11 / 03 / 2019 - Daito, Prefecture Osaka, Japan.
The noise of the TV echoed through the living room, drifting to the dining table at the side.
"Aka-nii, you are so weird~"
"How could you even recover this fast? Huh? So fishy…"
The little girl mumbles, cheeks puffed as she scoops pudding to her mouth. Her sky-blue eyes are clear, but there seems to be a hint of cunning at the depths.
Irina is watching her brother, who is sitting on the opposite side of the dining table, reading a book while casually sipping orange juice, his head lowered.
Akane, who heard it, slowly raised his head towards his little sister, to those innocent, crystal clear eyes. Taking a sip with his left hand unhurriedly,
"You know… recovery is such a simple thing for people like me."
A flash of suspiciousness or distrust clearly passed by in those eyes, clearly taking that word as bullshit, but she just took an
"Oh, umu umu…" nodding her head and continued to eat.
Then, leaning on the backrest and closing the book above the table, feeling the coldness of the glass stinging him, the corner of his mouth upturned,
"Why? Irina's mind cannot comprehend it, yes? Poor Irina… it must be hard to think of this right?"
Akane did not forget to taunt after all, since he thought that this little devil was too curious for her own good.
'Haaahhh, this is why having a perceptive sibling and half as smart as you is such a bother…'
Sighing internally, lazily, he looked towards the other side. Irina's face crumbled in an instant, eyes wide open, pouting at him with hatred…
"AHHHH! You are such a hateful thing, stupid brother, lower than an insect!"
She spat these rude remarks as if they were free, unladylike, and even ignored others in this apartment.
"Heeehhh, you have gotten a lot more creative, but spitting things without meaning it just ends up empty after all."
Akane just said calmly, eyes curved into a crescent, then moved his gaze over her shoulder, twitching slightly, holding something as he noticed it, grinning widely.
"You!-" fuming as she was about to go further, and stand up.
"-Ahhhh.."
Screamed in pain as her cheeks were being pulled. Her eyes welled with tears as she noticed the one who pulled it.
Behind her stands Riscia, her eyes cold as she looks at Irina, who is on the verge of tears, like a pitiful animal with red cheeks,
"Nweeh-hann…" mumbling inaudibly, Irina looked up to her aunt.
But… she wouldn't be fooled by it.
'Just… how could she even be capable of forming those sentences?'
Standing in silence, her eyes narrowed at Irina, still pinching her cheeks. One thing to note about them is that, sometimes, they can be more clever than an adult.
It is such a painful lesson that must be engraved in her mind, and every one of these siblings can be smart at times; this little girl, Irina, can be more cunning than her brother could.
"No sweets for a week, you understand, right?"
Riscia just said in a frosty voice and took back her hand. She ignored her pitiful stance and moved her eyes towards Akane, who was watching the scene with interest.
Having closed his book and put it on the table, his hand on his cheek. Noticing a gaze, he looked up and shrugged his shoulders.
Erasing the smile from his face, took his hands off the table, pushed back the chair and rose unsteadily.
"Well, it's not my problem after all…"
As he walks slowly, swaying, he passes by the silent Irina at the side,
"Good night, baby~"
Then he goes up the stairs to the upper floor, directly into his bedroom.
Leaving Irina trembling with tears welling up in her cheeks, and Riscia, who is shaking her head in helplessness.
…..
Thump. The door closed behind him, and the simple room came into view.
An open window on the left side, along with a desk and chair. Ignoring everything, he walked to the bed in front of him with difficulty and sat at the edge, a little breathless.
Sitting in silence at the edge of the bed, his eyes are unfocused and distant.
'I can't prolong this anymore…'
His ears are ringing, and it feels like someone is hitting the back of his head with a hammer all the time.
The ghostly waves, hitting the shore, directly in his ears, of what was supposed to disappear in a range of time, are now persistent.
The mirage of the dark sea and three doors have plagued his vision since he was reading a book downstairs earlier.
"Haahhh…"
Letting out a sigh, he let himself fall to the soft bed, gazing at the ceiling in silence.
'It has been two days.'
After he is discharged from the hospital, he has been recovering in this new home, waiting, or maybe just wanting to enjoy his life for a moment.
Then again…
Moving his hands to the temple, to slightly ease the pain in his mind. Thinking of Irina's question, 'Recovery, huh…' he had some guesses as to why.
"For these nine months is not a coma, it is more like… sleeping after all." He mutters to the space, his eyes are heavy, this time he will and cannot resist the "call".
Nine months of something he cannot name, compressed into what he is now.
Gradually, his eyes begin to close… the tide swallowed him up, the ceiling dissolving, and his senses are liberated.
———
Slowly opening his eyes, eyes hazy, looking into the familiar view. It is the scenery that always haunts him now and then.
Narrowing his eyes, abstract sound rises from the depths of the unknown. There is no breeze, only stillness at the edge of everything.
Standing on the surface of the dark sea, his eyes contemplating the three doors that stood in silence, Maroon, White, and Gold.
Raising his head a bit, the sky is full of stars, glittering in the light, and a comet with an unknown trajectory flies past in the far vision.
This time, ignoring other things, he moves his head to the far left. As the sound of the tide intensified, he could even feel phantom water hitting his feet, submerging them.
Without wasting any more time, he decisively walked towards the plain White wooden door. As he arrives, his mind seems dissociated further, but there is something…
Clarity and the still Desire…
His hand grasped the handle of the door and pushed it open. Silver light drowned him, and even illuminated the dark sea, until…
His figure disappears, the door closes, as it is with this world.
…
Silver lights blinded his vision, neither it stings or cold.
Basking in the light, the mind feels more active, as if cold water falls onto a hot processor.
Then, the light receded, and he arrived in an unknown, alien place.
Finding his footing, lifting his eyelids, the first instinct of the sentient is to gather the information about its surroundings.
But—
"KHhh—!!"
Body bent, facing the ground, clutching his head with his hands. Pain and dissociation assaulted his mind; his eyes were instantly glued shut, and tears welled.
Breathing heavily, he forces his eyes to open for a slit, veins in his temple, bulging, as he struggles hard to adapt.
The dark ground — transparent, pulsing with light, as if alive, a bluish circuit travelled beneath the surface, like a network trapped under the ice.
Staying for a moment, as a storm blows inside his mind, the processor runs rampant in an explosion of information.
'My mind… is this alien space, no…. Collision of nature? What is this actually?'
Silence as his eyes flickered, reflecting the pulsing network underground, and after a while, his breath steadied, composed, and he inhaled for one last time.
"Huuhhhh…"
Took off his hands from his head, lifted his body slowly as the full scenery came into view, and he narrowed his eyes just in case, to be cautious.
Resisting the shivers, he still has to do something; staying still won't lead him anywhere, no?
Twitching as stings begin to hit his eyes once again, but alas, imprinted in his vision is a column, cubic after cubic, that is dynamically shifting in place.
Through the narrow slit, the column is lonely, dark ground extended into the unknown, stretched far, and at the edge is a hazy grey, also a double gate.
The double-door gate, embedded in the ground, stood in silence, leading nowhere. Stepping slightly to the right, there is a groove or a slit connected to the column.
Then, looking up.
'A dome?'
Confusion, his heart starts to beat, pursing his lips. It is a grey dome, and a circular hole, filled with mosaic, in the sky, which coincides with the place where the column stood.
Then again, his gaze flicked to the air in the space, holding his breath.
Blue glow danced in the sky, like swimming koi or oil paint, free. Collision, leaving a spark in each other, rippled through the air.
It is surely strange — but it's not the focus, no? Lowered his gaze to the column, as it seems there's no other way, the most obvious thing of all.
Exhaling a white mist, he walked towards the column, which was standing not far away.
His gaze sometimes flicked to the sky, reflecting the dancing blue glow, until he arrived in front of the column, shifting.
Raising his eyebrows, his eyes revealing confusion, but regardless, he lowered his body, inspecting the white surface of the cube.
"Hmmm….?"
Feeling a tickle in his nose, he narrowed his eyes, straightening his body, he reached out towards it, hovering, stuck in place, like repulsed by a pole of magnetism.
Thoughtful, he shifted his gaze to overlook the other cube. It seems he has found the key to something, the first variable for his situation.
'Let's see then…'
Two hands working and adjusting with each other.
At this moment, as he began, his eyes are now dyed in a silver glow.
The dancing bluish glow is also shifting, resonating with him, reflected in his gaze as he looks up at the sky.
Time is ticking, as he is immersed in himself, knowing the method, the scattered point of light is dancing chaotically like water amidst the rain.
Incalculable time, later—
His hands stopped, and the bluish glow also froze in their tracks.
One last movement. The right hand gently caress the side of the column upwards, leaving a trail of blue.
Then, the corner of his mouth upturned as he had seen it, his hard work. Blue glow organises itself into a massive pattern.
Under his gaze, it suddenly surged and flowed into the groove in the centre.
'In the end, it's not that hard…'
'Just a matter of pattern recognition.'
All things are interconnected, even if it's alien; even if it defies his understanding, there is still a logic to adhere to, just decode it and connect it.
After that, the hassle is to calculate possible configurations and outcomes, that's all.
Thoughtful and weary, silver light receded, but despite this, he felt refreshed; it is exhaustion, but solving this puzzle is pretty rewarding for him.
Then, lowering his head, a hum drifted to his ears.
He tilted his head, passing the column that blocked his view, a mosaic filter fills his vision as the gate is blurred, and he cannot perceive anything beyond this.
The door disappeared after a while, replaced by a vast view through the narrow gate, a cosmos and a field of light that stretched into the unknown.
'Wow…'
Exclaiming internally, he unknowingly passed the column, considering it as done; he doesn't care about this fate anymore.
This double gate is enough as proof of completeness.
Arriving in front of the gate, he stopped for a moment, hands in his pockets. There was an urge to look back, but—
"The result is all that matters."
Shaking his head, didn't bother with anything; he did not dwell on a thing. He comes here for a reason, not for an exit; he seeks power.
And as he said, he stepped inside what appeared to be a control room.
———
His dark hair fluttered as he slowly stepped out, finding his footing once again to confirm his safety.
'Hmmm…'
Thoughtful, as he overlooks the entire room, circular, and wide. His eyes darted around, lifted his feet and walked to the front.
There is a wall in this circular room, leaving only an open window; the purpose of which is unknown, though. Well, the main course is in the centre of this.
Aside from the white emptiness, he arrives in a true station — fingers grazing the soft material of the seat, eyes locked into the floating screen, surrounding this seat.
Stunned in his seat, as the feedback image is reflected on the floating orange windows, his heart begins to tighten.
"Really… what the hell?"
Mumbling, though perfunctory, one hand had already clenched, his breath began to quicken as his gaze snapped to the window, then he took a jog towards it.
Colourful expanses, filled with various scattered points of light. A vast ocean that is so strange, are we inside a nebula? Right hands pressed on the window.
Yet, amidst this vast expanse of strangeness, yet grand, a luminous soft yellow and white light is reflected in the bottom part of his eyes.
Through the windows: a planet's rings, close enough to see individual ice fragments in orbit. Sweat slid down from his cheek. This was impossible..
No structure could survive by being this close!
Then again, he gritted his teeth, disregarding the earlier view, he walked to the right, close enough to see the whole of it, like a fortress of steel, or perhaps, a space station? Space city?
Squinting, suddenly, the windows shift in, blurred and then zoomed in as if helping him. Surprised for a moment, he then equally dismisses it with the sight before him.
A vast structure, consisting of three rings, is what he sees.
He could not see the edge of this city at all, but he is 80% sure of it, since the display screen was giving him the information on the status of the entire structure.
Touching the window, feeling the chill on his skin, the second ring is tilted upwards at an approximate 45 degrees, leaving him an open view of the bottom of this ring.
'What kind of lifeform is that?'
His eyes widen, looking at the first ring that is tilted 45 degrees downward, presenting its surface view, which fills his vision.
Gulping down, his hands slid down, pressing his face to the cold glass, his heart started to beat fast once more, breathing heavily.
In the centre that serves as an anchor of this mega structure, there lies—
A beating green, pulsing, its tendril as big as the continent itself, slithering, frozen between the surface of this space structure, which reminded him of something…
'Parasite?'
Snapping to its very centre, blurry, as if he can't make the detail out of it, he struggled, his lungs felt squeezed, a pressure of life level?
A black vortex, humming softly, is sending a pulse, or a rhythm that distorts space itself, like a paper that is crumpled; everything is blurred around that ideal point.
The window seems to be affected as there is a gradual noise that disturbs the projected faraway appearance, making the image blurry and… greenish, as if infected.
"Hahhhh…"
Let out a breath and backed down from the window slowly, as it reset. And just in time, as he was still pondering over the earlier scene, a glaring alarm rang in his ears.
Lifting his head, clarity returned, caught in the peripheral of his vision, on the left. His lips pursed, and his brows furrowed; this is another concern of his.
Running to the window, he looks at the silent steel behemoth frozen in space, like a predator, streamlined in dark, strangely, fitting his taste.
The corner of his lips twitched, looking at it, divided into three parts: the front, the middle and the back as he analysed it.
The front is like a four-pronged fork; in the centre is empty, it is like a barrel or a muzzle of a railgun… this is the best description that he could come up with.
Then, the middle is like a hexagon shape with various open hangars. At this distance, he couldn't see most things; it was just enough to know its shape.
And lastly, his gaze moves to the very back or the end of this spaceship, a slim thruster, ejecting a strange white radiance that also blurs and burns the space itself.
'What the hell is this… orbital bombing? Want to dock? Fight? Factional? Civilizational? What is going on?!'
Looking at the trajectory of the railgun, tracked it, and it coincided with the mega-structure below him, shivers, his eyes desperate.
Determining that this is probably the source of the trigger, he clicked his tongue and turned his body back, running towards the seat and trying to salvage the situation.
"Let's see what we know first."
There is a control room, for what? The structure?
Three-ring structure, unneeded for the information, but what exactly is going on?
Spaceship, why the hell is it aiming towards the structure? Perhaps for the lifeform?
And then a life-form, plant-based? And it acts like a parasite, perhaps it is the target, no?
Then, as he is absentmindedly thinking of what he could do, there must be something that he could do in this control room!
*Boom*
'Eh?'
Swaying in his seat, he looks from behind the floating windows towards the screen, zooming in, the direct bombing has begun.
Bright red laser illuminated his face, silent, as smoke rises from a certain area, triggering another round of alarm.
"WHHOOOOHHHH!!"
Clenching the armrest, a raging sound followed as the tendril was maddened, slightly burnt even after such a thing, a minced combination of plant and meat splattered toward the city.
'Shit!'
Did not stay silent, under Akane's trembling gaze, right from the centre of the vine, a dark ripple appeared, blurring the space, and spread outward in a conical area of effect, to the ship.
*Shwing*
Hitting the barrier that is deployed around the ship, there is no visible damage. The attack is intercepted, but at a glance, the spaceship also seems to be in a tremor.
Time passes as the place he stands for is trembling for so slight, he immersed himself, discerning their behaviour, the trajectory of attack and the response of both of them.
"Let's try something…"
Passivity again won't lead to something, and after watching for a while, he had a plan in mind. Letting out a breath, he approached the floating window by his seat.
Reaching out to the orange screen, static electricity crackled on the surface of his palm, tingling, as he felt a connection form between him and this control station.
His eyes flash in silver, the same sensation of earlier space, but different at its core.
Information and data streams entered his mind, processed further for a while to know the basic condition, and formed an input that he wanted.
Time passes in an hour or two, contrasting with the silence of the command room; an explosion of varying colours decorates the vacuum and space.
Unnoticed by the forces of various parties, some parts of the city sometimes flicker, and the trajectory of the ring even moves, albeit slightly and silently.
"The basic function of this alien system is fully open…"
After forming the connection, his hands did not stop moving once again, bright blue lights of the screen flashed in his vision rapidly, while he muttered a series of activities.
"I hope you would reconsider your choices for a while…"
With these last words, he raised his head towards the window, complying with his orders, the windows zoomed in to overlook the entire battlefield.
"Second Ring - Rotational Degrees Adjustment, 30° Downwards and 20° Clockwise." As the command is issued, his hand pressed upon the screen, tilting his head to the side.
Watching the slow but surely moving object that is tilting and rotating, this is his first intention or plan: 'To give them a notice of a third party and also shield the vine plant.'
This is just an attempt for him; he then focuses his gaze towards either of the parties to gauge their reaction to plan for the next step.
And their response is surely immediate…
The spaceship adjusted to the interference immediately, and the bombing trajectory is moving within a new trajectory as if they had anticipated everything.
It is too fast for him to react, so he can only watch it passively. His face is plain but grim, one of his hands clenched the solid screen hard, chill through his body.
Suppressing himself, he snaps his head to the side.
The vine-life at the centre responds by spreading its tendril, accelerating its invasion and parasitism further towards the third ring.
Moving his gaze back to the screen, he is silent for a while.
"Conclusion is clear, the aggression from both sides has intensified, the situation is critical."
Still, persisting, he won't give up; lamentation is a luxury now, better think fast.
'This is the worst possibility, but let's salvage as many things as possible.'
Even if it's the worst of situations, he has another plan that he has yet to unfold, though he doubts it still matters, after taking into account their aggressiveness.
"What if?"
His hands moving once again, this time, he had to hurry, and even he had to venture deep into advanced functions and the baseline of this command centre.
Thus, another hour passed. Eyes flicking to the corner of the screen, analysing the degree of invasion from the functioning camera of the third and second rings.
Sweat trickled down from his temples, muttering absentmindedly, taking into account and assuming their characteristics in the meantime.
And that's it as he is waiting, the screen flashed, changing rapidly.
"Communication online!" With these words as interpreted, he decisively activated it and set it up towards the external surroundings without a filter.
Even though they may not have understood him, even if this worsened the situation, he had no better option remaining.
"This is the Main Command Centre of Third Ring. Please cease the attack!"
Standing up, he said calmly, controlling his voice to the communicator and also looking towards the window.
Trying to send an electric signal and a standard warning towards the surrounding indiscriminately.
But then again—
*Boom*
*Shwoosh*
"Force and communication… neither is working." He muttered lightly, standing at the window, watching the falling ballistics and light that travels through the sky.
For the second time, his plan failed. His attempt to speak made everything worse once again. Neither side has a framework to interpret its interference as a neutral observer.
Then, what is left is…
"Is this the end… how could this even be cleared…?" he is asking through this empty room, endless tremor and rain of heat falling from the sky.
He turns back towards the seat, walking and sitting back on it. Hands touching the screen once more, feeling the unreadable and tingling sensation on his skin.
"Sacrifice… and control."
After muttering this, his eyes reflect a bluish light and silver light, total determination in this indifference. If they can't do something about it, then let him be the third party for them.
Though at long last…
The Third Ring, the Second Ring, and even the periphery of the First Ring.
Various bases and monuments spontaneously rise up from the ground, steel constructs weave themselves through the sky as if defying their own fate to be a chessboard.
Smiling slightly, only now and then, at the edges of everything that he could be at least free for a moment. There surely is regret, but in the end… he will do what he can.
Another hour passed, in the defence and offence positions.
Blood trickled down to the ground, sliding off from the nose.
His skin is pale, and cold sweat is running down his cheeks; his gaze is clear, crystal clear; a stream of bits and data passed through and reflected in his retina.
The influence of the vine-life is already more than what it seems, corroding and stifling every single thing that exists in this space station.
Right as he struggles to control and process everything in this overload of information, the screen picked up a signal, the source is— "The spaceship."
Silence fell as his hand stopped moving, thought stagnant, and activities were frozen in their tracks. Various warnings popped up on the screen in a minute of his silence.
In the end, he takes his hands back from the control and severs the connection, leaning his tired back towards the seat, slumped. Watching the notification absentmindedly.
"Final warning, huh? What's the point anymore?" a small voice, which seems to be like a sigh. He is tired of this.
The delay he created, the loss that he desperately needs to save, means nothing. From now on is total obliteration and annihilation; no partial outcome is available.
So—
He simply watches and stops.
The bombing intensified beyond redemption, a critical warning is issued, and the glaring alarm is now more urgent in turns, entering his ears.
The vine-life responds by accelerating beyond its previous behaviour, as if aware of what's coming.
Tremor, light, green, mix of steel, and meat or plant, flying in the sky.
In this final moment, Akane watches everything silently, widening his eyes slightly, his mouth agape a bit.
The vine-life releases spores or seeds outwards, and yellow and purple gas decorated the mix of the debris, through the broken station, into the space.
"Unexpected."
His expression is strange, almost unreadable, because he seems to take another possible interpretation from this.
Away from the spaceship, falling towards the asteroid field below, like a stream of water.
Then—
An attack, a culmination that is superior to what this station had.
The falling sun, in a flash.
And a roar of the deep cosmos.
Everything goes dark.
…
'Ahhh…'
A small cry, realisation, clarity, and conscience.
He is alive.
Lifting his eyelids open slowly, blurry, facing the cracked ground. Sweat trickled down from his face, tick by tick, and it fell to the now broken asphalt.
'No….'
Gasping for air, as his two small hands clutched his chest, tears welled at the edge of his eyes. It is suffocating, it hurts, not this again…
'No…'
Lifting his head, around him is a sea of fire, burning smell wafted to his nose, causing him to choke, hardly able to take a breath.
'Nightmare?… this isn't real…'
His heart cried out in desperation, but on the surface, he couldn't do anything. The smell of rust and blood, the sky darkened as if pressing down.
At this moment, as he is looking lifelessly towards the surroundings, he could feel a touch on his shoulder, which makes him flinch in fright. He knows who it is.
"Akane, we can't stop here! It is just halfway, just in front… why do you stop?" His twin brother, Ayato, stopped at his side, nudging Akane's shoulder.
Akane turns his head slightly, his face expressionless with dried tears amidst the heat… Ayato's school uniform is bloody, with scars that carved themselves into his body.
'It's you after all…'
"It's nothing, just nothing… you're right… We should go."
Looking over that face, like his own reflection. A baby face, though immature, is now full of worry.
Though tired, but its eyes are full of resolve, his dark hair is messy and full of dust, and blood smeared across his face.
"Aka-nii… are you okay?"
He patted the dust on his body calmly despite his inner cry or desperation, just like walking to his own purgatory, to face his own judgement on this very day.
To those questions, Akane's lifeless, grey eyes trembled slightly, looking over on the other side.
His petite little sister, Irina. Her once dazzling silver-white hair is now also dusted, and there are clear dried tear marks from the earlier time.
Her sky-blue eyes and her oval face are full of worry, just like her older brother's.
"It's okay, let's get going."
Again, Akane reaffirmed mechanically, covering her tiny hands and gripping them tightly as if afraid of losing them, and Irina also smiled towards Akane.
Fully standing up, Akane nods to the two of them at his side, looking through the sea of fire on his right, burning.
Then, He ran for his life.
Braving through the blazing red in front of him, to the ruin of the steel jungle and the fallen sky.
Fire seems to burn through his body, his eyes are fully focused on the front and the sky, which is their inevitable destination.
A visible glow of light, and something that he could not fathom with his own knowledge, space is oscillating, time is stretched, and fire that burns in the darkness.
Silver light falls from the pressing darkness, just like a light that illuminated the dark corridor… artificial, and colourless, draining away his will.
He finds himself struggling through the winding, broken road and various corpses, a crater of unknown diameter is visible, and with it—
His time and life are numbered.
"Mother…" a mutter escaped from Akane's lips, and then, in a matter of seconds, he finds himself shackled, just like in those endless dreams of the depths.
A flash of silver light blurs his vision.
The darkness of the sky is ruptured.
Crimson, orange, and silver intertwined.
'Ahhh…'
Those reptilian eyes are gazing at him across an unknown distance, just like yesterday, a sense of deja vu perhaps, to which he remembers clearly than not.
'This is my sin, everything is my fault… my fault… my fault…'
Inner self is crying loudly, stop it.. STOP THIS! But still, he faced the sky, despite his refusal, the corpse of his mother at the periphery of his vision, just like a reminder for him.
"I'm sorry for being a failure, Akane…."
'Why are you doing this?! No one is asking for this!'
Akane's face was dead and pale, just like a corpse, watching the ferocious yet pitiful dragon swallow up its own pride and heart for its younglings.
And then…
Once again, everything went silent and dark.
Back to the depth.
….
….
"Haaahhhh…. Haahhhhh…"
Scream.
Then, eyes opened.
The same familiar ground.
Burnt smell, and a ringing in his ears.
He smiled while tears welled in his eyes.
"Akane, we can't stop here! It is just halfway, just in front… why do you stop?" The voice sounded beside him, along with the shoulder tap.
Straightening his body, 'Hahahaahh…' whether he is laughing or crying, only god knows.
"Yeah, we should get going—" To the place where everything begins.
'Ahhh… this is purgatory after all.' The thought passed as he absentmindedly looked over the worrywart figure of his little sister.
"I'm okay, everything is going to be all right…" placing his hands, feeling the soft touch of her hair, smiling widely to reassure her.
Thus…
The journey of endless time begins.
….
….
Standing on the edge of the crater, he watches his father, who was clutching for a sliver of hope, embracing the lifeless body of his mother.
A hole in her and his stomach, the difference between mortal and immortal.
'Mortal and Immortal… next life, surely.'
He closes his eyes, clenching his hands. Darkness swallowed him.
Watching and sketching the dragons, he lifts his gaze towards the pressing darkness above the sky.
…
…
"BE CAREFUL OF THAT SILVER RAY OF LIGHT!" as his voice echoed to the sky, he is gasping for air, his lungs burning, but he is smiling.
This is the seed and an attempt.
As if hearing it, the dragon is still for a moment and then dances swiftly, avoiding the pillar of light.
And that's it…
'Ah…'
A ray of light hit him instead, his body losing function in an instant, dissipating and dissolving amidst the wind.
Pain and then darkness.
'Next time.'
A whisper, and a gradual restlessness.
…
"Please… just READ MY MIND!!!"
Screaming out of his lungs from the crater, he would do anything, try anything, for a sliver of possibility.
His lifeless and pained eyes gazed over him.
Akane could feel that his feet and hands went cold, as if facing the entire weight of the world on his shoulders.
After a moment, his expression changed slightly, confused, but then looking deeply at Akane with more pain.
But to which Akane brushed it with a smile.
Then…
It is no longer a ray of silver or a brown mist of corrosion.
There is no prelude.
Darkness enveloped his vision.
"Father, I beg you, just avoid all its attacks… and then you will win!"
Aldean turned a deaf ear to his son after reading his memories and decisively transformed into his dragon form.
Failed.
The sky ruptured further, to which it is wriggling, revealing flesh.
…
Weary, he is at his limit of both what he can fathom and accept.
He is tired.
Yet still—
"You don't need to attack it, father… save yourself first!"
Failed.
His father decisively attacks it.
"You have no chance, you pathetic! There is nothing you can do here! Why don't you just bring me up and take our revenge later!"
Empty gazes, as always, those grey eyes are dim.
Slumped on the ground is Akane, lifelessly, with the same dim eyes towards his father.
…
Every solution of knowledge.
Every way of preservation.
Every means of survival.
Standing on the wreckage, Akane is sitting in silence, his legs hanging on the edge of the charred steel, blood trickling, but his body unresponsive.
*Clack*
*Clack*
There, a step sounded, the steel is croaking under the weight of another person.
His tiny little legs are also hanging freely, swinging, both bloodied, but half-transparent to him.
Staying in silence alongside him.
Together, the two seem to be just waiting for this world to end.
Just like it has to be and needs to be.
But—
"Why did you need to win so badly?"
It is clearly the same voice, to which the unresponsive one trembled like a twitching puppet, motionless as Akane is facing the ground.
The eyes are clear but clouded, like the brilliance of a diamond that is covered in dust and dirt, their current state right now.
Then Akane turn his head to the right slightly, in his peripheral vision, is a Replica of him.
Fully looking at his face, only now and then, the Replica's figure is reflected in Akane's ashen-grey eyes.
'That's right…'
Took back his gaze, head hung low, raising his two hands slowly, looking at the broken hands covered in dried blood and scabs.
Despite that simple question, he doesn't know the answer.
Cycle after cycle, what does he need to prove, actually? He wants to know, too, to find the answer to that question through his own… act?
Hundreds of times, these hands never once held anything real.
Unconsciously, he falls silent. Various images that are buried, the act that he undergoes, this test, what are they?
The vine that is releasing its seed to the space… for what they survive. It is such a simple act of surrendering their own self, isn't it? Surrender…?
"…"
Clenched his hands, tick by tick, and a clear drop of liquid fell to his knuckles, his gaze is blurry, the breath is hitched on Akane's throat.
The cultivated vine inside the ship, those vivid, indescribable feelings… they are preserved in the form, by the very things that they swore to destroy.
'Father… Mother…'
Gritting his teeth, his eyes are of luminous silver and bloody-red, devoid of any ashen-grey. His shoulder was trembling, biting his lips hard to swallow everything.
"In the end, you are fighting not to win, aren't you? Hahah…" He laughed bitterly and ironically, choking, face to the sky, to his own laughable self that he holds high.
His Replica at the side is still watching silently as he ever was and should be, but the corner of Replica's mouth has been upturned slightly, apparently interested.
Akane's father didn't need to win. Winning was never available to him. What was available was to leave and release the seed into the space behind.
'The ship carried a cultivated vine. And Father carried us, winning isn't an option to him; he chose to preserve us… our life over him…'
So, Akane didn't need to win, either.
Because…
Fully consumed, realisation hit him, luminous silver is bright; the bloody-red receded, replaced by the holistic and divine feelings.
"I understand it now… this test was never meant to win the game. It was to realise why I wanted to win, right?"
He asked to the side, his voice is small yet there is a kind of joy.
And as he said it, the entire space is trembling, the earlier colourful mosaic reappears in this very space of his own memories.
But still, Akane didn't move from his seat, his face is now relaxed, the weary face is now rosy, pursing his lips, his self is asking the silent reflection of himself.
To which the Replica is gazing at the sky, behind the veil of its own constructed spaces, curious, longing, but there is also indifference in its depths.
"That's right, you have to remember this lesson. And—"
Finally turning his head to the side, there is no more steel jungle and sea of fire, a crater, or even pressing darkness.
Replaced by a flat white ground.
Bright yellowish white particles danced in the air, drifting to the sky as if attracted towards the deep darkness above.
And the sky, it is a dark scape as it is said.
But… various stars, some flickering like a usual starry sky, form a revolution or rotation around, orbiting.
Aside from it, there is also various debris or even ruins of dead stars, which seem hauntingly deadly but evoke a sense of wonder.
Hopping off from the ruins of steel that are left, the Replica falls to the flat ground and turns his back, facing his direction.
"—Welcome and congratulations to you, Shirakami Akane, for passing the Border of Ascension."
This is your moment of Ascension.
Moment where you have pushed beyond your limit.
The border which Interpretation collides with the Self.
Above the illusory steel skeleton, Akane gazed at the wonder of Border, hands on his lap.
Various kinds of emotions that have been suppressed now burst from inside his chest, but at long last.
"Finally, it's over, no?"