundings, soldier. Even when you are not on the field.”
“ Yes, Commander!” Yuri apologized worriedly as some kids were laughing in the background, while she tried vigorously to help clean his shirt which the Starbreaker commander refused. To her surprise, the commander sighed instead of flying into a fit of fuming rage, as Yuri had predicted.
“ You have been walking around aimlessly this past couple of minutes. Are you in fact looking for the man?”
Firren asked, his voice lowering to an inquisitive whisper.
To which Yuri tilted her head in wonder.
“ What man?” Yuri asked.
That was when Firren knew he screwed up.
“ Nothing.” Firren turned away hurriedly to leave.
“ Forget what I just said.”
“ Commander, I have forgotten too much already. I have promised never to forget anything moving on!”
Yuri declared on the spot and volleyed the question back at the anxious Firren.
“ What is it you were saying? What man?”
“ Fine! But keep your voice down!” Firren ushered Yuri to a side hastily before the children nearby saw them and have suspicious assumptions.
“ Do you remember that emerald Starbreaker with the shield from the day before?” Firren asked quickly, which reminded Yuri of the person she almost forgot for she was too carried away in looking for Lima.
The man she presumed must be a prominent part of her memory and might even know the secrets to her past, and the Land of Light…
“ I remember him. Do you know where he is?”
Yuri asked quickly, to which Firren shook his head vehemently.
“ No. Don’t look for the man, do you understand?!” Firren hissed with grave warning.
Yuri was dumbstruck. She still needed to ask the emerald Starbreaker questions of her past.
“ What?! Why?!”
“ Because…Because he is dangerous. That’s why.” Firren snapped with a reply that was not persuading enough to stop Yuri’s stubbornness.
“ Why?” Yuri asked. “ I need him.”
“ You need… No. You don’t need anything from him. He can help you with nothing—”
“ Commander Firren, Yuri. Why are you there in the dark?”
The benign voice of the Captain of the Betelgeuse ship stopped Firren short.
Bradson looked at them strangely, sipping his tea as the two young Starbreakers came out of the shady corner to greet their captain.
“ You two don’t seem to be enjoying the feast, no?” Bradson asked with a chuckle, yet his eyes were stern and fixed on Firren’s escaping gaze.
“ Of course, we are, Grandpapa! Commander Firren is just reminding me of some battle tactics, that are very important that I must know right now…the chicken wings are great!...”
Yuri spoke her way out of the awkward misunderstanding.
Firren however didn’t reply.
“ Well, make sure to have some vegetables, Yuri. They are as important as the meat.” Captain Bradson reminded caringly.
“ And Commander Firren, I would like to have a word.”
Mysteriously, both the captain and the commander walked to a side and vanished behind a sliding door leading away from the feasting hall.
Yuri frowned as she pondered on commander Firren’s words. Why though? How can a fellow Starbreaker be of danger to her? Can it be…that the past he knew is too dangerous for her to know?!
Do Not Seek….The Land of Light…..
Yuri felt her light blood run cold as the voice of her mother rang in her ears.
Perhaps Firren commander was right…She should not seek the emerald Starbreaker. She should not even seek her past. Can it be that everything she had forgotten is left away from her for a reason…?
But…
Why was Lima crying so badly then…?
She doesn’t understand the reason for her tears, because she doesn’t fully grasp her past yet. But the past is hazardous to her…
Yuri was feeling confused by her own assumptions. She needs help. She wanted to talk, she desperately needs someone to talk to, to share her frustrations with.
But who can she talk to?
Who can she share all these mind-boggling questions with?
Who can help her now—
A soft tucking of Yuri’s trousers pulled her back to the feasting hall. Yuri looked down.
“ …Tricia…!” Tricia the silent one nodded with a graceful smile.
Yuri was elated.
Tricia is the all-knowing, the all-inspiring, the ever-resolving genius that she needed right now!
“ Tricia!” Yuri knelt down to the silent girl’s presence, placing her hands on both the green-haired child’s shoulders.
“ Tell me, what should I do now?!”
Though Yuri’s question sounded vague and impossible to answer, the silent girl simply smiled and pointed at a divan seated at the corner of the hall.
There, sitting alone, eating one whole platter of chicken wings,
was Lima.
Yuri’s jaws dropped at the grand revelation brought to her by the omnipotent girl before her.
“ Thank you, Tricia.” Yuri gratefully stood up to make her way forth.
“ Here, as my thanks.” Yuri took a plate of roasted vegetables from the serving android and placed it on Tricia’s dumbfounded hands before setting off to meet with Lima at long last.
…
………
Lima had noticed Yuri from afar this whole time, watching her frolicking and hip-hopping around joyously, making cheerful contact with everyone in the room.
This is Yuri.
This may not be the Yuri with the memories of old, but she is no doubt, Yuri.
The Light inside of her was never lost, sparkling its unique light amongst them all, brightening all their lives, as Yuri brightened her dimming life before. Yuri saved her. But she had turned away from Yuri.
Lima cursed herself for her actions.
Her emotions took over, and again she let go of Yuri, breaking her promise.
What a useless good-for-nothing you are, Lima!
“ Lima’s not good-for-nothing!”
Lima’s light heart skipped a beat as the little girl spun around.
Yuri was already by her side. She had been carried away by her anger onto herself once again, even cursing out loud to Yuri’s ears. Lima felt pathetic and tried to run again.
Yet before Yuri reached out her hand, Lima herself, decided to stay, slowly sitting back down next to Yuri.
Silence.
“...chicken wings?”
“ Oh…thanks.” Yuri picked one and savored the meat mixed with the rich sauce. Lima too, picked one and ate with Yuri.
Silence.
Finishing their wings, the two stared blankly at the dark void above, like a dark cloth bedding all the jewels there ever were, large and small, round and sharp, bright and many, of many colors and no color, twinkling, dazzling, sparkling.
Stars.
It was the silence, that made them feel like they had known each other for years. And only in silence did they feel connected.
Then Lima spoke.
“ Why is the sky dark while all the stars are shining, Yuri?”
Yuri looked down in surprise. Lima’s eyes, filled with glittering stars, were staring at her closely.
It was in that next second of silence that Lima knew the Yuri she knew, was gone.
“ …Because…the sky’s too big?” Yuri still, tried to answer.
Lima didn’t reply.
So…Yuri really doesn’t remember…
That is good. Lima decided. Yuri is Yuri.
Right now, seeing Yuri happily, enjoying the present with all the people around her, that is what really matters.
Telling Yuri of the past…showing Yuri the pain and sorrow…is not gonna change anything for good. The truth is not worth the suffering it brings.
And most of all,
Yuri is Yuri.
She doesn’t need the past to be Yuri.
She is who she is.
Her best friend.
She just wants Yuri to be happy.
Is that not what matters the most?!
“ I know what the light was that saved us from the Archdemon.” Lima spoke out of the blue, surprising Yuri greatly.
“ …What is it?” Yuri asked.
Lima moved her gaze downward as the stars in her eyes slowly dimmed.
The golden locket swayed nonchalantly upon her chest.
“ ……It is from My necklace. A defense mechanism, which you kept with you at that time. It is my past, and also my Curse, Yuri.”
Yuri wasn’t prepared for such an answer.
“ …What do you mean…?”
“ It is what it is. A Curse. ” Lima replied adamantly.
“ To know, means to bear the knowledge, and the things it brings that affect the world you see. The pain that lingers with every sense you feel. Forever. You may not understand what I mean, and that is good. Yuri, I know that your curiosity will lead you to what you seek someday, but I am not going to be the one to do it. I only wish you to be happy, to be…you…and that is enough. For both of us.”
Yuri was at a loss.
“ But…how can I share your tears? If I don’t know why you cry?”
“ You don’t have to.”
Lima shook her head.
“ You don’t have to bear my sorrow. It is what I chose…and I chose to not let this curse hurt you.”
Clenching tightly, hand in hand.
Lima swore to never let go.
For that is her promise.
And her curse.
Yuri knew what a curse was. Yet the gravity behind it she still wasn’t fully aware. But somehow she understood that Lima chose to conceal her memories, to seal the past for her good.
Not all memories are sweet, Yuri seemed to wonder.
Maybe…Mother is doing the same, as Lima now chose, for her. To stay away from the Land of Light, and the unknown within.
“ I understand, Lima.” Yuri wrapped her arms around the brave girl warmly. “ I will not force you to tell me anything. Just let me hold you whenever you need me, no matter happy or sad, Let me be there for you. Agreed?”
Pulling her tears and sobs back, Lima forced out a smile. A smile over all the pain and sorrow.
“ …Agreed.”
Minutes later, after a long silent while of sobbing and tears in Yuri’s arms, the young girl fell into exhausted slumber, lying next to Yuri on the divan as she stayed close by her side.
Yuri wiped the single drop of tear off Lima’s cheek.
How innocent she now seemed when her sorrows were put to rest, Yuri thought sadly. Surely, Lima had decided to keep the past as far away from her as possible, Yuri surmised, the dangerous painful past, as Lima described. A curse. Lima would certainly not let her friends get tormented by the same curse as herself.
But,
that doesn’t mean……she couldn’t find it herself.
Right?
Right?
From what Lima had said, there was indeed a world before now, Yuri processed, a whole dimension unbeknownst to her that surely she, her Mother, and Lima existed. Lima would not tell her because it would be Lima’s fault. But what if I find it myself…? It will not be Lima’s fault.
And besides, a power that can deflect an Archdemon with sheer light…? That is not all a curse, is it? It is also a formidable strength. The memory of the past, is a power. Knowledge, is a power. If only she had remembered her own memories, perhaps she can harness the mysterious power hidden inside of her, and repel Archdemons like how Lima did with her Knowledge of the past...the curse…the necklace…the power.
With this power, she can save all those that are taken, like Kiro. And rid the world of Demons that feast on others’ memories.
End the need for any tears of sorrow.
She has to know. Whether it's the curiosity that drives her, or the responsibility to rid all Demon kind that pushes her forth, Yuri had made her choice. It was already what she chose to do ever since the first day the screams and callings in her head had tried to stop her.
She wants to know.
She wants to know, everything before, before the Light!
Yuri gently picked up the golden pendant with only her two fingers. Something tells her that this is where Lima’s sorrow, Lima’s past hides. Through Lima’s tears when she brought the necklace back to her, she knew this ornament possesses something only Lima understands. This pendant belonged to the past.
Yuri could feel it.
Peering closer at the locket in the middle of the chain, Yuri squinted, observing the mysterious carvings wrought onto the curved surface of the pendant under the starlights. It was like a drawing, a symbol of some sort. A round circle, with triangular shafts sprouting out of one side.
A sun. Yuri soon recognized.
But what for?
How about the other side of the pendant?
Yuri twisted her fingers, turning the locked’s underside up to the light. She heard a snap as her fingers touched something edging out from the side and before Yuri realized, the locket opened.
Something tiny, but large enough to be noticed, tumbled out of the locket and fell to the floor with glassy chime.
Yuri froze. Her light blood ran cold that instant.
There, rolling away on the smooth tiled floor of the feasting hall, was a golden shining marble, about to diminish into the shadows of stepping feet of dining children.
Yuri didn’t dare imagine what it would be if she lost Lima’s precious golden marble. Losing it is not an option. She must get it, NOW.
Springing up to her feet, Yuri raced forth, diving to her knees and reaching her hand far, her fingers stretched out affront, trying all she could to snatch that glistening marble back, before it rolled into shadow and feet, which it was about to. Yuri felt herself moving in stagnant liquid. The golden sparkle neared a group of chattering children walking past right in front of her—
And the golden marble was gone.
Yuri was at the brink of screaming out loud before suddenly,
a voice broke the dreadful silence.
“ Excuse me, but…is this yours?”
Yuri looked up, from where prostrated body chest down.
A tall lean figure loomed above her, a fine silhouette chiseled out of the blazing stars behind.
Short sandy hair rippled as the figure knelt down to Yuri’s level.
In his hand, which was held out to her, seated, a fine glistening golden marble in the middle of his palm.
Yuri couldn’t help but squeal in delight, quickly scooping the golden marble up and locking it back to where it belonged, within Lima’s necklace.
Never, Yuri swore to herself, would she ever touch that pendant ever again.
Realizing that she haven’t yet thanked the person who found the marble for her, Yuri hurriedly turned around.
“ Thank you very much, for helping me…”
Yuri stopped short.
Her eyes again, like magnets attracted to each other, riveted in firm shocked gaze at the person standing before her, as bewildered as she was. It was just like the day before, feelings that found no origin swelled with the voices and the flashing of memory, the calling that was but never distinguishable.
It was the person under the emerald Starbreaker armor.
This teenage person before her, who seemed as old as herself, as lost as herself, looked at Yuri as if he too was hearing voices and seeing countless images in his head.
Yuri stepped back.
The person too, stepped back.
Both him and Yuri, staring at each other with the same distraught gaze.
“ I know this may sound weird and probably outdated, but…have we met before?”
The young person asked cautiously.
“ …Yes.” Yuri affirmed.
“ …Do you remember?” The man surprisedly asked.
Yuri shook her head.
The man shook his head as well.
“ Then how do you know?”
“ I have seen them. Again and again. Flashing before my eyes, like a vague dream.” Yuri replied candidly.
“ You were in them. You were in my past. Why?”
“ I don’t know.” The teenage Starbreaker replied apologetically.
“ There are many things I do not know of this world. Demons, Starbreakers, airships, and all…none of this made sense to me the moment I woke up just a couple of days ago—”
“ Wait. You woke up, just days ago?”
The young man nodded. “ I think so. Anything before that I do not remember.”
And still, this person has a shield and powers to nearly deflect an entire Archdemon…?
“ I don’t believe you.” Yuri accused doubtfully.
“ You are a Starbreaker with wings and a shield that makes walls out of thin air! How do you possibly wake up just days ago and learn all that without training?!”
“ That’s a fair point. But the same I can ask of you. I read from the records on this ship that you started being a Starbreaker less than a week ago, and already defeated large Demons of uhh…2nd grade?”
“ Grade B, Kau-Bog type.”
“ Yeah, whatever that is. I have no idea what that is, and neither do you when you defeated that Demon. But I am pretty sure, that there is something inside of us that does more than we actually know it, a power that comes from where we have forgotten yet continues to draw influence around us. It is this same power that showed me visions, and spoke in nonsensical voices, leading me here…to you.
You were also in my visions, a constant reminder of what was, that was gone. ”
Yuri had never related more with anyone of the same problem. This emerald Starbreaker wasn’t the one who knows her past, he was the same as herself, suffering the same issues as she does now. Now Yuri knew she was not alone. She can help him deal with this distortion of memory, as much as he can help her reclaim her own.
“ I am Yuri.” Yuri introduced herself. “ I have heard your voice many times in my memories, but I still don’t know your name.”
“ Call me Vitas.” The teenage person of the emerald Starbreaker armor replied sincerely.
“ For that is the one word carved on the side of my armor. And that is what Seito calls me now.”
“ You already have your armor when you woke up?” Yuri inquired curiously.
“ Yes. Is it not how we all start?”
“ No. I have to fight my way through an excruciating series of headaches and loud screaming to get my hands on this armor! And it’s not just any regular Starbreaker armor. It was my Mother’s armor!”
“ How peculiar…Where is your mother then? I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere on this ship?” Vitas asked and soon realized he had chose poorly with his questions.
“ I am sorry…” Vitas quickly apologized, just by the looks of Yuri’s expression.
“ It’s fine…It’s just…do you see your mother too in your memories, Vitas?”
The teenager shook his head.
“ …even if I have, I wouldn’t recognize her.”
“ But I do…”
That was when it hit her. Vitas didn’t remember, he didn’t know of his mother, and thus he wasn’t affected, unlike her…who craves to seek back her Mother, and learn where she was, and what had happened to her.
“ Have you…ever wanted to find your mother, your past?” Yuri inquired, eager to know of his thoughts.
“ Have you ever wanted to know what happened before?”
Vitas hesitated to ask himself the very same.
Does he want to know? Does he need to?
Yet…from what he remembered…he wasn’t fully sure.
And it came to him, and everything changed.
“ Have you ever heard…of the Land of Light, Vitas?”
…
“ Help me…Help me find it…….The Land of Light—!”
…
Vitas stepped back asudden, shocked by what he just heard, outside and inside of his ears.
“ What…what did you just say?!” It must be the memories and the calling again, Vitas hoped.
But surely, Yuri asked again.
“ Have you ever heard… of the Land of Light?”
…
“ Help me…please……
…Help me find…….The Land of Light—!”
…
So…this is all that is meant to be……this is what it’s all about…!
Finally, for the first time in his short wake, Vitas had found a missing piece of his shattered memories.
Yuri……so that was you…is it?!
…
…….
“ Captain, I know him. You know him. We all know who he is!” Firren argued vehemently while his captain sipped calmly his tea, staring out the starry void from his kaleidoscope cabin window.
“ He…he…he isn’t supposed to…”
“ The more we do not know, the more we have to see.” Bradson admonished sternly, unwavered by the commander’s arguments.
“ At least…I have to know, what happened to him. And how he returned……”
…
………
“ I have heard of it, in my memories…” Vitas admitted gravely, facing Yuri as their eyes met in serious intimate gaze.
“ I don’t know where that is. But I do understand now that all this, our awakening, our meeting— it means something.
Yuri. I will help you seek, the Land of Light.”
For that is what I have promised, Before the Light.
[......to be continued]