Chapter 7 : Start of a Journey

Several days later, in another realm in the universe. One that is a bit far from the Heavenly realm.

The wind blows wildly. Today would be a windy day it seemed. A young woman is walking, holding something in both of her hands.

A red-haired girl thinks as she carries several buckets of water down a dusty barren road.

She had just returned from the well. Which was in the center of the village she lived in. Every day, she drew water at the start of the day to be used throughout the rest.

Water was always valuable, especially in a broken down, backwater village like this one. They were far away from the wealth of the city and for good reason. This village mostly consisted of humans

In a land ruled by Cyber Demons and rampaging wild beasts. The Cyber Demons were not so fond of the humans in the Underrealm.

The eldest ones ruled the lands with an iron-fist, protecting themselves with great corporations they created. Monolithic machines that only exist to further control star systems and make people’s lives more miserable.

“Always pretending to have the best, swiftest solution to your problems. While laying on three hundred percent interest rates a month later. Monthly payments are a scam.” She sighed.

Her bronzed, dark brown skin shone brightly in the sun. This was a village in an arid region, after all. Everyone here was brown, except the visitors. Two small bodies move towards her quickly, bumping into her. Almost making her spill the water she spent so hard drawing from the well.

“Watch out, you stupid, ungrateful brats!” She yells as they run past her. Herself, only being a little bit past their age. She was sixteen and they were both twelve. They giggle, the brother and sister duo.

“Na Na na na na Nam!” The young girl sets her water down, sprinting after the unruly brats. She tackles the boy, the sister quickly begins running away, leaving her brother behind.

“Aaaaaaaaa!” pretending that he was hurt from the take down.

She isn’t buying it and socks him a good one on the noggin. He recoils from the pain.

“Ouch! What are you, my mother?” He groans in pain.

“No, I am your older neighbor! Why are you still acting like this, Roan. Isn’t it about time you stopped chasing me down every day?” She eyes him curiously. He tries to escape her grasp and fails. She holds him down with ease.

“Let me go!”

“Not until you say please, squirt!” She prevents him from moving, giving him nuggies. Defeated, he slumps and gives up fighting.

“Can you pleaaassssssseee let me go? I won’t act up for the rest of the day” He whispers, smirking. She simply body slams him onto the ground the next instant, though with not much force. The poor boy cries but not much. She did not throw him hard.

“I’ve had enough of your acting today. Get out of here before I put you to work.”

The forbidden, cursed word makes the motionless body leap up and sprint away. Clearly, he only wanted to play around, as usual. She sighs and stands up. She grabs her water and slowly walks towards her home. A small home, built from sandstone. The resting place for her and her sister. It had several stone steps. It was made shortly after she was born.

When her mother was still around. Her mother had dark skin and fiery, long red hair, just like herself. She wore strange, abnormal robes. Ones with strange symbols. Weapons, such as longswords and rapiers, were etched onto her dress. And she always carried a single sword. Just one sword. She only saw her mother’s blade once. There was one time she let her touch the blade and feel it. She felt like the blade was made of metal, yet it was not.

It was forged of something stronger.

Something that was immeasurable.

Something that was immaterial but resided within her mother’s body. As she stared, she could see something, a flame residing in that sword. A red-hot flame that burned bright.

After that moment, she was never allowed to touch her weapon again. She only saw it in a scabbard, on her side. One of the few good remaining memories she had of that woman.

Seven years after she was born, her mother left without notice. The only thing she left her, and her sister, who she also cared for, was a small note.

It read “When you become stronger, find me.” Her writing was clear as a day, the only piece of her that she had left behind.

She never knew her mother’s name. She seemingly never told either of them, as the two realized over time. Why did she hide her identity? And who was she, really? A warrior that gave birth to two children, then left them when they were young? What was her goal, what was the point of this?

The teenage girl sought answers but knew she would not receive them easily.

Nor did her mother ever actually give her a name, strangely enough. An uncaring woman, as always, she thought.

So, instead, the locals and her sister began to refer to her as Nameless.

A nameless young girl. Often, the elders of the village tried to convince her to take another name, but she refused. She felt it was... right. The name suited her, at least for now she felt. One day, once she figured it out, she would pick the most suitable name for her. The teenager had some ideas floating around in her mind, after all. Nameless thinks of this as she walks up the stairs to her home. She pushes open the door gently, seeing her sister resting. Her sister, also a dark-skinned young woman, but she had blue hair and a white and lavender dress. She had the most memorable hazelwood eyes and freckles on her face.

Since she was young, the two of them have been together. Inseparable. They were always together through thick and thin.

“Aaaa, sis, your back!” She seems happy to see her sister return with the water. Nameless put the buckets down inside of their home, near their dinner table.

“I was only gone for two hours, hun. Would have been quicker if you got it, Ms. Flash.” Her sister’s face flushes, becoming embarrassed. The people in the town they lived in, called Kyrea, occasionally saw a flash in the wind, something moving around at high speeds they could not see. So often, this person would prevent accidents from happening.

The town was on the outskirts of the desert, so the folk had to defend themselves. They relied heavily on the two sisters, since it was difficult dealing with the harsh environment of the desert on their own.

Often, the two would take turns defending the village. One who wielded a blade and one who brandished godly speed. The blue-haired youth gained the title “Divine Flash,” from her plethora of exploits. She was quite fast. Inhumanely so.

But she lacked the courage her sister had. Divine Flash was not very confident in her strength. Or perhaps, she was simply just scared of death. No matter what, her sister merely accepted her as who she was and never tried to change her.

She only gained a little courage when she had to defend others, not herself, though.

Nameless did see this dichotomy in her. But.

She was fine the way she was, Nameless thought. Divine flash looks down at the floor as she responds.

“Jeez, don’t call me that! It’s not like I asked for that name to begin with.” She sighs.

“I only do things, as I have always done things around here. I just protect the people I care about. Like Granny or those little bratty kids that like to annoy you. A shame they lost their parents, like us, at such a young age...” She trails off, her expression darkening.

About a year ago, the village was attacked by a swarm of wild cyber beasts called Rukim. Large, scorpion-like beasts covered in steel plating. Their eyes glowed inhumanely red and were robotic in nature. On their tail, there was some kind of cannon, very similar to weapons used in the large, distant cities she had been to.

Twenty of them attacked the village in the middle of the night. Nameless, Divine flash, and some of the able fighters of the village intercepted them right before they reached the outskirts of the land.

Truly, it was a grim battle. The battle had started with forty fighters, including the two sisters.

It ended with five. Including the parents of the now orphaned children, who Nameless had just spoken to.

It was truly a massacre. A horrific sight. Watching the friends that she has known for years being dismembered. Killed in front of her and slaughtered.

This was a sight that will forever be seared into their young minds.

After escaping with their lives, they returned home in sorrow. It was not a day that Divine flash would ever forget. Her sister gently grabs her chin and raises it upwards.

“You can’t blame yourself. We did the best we could. It is not as if we are gods or something. The gods of these realms have more pressing matters than us.” Nameless continues looking at her sister. She would never blame her for this.

“I know you are right. But it still and will always, weigh on my heart. The things, the people we sacrificed to continue living here. It can be difficult for me to express my sorrow. The people we lost are...irreplaceable.”

“I know how you feel. But cheer up. Word has it around the village, we are getting a visit from the ruler of the realm. It’s been a while. Maybe we can plead our case to her.” The elder of the village, Granny, has been writing to the nearest city for years. And for nothing. Every response they received from them always read something like “We are busy, we don’t have the resources to spend on such a small village,” Nameless thinks to herself.

How worthless these officials are, how worthless the “government” is. Never able to work properly. The rich and wealthy have the privilege of words and power.

The poor can only linger off the scraps given to them by their masters.

The under-realm government proclaims to be one that fairly elects bureaucrats. Government officials. People elected by the people to cater to the people but...

It always felt like a lie to her. Given the responses from the city. And from conversations with the realm lord, the goddess of the underrealm.

They were hiding something. She could tell.

Nameless always possessed extremely strong insight. She could see through the lies other people spoke to her. She could just sense something was off, even when nothing was around. Thus, she clearly knew something was being hidden not only from her. But from everyone in the village.

Something of great importance. It almost felt like a scheme. Things in this world, no, perhaps the universe, were designed, from the start, to crumble.

She saw it every time she went to that damn city, Lunace. It was a city ruled by corrupt politicians, controlled by soulless corporations, and reeked of misery. Of death. Most of the people lived in poverty, wasting away on the streets. If they weren’t doing drugs. Or committing immoral crimes.

At the center of the broken-down city was a small area, full of large ivory towers, where the heads of the rich corpos existed. And where the goddess of the realm occasionally went.

There was something brewing here that would spill its way into the entire realm. And perhaps others. Whatever it was, it was something that worried her.

Thus, the visit of the goddess was something that created mixed feelings in Nameless. She did not know how to feel about her sudden, almost unannounced visit. Also, wasn’t she supposed to be in the heavenly star realm, anyway? Why was she here? What was her purpose here? She was supposed to be in that realm for at least two weeks, as usual. Yet she had come home a week early.

News from other places in the realm, and from the other realms, tends to circulate fast. Despite being a mostly barren low-tech village, they had acquired a couple VC monitors, a walktie and some basic computers for data storage and management, from the city. They often sold special fabrics they made and fruit as vendors in the city. As well as having a couple merchant buyers, the village had a small but steady flow of income. A couple days ago, grave news reached them.

A powerful cyber beast broke through the planetary defense shield and attacked the city, Stella. It headed directly for the conveying members and blasted their office, resulting in a fair number of casualties. Luckily, the Divine Hammer was able to repel and destroy the monster without further casualties.

Good for them to have such a caring lord, Nameless thought. The same couldn’t be said about a certain someone.

Further news reported the disappearance of the builder in her “giant steel machine.” Her attendant, Anthony, has been searching for her frantically for several days. Nameless turns away from her monitor, which was repeating the same headlines that had been shown, for the last couple days.

She looks back towards her sister, who is drifting into her thoughts. The deaths of her friends also weighed on her. But she knew she couldn’t let that weigh her down too much.

Or her sister, divine flash. She grabs her sister, dragging her upwards off her bed.

“Enough! Off we go outside!”

“But but, I haven’t made any food! I thought you wanted lunch~” She grumbles, complaining. But Nameless just pushes her towards the door anyway.

“We can worry about that later.” Don’t get so grumpy. We have a lot of daylight left outside.” Grabbing her sister’s hand, the two put their shoes on. Then, then burst through the stone door, running outside. The hot sun is scorching, as usual. They do live in a desert after all. Nameless drags her sister behind her, as she stumbles afoot. Nearly falling over.

“You sure are fragile, such a stark difference from you impaling that last Rukim.” Nameless whistles, slightly annoying her sister.

“Of course! I can’t let some damn wild beasts tear up home! Fuck em!” She spits out, slightly more violently than she usually is. The only thing that gets her riled up is this sort of thing. The rest of the time, she’s as harmless as a stuffed animal, Nameless thinks. Not much spine in her but it was fine.

“If only you had that energy when I needed it. Like earlier today!” Nameless was patrolling the village in the wee hours of the morning. She came across a couple flying Jukim, flying cyber birds.

Annoying little critters, they would just feed off the scraps you left out for their farm animals.

Large pesky bastards, they were at least 1.8 meters tall, half a meter wide. Luckily, she knew how to kill em.

Just throw a piece of meat near them, then proceed to stab each one in the back quietly from behind. They didn’t have good hearing, just a good sense of smell for meat. After murdering the Jukim, she carefully cut them into meat blocks.

Samuel, our old butcher, will turn them into meat jerky, Nameless thought. She remembered his skill with a knife. And she also remembered him teaching her how to properly prepare food, how to cut meat. How to not waste a single ounce of food given to them. She would have been lost with him. Or the others that taught her survival skills.

Nathan, the oldest warrior in the village. He was the one who taught her the basics of combat. Sadly, not much was left for him to teach her; Nam was just naturally far too skilled, compared to him.

Nathan, who in his youth, traveled alongside the earth goddess, saw a plethora of combat

He saw the potential in her. So, occasionally, he told her to go off, to leave. She would not improve her skills merely by staying here.

Naturally, Nameless refused to listen to him. Why would she leave her friends and family? Her real relatives had abandoned her, so these were the ones she called her family. The people that treated her like one of their own. Her thoughts drifted to the other people that raised her.

Magie, her neighbor. She taught her how to write, how to take care of herself. How to speak. Magie was their foster mother.

And finally but definitely not the least, Granny. The village elder. She was wise. Older than the village itself.

Granny was an ancient android. One of the few remaining living relics from the ancient war that had happened over fifty thousand years ago. Even though many of her memory circuits were damaged, she was still able to help and provide wisdom for the people around the village. It seemed like she was once an information collection unit. Thus, she did not have very high combat abilities. Didn’t help no one around the village was able to repair her properly, either.

Granny always spoke old war stories. About the great machine gods that tore the sky apart. About the great demon lord, who ravaged the land.

And once in a blue moon, once in a while. Granny got this look in her eye. She spoke of something strange.

Sometimes she could see a floating woman behind Nameless and her sister. This person always seemed to be observing these two. She had chains that came out of her body. The woman wore strange robes, covering her whole body. Never opened her eyes, they were closed, for some reason. The tall figure had long waist length hair, that was the color of the ocean. And she always seemed to be holding some kind of book in her right hand.

This woman sometimes spoke to Granny, telling her to watch over the two sisters. And spoke about the chains, though vaguely.

The chains seemed to be connected to every living thing. But they were the most plentiful around the two sisters.

The mysterious person spoke to Granny, but she couldn’t understand much of anything she said. It was all nonsense. To her and the others in the village.

Still, some villagers believed her, naturally.

The two sisters did not. Their minds were grounded in reality.

A fascinating story from their elder but not one that could be proven. Divine flash and Nameless never saw this woman, let alone the “chains” Granny spoke of. So, they merely thought she was hallucinating. Which was a common thing among droids older than fifty or sixty thousand years. The old age was finally getting to her. And frankly, Nameless thought she needed a rest anyway. Granny can barely walk around these days. The damage to her leg joints was severe.

This was the other reason Nameless went to the city. She attempted to procure spare parts for Granny, trading them for some coin she earned. Often through questionable means. Or, sometimes, illegal, under the table jobs. She was no stranger to the underside of the world.

It seemed like there were quite a few collectors that perused the ruins. Searching for relics to keep or to sell to the highest bidder.

Lucky for the red-haired woman. Her thoughts return to reality. Her sister was yelling at her, it seemed.

“Where are you dragging me off to? Helllo, Nam, please respond.” A nickname given to her by her sis. She laughs.

“We are going to the watchtower.” She points over towards it, the highest place in the village. Where they keep an eye out from a distance for the usual suspects. Anything closer gets caught by the daily patrols. Nameless and a couple other trained warriors take turns patrolling around the village, on daily shifts.

“And why do you wanna go up there? Searching for birds?”

“Nah, nah! You’ll see!” Divine flash just laughs and the two dash together, towards the tower, located near the center of the village. The two bump into Maggie, who was carrying some fresh fruit from the grapevine. She looks slightly disapprovingly at the two.

“Watch it! You almost knocked me over. Gosh, where are you two going?”

“The tower, the tower! Dragging this grumpy head up there!” Nameless mouths out quickly, then turns back around, racing towards the tower. Maggie chuckles.

“I remember when I was young and full of energy. Oh, when they reach thirty, they will see. Ohoho.” She laughs, resuming her slow walk back towards her home.

The two approach the tower, quickly climbing up it. The red-haired youth drags her sister up the ladder, with little regard to safety. In a few minutes the two are standing on the small platform, which is equipped with several pairs of binoculars, a long-range telescope, and some long-range energy rifles. Basic equipment to defend the village with.

All items Nameless procured from some of the merchants she dealt with in Lunace. After all, there is no way they could produce any of these items in the village. The technology level here was rudimentary at best. Despite being made from ancient technology, Granny did not allow much into the village. She feared the joys of modern machinery would corrupt the youth.

Moving those thoughts to the back of her mind, Nameless stares out into the distance, seeing the sun high in the sky.

It is slightly past noon.

“Do you see it, sis?” Nameless stares into the sky.

“See what? All I see is a lot of sand and hot desert.” Divine flash groans, sweaty from being run around town. She rubs the top of her forehead with the hem of her right sleeve, wiping away some of the sweat. Luckily, she remembered to fill her water bottle before being dragged out of her home unceremoniously.

She grabs the bottle of water, attached to a belt on her hip, and opens the metal bottle. Taking a heavy swig. Her sister seems unfazed by the immense heat.

“No! It’s not the desert I am interested in.” She turns towards her sister, her eyes beaming with excitement for some reason.

“I see the boundless sky. I see the birds flying above us. I feel the roaring sound of the wind.” Indeed, the wind has picked up. Naturally more so since they are higher off the ground.

“This scenery, I have seen every day since birth, has grown on me. These people that live here have given me so much. So much that I want to repay them. I want to make their lives better, safer, more secure.” She turns, looking back towards the sky.

“I want them to be free of this place, free of this world that binds them. In fact, it binds all of us down, down deep in the sand.” Divine flash looks at her inquisitively.

“What do you mean? You want to rebuild this town? The world?”

“Maybe. At least make it into a place where everyone is treated fairly. Where the few, who are rich and powerful, do not hold sway over the less fortunate.” She raises her hand into the air, grasping at something. Trying to grab something that is intangible. The divine flash merely shakes her head, smiling.

“Such noble goals. Your heart is pure. As always” She sighs.

“Perhaps, too pure for my own good, my sister.” She walks over towards her, grabbing her outstretched hand with her left hand and gradually pushes it towards Nameless’s chest.

“It is okay to dream, all living creatures dream of better things. Just don’t let that dream consume you.” She says softly.

“You are more than just a blade that can break the chains of god, you know?” Nameless looks deep into her sister’s eyes, who is firmly staring at her. Anxiously awaiting her response. The dark-skinned blue haired woman continues speaking.

“You are a valuable member of our little village, friend to everyone here. Don’t forget how we feel. Please.” She casts her eyes downwards, worried. Worried about what might happen to her pure-hearted sister. Worried would become of Nam if she wasn’t around. Dark thoughts began brooding in her mind, again. Nameless gently holds her face, raising it. Her eyes are full of determination but also consideration.

“Worry not, you will always be by my side. And hopefully, everyone else here.” She continues holding her hand and lets it drift down to her side.

“I...want to go on a journey. I think I have been here long enough, sis.”

“Is that so, Nam? Explains where all this talk came outta. You should have just told us earlier.” Her sister did not flinch; she was not surprised. Nameless was pretty bad at hiding how she felt about things.

Reminds her of the one time Granny accidently threw out her favorite dress. It wasn’t a pleasant week after. Nam’s anger could be felt everywhere, she remembered.

The Divine flash looks outwards, eyeing the village. Nothing of note could be seen at the moment.

“Then, we will have to prepare. I think we can get some equipment from Nathan. And Ryan, the blacksmith, can maybe loan us some tools. If we can trade that old fart something for ’em.” The two start laughing. Ryan, the sixty or so year old blacksmith, was a master at his craft. But a novice at everything else.

Good luck trying to talk to him. Let alone trying to trade things with him, Divine flash thought. This old fossil truly was a brick wall. His mind was as dense as the steel armor he produced.

They had their ways though. Secret has it, the old man has an addiction to blue cyers.

Basically, they were rare cigars that were imported from a far-off planet from another star system, very far away from this solar system. Since the cyers were imported from the edges of the realm, which was the size of a galaxy, like the other realms, it was hard to obtain. And it took a long time to receive them, as well.

Also, since these cigars have been banned for decades. Proven scientific research proved that they were hazardous for human consumption. Still, humans and not so human individuals continue to find ways to obtain illicit substances through dubious methods.

Since the dawn of time, something that is illegal or banned is even more enticing to some, she thought.

Nameless grins. The teenager reaches around her backside, pulling out three packs of cyers. Divine Flash knows better than to ask where she got those from but her curiosity got the better of her, today.

“Is that what I think it is, Nam? Should I eve—” Nameless cuts her off immediately not giving her time to finish the question.

“All you need to know is I got some and we are in business!” She cackles, stashing the cigars back into their hiding place, the pocket on the back of her skirt. She lets go of her sister and jumps off the platform, landing hard on the ground. Bewildered, her sister stares at her. “Come on! Let’s go! We gotta see him before he takes a nap!” Divine flash sighs, sliding down the ladder. The two begin sprinting, running over towards their grumpy elder.