Part 4 – Death in the Sea

I caught up with Autumn and Kira by the door. They already gave a brief
explanation about what happened, leaving out a few important details. On
impulse, the people outside barged inside, heading over to the backyard.
They were shocked and surprised, but they weren’t frightened, most of them
were veterans from a previous war, I bet they experienced even worse.

“First, we should get rid of this thing”, a man said, pointing at the dead
balrog. A few people volunteered to help and carried the beast, and made their
way out of the door. An old man approached us.

“You three must be really skilled. To take on a balrog like that…and
You’re just kids!” he remarked, scratching his gray, short hair.

A lot of them asked us questions about the balrog, like how we defeated it,
or what really happened. Kira and Autumn both told the truth, but I could
tell they were trying to conceal a few things to themselves. I got the message,
and I did the same. When the blood was washed away, and everyone had left
to discuss about this sudden attack with many others, I thought it was a good
time to ask them about this so called “war”.

They read my mind instantly before I could speak, and Kira began to explain.
I learned that two continents had an aggression against each other. Masteria and
Orbis, the city in the sky. Masteria was running out of money due to a previous
war they fought with another continent. Orbis gave them countless bags of meso, but
It still wasn’t enough. Masteria soldiers decided to steal some more meso from then.
When Orbis found out, they were enraged, and the leader declared a war.

Kira paused for a breather. He was about to speak again, but Autumn took over
for him. Orbis is mostly inhabited by fairies, but a few of them were angels, like
Autumn. Angels had natural born talent, and an extensive amount of mana.
Interestingly enough, all angels were girls, none of them ever being a boy. They’re
also the only ones who can make contracts with a person of opposite sex. I suddenly
remembered something and I interrupted Autumn abruptly.

“So how did I hear your voice in my head?”

“Angels can talk telepathically using their minds to other angels, fairies, and
a few humans. You were one of them. Also, we cannot just make contracts
with anyone. It has to be one with a hidden power in them…which you have.”

“Hidden power huh?” I repeated, unconvinced.

“Anyway…we’re going to have to go to Orbis. The war really
hasn’t begun yet like the letter had said. There’s still about 3 months
till. It’s just that the war now has been declared for real. You and me along
with a few others are going to have to train to fight in the…”

Autumn stopped dead. “I’m sorry. It’s just that all of this happened so
fast, and we need all the help we can get. You haven’t developed your
skills yet, but once you can unleash your hidden power, we can be a big help.

“So…I guess I’m going to have to fight. I’m just a kid! To kill others…
It’s…just wrong!”

Kira and Autumn couldn’t think of anything to say and remained silent, unable
to reply. I thought about it for a few minutes. I would have no hesistation slaughtering
monsters, but to kill humans…I’m not sure If I could handle it. I remembered the
blood from before and shrugged. I already detested the sight of blood…I’ll be seeing
more. But even more people are going to die…and I just couldn’t refuse them…
after all that has happened. I thought about it some more. In the end, I came to a conclusion.

“Okay…I’ll go with you guys.” I said reluctantly. They would of thought I still
wasn’t sure the way I said it, but they saw the serious look in my eyes, and they
knew I wasn’t lying. They informed me that my parents already know. Reina just
knows that I’m on some sort of trip. That was okay though. I wasn’t sure how
Reina would of handled it if she knew. They told me to meet me by the harbor tomorrow.

I ran back home. It was already getting dark. When I got back, Reina urged me
to tell her what I was doing. I refused to tell her and she persisted, but thankfully, mom
told her to leave me alone, and reluctantly she did, and went back upstairs.
Mom looked me straight in the eyes, locking with mine. “Are you sure about this?”

“I am. I’m not satisfied, but they’ll need all the help they can get against Masteria”

She sat down on the couch, her legs crossed, looking at me sideways, then sighed.
“I understand” she muttered, upset. There wasn’t anything I could think of to say
back, so I went upstairs. The rest of the day passed by quickly, and when It was
time to sleep, I found myself lying on the bedsheets, reminiscing about what happened
the past three days. I had mixed feelings. I was both nervous, and excited. I pondered
my imagination, trying to imagine how Victoria Island looked like.

“No…I shouldn’t be excited” I thought to myself. I couldn’t help it though.
Soon enough, I fell into a peaceful sleep. One of the most comforting slumbers
I have experienced in a while. Due to the trip, I woke up early, unable to sleep
any more. I was wide awake, and I quickly got up to turn off my alarm clock,
so I wouldn’t hear the annoying ringing every morning.

My mom had already packed my bags, and I ate a quick breakfast. Today was
Monday, so Reina had to go to school. “Bring me back a souvenir okay?”
I managed a smile and gave her a hug. “Sure. I’ll get you something.”
I wanted to tell Momo good-bye, but he still wasn’t back, so I told Reina to tell
him good-bye for me. We headed to the dock. Autumn and Kira were already
there, waiting for me. There was no time to waste, the ship was boarding in a
minute! They hurried on. I turned to face my mom. “Bye” was all I could
manage to say. “Don’t die on me kid!” she said as lighthearted as possible.

I laughed. “I’ll try not to.” I met the two at by the ship, and I gave mom one last
good-bye before the ship departed. “Bye…” I muttered to myself, already
feeling a bit homesick. Kira sensed my depression and tried to cheer me up.
“If all turns out well…we may not have to fight after all.” I nodded, and
I watched the aquamarine colored ocean. All I could see was blue, blue, blue!
The waves washed it’s small tides against the ship. It was sturdy, so it had no
effect. Autumn stepped up behind me. “We’re eating now, come on let’s go inside.”

“Sure, I was getting hungry!” I felt better immediately. The mention of food
had always made my stomach rumble. Before I even took another step, a loud
explosion erupted at the footof the ship. The exploding waves crashed down hard
against the ship, and it pushed us right, nearly turning the whole boat over.
“Damn!” Kira cursed angrily. A man appeared in the midst of confusion. He had
a large tomahawk raised above his head.

He found out quickly he wasn’t much of a talker. In an instant, he jumped
at us in an aggressive stance. Kira quickly reacted and matched his attack
with his sword, reflecting back the man’s axe. He was forced to take
a few steps back. Kira advanced and dashed at him. It was all so sudden.
Autumn shaked my shoulder. “ First lesson, In a battle, there’s no time to think.
You have to act accordingly. “R—right…” I stuttered.

I swung out my sword and rushed to his aid. When I arrived, the man’s axe
already swung the blade out of Kira’s hand. Kira leaped at him, crashing into him,
and both of them toppled over. I knew what I had to do this time. Shaking off my fear,
I lifted my blade and stabbed the man in the chest. He wasn’t finished off yet.
He got up, and slammed me with his giant fists. The training I always did with Momo paid off.
Instinct took over and I blocked his powerful blow with my sword. His hand bleeded,
but he didn’t stop. Suddenly, a flashing blue light appeared on my sword, and
I swiftly cut off his hand clean from his hand. He screamed with agony.

I stopped in horror, frozen with fear. I shrugged it off and struck the finishing blow,
Striking him in the chest once more. He was finished. I breathed hard, my heart beating at a
rapid speed. I wasn’t even going to ask what was going on…I was too frightened. I had just
killed somebody, a human. Kira got up, and dragged me inside, knowing the fear I was
experiencing, and a few adults came and threw the man overboard. and I fainted soon after.

– Part End
I hope I did better this time. Encouraging comments would be nice. I don’t mind
any criticism from a few experts, actually I want some! Thanks for reading.
I’m going to San Francisco now for 4 days to attend a wedding, so leave comments,
and I’ll read them later. Bye! ^v^