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2023-12-13 04:39:57
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STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: FIRST REAL CONVERSATION
Gambit was furious. In a straight line, a group of security men and women stood with their heads down before him.“Who’s in charge of watch duty?”A security man came forward, slightly curled in on himself. “Head Instructor, I’m the head of this assigned unit, and I swear to the supreme watcher that none of us had left our post at all. I don’t know how the unstable warrior left the cell.”“Don’t call the god of scripture’s name in vain.”The security man stood at ease. “My apologies, Head Instructor, but once again, I assure you the cell occupant had not passed through that door. We were shocked as well when I returned from my lunch break to find him completely missing on the monitors.”“Have you inspected the surveillance footage?”The man shook his head. “I was in the middle of doing this when you ordered for my presence.”“Show it to me right now.” Gambit watched the man lead the way. “The rest of you return to your post.” He then followed him to the surveillance room.A few minut
STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US CHAPTER NINETEEN: CHALLENGED BY THE PILLARS
Eshya was nervous as she entered the large room to find the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eleventh pillars in their respective seats. The meeting room is a large round hall with thirteen seats – twelve primary seats in a semi-circle arrangement to a grander seat – at the center while the audience seats are spread through the rest of the hall behind these thirteen seats. Apart from the six pillars inside the hall, Eshya found the keepers of the temple were present. It's customary, after all, to have the future pillars obtain first-hand experience on occasions like this. “Welcome, Priestess Eshya.” The second pillar spoke first. “I apologize on behalf of my fellow pillars for calling you here on such short notice.” Eshya nodded. "Sun-blessed noon to the six pillars present." She walked over to settle in the grander seat, as it is reserved for the holy star symbol during a meeting. She noticed Gambit, who had followed her into the hall, had also taken a seat in the audience
STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY: FIRST SIT TOGETHER
Northeast from the walls of Stell City, a canyon lies along one of the paths of the city’s great river fork – Stell- Fifth Claw Canyon. A man screamed in pain, thrashing on the ground as his body oozed thick drops of yellow liquid that had been pooling around him for a while. The most distinct oddities at the moment are his enlarged limbs and bulged torso covered in what appeared to be scales.“How long does the transformation take to complete?”“We were told it’s not fixed. It depends on how well the infected can adapt.”Here, a large number of humans converge in a large cave. These are the men and women who had publicly saved the low-district criminal the other day – The Scriptures Rejecters. Now, the arsonist himself is sitting on a large rock with the old woman who had released the first few shots. They watched as the screaming man's skin slowly gave way and he mutated into a seven-foot crocodile. The audience watching scurried away from the creature now in place of the man.“Can
STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: VISION ON THE FOURTH PILLAR
"So let me get this straight." Eshya's pointed finger shifted between Bava and Garu. "You two became close during the Finalists Selection Rounds, so…. two years of friendship?" She watched the two men nod at her before she turned her gaze to the other two. "And you guys have known yourselves for how long?"“Five years, Priestess.” Cassandra also nodded at Eshya.It has been an odd morning for the holy star symbol. She had been quite embarrassed when she realized she had fallen asleep in the holy warriors' quarters; she hadn't realized the heaviness weighing on her body after she woke up a few days ago without proper recuperation. Though she kept quiet about it, she had very little experience in dealing with the great toll making a portal had on her body. She had been ignoring her exhaustion since Etanai's desperate call back then had somehow forced her to create one, which was soon followed by a blessing of light to relieve Etanai of those white clouds. The horrible meeting with the T
STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: ETANAI’S TREATMENT (1)
“A chain of compulsion?! What was it attached to?”“It’s more like who it was attached to.” Elder Tobias watched the realization settle in the second pillar’s eyes. “It was attached to a human. Unfortunately, that’s all I know as their identity was shrouded in bright light.” He turned his gaze to the extensive field of clouds beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. “I looked into the Seer Catalogues, and I think Elder Rowan might have a Light Keeper under her control.”“Watch those words before you throw them out, Elder Tobias. Illegal possession of a chain of compulsion? Hiding a Light Keeper from the Light Speakers? Those are two big accusations you’re making right there.”“You don’t believe me?”“This is more than that. Our visions are never at a hundred percent when it comes to clarity; you know this.” Elder Niola quickly appealed to the disappointed look on the third pillar’s face. “If this was any other culprit, I’d have commanded the intelligence unit on an investigation, but you
STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: ETANAI’S TREATMENT (2)
"Have you all gone insane?!" Gambit paced back and forth before the four holy warriors who were now detained in a different cell. He pointed at Cassandra. "You attacked the security head I assigned to keep that boy's power in check." He then waved his finger between the other three. "And you idiots didn't even bear enough sense to stop her and instead joined her. Now you've also rendered her team temporarily unfit for duty." Bava couldn’t help the angry expression on his pretty face. “How could you do something so humiliating to him?” Gambit halted his pacing to glare daggers at the usually tamed young man. “Are you questioning your superior’s actions right now?” He was slightly surprised Bava, along with the other three, didn’t show a bit of guilt at that, and he allowed himself some sympathetic reasoning. “Do you even know what that sprinkler does to him?” “It looked like it hurt like hell.” Garu grounded out in fury. “The dude was left thrashing on the ground, and that woman look
STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: GARU VS CHAD
The scene had ended in a bloody mess in less than an hour. The large footprints in the area remained proof of the large beast that had laid waste to the numerous soldiers here. While the scripture rejecters had only lost a few lives, the same couldn't be said for the troops in charge of the mysterious cargo; they only had a few terribly injured soldiers left on the ground.“Should we kill them, Boss?” Though the old woman asked with a gentle smile, her eyes revealed a chill in them as she already had a weapon retrieved from the military trucks – a rifle –pointed at one of the remaining soldiers.Timber grabbed the muzzle of the rifle. “This is an Aster-Firearm, Mama Lenah. Don’t waste it on an injured man.”The old woman's smile faded and she put down the weapon. "But we have several truck-loads of these and more."Timber glanced at her, noticing the arsonist had joined them. "Trust me when I say we will be needing every single one of them for our mission if we're to ensure there's a
STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: SURPRISE AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE
“What were you and Ricky to each other?”Chad’s arms came up to cover his eyes as tears began streaming out.Cassandra’s eyes widened with sudden realization. She hated she was just figuring out now what should have easily guessed. “Lovers. You and Ricky were lovers, weren’t you?”Garu and Bava's mood chilled out as the truth became clear with the tall man's stiff head nod; things were starting to make sense. The messy surroundings became somewhat still before Chad spoke.“That bastard! That fucking arrogant bastard! He should have known better than to interfere with Etanai and those Zeal-leachers fight. For all we knew, that could have been a test of its own making. But no! He had to get himself killed.” He slowly rose into a sitting position and he steadily calmed down from his sobbing. “I couldn’t allow his corpse to be forever tainted with the disgrace.”“So you lied and framed an already unfortunate man?” Bava’s usually gentle face held fury. “That man was an ordinary civilian. P
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- STAR-TRAIL BETWEEN US
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: RECTIFICATION
The two holy warriors shared a cushion, their backs initially turned to one another until Bava gently grabbed him by his bare shoulders to turn him around, and the pair of gold-colored eyes met the Alice-colored ones. “Why are you protecting Ricky? I know this has to be more than what you led on.” The amount of openness conveyed in Bava’s words warmed Chad’s heart. “Ricky…was the first person to ever treat me like I mattered. The confidence in me today was first ignited when I met him.” Bava couldn’t help raising an eyebrow to relay his skepticism. “Are we talking about the same Ricky?” "I know it's hard to believe but he saw me for who I was. That bastard saw how broken I was and yet, he chose to have me in his life." Chad's eyes were welling up at this point. "So of course I fell for him, and he…well he tolerated me." “Stop!” There was a trace of defiance on Bava’s face. “See, that’s the problem. You should never give your heart to someone who merely tolerates you.” Chad scoffe
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: TAKING CHARGE
“Hello, I’m Etanai.”“I’m Bava.”“Hi, I’m Cassandra.”“Call me Garu.”“…Chad.”The five holy warriors sat around the living area in awkward silence after that greeting. Head Instructor Gambit didn’t even spend one minute before he left Etanai to these four faces he wouldn’t dare call friends.He cleared his throat. “So I’m twenty-three years old. What about you guys?” Though he maintained a relaxed smile, he was deeply cringing inward. What kind of a conversation starter was that?The four glanced at each other with lost eyes for a few seconds before they gathered themselves."Well, I'm twenty-four years old." Bava sent Etanai a calm smile. He then turned to give Cassandra a gentle nudge. “Your turn.”“Oh, um. I’m a year older than him.”"Well, I'm much younger than these guys." Garu smiled widely. "I'm nineteen."Etanai was much calmer once he saw these guys were genuinely accommodating him. He was worried for nothing, or so he thought.Everyone turned to look at Chad.Then golden-ey
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: THE DOMINANT DISPLAY
“That bitch! She stole my arms. Look at me now! Who does she think she is?!” Meadow floated back and forth in the air as she was fuming. She had two worm-size appendages, wiggling where her arms should have been. The lanky shadow sat on a rock as he stared at his sister with worried eyes. “Meadow, you need to calm down. Fretting won’t solve anything at the moment.” "Shut up, you stupid twig!" Meadow turned her fury on her brother. "You are good for nothing. You just floated there while that little brat did this to me." A sadistic smirk spread across her chubby face. "I should tear you apart right now and keep those arms of yours for myself. It's the least compensation you could give me. You hardly use them anyway. You're a useless waste as a sentient shadow." She lunged forward and quickly wrapped her mouth around one of Shall’s hands and she began munching on it. “Ow! Meadow, stop it! You’re acting crazy!” Shall let out a whine as he backed away to no avail; his sister refused to l
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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: HONORING THE STATUS
“Why did you guys call me over at such an early hour?” Eshya walked into her father’s living area with puffy eyes. She found him and Gambit seated as they consumed their breakfast.“Join us.”Eshya looked at her dad with skeptical eyes before walking over. “I can’t remember the last time you invited me over just to have a meal with you.” She saw the guilty look on the middle-aged man’s face. “And I’m guessing today’s not that day either.”Gambit stifled a laugh, which earned him a pissed glare from the third pillar so he pretended he had choked on his tea. "That's my cue."Eshya saw the head instructor getting up. “Where are you going?”“Oh, I’m not part of this conversation. That’s between you father and daughter.” He began heading for the door. “I have a lightning warrior to train.” He turned his head back at Eshya. “Is the boy up?”Eshya nodded her head. “He should be. The temple servants say he tends to wake up very early.”Gambit ‘mmhed’ in understanding and he left.Eshya turned
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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: BEAUTIFUL EYES AND PLUMP LIPS
“You two did it, right?” Elder Rowan stared at the fifth and eleventh pillars sitting across from her with reserved emotion on her face.There was a smirk on Elder Change’s face. “That was the plan, wasn’t it? We successfully got the priestess looking quite incompetent in that hall.”Elder Kissani chuckled with delight as he took a sip of his wine. “Let’s see if she dares to show off before us ever again. She forgets her status would be nothing in the eyes of the people without us there to lift her up.”“Enough of this for now,” Elder Rowan interjected with a lazy wave of her hand. “Talking about that spoilt brat would only sour my mood.”Elder Change raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter? Still pissed she spoke to you that way?”Elder Rowan gave no reaction to that. “Let’s talk about something else.”The next hour was spent chatting away at random happenings they had recently encountered. After this, the fifth and eleventh pillars bid their farewells and left the fourth pillar’s qua
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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: THE SEIZED SHADOW’S PART
“There’s a great imminent incident that might befall the temple. Then we have the temple’s military properties that have been hijacked by the Scripture Rejecters. It seems they getting bolder.” Eshya’s looked to the third pillar. “A troop of our military men and women lost their lives and five truck-loads of Aster-Firearms to them and a….crocodile.”Elder Tobias held a finger over his mouth as he laid back in his seat. "That's everything so far."“Know that we do not want you thinking too much about this, Priestess. That is our job as the twelve pillars of the temple.” Elder Niola placed a comforting hand on Eshya’s hand. “You just need to focus on consolidating your powers and bonding with your warriors. You will need these if you’re to enter a Soul-Bond of Constellations with them.” She looked up to find Eshya with slightly wide eyes and her body suddenly went stiff. “Priestess, what’s wrong?”“It’s Etanai, he needs me!”The third and second pillars shared a glance before the forme
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CHAPTER THIRTY: DELE, VITA, AND ODETTE
Etanai felt his stiff body loosening up as he conjured enough strength to open his heavy eyelids. A groan escaped his lips as he found he had passed out on the ground.“You’re finally awake.” Etanai jerked up into a sitting position to find it was Gambit, occupying his one-seat sofa. “Get up, boy. You should go freshen up; you look a mess. By the way, weren’t you taught the habit of maintaining your space?”Etanai followed his gaze while getting up on his feet. To the walls, he found the existing proof of what had happened before he passed out. His body shook slightly. “Those shadows! Head Instructor, there were….”Gambit halted his words with a raised palm. “I know, my boy. I saw everything. That’s why I’m here” His hand then gestured to his left. “Go shower first.”Etanai gently nodded before walking away to do as he was told. A quarter of an hour later, he returned much-refreshed in a new outfit. The temple had provided him with a full set during his stay in his cell, courtesy of
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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: DECIPHERING THE PERSISTENT VISION
“What did you see?” Elder Tobias picked up the cup of tea before him with shaky hands and he took a sip while his eyes darted between the expecting faces of Elder Niola and Gambit. "It's the same vision as last time; those figures on the ground, screaming in agony. They still lay helpless before me." He put down the cup as the warmth from the herbal concoction seeped through his body. "An insistent vision becomes an imminent one." “It’s seems that way.” Elder Niola glanced out the large windows. “The issue now is deciphering the vision right and properly preparing as much as we can for it.” Gambit had his head down in deep thought for a while before looking back up. "Could it have something to do with the stolen cargo we were discussing?" He found the pillars' gazes on him. "I'm aware Pillars sometimes have visions that are triggered by a conversation. What if the incident at Kalion forest is tied to this?" “In what way would that be though?” Elder Niola’s gaze returned to the room
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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: THE SAME VISION
The Temple of Wisdom’s Intelligence Unit is one of Comet Tower’s most important departments. They are responsible for gathering all classes of information concerning the temple from around the world.“Rubbish! This is slander!” The eleventh pillar couldn’t help the bitter expression on his face. It was hard to convincingly deny such a report made by their very own intelligence unit.“Elder Change, calm yourself.” Elder Kissani sent a discreet look before turning back to Eshya. “Priestess, may we see this report?”Eshya handed over the file to Elder Kissani who began going through it with Elder Change. Meanwhile, Elder Rowan’s posture remained straight and her eyes didn’t shift away from the holy star symbol in the slightest; this, however, was a staring challenge Eshya was willing to put up with. The priestess wasn’t going to cower before this woman at a time like this.“Aren’t you also gonna check for a possible sign of fraudulence?” With folded arms, Eshya nodded at the woman with
