Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
CHAPTER XXXVI: Diamonds Below; Drought in Lake Adon
HOW MUCH WOULD you risk if I say that you can attain all the riches of the world if you give something very dear to you in return? I would opt to say I love all the things that I cannot have. Will that give me anything? Of course it will give me everything! It is a bet of all and nothing. Either to have it all or have none at all. It would be the most enticing yet deadly battle you could ever put yourself in. So I do ask, would you do it? Because if I were to be questioned, I would… with no second thoughts.
“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?” I asked, skepticism was evident in my voice. I lightly
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
A Train to Kokoshi XXXVII: The Water Deer
“How beautiful but at the same time, hideous humans are.”CHAPTER XXXVII: The Water Deer; Fateful Meeting of the Four WanderersTHERE WAS A strong weave of wind that slapped me right on the face. The two, the prince and the old man were stunned, looking at it with pure astonishment as much as I did. In a moment, they seemed to have noticed that I was there, for the horses were making a racket in the ground. They slowly looked our way, but retracted immediately, asserting their faces back to the entity.It was a deer. A very big deer. However, aside from its size, there was something really wrong with it.The deer… was made of water. It was made of water.
A Train to Kokoshi XXXVIII: An Unlikely Betrayal
“Someday, the stars will align and make a path leading us to somewhere far far away without no way back.”CHAPTER XXXVIII: The First Entity in the Other Side of the Country; An Unlikely BetrayalA COLD DEAD wind swept past the three of us, making the two wake up of their senses. The trees, the thirsty river, the water deer, the uneasy horses were here in the heart of the forest with us, almost confused.I thought it would take a longer time but good news it did not. We hopped a few steps back from the deer, our senses alert again. My hands began to shake a little more aggressively now as my head pounded. There could be no way it talked. I saw the other two get their own defense, as if they had been awakened from a hypnotic spell.
A Train to Kokoshi XXXIX: Warning From Northeast
“One can keep a secret. Two can keep it too. But if something goes off the circle, one’s secret is the whole world’s too.”CHAPTER XXXIX: Something Blew Off; A Warning From the North-Eastern FractionA HUGE ROOT came flying at us from the air.Several minutes before I thought I could almost consider giving up, a huge chunk of root reached us. I traced it with a look, the prince did too — which was evidently exhausted now. And when we visioned where it was coming from, I almost cried.“You look like losers.” It was the old man, Houlio Merto.
A Train to Kokoshi XL: A Fairy Glows
“There was sweetness in the air and an eerie warmth in the heart, scraped knees and a few tree stumps. A night deprived of glimmer could be a night worth a single star.”CHAPTER XL: A Reminisce of Home; The Glow Behind the Trees“SO FROM THE East, you think we are already almost at the very center of the country?” The map of emptiness was laid out over the ground, the fire was giving it enough glow to be read even though there was not really any content written in it.Houlio Merto nodded at my question, then drew a not so straight line — more like a path which we seemed to have followed from the witch’s tree house. He drew on the map using the cool ember of a stick.
A Train to Kokoshi XLI: Storm & A Herd of Bulls
“The storm will pass, but the droplets of water shall remain. One needs sunshine, to completely forget the dark.”CHAPTER XLI: A Herd of Bulls; Scram! A Storm Is on the WayA DEAD MORNING swept in the next day after. The winds were cold — blowing Southwest. In the thickness of the forest, came nothing but endless ways of trees blocking the view ahead. We were wearing quite but not completely thick clothes for the day. I had mine in dark brown, the prince’s was black as well as Houlio Merto’s. They were wearing boots too — up to their knees. Meanwhile, I had none.The horses seemed to have taken enough rest which was good news since we could not really afford to delay anything right now anymore. Unless we necessarily
A Train to Kokoshi XLII: Tunnel Invites
“But a hole is going to lead you somewhere deeper. And if you thought you had stumbled over it by chance, I am afraid you are not getting the point. No one ever thinks their purpose is a coincidence.”CHAPTER XLII: The Tunnel Underground; It Is Inviting Us InTHE RAIN STARTED to pour harder and heavier, and as much as we did not like to, our clothes as well as our loads ended up drenched in water again — just like what happened yesterday afternoon. It could not be helped. The clouds be damned.“Robin, faster! You are suspending!” the prince yelled at me as he thought I was getting a little bit left behind already. I wiped my eyes using my wet arm as I tried to clear my vision.
A Train to Kokoshi XLIII: Dragon Eggs
“Once you fix yourself into something, or at least have your eyes brush past an idea of your interest, things would never be the same anymore.”CHAPTER XLIII: The Light from Dragon Eggs; A Scrap Page Closer to SuccessQUITE IN THE far pitch of darkness, extended a hollow entrance. It was about ten feet far before the path broke into three smaller holes, leading in three different paths. I glanced at the prince, and the prince to Houlio Merto, then to one another, before the two of them say in chorus: “Now, this is interesting.”I stopped them. “Wait, wait for a second.” They looked at me with a questioning reaction. “You’re going in
A Train to Kokoshi XLIV: A Talking Treasure Chest
“A maze without a roof is like a choker on the loose. You are viewed suffering, but as long as you see the sky, you are forever freed.”CHAPTER XLIV: The Talking Treasure Chest; Robin Molth’s Bag Is StolenIT WAS FUNNY. We were like kids trying to figure out what was going on under an ant colony, and how do we try to disturb it. We were like goofy, careless kids just trying out stuff we often get curious about, and then head home with hands emptier than before.“I never thought we would figure something like this on the way!” the prince exclaimed, almost tittering from so much excitement.I smirked. “Technically, I was the one who figured i
Latest Chapter
- A Train to Kokoshi
XCIV: The End
“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
- A Train to Kokoshi
XCIII: Soldiers (Part II)
“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
- A Train to Kokoshi
XCIII: Soldiers (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 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
- A Train to Kokoshi
XCII: A Glow From Robin’s Pocket (Part III)
“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
- A Train to Kokoshi
XCII: A Glow From Robin's Pocket (Part II)
“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
XCII: 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 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 hi
- A Train to Kokoshi
XCI: Bed of Luxurious People
“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
- A Train to Kokoshi
XC: Confusions & Conditions
“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
LXXXIX: Prove Your Power (Part II)
“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 h
