This wasn't the end.
And Asahi knew that well.
He quickly checked how little time remained before the Guardian could return. Realizing the danger, Asahi sprinted toward the village with one clear purpose: to warn the followers.
As he dashed along the cobblestone roads, thoughts flickered through Asahi's mind.
(Was that my original power?)
He couldn't question it. The glass-like shard that had pierced his skin was the reason he could now summon abilities similar to those he once wielded.
After witnessing the current phenomenon, Asahi transcended beyond reality. His mind started to flash with traumatic recollections triggered by the Guardian's powers.
A cyan, alien luminance.
Recollections from long ago…
* * *
Glowing red meteors plunged from the roaring clouds, screaming with their descent until their impact.
At a time of great catastrophe, tears filled the eyes of the Adtraic as they desperately parted away from their crumbling world. Despair compressed their pride, and sadness transformed into hatred. The sea of white luminance rose upward as if it were rising water or swallowing half the world up.
The young girl's magenta eyes welled up with tears as she held onto two bright lights in her hand.
When she looked up, she saw the likes of two white-haired individuals, keeping a trembling smile as their gaze overlooked the utter destruction of their world.
"Follow us…" Whispered one with a faint voice, "Now."
"We'll get out of here." Cried another with a high-pitched voice.
Flickers of blurs consumed the memory.
. . .
Held within a silver-haired girl's hands was a glowing magenta luminance. It was on one of her tiny palms and her other hand. Her face scrunched in frustration as she tried to cast the strange magenta luminance from her hand. But it was of no use. It stuck to her hands like glue.
"Get it off! Get it off!" She screamed, tears flooding her eyes.
"Stop!" A girl with white hair and a tattoo spoke. "I don't want to lose you!"
Suddenly, the winds picked up.
Dunes were hurled in a whirlpool, dumping all civilizations like a drain.
The intensity of the catastrophe amplified with each heartbeat.
"NO!" she screamed. She lunged forward, trying to pull her siblings back into their shattered world. "I…"
Without warning, the memory got consumed by a sudden magenta glow.
. . .
With each disappearing memory, a strange glass-like shard appeared out of the blue, twirling and exploding into tiny bits.
As Asahi's consciousness returned, his trembling gaze landed on a figure with silky blonde hair.
At that moment, someone grabbed his arm, pulling him back to the present and helping to ease his frantic thoughts. The physical touch brought a wave of soothing warmth, grounding him.
"Lord Asahi, wake up." Someone cried as she threw her entire force at Asahi. "Please, wake up."
When he had arisen from his slumber, Asahi noticed several people had surrounded him, coupled with the sight of several residential areas amid the village.
Some carried wands; others held a familiar white power. These elements could be identified as certain ranks of such power—Magic, Melee, all of which had been shared randomly in this crowd.
Suddenly, his ears caught the sound of the mysterious Guardian roaring through the echoing chamber of stone. He scratched his head and kept his gaze on the glowing cyan luminance growing closer to him. His knees trembled at the thought of him being devastated by the unfathomably powerful attacks of the Guardian.
That at any moment, he would be slain by the Guardian.
But, taking all risks, Asahi decided it was best to turn to the people and ask them.
"Who… who are you all?" He asked the people with a tone of confusion.
"We're your followers." A man with golden eyes and gray hair replied as he stepped before the strip of people. His eyebrows raised at the sheer presence of Asahi, mumbling to himself. "I can't believe you have returned."
The group stayed focused on Asahi, so he stomped his feet loudly on the ground, drawing their attention, and demanded immediate action.
"We don't have much time to settle down and discuss. Okay? Please. Assist me. I am going against a force unlike anything else."
The inclusion of people in this fight worried Asahi. He wanted to counter the immovable force of nature, to block the Guardian, even with all the pain burning on his body. Yet, including people in the battle was his last thought. He knew they would stand no chance for the Guardian.
Feeling worried about Kendra, drenched in a brutal mix of sweat and crimson, Asahi prepared his blade.
The grace period was ending. The teal luminance that had expanded in the distance grew louder, accompanied by piercing screams.
Screams that sounded like someone he had stood with ever since he had awakened in this place.
"Help!"
The gauntlet of the cosmic Guardian grasped Kendra's face. In one precise motion, The Guardian punched and threw her body through the several pillars of stone relentlessly, not giving her a chance to breathe.
Streams of light and rock exploded and blossomed down to Asahi, casting golden rays on the secluded city like a spotlight.
The shadow of the Guardian grew indefinite and formless, shrinking as it disappeared with Kendra into a cliff near the village.
As the thunder of the Guardian faded away, Asahi hurriedly pushed everyone away and stood atop a stone podium. His eyes widened in shock as he noticed trails of crimson glowing down a few of the followers' faces. (Can the Guardian hurt people with just its presence?)
So many questions and concerns bounced in his mind, so much so that it numbed him from thinking entirely.
(Are the followers in that tunnel still waiting for me?)
But soon after, that shock transformed into anger.
Asahi's face fumed in fury as he saw the Guardian unleash unprecedented outbursts of cosmic energy. It was almost as if the cavern had turned into a light show of death and disaster.
Amid the silence, a sudden, violent shaking occurred. The follower's eyes peered forward to a group of masked individuals speeding across the plains through the village. Cyan beams were fabricated into the air and flew across and behind them, exploding into fragments as they flew over.
"What the--"
Asahi's heart plummeted with fear as he witnessed the people getting tossed into the abyss. His throat tightened, speechless at the event.
This power… how can the Guardian do this? It's unreal.
When he noticed the cavern lit by starry nebula essences, it triggered a flashback to return to him.
The sight of this magic had not only reminded Asahi of the pattern of his family's power but also reminded him of someone else.
* * * * *
A woman with long, midnight hair appeared in his mind. She had merciless, cyan eyes, pale as stars, and a lifeless gold halo floated above her. Asahi only remembered her for an inhumane act that changed his and Aletha's lives. A whispered rumor suggested that her actions were not purely out of malice, but rather part of an enigmatic quest for power and control, something tied to the ancient energy she manipulated.
"AIYANA!"
"Get your hands away from her!" Aletha screamed with visible fury.
Asahi remembered trying his best to fight the alien-like woman, using his absolute power to stop her.
As the fight had brewed, Asahi recalled the abilities he once had when he fought her.
White beams of light that shredded and extended for light-years.
Orbs of black and spotted star-like clouds expanded and exploded like bombs.
A powerful blade covered in white radiance, swift enough to pierce the sound barrier itself.
They were only a segment of his capabilities, now lost because of her.
"You may deem me as The Establisher." The dark-haired woman revealed as she crushed a tiny luminous object between her palms.
Though the moment blurred, Asahi remembered witnessing his beloved, silver-haired sister drop into the world.
The last moment Asahi could recollect was seeing The Establisher point to the entirety of his changing world. A beacon of gleaming azure light emerged atop the sea of destruction, with all fragments flying toward it.
Before Asahi and Aletha could even see what had happened, they were propelled thousands of light-years away from their world after a blinding explosion, feeling their power and memories slip away from their grasp with each passing year.
* * * * *
Despite years away and returning out of spite, one question lingered after rumors from the ancient city,
How is Aiyana still alive? Was all of that an illusion? Are my followers going insane?
Nothing could come as an answer for him—even the reasoning on why he had recollected all these foreign matters.
However, that didn't matter.
It was the Guardian himself that Asahi had to be worried about now.
. . .
As the blur in his eyes faded away, he saw the Guardian once again jolting its spear across the air, propelling Kendra through a house, instantly forcing it into shambles.
Immediately, Asahi rushed to that place, only to see Kendra covered in bruises. She had taken quite the beating, blue flames scorching everywhere on the ground.
"What happened to you?"
After The Guardian flew away, distracted by the magic the villagers used, Asahi raced over to the smoldering debris and knelt to Kendra. She was swimming in endless pain, groaning and quivering with cyan scars painting her skin.
"A… Asahi." She said in a strangled voice. "Help… me." Her azure eyes fogged up in despair.
Without hesitation, Asahi bent over, scooped Kendra up in his arms, and lifted her from the pile of burning wood. A sickening storm of dust filled the air. Several silhouettes stood in the distance, awaiting Asahi—a swirl of scattered colors lit the village like fireworks.
Impervious to the lessons of experience, Asahi hurriedly lumbered down the cobblestone road with Kendra cradled in his arms.
While he slowly but surely parted ways from the village into the quiet outskirts of the shadow-bathed plains, Kendra twitched. She mumbled to him with a strain of sorrow and mortification.
"Asahi… please. Don't hurt yourself. I care for you as much as you did for me." The simple reply left Asahi in despair.
A drowning cosmic aura engulfed the path ahead of him. Glitter and streams of space dust were suddenly fabricated into reality as the cries and the scrapes of a spear resounded over the underground expanse. In an instant, Asahi turned to Kendra and saw her eyes welling up with tears of pain.
He gulped a breath of fear, fearfully noticing his crimson blood sliding down from his cuts to her body. Yet, he refused to back down.
Feeling a stimulating sense of adrenaline spark in him, with all memories flashing, Asahi picked up his pace abruptly and sprinted as fast as he possibly could away from the Guardian. Razor winds accompanied his face. He winced in pain but kept Kendra cradled in his thin arms, whispering to her.
"We will be alright. Just… s-stay alive."
Despite her pain, Kendra answered Asahi with a silent, slight grin of agreement. At a standstill, keeping that smile stitched in his consciousness, he sprinted even faster, feeling his muscles decay from the sheer weight of the moment. However, before all stress subsided, Asahi found himself back in despair.
He rooted his feet to the ground, bent down, and realized he had reached a dead end. A towering cliff stood before him, marking the boundary of this underground realm, a hidden expanse beneath their world, where light barely penetrated. Below this cliff, several kilometers down, was a giant submerged ocean filled with archipelagos and a forest of massive stone pillars. At first, he couldn't recognize the islands. But once he had seen a tower overlooking the islands, Asahi released a breath of shock.
A beautiful view of crystal clear waters momentarily flooded his vision. Seagulls and ocean creatures happily wandered around, swimming around the gorgeous islands covered in lush greenery.
The sky was as clear as the sea, and the soothing sounds of the waves soothed the creatures nearby. It was therapeutic.
Suddenly, the memory was interrupted by the sound of a loud crash. The beautiful, painting-like vision quickly flashed back to the pale, lifeless sight of the underground lakes and the floating corpses of the sea creatures. Without sunlight, none could survive except those who persist.
Yet, as his eyes anchored back to the approaching night, Asahi and Kendra froze fearfully, hearing silence erupt around them. To their avail, the once-menacing, mysterious Guardian had stood utterly still, their body frozen like a statue, without any detectable movement.
One could only speculate about what might happen next.