Part 8

It was a private room in the hospital on the second floor.

The floor tiles were bright white, and the walls were a light green with a dark green line painted horizontally across the four walls.

Inside the room were Reiko, Alexis, and Aoi.

Aoi glanced towards the window, looking outside.

Reiko was walking around the room as Alexis sat in a chair.

Aoi sat there on the bed; she wasn’t sure what to do now. She had been in multiple rooms like this in the past, but this one was different. It was more advanced than anything she ever saw; this whole city was.

Right now, she really feels like an outsider in this vast metropolis.

(Would I really be able to find what I am looking for here?)

There was a sound as the door slid open, breaking her thoughts.

Aoi turned her attention to the door, and a feeling of warmth washed over her as she saw who was standing at the door. Despite feeling like an outsider in this city, the person standing at the door made her time here a little more bearable.

Haruko Matsumoto.

The person who saved her from the man chasing her

Only now, his facial expression was that of regret and sorrow.

Everyone had their eyes on Haruko.

"Is everything alright?" She asked as she saw his facial expression.

Haruko averted his eyes.

"Yeah, I’m alright, I think, but I’m truly not sure," Haruko said, unsure of himself.

He walked towards a chair that sat near the bed she was sitting on.

"Haruko, what happened between you and the medical director?"

"He said that you're all good for now."

"There was something I wanted to ask you," Haruko said as he sat in the chair.

"What did you want to know?"

There was silence in the room. There was no easy way to ask this.

"Earlier in my room, you said that you were searching for something but that you couldn’t find it," Haruko said as he lowered his head.

Aoi stared at Haruko with a puzzled look.

Then her eyes lit up.

"Oh, yes, the other crystals."

This was new.

Haruko lifted his head.

"Crystals?" Haruko repeated the words slowly.

"Yup, that item refers to both the title and the abilities that we Crystal Guardians possess."

Haruko turned to her.

He was lost now.

"What the hell is a Crystal Guardian?"

Aoi held out both of her arms, and water began to form in the open space between them.

Reiko and Alexis looked in shock and awe. This was the first time they had seen her abilities like this.

"Whoa," Reiko said as she watched the water move about in the room.

The water in the room began to form into a ball. Slowly, textures began to appear on the ball of water. After a while, the object that was floating began to look like a globe, with areas of land, mountains, and oceans spread across it.

Suddenly, there were several large explosions on the ball of water, which rippled across and startled the three watching.

"Long ago, when the world was threatened with its demise by a primordial force of universal chaos, destruction, and death,

The globe of water began to flatten itself into the shape of a large, rectangular floating board. Small blue figures began rising from the board, which was no bigger than standard chess pieces. The figures were lined up in a weird formation, with multiple figures lined up behind and across from them in multiple rows.

A war formation.

It was something Haruko had seen in old history books. He moved closer to get a look at the figure on the water board. The figures had nothing to distinguish them from each other aside from the weapons they were holding.

Swords and spears: ancient weapons of war

Haruko reached out his index finger to try and touch the figure in front of the formation but was startled when the figure raised the sword forward. The figures behind it began moving forward.

"Unable to accept that their lives and their world were on the path for total annihilation, the people of the world united and resisted the only way they knew how to: war."

As the figures moved across the board, new figures appeared on the board, now darker in color and looking more animalistic in nature. Something out of a nightmare fantasy.

Haruko, Reiko, and Alexis watched as both sides collided with each other in a battle similar to medieval fantasy novels or movies.

As the battle raged on, Aoi waved her arm across the floating board.

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The board was now blank.

Aoi lifted her index finger.

New figures began rising from the board in a kneeling position. As Haruko gazed upon the figures, he noticed that one of them was not kneeling and was more distinguished in its appearance, with six feathered wings appearing from its back.

"After the people of the world rallied together to fend off the fated destruction of their world, a being of immense power descended upon the world from a higher plane of existence."

(What kind of figure is that?) Haruko thought as he looked at the figure.

"After seeing their resolve and determination to keep living..."

The standing figure raised its right hand and jammed it into its chest.

"The being offered up its heart to the people of the world."

The figure on the board pulled out something from its chest that was supposed to represent its heart and handed it to one of the kneeling figures.

Aoi waved her arm, and the board was wiped clean once again.

A lone figure appeared on the board, holding the heart.

"The people of the world used that heart to become something more. Thus, started the Age of Enlightenment and Transformation. After time had passed, several new species and races began to emerge in the world. A man would later use the heart of the divine being to obtain a power that was unmatched in the universe."

Haruko felt a sharp tingle in the center of his chest.

The figure on the board threw the heart in the air, and it exploded in the air, dropping a confetti-like substance on the board.

"Although his name was lost to history, the exploits of his powers were not; it was believed that he was able to wield the entire universe and the original six elements in his hands. He was the original Crystal Guardian."

Aoi looked at the water board.

"He had many powers, but immortality was not one of them."

The figure on the board knelt.

"The man had realized that if that threat were to ever come back, the world would be united once again. Nearing the end of his life, the man gathered the six leaders of various races of the world and spilt his power among them."

The figure on the board began to melt away. Suddenly, six figures began rising from the board in a circle around the melting figure, their left arms connected in the air.

"That group would be the first generation of Crystal Guardians. Those who manipulate the elements of the universe without any limits."

The figures on the board broke apart and separated from each other.

"But over time, the first generation began to drift apart and eventually fade out, with only three remaining and the other three closed off to their races. Sometime after that, the divine being's heart disappeared. A few thousand years after it disappeared, the heart revealed itself to the world again to create this…."

Haruko stared at her.

Aoi reached into her shirt through the neck hole. She wrestled about for a while and pulled out a necklace with a light blue crystal dangling from it.

Haruko looked at the object she was holding.

"What is this?"

"The source of my power and the proof of my divinity that comes with it , this is one of the six crystals of the second generation of Crystal Guardians," Aoi said with pride in her voice.

Haruko got closer to the necklace. The more he looked at it, the more amazed he was by the object. As he held the object in his palm, Haruko noticed that something was in the blue crystal.

A small galaxy.

Within the small blue crystal, there was something that looked like a small galaxy, and multiple shooting stars were roaring across the crystal.

(So, this is what there is after.)

Haruko held the object in the center of his palm, which weighed almost nothing.

"Just asking, can you not chuck this thing someplace no one can find it, just until you find the others?"

Aoi put her head down.

"It's not as simple as just putting it somewhere."

"Why not?"

‘A Crystal Guardian’s power is not bonded to them by their bodies in a physical sense but is connected to our souls in a spiritual sense. What makes the Crystal Guardian power so rare is not just that the power is unmatched, but also the fact that very few ever wield that power for that very reason: it answers to the souls of those it deems worthy."

Haruko stared at her with a puzzled look.

"….Souls. Like spirits?"

"Yes, for as long as I exist, this power is bonded to me by my very soul."

Those words stung deep.

Haruko stood there with a defeated look on his face.

(Those whose very existence or abilities deviate too far from the natural laws of order have their lives forfeited. As long as that order exists, she will always be hunted down.)

Those words from the magician he fought echoed in his head.

He couldn’t save her. He felt worthless right now.

The more he looked at the girl, the more a feeling of anguish washed over him.

(You can’t protect her forever, and you can’t protect her as, how do you say, unsure of yourself? You will only doom yourself to ruin like this.)

He hated himself now.

Alexis looked at him, and although he said nothing, she could probably guess what was going through his head.

Without a second thought, Haruko ran past Reiko and out of the room.

"Haruko!" she yelled out of the room into the hallway. All she could do was watch as Haruko ran down the hallway out of her view.

"Is he going to be okay?" Aoi's voice broke.

The question surprised both Reiko and Alexis.

Reiko looked at Aoi as she sat on the bed. She didn’t know how to answer that question.

"I’m not sure,"

Aoi put her head down.

She couldn't help feeling like this was her fault.

"I’m sorry for dragging him and you into this; that wasn’t my intention."

Reiko turned to the girl sitting on the bed.

"Don’t be; it's not your fault." Reiko paused as she looked out the window in the room. "I can’t even begin to figure out what's going on; something must have happened. Great, another issue I have to deal with"

Reiko turned to Alexis.

"Can you watch her for a bit? I have to fill out some information in the system for her."

"Yes," Alexis replied.

Reiko turned to Aoi.

‘Right, just try not to worry about him too much and get some rest; he will be fine, I think. I will be back in a while, but if you need anything, just push the button on the remote, and myself or someone else will see to it."

With that statement, Reiko left the room.

Everything was silent.

Aoi placed the crystal in her palm.

Even though the object felt pretty much weightless to her, right now in her hand, it felt heavy.

Haruko Matsumoto.

The person who saved her from being hunted

Although she saw a wide variety of his expressions, she could not help but see him like that, so lost and defeated.

(I don’t understand what is going on with you, but I have a feeling, one I cannot explain, that you need help….. For some reason, I can’t turn you away like this. I couldn’t live with myself if I did.)

Her thoughts were on the boy.

(Please…. don’t….after everything you've done for me since I've been here, I can’t let you throw your life away, no matter how noble you believe the reason may not be for me. You have no part in this.)

The person who went through a place called hell to save her.

(I’m not leaving you.)

As she sat on the bed, she closed her eyes.

(I don’t know what exactly is going on with you—magic, wizards, bounty notices, or whatever—and I won’t pretend that I do. I told you I had a feeling that you needed help, and I gave my word that I would help you.)

(They’ll come after you too.)

(And I’ll fight them too.)

(Why......you don’t have a stake in this or any reason to get involved.)

(And what kind of help can you offer her with your body the way it is?)

Aoi opened her eyes.

I'm pretty sure you have a family and maybe even a couple of friends—people you care about who also care about you. Do you really want to die here? For them to discover your dead body, and for the girl you just met. A foolish way to go out, if I may say so.)

She couldn’t shake the teen's pained expression out of her head.

It was a feeling that she knew all too well—the feeling of hopelessness. The inability to influence what was before them. That was why she was in the city to begin with—to try and change her fate.

She wasn’t sure why he was feeling that way, but she believed that it came from the position that she was in.

She gripped the shirt she was wearing tightly.

He got hurt from saving her; he got into trouble because he saved her.

(I don’t care how many people are after you, whether it's a few dozen or the whole entire world; I said I'd help you. I don’t give two shits if they come after me because I decided I was going to help a girl, and the world made her an enemy. For me, that’s all the reason I need to help you.)

Deep down, despite his best efforts, she knew that he would never be able to save her. He was nothing more than a mere mortal; he would destroy himself before he ever truly saved her.

That was when she made up her mind.

In a few hours, her body should be fully healed. She made up her mind to leave the teen. Aoi wanted to wait for the teen to return to tell him that she was leaving and to thank him for everything.

She knew that if she left unannounced, he would be foolish enough to look for her.

Aoi looked out the window to the city beyond; it looked peaceful.