She embraced the darkness. It had always been in their blood, yet she was the only one of both of them who actually embraced it. It was a beautiful feeling to know that finally, her time would come.
“The power I seek…radiating from the Earth…the heart of the Universe…”
“Valin-kun,” Asahi said, as she and Valin walked to school.
“Yes?” Valin asked.
“Why don’t you go to school?”
“Because I have learned more with the other mages than all the years of Earth school will ever do for a person,” Valin explained.
“Then why do I have to go to school?” Asahi asked with a pout.
“Huh?” Valin said, the thought never entering his mind.
“I’ll probably learn more with you than all the years of Earth school.”
“Hmm, you’re right…there’s really no point.”
Asahi smiled up at him as he took her hand and led her to the ice cream parlour.
Okashi watched the little scene from above a tree with amusement as he saw Asahi’s trick go straight through Valin like a hot knife through butter. Sometimes he wondered as to whether he was the only one who could ever see straight through her. Even her most poorly planned tricks always seemed to succeed.
Suddenly, he was aware of a dark shadow creeping on the side of the ice cream parlour, a hungry look on its face as it saw Asahi and Valin. Okashi tensed as he saw a four pointed star gem on it’s forehead.
What could that be?
As the shadow disappeared, Okashi began to feel danger near the princess. With silence and agility, he swooped down toward the ice cream parlour and began to beat his wings against the window.
Asahi, Valin and the rest of the people in the parlour looked up and were equally stunned at the bird.
“Okashi?” Asahi thought out loud.
Quickly Princess…danger seeks you out…
Okashi’s thoughts broke into hers and Asahi stood up abruptly, knocking the delicate table over.
“Asahi!” Valin asked in bewilderment as he saw that his chocolate ice cream had spilled all over him.
Okashi could have laughed had it not been an emergency.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Valin-kun, but I think we seem to have forgotten something,” Asahi said as calmly as she could as the store owner came out upon hearing the crash.
“You! Clean this up!” the store owner growled, his face turning red as an apple as he pointed at Valin.
Valin blinked, then looked down with a frown at Asahi who was tugging him toward the door.
“No time!” Asahi said quickly as she raced out the door.
“Asahi!” Valin cried, forgetting about the store owner as he watched her bolt out the door. Without hesitation, he followed her.
“Asahi! Where are you going?!” Valin called. Valin took two steps forward before the ice cream parlour suddenly caved in behind him and disappeared under a gaping black crevice.
“Ahhh!” Valin cried as he was suddenly drawn into the crevice.
“Genki!” He shouted as he gathered energy in his hands and blasted it straight into where he was going.
It worked. Soon he found himself in the air, suspended only by the lightning that emmitted from his hands.
“Golden Symphony Spell!” Apollo’s attack suddenly blasted into the crevice, giving Valin enough time to jump away from danger.
“What’s going on?!!” Valin had to shout above the roar of energy that came from Apollo and the crevice.
“I…I don’t know!” Apollo screamed, continuing to blast away.
“Apollo! Gather all the light energy around you!” Okashi shouted as he clung with his tiny claws to Apollo’s shoulder.
Apollo closed her eyes and immediately, the land around them became darker and darker and her beam became brighter and brighter until Valin had to cover his eyes to keep himself from getting blind.
“Divine! Illumination!” Apollo screamed, emmitting such vast energy that glass windows around them shattered and small concrete pieces from the buildings crumbled.
When the light cleared, the air became smoky with dust and the crevice had disappeared. Apollo stood staring at her staff and wondering as to where such a power came from.
“Whoa,” she said in surprise.
“Spectacular,” Valin said, smiling as his tousled blonde hair spilled from it’s ponytail.
“Already, your power is growing,” Okashi said encouragingly as he looked around him, then gave a cough.
“But who is the cause of all of this?” Asahi asked, furrowing her brow.
“Whatever it is, it seems to like games,” Okashi said, preening his feathers.
“Not ‘It’,” Valin said suddenly. “I do believe that this darkness likes to follow the Princess…only one such evil would want revenge on the only creature who escaped her rule.”
“Anarchy,” Okashi said, his eyes narrowing.
“Anarchy?! Here?!” Apollo cried, her eyes wide.
“Don’t worry, Princess, you will be safe. Your powers have greatly improved since the first time I saw you,” Okashi said.
Asahi only turned away.
But what if I can’t use my powers against her…
“Who are you?” Asahi asked quietly of the darkness.
“You will remember…someday,” the voice of the little girl said. “Right now, it does not matter who I am…my words are more important”
“What do you want?” Asahi asked.
“Only the power I need…to free the only destiny of this universe,” the little girl’s voice said simply.
“Where are you?”
“All around you. I watch you…even when you are not in this land. I know what happened this afternoon. Anarchy. She will never stop. Not until power is inside her.”
“How can I listen to somebody I do not know, therefore, somebody I cannot trust?!” Asahi’s impatience clearly showed through her voice.
“How can you not? After all…all that I say is true and how can you run from the truth…You see, you and I are the same…however, people do not see us the same way. You are called “Daughter of Song and Morning,” I am called “Daughter of Silence and Night.” However, we both come from Darkness and Light. You see…a long time ago, in this solar system, this planet’s star harbored a power that one day escaped and brought destruction to it’s moon…Two mortals from Earth had evoked this goddess and bowed to it’s power…However, only one of them was given full power. The other fled, knowing that his sister would destroy him. Instead, he came to Eterna, destroyed its ruler and took the throne. He had a son who fell in love with the entity of the Universe…This entity was your mother…”
“Darkness boils within my blood…?!” Asahi whispered as she looked down at her hands. “But where do you come from?”
“I came from you.”
“But…how?” Asahi asked.
“Run…” the voice said, slowly and suddenly fading.
“What?! Wait!” Asahi reached into the darkness, only to find it empty. She was alone…again.
“Asahi?” Valin appeared in the doorway, the sun from the outside shining on his handsome features and sparkling emerald eyes.
“Oh…it was a dream,” Asahi said, as she sat up.
Why do I feel so weak…?
“It’s time for school,” Valin said.
“School?” Asahi frowned. “I thought you were going to be the one teaching me.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Valin said. “Well then, rise and shine, you’re going to be going through a whole lot of training.”
“Huh?” Asahi blinked.
Asahi stared at the huge book that sat in front of her.
“What is this?!”
“Your lessons begin now,” Valin smiled. “Your father was a Master of the Magic Arts. His daughter must learn to use them in battle.”
“But…!” Asahi began.
“Uh uh,” Valin said, shaking a finger at her. “You must.”
Asahi frowned as she realized that she had been tricked.
Hmph…but not for long… After her eight hour lesson, Asahi went outside to take a ride on a new bike that Valin had given her. The sun lay low over the horizon, just as it did when she had kissed the little boy she had so loved.
Koei…I’m sorry…had I known that the darkness would follow me…I would never have clung to you like I did…
Asahi felt a drop of tear suddenly fall on her hand. She watched as it slid down, ever so slowly, then faster and faster down to the hard ground.
“Eos-sama,” Okashi said suddenly.
Asahi looked up to find that her guardian had followed her and was perched in a high tree.
“You are thinking of that young boy, aren’t you?” Okashi asked.
“Oh…” Asahi stared at him. “You saw?”
“I watched even as a group of young girls were talking about how pretty and famous you were,” Okashi said.
“Okashi…he was my only friend in a world where deception is common,” Asahi said slowly to avoid the cracking of her voice. “I loved him…strangely enough, not the love of a child to her playmate, but the love of a sister. I suppose…inside, I believed that he was you, in a human shape.”
“When darkness passes, the light will once again shine…” Okashi said carefully as he flew off and left her to her thoughts.
Asahi continued to watch the sun setting as she walked toward it. Suddenly, to her surprise, she saw Valin standing in front of her, his form a dark shadow against the light, yet it was unmistakably him.
“Valin-kun?” Asahi asked, walking up to him.
“For every sunset that you see…”Valin said. “Remember it well. For you never know if it will be your last.”
“Valin-kun…how long have you lived here on Earth?”
“Quite a long time. I even had to change forms once in a while to avoid suspicion. Once I even became an old man…”
“Is that how long you searched for me?” Asahi asked thoughtfully.
“No…even far longer…even when I was growing up in Eterna…in the time of peace, I was a very young boy then…you were a little girl of two. The older Mages told me that the only way I would get my reward was if I behaved. ”
“Reward?” Asahi asked.
“To meet you,” Valin replied simply.
“It has become strangely peaceful,” Okashi said darkly a few weeks later as he and Valin stayed up late one night, unable to sleep.
“What do you mean?” Valin asked, buried in his spell book.
“The attacks have ceased…the city is once again silent…”Okashi said irritated at Valin’s seemingly na�ve nature.
“Isn’t that what we wanted?”
“Not when it is a trap…”
“How can silence be a trap?”
“It is meant to make us think that the danger is over…when we finally calm down, it will strike again.”
“It is not an ‘It”, it is Anarchy.”
Okashi burst into a fury. “Are you trying to play games with me?!”
“Not exactly trying,” Valin said calmly.
“The Princess’ life is at stake here and you have the time to be stupid?!” Okashi’s eyes blazed.
“You are only angry that you cannot seem to calm down. The truth is that we can’t do anything until Anarchy decides to come once again. I know time is precious…I have always known that. However, think beyond your thoughts. Know that this evil is much more clever than we are and that it could be a step ahead. That is how you fight your battles,” Valin said, still unperturbed.
“I won’t give you the satisfaction of seeing me disappear,” Okashi said haughtily as he began to groom himself.
This time a form waited for her. A simple wispy cloud of smoke appeared before her.
“What is happening? You’re taking a form…” Asahi said.
“Because you are growing stronger,” the little girl’s voice said.
“So you are trully a reflection of me?” Asahi asked, looking at the smoke carefully.
“I suppose you could say that. Have you thought about my words?” the voice asked cheerfully.
“It somehow slipped my mind…” Asahi said.
“Ahh…until you realize the true meaning of my words, I will never become my true form. Have you felt any differently?” the voice continued.
“Yes…somehow, I’ve felt weaker.”
“That’s because the Earth knows who you are. This planet’s Silver Crystal…a great source of power that purified the Earth a long time ago and continues to do so now…that is the source of your weakness. You are darkness…it was made to destroy people like you…” the little girl said.
“You mean…”
“Yes…this planet abhors your very existence…it wants you to leave it’s healthy surface…you are only a burden to this planet’s protectors.”
“But…I only want to help…”Asahi quietly said.
“Eterna is the only land that needs you now,” the voice continued.
“But…”Asahi said, her eyes wide and staring as she looked down on the ground in disbelief.
“I don’t have much time…believe in me…” the voice said as it slowly disappeared.
Asahi, however, remained in the darkness, still thinking as to what was happening. She was oblivious to what was happening in the world outside…
“Valin, why will she not awake?” Okashi demanded as they tried in vain to wake the trembling child.
“Princess!” Valin said, shaking her forcefully.
“Eos-sama!” Okashi cried, taking one of her fingers and carefully biting it. “Asahi!”
“What’s happening to her?!” Okashi said tearfully as he suddenly realized that her body had grown cold and limp.
“Asahi! Eos-sama! My princess!” Valin shouted with fury.
“She’s not responding!” Okashi cried in alarm. “Valin, do something!”
“I…I can’t…” Valin said, his face turning white.
“What do you mean, you can’t?! If this continues…” Okashi did not dare finish his sentence.
“Anarchy is more powerful than we thought,” Valin said, a tremble in his voice.
“No! Anarchia cannot have her!” Okashi screamed as the star on his forehead began to glow.
Valin could only hold the Princess’s hand as Okashi tried, with all his energy, to awaken her. However, the light did not penetrate Asahi’s mind and Okashi’s light waned.
“What…what did she do?” Okashi asked bitterly to no one in particular.
“Taken the princess’ mind,” Valin said, turning away as he tried hard not to cry. “If she does not realize what is happening…”
“She will die,” Okashi whispered, choking back a sob.