Chapter 14

Ten years ago...

Her long violet hair carried the scent of flowers as Tyson held the girl close in his arms. She was only a few years younger then he was at the time. Feeling her entire body trembling in his embrace he could hear the sounds of the slaughter among the people not far from them. As her head tilted up to look at him, terrified, he could see the look in her eyes. It was a look that without any words was obvious that she was wondering why they had been brought to such a horrid place.

"Just hold on.. We'll find a way to get through this." Tyson whispered to her as he pulled her in closer to him. It was only his first visit to Numen's Garden at the time and he had no idea the dangers of the place. Still pure and naive to how Numen's Garden worked at the time he could only hope at the time he would find a way out safely with the girl.

"Tyson.. We've been here for several days.. You realize it, don't you? We won't be leaving.. Not in the way you hope.." Her words trembled as she had accepted the fate that she may never go home again. In her heart she could only hope for Tyson to live on. She did not want to see him lose to the garden.

"Shh.. They're coming." Tyson tried to calm her down as he could hear the group that had been following them for the past week coming nearer to them. Pulling her back further into the brush with him they tried to remain quiet. Gritting his teeth together he struggled to calm himself down for the sake of the girl in his arms but even she could not refrain from trembling harder at knowing they were closing in on them.

As the group closed in and came into view both of them were overcome with emotions. They could both feel the killing intent from the others who were trailing them. Tyson wanted to take the girl and flee again but after running for an unknown number of days they had been worn thin on energy. Struggling to get free from his grasp he tried to hold the girl down but she continued to struggle. Thinking she was just panicking because they might get caught soon he tried to whisper to her. Before his words could even be uttered out, however, she knocked him to the side.

"Clarity, you need to calm down or they'll find us.." He muttered out while trying to lean back up.

"Tyson.. Please forgive me.." The girl said while shaking as she gazed down at him with a solemn expression.

"Forgive you for wha-?" Before Tyson could finish asking her what she meant by those words she had immobilized him by carefully striking one of his meridians. He would be able to move again in due time but until then he would be be forced to rest where he was. Not even so much as a word could be uttered from him. It was something she use to do to him when they were little and fought with each other back home.

"I'm not stupid.. there's only one way to get out of this situation.. but.. only one of us can and it wont be me.." Clarity's voice was shaking though the look in her eyes told Tyson that she had made up her mind already.

No! Stop this! Clarity! Tyson screamed inside his mind as he wanted to get up and stop her from leaving. He wanted to grab her hand and run even though their efforts were fruitless, he did not want what she was planning to do. If one of them had to die he would rather it had been him.

"Do your best to stay alive, brother.. I know you can." Tears fell from her eyes as she smiled brightly at him.

Climbing to her feet she carefully made her way a distance from Tyson so that when she came out from the brush they would not see where he was directly on the ground. Her weak body was already drained but she managed to push what little strength she had left to rush off into the group's direction. Trying to draw their attention she let out a panicked scream while rushing past them as if she had not realized they were their. She could hear the sounds of their laughter as they all rushed at her from behind.

Move! You must move! Tyson fought against the move that she had used on him in order to get up and chase after the young girl. It took him a few hours before he could get himself to move. Stumbling about the mountainside he looked high and low but could not find Clarity.

"Clarity!" Tyson shouted and called for her over and over again for what for him felt like days but in reality was probably nothing more then several hours before he collapsed to his knees. His voice had become dry and hallow.

"Tyson!" "Big brother!" "I wanna go with brother!" "Brother's the best!"

Her voice echoed in his mind as he knelt there on the ground. Shaking violently, he screamed out so loud that anyone in the vicinity could hear his location loud and clear. Choking on his own emotions the tears began to well up in his eyes. He did not care if others heard him because he had already lost track of the one thing he wanted to protect.

"Do your best to stay alive, brother.. I know you can." Her words echoed in the back of his mind as he heard the sounds of the other survivors closing in on him.

After making it into the final ten survivors that year Tyson never found a clue as to whether or not Clarity had died at the hands of the ones who had chased them for days on end. She was not among the top ten. During the event he had searched every inch of the terrain he could come across for her but neither corpse was found nor other survivors would admit to any sightings of her. His sister had completely vanished from Numen's Garden as if she was never a player to begin with. Not being able to explain to his family about Numen's Garden in their home world he could only carry the burden of knowing the truth within his own heart. Family and friends all thought his sister had been kidnapped or ran away but inside Tyson knew the truth. He blamed himself heavily for failing to protect his own sister from that wretched dimension.