Return to the Ancient Tower

Tomoki stood tall thrusting out his chest as he waved his hand at Yusato. He tossed a pebble in his hand other hand while grinning all the while. “Good to see you aren’t dead. So, you taking this quest again too?” He notched his head and his eyes landed on the three girls. “That your new team?”

Yusato’s blood rose, his veins pulsing in his arms. He clamped his teeth and kept his gaze focused on the oak trees behind Tomoki and the others. The birds were in the midst of eating worms as Tomoki continued to talk on, but Yusato could barely hear him anymore. The inside of his head heated up, a searing pain coursing through it.

Seeing these three was the last thing he wanted right now. Why were they here? He wanted to ask that, but the longer he looked at their faces the more old memories flashed before his eyes.

His arms tightening at his sides, Yusato controlled his harsh breaths, keeping them as quiet as possible. “Yeah.”

Yusato stared at the grass beneath his feet as he walked past Tomoki.

“Yusato?”

Azumi’s voice stopped cold in his tracks. His head pounded against his skull.

Were his lips dry? He wasn’t sure, but he felt the need to lick them a bit anyway. He kept his back to Azumi. “What is it?”

“How have you been holding up?”

Mahina looked between them, not saying a word. And then she inched closer to Tomoki. Azumi rubbed her arms as Yusato stood still.

Sweat gathered at the center of Yusato’s hands. He rubbed his thumb in circles against the sweat. “Fine.”

“Hey,” Mahina finally spoke up, grabbing a hold of Yusato’s wrist.

Yusato flicked his wrist, pushing Mahina off him. She fell into Tomoki’s arms as he caught her. “Hey, watch what you’re doing to my sister, alright?” Tomoki sneered at Yusato.

Through the corner of his eyes, Yusato delivered an intense glare right back at Tomoki. “Sorry.” He put his hands into his pockets and looked straight ahead. “Guys, let’s get going.”

Mira, Azalea, and Saria all their jaws hanging slightly agape before they took off, following Yusato.

“What was that all about?” Azalea asked, fiddling with the pendant around her neck.

“Nothing,” Yusato said quietly. “Just some old friends.”

Mira hurried her pace to match with Yusato’s. She ran a hand through her wavy hair. “Don’t you want to talk to them some more?”

Saria who was now holding a few flowers in her hands nodded along. “Yeah. You should catch up some more. I think it would be nice.”

Yusato shook his head. “I said they were old friends.” He started walking quicker, keeping a steady distance from the others.

Seeing Tomoki, Azumi, and Mahina again reminded him of that day. The worst day of his life. And in doing so, it only made him realize even more. He couldn’t trust these three either. They were all keeping things from him.

At the end of the day, he could only truly trust himself.

***

The group walked into the first floor of the tower. The rough stone beneath his feet and thorny shrubs on the edges of the room brought back memories for Yusato as well, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

He couldn’t allow those bad memories to get him distracted from his goal. He needed to stay focused.

Planting his feet in the ground, Yusato turned his body slightly and tightened his fists. He smirked staring at the bushes surrounding them. “The goblins will come out from those bushes. Our first job will be to take them all out. Got it?”

Mira, Azalea, and Saria nodded behind Yusato.

A gust of wind picked up and the shrubs started to move. Yusato closed his eyes and could hear the low breathing of the creatures. “Get ready.”

A few more seconds passed and just as the wind stopped, the goblins came leaping out from the bushes.

“Now!” Yusato ran forward and swung his sword down on the first one he saw, it’s blood tainting the ground.

Reaching into her pockets, Azalea pulled out several pins and needles. She flipped through the air, piercing them with her small weapons.

The needles pinned the goblins to the floor. As she fell through the sky, magic daggers shot down from her hands, impaling the gremlin creatures.

Azalea’s knee crashed into the goblin’s ribs as its bones creaked and popped.

One of the goblins came slashing its claws at Yusato’s face. Yusato swerved from left to right, avoiding its blows. He thrust his sword through its stomach and with a hacking cough, it toppled over.

Another came from behind Yusato as he turned around. His sword strike right through its shoulder as it reached out its hand to try and grasp his neck.

Yusato pulled out his sword and slashed at it again, blood spilling out from the creature’s body.

Saria brought her hands together as a shining green hue formed around her body. Vines shot out from the ground, entangling dozens of the goblins and lifting them up into the air.

The creatures made incomprehensible noises as drool started to fall from their mouths landing onto the floor.

Saria held her hand in front of her face and moved it around. The vines followed the motions of her hand exactly. As she lifted it up higher, the vines reached even higher into the air. And as she squeezed her hand shut, the vines tightened in response.

The goblins’ screeched as the vines tightened around their bodies, their legs kicking and kicking until they went limp. Saria slammed her hand down and the vines smashed the goblins into the ground.

“Help me!” Mira cried out. A horde of goblins surrounded her as she sat on her knees, clutching her hands over her head.

“Mira?!” Yusato’s head jerked back.

A quick punch to the jaw sent him crashing to the ground. The goblin cackled and danced around over him.

“Damn it.” He wiped the blood and dirt from his lips while scowling at the goblin in front of him. Mira was in danger, so he had to take care of this thing quickly.

He gripped his sword, brought it over his shoulders and swung it down with all his might.

The goblin spun out of the way and spat in Yusato’s face. “What?!”

It cackled again.

Yusato clenched his jaw, holding his sword tight. “Why is this one so annoying?”

“Someone help!” Mira shrieked as the goblins closed on her.

Iron daggers penetrated through each one of the goblins and they all wobbled around in a daze before falling backwards onto the ground.

Azalea stood over Mira, her arms crossed. “What are you doing?”

The goblin in front of Yusato kept dancing around before several thorny vines shot right through its body.

Yusato’s eyes darted around until he saw Saria waving at him, the vines retreating into the ground near her feet. He let out a sigh of exhaustion. “Thanks, Saria.”

“No problem, Leader!”

“Leader?” Yusato blinked at that. That felt weird, but he had to admit, it was kind of nice at the same time. He returned his sheath and made his way towards Mira along with Saria.

“Mira, what happened?” Yusato asked her. “Why didn’t you use your spellbook?”

Making a small, hesitant smile, Mira twirled a strand of hair around her finger. She giggled lightly before lowering her chin to the floor. “I can’t. The spellbook won’t open.”