Burst: -Swords to the Skies- Page 6

  We returned home after breakfast. I decided to sharpen my Sword of Demise. So, I went to the porch to do it.

  After sharpening it for a while, "Hmm, seems sharp enough for me" I thought. I stood up and put the sword into my scabbard.

  Spica opened the door and asked "Are you ready?", "Yea, are you?" I asked, "I am, let's go" she replied.

  We left the house and entered the forest. It was dark there, we only had the light from the mysterious blue lights.

  "Do you know where the pond is?" I asked.

  "I do. I never knew that the pond is a Syress's pond"

  We walked further into the forest. I followed Spica. We got deeper and deeper into the forest. The deeper we got, the darker it gets.

  "There's light over there" I commented.

  "We should be near"

  The light got brighter as we got closer to the source. The light was blue-ish in color. I felt calm in my heart.

  We eventually saw a small glowing pond. It had those blue lights surrounding it.

  We got closer. There was a splash.

  "Hello, young ones. I'm Friesta, the guardian of this forest. You must be here for my Syress, correct?" asked a voice from the pond.

  "Uh, yes. We are here for the Syress" Spica replied.

  "Very well. In order to get the Syress, you have to complete this task. You have to kill the 'Phantom', it has been troubling the forest for quite some time. It lives in the part of the forest on your right. I don't have much energy. Will you take the task?"

  "Yes" we replied.

  "Very well. Good luck"

  We went to the part on our right. It was darker there, there were no blue lights anymore. It must've been because of the "Phantom".

  "Ssswaaaassssettta!"

  "What was that, Cel?"

  "Ready your weapons!"

  We drew out our swords. We waited for it to come. It was quiet. I walked forward a bit. I couldn't see it. I turned out...

  "Ssswwaaa!"

  "Gaahhh! Arghh!"

  It was behind me, I got startle. I tried to hit it but missed.

  It didn't have a face. It was a humanoid. It wore white armor with the logo that looked like red diamond with a black 'S' on it.

  "Come at me!" I said.

  It stopped running, it looked at me. It charged at me quickly, I blocked its attack. I did "Speed Demon" to hit and chase him. I fell to the ground near Spica.

  She stabbed him in the back as hard as she could. That attack ended the fight. The body shattered revealing a blue light. "Follow me" it said. We just followed it

  The light lead us back to the pond.

  "Splash!!!*"

  A creature emerged from the pond. It was like a fairy, the fairy wore clothes made from leaves.

  "Thank you. I'm Friesta. May I explain, these blue light are spirits. They live here in the forest. The 'Phantom's' presence weakened me with its aura. Thank you so much. Hand me the blade that you wanted power up"

  I drew out the Royal Rapier and handed it to Friesta. Friesta casted something on to it and handed it back. The blade had a faint glow.

  "Thank you, Friesta"

  "It was my pleasure. Thank you and Good bye..."

  Friesta disappeared into the pond.

  "One down! Two more to go!" said Spica cheerfully.

  "Let's head home!" she added.

  "Let's go"

  We headed home. We chatted along the way there.

  At home, I asked "Are we going to Afriasta tomorrow?", "Yea, we'll go in the afternoon. We should arrive in the evening" she replied. "Ok"

  Sylus 7: Village

  "Ahh!"

  I heard a quiet scream in my sleep.

  "Ow! Ahh... That hurts..."

  Talking... I heard the voice again.

  I opened my eyes. I saw that same ceiling. I looked to my right. Spica wasn't there.

  "Ah!"

  I heard the voice again. It wasn't a dream, it was real. It sounded like Spica's voice. The voice came from the kitchen, there were sounds of frying there too.

  I got up and went to the kitchen to see what was happening there. In the kitchen, I saw Spica frying something.

  "Ah! You're awake! Morning!"

  "Morning. Cooking something?"

  "Yea! I decided to cook for breakfast this time!"

  "K"

  The hot oil splattered, some of it hit Spica's hand.

  "Ahh! Ouch! Hot! Hot! Hot!"

  "Haha, that's cute"

  "Stop it!"

  She said she wasn't a good cook. I wonder why was she cooking breakfast. She couldn't bare the pain of hot oil splattering on her.

  "Thanks for the meal!" I said thanking her for the meal, "No problem... I'm not a good cook" said Spica.

  "Why did you want to cook today?"

  "I just wanted to give some cooperation... You were doing most of fighting in the forest. I wanted to do more to help out..."

  "You were a big help! You gave me clothes, helped me in earning money, led me to places... You're so helpful!"

  "K... Just eat..."

  She was digging in to her dish. She ate quite quickly. I started to eat mine.

  She cooked some fried Coocoo's and some vegetables. She also cooked some baked potatoes.

  I looked at her hands. They had burn marks from frying the Coocoo's. I felt sympathy for her.

  The taste may not be perfect but it has something that the restaurant doesn't have. The feeling...

  At noon, we decided to leave for the village. We packed our stuff and left the home.

  "This would be a long walk..." I said.

  "Yup..."

  In the evening, we arrived before it became completely dark. The daytime here is always dark like the sunset in Cielo. The night was as dark as it could be.

  "Thank you for letting us stay" said Spica.

  "You two did help us by killing those dreaded wolves... Its the least we can do!"

  We stayed in the village for the night. We shared a room in one of the homes.

  "We'll head to Afriasta tomorrow at noon. It should be a short walk" said Spica.

  "Ok, we better get some sleep"

  "K, good night"

  "Sweet dreams"

  Sylus 8: Cultists

  "Arghh! Aop!!!"

  I heard weird sounds.

  "Huptsha Uptashaa! Alleup!"

  It sounded like chanting.

  "Summa Lumma Dumma Lummahh!!!"

  I was awaken at midnight by those sounds.

  "Sylus! Laacrudest! Sylus! Laacrudest!"

  "Sylus?! What's all this about?!" I wondered.

  "Sylus! Mah, Sylus! Vah Iehgh Ayrus Gah Mokhttqiuawaa!"

  "What the heck are they saying?" I wondered.

  I sat up to look through the window. I saw the villagers dancing around a bondfire.

  "Oof!"

  I got pulled down. It was Spica.

  "Don't let them see you... They're in the middle of a ritual or something. They're part of the Sylus cult"

  "Oh, do you normally hear this?"

  "You'll hear it if you live in places like villages, towns or cities"

  "Oh, so we won't hear it from your house?"

  "Yes, I hate these rituals. I live far away from any town or village. So, I won't hear them"

  "Are you planning on destroying the cult or something?"

  "I wish I could... But I'm not brave enough"

  "Don't worry, we'll destroy them together"

  "Thank you... Umm, can you fall asleep?"

  "No, they are so loud..."

  "You should just ignore it"

  "But-"

  Spica closed my eyes. I could hear her whispering to me "You couldn't hear them anymore...".

  "Astaa Van.. La...Fa.......... Hash..."

  I couldn't hear the chanting as clearly as before. I could only hear some words...

  "..."

  It was quiet. There was no sound to hear.

  Spica stopped closing my ears and whispered "Hurry! Act like you're sleeping! They finished they're ritual!"

  I quickly acted like I as sleeping. I closed my eyes tightly.

  "Bang!"*

  I heard the sound of the door opening.

  "They're asleep. How does that girl not mind sleeping with a man?"

  "I don't know. Maybe they... Well, you know"

  "Whatever"

  "Bang!"*

  The door closed.

  "They got the wrong idea..."

  I heard Spica whispering quietly.

  "How do you know all of these things?" I asked in a very quiet voice.

  "Its the way to survive in a world filled with Sylus cultists..."

  "Oh..."

  "Good night..."

  "Yea, good night..."

  Sylus 9: Afriasta

  "Wake up"

  I heard someone waking me up.

  "Cel! Wake up!"

  I was so tired. I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted to that night.

  "Come on! We'll go to Afriasta this afternoon!"

  I opened my eyes and saw Spica waking me up.

  "Good. Get dressed and come to the dining table for breakfast"

  She left the room. I got up and washed my face. After that, I got dressed.

  At dining table, we were served food by the villagers who live in the house.

  "Thanks for the food!"

  "No problem! It our treat!"

  After we ate breakfast, we got ready to go Afriasta. We bid farewell to the villagers and headed off the the waterfalls.

  "We should get there in an hour or so" said Spica.

  "That's not that far"

  We eventually arrived at Afriasta Waterfalls.

  "Burshhhh*"

  The waterfalls were loud. The water was moving rapidly. It hit the riverbanks with a powerful splash!

  There was a pond near the waterfalls. It was somewhat connected to the falls. The water came from the falls anyway.

  We approached the pond. We heard a voice of the guardian.

  "Hi! My name is Afriasta, guardian of the falls. I guess you two came here for my Syress"

  "Yes, we came here for the Syress" replied Spica.

  "Please complete this task. You shall search for the four parts to my ball. The parts aren't scattered that far from here. So don't have to search far"

  "Ok" Spica replied.

  "Good luck, young adventurers"

  I looked around searching for a part of the ball. I saw something glowing in the trees next to the waterfalls.

  "I think I see something"

  "Where?"

  "Over there. It seems to be it" I said pointing towards the glowing thing.

  "Let's check it out" I added.

  We walked to the tree. I looked up to see what it was.

  "This is it!" I said.

  "I'll climb up to get it" said Spica.

  She climbed up the tree easily. She was quite an athletic girl.

  "Oof! Here!"

  She jumped down and gave me the part.

  "Ok, where's the other three?" I asked.

  We looked around. I was searching for something that was glowing. It should have been easy to find because the world was quite dark.

  I looked at the treetops, I saw a faint glow from the tree on the other side of the waterfalls.

  "That's one!" I said pointing at the tree.

  "I also see another one on the other side, its on the ground" she said pointing at the one she found.

  "Let's cross"

  She answered with a nod and an "Mm".

  We crossed to the other side by walking on rocks in the rushing river. It was dangerous.

  "Be careful" I advised.

  "Yea"

  We eventually crossed to the other side. I was relieved.

  "I'll get this one! You should go and take the one on the ground!"

  "Ok!"

  She climbed up the tree to get that part. I ran down to get the other.

  "Here!"

  We put the pieces together. There was only one more piece remaining.

  "The last one..." I said as I scanned the area.

  There was one on the vine above the waterfalls. It seemed impossible to do because there was no over vine. The vine was out of reach.

  I never revealed my wings to her yet. I didn't want her to think that I'm so much different than her. I also wanted to do things how she does it.

  "There! But it seems impossible..." said Spica.

  "Spica, let me carry you"

  "Huh?! What?! Why?!"

  Her face turned red. She didn't seem to want to get carried because it was something embarrassing.

  "I'll show you"

  "O-o...k..."

  She got into my arms. Her face was red like a tomato. I opened my wings and flew to the vine.

  "Huh?! We're flying?!"

  "Grab it!"

  "K"

  She grabbed the part and we flew back down.

  "Why didn't you tell me that you can fly?!"

  "I didn't want you to think I'm so much different from you..."

  "Its fine... You're a... Knight anyway..."

  "You're face seems to be having a hard time controlling itself"

  "Stop!"

  "Hahaha"

  "Just take this and get it over with!"

  I pieced the ball together. We went to the pond, the guardian emerged from the water.

  "Well done! Give me the weapon that you want to power up"

  I drew out the Royal Rapier.

  "Here"

  She blew the Syress into it. Making it glow brighter. She gave it back

  "Thank you"

  "You're the first person in a long time to come and ask for my Syress. Congratulations"

  "Thank you"

  The guardian disappeared.

  "Let's go back to the village" I suggested.

  "Yea, its getting late"

  We headed back to the village and slept there the night. It was a peaceful and rewarding night.

  Sylus 10: Zyryax

  "Wakey wakey!"

  "Dinner's ready!"

  "Sweet Dreams!"

  "I won't leave you"

  These dreams... Both make me happy and sad...

  I was happy to see her, hear her again. But it makes me sad because I couldn't feel it in real life. The cruel reality...

  "I'll protect you"

  That promise... I felt guilty for not being able to do it.

  "I'll save you"

  "That's what I promise you now"

  "..."

  "W..."

  "Cel..."

  I heard faint voices. They weren't clear. I guessed that it was Spica waking me up.

  "Cel! Wake up!"

  I guessed correctly. I opened my eyes and saw Spica next to me. She was still wearing her sleeping gown.

  "You're awake. I want to show you something"

  "What... Is it?" I asked still mostly asleep. I wasn't sure if I could hear her answer clearly because I was dozing off a bit.

  "I got a map. We're going to Zyryax today and sleep there for a night or so. I think we could go for quests there too. We'll go for Zuryal after that, Zuryal is the closest city to Zuriesta. It is hotter during the day there but extremely cold at night. Especially in Zuriesta, its a desert"