("... the seeker comes out and tries to get you! The hider wins if the seeker gives up, and the seeker wins if they find them. Sound fun?")
There was something eerily fitting about the simple game of hide-and-seek that matched well with the situation Asahi AND Aletha had been pursuing since they returned to their world.
At first, it was about finding their little sister. But like seekers, the two gave up finding her and were distracted by other problems unrelated to their family. Although their actions may appear considerate, in reality, all they were trying to find was their family — and perhaps remnants of their old world.
With the passing memories growing blurrier by the second, to the point that even the voices had become incomprehensible, Asahi's awareness had returned, flashing back from the past.
The gray-haired man had already finished his reveal to Asahi. But because of that sudden intrusion of memories, Asahi hadn't caught on.
Respectively, Asahi requested the man to repeat himself, to which all reacted strangely but quickly decided to follow their lord's demands.
The man cleared his throat and addressed Lord Asahi with respect. "It is with honor and my respect that I repeat myself, Lord Asahi," he said, bowing. As all gathered, anticipating his words, he expanded on his response with a dignified perspective. "The current whereabouts of your sister, the one with silver hair and glorious magenta eyes, we have no clue. However, my recollections suggest she was here a significant time ago, possibly several decades or even a century. The precise time eludes us due to the shifting nature of time perception in this underground world and the various accounts from the people here."
The man looked up and sighed, scratching his head as Asahi paid and observed.
"She wore a white dress. A shimmering dress that had illuminated the place. She arrived here alone, in this same city. Of course, this city was pristine, but as you may see now, it is nothing like that anymore." He paused. "The look in her eyes did not match my past visions. They were cold, sharp, and bridled with... unexplained fury. I don't know why they were that way. But I assume it has to deal with the disappearance of you, your other sister, and your parents."
While Asahi continued to think and imagine how such an innocent girl could have a look so haunting and threatening, the man spoke with an increasingly rapid pace.
"She did nothing more than help us upon her arrival. That girl had done more to benefit us than those monsters around. She blessed us with limitless crops as far as the eye can see. She had the power to reverse and stop the erosion of the rocks and sky above and around us so that it would not collapse on our kingdoms. She… s-she even granted some of us eternal youth and perfect health so we can continue life around here. This may come as a surprise for some people here, but I believe that girl, Aiyana… I remember her calling herself, had blessed us more than that dragon had EVER done!"
The intensity and volume had increased so much that it attracted and stunned most people wandering around; numerous individuals agreed with the man's claims as if they had also witnessed Aiyana's arrival at this place.
"I say it with certainty, without her arrival, most of us would have rotted on the ground, never to see the light of the stars again! She is our saint. Despite those eyes of hers, her actions redeemed it. I can most certainly guarantee you, Lord Asahi, that the people gathered around us can agree that she has saved us all from our inevitable demise! ISN'T THAT RIGHT, MY PEOPLE?!"
After his scream resounded throughout the city, everyone responded with cheers and yells, some even jumping up and down to express their gratitude and love for Aiyana. Asahi backed up in shock, noticing most of the people's eyes glimmering with hope the moment that one mentioned her name.
"Her love has healed us all!" One lady screamed with a smile.
"We continue to live on despite losing lots!" Said another.
There was something even more enticing, Asahi felt, when he heard Aiyana's name be uttered from one person to another.
(S- She's alive!) Asahi's voice in his head screamed as everyone cheered. "After ALL those years, my sister and I think we have lost her; what all of this means… is that… our innocent, loving, little Aiyana is still out there!) A tear of relief started to well up in his eye as he stared up into the glittering crystals in the cavern's ceiling. (She's wandering the new world! Breathing. Helping. Blessing. And… hoping. If that's the case…)
His thoughts turned into spoken words as his excitement overtook him.
"I MUST return to the surface and tell Aletha about this! This is beyond discovery. This is… t-this is… hope. A TRIGGER OF HOPE!"
"Is there something wrong, Lord Asahi?" Flavia asked, her face filled with concern.
"No… Not at all." Asahi replied. "I was considering bringing you all to the surface with me as well."
At that moment, all eyes were anchored around him with attentiveness.
"Are you serious, Lord Asahi?"
"Can that actually be possible?"
"Wait, there's something above the skies?!"
After his sudden revelation, a wave of questions washed over Asahi all at once; some even questioned whether their entire lives had been a lie. But before things get too out of hand, Asahi explained.
"I'm afraid many of you have been mistaken. All of you have misinterpreted the cavern's ceiling as the sky and the world above it as heaven. And I'm here to say that's not the case." He paused and pointed to the crystals hanging from the rock's surface several hundred kilometers above their heads. All followed his gesture as he continued and recited things he had said.
"Above us is a world. A changed world free from my family's reign and dominion. A world with freedom and different laws. A world with different people, beliefs, and dangers. I know our world may be hard to lose our grasp of, but sometimes, you have to let go… adapt and move on."
Some people reeled back, and others moved closer. Some joined them, while others hadn't. There was a mix and a divide that Asahi had created after he announced that.
"Lose grasp on this… perfect world? H… How. D… Do you know how many years of progression we made throughout those millennia of building from the ground up?"
"I can't believe Lord Asahi said such a thing. I never would have thought that the sky above me was… just… stone."
"So… all of this time, we could have seen sunshine. But we chose to live here? U… Unbelievable. That explains so… so many things."
The mixed reactions were all over the place, making Asahi even more anxious.
"Umm… Lord Asahi? What do you mean by 'letting go'? I… I know that you own this world, but if you are leaving, then I can't stay behind. I won't. We need your guidance. And most certainly, do I." Flavia said, turning towards Asahi with a determined look on her face.
A smile came across Asahi's lips as he heard her response. Although he hadn't known much about her, it was easy to read her past back in the ancient city.
"By letting go, it means that one is willing to push aside their concerns of the past and look optimistically into one's future," Asahi said. "It is your choice whether you stay here. I am, by no means, forcing anyone out of their will to come to the surface."
Despite having learned that every person has their own story, Asahi couldn't help but think that Aiyana was still out there.
In fact, before he had stumbled upon these nameless caverns, he bore no motivation, no true goal or factor that encouraged him to strive for it. But now, after this reveal, his sorrow and despair had been relentlessly numbed. Now, he had a goal. He had a reason to continue his journey. Not to find the one who destroyed or, instead, ruined his old world. But to find and reunite with one of the only ones left in his family. Aiyana.
Before he had said anything further, Asahi mumbled in his head.
(After all, how would anyone live if they can't find something to achieve? Isn't that how babies grow? Because they want to achieve something? Isn't that how all of life is, including monsters? Because they have goals, big or small. If one had no goal, one might find no purpose in living. They will feel down… and empty.)
He said, as his thoughts once again transformed into audible mutters.
"That's why we make goals. That's why Kendra has a goal. That's why these people have a goal. That's why even my greatest enemies have a goal, including The Ruler of the Forgotten. It's because... that's how everyone evolves."
A sudden rush in his heart coursed through his veins. One so heavy, it made every hair on his back stand up in determination.
(And that's why… I will not sit here and wait. I will not sit idle until I find Aiyana. I will continue my journey even though it's a long and lonely trek. I've come this far! I will not stop. I refuse to. Because I have a goal. My goal is to reunite with my family!
Asahi clenched his fists and spoke.
"And that is EXACTLY what I will do."
Asahi turned back to the people, making eye contact with each person he passed, and gave a final message as he turned back to the giant stone door behind him.
"If you want to find a goal, to pursue and find purpose in your lives, then follow me."
Before he had finished his sentence, approximately fifty-five people gathered behind him, looking forward with hopeful eyes.
This reaction made Asahi chuckle. Lifting his voice, he stepped forward and pointed directly to the streams of light shining down from some of the holes in the ceiling, keeping his heart steady.
"... for I will guide you, like the Ruler I was, and grant you happiness to all."
After he finished his sentence twice, if not triple, the number of people gathered behind him, followed by Asahi's announcement. This sight, this view of people gathering around him, reminded Asahi of a distant past. One of which was that no matter where he had gone in the mortal world, outside of Cleira, there were always followers accompanying him. And now, when he had thought that all of that was gone, he finally felt that same feeling again—the sense of honor and faith.
However, someone was missing. The one that made Asahi do this in the first place. Kendra.
Finally, Asahi realized she wasn't standing behind him. When he returned to the hallway, her existence was nowhere to be seen.
Then, when his followers tracked their lord's footsteps, Asahi noticed that same cyan luminance glaring ominously in the distance atop a triangular-shaped cliff behind a long and hilly meadow with clear rivers, waterfalls, and pillars of natural stone.
At first, Asahi thought Kendra was still at the door.
But what gave off Kendra's whereabouts was the fleeting sight of footsteps carved in dust and dirt, leading straight to the natural opening in the walls he had set foot on before.
Immediately, Asahi and the hundreds, nearly thousands of his followers behind him, followed the footsteps out of the clearing into the cliffs and hills leading outward away from the city.
From there, a large bridge composed of cobblestones and crystals emerged.
A moving figure was seen far in the distance at the ends of that giant bridge. Though they were hardly visible, Asahi knew straight from seeing just a tiny blue strand from kilometers away that it was Kendra.
And so, given the circumstance, Asahi began his pursuit of Kendra with his thousands of followers, dashing across the bridge through the expansive fields of long-aged grass, shattered huts, stone, water, and mist. Though his gaze may have been fixed on Kendra, his focus was also directed elsewhere.
That expanding cyan glow encircled by belts of vapor and floating debris; He knew, most certainly, that color could only belong to one of the worst and most mysterious enemies he had encountered.
The Establisher, with their long, silky dark hair and blue eyes, wore less attire adorned with bright cyan markings.
These markings, Asahi remembered, had once illuminated a path of destruction, unraveling the fabric of entire worlds.
The Establisher had a history of wielding inexplicable power, always in pursuit of reshaping the order of realms to their own inscrutable design.
Asahi shivered at the recollection of the chaos they had unleashed, the way they had twisted the very essence of existence itself.
"The Establisher."