The Memory of That Day

Lilian was floating in the far reaching darkness that was Edward’s mind.

No matter where she looked, she could see nothing in this eerily silent and cold abyss. She frowned with concern and clasped her hands together.

“I’ve never seen so much emptiness in someone’s mind before.” She murmured. “He’s almost to the point of mental death…But why would being in battle cause such severe mental collapse?”

She blinked as she felt a slight change in the air around her, and dove deeper into the darkness with greater vigor. Eventually, a faint light entered her vision, and she soon found its source.

A tiny ball of gold, struggling against black chains that were squeezing it tight. When she saw this, Princess Lilian gasped with worry and moved to free the golden ball from the chains.

‘It’s Sir Edward’s conscience!’ She thought with desperation. ‘Is that chaos wrapped around it!?’

She brought her hands to grab the Hero’s conscience, but shrieked as she was repelled by the chains, which emitted black sparks from her touch.

“By the Goddess!” She gasped, wincing in pain. “I thought those blessed by Lumina were immune to Nocturne’s corruption…This is bad…”

She clasped her hands and brought them to her lips, then closed her eyes as she murmured a prayer.

“Oh Lumina, free him from the chaos…He’s your Hero, and ours. Sir Edward, if you can hear me, please come back. Please, be safe…we need you.”

_______________________________________

Edward only saw darkness for what felt like forever, as he sunk like a rock in the ocean, stiff and cold.

‘Am I…dead?’ He whispered internally. ‘Where am I?’

Then suddenly, he was laying on something soft. An alarm rang nearby, and he groaned and turned over as he was annoyed by the sharp sound.

Then a voice, all too familiar, caused his eyes to snap open.

“Hey Ed, time to get-”

Edward gasped and panted heavily as he looked around in a panic.

He was in what appeared to be a dorm room, with a computer desk on one side, where the digital alarm clock was placed. He was on the bottom of a bunk bed, and peeking upside-down from above…was the face of his old friend. Even if his hair was stubble, there was no mistaking its green shade.

“T-Tom?!” Edward exclaimed in shock.

Thomas Little, his best friend…but he was supposed to be…dead. Yet, here he was, with his emerald eyes gazing at Edward in confusion.

“Uh, yeah? Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare or something?”

As Edward calmed down, he was able to think more about where he was. He looked around again, and the memories flooded into his mind. 

‘It’s…the barracks. We’re still stationed in Kenya, right?’

He shakily rolled off the bed and stumbled to the alarm to shut it off. He then turned to Tom, who had just climbed off the top bunk.

“N-nothing happened here?” The dark-haired man asked warily.

His friend raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I just…had a bad dream.”

“Wow, that’s a first. Do you need to stay here and rest a little more?”

“No…I’m a little shaken, that’s all.”

Tom chuckled and turned to the door. “Then let’s get moving! Can’t be even a minute late, or the chief will chew us out!”

As he followed his friend, Edward put a hand over his heart and sighed in relief.

‘It was all just a dream…A very bad dream.’ He thought drowsily.

For the first time in what felt like forever…he smiled, though it was small.

_________________________________________

Morning drills were almost always at 5 o’clock and held at the gym. They always started with a set of a hundred pushups and situps, and ended with twelve laps around the gym.

At the end of the twelfth lap, the rookies either slumped forward or fell to their knees from exhaustion. Off to the side, an older man with a black mustache barked out in an authoritative tone.

“That’s enough! Go eat breakfast, then you’ll be free to spend the next few hours as you wish until our guests arrive! Dismissed!”

Edward let out a tired groan as he trudged over to regroup with his friends.

“What do you guys want to do after breakfast?” He asked them with a weary smile.

Tom yawned. “I think…I’d rather take a nap. I’m wiped after those drills.”

Beside him, a magenta-eyed woman with shoulder length pink hair giggled and crossed her arms, and spoke in a wistful tone.

“I’m going to refresh myself. I don’t want to look like a mess when my hubby arrives~.”

He gave her a look of disbelief. “I still can’t believe you hooked up with that guy.”

“We didn’t ‘hook up’.” She said with a pout. “We’re totally in love. And don’t give me that ‘but you only just met’ speech.”

As they bickered, Edward looked at the woman with curiosity.

‘It…really is Fran.’ He thought with a relieved sigh.

Francis Reed, another one of his friends from childhood. She was always the dramatic-romantic type, and went through boyfriends and girlfriends every other month back in high school, Tom included.

Edward’s lips curled into a small smile. ‘But now…she finally found the one for her. I’ve never seen her so serious about a relationship until she found that guy from the Kenya Army. I’m happy for her happiness. Tom though…’

As if on cue, his best friend gave him a pointed look.

“The heck are you smirking at?” He said in accusation.

Edward chuckled. “Oh, nothing. Anyway, let’s get breakfast before it gets cold.”

_______________________________________

A few hours later, all of the American rookies were lined up at the gate for the arrival of the bus filled with Kenyan troops.

Once it stopped, the Kenyans all came out one by one, and lined up parallel to the Americans to face them. The noticeably tall guy in front of Fran gave her a soft smile, which she returned with a wink.

Beside her, Tom shook his head and sighed, while Edward gave him a pat on the back.

They all straightened to attention as their commander, the same mustached man from earlier, made an announcement.

“Welcome, trainees from the Kenya Army! Thank you for joining us for another joint training session! Now everyone, head to the gym so we can discuss the details of this operation!”

The moment they had approval to move, both sides went towards each other and began to mingle. Many friends were made here, despite them being from different countries with barriers of language between them.

A few others had even found love, Fran being a prime example as she jumped into her new boyfriend’s arms and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“I missed you, Kilo~!” She cheered happily.

He blushed slightly. “Mhm, I missed you too.”

Edward chuckled as he watched the lovebirds go off together, then glanced aside to see Tom's longing expression.

“Get over her already, man.” The former said with exasperation. “Just be happy that our friend finally decided to settle on someone. Even if it isn’t you.”

The green-haired man sighed. “I was thinking about what we were like those few months back in eleventh grade. I always liked her, you know that. I was happy when she accepted my confession back then.”

“Yeah, you two were honestly quite happy together. Then you had to blow it because you got too worried over whether she was cheating or not. You’re lucky she decided to keep being friends after that.”

“Ugh…you’re right, but I can’t help but think about what we could have been if I had been more mature, ya know? But it’s all in the past…I just need to focus on being a soldier now.”

Tom’s wistfulness was replaced by a more upbeat smile as he held up a fist.

“And I got my best pal with me! We’re going to be heroes together, right?”

Edward blinked as his face turned blank. “Heroes…”

‘Right…we all wanted to be heroes who could protect our country and save lives.’ He thought with a conflicted frown.

His head ached for a brief moment, during which he got flashes of that dream in his mind. The people he killed in that world…the blood on his sword that was washed by the rain…

‘No…it was all a dream. It didn’t happen...’

Tom looked at him in concern. “Are you okay?”

Edward shook his head. “Yeah, I’m just…thinking about why we’re here.”

He looked at the crowd of soldiers around them, and how they talked to each other with laughs and smiles. It was such a happy time, and yet…there was this unsettling feeling in his heart, which caused him to bring a hand to his chest.

“We’re all fighting for the same thing. Peace for our countries, and the world. For our friends and families. But…do you think peace can truly exist?”

Tom raised an eyebrow. “The hell are you talking about?”

“Just answer me, okay?”

Edward’s best friend crossed his arms in thought, then looked at the sky for a few seconds before answering.

“I’m sure it will, someday. It’s certainly a long road ahead, and not an easy one. But we will get there, we just need to keep fighting for it.”

Edward clenched a fist. “But what if we keep fighting forever? What if there’s no end to the world’s conflicts? Tom, I…I don’t believe we can be heroes. All we’re doing is throwing ourselves to our deaths, for an impossible ideal. Just like my dad did…”

Tom gave him a stern frown. “So that’s why, huh? Ever since he died, have you always doubted whether you wanted to be in the army and follow in his footsteps?”

Edward recalled when he was only eleven years old, standing by his father’s casket during the funeral. He could still remember the words used to describe him, and many others who died in service.

‘He was a true hero to his country.’

“...Yeah, I always have.” Edward said in a low tone.

He gasped and brought a hand to his head as pain suddenly flared in his brain, and images from that battlefield flashed through his mind. Particularly the dead bodies cut down by his own blade…

Just faintly, he heard a woman’s soft voice echo in his mind.

‘Sir Edward, wake up…’

‘Who is that?’ He thought with distress.

Before he could think further, Tom tackled him to the ground while shouting in a desperate tone.

“Get down!”

In the next instant, an explosion louder than anything Edward had heard before deafened his ears and put him in a daze.

‘What’s…happening?’ He croaked out in his head.

After several seconds, he staggered up with Tom to look around the area. What he saw made his eyes go wide with panic, and his breathing began to get heavy.

‘No way, it’s…’

Flames were spreading throughout the base, sending dark smoke into the air. The Kenyan and American rookies were shouting out in confusion and horror. Meanwhile, their commanders were quick to recover from the shock and start barking out orders to regroup.

Seconds later, the cracks of gunshots began to ring out, and everyone scrambled to form up and find cover.

“Come on Ed, run!” Tom urged as he got up. “We gotta find Fran!”

Edward was hauled onto his feet, and he nearly tripped over himself as he hurried after his friend. His mind was scrambled, filled with memories of this ongoing event.

‘The day…actually happened.’ He thought with despair. ‘The day he died, and when I realized there are no heroes in this world…’