Chapter 21: Three Months' Time

Elaine Valorrey-

It was dusk, able to perceive the mass number of stars, visible behind the slim, crooked branches of trees that stilly loomed over my sight. Military officers and soldiers of the kingdom were all searching for a missing boy, my friend Skysin. It's been three months since his disappearance, and everyone's been searching for him all of over the Nova Region.

"Skysin!!!"

"Sin, where are you?!"

"Sin!!"

"Dammit, where could that little Reynard be?" Crim pondered with agitation.

"Weird... how did he even manage to get lost in the first place? It's a straight shot to the rift from master's house." Nirvana remarked.

While we walked down the trail, muddled by the turn of events, my eyes caught a distinct, rough gash on the trunk of a tree near the right of me. "Wait, guys...look at this," I noted advancing to the damaged bark.

"What is it?" Crim asked with haste trailing behind me. "This claw mark, it just caught my eyes; do you think Sin could've been in a fight?" I puzzledly asked filled with worry.

"It might be possible… but knowing how fast he can run; he should've escaped without a problem thoug- "Guys, over here!!" Nirvana shouted interrupting Crim, her voice covered in unsettlement.

Me and Crim quickly dashed through the small obstacles of bushes and trees to where Nirvana's voice was discerned. Approaching our destination, we came across a vast field of basil green grass, and Nirvana came into view, standing in the center. Crim and I headed to her, thinking… hoping, she encountered a possible clue for what happened to Sin.

Just as we got there, Crim questioned her, "Vana, what is it? Did you find anythi-" Nirvana pointed at what was deemed to be pools of dry blood… tons of it, splattered across the ground.

"W-what happened here?" I asked as fear incased my soul.

Nirvana moved closer, thoroughly inspecting the scene, "d-do you think Sin could've...."

"NO! Dammit… this can't be him," Crim yelled in denial.

'If it's not Sin, then who's blood. It looks as if a one-sided massacre occurred,' I chimed in my head, all while a plethora of horrid questions shot in my conscious.

"I-I'm gonna get Uncle Rellgis, he should be near!" Nirvana stated as fright lingered in her voice. She coated her body in a light gale of wind, causing her hot-pink hair to flow rapidly, then lifted off the ground and quickly flew out of sight.

I observed more of the bloodied scene, then noticed a great amount of beast prints embedded in the grass. "It's not him, there's no way he'd die like that," Crim gritted his teeth, furiously clenching his hands into a fist, to the point I could hear vague cracks from his knuckles.

My head started to ache from anxiety, I can feel an endless pain of throbbing, as if a heart was harshly pounding in the back of my skull. My breath was shortening, capable of hearing rugged breathing. Like a snake constricting my chest, it felt as if my lungs were immobilizing air to intake.

The one and only thing I felt… was terror. I don't want to lose Sin, he's my friend, my first in fact. But I care about him more than just a friend. My feelings for him surpasses that, I can't stand the idea of him being gone. He needs to be alive; he must be.

"Where is it?" A man's deep, calm voice was heard.

I turned around, spotting uncle Rellgis pacing behind Nirvana, making their way over to us. His wild azure hair tied in a low ponytail, and he wore black and red military-esque uniform, including a long, dark blue sheathe latched to his waist. Just as they got to us, I feebly pointed at the dried puddles of blood. Rellgis' yellow eye's broadened, alarmed and covered with dismay. With haste, he took a knee in front of the reddish-brown fluids, then began to examine the scene.

"It's not him, thank Malerenz..." He sighed and erected back to his feet. All our eyes gleamed as we smiled with content, gazing at the tall man standing high above us. "Really??! Who could it be then?" Crim asked in gaiety, still possessing a pint of concern.

"That…I'm not sure. Judging by the amount of blood, maybe two or three people were killed by a broad number of beasts. There are small chips of armor on the ground too, and the traces of vital energy doesn't have his... so Sin definitely wasn't here," Uncle Rellgis stated, still surveying the ground.

"Then - where could Sin be?" I pondered, clasping my hands together.

"I don't know. We can only hope he's safe… shit," Rellgis lifted his head, staring at the night sky. "I'll take you kids home, can't risk any monsters attacking you three."

"Come on uncle, we want to help!" Crim argued.

"No, it'll only unsettle me more. My son already disappeared; I can't take a chance losing any of you three," Rellgis firmly denied, shaking his head.

"But we're stronger now, we can help uncle!" Nirvana pleaded.

"You kids already helped more than enough, especially finding this scene. Something unnatural happened here. You're all going back home, end of discussion," Rellgis dismissed us.

Crim dropped his head, "...dammit..." he cursed quietly in anger. Just as we were preparing to leave, there was a loud 'thud'.

"What is it now...?" Rellgis asked with a huff.

We all swiftly turned our heads, able to see a giant, twenty-foot black tiger-like beast, with two long jagged teeth suspended under its snout, prowling towards us. "It's a Sabre Tiger! Those are in the Apex rank!!" Nirvana called out, wielding pink aura around her body.

The giant tiger viciously growled, baring its dangerous jade-like claws and beastly teeth. At that point, me and Crim both followed suit, incasing ourselves in aura prepared for battle. When the tiger lowered its stance, its muscles started to increase in size, growing larger by the second, and pounced towards us.

Rellgis clicked his tongue with aggravation, and he walked to the center between us and the beast. Under a split-second while still being airborne, the giant tiger was instantly diced in half. As it fell a part, crystal ice coated the corpse, brutally shattering into pieces when it collided onto the ground.

I was simply astonished by what took place, Rellgis is just as mother and father stated; exceptionally powerful. His movements weren't even perceptible, it seemed as if the monster was magically split in two. While the three of us gazed at the shattered, crystalline cadaver in awe, "come on kids. Let's get out of here before another one appears," Rellgis ordered turning to us.

We all returned to the trail, proceeding back to the rift. 'Skysin, please be safe…' I clasped my hands once more and closed my eyes, only hoping he's fine.

Skysin Rillem-

It's been maybe three months since I've encountered aunt Taekhyu. I've been training as much as I possibly can, attempting to become stronger, and I made it to the mesial of the calcite phase as well. Although, I'm surely positive my family and friends are searching for me, what I did is selfish of course. But I'll do whatever it takes so their lives won't be lost in vain.

While I was focused practicing the braideferm technique that master Alzar, "Sin, can you come here?" Auntie asked abruptly.

"Yeah, what is it auntie?" I questioned, running over to her sitting on the overly sized peach pillow.

As I got to her, Taekhyu raised her arm, and made rays of purple light swish around her hand, making a platinum ring with ancient-like runes appear on her small palm. I mindlessly stared at the ring, then it finally clicked in my head. 'It's the ring from my dreams...' I concluded in my head.

"I feel horrible for this... to give a child your age this type of responsibility. But I've decided to give you the ring of eternity," Taekhyu briefed with grief.

"W-why? The goddess gave this to you... we can both esca- "No. I can't Skysin; my soul is connected to this place. If I were to leave, I will die," Taekhyu interrupted me, denying my futile solution.

"It's time for you to leave..." Taekhyu conveyed, dropping her head.

"What? No, what about you auntie??" I tightly wrapped my arms around her waist, not wanting to leave her to be lonesome.

"You mustn't worry for me Sin, I'll be fine… I promise," Taekhyu replied rubbing my head. Just before I was about to deny her statement, she erected to her feet and took hold of my arm, forcefully pulling me to the entrance where the rift is placed.

"Wait auntie, there has to be a way!!" I yelled pleading her to stop. It was only a useless endeavor to escape her grasp, with her being much stronger than me. As we exited the rift moving throughout the area, "Sin… please, don't make this harder for me," Auntie sorrowfully whimpered, still hauling me.

But when she was heaving me over to the exit portal. "Hello mother..." A woman uttered, sending chills through both of our spines. I looked up, coming to see a short stature of white light standing before us, maybe a few feet from our position. From the curves of its figure, it's obvious to tell that it's a woman, furthermore, the pressure permeating from her is horrifying...

"Nitanz..." Taekhyu warily muttered, moving all ten of her tails in front of me, blocking myself off from her supposed daughter.

The figure of light - or Nitanz, made a shrugging gesture, shaking her head as she merely giggled, "...is that anyway to greet your own daughter, mother?"

Taekhyu didn't respond, remaining silent, and I could feel her tails slightly shiver as she gazed at Nitanz. However, Nitanz continued to chuckle, "...oh my, and who's that cute little child behind you? I figured nobody would stumble across this place..."-She sighed with a hiss- "...I'm starting to feel like an idiot..."

Taekhyu made glacial aura cover both her and me at the same time, all while gradually moving back, "Nitanz...please, just let him g- "Mother...you know exactly why I'm here..." Nitanz abruptly spoke, making her horrific pressure grow out of proportion, and causing my heart to plummet deep into the very core of the planet.

Almost instantly, Nitanz and Taekhyu disappeared from my sight. I was only capable of discerning heavy blows of strikes, able to watch wisps of purple light and sharpened ice shoot from thin air. The shockwaves were tremendous, making the entire dimension fiercely rumble. I looked up, catching sight of the starry sky above was actually breaking a part, like a glass mirror shattering to pieces.

'They're too fast...I can't follow their movements...' I thought to myself, shivering in terror.

In the blink of an eye, Taekhyu reappeared in front of me, and before I could word anything, she quickly threw me to her right, trapping myself in a frigid shell of ice. I hit the ground, and could still perceive those rough and powerful attacks in battle, feeling heavy tremors under me like a chaotic earthquake, and ear-splitting explosions all over the entire area. I was feeling helpless; useless, I can't do a thing to aid Taekhyu.

"ARGHH!!" Taekhyu's voice had screamed in pain.

"Auntie?! Hold on!!!" I shouted as anxiety took over me.

I coated crystal ice around my arms and legs, striking the shell with all the power I had gained, but it wouldn't budge, much less rupture at least. Still, I kept attempting to shatter through. As I carried on endlessly punching and kicking, I finally noticed a small, spider-web-like crack. "Yes!!" I shouted, punching the same patch multiple times.

When it finally broke open, I shot through the aperture, only to view the once glamorous place in nothing but disastrous ruins. The lovely pond that me and auntie swam in, was but a giant meteor-like crater filled with deep gashes. Trees of this place were harshly hewed down, like a warrior had cut them all in one slice. Sharpened spears of crystal ice were basically ubiquity, covering all-round the amethyst grass and hills.

Suddenly, while I observed this horrid battlefield, I glanced to my left, only to see a trail of fresh blood, leading into the mowed woodland. My anxiety and fear had peaked its limit, immediately advancing to who's ever blood this was. As much as I didn't want to believe it… auntie was laying on the stump of a tree. The side of her stomach severely gashed, only releasing a pool of blood onto the grass. "Au-Auntie!!!" I cried out running to her side.

As I lifted her head, all her crimson blood began to soak into my shirt. "You're alive…thank… Malerenz," Auntie weakly panted, lifting her head. I placed my hand on her wound and released a bandage of ice to stop the bleeding.

"Auntie, stay with me," I tensely spoke. I glanced up at the mountains, noticing they were beginning to slowly disperse or disintegrate. 'This place is disappearing...?' I asked myself.

"My soul… it's starting to be destroyed, Skysin. I'm…going to die soon," Taekhyu stated, completely exhausted, and her pearly blue eyes came to have deep, darkened bags under them,

"I'm going to get you out of here and get some help auntie, don't worry," I surely claimed, heaving her onto my back. I made way to the rift and escaped, all while everything in this place would cease to exist.

Later, I finally came across the entrance of the cave, able to view the limpid waterfall, fluorescing from the gleaming moon above. "Almost there auntie - just hang on, ok?" I tried to reassure her, including myself, fearing for her life to end.

When we got to the shoreline of the pond, and I was preparing to take off, "sit…me down, Sin," Auntie demanded with heavy breaths.

"But what about you? You need medical attention," I denied, I don't want her to die. I don't want her to leave me...

"Skysin, it's no use…my soul is starting to disperse. Please, just sit me down..." Taekhyu pleaded, hearing her sniffle.

I was reluctant, but I listened to her. I lifted my hand and covered the ground in soft white packs of snow, for her to at least be comfortable. Just as I sat her down, she began coughing blood, sheathing it on the snow-covered ground.

"I'm sorry that you have to see me…in such a state," She faintly chuckled, wiping her sleeve over her mouth.

"Now isn't the time to worry about that, auntie," I replied as tears began to envelope my eyes. Taekhyu smiled and had brought me into her arms, holding me firmly.

"Don't cry, Skysin... It's weird, honestly, it just seems bad things keep happening in my life. But even though our time together hasn't been that long, truthfully… you really shined a light into my heart," Taekhyu stated as her tears could be felt grazing my head.

"Listen Sin, I have no doubt that you'll be something great in this world, I'm sure of it. It hurts… that I won't be able to watch my child, or you grow..." She added, softly rubbing my head.

"Dad and mom would love to meet you...don't leave me..." I cried pleading for her to live.

She pulled me closer and kissed my forehead, "it's ok Sin, grow big and strong for me, ok?"-Her eyes started to slowly close, and her grip was beginning to lose strength- "And... tell my child... I'm sorry…" At that time, Taekhyu's arms dropped onto the ground and her head fell back, possessing a pleasant smile on her face.

"Don't leave!" I wailed holding her onto my chest, "don't go… please…" Still, there was no answer. She had passed away, keeping a smile of peacefulness.

Subsequently, her body began to luminate brightly while I held her close to me. Hence, she started to steadily dissipate into multiple tiny orbs, like small molecular suns. All at once, the spheres had risen into the starry midnight sky, disappearing towards the illuminating moon, and I could only helplessly watch them soar away.

'She's...gone...' I dropped my head, mindlessly gazing at the snow print where her body laid, having clear images of her dying smile.