“I think that should do it for now...” Breeze says with a tired sigh as she sits in the control room with Keiji. “Slow going but I’m sure it’ll be fine. I haven’t been to the summit in a while, so who knows how dangerous the travel up the mountain is.”

“The Child of Sorrows has been known to have a fondness of that area. We should be careful,” Keiji replies.

“It’s curious, don’t you think?”

“What is?”

She crosses her arms as she looked down thoughtfully. “Aduro’s been pretty quiet the past few years, but as soon as Kaori came... It feels like he’s become worse. There’s been more frequent attacks from demons everywhere instead of the usual areas.”

“Perhaps it was the calm before the storm. I must admit it was very good timing for Kaori to go to the Lunar Garden before he could get to it.”

“You don’t think he’s planning something, do you?”

“Only time will tell. For now, we just have to keep encouraging Kaori on the path she wishes to take.”

“I hope it works this time. She’ll finally get rid of all of them, and the world will be happy. The only bad thing is she’ll move to live in the palace and get married for real. And if she’s gone who knows if Tai will still be around.”

“That will be up to her. From a conversation I had with him earlier, he doesn’t seem too concerned with much other than the goal ahead of us. He’s even going as far as helping her control her newfound power as we speak.”

“Huh? Really? Where?”

“Down in the lower-level safe room. Hopefully he doesn’t push her too hard.”

❀

Tai walks into a large room of the ship with Kaori right behind him, gesturing for her to move further inside as he closed the door behind them.

“What’s this room?”

“It’s a safe room. It’s resistant to all forms of attack. If the ship goes down this place holds the highest rate of survival.”

“Why here?” She turns to him with curiosity.

He returns her curiosity with a stern expression of his own. “You wanted to do something productive, didn’t you?”

Kaori blushes, her expression nervous.

He walks to the other side of the room, standing at the furthest distance from her. “You haven’t died from gaining the Flame Soul, so now you need to learn how to use it.”

She nods understandably as she realized what he really meant. “Alright.”

“I want you to attack me,” he commands with a firm stance.

Kaori’s eyes widen in surprise, then quickly shakes her head as her voice spoke in hesitance. “I can’t do that.”

“Trust me, you can’t hurt me.”

“Uh... Are you sure?” she asks, her hands fidgeting nervously in front of her.

“Look, doing this is as productive as you’re going to get right now,” he says irritably, looking at her with a raised brow of annoyance. “So just hurry up and do as I say.”

She bites her lower lip, avoiding the irritated gaze that Tai burned into her. “How... How do I do that?”

He sighs hopelessly in frustration. “You really are useless.” He groans, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes.

“Hey...” she mumbles in disagreement at his harsh comment.

He looks at her directly once more. “You have that soul’s power within you. It is meant to faithfully protect you at all costs. All you have to do is ask it to. They give you, and only you, power as long as you trust your safety to them. Get it?”

“I think so?”

“Try attacking me now.”

She nods worriedly and closes her eyes for a moment. “Okay... Flame Soul... I’m asking you please give me your power... But not too much, I don’t want to hurt him.” She looks at her hand as she felt a burning sensation but no pain from it. “Oh...”

“Hurry up!” Tai urges impatiently.

“Okay!” She aims her hand at Tai, a small ball of fire traveling toward him but fading away before it could touch him.

“Really?” he asks looking unimpressed.

“What do you expect for my first time,” she protests with a small pout.

“Fine we’ll try this way.” He stares at Kaori seriously, his expression holding back a sense of confirmation at his own thoughts.

“What way?” She asks nervously, noticing his stern gaze.

His eyes narrow slightly and holds out his hand, palm facing down; the familiar dark purple glyph lighting up below him.

She shakes her head lightly, dread steadily washing over her as she stepped back.

He keeps his gaze fixed on Kaori while dark entities started crawling their way out from the portal opened by the glyph on the ship’s floor, looking as if they were in pain. He lowers his hand as at least three demon-like creatures with deep red eyes stood on all fours at his feet waiting his direction. “Go,” he says darkly, directing them to attack Kaori.

She ducks down, covering her head. “Stop!”

“Fight back!”

She closes her eyes just as the demons had tried to lunge toward her, not realizing that they burst into flames and disintegrated into ash just before they could attack her.

His expression remains firm as he stared at Kaori, watching the creatures’ ashes settle to the floor below and fade away. “Kaori,” he says quietly.

She opens her eyes timidly, looking surprised as she saw it was quiet around her. “Huh?”

“Asking a guardian for help shouldn’t be treated lightly. Without their power you are useless, do you understand?”

She nods lightly, still looking unsure.

“You’re capable of a lot more than you think, so next, I want you to attack me. Seriously.”

“Are you sure?”

“Just do it.”

She sighs deeply, trying to focus herself. “Okay. I can do this.” She opens her eyes suddenly, looking directly at Tai, a large burst of flames appearing around her and shooting their way toward him.

He holds up his hand lightly, the flames avoiding him. “It’s not enough.”

She keeps trying her hardest, attacking Tai as he had instructed, taking his words of advice to heart, and trying again until she collapsed to her knees on her floor, breathing heavily. “I can’t.”

“Aduro isn’t going to stop when you’re tired!” he yells sternly.

She shakes her head lightly. “I’ve done all I can. I’ve reached my limit.”

He glares at her hatefully. “There’s only one way out of this,” he holds two fingers to the floor, several different glyphs lighting up around Kaori.

She feels her body start weighing down on her, feeling as if she were being sucked into whatever portal was being open. “Please stop!”

“Get yourself out of this.”

“I can’t.” She struggles to the best of her ability in an attempt to pull herself up and out of the darkness, feeling helpless as she found that her efforts got her nowhere, a tear of frustration falling down her face as a result. “Why won’t he stop?! He wants to kill me for real!” She manifests a spear of fire and throws it at Tai suddenly, the weight around her subsiding as the spear shot toward Tai.

He moves quickly, yet not quick enough and the fire spear burns the side of his face, leaving a scorched and bleeding mark on his cheek. He touches his face lightly, seeing blood on his hand. “Huh.”

She gets up weakly, only to fall to her knees feebly as she looked at Tai with a combination of exhaustion and anger. “You could have killed me!” she screams wearily.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Calm down, it wasn’t real,” he replies, seeming annoyed by her tone.

Her expression softens, now seeming curious above all else. “Wasn’t real?” she asks quietly.

“Do you really think I’d hurt you like that?” he asks, irritated at the thought of her accusation.

“But... I... I felt the floor...”

“I thought Breeze explained this to you already.”

“It was an illusion?”

“You really are incredibly stupid.”

“Am not...” she mumbles to herself, suddenly noticing his bleeding face, becoming instantly worried. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” she says apologetically. “Is there something I can do to help you?”

He shakes his head in silence as a response, taking a familiar vial from his pocket and drinking from it.

She rubs her face with a soft, though firm, touch, trying to regain her composure, still feeling tired as the silence between them weighed heavily on her until she finally decided to delicately break the tension. “I’m thankful for your help. I’m sorry I was complaining,” she says quietly.

“Don’t worry about it,” he responds dryly.

“You’ve really done more for me than I could ask for... I’m truly grateful.” She sighs a little at his lack of response toward her attempts at conversation. “You don’t care much for me do you?” she asks while sitting down.

“Not really...”

“Then why go through the trouble of helping me?”

“Gets you off this ship faster,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders.

“That’s such a hurtful thing to say,” she says quietly.

“I’m not here to be nice to you,” he retorts, glancing down at her as he noticed her dejected attitude, causing him to roll his eyes in defeat. “You know, the illusions I create are from my own mind,” he says suddenly with a sigh in his voice, intentionally changing the subject. “It’ll be different when you encounter the woman of deceit.”

“How so?”

“Because the reality she creates will be from your own mind. She will take your memories, your hopes, and fears and turn it into a twisted reality right before you.”

“I see. Wait, so what just happened that was like a memory?”

“Something like that.”

Her eyes widen with innocent interest, looking as if something just came to mind. “You have good memories too right? I mean you have to don’t you?”

“Why?”

She stands suddenly, rushing to Tai to look at him directly with hopeful eyes. “Could you show me what Noroc used to look like before?” she asks with interest.

He steps back and away from her unnervingly. “Why would you want to see something like that?”

“Who knows what will happen at the end of all of this. Besides, it would be nice to know what I’m trying to bring back.”

“No,” he says flatly, turning away from her.

“Why not?” she asks with a hint of a childish whine in her voice.

“You haven’t earned that privilege yet.”

“Well how do I do that?” she asks eagerly.

“Figure things out for yourself,” he replies dismissively.

She sighs silently and looks down in disappointment, keeping silent until she remembered something. “I wanted to tell you earlier that I appreciate what you said. You know, back at the gorge.”

Tai keeps his eyes averted from her, listening to her speak with sincere gratitude lingering in her gentle voice.

“I think that if you hadn’t have ever said that I... Wouldn’t have known it,” she nods subtly to herself, as if confirming it to herself.

“You really do hold more power than you’ll ever know,” he says after a while. “And as long as you walk this earth there will always be people who will want to control you. You just have to have the courage to speak up for yourself.”

“Do you think the Emperor wants to control me as well?”

His eyes narrow as if an irritating thought crossed his mind. “I’ve known him long enough to understand his true character. You can feel at ease knowing that he really does care for you.”

“Oh.” She looks down worriedly.

“You made the choice. You’ll probably grow to love someone like him. He’s the type who would be genuine with someone he cares about.”

“Were you two ever close?” She asks curiously.

“I worked for his grandfather as soon as he took the throne as a hired mercenary.”

She looks at him with a surprised expression. “A mercenary?”

“I was hired to ensure the security of the throne at all costs be it outside or with in the walls of his palace. I remained there under his rule, then his son’s rule until Soujirou reached the age of ten.”

“So, you knew the Emperor as a child... What was he like?”

“Just as he is now. His head in the clouds and naive to a fault,” he says carelessly. “A man of kindness and understanding, far from those before him.”

“Do you hate him?”

He looks down for a moment, taking in her question before he shrugged discourteously. “I don’t care for him much in particular. His life is of no value to me.”

“That’s such a cold way to feel toward someone...”

“That’s how the world works, get used to it.”

“You can’t be a little nicer?”

He turns and looks at her vacantly. “No.”

“Hm...” She raises an eyebrow lightly before starting to leave, her legs suddenly feeling weak and giving out from under her and falling down on her hands and knees. “Uh-.” She looks up as she saw Tai’s hand being held out to help her up.

“You okay?”

She looks at his hand for a moment then up at him, seeing someone slightly different that she didn’t know for a split second, with light brown hair and a hint of kindness in his eyes. “Um...”

“You worry too much about stupid things,” he says with a sigh as he helped her up, unintentionally holding onto her to keep her from falling again. He catches sight of her eyes, seeing the glowing golden ring around the soft brown color, his expression seeming slightly entranced by it.

“I think I can stand now, it’s okay,” she says looking away swiftly, trying to regain her balance.

He looks down at her, his expression in deep thought as he shook his head. “It’s fine...” he says quietly.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” she responds in a nervous whisper, looking up at him worriedly.

“It’s not your fault that it does.”

“But if I can keep you from hurting then–” She falls silent as Tai picked her up in his arms with ease without saying a word. “H- Hey!”

He carries her silently out of the room and back to his bedroom, laying her gently on the bed and turning away from her.

“Wait I—”

“Breeze said we should be there by tomorrow,” he says in a harsh tone, cutting her off. “Be ready to visit the Shrine in the area,” he walks out of his room, slamming the door behind him, leaving Kaori alone.

She stares at the door worriedly, then moves to hug her knees and puts her head down looking confused and dejected.

❀

Tai walks down the hall, stopping as Keiji stood in front of him.

“Eventful?” Keiji asks, his perceptive tone clear as day.

He glares at Keiji with harsh suspicion.

“I’m sure she’s very tired.”

“I’ll meet you at Aura Lake.”

“Leaving so soon?”

“No one needs me here right?” he asks rhetorically, pushing past Keiji lightly.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,” he says quietly.

“We all have our reasons for being the way we are,” he says seriously, stopping at the sound of Keiji’s voice. “And it would be a good idea for you not to try and change people.”

He smiles a little to himself. “If you say so.” He hears Tai walking away, then looks at the door leading to Tai’s room, his eyes holding a glint of playfulness.

❀

Akiko and Shomei stand at the edge of the Lunar Garden, her looking more saddened than Shomei as the light faded from each of the flowers slowly. “How is this possible?” she asks Shomei with a desperate look in her eyes.

“He may be getting stronger.”

“How is he able to do such a thing?

“There’s no use questioning something we have no answer for. You should get some rest while you still can.”

She shakes her head seriously, determination spread across her face despite the sadness in her eyes. “No. We have to go to the Sacred City. We need to help him.”

“Kaori...”

“They’re going to kill him!”

“You didn’t think it would happen in the end anyway?” Shomei replies sympathetically.

She looks at Shomei with tear filled eyes. “I need to save him... If I lost Vicious... I...” She covers her face with both hands as Shomei embraced her lovingly.

“It’s alright...” she says softly, holding Akiko securely, a defeated sigh escaping her as Akiko cried in her arms. “If this is something you truly believe in... I’ll be here to support you.”

She moves away slowly. “Thank you.”

“You do know what this means though right?”

She looks down with a solemn expression then turns around as she heard Tai’s familiar voice behind her.

“Don’t...” he says pleadingly as he shook his head.

“Taiichiro.” Akiko looks at him sadly, tears still falling down her face.

He looks at her desperately. “Please...”

❀

Breeze knocks on Tai’s room door lightly, looking worried. “Kaori... Are you awake yet?” She frowns lightly before placing a hand on the door. “I’m coming in okay?” She opens the door carefully and looks in seeing Kaori still asleep on Tai’s bed, her face looking near tears. “Oh...” She goes and reaches out to touch Kaori lightly, taking a step back as she heard Kaori moan softly before she had spoken quietly.

“I can’t...” Kaori mumbles sadly in her sleep.

She frowns lightly then places her hand gently on Kaori’s shoulder. “Kaori...” she says worriedly.

Kaori opens her eyes slowly and looks up at Breeze tiredly as she sat up. “Breeze?” she asks groggily.

Breeze smiles through her worry. “Hey, sorry to bother you. I just came to see if you were alright. We thought you’d come down a while ago and were getting worried that you didn’t.”

She touches her head lightly, her hair falling between her fingers. “Oh sorry... I guess I’m still a little tired from last night.”

“I heard you and Tai were hanging out last night. Anything eventful happen?” she asks looking interested, in an attempt to make the atmosphere in the room a bit more cheerful.

“I was getting some help on how to use the flame soul. It was a bit more tiring than I had expected it to be.”

“Talk about anything interesting?” she says with wide eyes focusing on Kaori and a kind smile.

“I think I made him mad again... It’s every time I tell him I don’t want to hurt him that he seems upset with me...” she says regretfully, feeling remorse from her actions toward Tai the night prior.

She goes and sits next to Kaori lightly as she shook her head. “No, honey it’s not entirely what you said that makes him upset.”

“It’s not?”

“It’s just that... He doesn’t feel like he deserves to hear it from you,” she says softly, almost with hesitance. “Tai is harder on himself than he is toward anyone else. After Akiko died he pretty much felt like he should just give up on ever being forgiven by the gods. He feels he doesn’t deserve it anymore, even after all the efforts he’s put forth.”

She shakes her head a little. “That’s not right...” she whispers quietly. “What he did happened a long time ago. Whether he intended on it or not he shouldn’t have to be punished for so long.”

“Well... No matter what the reason it’s still considered as sacrilege.”

She groans softly in disagreement with the fact. “I guess that means there is no longer any way to help him.”

She looks down thoughtfully. “Who knows anymore...” She shakes her head of the thought and stands up. “Anyway, he’ll be meeting us down at Aura lake. It’s not much of a walk but it’s a good point to meet.”

“What’s Aura Lake?” she asks standing up as well.

“It’s where the tears of the gods are,” she says simply. “It’s in the center of Crystal forest. C’mon, I’ll explain more on the way.”