Adtraic Verity: Journey For The Truth
Chapter 11

“So, first thing’s first. Asahi, Aletha, what exactly urged you two to return to your world?”

The blazing amber fireplace crackled and chipped like the fading memories in Asahi’s mind.

Three of the five wooden chairs were occupied. Akwan waited patiently for an answer, tapping his toes on the wooden surface.

Asahi took a deep breath, recollecting all the memories from the moment of the white void to the room they were in now. The only thing that he could remember was that…

The white-haired boy replied with a serious tone.

“We returned here because we thought Aiyana was here.”

Akwan raised an eyebrow.

“And who exactly is, Aiyana?”

Aletha beamed up, her heart raced, and her eyes trembled.

“S…She’s our younger sister.”

The room fell silent. Akwan’s thoughts flooded his mind.

(So, it was only the fault of their loved ones that drove them to return to their world. Not a surprise. That means she was right then; there are more than two. If only my memory was fully intact.)

Akwan scratched his chin and nodded, staring at the wanderers out of curiosity and questioning.

“Ah, so it appears that there are more than you two. That explains… a lot.”

Asahi tilted his head.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. It’s just strange that gods have a family to begin with. Now, pushing that topic aside, is there a linear goal you are going with?”

Aletha shook her head and released a sigh of contempt.

“All I have faith in is that our family is still alive. I know my parents can’t die; they are too powerful. Do you think you have seen them?”

. . .

A long awkward silence formed in-between. Akwan closed his eyes and thought heavily about his distorted memories.

(Even if my memories are bouncing around, I can recollect a silhouette of a tall white-haired woman but… not the man. Hmm, why is it that my memory is so blurry?)

The vision faded. Akwan opened his eyes and leaned over, answering Aletha while tapping his fingers together.

“It depends. Do your parents look like giraffes?”

That optimistic look on the sibling’s faces instantly faded.

Aletha clenched her fists and stomped her foot on the ground.

“NO!”

Akwan couldn’t help but chuckle at his horrible joke.

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled while seeing the frustrated look on the siblings’ faces.

“Look, I just wanted to brighten the situation. I have no means of hurting you.”

The severe aura of the room returned. Asahi breathed a sigh of relief and replied.

“Okay, then tell us the truth.”

Suddenly, Akwan’s voice transformed back to a hollow and cold tone.

“My memories are shattered; I don’t know much anymore. However, I do recollect seeing a young beauty with white hair roaming around the other side of the world thousands of years ago. I don’t know how long it was when I saw her, but I know that she has SOME connection with you two.”

Both the wanderers pushed their chairs back and held their hearts, a hopeful look beamed on their faces.

“W…Wait, you’re saying they are alive?!”

Akwan shook his head.

“Not exactly, but I can say that I have encountered the two before. It’s been a while since I have seen them, so I don’t know if they’re still alive. But I can say for a fact that they have indeed roamed the world before.”

He took a glass of water and tipped it over his mouth, sipping it and continuing.

“If reuniting your entire family is the motive both of you have, you two must be aware of the dangers in your world. It’s not heaven anymore, but a melded underworld disguised as a beauty.”

The wanderers gasped, their eyes bulging in surprise.

“Eh?”

Akwan tried to keep the discussion as brief as he could.

“In simplest terms, your world is teeming with creatures and danger. The only safe havens in this world are the eight major cities residing within the nations of Pladtioa, Linuxinia, Astait, Zomrack, Destia, Obrus, Wraileza, and Cleira. Outside the towns, danger lurks everywhere. From the raging seas to the tallest mountains, machinery, evil people, and ancient creatures lurk everywhere within those lands.”

Akwan took another sip from his glass.

“Not only that, the last two nations are overruled by evil. I advise that you don’t travel there first.”

While Asahi was absolutely flabbergasted, he stepped forward and asked Akwan.

“Do you think the fragments of Aiyana are within those cities–

Akwan lifted his hand.

“Outside the boundaries. I don’t know exactly their location, but I have heard rumors that there are shards that heal the lands where they have been buried. But that is all I can inform you. The rest is all absent from me.”

Asahi and Aletha nodded, secretively confused about how Akwan got this information. But they never asked about it; They don’t want to spark anymore confusion then they already had.

While the wanderers sat next to the fireplace, suddenly…

(SLIP!)

A peculiar brown hardcover book slid from Asahi’s pockets and fell onto the rug; the two covers flipped and spread out its ink-filled pages.

Instantly, Akwan’s lavender eyes darted to the open book, going straight at it and picking it up, goaded on by the book’s sense of strange importance.

He asked with a serious tone.

“Where did you get this book?”

Aletha pushed herself up from the chair and tried to grab it, responding to Akwan in a gentle tone. “That’s my book…”

But quickly, Akwan pushed Aletha to the ground. Asahi hastily jumped up and yelled angrily.

“What was that for?! She did nothing to you!”

Akwan sneered at Asahi, trying to distance the book from the siblings.

“This book looks oddly familiar to a cursed book sealed by a cult centuries ago. It hones a devastating power to transmogrify time and alter space. Now, tell me…”

He forcefully slammed the book on the table.

“WHERE did you replace this book?”

Aletha brushed her bruise off her face and stood forward, rubbing and scratching her head nervously.

“We found it when…. we were in the Library.”

Akwan backed away.

“LIBRARY?! Goodness, you two are more ignorant than I thought.” Akwan pried the book cover open and revealed the first seven pages of it. He quickly snapped his fingers.

“There IS no library in Pladtioa City as far as I know. Who gave it to you?!”

A knock sounded on the door, gradually louder like the rampant thumping in Asahi and Aletha’s hearts. With a trembling tone, Asahi stepped forward and raised his voice, feeling an ominous atmosphere bounce in the room.

“A librarian did.”

“FOOL! They were trying to get rid of that book!”

Aletha bounced up.

“Eh?! Why do you look so worried about it?!”

Akwan slammed the book shut and tossed it into Asahi’s hands, seeing in sparkle and glimmer a golden luminance.

He pushed his long dark hair to the side, raced to the door, and squeezed his fists, shouting to the wanderers while holding down the thumping wooden door.

“Every single cult, faction, and monster, has been searching for this book since it was sealed by the sovereigns and sages ten centuries ago. It possesses a great power that not even I could comprehend! And now, it’s here… waiting for everyone desperate enough to snatch it.”

As Asahi looked about to toss the book, Akwan raised his voice.

“DON’T THROW IT, NOW! If you let anyone else get that book, it could have drastic consequences!”

He dashed to the white-haired boy and clenched his wrists, warning him.

“Asahi, I suggest you hold onto it at all costs. Don’t let anyone else get a hand ON THAT book!”

While the doors quickly breached open, Akwan informed the wanderers while the book illuminated in a blinding yellow glow.

“I know the book lures everyone who wants it, but you MUST keep it, now! Perhaps the Librarian wasn’t worthy enough, so they gave it to you.”

A blue luminance covered his hand.

“If the book is in the chosen holder’s hands, it could be used for good rather than evil! Asahi, YOU are now the CARRIER.”

(SHUN!)

The two doors were forced open, and they heard a loud shout.

‘GIVE US THAT BOOK!”

A rough wind blew through the passageway, pushing Clover and Akwan several meters through the wall. Aletha screamed.

“Who are you?!”

Asahi jumped in front and warned the strangers.

“Don’t you dare touch her!”

The man shrieked.

“Why is the book glowing? Wait… is the chosen one WITHIN THIS ROOM NOW?!”

Without warning, just as two men were seen pulling out a dagger, the golden luminance from the strange book flooded the entire room, forcing everyone’s vision to flash into white.

* * * * * * * *

Light was all that Asahi saw.

He could hear silence in the background and faint g****s sounding like they came from a man.

“Oh, so that’s… how a potion is made.”

The warmth surrounding Asahi felt relatively familiar compared to before.

Confused, Asahi’s eyes swiftly opened to the sight of a trashed room with toppled brewing stands, scattered bookshelves, a scorched fireplace, and fallen crates. It looked more like an abandoned place than a workshop.

He found the same dark-haired man lying on the floor, his body slowly disintegrating into blue, lavender, and cyan-colored piles of ash.

Struggling next to him was a familiar green-haired girl, spilling out her tears and screaming.

(What happened?! I could have sworn I saw that girl on the counter before.)

While instantly awakening and rubbing Dust off his body, Asahi felt a hard surface beneath him. It was a solid texture that matched the feeling of a book.

Though grateful for waking up, Asahi was even more confused about what terrible thing had happened. He scratched his head and muttered, staring at the endangered man in front of him.

“What the– I was just in this room before. Wasn’t there a book that Akwan warned and told me to keep? What’s going on?!”

Unexpectedly after he shrieked, a g***n sounded on the other side of the room. Though he didn’t know the strangers in the room, Asahi screamed to the girl anyway.

“SIS!”

A deep, grueling, and grating voice sounded to his right.

“Oh… so this guy is awake too? I thought he was dead.”

Asahi’s gray eyes went wild with fear as he saw all the pointing, silver gleaming daggers close to his neck. His heart pounded in his chest, replying with a weak voice.

“Who are you?”

He found five individuals covered in solid circular masks, wearing relatively cheap leather tunics, taunting and threatening.

“WHERE ARE THE INGREDIENTS?”

Asahi bounced up and tried to head for the door, screaming.

“How did you get in here?”

But just as he had touched the staircase,

(SHING)

Asahi felt a brutal pain pierce behind him. His b***d grew cold, his lips went dry, and his bones turned to water as the boy collapsed onto the floor, coughing white Dust out of his mouth. A man screamed at him with a maniac laugh as the others cheered him on.

“Should’ve kept your mouth shut! Now no one will know!”

Asahi’s vision flickered on and off as he felt a severe pain matching a thousand needles stroking his belly. He didn’t know what was going on, and all his mind was focused on was his surroundings.

(What the–)

His trembling, shrinking gray eyes found a few bows lying across the corner, bookshelves toppled in the shape of an archway, a lingering lantern upside down, wooden crates scattered in a cubical form, and a sleek black sword lying near a bench.

His breathing rapidly increased, adrenaline coursed through every corner of his body, and his Dust spilled out like draining the crimson b***d of a human. Thoughts bounced and overflowed his mind as the strangers raced up the staircase with the book.

(Is this how I meet my end? No… it can’t be. I’m a GOD! I’m not supposed to die!)

Despite the loud yells in his mind, none could hear him. Asahi’s eyelids slowly lowered, seeing everything in the room engulfed in complete darkness.

Hope slipped away just like his sanity.

Before he knew it…

* * * * * * * *

Darkness was all that Asahi saw.

He could hear a liquid bubbling in the background and a voice that sounded like it came from a man.

“Hope this potion works…”

The warmth surrounding Asahi felt relatively familiar and comforting as opposed to before.

Immediately, Asahi’s eyes swiftly opened to the sight of a comfy room with brewing stands, bookshelves, a fireplace, creates, and so much more.

But this time… it looked cleaned and refurbished compared to the horrible sight he saw before.

He found the same dark-haired man approaching Asahi with a bottle of pink liquid, hurriedly pacing across the floor as the sight of the thieves was nowhere to be found.

“Here, drink this!”

Standing next to him was a girl with white hair, gray eyes, and black attire, hurrying and crying out as she waited patiently to awaken.

“Brother, are you alright? You blacked out when we were in the middle of a discussion!’

Asahi scratched his head, confused and afraid.

“W…What? I could have sworn…”

Akwan shoved the pink medicine down Asahi’s throat, letting it ooze down his stomach and get absorbed by his organs. Before the boy knew it, he jumped out of bed and felt more energized.

However, thoughts continued to bounce in his mind as he saw the room clean and organized, and Aletha, Akwan, and Clover were not hurt.

(Wasn’t this room just trashed a minute ago? What happened to Akwan? He’s alive! Was all of that a dream? What’s going on?!)

Clover asked.

“Mr. Akwan, can I move Asahi to the fireplace.”

Pushing the cabinets away, Akwan responded with a light smile.

“Of course.”

“I’ll follow too!” Said Aletha with a cheerful tone. “I’m afraid he might have gone to sleep.”

Asahi knew that was far from the case. He was sure that he had got stabbed by a knife and that Akwan was warning him about the book. All that he was left to wonder was.

Could it be that all of the things he saw before were an illusion?

Or could those events serve as some sort of warning?

No matter what, Asahi agreed to keep that vision in his mind as long as he could.

Just in case all of this could be a dream too.