PROLOGUE: Afloat the Malaya Express

I would think I should have already been carried away by fierce winds, but I wasn't.

"So high..." I muttered, looking at the open air around me. We were so high that white clouds had covered the earth far below us.

"So, how are you liking Malaya so far, Therion?" a familiar voice asked me.

I turned to face the boy, smiling as my hair fluttered in the mild breeze. I felt like a bird, up here in Malaya. I felt like I was untouchable. I was a fierce god who could do anything and get away with it. I was free.

"It's alright." I grinned as I placed my hands on my waist. "I've seen better places."

"Hahaha! I'm sure you have!" the boy exclaimed, enveloping my shoulders with his arm. "Oh, but what a sight."

I couldn't stop the smile on my face, even with him getting way closer to me than I wanted. "Beautiful."

Watching the white sea of clouds, we stood there together until the sun had fallen low enough in our own version of sunset.

"Beautiful," I muttered yet again.

Suddenly filled with a great strength boiling up inside me, I really felt like I could do anything I wanted.

"Do you think Hestia might have liked seeing this?" the boy asked beside me.

"Yes, she really would have loved it," I said, nodding softly. "I've never been so sure."