At these words, a vague and half-formed conception of meaning dawned in Asahi. Throughout his years, he had never truly understood what it meant for people to hold a story or to feel what it would be like to be in someone else's shoes.
But now, as the realization festered before him, unlocking the value in every life he had met, something shifted within him.
He saw each challenge he had endured with Toivo not as burdens but as chapters in his own story—chapters that connected him to others around him.
He took the words to heart, and as he drifted, he looked to the wall, memories of those challenges surfacing, mingling with newfound empathy.
Asahi felt a compelling urge to act, to bridge the gap between his own experiences and those of others. Thoughts floated in his mind while he kept quiet, realizing he was on the cusp of a profound internal journey.
(So… Kendra…. Had you also endured the challenges? That explains why she is so strong.)
After reflecting in silence and recalling everything that Kendra's story had inspired him to imagine, Asahi began to question her.
"Kendra, why did that memory pop out of your head when you saw me?"
Kendra closed her eyes and remained silent about the question. Her gaze was fixed only on Asahi's upper body, but there was no glimmer of attraction in her eyes, only reminiscence. Images of her past swirled in her mind—of moonlit fields of Destia where she once played as a child, and the jungle where she learned to be strong.
Taking a cold breath, memories tugging at her consciousness, Kendra finally answered Asahi's question.
"It's because... You reminded me of him. Your muscles, the shade of your hair, those tattoos—they all brought him back to my mind."
Asahi's eyes broadened with an open-mouthed stare.
"Really?"
"Yes," Kendra said, her face flushed with nostalgia. "Sure, your figure may be a bit smaller than his, but the aura you present, and the way you spoke in front of your followers, reminded me of the man who raised me. It's as if you're almost a copy of him."
"A copy of him." The thought lingered in Asahi's mind as he watched Kendra's pupils dilate. Feelings surfaced as he watched her expression, reading her emotions as if they told a story on their own. What stayed with him most was the quote she recited from the man who raised her.
He couldn't possibly ignore it, no matter what he had done. There was such truth following those words that he almost felt his heart ache from it. Now that he had realized it, Asahi hadn't even known how he was born at all. It had been so long since his birth that it was as if the moment was just a tiny smidge buried away by several hundred years of experience.
Nonetheless, pushing aside those selfish thoughts, Asahi focused solely on Kendra's soul. He sat up straight, kept his breathing steady, and with a caring voice, he uttered.
"I never knew there could be such cruelty in this changed world." He said, his heart beating restlessly. "I… I want you to know that even if I don't have a great understanding of what is out there, I can draw an understanding of who you are."
"R… Really?" Kendra's voice trembled. Her wide eyes shimmered with hope.
"Yes. You are a determined girl, Kendra. Even if you had lost everyone you loved, because of that man… You pushed on. You chose to find purpose in life with his guidance. You chose to become strong and energetic. And what you had done made me realize something as well…" His eyes leered over to the palace.
Moreover, visions of the past filled his mind.
* * *
Though the memory was weak, and though two faces remained veiled by blurriness, he could see his younger self, Aletha, and Aiyana sprinting ecstatically to the palace, holding the same baby dragon close in their hands. The young, bright, white-haired girl immediately nudged a tall woman with the same shade of hair, sharing a tremblingly excited voice.
"Mom, mom! Look what we found!" She said as she displayed the white baby dragon to the woman. "When we were at the fields, I found this cute dragon in the pond! Can we keep it, Mom? Can we keep it!? Pretty pretty please!"
Suddenly, visions of a colossal dragon soaring across the clouds of the cosmos consumed the smile of the unidentified woman. Visions of sunlight beaming down at a beautiful nest where a dragon resided. A lush garden standing high in the clouds. Memories shuffled endlessly as the struggle to remember this moment came before him.
Asahi watched the present hallway flicker, flashing into the beautiful one from his memory, and he recalled the woman from the memory responding with a soothing voice.)
"Hmm, I don't know, sweetie." She said as her hands softly caressed the dragon's tiny wings. "Your father really isn't fond of creatures residing in our home…" The way she spoke sounded so intelligent and wise, it's almost as if the woman were a genius.
The young, silver-haired, magenta-eyed girl, Aiyana, jumped in front of young Aletha and bent down, pleading with her high-pitched voice.
"Please, oh pretty please, mommy! It looks super cute!" She said, her eyes glittering with persuasion. "Something so cute won't survive in the wild for long!"
Another memory, one Asahi couldn't readily recall, invaded his mind. He found himself abruptly transported to a land of darkness, its skies tainted by a blinding white. The scene was chaotic, filled with screams and collapsing towers that defied human comprehension. A dragon's roar echoed across the vast fields, pieced together with the sounds of laser beams shredding innocent civilizations to the ground. The contrast was stark and unsettling. Yet, as quickly as it began, the dark vision faded, giving way to the warmth and peace that had been there earlier. In the tranquility of this memory, a tall man with a remarkable physique and an enigmatic face stepped forward, his deep, resonant voice grounding Asahi back to the family scene he had just recalled.
In reaction, the young, stubborn, white-haired girl pressed her lips together in a thin line of poutiness, but then smiled crookedly, making a long "sacrificial" sigh.
"Okay, Dad," she replied with a childish, round face.
The father's eyes then cruised over to Aiyana. Considering that she was the youngest, he had changed his approach to her, treating her like a child, as he should.
"... Meaning, you may not touch the flowers in the garden, and play with your friends in the morning, Aiyana." Since you, your brother, and your older sister will have to find food for the creature in the mortal world every morning." But unlike Aletha, the father patted Aiyana's head and smiled, whispering. "Oh, but don't you worry, little one. There's nothing bad about exploring the beauty of our world."
Unlike Aletha's stubborn, ignorant response, the silver-haired girl accepted the demand with calm, her silver hair following the gentle breeze.
"Yes, father."
Lastly, the father's sharp eyes settled on Asahi, who had seemed uninterested in the part and only cared for thinking and staring off at the wonderful world around him. He crossed his arms, redirected his approach to Asahi with his stern voice, and demanded.
"And that also means, you can not write without disturbance anymore, Asahi." He said with a covertly triumphant voice. "Considering you are the eldest among the three, you will have to take occasional breaks and take care of the dragon."
"But what if I don't want to? Do you know how hard it is to write with disturbances in the way?" Asahi said aggressively like the angsty teenager he was. "I never cared for the dragon in the first place. It was my sister's interest that led me to this. I literally had to stop them from fighting over who--
Immediately, the mother stepped in and interrupted Asahi with a soft slap on his head.
"Asahi, you know better than to speak to your father that way." She said sharply. "Sometimes, life isn't all about what is occurring in your head."
Without remorse, she pushed Asahi toward his younger sisters and added, her voice rising in alarm.
"It's about how you treat others, and how you face life's challenges for your dreams."
Though he had heard his mother's words, Asahi decided to keep releasing his crop of complaints at her.
"But… but come on! Do you know how many ideas are sprawling in my head? You know, if I'm the oldest, maybe I should leave the castle. I never wanted to be with you anyway!"
"HEY!" The father hollered at Asahi with a reverberating, irritated voice as Aiyana and Aletha reeled back in fear. "You do NOT speak to your mother that way, you hear? Do you know how much she has done for you? How much pain she had endured to give birth to you?! How much pain did we both face to keep you three safe?!"
Enticed by the father's unusually aggressive approach toward their child, the mother quickly stepped in front of him and yelled back at him in a demanding tone.
"Honey, stop it this instant." She said, keeping her voice low. "Let me handle it."
Instead of approaching Asahi with anger and wrath, the mother chose to calm him by wrapping her arms around him, holding him tightly in her warm embrace. For a moment, Asahi almost tried to break free from his mother's embrace.
But after seconds of silence, engrossed at the serenity of the sweet and loving manner she gave, Asahi settled down and sighed.
After the chaos had settled, as the peaceful wind blew past the palace, the mother leaned over to Asahi's ear and whispered gently.
"Look, sweetie, we're only being strict to you because the more you grow up, the more you realize how cruel life can be." Asahi lowered his shoulders and closed his eyes, feeling his mother's heart beat against his head. "I know that you're smart, dear. You have so much potential, I know that. But sometimes you have to establish a balance between dreams and reality."
Asahi listened carefully to his mother, and after a short while, he opened his eyes to see her face filled with love and concern.
"We all love you. Every one of us does. But when I see that you refuse to let your sisters take care of the dragon, I see selfishness. So…" As she departed from her embrace, the mother finished her sentence with a loving voice. "...please, just this once, acknowledge that they have a life too and allow them to be happy."
The father added on to the sentence with a calmer tone.
"Though we may have our differences, we all share one thing in common." He pointed his finger directly at Asahi's heart. "... that we all pursue this striving to find happiness in our lives. So who is it to say that someone doesn't deserve it? Come now, son, will you please allow your sisters to be happy, instead of focusing on your gain?"
At this moment, Asahi realized that the words he had said to his followers were not his own, but those of his father. As this realization sank in, a wave of mixed emotions washed over him.
He felt a deep sense of longing for the past, yearning for the warmth and wisdom of the father he had loved and lost.
The pride in realizing that his father's teachings had shaped him was evident, but so was the sharp sting of regret for the times he had resisted those lessons in his youth.
Asahi stood there, his heart heavy, feeling tethered to both the past and the present. While Kendra stared at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to respond, Asahi's memory finished with one last vision.
After young Asahi heard those powerful words from his father's deep, honorable voice, he bowed in acceptance and replied with a small smile.
"I will, Father. I will sacrifice my time to make my little sisters smile."
And with that, after Aletha and Aiyana rejoiced in joy, the memory faded with the sight of all the family walking up a tall white staircase with the baby dragon tightly cradled in their hands.
. . .
After seconds had passed, and the memories faded back into the present, Asahi decided to finish his sentence to Kendra with a grin on his face.
"... that people who are determined to find purpose in their lives, DESERVE to reach their goals." There was so much weight pulling on him, trying to make him tear up from reminiscence and sorrow of the past. The thought that he can't reach his parents' grasp; to no longer feel his mother's embrace, and to never see the kind and innocent face of Aiyana again.
And yet, he kept strong, trying to show just a bit of selflessness in him for Kendra. As the voice of Asahi's sentence flew across the hallway with echoes, Kendra reacted with a quick embrace, letting her tears slide down Asahi's bare back.
"A… Asahi…" She said as she tightly shut her eyes. "You're so… you're so… r-right. People who are willing to try, despite losing everything, deserve… to have happiness." Visions of her family flickered through her mind as she held Asahi tightly.
She shivered at the coldness of the ruins around her, but with the warmth of Asahi, it felt as if she was sitting next to the fireplace in that man's hut—the feeling of comfort and company.
Although they felt like they could stay in the position forever, they knew it was time to move on, especially Asahi. When he had parted from the meaningful embrace with Kendra, he stared through the shattered window of the stone corridor and gazed at the vast foggy expanse of the underground world behind it.
It was beautiful to him. Not in a way that was appealing, but fascinating to see that…
"...an entire world can survive under here." He muttered as he saw the sight of grassy plains invade his vision. "As long as I know that my old world is still alive, then… maybe I can continue on this journey."
To his sight, he saw Kendra approach. She hadn't spoken to him, but instead, she silently gazed at the sight before the window. Pillars and towers of both stone and concrete, embedded into the wall of earth, some submerged underneath vegetation.
"You know, Asahi, the more that I know about you, the more that I can see past you from a Ruler," Kendra whispered as she slid her fingers down the cold stone walls. "To me, you are more of a human than anything.
One that has feelings.
One that can understand how others feel, despite not having known each other for a while."
As the wind passed by and pushed his white hair back, Asahi turned around and set his sight on the optimistic blue-haired girl speaking. "It's as if… we were best friends for a while." She said, head low.
For the purpose of advancing and in the hope that they will return to the surface soon, Asahi took a long, deep sigh.
Keeping a smile on his face, he replied to Kendra in a calm whisper as memories of their past flashed through both their minds.
"Kendra, you have a pursuit to go after, much like I have. You have a life ahead of you. You can choose whatever you want to do. Look, I don't want you to waste it on being in this underground expanse for the rest of your life. So…"
He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, feeling hope coursing through his veins.
"...let's find a way out of here. Let's not just bring you; let's try to bring everyone here so they can find purpose and pursue the happiness they seek in their lives. What do you say?"
After a long silence, Kendra bounced up, straightened her posture, and answered with a loud and bright reply.
"Absolutely!"
. . .
Just before Asahi had forgotten about his followers, he and Kendra quickly sprinted back to the room. Unlike the first group, this one hadn't known that Asahi was going to bring them to the surface.
And so, as all their faces directed over to the approaching white-haired boy, Asahi revealed to them with his formal approach.
"Look, I know how long you have dwelled in here. The pain you feel is insufferable, I know it very well."
The followers looked at him in confusion for a moment before paying him close attention, listening to what he had to say.
"But allow me to guide you all to the heavens you see before the ceiling. Let your lord witness a world above this one. A beautiful world, bathed in sunshine and moonlight. In that world, you possess the ability to choose. To find purpose among all your lives."
Kendra pretended to know what Asahi was talking about, but in reality, not even she could decipher such cryptic tongues. But alas, after moments of silence and thought, the followers flinched up in shock and quickly noticed something, completely disregarding Asahi's claim.
"Lord Asahi, it appears you are missing something."
Not long after, the followers, including the brown-shield girl, pointed directly to his exposed torso, just barely concealed with the brown robe he had worn.
His clean skin with a long, thin tattoo embedded on his chest that had stretched downward to his waist alarmed all of them. Immediately, one of the individuals wearing a half-stripped brown robe took a step forward and bowed to him, his arms quivering.
"Lord Asahi, I had never thought to see the day when your torso would be exposed to us." He said as he gulped down a shallow breath of worry. "Shouldn't your presence be more… of a high standard?"
Asahi's eyes quickly expanded at the sudden realization. Although he had found Kendra and knew a smidge on what Alaunus was, he still had not a single clue where his attire went.
(Ames.) He thought. (I still… need to find… Ames.)
Rapidly switching his position, Asahi grabbed Kendra's hand and stepped forward toward the exit of the palace. It was made of carved holes, with not a single artificial cut anywhere. Vines had dangled over its top, and its opening was flooded with streams of darkness. Though just before his feet had even touched just an edge of the exit, a low-pitched voice was directed to him.
"Lord Asahi, stop!"
With alarm, Asahi glanced to the side and saw the same girl, wearing a shield, brown hair, and brown eyes, approaching him with five others. But something caught his attention.
In between her hands was a flail, a transparent flail coated in the hue of beige.
Its color, along with the other features of the attire, including the significant brown scapular, had popped out at him like an imaginary spotlight. He sprinted to it in relief, hearing another man's voice, sounding old and brittle, echo across the ruins' walls.
"It appears… You have lost your divine attire, Lord Asahi." He said, his head bowed, trying to avert his gaze from Asahi's exposed presence. "Of course, although some may be well off with the brown robe you have, it just doesn't match the true attire you once had. I'm sure there's an explanation for this."
"Indeed, there is." Said the brown-shielded girl as she stepped forward in front of the waterfalls of faint luminance.
"When we heard the dark sky all of a sudden shatter in its fault for unexpected reasons, we noticed a seemingly unconscious figure falling downward over the top of a lush mountain in the distance."
Kendra, despite not being involved, decided it was best to listen along. She kept her mouth sealed, listening with an attentive stare as she kept close to Asahi.
As the group left the natural exit embedded in the wall, they decided to walk down the hallway of glassless windows with their lord, into what was presumed to be the city's main block.
There was something strange about seeing such a prosperous city occupying a space so deep underground. But seeing it through a window would do no justice.
It was already bad enough knowing that billions of people resided in these cities beneath a ceiling of darkness.
But now, seeing that there were children here, wandering the narrow alleys under a dim, ever-present twilight, some of whom had never even seen sunlight in their lives, made the fate of the people even worse.
The densely packed structures, carved directly into the cavern walls, rose high like ancient things silently overseeing the lives below.
Children ran through the cramped streets, their laughter mingling with the distant hum of underground magical generators, emitting the sole artificial light source in their world.
The air was tinged with the earthy aroma of ancient stone and damp moss, a constant reminder of the world above.
A faint, metallic tang lingered as well, carried by the soft breeze flowing through the narrow passageways.
Of course, the people residing in these nameless cities had to expand and continue the longevity of their civilization.
The vast underground farms, sustained by luminous flora adapted to the lightless environment, provided the necessary nourishment, flourishing silently in intricate networked gardens—the scent of freshly cultivated soil mingled with the fragrant sweetness of the blooms nurtured in darkness.
Meanwhile, the cavernous market beneath the city buzzed with barter and trade, as citizens swapped handcrafted trinkets and essential supplies.
For five thousand years, millions who had never seen the sunlight again made Asahi deeply pity them, realizing the unfathomable resilience it took for them to survive and adapt in this underground expanse.
The murmur of conversations and the clinking of trade goods created a symphony of life amidst the shadows, revealing the vibrant heartbeat of this hidden world.