Last Hours Before the Storm

Throughout this cycle and a half we have met many people. Powerful, diverse and funny, we exchanged information through the Loggex; using the magical Redx network, we can communicate, although it usually takes several hours to a day or two. We have made good friendships with everyone and they are really strong; I think almost everyone was surprised by my ability and the power of my armor—

“Kai, daydreaming again? I can see your smile.” I open my eyes, it's Yuki lying down next to me. “Thinking again about how cool and powerful you are?”

“No! Not at all, I was thinking about your eyes,” I lie a little; she knows, I don't know how, but she knows. It makes me smile and I snuggle up to her.

“Yeah, right,” she kisses my forehead and leans forward, uncovering me from the blankets that kept us warm. “You don't need to fantasize; you are already incredible to me, Kai.” I start blushing and a knock interrupts us; it's Daichi.

“Wake up, lovepokez!! We will arrive soon,” he slams the door and I sigh deeply; I wanted to sleep a little longer.

As soon as I get up and get out of bed, I lose my balance; Yuki holds my hand and when I regain it, she lets go. I will never get used to traveling by boat.

As I leave the small cabin, I can stretch my arms and elongate a little. The light is a bit blinding; I am in lazy mode, but Yuki pulls me towards her to follow her. I need water and something to eat to wake up completely.

In the distance, I can see a mountain range with several mountain peaks, I can't imagine how big the island will be. It is where we are going to, where all evil is reborn, where everything originated. Or at least that's what the ship's captain said, although he might have been drunker than Daichi that day.

“Good morning, Raion, did you sleep well?” Yuki asks, giving Daichi a dirty look, probably because of the slamming door that woke us up a little while ago.

“Yes, despite the movement of the ship, it didn't bother me at all,” even the Fifth Prince is resistant to the ship, sometimes I feel very dizzy.

I approach the edge of the ship and see that the sea seems quite agitated and despite this, the ship barely moves.“Any news, feelings, or dreams?”

Raion sighs slightly, “No, nothing new. The feeling keeps calling me; they are there ahead. And no, it won't be a trap, Kai. I am sure that being so lost in the darkness, my ex guardian cannot feel me approaching.”

I am not entirely convinced, but so far, the prince has never been wrong, so I suppose he is right. “So our mission remains the same: go there, land good blows, attacks, destroy evil, and return home to rest and eat like never before.”

“You make it sound so easy, Kai,” Daichi says while eating something and I try to take it from him to have it for breakfast. “But yes, we infiltrate the center of the island, see what happens and then attack with everything.”

“As if adding infiltration would make the mission any easier. You two are empty-headed.” Yuki rolls her eyes as I grab Daichi and bite the piece of chicken he has in his mouth. “With these two useless guys, will we save the world?” She talks to Raion and hugs him by the shoulder as they go to the center of the ship, where a good breakfast awaits us.

“Don't be like that, Yu, I'm sure I will level up more than you,” I say, teasing her.

She looks over her shoulder and makes an angry face at me; Daichi and I laugh and at that moment, I take the chicken leg from him and run downstairs to avoid him stealing it from me.

“The good thing is that we are together against all this evil,” Raion says once we are sitting at the breakfast table.

“Don't look at me,” says the captain at the head of the table, although no one was looking at him, “or my crew, the deal was to bring you to this godforsaken island and fly out at the first tide.”

“Yes, yes, a deal is a deal, Captain Mina,” Yuki says, downplaying it. The captain seemed a bit intimidating, although nothing seems to affect her. He is high level; I don't know if I can't see it because of the thirty levels difference or because he has it hidden.

We start eating, there are many dishes, it's a lot of food; can we eat all this? “Or will it be our last meal?” I say out loud, thinking I was saying it to myself. Everyone stares at me. “Heh, I didn't want to ruin the moment.”

“It's not going to be the last one!!” Daichi grabs me by the neck with his arm and rubs his hand over my head, “we will have many more meals!”

“That's right!” The rest shout and we toast to the future; the sweet coffee alcohol has already become part of my mornings. I feel nostalgic remembering the first days in that bar and dormitory.

We eat, drink and relax, a last rest before the big confrontation. It feels a bit rushed and I don't want it to end, but it is the right time to save the world; we cannot back down, nor will I go back on my word.

“In a few hours, we will arrive at one of the ports of the great dead island,” the captain says, trying to be scary and suspenseful. “The port of the Edealyon region. We do not know the state of the port of this abandoned island; be prepared to encounter anything.”

We nod and before we separate, I see in the distance a kind of… waterfall but in the air, outside the sea. I don't know how to describe it and the Zkan doesn't detect anything. “What is that over there?” I point in the direction far away, almost perpendicular to the island, on both sides.

“It is one of the currents that divide the island into three sectors, both in water and in the air,” the captain explains as he gets up, “it is like a barrier; they say it happened years ago after a great battle between the Three Empires. And for several quilometters, thousands, you cannot cross those limits.”

The prince also gets up and goes to the edge of the ship, “Today there are other ways to navigate and travel between the Empires. Although hundreds of years ago, that island was pure life.”

This place sounds too gloomy and sad. I would like to find out and learn more about what happened, but we are not here today to investigate.

For the hours we have left we decide to go to the training room and start meditating. It was something we learned in our year, a special meditation to become one with nature and recover more energy and life. Some of the highest levels and experience can accumulate excess energy in small crystals.

Only Daichi seems to achieve it, to a small extent. Maybe that's why he keeps guard every night, meditates and rests and stays alert. Although it is not the same as resting and sleeping at all, which almost completely recovers our stamina and our life.

“The anxiety is killing me,” I say, unable to concentrate… I can't breathe deeply when the greatest evil is just a few hours away, “And we have no idea what awaits us!!” I continue speaking out loud.

“Breathe, Kai, I know you're nervous, try to relax.” Yuki strokes my back, trying to calm me down, “What you imagine is surely much worse than what it will actually be.”

I look at her as if to say ‘please don't say nonsense’ and we both almost laugh nervously. I take her hand, we look at each other as this was the last moment we could have together. We want to enjoy every second we have.

“It's not going to be like that day we rescued Raion,” Daichi says, opening one eye and breaking his meditation. “We are much stronger than you think; perhaps you can't see it now, that we are day by day, if you take a step back and look at everything you have achieved, Kai, you will see that you are incredible. Each one of us is.”

“I could go kiss you right now,” I say jokingly, Yuki grabs my hand tighter and I think the prince opens his eyes or his meditation energy is interrupted for a moment. “Thank you, guys, for being here, thank you for being with me on this journey.”

I kiss Yuki's hand once before concentrating again to meditate. We are really strong; I activate my Zkan and review our levels; Raion 68, Daichi 71, Yuki 63 and me, 64. Nothing can stop us now.

But the ship’s rhythm stops, something hits us and wobbles; I bite my words, fate always contradicts me.

Something or someone is attacking us.