Chapter Three - In Shadows of Scarring Memories
A World without Misery (Interitus 1: Book 0)
Chapter Three – In Shadows of Scarring Memories
“We
need to head north,” Hatasuko muttered in his sleep.
The sound of his own voice startled him from slumber. His
eyes slowly fell open to the world of endless starlight, revealing a wide river
which glistened in the pulsing light. Hatasuko took a moment to remember his
location, but he quickly realized that he was sitting in the front seat of a
sail-rana. The boat drifted quickly with the current as the river flowed east,
though they kept their sails folded; the wind flowed northwest as usual.
Hatasuko glanced up and saw Lazaro’s boat slightly ahead of his, though Lazaro
could still hear him over the splash of the river. Vaida was half-asleep in the
seat behind Hatasuko. She covered her face with her dark hair, hiding her eyes
from the pulsing starlight.
Lazaro said from a short distance, “We already are,
remember? Lumipyla is north of the river. Pretty sure we’ll have to steer to shore
in just a couple minutes, so it’s a good thing you’re up.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. We have to go to the Catena
Islands. An Interfectus is going to attack there,” Hatasuko explained.
As soon as she heard the word Interfectus, Vaida perked
her head up from the backseat. Her eyes looked bloodshot and tired, but she
fought against her exhaustion and straightened out her back. She threw her
hands behind her head, unleashed a powerful stretch, and let out a quiet,
high-pitched groan.
“And how the hell would you know something like that?
Chasing the Interfecti is damn near impossible. It’s an ugly game of statistics;
I almost always miss an attack. I go to the wrong place, or it attacks when I
don’t expect. I’m not gonna listen to some crazy kid’s hunch,” Lazaro
retorted.
After he finished speaking, Lazaro pulled out an oar and
dipped it into the river on the right side. He flexed his powerful arms, pushed
the oar backward, and spun his boat so that it drifted toward the left bank.
Hatasuko did the same thing with his own oar, which had been sitting on the
floor beneath a small pile of colorful fruit. In less than a minute, both
sail-ranae reached the northern shore of the river. Lazaro, Vaida, and Hatasuko
then piled out onto the wet dirt of the green meadow.
“I was hoping I would have more time to explain. You see,
I always know when and where the Interfectus will attack. I can hear the
screams of their victims in my head. I know this sounds ridiculous, but you
have to trust me on this,” Hatasuko explained.
“You kids have the wildest imaginations. Let’s just get
moving. We can talk about it on the way,” Lazaro grumbled as he pushed his boat
up the riverbank’s slope.
“I’m not really a kid, Lazaro.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not really a man, either.”
Hatasuko sighed and tried to do the same thing with his
sail-rana, but he struggled to roll the boat up the slope. The wheels on its
underside slightly sank into the wet dirt. Despite her fatigue, Vaida ran up to
his side and helped him push the boat until they reached the flat meadow.
“As I’m sure you know, the winds in Agrideī almost always
blow northwest. Because the wind’s usually very strong, I made a vehicle to
take advantage of it,” Lazaro explained.
“It does what it needs to. You can use the sail-rana any
time you want, but just make sure you’re sitting in front. I don’t want to run
the risk of looking back and seeing her,” Lazaro yelled from up ahead.
Hatasuko shook his head, though he chose to comply. He prepared to lift himself into the front seat of the sail-rana, but Vaida placed her soft hand on his big shoulder.
“I, um, I should be in the front seat on land. When the
wind hits the sail, it’s trying to tip it forward. You’re heavier, so if you
sit in the back, we’ll be a lot more stable,” she said sleepily.
“I never thought about it like that. That’s pretty
clever!”
Vaida climbed into the front seat and retrieved an
albapomus from the wooden floor. She took a bite from it, and then she held it in
between her teeth in front of her face. Hatasuko climbed into the backseat and
watched carefully as she used both hands to deploy the sails. As soon as the
sail unfurled and caught the wind, the whole sail-rana jolted northward across
the meadow. Vaida kept one hand on the wheel and another on the white fruit.
Hatasuko was impressed by how quickly their vehicle started to gain speed;
Lazaro had to redeploy his sail so that they could travel together. It was not
long before both sail-ranae rolled northward at the same speed. After a couple
minutes of travel, Vaida tossed the core of her albapomus out onto the meadow
floor.
“Oh, look! I think it’s an agilus. No, wait, I think it’s
a family of them,” Hatasuko exclaimed, pointing out over the left side of the
sail-rana.
Vaida quickly turned her head and stared at the family of
beasts with her good left eye. Since the goat-like creatures were far away and
illuminated only by starlight, she had to narrow her eye to look closely, but
her face lit up as soon as she saw them.
“Aww, the agili are so cute. Look at them! The little
babies look like they’re trying to climb their mama’s legs,” Vaida raved with a
heartwarming smile.
As soon as he saw her smile, Hatasuko forgot about the
agili in the distance. In the small segment of her face that he could see
through her hair, Vaida gazed at the animals with wonder. Her left eye squinted
from the surge of happiness.
“I think they see you,” Hatasuko said with a quiet voice
as their boat raced through the meadow.
Vaida gave a shy little wave to the agilus family, though
they seemed to be curious more than anything. As the sail-rana rolled on, Vaida
turned her head so that she could watch the animals until they disappeared in
the distance. When this happened, she faced forward again, but Hatasuko could
still sense her smile. She was still happy, and he smiled now that he had seen
her joy.
Lazaro announced from up ahead, “Hatasuko, I need you to
tell me why you think you’re qualified to say when and where the next
Interfectus attack will be. I have a contact in every major city who spends all
day listening to reports and doing the math, just trying to predict the next
attack. In fact, when we get to Lumipyla, that’s the very first person I intend
to see. Lumipyla is my hometown, and it’s the only place with people I even somewhat
care about. But before anything else, I need to find out the chances for the
next attack. Why do you think you would know something like that? That isn’t
something to say lightly, boy.”
“I know it sounds crazy, and that’s how it should be, since
this situation is crazy… but I didn’t
just say that for no reason. It’s like… I carry the weight of those whom the
Interfecti killed. They became a part of me when I touched an Interfectus for
the first time; it awakened inside me like a permanent curse! When I close my
eyes, all I see is anguish. When the world falls silent, all I hear is
screaming. The tempest of souls are somewhat quiet in times of peace, but they scream
and roar when an Interfectus is near. Their voices whisper to me the location
of every attack. I don’t know when it will happen, but it’s usually a matter of
days. You have to trust me on this,” Hatasuko explained.
Lazaro answered with a displeased voice, “We will venture
to the Catena Islands, but I am only doing this to prove that you’re an idiot.
I cannot have my apprentice listening to voices in his goddamn head. I won’t
criticize you for your schizophrenia or whatever the hell you’ve got going on,
since we’re all a little insane—otherwise we wouldn’t be doing this. Vaida does
it because she clearly hates herself, and you do it because you’re
evidently crazy.”
“Why do you always say such awful things about her?”
Hatasuko asked.
But Vaida stepped in and answered, “It’s okay, Hatasuko.
He doesn’t lie. He insults me because I deserve it.”
As the sail-ranae rolled through the flatland of the
starlit meadow, Hatasuko reached his hand around to scratch the back of his
head. He continued to scratch as he contemplated the pain of the poor girl before
him.
Hatasuko whispered inaudibly to himself, “I am such a hypocrite. I swore to
annihilate pain and make a world without misery, but there’s misery right in
front of me. I see the source of her anguish, but I can’t even bring myself to
call him out on it. I can’t even tell if I’m allowing it because he can help me
fight the Interfecti, or if it’s just because I’m afraid of him. I can’t stand
how pathetic I am.”
“I should be thankful for his criticism,” Vaida added as
she faced him. As she said this, Vaida forced a smile and kept her eyes closed.
A starlit tear rolled down the scar on the right side of her face. Hatasuko
glanced away with his gold eyes and stared at the bag of rocks inside the
sail-rana.
“Look all around yourselves. Do you see that the ground
is getting firmer? There is a lot less grass than before. We are getting into
the desert land, so it won’t be much longer to the canyon nation of Lumipyla.
My old home’s along the west edge of the canyon, so the two of you will not
have to enter. I can handle everything there on my own, so you can relax or
train or talk to your head voices. I don’t give a shit. I’ll be gone for
a while once we arrive, so Hatasuko, don’t go far. I won’t have time to look
for you,” Lazaro said with a gruff tone as he steered the sail-rana around a
boulder.
“Yes, sir. I will practice. If I can find a target, I
will try to work on my rock aim.”
“Hatasuko, I know, um, I know it’s none of my business…
but do you really think you hear the voices of the dead?” Vaida quietly asked.
Because a dusty wind howled across the plain, the gusts
shrouded her voice from Lazaro’s ears. Nevertheless, Lazaro sailed far in front
of them since he was lighter than their combined weight.
Hatasuko nodded slowly and answered, “Yes. Their screams
have tormented me for years. I know it sounds like a lie, but it’s real. The
Interfectus cursed me when we first touched. And now, whenever I fight the
Interfectus, I can hear their miserable souls screaming in my head. They’re
louder than anything else, but also silent. I know it sounds crazy.”
“It does sound crazy, but I believe you. I guess, I mean,
I can’t really explain it, but I think something about you feels really
special. Normally I wouldn’t say anything… since I never really say anything.
But I think your voices are real,” she said with a half-smile.
“Thank you, Vaida. I really appreciate it! Honestly, I
never told anyone about this. I never even tried to make a friend until I met
the two of you.”
“I, um, I know how that goes. Except for someone I
haven’t seen in a very long time, I haven’t ever had a friend. I don’t know if
it’s because I get so nervous, or if it’s just because I know no one would want
to be my friend anyway,” Vaida confessed as she stared at the steering wheel in
her hands.
“I can see why you don’t call him your friend. How long have you and Lazaro been fighting
together?” Hatasuko asked.
“A little under two years. He found me the same way he
found you, except he never invited me to learn from him. He never let
me be his apprentice. But when I tried to fight the monster, um, he saved my
life. So I just clung onto him and followed him everywhere since he’s so
strong. Saving me was probably the worst mistake of his life,” she answered
with a forced, nervous, quiet laugh.
Though he wanted to convince her otherwise, Hatasuko got
distracted by a white glow up ahead. The glow looked like it shone from the
underground, but then he saw a cluster of tiny floating lights in the air.
These lights were far beneath the pulsing stars, though their glow speckled the
horizon; these floating lights manifested the horizon. Hatasuko looked over at
Lazaro as he now charged toward the captivating glow at full speed.
“It’s the fireflies of Lumipyla! They’re like little
stars that fell from the sky,” Hatasuko raved with a look of amazement.
“Aren’t they the most wonderful thing in the world?”
Vaida asked.
“I first came to this place at a time when I thought the whole
world was ending. I suppose that in a lot of ways, it truly is ending, but the
fireflies gave me hope. They’re little messengers of light,” Hatasuko
whispered.
When
the sail-rana rolled farther north, Hatasuko saw that the shining light appeared
to shine from underground. He looked over the right side of the vehicle and saw
that the glow emanated from a canyon. The canyon walls and floor were completely
white, and so they reflected the light of the stars in the sky. Due to these reflections,
the canyon looked like it was actually alive in the form of white flashes. Up
ahead, Vaida slightly turned the steering wheel, and the sail-rana veered
closer to the west edge of the canyon. They both stared over the ledge at the
countless homes on the canyon floor. Hatasuko could see a labyrinth of shining
walls and glistening valleys; there were many other cliffs and ravines for as
far as he could see. Lumipyla was a series of chasms filled with towns and
villages.
“I’ve been to the islands and I’ve seen the Fons Vitae,
but this will always be the most beautiful place in the world to me. It was
here that I decided to never give up,” Hatasuko said as fireflies flew
curiously around them.
“I don’t think Lumipyla is as wonderful as it looks. This
is the city that somehow made Lazaro end up the way he is. It’s not that I’m criticizing
him, um, I’m a very nonjudgmental person, but there must be something else we
aren’t seeing. There’s more to this canyon than starlight and fireflies,” whispered
Vaida as their vehicle rolled on.
Hatasuko glanced over the left side of the sail-rana and
saw a small tree on the desert floor. It looked too little and flimsy to help
them with target practice, but it astounded him that a tree could withstand the
hard wasteland soil. Vaida quickly turned the steering wheel to the left so
that their vehicle veered away from a large hole, though the ground was still
very bumpy in this place. Vaida’s two swords clanged as they bounced upon each
other with each bump. When the sail-rana finally rolled a safe distance from
the canyon ledge, the desert became flat and smooth. The wind started to
steadily pick up, so the sail caught the wind and stole its speed. They were now
traveling faster than ever before, but this also meant that Lazaro accelerated;
he moved farther away by the second. As they rolled by the luminous canyon of
starlight and fireflies, Hatasuko saw Lazaro as just a silhouette in the
distance.
“Vaida, can you tell what that is? It’s huge,” Hatasuko
asked, pointing up ahead.
The light of the stars and the flashes from the canyon
illuminated a steady stream of water up ahead. The thin stream diverged around a
large silhouette in the distance. The starlight reflected on the water and
revealed the silhouette of a massive tree.
As
Hatasuko stared upon the tree, Lazaro grabbed the sail and the foldable mast
with both hands, quickly folded it in, and ultimately pulled down his mast so
that his ship would lose speed. The sail-rana struck the stream of water before
it slowed down, but the splashes slowed him enough that he could step out into
the ankle-deep water. The river then flowed quickly down a slope into the
luminous valley, but the water was too shallow to carry away his vehicle. Lazaro
pulled his sail-rana onto dry land and stood at the other end of the starlit
stream. When Vaida saw this, she folded down her own mast so that she would not
have to drive into the water. As she secured the boat, Lazaro sifted through
his belongings until he had everything he wanted. He left his weapons behind.
“Hatasuko, I’m trusting you to look after my belongings.
I’ll be gone for several hours, so just try to keep yourself entertained up
here. I think I left a hanging log in the tree; see if you can send Vaida up
there,” Lazaro yelled out from the other riverbank.
“Alright! We’ll stay right here,” Hatasuko replied as
they rolled to a stop.
Lazaro let out a heavy sigh and then trudged toward
Lumipyla. He stepped carefully on the downward slope beside the shallow stream
of starlit water, though Hatasuko quickly turned his attention back to Vaida.
Now that their boat became motionless, she stepped out of the vehicle and
buckled her whip onto the back of her shirt. She pulled off her light jacket
and tossed it inside the sail-rana. Hatasuko grabbed his sword and his whip
from the floor, holstered them, and then climbed out onto solid ground.
Vaida stepped through the starlit stream as the wind shuffled
her dark hair. She wore a faint smile on her face as she approached the massive
tree which was entangled with vines. As soon as she came close, she dashed through
the flowing water at an impressive speed. She jumped up, grabbed onto two
vines, and hoisted herself higher along the trunk. Hatasuko watched with a look
of amazement as she quickly climbed toward the lowest branch just by using the
strength in her arms. Her biceps and triceps flexed with each pull; her body
demonstrated her impressive strength.
When
Vaida reached the large wooden branch, she quickly scrambled along it until she
reached a black log. The black log was hooked onto a rope which enwrapped the
thick tree branch. She threw the log down so that it spun around the branch, and
when it swung back to her, she caught it and threw it again. This process
repeated several times until the log swung low enough that they could strike it
from the ground.
“Do
you think we’ll be able to hit it from there?” Vaida asked, though the shallow
river nearly drowned out her quiet voice.
Hatasuko
stepped into the cool water and unsheathed his sword from the holster on his
back. His whip was still folded and pinned to the back of his shirt. When he
walked up to the hanging log, he lunged forward, suddenly crouched, and
unleashed a swift slash with his sword. It struck the black log, broke off a
small scrap of bark, and sent the log swinging around at a high speed. When it
swung back at him, he blocked it with his left forearm.
“Yep,
it looks like this will work well! This is such a cool idea!” Hatasuko raved.
“You
really think so? Thank you,” she said with a wide smile.
Vaida
closed her eyes as she smiled. Since the wind blew her hair behind her head,
Hatasuko could see that her burn scars went all the way up to her hairline.
Though the scars left her with an asymmetric face, he found her captivating in
a way that danced between mysterious and gorgeous. But as he gazed upon her scars,
he failed to notice when her eyes opened. Her sea-green eye stared at
nothingness, but her blue eye caught him staring, so she quickly turned her
head and hid her scars.
“I’m sorry! I wasn’t staring, I was just deep in thought.
I really need to work on that,” Hatasuko said.
“Don’t
apologize. I, um, I noticed that it’s natural for people to stare at my scars.
I hate it, but I don’t think people even realize they’re doing it. I just wish
I wasn’t so hideous, or that my scars were only skin deep," Vaida mumbled
with a timid voice that barely pierced the splash of the stream.
“I
really wish you weren’t so down on yourself. I know this probably doesn’t mean
anything to you, but I think you look really pretty,” Hatasuko replied.
Vaida
gazed away and answered, “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t
believe you. I’ve seen my own reflection and accepted the reality. I don’t hate
my scars just because I’m ugly; I hate my scars because they are my curse. They
are a constant reminder of everything I’ve lost. But it doesn’t matter. They
won’t stop me from fighting the Interfecti. They might even help.”
Hatasuko
was caught off guard by this statement. He wanted to give her a sense of
self-assurance that could crush her despair, but she had probably tried and
failed to do this same thing a thousand times. Furthermore, Hatasuko knew that
he had no talent for erasing the emptiness inside anyone; he could not even erase
the emptiness inside himself.
Vaida
suddenly pushed off the tree branch and landed in the silty stream of flowing
water, but she landed with a heavy crash. She fell and smacked onto the ground
on her side. The cool water flowed over her hair and skin, but she climbed out
of the water as quickly as possible. There was already a bruise forming on her
right arm, though it partially camouflaged with her scars.
“I didn’t realize that the ground was so far away.
Sometimes it’s hard to judge distances with just one eye. I always make myself
look like an idiot,” she mumbled as she stared down at the starlit stream.
“You’re
no idiot. I remember what you said about the sail-rana tipping over, and you
also made the hanging log! You’re really quiet, but I know you’re brilliant,”
Hatasuko said as he slashed the hanging log again.
But when Hatasuko glanced back at Vaida, he saw through
the starlight that her face looked slightly red. Her eyes were wide and her
mouth opened with a smile, but she hid her face behind her hands when she saw
him. When she pulled her hands away from her face, she had suppressed her
smile, but a rosy shade remained on her cheeks.
“Damn, this girl is insanely cute,” Hatasuko muttered silently to himself.
“Thank
you… thank you. I, um, I don’t mean to sound petty, but I’m actually the one
who invented the sail-rana! I designed and built the first one, but Lazaro made
a second one and took all the credit. He sold the idea to an inventor and used
the money to finance our travels. That’s what he says, anyway,” Vaida explained
as she unhooked the whip from the holster on the back of her shirt.
With
radiant astonishment, Hatasuko raved, “Really? Vaida, that’s so cool! It is an
impressive vehicle, probably better than anything else in Agrideī, and you must
have made it when you were really young! Do you know how amazing that is?”
Vaida
opened her mouth, and her face turned red once again. Hatasuko saw a flash of happiness
in both her blue eye and her dead sea-green eye, but then she turned her face
so that she stared at the Lumipyla canyon. Hatasuko smiled at her reaction, but
his joy started to fade when he realized the reason for her response—that she
had probably not received an actual compliment in a very long time. As he watched
his timid friend, she turned her head again and started running toward the
hanging log.
Vaida
had to run carefully because she could not see the ground beneath the flowing
stream. She started to veer at the last moment, but then she swung her strong
right arm and unleashed a high-speed whip-crack. The tip shot forward and struck
the hanging long with a huge burst of black bark. The impact sent the log
flying toward Hatasuko; he barely blocked it with a swing of his sword. The
impact of his sword then knocked the hanging log back toward Vaida at a high
speed, but then she jumped into the air and unleashed a flying kick. The log
swung again very swiftly, so Hatasuko threw himself aside and then slashed it
from behind. The log bounced up into air and then flew back down at him, so he struck
it again to knock it aside. He then spun around to make sure that he could
block it before it swung back around, but he could not see it anywhere.
“Whoa,
where did it go?” Hatasuko asked with wide eyes.
When
Hatasuko looked up, he realized that he could hear the log flying toward him
from behind. Vaida swung her whip with incredible speed and cracked it in the
air; Hatasuko immediately grabbed it. She yanked backward with both arms and
jerked him out of the way, right before the log would have struck him on the
back of his head. However, the force of the pull brought Hatasuko to his knees,
so he crashed and rolled through the shallow starlit stream. Vaida tossed her
whip onto dry land and ran toward Hatasuko with a worried look. He laughed as
he stumbled onto his feet. Shimmering drops of water fell from his golden hair.
“Are
you okay? I shouldn’t have pulled so hard; I’m sorry,” she said with a shaky
voice.
“No,
Vaida, you’ve got great instincts! You’ve got a talent for saving people.”
“Maybe,
but I’m only good at this because Lazaro taught me. He’s great at pulling
people away from the edge of death! It makes me feel bad because sometimes I
think I’m doing this for all the wrong reasons. I really want to get revenge on
the Interfecti. I, um… you and I are a lot alike in that way. But I also think
that’s why we’re condemned to always stand in his shadow—because he doesn’t
waste time on frivolous things like revenge.”
“It may be frivolous, and it may seem impossible, but I
know it’s my destiny to end the Interfecti. I have to do it. If they are still
alive at the end of my life, then it means that my existence was pointless,”
Hatasuko replied as stepped to the edge of the shimmering stream.
He sat down beside his friend and watched the shallow
water flow on by. The sparkling stream poured down the slope and into the
luminous canyon. The hanging log swayed back and forth from the heavy winds,
though the wind failed to reverse the water’s flow.
“I
know this is none of my business, but, um, no one ends up like us if they had a
normal happy life. Can I hear your story, Hatasuko? I promise I won’t tell
anyone. Not that I have anyone to tell it to anyway,” she nervously requested.
As she spoke, she twirled her hair with her scarred right hand.
After
a moment of contemplation, Hatasuko decided, “Yeah. I suppose I can tell the
story, though it isn’t something I’ve ever really said out loud before. I’m not
a great storyteller, but I’ll do the best that I can.
“I grew up in the Collobos Mountains. I heard that most
people think that region is unpopulated and desolate, but that’s a big lie.
Almost every mountain is settled, and we’ve got more than a few big cities! My
mother and I lived in one of the more populous cities, so I was exposed to many
ideas when I was young. I remember learning that most people fell away from God
because of the Interfecti. A lot of people believe that God has forsaken us
because he lets the demons roam our world, hunting our souls. Others even think
that God is the one who unleashed the Interfecti, like as a punishment
for our sins. I guess I was too young to understand the sense of fear and
hatred, though I learned terror very quickly. I learned hatred very quickly.
“The thing is, I
firmly believe that my mother is the greatest person who ever lived. My father
died shortly before I was born, so she had to work twice as hard to provide for
me. When I was very young, I spent a large part of my time with my grandparents,
while mother was out hunting or working, but… she never once complained. One
time, my grandfather asked her if she needed help, but she embraced him and
told him that he had already done more than anyone could ever ask. She never
missed the opportunity to let people know how much she appreciated them. She
never missed the chance to tell me how much she loved me, and how miraculous it
was that she had me in her life. She said I was a blessing to her life and a
blessing for the world.
“And
whenever she felt overwhelmed, or maybe the pressure was too much, she told me
that there’s nothing wrong with falling down. We all fall down. She said that
the important part is standing back up. The world can knock us down, but it
cannot hold us down. I repeat those words to myself every time I chase an
Interfectus. She gave me the strength to discover this destiny.
“When I was still young, mother and I found a grove of
ruberpomus trees in the mountains. It was a long walk from our home, but it was
the most delicious thing I ever tasted! I had eaten piscileo, I had tasted agili,
and I had tried every fruit I could find, but the ruberpomus was my favorite
taste in the world. We were so happy there. She and I would go to the grove
every week and carry back as many red fruits as our little hands could carry.
“But
as time went on, mother got exhausted from all her hard work. The walk to the
ruberpomus trees was getting too long for her, so instead I made that trip on
my own. I was getting older, so I knew I could help make her life easier. It
took me a hundred tries, but I finally learned how to hunt with a bow. I’ll
never forget how proud she was, that night when I made her dinner for the very
first time. There were tears of joy in her eyes. I knew I overcooked the meat,
but she and I ate every morsel in celebration. She bragged about me to all of
our friends and neighbors. I remember one night, I woke up in the middle of the
night and heard her praying. I heard her thank God for giving me to her. With
tears in my eyes, I silently thanked Him for letting me have a mother as
wonderful as her. He had given me the single greatest gift in the world.
“But
light is temporary, and all things return to darkness in the end. One day, I
was walking back to the city from the ruberpomus field. I had all the fruits
cradled in my little arms, but everything changed when I saw the thin layer of
darkness crawl across the sky. I could still see the stars pulsing through the dark
curtain, at least until a shadow fell across the city. A massive silhouette appeared
in the background. Its giant black feet hovered over the mountainside. This was
my very first time seeing the demon of flashing blades and shifting shadows—it
was the monster named the Interfectus.
“I
knew that mother was still in the city, and that knowledge alone flipped a
switch inside me. I dropped the fruit; I just ran toward the city because I
knew she was vulnerable. She had been tired for weeks. I had only heard stories
of the Interfectus, like a secondhand shadow of pure horror, but I never
understood the reality of the darkness until that moment. I never realized the
strength of evil until I saw myself running toward it. I never realized how
weak I was until I ran out of strength to keep running, even before I reached
the edge of the city. But exhaustion could not stop me. I ignored my pain and
ran on in spite of it.
“When
a bright light shines and you close your eyes, you can still see the shape of
the glow through your eyelids. When the scattershot of bombs struck the city
and lit the sky with blue fire, I closed my eyes and kept running. But even
with my eyes closed, I could see the flames destroy the town where I was born
and raised. I could hear their screams over the crackle of fire because I was
so close. As soon as I reached the edge of town, I saw a crowd of people
fleeing from their homes. The Interfectus stood as a silhouette behind the
raging flames. I watched people try to fight back; I watched them throw sticks
and rocks at the monster, but everything just bounced off. There was no sign of
pain in its golden-glowing demon eyes. They pulsed like the stars in the sky! But
they were not hungry or angry. Its whole face glowed in the flashing flames,
but it was emotionless. This was the demon that slaughtered entire cities in
the blink of an eye. I knew in that moment that my childhood had ended in a
burst of blood and fire.
“As
I ran through the smoky streets, I watched the Interfectus unleash its
blade-arm of slashing shadows. It was so fast, it was so powerful, and it
pierced through an entire block! The Interfectus slashed its arm, as it so
often does, and then the entire row of homes was cut to shambles. It shattered
the windows of all the nearby houses. My heart sank when I realized that attack
had hit very near my home.
“I
ran back home at full speed, but I wasn’t even trying to get a weapon. I felt
so hopeless that I just… gave up on even trying to escape; I just accepted that
my life was over. So like a scared, crying, helpless little boy, I ran home to
mother. When I was young, the solace of her embrace was so powerful that it erased
my terror. If I could hold her in my dying moment, then that would be enough
for me. That’s all I wanted—to hold close the most wonderful person in my world.
Like a scared, defeated, hopeless little boy.
“The
Interfectus shot out another scattershot. The black energy balls hit that whole
section of the city. I watched with my hands over my head as a shadow sphere
struck a house across the street from my home; the explosion blew out every
wall and window. An old man was launched by this blast! I watched with my hands
over my ears as he crashed into someone else’s roof and died. And when I ran
onto the same street, I saw a shadow sphere hit the back of my house. It was
the loudest and brightest explosion I had ever seen, but it was like the whole
world stopped. The shockwave blew my home to pieces; I watched mother fly out
of the second story window with a burst of fire and glass. My heart stopped
when she crashed into the street, and she landed on her hands and knees. I
broke apart on the inside when I heard her bones snap. I knew that I would
definitely die if the Interfectus saw me, but I guess I couldn’t stop myself. I
just ran across the street because I knew she was alive.
“That was when I saw the first weapon of the Interfectus up
close for my very first time. Its shadow arm turned into a hand of black
daggers, and then it reached across the sky. I was more scared than I had ever
been in my life—both for myself and for her. The shadow-hand just barreled
toward her, and I only had one thing I could do to maybe stop it. I tried to
knock it out of the way with the strongest punch I could possibly summon. My
fist struck the blade-arm, but it did nothing. I was too weak. I was hopeless.
I watched the claw of slashing shadows pierce straight through her; giant black
daggers poked through her like a hand. The Interfectus opened its claw and tore
her to pieces, all because I was too weak to save her. I’ll never forget that
final look of anguish in her crying eyes. I can’t even try to explain how broken
I felt, standing there in the wreckage with corpses all around me. Her body was
so mangled that I couldn’t even hold her.
“I collapsed in the street, and I felt like I was the
only person left alive in the whole city. Even as the Interfectus loomed over
me in the smoky sky, I just glared at the bloody dirt beneath me. I don’t know
if it decided to spare me or if it simply thought I was dead, but it faded away
in the starlight. Left as fast as it appeared. I watched that layer of darkness
disappear, and that was the first time I started hearing the screams in the
hollows of my mind. I knew that the screams belonged to the damned souls of the
victims, but this knowledge didn’t make the tempest any less powerful. Their
screams tormented me from the inside. They stole away every shard of warmth
that was left in my heart. I knew I could never clear the voices from my head;
I accepted that the Interfectus had punished me for having the audacity
to strike it with my own skin. It was my punishment for trying and failing. But
mother told me that the world can knock us down, though it cannot hold us down.
So I took her advice and made the decision to stand back up.
“At first, I thought I was chasing the Interfecti for
revenge. I quickly learned it was more than that. I was not cursed with a tempest
of endless pain just so I could give them retribution. I think I
received this curse for a reason. I don’t think that anything that’s happened
to me is a coincidence. I was given this endless pain so I could have the drive
to end the Interfecti. I was flooded with agony so I could banish it from this
world. This curse is the catalyst that will let me forge a world without
misery. It’s something I have to do. I never want anyone anywhere to feel pain
ever again. It’s my destiny to make this happen.”
As Hatasuko told this last part of his story, his golden
eyes reflected the pulsing light of the stars in the sky. The shimmering,
starlit stream splashed in front of his feet. Vaida watched his eyes and
listened closely to every word. Even after he finished his story, she said
nothing. In his mind, he fought to suppress the storm of shouting voices. In
her mind, she accepted the possibility that this tempest was actually real.
However, the world around them stayed silent except for the gusting wind and
the starlit stream flowing in the opposite direction.
“Sorry, um, if I don’t know what to say. It’s a problem I
always kinda had, not knowing… well, when someone tells me something really
sad. Because instead of facing it, I just mostly get sad too. And then I don’t
know anything except how you feel because I feel it too. But I think that’s why
I know you’re telling the truth about the screaming souls. Lazaro would slam me
on the ground if he heard me say this, but I think he’s wrong. I believe you,
Hatasuko. I can see it in your eyes. I can tell that the voices are real. But I
don’t know about this destiny. Do you really think you can do all that?” she
asked quietly.
Hatasuko took his sword and sheathed it back into his
holster. He stood up again at the edge of the sparkling water, but he glanced
down at his scarred friend as the starlight shone on his golden hair.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that. I’ve been a
stranger to hope for as long as I can remember. I’ve had my head held low for
so long, but I want to get stronger. I want to feel the way you feel! I guess
it all begins with your mother’s words. There’s nothing wrong with falling
down. We all fall down… but the important part is standing back up.”
Vaida looked away from the water and finally stood up.
Though her eyes shyly gazed away, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed
her face against his chest. He could feel her smooth hair touch his chin. When
she finally let go and took a small step backward, she said, “Thank you,” in
her shaky, quiet voice.
“I should be thanking you.”
“Why is that?” she asked as her good eye looked up at
him.
“Because the screaming storm’s been silent for all this
time I’ve spent with you.”
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