'I have read about former Admiral Lucian. He was not an inspiration, he was lazy.' Calistis thought, contemplating whether to enlighten Valen or not.
Glancing at Calistis with an even more radiant smile, Valen asked. "What about you? What drives you?" Pausing to scratch his mane, he continued. "Or are you one of those wandering floating leaf kinds?" He chuckled.
Shaking her head, her gaze landing on the burning flames before her. Embers sparkled in her cold black eyes.
"No." She answered simply. Taking in a deep breath to steady herself, she expanded.
"My father is a powerful and wise leader. On the brink of Zyro's fall from grace, he appeared and alone carried it to its former glory and beyond."
While she spoke, Valen noticed something about her tone. It was no longer empty; rather, it was overflowing with loving admiration for her father.
However, it was not just admiration he could feel. He could hear longing, inferiority, yearning, sorrow.
'She is such a mess.' He thought, looking closely at her.
"You want to live up to the standard he lived by." Valen commented, his eyes locked on Calistis.
Glancing at the giant, Calistis hesitantly replied. "Yes." The embers shifted with her gaze.
"Everyone has a different path in life, Calistis." Valen said, rising to his feet.
"If you walk your father's path, then your path will remain empty and lifeless. So walk down your own path. It will always be the brightest path." He continued, walking to his sleeping leaf.
His words latched onto Calistis like parasites, burrowing deep into her mind, gnawing at her thoughts, corroding away her aims, leeching onto her goals, and draining her of her drive.
Slowly his words began to replace the eroded thoughts. However, the parasite of his words was too weak, or rather Calistis's mind was too impenetrable.
She clenched her fist, teeth gritting. The parasites began freezing, unable to stand the cold might of her will.
'I am the same as my father. I walk the same path as him as his daughter. And as his daughter I must ensure his pride in me.'
With every line of thought, Calistis's cold iron will strengthened. Freezing all the parasites of Valen's words.
Rising to her feet, she glanced at the laying giant. 'His words are dangerous.'
.....
Further upstream, below the veil of whispering leaves, Talen, Henry, and Kestis camped.
Talen sat in the cold of night, his jian resting on his shoulder as he fumbled with the blue scarf.
'Just a day left, what then after?' He thought, glancing at Henry.
His thoughts continued. 'I can form a squad with him, I guess, but.'
He sat wondering how he was going to exact his revenge. Chaos Monsters rarely had nests or homes. So how was he to find and exterminate Ignis.
'I am kidding myself, I have Ashen after all.' He thought, smiling at his overthinking.
He sighed, preparing himself to give thought to what truly kept him awake. If he could, he would run away from it his entire life.
What life? What life did he have? He had given it up for revenge, revenge that would only last him a day. Foolishly disregarding the after.
"You are not going to be happy about that, are you mom?" He whispered, truly grasping the stakes of the life he chose in blood thirst.
'What then, what happens after I kill them?' Talen thought, embracing his predicament.
"I can still be the old man's weapon." He mumbled with a chuckle.
However, he knew being Ashen's weapon was not something he wanted to do. Rather, it was something he had to do.
Looking up at the canvas of the Physical Realm, he sighed. "I will just flow with the current." He whispered, taking in a deep breath.
"I still get to kill the bastards." he continued, laying down.
Slowly his eyes grew heavy as he fell asleep.
"I hate being empty." He whispered, falling asleep.
....
As swiftly as the night came, so did the morning.
Golden light seeped through the maze of leaves onto Talen's face.
Opening his eyes with a flutter, Talen sat up. "Last day." He yawned.
Glancing at Henry and Kestis with a sigh, he stood up walking to them.
"Wake up, will you." He ordered, lightly kicking Kestis.
"Have some patience, oaf." Kestis snarled, as he was abruptly woken up.
Clicking his tongue, Talen turned around. "Wake him up, will you? We only got a day left." He ordered, walking away.
'The early bird gets the worm.' Kestis thought with a chuckle.
As Talen cleaned himself, Kestis struggled with his chore: waking Henry.
Once he was cleaner than he was and all three of them were awake, they set off on their vague journey upstream.
As they traveled, Talen noticed the stream shrink, becoming narrower and shallower.
'Almost there.' He thought, glancing back at Kestis and his reluctant crutch.
"What are you doing after this, Hen?" He asked, gazing at the setting sun.
Raising his head with heavy breaths, Henry answered. "Nothing much, just anything to put some food in my sister's stomach."
'Eugh, even he has something to do.' Talen thought.
"Who is taking care of her now?" He asked.
"She is in an orphanage, but by year's end she will graduate." Henry replied with a chuckle.
Glancing back at him, an uneasy smile turned his lips. 'This klutz is responsible for someone? No, I am sure they are taking care of him.' Talen contemplated.
Although he doubted Henry's competence as a caregiver, he was still curious about his sister.
'He is going to rant, is not he?' Talen cautioned himself before asking.
After careful deliberation, Talen ultimately decided against asking about Henry's sister. 'We have time. I will ask after we wrap this up.' Talen thought.
As the thought crossed his mind, a violent gush of wind swept past them. Raining leaves down on them, mostly centering around Henry.
Glancing at the leaves around him and Kestis, Henry laughed. "Look Talen, one of us is the chosen one. Guess who?" He joked, a smile that seemed particularly brighter shining on his face.
Glaring at him from the side, Kestis thought. 'Death's chosen one.' Barely able to contain his laughter.
As the sun set lower and the stream grew narrower, the trio got further on their journey.
Looking ahead, Talen could vaguely make out an entrance to a clearing. So did Kestis.
'Very well, the denouement begins.' Kestis thought.
"I need a break." He said, subtly glancing at Talen. "Put me down will you, my body aches." He groaned, glaring at Henry.
Henry glanced at Talen, asking. "He is in pain, can we end the day here?"
'What is he hiding over there.' Talen thought, suspicious of Kestis's oddly timed complaints. "We will keep going a while longer." Talen replied.
Kestis smirked.
Finally arriving at the clearing's entrance, they paused.
The inside had a large rocky surface, that was devoid of all leaves unlike the other clearings. Half of it was circled by the forest; the other half was bounded by an enormous mountain.
Observing the clearing, Talen sighed.
There was nothing special about it; it was mostly ordinary, so why?
Why did Kestis want them here, or not.
Shaking his head, Talen escaped the maze Kestis created in his mind.
He glanced, finding Kestis leaning against a tree branch that constructed the entrance to the clearing.
"It was your decision." Kestis remarked, glancing away with trembling shoulders.
"S-should we just l-look around?" Henry suggested, hands trembling.
Shifting his gaze onto him, Talen clenched his jian, replying. "Sure, stay on guard."
Henry nodded, his nervous trembles returning.
As Talen wrapped the blue scarf around his wrist, his eyes remained glued on Kestis. His suspicion was higher than ever, so was the dark feeling he sensed on Kestis the first time he laid eyes on him.
'Whatever it is I am ready.'
Henry and Talen stepped into the grave like clearing.
"A standing ovation, for such a play is deserved." Kestis chuckled, finally able to laugh his heart out.
His eerie laughter was loud as he celebrated the end of his perfectly planned out play.
"This would make an entertaining tale for Father." He said, his laughter dimming.
A familiar yet stronger gale of wind welcomed the two as they entered the clearing. However, the gale felt closer to a warning than a welcome.
Raising their hands to defend against the wind, they glanced at each other.
Nodding, they pushed against the wind.
Each step was heavier than the last, as the wind grew stronger.
With no feasible option left, they both slipped into the Zone. Utilizing their enhanced strength, the push against the wind became easier.
Talen pushed until he felt the wind dissipate. Raising his head, he looked around. Confused.
They were stranded in the middle of the clearing.
"It is not so ordinary after all." Talen muttered, glancing at the confused and scared Henry.
"Talen, I am scar." Henry tried to speak; however, he was interrupted by a thundering shriek.
The shriek reverberated through the clearing and into both their bones, in a familiar chilling way.
A cursed thought crossed his mind. 'A Tempest.' He gritted his teeth.
As the ear piercing shriek died down, Talen roared. "Run."
Stepping back into the Zone, he ran, so did Henry. Each stride, a desperate attempt at survival.
However, their escape came to a halt, as a shadow descended from above with blinding speed.
Even in the Zone, Talen could not track it. 'What kind of Tempest is this?' He thought.
The clearing announced the shadow's landing with a quake, while veiling it with a bubble of dust.
Talen focused his eyes, trying to penetrate the floating veil.
He was met with a murderous gaze from a pair of eyes, eyes darker than night.
They were cold and brimming with savage intelligence.
The dust began settling, unveiling an eerie silhouette.
Two long and grotesque wings, both ending in curved claws. A long and sharp beak.
While observing the silhouette, a single dreadful name rang in his mind. 'Bird of Plague.'
The only Chaos Monster on Roku they had been warned about.
As it dusted its wings, it shrieked a second time.
A louder more blood thirsty roar.
The shriek hit them like a sonic attack, piercing Talen and Henry's eardrums.
Talen clenched his ears while Henry fell to his knees in a silenced cry.
The shriek resonated beyond the clearing, echoing through the forest.
.....
"He is battling another Tempest again. I admire his thirst for battle." Valen declared, hearing the echoes of the shriek.
Glancing at Calistis, he announced with a smile. "Hurry." He ran.
Calistis froze, hands clenched, tail still. 'Finally. But there is only one tempest in that direction.' She whispered, heart beating fast.
Hesitantly she followed.
.....
In the space plane, Garvin sprang to his feet as he watched the descent of the Tempest.
"Why are you there?" He screamed, typing frantically.
Uploading the instruction manual for instructors, he hurriedly read through it.
"In circumstances involving all candidate survival, an instructor is permitted to intervene." Garvin read, a deep sigh escaping his lips.