Felly
06-20-2015, 11:35 PM
It was a beautiful day in Elemental City. The sun was shining, and the people were cheery. It was as if a fairy had sprinkled happiness over the city. Children went out and played around the fountain in the center of the city, and others just gathered there as a relief from the summer heat.
I took solace on the edge of the fountain with a book in hand. I was focused on my book, not bothered by the children laughing or the other citizens of the city that were gathered around me and socializing with their friends. My silver hair was tied up into a pony tail. I preferred that style greatly as it kept my long hair out of my way in battle and when I was doing every day tasks. It was very rare that I, Kumiko Mirakala, would wear my hair down.
A girl with red hair ran up to me. "Kumiko-chaaaaaaaan! Kumiko-chan!"
"What?" I replied without looking up from my reading. "What have you done this time?"
The girl, whose name was Flame Pegasus, frowned. "I don't always get into trouble, you know."
"Alright, well, what is it then?" I asked. I still hadn't bothered to look up from my book.
"The Elder wants to see us. Me and you," Flame said.
That got my attention. I closed my book. "The Elder? Why?"
"Dunno. He just said important business," Flame replied. "Come on, let's go."
*****
Flame and I weren't the only ones summoned to the Elder's office today. A tall brunette man and a shorter blonde were also there. They were both young, though slightly older than Flame and I. The brunette's name was Corbin Zacharias, and his blonde friend's name was Keyon Harbinger. The four of us have been friends for years, having grown up together here in the city.
"Thank you all for coming," the Elder said. "I have a mission for you four specifically, the best four we have here in Elemental City."
"Well, this is going to be a dangerous one," Flame commented.
"Quiet, Flame," the Elder snapped. Flame made a motion as if she was zipping her lips shut, and the Elder continued. "Now then, as I was saying, I've chosen you four for this mission because you're the best we've got here in Elemental City. There's a special crystal in danger called Crystalis. This crystal has the power to grant any wish you desire or to destroy the world as we know it. If a wish is made, however, it'll disappear for four years."
"And you want us to protect it, got it," Flame said. "Easy peasy."
"There are dangerous forces out there," the Elder said. "You can leave tomorrow morning. You'll be traveling to Harsader Town, and the crystal is beyond there. You won't be able to fly within the barrier, however, so beware of that."
"Understood," we said, and then we left to prepare for our mission.
*****
We did indeed leave the following morning. It took us a few days to reach Harsader, but we stopped in Nara Village to rest and recuperate from our first leg of a long journey. Once we'd arrived in Harsader Town, we spent an evening resting and preparing for what would be coming. We had no idea of the evil forces that awaited us at the crystal, so it was best to be prepared than to be unprepared.
"This is... weird," I said quietly as we approached the crystal's shrine. I scanned the area with my purple eyes and saw nothing but trees surrounding us in the clearing. "No one's here. It's just us."
"Well, I doubt the Elder's pulling our leg, Kumiko-chan," Flame said.
"I know that," I snapped, turning to Flame. When I spoke again, my voice was less rude. "It's just weird. The Elder said there would be danger here, yet there's no one."
"Then let's just grab the crystal, make a wish, and go home," Flame said as she approached the shrine. "I wanna go home and fill up at the ramen stand. The ramen stands in Nara Village and in Harsader Town are nothing compared to the one back one."
I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Flame to be more concerned about food than the task at hand. Boy, would I be glad to get back home and avoid her again. I love the girl to death, and she's my closest friend, but still. Get your mind off food every once in a while.
"Flame, watch out!" Keyon called, rushing forward to push Flame away from the crystal. He tackle dived her and they rolled; a tree stopped their momentum.
I glanced around. Danger had come at last.
"I am Kashiyo," a robotic voice said.
I froze.
Kashiyo? No, I couldn't have heard that name. I was hearing things. Definitely hearing things.
"I am Kashiyo Mirakala," the voice said again.
I could feel the tears welling in my eyes as I scanned the area once more. Where was this voice coming from?
A mechanical person emerged from the trees. His body was made up of several dark metallic plates, though his hair stood out as it was made from silver plates. His eyes stood out too; they were green crystals. In his hand was a blade that had seen its fair share of battles.
"That's... that's Kashiyo's sword," I breathed. I had to force the words out of my mouth.
"That looks just like Kashiyo," Corbin said, frowning a bit.
Kashiyo was my older brother. He too had silver hair, but he'd inherited our father's green eyes. His sword, which he called Ignite, was made of steel, but it had an orange tint to it to make it look firey. It was a heavy sword, but Kashiyo was a skilled sword fighter. The weight of the sword never hindered him once he got used to the blade. I tried to lift it once, but I couldn't. It was much too heavy for me unless I used magic to help me out, but it never seemed to bother him.
He died two years ago on a mission. He and several others had left the city to go stop evil forces from entering an allied city that had been in a war at the time. While the evil forces had been stopped, my brother and a few others had died in the battle. His body had been recovered for a proper burial back home, but they never found his sword. It wasn't with his body when they recovered it. Even if those recovering the bodies hadn't been able to pick up the sword themselves, they would've found a way to bring it home.
But yet... the sword was here, in this robot's hand. Had these been the evil forces that my brother had faced? Were these the people that took my brother's sword?
Regardless, I was determined to get it back. My brother would've wanted that sword buried with him, and I was going to get it and honor that wish.
"Kumiko, watch out!" Flame shouted. I didn't have time to react as I was shoved to the ground by the robot. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn't realized I was leaving Flame, Corbin, and Keyon to fight alone. Now I was pinned to the ground by the robot and unable to move my arms to cast a spell and get him off me.
"Don't let them kill me, Kumiko," the robot said. Even his voice sounded like Kashiyo's. "You wouldn't let them kill me, would you?"
"Get off of her!" Corbin roared, and then the robot was tackled from the side by him. The three of us rolled into a tree, and thankfully it was the robot that had crashed into it. He let go of me in that moment, and Corbin quickly grabbed me and pulled me away.
"It... it sounds like him," I said. "It sounds like him and it looks like him."
"But it's not him," Corbin replied. His voice was harsher than usual. He was always so kind and patient with me, even when I was emotional like this. "It's not him, and you know it. You have to fight."
"I... I know," I replied. I was still hesitant though. Kashiyo and I fought, sure. What brother and sister wouldn't? We never wanted to kill each other though... well, okay, maybe one time when I was twelve and he embarassed me in front of Corbin, but I would've never gone through with it. Today... today, I'd have to go through with it. I could never do that.
"Kumiko!" the robot yelled. I looked to the fight, and it had Flame pinned down now. The robot had taken considerable damage, but it was still fighting.
"Kumiko-chan, do something!" Flame shouted. "You have to do something!"
My hands trembled as I held my hands together to charge up a fire ball. When I launched it, I missed and hit Keyon, who had been rushing in to tackle the robot off of Flame.
"Get it together!" Keyon snapped at me. He'd used water magic to put out the flames from my fire ball, but his glare at me made me flinch. I felt so useless.
The robot was ultimately knocked off of Flame with a burst of water magic from Keyon. Flame was able to grab her katana that had been knocked away when she was tackled, but she came over to me and grabbed my shoulders.
"Keyon's right, Kumiko-chan," Flame said, shaking me. "Get your **** together and fight. That's not Kashiyo, you know that. We're going to end up dying if you don't help us!"
"But..." I started, but Flame slapped a hand over my mouth.
"No buts," Flame said. "Fight."
I had to admit, the girl knew how to be serious when she had to be. It was a little scary, to be honest. Still though, she was right, I had to fight... but that was my brother.
Flame didn't bother to check and see if I was actually fighting. She'd jumped back into the fray with Corbin and Keyon to fight the robotic Kashiyo. I sent out the occasional healing spell to my friends, but they were weak. My magic overall was weaker today. Keyon hadn't even looked bothered by my fire ball earlier, just surprised that it had hit him in the first place. If that was a true fire ball, it would've hurt.
"Kumiko, why?" the robot whined as one of my fire balls finally came into contact. Many of them had missed, and Keyon had spent much of the time glaring at me and using water to put out the small fires that had been caused by my fire balls before they got worse. The robot spoke again. "Kumiko, why are you hurting me? You never used to be like this."
He sounded weaker. The battle had taken its toll on the robot, and my friends were suffering as well. I was the only one healthy enough to continue fighting. Turns out even technology got weak though. Why else would Kashiyo... no, this robot, sound weaker?
"I... I don't mean to," I replied. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize!" Corbin shouted. "For ****'s sake, Kumiko, it's not him."
"I know that!" I shouted back. "I know!"
"Then why do you keep acting like it is?" Corbin shouted.
"Tell me you wouldn't act the same way!" I shouted. "It hurts! Just because it's not really him doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!"
Corbin groaned and shook his head. He turned to Flame. "We need to end this. Kumiko or not, we need to end this and make a wish with Crystalis so it goes away for four years. That's the only way we're truly going to be able to protect it."
"Right," Flame said, nodding. She readied her sword and rushed towards the tired robot. Before he could even react, she plunged the sword into his metallic body.
"No!" I screamed, falling to my knees. "No!"
The robot's sword fell to the ground, and once Flame's sword was removed from his metallic body, the robot itself fell to the ground. The life that had once been in its green crystal eyes had faded away. Flame put her sword away in its sheath and turned to me to speak. "I'm sorry, Kumiko-chan, but we had to. It was the only way that we could stop him."
I only shook her head and closed my eyes. I couldn't believe this. She'd just killed it, just like that. I have no problems with killing people; I've had to do it before on missions myself. But Kashiyo? Why? How could she have killed him? They were friends, and she killed him... why?
Some time had passed, though I'm not really sure much since I was too busy crying and being lost in my own thoughts to care, but I felt myself being picked up. I looked long enough to see that it was Corbin carrying me, and I just clinged to him and buried my face into his shirt. I hadn't bothered to see if Kashiyo's sword had been picked up or not. That didn't matter to me anymore. They probably didn't pick it up though. Why would they? They'd just killed him after all. Our mission was over, and in the morning, we'd make the return trip back home.
*****
I fell asleep at some point because the next thing I knew, I was in my room at the inn in Harsader Village. I got up and took a step outside onto the balcony, and then I teleported myself to the roof, where I sat and looked at the stars.
"Kumiko-chan," Corbin said. I didn't make any motion to look at him. No one was up here when I teleported up here, so I guess he'd just come along. Maybe he was just going into my room to check on me. I didn't really care. "Kumiko-chan, look at me."
He didn't sound as harsh as he did earlier. He sounded more like he usually did when he spoke to me - kind, calm, patient. I patted the roof next to me, and he came and sat beside me. He pulled me close, and I just sort of clinged to him again.
"I'm sorry about earlier," he said softly. I just shook my head. I didn't want to speak, but he still continued. "I should've known that it was bothering you that it looked and sounded like him, but I didn't think anything of it. I was more worried about the mission than I was you."
I shook my head again.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked, his voice quiet.
"No," I replied softly.
"Alright," he replied. He gave me a bit of a nudge, and I looked up at him.
"Did you get his sword?" I asked. Maybe they had grabbed it after all.
"Flame and Keyon carried it," he said. "It's in their room. Flame figured you would've wanted to leave it with your brother, so we went back to get it."
I was glad they'd picked up the sword, even if they had gone back for it.
"What happened with Crystalis?" I asked. I hadn't been paying much attention to my surroundings after the robotic version of my brother had been killed.
"Flame made a wish with it," Corbin replied. I could hear the annoyance in his voice, though I wasn't sure if it was because she made a wish and he wanted the crystal to make a wish of his own or if she'd done something incredibly stupid. "Keyon and I didn't care about the crystal, and we didn't think you would want it, so we just sorta... gave it to Flame. She made a stupid wish, something about midgets ruling the world for the next four years."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Leave it to Flame to bring stupidity to a serious situation. Still, at least Crystalis was safe for the next four years, or hopefully longer than that, even if it was saved because of a stupid wish.
"You know, the ones that love us never really leave us, Kumiko-chan. Kashiyo's always been with you. He's in your heart and your memories. He's never going to truly leave you alone," Corbin said, breaking the momentary silence between us.
I nodded. Corbin did have a point. Even though Kashiyo had died two years ago, he was never really gone in the first place. I still had my memories of him, and I'd never lose those. I'd never really lose Kashiyo either. A bit of a smile made its way onto my face. Everything would be alright after all.
Mission complete.
I took solace on the edge of the fountain with a book in hand. I was focused on my book, not bothered by the children laughing or the other citizens of the city that were gathered around me and socializing with their friends. My silver hair was tied up into a pony tail. I preferred that style greatly as it kept my long hair out of my way in battle and when I was doing every day tasks. It was very rare that I, Kumiko Mirakala, would wear my hair down.
A girl with red hair ran up to me. "Kumiko-chaaaaaaaan! Kumiko-chan!"
"What?" I replied without looking up from my reading. "What have you done this time?"
The girl, whose name was Flame Pegasus, frowned. "I don't always get into trouble, you know."
"Alright, well, what is it then?" I asked. I still hadn't bothered to look up from my book.
"The Elder wants to see us. Me and you," Flame said.
That got my attention. I closed my book. "The Elder? Why?"
"Dunno. He just said important business," Flame replied. "Come on, let's go."
*****
Flame and I weren't the only ones summoned to the Elder's office today. A tall brunette man and a shorter blonde were also there. They were both young, though slightly older than Flame and I. The brunette's name was Corbin Zacharias, and his blonde friend's name was Keyon Harbinger. The four of us have been friends for years, having grown up together here in the city.
"Thank you all for coming," the Elder said. "I have a mission for you four specifically, the best four we have here in Elemental City."
"Well, this is going to be a dangerous one," Flame commented.
"Quiet, Flame," the Elder snapped. Flame made a motion as if she was zipping her lips shut, and the Elder continued. "Now then, as I was saying, I've chosen you four for this mission because you're the best we've got here in Elemental City. There's a special crystal in danger called Crystalis. This crystal has the power to grant any wish you desire or to destroy the world as we know it. If a wish is made, however, it'll disappear for four years."
"And you want us to protect it, got it," Flame said. "Easy peasy."
"There are dangerous forces out there," the Elder said. "You can leave tomorrow morning. You'll be traveling to Harsader Town, and the crystal is beyond there. You won't be able to fly within the barrier, however, so beware of that."
"Understood," we said, and then we left to prepare for our mission.
*****
We did indeed leave the following morning. It took us a few days to reach Harsader, but we stopped in Nara Village to rest and recuperate from our first leg of a long journey. Once we'd arrived in Harsader Town, we spent an evening resting and preparing for what would be coming. We had no idea of the evil forces that awaited us at the crystal, so it was best to be prepared than to be unprepared.
"This is... weird," I said quietly as we approached the crystal's shrine. I scanned the area with my purple eyes and saw nothing but trees surrounding us in the clearing. "No one's here. It's just us."
"Well, I doubt the Elder's pulling our leg, Kumiko-chan," Flame said.
"I know that," I snapped, turning to Flame. When I spoke again, my voice was less rude. "It's just weird. The Elder said there would be danger here, yet there's no one."
"Then let's just grab the crystal, make a wish, and go home," Flame said as she approached the shrine. "I wanna go home and fill up at the ramen stand. The ramen stands in Nara Village and in Harsader Town are nothing compared to the one back one."
I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Flame to be more concerned about food than the task at hand. Boy, would I be glad to get back home and avoid her again. I love the girl to death, and she's my closest friend, but still. Get your mind off food every once in a while.
"Flame, watch out!" Keyon called, rushing forward to push Flame away from the crystal. He tackle dived her and they rolled; a tree stopped their momentum.
I glanced around. Danger had come at last.
"I am Kashiyo," a robotic voice said.
I froze.
Kashiyo? No, I couldn't have heard that name. I was hearing things. Definitely hearing things.
"I am Kashiyo Mirakala," the voice said again.
I could feel the tears welling in my eyes as I scanned the area once more. Where was this voice coming from?
A mechanical person emerged from the trees. His body was made up of several dark metallic plates, though his hair stood out as it was made from silver plates. His eyes stood out too; they were green crystals. In his hand was a blade that had seen its fair share of battles.
"That's... that's Kashiyo's sword," I breathed. I had to force the words out of my mouth.
"That looks just like Kashiyo," Corbin said, frowning a bit.
Kashiyo was my older brother. He too had silver hair, but he'd inherited our father's green eyes. His sword, which he called Ignite, was made of steel, but it had an orange tint to it to make it look firey. It was a heavy sword, but Kashiyo was a skilled sword fighter. The weight of the sword never hindered him once he got used to the blade. I tried to lift it once, but I couldn't. It was much too heavy for me unless I used magic to help me out, but it never seemed to bother him.
He died two years ago on a mission. He and several others had left the city to go stop evil forces from entering an allied city that had been in a war at the time. While the evil forces had been stopped, my brother and a few others had died in the battle. His body had been recovered for a proper burial back home, but they never found his sword. It wasn't with his body when they recovered it. Even if those recovering the bodies hadn't been able to pick up the sword themselves, they would've found a way to bring it home.
But yet... the sword was here, in this robot's hand. Had these been the evil forces that my brother had faced? Were these the people that took my brother's sword?
Regardless, I was determined to get it back. My brother would've wanted that sword buried with him, and I was going to get it and honor that wish.
"Kumiko, watch out!" Flame shouted. I didn't have time to react as I was shoved to the ground by the robot. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn't realized I was leaving Flame, Corbin, and Keyon to fight alone. Now I was pinned to the ground by the robot and unable to move my arms to cast a spell and get him off me.
"Don't let them kill me, Kumiko," the robot said. Even his voice sounded like Kashiyo's. "You wouldn't let them kill me, would you?"
"Get off of her!" Corbin roared, and then the robot was tackled from the side by him. The three of us rolled into a tree, and thankfully it was the robot that had crashed into it. He let go of me in that moment, and Corbin quickly grabbed me and pulled me away.
"It... it sounds like him," I said. "It sounds like him and it looks like him."
"But it's not him," Corbin replied. His voice was harsher than usual. He was always so kind and patient with me, even when I was emotional like this. "It's not him, and you know it. You have to fight."
"I... I know," I replied. I was still hesitant though. Kashiyo and I fought, sure. What brother and sister wouldn't? We never wanted to kill each other though... well, okay, maybe one time when I was twelve and he embarassed me in front of Corbin, but I would've never gone through with it. Today... today, I'd have to go through with it. I could never do that.
"Kumiko!" the robot yelled. I looked to the fight, and it had Flame pinned down now. The robot had taken considerable damage, but it was still fighting.
"Kumiko-chan, do something!" Flame shouted. "You have to do something!"
My hands trembled as I held my hands together to charge up a fire ball. When I launched it, I missed and hit Keyon, who had been rushing in to tackle the robot off of Flame.
"Get it together!" Keyon snapped at me. He'd used water magic to put out the flames from my fire ball, but his glare at me made me flinch. I felt so useless.
The robot was ultimately knocked off of Flame with a burst of water magic from Keyon. Flame was able to grab her katana that had been knocked away when she was tackled, but she came over to me and grabbed my shoulders.
"Keyon's right, Kumiko-chan," Flame said, shaking me. "Get your **** together and fight. That's not Kashiyo, you know that. We're going to end up dying if you don't help us!"
"But..." I started, but Flame slapped a hand over my mouth.
"No buts," Flame said. "Fight."
I had to admit, the girl knew how to be serious when she had to be. It was a little scary, to be honest. Still though, she was right, I had to fight... but that was my brother.
Flame didn't bother to check and see if I was actually fighting. She'd jumped back into the fray with Corbin and Keyon to fight the robotic Kashiyo. I sent out the occasional healing spell to my friends, but they were weak. My magic overall was weaker today. Keyon hadn't even looked bothered by my fire ball earlier, just surprised that it had hit him in the first place. If that was a true fire ball, it would've hurt.
"Kumiko, why?" the robot whined as one of my fire balls finally came into contact. Many of them had missed, and Keyon had spent much of the time glaring at me and using water to put out the small fires that had been caused by my fire balls before they got worse. The robot spoke again. "Kumiko, why are you hurting me? You never used to be like this."
He sounded weaker. The battle had taken its toll on the robot, and my friends were suffering as well. I was the only one healthy enough to continue fighting. Turns out even technology got weak though. Why else would Kashiyo... no, this robot, sound weaker?
"I... I don't mean to," I replied. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize!" Corbin shouted. "For ****'s sake, Kumiko, it's not him."
"I know that!" I shouted back. "I know!"
"Then why do you keep acting like it is?" Corbin shouted.
"Tell me you wouldn't act the same way!" I shouted. "It hurts! Just because it's not really him doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!"
Corbin groaned and shook his head. He turned to Flame. "We need to end this. Kumiko or not, we need to end this and make a wish with Crystalis so it goes away for four years. That's the only way we're truly going to be able to protect it."
"Right," Flame said, nodding. She readied her sword and rushed towards the tired robot. Before he could even react, she plunged the sword into his metallic body.
"No!" I screamed, falling to my knees. "No!"
The robot's sword fell to the ground, and once Flame's sword was removed from his metallic body, the robot itself fell to the ground. The life that had once been in its green crystal eyes had faded away. Flame put her sword away in its sheath and turned to me to speak. "I'm sorry, Kumiko-chan, but we had to. It was the only way that we could stop him."
I only shook her head and closed my eyes. I couldn't believe this. She'd just killed it, just like that. I have no problems with killing people; I've had to do it before on missions myself. But Kashiyo? Why? How could she have killed him? They were friends, and she killed him... why?
Some time had passed, though I'm not really sure much since I was too busy crying and being lost in my own thoughts to care, but I felt myself being picked up. I looked long enough to see that it was Corbin carrying me, and I just clinged to him and buried my face into his shirt. I hadn't bothered to see if Kashiyo's sword had been picked up or not. That didn't matter to me anymore. They probably didn't pick it up though. Why would they? They'd just killed him after all. Our mission was over, and in the morning, we'd make the return trip back home.
*****
I fell asleep at some point because the next thing I knew, I was in my room at the inn in Harsader Village. I got up and took a step outside onto the balcony, and then I teleported myself to the roof, where I sat and looked at the stars.
"Kumiko-chan," Corbin said. I didn't make any motion to look at him. No one was up here when I teleported up here, so I guess he'd just come along. Maybe he was just going into my room to check on me. I didn't really care. "Kumiko-chan, look at me."
He didn't sound as harsh as he did earlier. He sounded more like he usually did when he spoke to me - kind, calm, patient. I patted the roof next to me, and he came and sat beside me. He pulled me close, and I just sort of clinged to him again.
"I'm sorry about earlier," he said softly. I just shook my head. I didn't want to speak, but he still continued. "I should've known that it was bothering you that it looked and sounded like him, but I didn't think anything of it. I was more worried about the mission than I was you."
I shook my head again.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked, his voice quiet.
"No," I replied softly.
"Alright," he replied. He gave me a bit of a nudge, and I looked up at him.
"Did you get his sword?" I asked. Maybe they had grabbed it after all.
"Flame and Keyon carried it," he said. "It's in their room. Flame figured you would've wanted to leave it with your brother, so we went back to get it."
I was glad they'd picked up the sword, even if they had gone back for it.
"What happened with Crystalis?" I asked. I hadn't been paying much attention to my surroundings after the robotic version of my brother had been killed.
"Flame made a wish with it," Corbin replied. I could hear the annoyance in his voice, though I wasn't sure if it was because she made a wish and he wanted the crystal to make a wish of his own or if she'd done something incredibly stupid. "Keyon and I didn't care about the crystal, and we didn't think you would want it, so we just sorta... gave it to Flame. She made a stupid wish, something about midgets ruling the world for the next four years."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Leave it to Flame to bring stupidity to a serious situation. Still, at least Crystalis was safe for the next four years, or hopefully longer than that, even if it was saved because of a stupid wish.
"You know, the ones that love us never really leave us, Kumiko-chan. Kashiyo's always been with you. He's in your heart and your memories. He's never going to truly leave you alone," Corbin said, breaking the momentary silence between us.
I nodded. Corbin did have a point. Even though Kashiyo had died two years ago, he was never really gone in the first place. I still had my memories of him, and I'd never lose those. I'd never really lose Kashiyo either. A bit of a smile made its way onto my face. Everything would be alright after all.
Mission complete.