Chapter 6: The Strength to Keep Going

The morning sun fell on the dirt path with a clarity that contrasted

with everything the group had been carrying since the day before.

They walked in silence, one after another, following the trail that

stretched between the trees toward the west of Tanjō. The wind blew

softly, without hurry, as if the world didn’t know what had happened.

Mozir was the first to stop.

His pointed ears moved slightly, adjusting to a frequency the others

couldn’t pick up. His eyes narrowed.

-There’s something there -he said in a low voice.

No one asked what, the tone was enough.

Then they appeared.

Five creatures emerged from between the trees with a slowness that had

nothing innocent about it. Their bodies were large, four-legged, covered

in a dark violet fur that bristled slightly along their backs. Their red

eyes didn’t blink, fixed on the group with an attention that left no

doubt about their intentions. Two tails ending in black tips swayed

slowly behind each one.

Mozir swallowed, without moving.

-Don’t move -said Joshido, with a calm that left no room for

discussion.

Yemon stepped forward with the intention of intervening.

Nokio stopped him with a discreet gesture.

-Let’s wait -he said in a low voice.

The creatures didn’t move, they just watched Mozir from above, with

those unblinking red eyes, as if they knew there was nowhere to go.

That silence was worse than an attack.

Heliya processed the situation in an instant, five creatures, Mozir in

the center, no room to improvise.

-We need a plan -she said with a calm that had no room for panic-.

Eldren, use the wind to push them back. Yuzo, as soon as the space opens

up, get Mozir out of there. Joshido, you cover.

No one argued.

Eldren was already moving his hands.

-Let the wind manifest.

Several gusts shot from his palms in rapid succession, straight at the

creatures. The impact was enough, it didn’t knock them down, but it

displaced them, sliding them back a few meters along the dirt path.

It was the moment.

-Yuzo, now!

Yuzo activated his stellar ability.

Speed.

Just like his mother.

His body launched forward with a speed that could barely be controlled,

that was the problem, it couldn’t be controlled. Instead of reaching

Mozir, he shot past the side of the creatures, past the side of Mozir,

and ended up several meters ahead, kicking up a cloud of dust in his

wake.

Mozir blinked.

The creatures blinked.

Everyone blinked.

-I… -murmured Yuzo from the other side, confused-. I almost had

it.

This was not the moment for that.

Joshido advanced.

His wrists tensed. He felt the familiar weight of the metallic blades

just beneath the skin, ready to emerge, ready to cut. He prepared for

the attack.

And then it arrived.

Not as a sound, not as an image, it arrived as a sensation that settled

in his chest before he could stop it.

His substantial weapon presents difficulties in its use.

Dogma’s words.

And behind them, something more, the trees with white and pink leaves

that no longer existed, the fire, the ships, the village that was

nothing more than rubble and silence.

The metallic blades retracted, went back inside his wrists without

having fully emerged.

Joshido stood still, arms extended, hands empty, staring at his own

wrists as if he didn’t recognize them.

-Joshido -Eldren’s voice was tense-. I can’t keep holding the

creatures back much longer.

Heliya heard him and understood that time was running out.

-Mozir, get out of there -she said-. I’ll handle it.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

Telepathy.

She entered the minds of the creatures searching for the exact point

where she could stop them, control them, even for just a second.

But at that moment Eldren’s gusts disappeared.

And the creatures knew it before anyone else.

They didn’t hesitate, didn’t choose a target, they went for everyone at

the same time, with a coordination that didn’t seem fitting for wild

creatures.

Mozir didn’t have time to move, Yuzo didn’t have time to activate

anything. Joshido was still staring at his own wrists.

All three fell.

Heliya opened her eyes, extended her hand, but one of the creatures was

already heading toward her, red eyes locked on their target.

It didn’t make it.

A hand intervened.

Nokio.

A single movement, soft, almost careless, like someone brushing

something aside. The creature fell to the ground without making a sound,

motionless, lifeless.

Nokio didn’t stop.

Before the other creatures could react, he moved through each one of

them in an instant, a single blow for each, and by the time the young

ones tried to process what was happening, it was already over.

The four remaining creatures fell at the same time.

None of the young ones had seen what happened, not because they weren’t

watching, but because their eyes simply couldn’t follow him. Nokio had

moved through each of the creatures in an instant, and by the time they

tried to process what was happening, it was already over. Their eyes

were not yet used to movements that fast.

Silence.

The dirt path fell quiet under the morning sun, with only the sound of

the wind between the trees filling the space the creatures had left

behind.

Mozir stood up slowly, breathing hard, eyes still fixed on the

motionless bodies.

-What were those things? -he asked.

Nokio adjusted his lenses calmly.

-They are known as Higanju. They are known for their size and

strength. And also… -a brief pause- because they eat anything.

Mozir lowered his gaze toward the motionless bodies of the creatures.

-Do creatures this dangerous exist? -he murmured, almost unable to

believe it.

No one answered immediately.

Eldren was the first to speak, and not calmly.

-If they’re this dangerous, why didn’t you help us sooner? A little

longer and we would have lost our lives.

Nokio didn’t change his expression.

-We wanted to see how you’d react in a situation like this -he said

with his usual calm-. After what happened at the village, it was

necessary to know.

Eldren didn’t respond, he just looked at him for a moment, with an

expression that didn’t need words. Then he looked away.

That was the closest to giving up that Eldren could get.

Joshido stood up slowly and looked directly at Nokio.

-So we were just an experiment to you.

Nokio scratched his head. A calm smile appeared on his face, as if the

accusation didn’t bother him in the slightest.

-It wasn’t an experiment -he said-. It was more like… an

analysis.

Heliya heard it and couldn’t believe it.

An analysis.

She looked at Nokio, then at Yemon, then at Zurame. And a thought formed

in her mind that she couldn’t avoid.

The Illusory Scientist is a whim-driven person.

But what she truly didn’t understand was something else.

Why do the Grand Intellectual Yemon and Zurame accept everything Nokio

says? Why do they never question him?

She found no answer, and that unsettled her more than the creatures.

Joshido turned toward his brother. Yuzo was still on the ground, gaze

low, with an expression that had none of his usual energy.

-Are you alright?

Yuzo took a second to respond.

-Yeah… -he said-. I’m fine. It’s just… I feel bad for not

being able to control my speed. I should have gotten Mozir out of there

and I couldn’t.

Joshido watched him for a moment.

-Don’t feel bad about that -he said with a calm that had nothing

condescending about it-. We’re still young, we have a lot to learn and

a lot to improve.

Yuzo looked at him, and although he said nothing, something in his

expression changed, as if those words, coming from Joshido, carried a

different weight.

Joshido extended his hand toward him. Yuzo looked at it for a moment,

then took it and stood up.

Zurame took advantage of the moment.

-You should rest -she said with her usual warmth-. You’ve been

walking for a long time. And besides… we already have food.

Her eyes rested briefly on the bodies of the Higanju.

Yemon nodded with his usual authority and turned to the young ones.

-Each one carry a Higanju.

Silence, but not the silence from before, this one had a different

presence.

Yemon felt it before he understood it. A gentle gaze, but one that left

no way out. He turned slowly.

It was Zurame.

With her usual smile, with that warmth that didn’t need to raise its

voice to make itself felt.

-Darling -she said with a sweetness that had nothing innocent about

it-. Why don’t you carry them? The young ones have already done so

much today.

Yemon didn’t respond immediately. A small bead of sweat ran down his

temple.

-Of course -he said finally, with a composure that cost him more

than it appeared-. I’ll carry them.

No one said anything, no one dared.

Zurame smiled with satisfaction and turned toward the group.

-Follow me. There must be a place where we can rest and eat.

They walked a little further, following the dirt path between the trees,

until the terrain opened into a wide, tranquil space. The grass was

soft, the shade of the nearby trees covered just enough to relieve the

heat of the sun. A small stream ran nearby, barely audible, like a

background sound that completed the calm of the place.

It was the kind of place that at another time would have gone unnoticed.

But after everything they had lived through that day, it felt like

exactly what they needed.

Zurame took care of preparing the food.

Yemon extended the palm of his hand toward the ground and a sphere of

fire appeared from it, controlled and precise, before settling on the

earth with a calm that contrasted with everything they had lived through

that day.

Zurame placed the Higanju meat over the fire without saying anything.

And little by little, the smell of food began to fill the space.

Everyone settled around the fire in silence. Night had fallen over the

dirt path, and as they ate the Higanju meat, the flames cast soft

shadows over their faces, moving with a calm the group did not share.

Naiden stared at the fire, and the fire gave back something he didn’t

want to see.

His father’s body, completely burned, barely breathing, an image he

hadn’t been able to erase since it happened, that was still there, stuck

at the back of his mind like something that didn’t ask permission to

stay.

He said nothing, just stared at the flames.

Yuzo had his eyes low, the memory of his own failure from earlier

wouldn’t leave him. He had used his speed, the same stellar ability as

his mother, but he couldn’t control it and ended up several meters ahead

without having helped anyone.

How did she do it?

He couldn’t understand it, his mother made it look so natural, so

inevitable, as if the body simply knew where to go. For him, on the

other hand, his body took him wherever it wanted without asking.

Did it take her a long time to master it?

He held onto that idea with the same stubbornness with which he held

onto something else.

His parents were alive.

He knew it, he had no proof, no concrete sign to back it up. But he held

onto that with the same stubbornness as always.

Eldren wasn’t looking at the fire, he was looking at nothing in

particular.

Haito and Lizena, his father dead and his sister missing. Two losses

that looked nothing alike but weighed the same. His father’s death was a

pain he recognized, one he could name even if it cost him. But Lizena…

Lizena was not dead, he was sure of that, and as long as that was true,

there was nothing else worth thinking about.

Heliya watched the flames slowly, with that calm of hers that wasn’t

always real calm. Her parents, she thought of them without wanting to,

without looking for it, like a background current that never stopped

flowing. She hoped they were alright, it was the only thing she could

do, hope, because she had no more information than that.

And then she thought about the village.

About how it no longer existed.

About how since they had left Eternity they hadn’t found a single

survivor, not one, only rubble and silence where there had once been

life.

That was what she found hardest to process.

Mozir stared at the fire with an expression that wasn’t exactly worry,

but something closer to an uncomfortable certainty.

His parents were strong, both of them. He had seen his father stop

Kelidra’s hammer with a single hand without moving a centimeter. But he

also remembered the image of his mother hanging from Kelidra’s shoulder,

injured, unable to move. In that moment he felt an impulse he had never

felt before, the urge to go and confront Kelidra, even knowing he had no

chance against her.

But he held onto something stronger than that memory. His parents were

going to be alright. They were going to find each other, he didn’t know

when or how. But he had that confidence somewhere inside his chest, and

he wasn’t going to let it go.

Joshido stared at the fire.

He thought about his parents, yes, but he also thought about Eldren.

There, sitting on the other side with that gaze fixed on nothing, and

about Naiden, who had gone hours without saying a single word, eyes

fixed on the flames as if searching for something that wasn’t there.

Everyone was carrying something.

And no one could carry someone else’s burden.

But there was something else that wouldn’t leave him alone, a memory

that came back suddenly, without him calling for it.

He turned his head toward Nokio.

-Hey -he said-. What happened to your great creation?

Nokio looked at him, not with surprise, but with the calm of someone who

had already anticipated the question would come at some point.

-Due to the explosion, Eternity’s system suffered considerable damage

-he responded-. That includes Dogma’s system.

-That part doesn’t interest me -said Joshido, with a coldness that

wasn’t anger yet, but was getting close-. What I want to know is why

Dogma didn’t detect the intruders’ ships. That was one of the reasons

you created it.

Nokio didn’t respond immediately, and that silence said more than any

answer could have.

-I cannot say with certainty why it didn’t detect the enemy ships

-he said finally.

Joshido looked at him for a moment.

-You don’t need to think about it much -he said-. The reason is

very simple. Your creation simply doesn’t work. If it really functioned

the way you said it did, the village would have been saved.

The silence that followed was heavy, everyone was watching him.

Heliya stepped toward him.

-Joshido -she said calmly-. We’re all just as affected as you are.

He didn’t respond, he stood up and without looking at anyone, walked

away from the fire, leaving behind the warmth and the voices and the

shared weight of it all.

Zurame stood up immediately to go after him.

Yemon stopped her with a gentle gesture.

-Let him go -he said in a low voice-. It’s his way of handling the

pain he carries inside.

Zurame looked at him for a moment, then sat back down.

And the fire kept burning in silence.

Yuzo had been quiet for a while, but curiosity was stronger than him.

-Who were the ones who attacked the village? -he asked-. And why

did they do it?

Zurame and Yemon exchanged a glance.

Nokio was nowhere nearby.

Yemon breathed deeply before responding, his eyes settled on Yuzo with a

calm that didn’t hide the weight of what he was about to say.

-Those responsible for the attack come from Planet Akami -he

said-. Your parents’ home.

Silence.

-You have the right to know the truth and I will tell you, but when we

are all together, Joshido is not here.

Mozir frowned, processing the words.

-That means… -he murmured with a frustration he couldn’t hide-

that the same blood as the attackers runs through our bodies.

-That’s right -said Zurame with her usual calm-. Akami blood runs

through your bodies.

The young ones fell silent, they knew their parents came from another

planet, that had never been a secret, but they didn’t know which one,

and now that they knew it wasn’t exactly comforting news.

Eldren frowned.

-Hm… this keeps getting more complicated -he murmured-. I

couldn’t stand having the same blood as those miserable beings.

Yemon looked at him steadily.

-Be careful what you say -he said with a calm that didn’t need to

raise its voice to be felt-. Because you and Lizena carry part of that

blood.

Eldren’s eyes opened wide.

-That’s impossible -he said, shaking his head-. I can’t accept

that.

-I’m not lying to you -Yemon responded-. I was not born on Planet

Akami, but I lived there for a long time. Zurame, on the other hand, was

born on that planet and she is your father’s mother, which means you

carry a percentage of that planet within you.

The young ones looked at each other without quite knowing what

expression to wear.

First the Akami blood. Now this.

Eldren only stared at Yemon with an expression that mixed disbelief with

something he still didn’t know how to name.

Zurame smiled with that warmth of hers that had no cracks.

-That’s not what matters now -she said, looking at everyone

calmly-. What matters is resting, tomorrow we need to reach the

Lightning territory.

Among the trees, a little further from the group, Joshido was alone.

Standing, arms at his sides, gaze fixed on no particular place. Only the

silence of the forest and the darkness around him.

-If I were stronger… -he murmured to himself-, maybe everyone

would be alright.

A pause.

-I need to be stronger.

He said it with a firmness that had no audience, only the darkness and

the trees around him.

But there was something else, a strange sensation that had been settled

in his chest for a while without him knowing exactly when it had

arrived, like a void, like something inside him had broken without

making a sound.

He frowned, trying to identify it, and then he understood.

Sadness.

That was it, for the first time in his life he was experiencing that

feeling and he didn’t know what to do with it, it didn’t fit with

anything he knew about himself.

He tightened his fists and hit the tree several times, nothing more.

He stopped.

He rested his forehead against the bark of the tree, breathing slowly.

-I will become stronger -he said in a low voice, like a promise only

he needed to hear-. No matter how much it costs me.

In another nearby tree, Nokio had observed everything from one of its

branches, without moving, without saying anything, just listening.

When Joshido finished, Nokio leaned back slowly between the branch and

the trunk, settling in with his usual calm, and raised his gaze toward

the sky.

Two full moons shone above them, more luminous than he remembered seeing

in a long time. The sky was full of stars, a number that almost seemed

exaggerated, as if the night had decided to show everything it had.

Nokio observed that in silence for a moment.

-We are going through the worst moment -he said finally, without

lowering his gaze-, with the most beautiful night I have seen in a

long time.

A brief pause.

-What irony.

The next day, when everyone was ready to continue, one was missing.

Joshido.

No one said anything, they just waited, and a few minutes later, among

the trees, his figure appeared walking toward the group with the same

calm as always.

Yuzo was the first to approach.

-Are you alright? -he asked.

-Yes -Joshido answered.

Yuzo nodded, visibly relieved.

-I was a little worried about you, but I’m better now because you’re

alright.

He paused briefly and continued, with that naturalness of his that

didn’t ask for permission.

-Everything that happened affects me too, and I’m worried about our

parents. But I know that as long as you’re by my side, everything will

be alright.

Joshido watched him in silence for a few seconds, a faint smile escaped

from his face.

-Let’s go -he said-. We have to keep moving.

The group resumed the dirt path under the morning light. Joshido walked

among them, but his mind was somewhere else.

You always find a way to make me feel better.

He thought it without looking for it, and left it there, without adding

anything more.

Eldren walked with arms crossed and a slight frown.

-Is it much further? -he asked-. I hate walking for this long.

Zurame smiled with her usual calm.

-We’re almost there, not much further.

Eldren didn’t seem entirely convinced. He shifted his gaze to where

Naiden was walking, a little apart as always, eyes low and with the same

distant expression of the last few days.

-Hey -said Eldren-. What do you think the Lightning territory will

be like?

Naiden didn’t respond.

Eldren frowned, stopped, extended his arm and grabbed Naiden’s arm,

stopping him in his tracks.

-When are you going to talk? -he asked out loud.

Everyone turned around at the sound of Eldren’s raised voice.

-Leave him alone -said Mozir, stepping forward.

-No -Eldren answered, without releasing Naiden’s arm-. We’re

worried about him. He’s gone days without talking, without eating. I

know it’s shocking to see your father completely burned, but mine died

in front of my eyes and my sister is missing. Even so I’m still here,

carrying on, with the hope that Lizena is alive. Maybe his father

survived, maybe his mother too. He needs to react already.

-Eldren, leave him -said Heliya with a calm that had an edge-. Or

I’ll give you a beating.

-I’d defeat you with a single blow -he responded.

The argument was about to escalate when something interrupted it.

A voice.

Silence fell at once.

Eldren turned slowly toward Naiden.

-Was that you who spoke?

Silence.

Then, barely audible, Naiden murmured something.

-What did you say? I didn’t hear you -said Eldren, leaning slightly.

Naiden raised his gaze just slightly.

-I have no idea what the Lightning territory looks like.

For an instant no one reacted, and then everyone reacted at the same

time.

The young ones rushed toward Naiden all at once, everyone talking at the

same time, throwing questions at him without waiting for answers, with

an energy that hadn’t been present in the group for far too long.

Zurame stepped forward.

-Easy -she said with her usual warmth-. Give him some space, treat

him gently.

A little further back, Yemon and Nokio observed the scene, separated

from the group.

Yemon looked at Nokio, a soft smile appeared on his face.

-At least something good happened.

Mozir approached Naiden.

-Are you alright? -he asked.

-Yes -Naiden answered.

Joshido looked at him from where he was.

-It’s good to have you back with us.

Eldren, arms crossed with a smile he couldn’t hide, looked at the group.

-See? What I did worked.

Heliya looked at him sideways.

-You always act on impulse.

Eldren let out a somewhat dazed laugh, then turned toward Naiden with an

expression that mixed confidence with something that looked quite a lot

like embarrassment.

-Naiden is going to forgive me, I know he will. Right, Naiden?

Naiden looked at all of them, one by one.

-I’m grateful to all of you -he said in a low voice-. I needed

that.

A pause, then he continued.

-And I apologize to everyone, to you, to the Grand Intellectual, to

the Illusory Scientist and to Zurame, for my behavior. I didn’t know how

to react to what happened.

Zurame approached him slowly, with that calm of hers that didn’t need to

rush to arrive on time.

-You don’t need to apologize -she said gently-. I just want you to

know that we are all happy you have come back to yourself, and that we

are all in this together.

Naiden nodded slowly.

Yuzo couldn’t contain himself.

-We’re finally all together again! -he exclaimed-. Now nothing

will be able to stop us.

-Except the Higanju -said Eldren-, which scared Mozir.

Mozir frowned.

-I wasn’t scared -he answered-. I just tripped and fell to the

ground.

The silence lasted exactly one second, and then everyone laughed.

It was the first time they had laughed since the attack on the village,

without looking for it, without planning it, it just happened, like

something that had been waiting for the right moment to come out.

Nokio observed them from where he was.

-We need to keep walking -he said with his usual calm-. The sooner

we get there, the better.

Everyone set out.

The trees fell behind them, the dirt path gradually opened up, and after

several long minutes of walking, the group stopped.

Before them stood two giant doors.

Built with a resistant material of metallic blue color, their surface

reflected the light in a cold, uniform way, like something designed not

only to withstand, but to impose. The size was enormous, the kind of

structure that didn’t invite you to wonder what was on the other side,

but forced you to.

The young ones stood watching in silence.

Heliya was the first to break the silence.

-Those doors really do catch your eye -she said.

-What’s behind those doors? -asked Yuzo, eyes wide open.

Yemon answered without taking his eyes off the entrance.

-Behind those doors lies the Lightning territory.

-No wonder -murmured Naiden, studying the entrance carefully-.

There are two beings guarding the entrance.

Before anyone could react, the two male beings guarding the doors went

on guard. Their metallic spears pointed directly at the group, the tips

covered in electricity that crackled with a tension ready to be

unleashed.

-Who are you? -asked one of the guards with a firm voice-. What is

the reason for your arrival?

Joshido felt the tension rising in his chest.

-They think we’re enemies -he murmured-. This is not good.

-If they want a fight, they’ll get one! -said Eldren, stepping

forward.

-Easy -Mozir intervened, raising a hand-. I’m sure Zurame, Yemon

and Nokio will sort it out.

The Grand Intellectual stepped forward calmly toward the guards and

introduced himself.

A brief silence.

And then, the two giant doors began to open slowly.

Between them a figure appeared.

A male being standing with his hands behind his back. Pale skin, average

height, straight short black hair, dark gray eyes that observed with a

calm that was not indifference but control. He wore a short light blue

jacket, completely open and sleeveless, under which he wore a white

sleeveless V-neck linen shirt. Wide, long white trousers, small closed

light blue shoes. On his right ear, a small black earring.

The guards, upon seeing him, lowered their spears slightly.

-Supreme Leader -said one of them-. Don’t worry, we’ll take care

of them.

The male being looked at them with a calm that left no room for urgency.

-Lower your weapons -he responded-. There’s nothing to worry

about, they are not enemies.

A brief pause.

-You have before you Yemon, the Grand Intellectual, and Zurame.

Another pause, shorter.

-They are my parents.