“Sometimes, your allies come in the right, unexpected moment disguised as a good enemy.”
CHAPTER XVI: Reconciliation with Houlio Merto; The Mystery of the Message They Simultaneously Received
RED FLAMES OF the bonfire engulfed the whole area as we stared at each other. Houlio Merto and I were in the middle of the battle ground, positioning ourselves in a fighting stance. With my arms against my face, fists balling, as if getting ready for any signs of attack, I examined him. He looked strangely calm. His face was blank, with no emotion at all. He did not let me read him. He did not let his attacks be foretold. I was completely clueless about what he was going to do.
The crowd meanwhile, although bus
“Before going on a battle, you must prepare two things: yourweapon and your grave.”CHAPTER XVII: Reckon Your Move; An Adventure With a Veteran (Part I)I WOKE UP feeling hazy but strenuous the next day. That night, I knew what happened exactly after the fight. When the people had realized I was not responding, the Queen called the soldiers for assistance straight away. They did not know I was faking, and they did not even realize the further moments. They seriously believed that lame attempt of me trying to pretend to be asleep. Knowing that I suck at it when I was a kid, I almost laughed right on the spot. I could still recall my mom scolding me for faking my sleep and skipping my afternoon nap just to play with spiders outside when I was s
“Before going on a battle, youmust prepare two things: yourweapon and your grave.”CHAPTER XVII: Reckon Your Move; An Adventure With a Veteran (Part II)I JUST FOLLOWED wherever Houlio Merto went. I was no longer familiar with the environment. Soon enough, we reached a shade. We did not stop by though. We just went over the trees and took a couple strides under the leaves of the trees and let ourselves get slashed by the rays of sunlight slipping through every gap of the branches. We stayed like that for a couple moments before reaching a river. I noticed it was the end of the entrance to the woods. Moments later, I noticed Houlio’s pace dying slowly until coming into a complete stop. He l
“And just like the old saying, you don’t regret what you have done impulsively as much as you regret what you have not done out of cowardice.”CHAPTER XVIII: A Hunt in the Woods; Being Human Is Not Always IdealI OFTEN GET this question a lot in the past: "What do you want to become when you grow up?”I would immediately respond with a lie because I don’t really know what I want, and I did not care so much about it before. Not until I came into adulthood and I had to decide what I am going to do for the rest of my life. Of course, you knew I did not have education and I’m already too old for that. Not lik
“If you can’t face danger, it is a moment you will forever be ashamed of as you live. But if you face a danger so bravely despite the fear, it is a danger worth dying for.”CHAPTER XIX: Start of the Trip; Death Is Lurking EverywhereAT DAWN THE next day, we departed from the woods and started travelling again with no delay. Fortunately, there were not any enemy or wild animals yesterday night so it gave us enough rest and sleep for the trip. We packed the remaining food we had left and fetched water from the river that was ever so clean. We did not stay too long anyway and instantly got on our horses right in time, or I am guessing even earlier than that. We followed the walls and the river on the way.The whole time, the environment
“What is certain is not as certain as we think. But sometimes, it is the best we can ever expect.”CHAPTER XX: Advancing to the Uncertain; Infiltrating the City of Nevaloir“HOW ARE YOUR wounds?” I asked Houlio by the time we decided to stop by the next woods which seemed safe for a little rest. I had him sit on a mossy rock as I got my small bag made in liquid proof fabric. I refilled the bag in the river and headed back to him, handing him the water. He chugged it right away though without second thoughts.“It is starting to feel itchy.”I cut his words. “It definitely stings. Stop acting tough now. I don’t have knowledge abou
“If you expect something to turn back to you, even despite all the sins you have committed, do prepare. Because it is very likely to be a wonderful karma.”CHAPTER XXI: A Guy In Common Clothes; The Havoc in the Hinstown Street“YOU HAVE GOT to be kidding me…” I slowly exclaimed, evidently mesmerized by the wonders before my eyes. I roamed my sight from the littlest to the farthest corner I could spot. It was… it was plain beautiful. I could not say anything else, I ran out of words. I felt speechless. This country never failed to amaze me.“What? It is not like this is your first time visiting here.” My daydream was obstructed when Houlio Merto spoke all of a sudden. I turned to him and he was rotating
“Everyone wears masks. They come in all different shapes and sizes. The only problem with trying one on is that it fits. How easily we fall into the trap that we don’t have to be who we really are.”CHAPTER XXII: Secrets Behind the Message; The True Prince Has Finally Made A ComebackTHEY SAY, IN those times when you want to meet death so badly, comes hope. And in those times when you are so hopeful, comes danger. It is the paradox of life that nobody could successfully alter. And it does not need to be altered nevertheless. Because no matter how complicated it looks to us, it is built for a certain, crucial reason.“Bru-aaack!” I threw up water and coughed hard the moment my eyes opened. I put both of my hands against the
“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” —Ernest HemingwayCHAPTER XXIII: Storytelling; The Goal, the Proposal and the Adventure Ahead of Them“SO YOU ARE telling us you are from the other country and one day you just woke up in the Port of Kokoshi and then, you became the prince?” Houlio Merto could not believe what I had said. “That is plain stupid.”“It ain’t like it was my doing, old man.”“It is true, old fart.” The prince supported my claim. “Because it is exactly what happened to me too. I was in
“But there is always something to look back to about endings, whether it is happy or not. And I think one should be able to thank the universe, that even the world gets rough, there still is something to be cherished for a moment in a billion stars. And perhaps, that alone, makes your ending better than the rest that matters.” CHAPTER XCIV: Finale; The Beginning of an End “Ragen Holler…” he spoke slowly, unable to find the correct words to add to that. The man in the dark did not utter for a moment, then he started to walk down. “What are you up to? Going up this building alone?” “Robin, you know him?” whispered
“If there is magic in the winds, and a whole lot wisdom in the skies. There could be nothing to walk on Earth, for the world has everything it needs.”CHAPTER XCIII: The Soldiers of Decreto & Morvis; You Have To Escape, But You Can’t (Part II)“WHAT IS HAPPENING…” I mumbled as I watched them being held with their faces against the ground. There were soldiers around them, fighting off some of the monsters that tried to get in the way. And then, there was the rest of them…. Sigmund, Meredith, Johann, Joel, Jones, Tilton, Oswin, and all the others. And what caught my attention was…“ROBIN!” screamed Dominic as soon as he noticed me. A
“If there is magic in the winds, and a whole lot wisdom in the skies. There could be nothing to walk on Earth, for the world has everything it needs.”CHAPTER XCIII: The Soldiers of Decreto & Morvis; You Have To Escape, But You Can’t (Part I)I COULD NOT move.When the first ray of the sun that stroke my eyes became warm enough to awaken me, I started with my lids that were heavy in sweat, my head that was feeling as though it was going to break, and a whole lot pain around my body. But somehow, it was not as painful as it was the first time. I moved my eyes around as all I could see were white. My eyes was still adjusting from the view. And it felt like the more I stared at
“If there is magic in the winds, and a whole lot wisdom in the skies. There could be nothing to walk on Earth, for the world has everything it needs.”CHAPTER XCII: The Atondês Are Attacking?; A Glow From Robin’s Pocket (Part III)Why did they become this violent? What happened to them?“Johann to the right!” I yelled, but not as loud as to calling off the Atondês that was a distance away. We moved to an alleyway by our right, and immediately noticed the destroyed properties, and establishments — far too worse than we had seen a few minutes back.“Where in the f*cking world is Dominic, anyway?” Johann was struggling
“If there is magic in the winds, and a whole lot wisdom in the skies. There could be nothing to walk on Earth, for the world has everything it needs.”CHAPTER XCII: The Atondês Are Attacking?; A Glow From Robin’s Pocket (Part II)ANOTHER SQUEALING WAS heard, echoing around the walls of the dome. It was loud, perfectly loud to shatter our drums. But it was muffled, it was thick and muffled by something, as though something was taped around its lips, and that all it could do is scream from its lungs.As we progressed on our way, we finally started to see shattered pieces that seemed to fly off far because of the impact, and the screams, and noises were getting clearer as we inched closer. A Train to Kokoshi
“If there is magic in the winds, and a whole lot wisdom in the skies. There could be nothing to walk on Earth, for the world has everything it needs.”CHAPTER XCII: The Atondês Are Attacking?; A Glow From Robin’s Pocket (Part I)THERE WAS A long, long pause, before the crowd bursted out into a noisy chattering. I felt my breathing hitch. My heart was beating so fast, hoping the news they brought was not true, at least, was not as true as it was.I looked at Sigmund, only to find him looking down the ground, rather, staring intently at the ground as though figuring out what went wrong. He was not able to recover quickly. He was distorted for a moment. He was not responding. He did not seem to hear his surroundings. I walked to hiXCII: A Glow From Robin’s Pocket (Part I)
“If there is magic in the winds, and a whole lot wisdom in the skies. There could be nothing to walk on Earth, for the world has everything it needs.”CHAPTER XCI: The Grand Ball; The Bed of Luxurious PeopleTHE MEETING WAS not done, but we were dismissed, the youngsters, to come down the Hall earlier than the rest. King Balmond said they were to discuss with King Ronald — probably to convince him, or to talk and analyze the situation more thoroughly.“Man, I was so close to screaming all that had happened to us in the South for them to believe us. But it is likely that the two of you have explained enough, and I was needed not for it.”I scoffed
“If there is magic in the winds, and a whole lot wisdom in the skies. There could be nothing to walk on Earth, for the world has everything it needs.”CHAPTER XC: Confusions & Conditions; What The Meeting Is ForNO ONE SEEMED to have known what to answer. Not a single soul spoke. Not the princess, or princes — not even the Queens or Kings. They have kept themselves quiet for a while now. And I hated the uncomfortable eerieness between us.“Uh-hm.” One of the Kings cleared his throat. I suppose he was the King of Decreto. “As much as I did not want to be prying over your 'miraculous' ideas, young man, I did not seem to like that proposal either.” A Train to Kokoshi
“If there is magic in the winds, and a whole lot wisdom in the skies. There could be nothing to walk on Earth, for the world has everything it needs.”CHAPTER LXXXIX: Kingdom of Decreto; Prove Your Power (Part II)I WAS ASKED once when I was young what I would want to be in the future. Perhaps, perhaps not, I have thought about it too. But all that was for me to end up with was the word, wealthy.I wanted to be wealthy. I wanted to be rich. I wanted money. I wanted it because it was what the world was made for — well, it seemed like it. But there was this hint of pain in my heart whenever I say that. All along, it was not particularly the money that I wanted, it was the things that I could attain from it. Money became the thing that hLXXXIX: Prove Your Power (Part II)