Chapter 9 : Rest

The three walked further into the settlement embedded inside the mountain to rest for the evening. There was nothing else to do for the evening except for eating of course which was their first stop.

'' This here is the dining area. ''

Hieki lead them to an open house where various practitioners were busy cooking and eating food to eat in one large room. Seiya and Sakura had followed the man to the area within the building where the plates were located and had taken them to eat together with the group.

A moment of peace for an otherwise eventful day.

It was almost easy to forget about what happened earlier today as they ate and relaxed and talked about any particularly fun tales of the past. As they kept talking, Seiya had started thinking about his Sister again.

'' Kami.... Are you still out there ? ''

The male thought to himself as he looked blankly off into space for a moment until Sakura had shaken him since he looked like he was in a daze. He hoped that she was okay but all he could do was hope for the time being.

After they finished eating, they had departed from the central mass of people who were still eating so that they could head to the residential buildings to sleep.

Hieki had stopped once they reached the residential districts as a young male with long black hair split down the middle with a ponytail holding the back of his hair tidy stood with a group of other students and practitioners, directing the people who were too confused on where to head for the evening. Seiya looked at the male , noticing that this black haired male had a bandaged right arm and purple highlights in his hair.

'' One of my senior students Hakai will lead you to an empty house so you can rest for the evening. I'll see you in the morning. ''

The elder introduced him and instructed him to carry out the remainder of this particular task since Hieki needed to prepare tomorrow's schedule.

'' You two have come under Hieki's wing? Did you undergo his test? ''

The black haired male asked them as they were walking through the streets between the various houses as the pink haired female responded to his inquiry.

'' Yeah, for a moment I thought we'd fail but luckily we didn't. ''

She spoke frankly about how things went down, she was near certain that they were not going to be accepted but things worked out for them thankfully.

'' Well, things will only get more stressful and demanding of you two from this point on. So I hope you both have a tolerance for an environment that'll only keep pushing you. ''

Hakai had stopped near a house on the far end of the district before opening the door for them.

'' This place is yours now. The early shift will ring around 7 hours from now so go to sleep immediately otherwise you'll regret it in the morning.''

Nothing short of warning by the black haired student to tell them how things worked around here. He waved at the two as he left , Seiya and Sakura had watched the male leave for a moment before they entered the house.

'' This house is quite average, looks like its only meant for rest.''

Seiya commented on how the house looked from the inside but he wasn't exactly used to this as it was half the size of his bedroom and this was meant to be a whole residence. He didn't get too judging on it since beggars couldn't be choosers.

'' Well we should turn in for the night if we'd like to be ready for tomorrow. ''

Sakura spoke while sitting on one of the two beds in the small house, leaving the other one for the young prince. From this point on, this was what life would look like for them. . . .

'' Yeah I suppose we should get some rest. ''

The white haired boy walked to the other bed, laying down on it as Sakura had prepared to sleep. Seiya too began to close his eyes so that he could rest.

In his dreams, he returned to an astral realm where the same voice from earlier had spoke to him. The very voice that tried to give him instructions when fighting against the Bomber as well as the same voice that spoke to him in the dream before that.

Now he could see where the voice was coming from, it had came from a hovering diamond that looked like ice.

'' Your body is still growing but surely you felt my guiding influence. You should've finished off the man from earlier. ''

The voice spoke with a tone that nearly described disappointment as it was referring to when Seiya neglected the voice that mentioned finishing off the Bomber.

'' How are you projecting yourself into my head? ''

The young prince spoke to the floating diamond , hoping to figure out how exactly this was happening and why it didn't happen sooner and to that the diamond retorted.

'' I awoke once your power blossomed and it allowed me to become sentient within your conscious. It shouldn't be unsaid that your life moving forward will no longer be a sheltered one. You have to become someone capable of shouldering the burdens of many, you have to become someone that can save those that don't know that they need saving. You have to become someone that can fight against a calamity that will once more appear. It is surely a demanding task but I wouldn't say this to you if I didn't believe that you could do it. ''

The floating diamond made it difficult for Seiya to respond, how exactly should he reply to everything that was mentioned? How does a kid respond to everything that was told to him that sounded too much like adult responsibilities? Seiya finally figured out what he had to say and said it to the diamond.

'' I want to know what happened to my Sister and the Empire before anything else. ''

That was all he could say, he needed to know what happened to them. The diamond had given him an answer to the boy's curiosity.

'' I don't know exactly what's happened to your Sister but I'm certain she is still alive. Those who seek to do harm unto others also desire to siphon power from others so that they can reach greater heights. Your Sister contains a unique power so they wouldn't kill her without taking that power from her. With how massive her power is, it is not something that can be extracted within the course of a single day. Your Elder Sister is the leader of one of the four empires in japan so you still have time but I still wouldn't wait too long. ''

The Diamond commented on the Sister's condition, giving him some possible insight on her situation.

'' That's easy to say but I don't think I'm capable as is so this conversation is only frustrating me and reminding me how weak and small that I am. ''

Seiya could only show how miniscule he was in the grand scheme of things, how could a young boy go and save his Sister as he was? He barely made it out alive against a Bomber so he knew his chances were not that great.

'' I didn't come here to bark orders at you without helping you. You've been wondering exactly why you were born with such a power compared to your Sister who wields the power of the stars but you don't realize what exactly is flowing through your veins. ''

The boy was confused by what the diamond was saying to him, at this point the very diamond that spoke to him began to crack and explode which revealed a blue heart which hovered before Seiya.

His heart began to burn once more as it synchronized with the heart hovering before him.

'' In your dreams, where your consciousness is in sync with mine... I will help you grow rapidly and learn how to wield this power at the same time. ''

The blue heart sunk into Seiya's chest as the male felt pain, causing blue veins to glow within Seiya's body as he could barely breathe.

'' The Azure Legend Technique has manifested within you. If you want to save your Sister, I will give you the tools to do so. ''