The three travellers sit against a stone wall as a carriage crunches through the snow as it slowly rolls past them. The woman inside sits in a hole of confusion and sadness. Her pale face and blank eyes glare towards the silent three.
As it slowly rolls into the distance the intense pressure hanging over the three lightens ever so slightly. Hiro stands and stretches as snow lightly falls from the sky. He turns to the other two and smiles pointing towards the path ahead.
“Should we find the other one?” He tries to hide the darkness through a bright smile just like his mother would.
Asahi smiles as he slowly stands.
“You’re pointing the wrong way…” He chuckles as he spins Hiro around to point towards their path
The two of them turn to Zero who sits unmoving as snow collects atop her shoulders.
Hiro kneels down and stares closely at her helmet. Her breathing is slow and her lack of reaction makes him smile.
“I think she fell asleep”
Asahi sighs as he looks around. “I guess we could wait a while… she deserves a rest”
Hiro and Asahi sit either side of her as they grow closer together and Zero lets her guard down for the first time around the two of them. Asahi smiles to himself as he looks to his two friends.
Hiro’s eyes grow weary and saddened as he leans his head against the cold armour beside him. Silence lies once more as the three relax together in the white of the snow.
Three sets of footsteps follow a path between a line of trees. Days have passed since the fight with Kyoko’s mother although the weight from the day still hangs on each of their shoulders as they walk along the quiet desolate paths of the Yoshida territory.
“Once you get away from the cities its really quiet huh?” Asahi tries his best to break the heavy silence gripping onto the three. Zero especially seems effected by the events as she strides forwards.
Hiro smiles like nothing happened as he walks slightly ahead of them entranced by the thick snow below his feet. Like a child he runs to each tree shaking the snow off and letting it come crashing down on top of him.
“I wish Isamu w-“ Just as Hiro begins complaining a small bird like creature strolls out from the trees in front of him. Hiro stares silently at the strange looking thing as he tilts his head to the side.
The creatures wide beady eyes stare back at him. Just as he slowly goes to poke the thing Asahi grabs his arm. He pulls him back away from the thing as they continue walking.
“Are you stupid? You don’t know if that’s been imbued with power or not” Asahi says it like its obvious and yet Hiro stares back at him like he spoke a different language to him.
“Animals can have power?”
Asahi sighs as he finally lets go of his arm. “what you haven’t heard of my old ancestor who infected a pond in the wilderness? Created a bunch of weird creatures?”
“Nope”
Asahi nods completely expecting the answer not even surprised by his ignorance to the world. “Thought so”
“So which are the creatures?”
Asahi ruffles his hair as the snow begins to grow heavier. “I don’t know that’s the beauty of it… power can do some special things”
A voice colder than the air around them pierces both of them as the armour stomping between them finally speaks. “Power comes at a cost…”
Asahi looks to the ground awkwardly “Y-Yeah I guess so… although we don’t really know what the price is”
Zero just grumbles and speeds her stride to push on ahead of them. Hiro is left smiling at an awkward Asahi as they push on towards their next destination.
Back in the capital Kenji Yoshida sits alone staring out the large window overlooking his people. He longs for something out in the world. Desire for something sparkles in his green, emerald eyes. His thoughts are interrupted by the creaking of the door behind him. Gou Yoshida walks towards his father with news of Asahi’s success.
“So she’s been captured?” Kenji’s eyes are unmoving as he sates outwards towards the sky.
Gou nods as he leans against the wall still worried about his younger brother.
“Only one more then…”
“Are you sure it’s safe for him?” Gou shows weakness in front of his father which doesn’t go unnoticed.
“You don’t trust him to get the job done?” Kenji’s tone is serious as he finally looks towards his son.
“It’s not that… it’s just with the way you go on about her she ought to be dangerous.” Gou twiddles his thumbs nervously as his father walks towards the painting of his mother.
“A Yoshida will never lose to her again… that animal will either be put down by my sons’ hands or by my own… it will be a Yoshida that watches the life drain from her eyes.” His unnerving words concern Gou as he looks up towards his mother.
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Who the hell is this woman?
Gou rubs his forehead in slight confusion as he heads towards the door. Kenji lightly places his hand upon the scar below his eye as he stares upwards towards his wife.
This is it… she’ll be gone soon
Kyosho
The confused eyes of Hiro traces every single letter of the large wooden sign. The snow tapping against his cheek doesn’t pull away his attention as he scans Rose’s book to find any clues. His eyes light up as he matches the letter to a picture in the book.
He smiles as he waves the page towards an unimpressed Asahi and Zero.
“It’s… a city?”
The large city standing tall behind him leaves Asahi and Zero even less impressed.
“How did you get that one?” His sarcastic tone doesn’t begin to hit Hiro before he recognises his mistake and just ignores Hiro’s response.
Hiro slumps down as Asahi makes his way into the city of Kyosho.
Zero awkwardly taps Hiro on the shoulder. “Well done”
Hiro’s face lights up as he follows Zero and walks into the city with her.
Kyosho is the closest city to the border between the Yoshida and Maximillian territories. It’s buildings are state of the art and the cities’ streets are always in pristine condition. The basis of its wealth came from the giant piece of gold that the city was built around. People say it was an ancestor of the Maximillian family’s power that created the giant piece of sparkling gold.
Hiro stares upwards at the giant piece of gold. The sound of clinking can be heard from below. He stares into the deep hole at his feet as people mine the giant piece for small chunks of gold. Hiro’s eyes sparkle just as much as the gold. Even Zero is impressed as she stares at her reflection.
Asahi looks less impressed as he looks around for a place to stay the night. He looks back at Zero to get some help. He’s met with the sight of her and Hiro staring at themselves in the giant ore. He sighs The one time she’s sociable and it’s when it’s no help to me. Asahi rolls his eyes as he heads off.
An older man stands smiling behind Hiro and Zero as they are focusing on their reflections.
“Interested in the gift?”
Zero stays silent as Hiro turns around, “Gift?”
The man smiles as he places his hand on Hiro’s shoulder, “This piece of gold was a gift from the god of the elements himself”
The man points downwards at all the men mining away at the base of the giant thing. “This used to be a smaller town within the Maximillian territory and we were gifted this by Thomas Maximillian himself.”
“Who’s that?”
The man is taken aback as he didn’t think anyone still alive didn’t know about the four great families. “The Maximillian family? One of the four chosen by god?”
Hiro stares blankly at him as the information flows in one ear and out the other. Even Zero is amused by his lack of understanding as she grabs his arm and apologises to the man for his stupidity. She drags him away as night begins to creep in above.
Zero walks with him as her spirits are lifted slightly to Hiro’s joy. The two make their way past wealthy looking people in expensive clothing as their feet tap against the cobblestone below.
Zero notices odd damages to the streets and some buildings as large rocks look to have crashed into the city. Her suspicion and curiosity is dragged away by Hiro as he marvels at the huge chapel standing tall above any other building. A giant golden symbol glimmers against the moonlight. Hiro's eyes sparkle at the sight.
Zero stops him from running off towards it with a strong grasp of his shirt.
“Hiro… Do not leave my sight” Her voice shrinks Hiro as he feels the weight of her words.
Zero drags him along like a misbehaving child as she looks around for Asahi. Her eyes slowly lock onto a nearby bar that seems to be producing a lot more noise than anything else around. She sighs as she knows exactly what it means and what she’s going to find.
Just as she begins to grow annoyed and step into the bar Hiro points towards a familiar boy stepping into a nearby store.
“Isn’t that Asahi?”
To Zero’s surprise she watches as Asahi steps into a shop although his body language is shifty. She grumbles slightly thinking what he could be up to. Hiro just smiles innocently as he gets dragged around a corner to spy on Asahi.
“Why don’t we just go and ask him?”
Zero plants her finger on his mouth to shut him up. She’s lying in wait to see what it is Asahi is doing. It’s clear her trust for him isn’t as developed as she might have thought.
Locals exchange confused looks as they walk by the sight of Zero and Hiro hiding behind stores watching Asahi go in and out of buildings throughout the city. Asahi looks more frustrated after every visit which only rises suspicion with Zero more.
Finally, after many stops he reaches a small stall hidden away behind the giant chapel. Hiro doesn’t even care what he’s doing as he just stares upwards at the massive building steeped with history standing way above him.
Zero watches on as Asahi buys something with a look of satisfaction on his face. He hides the small bag in his jacket looking around shifting from side to side.
Zero eventually rushes out with Hiro in tow to confront Asahi.
“What are you doing?” Her voice causes him to jump awkwardly try to act natural.
“Z-Zero a-a-and Hiro too. Wow nice to see you guys… cool uh chapel huh?” He couldn’t be any more obvious that he was hiding something and Zero knew it.
“What did you buy?”
He swallows nervously as he tries to think of a way out of the situation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She reaches out her hand refusing to even entertain his terrible attempt at hiding it causing him to awkwardly panic more.
After a few second of Zero holding out her hand he realises it was futile to keep hiding it. He slowly reaches into his jacket as his cheeks grow red with embarrassment. He groans as he holds out the small bag in front of her.
Even Hiro takes notice of how embarrassed he looks. Hiro and Zero give each other a look before staring at the small bag asking to be taken. Asahi near enough turns away to hide his flushed face as Zero reaches out and grabs the bag.
As she opens it, she pulls out two identical wooden bracelets. As they swing side to side in the wind all lies silent. Zero and Hiro both stare quietly at them as Asahi peaks their way to see their reaction.
“That’s…. so cute”
…
“Shut up!” if Asahi wasn’t fully red in the face he was now as he completely turns away from them and quickly places them in Zero’s hands.
“I-I-It’s your fault for being so down after that last mission! I did it for the mission not for you guys”
Hiro smiles and blushes slightly as he takes one out of Zero’s hand. He places it around his arm and laughs. Zero just stares down at it confused.
Asahi looks like he wants the world to swallow him up as Hiro wraps his arm around him. “I knew we were friends!” Asahi holds his head in his hands as he is shaken around by Hiro.
Zero look at Asahi’s arm as she realises he bought one for himself as well. She chuckles to herself a little going unnoticed by the other two. She secretly puts it on under her armour as Hiro jumps around Asahi teasing him.
Asahi lies awake in their inn room. He looks across to Hiro as he snores away into the night. His arm hangs off the bed exposing the wooden bracelet. He blushes heavily as he looks back towards the ceiling. He tries to contain his smile and yet it bursts through.
Zero sits away on the edge of her bed. Darkness sits as only her figure can be seen in the blue glow of the midnight sky. She holds the bracelet up as she deeply stares. She grasps a necklace swinging from her neck softly as her eyes sink ever so slightly.
Is it really ok to accept another gift? Would she be mad… I can’t even remember
In a clearing nearby the same glow of the moon shines on another tortured soul. A woman sits alone against a rock. Her clothes look ragged, and her feet torn. Her hands seem scarred and scratched as she caresses a worn-down doll. Tears drop and sink into the material of the doll as she softly cries alone.
Her eyes glow green as her black hair hangs.
“I wish I could see you Kenji.”