Guardian Spirits: The Newcomer
"I've always been lost ever since…well I don't know. Everything is a mystery to me as if a part of me has faded away with my memories. Memories…what are they? What form do they take? How are they made? What is a memory? So many questions, yet there is no answer to any of them. If a person is asked what is a memory? They would know what it is, but they would not be able to explain it. That is how I feel. I feel…lonely, like there's no one there for me. I feel as if I can't explain what has happened to me, or who I really am…The only thing I do remember is my name, Andros, and nothing else: Not my friends, nor my family, not even my favorite color! Sometimes, I feel as if I'm not even supposed to exist in this world…" I said aloud.
I stared at the sunset as another day was about to be passed. I sat on a hill top under a cherry blossom tree where a view of the blue, sparkling ocean could be seen. A smile grew on my face as the scenery was perfect in every way: The cherry blossoms were blowing in the wind as the sun settled down behind the mountains and turned day into night. I lied down on my back and crossed my arms around the back of my head and looked up at the night sky.
"Memories…" I whispered.
"Welcome, members of Zeronos. I called this meeting to announce the plan to plunge the Worlds of Light and Oblivion into chaos once again. But before I explain, I must say that I am leaving Zeronos temporarily on a field mission that I must do alone. During my absence, Savalas and his team will take leave on a mission at our other stronghold, and Chronos will take control of Zeronos. Unfortunately, I must also announce that Chronos will have to remove all your memories about me, but your memories of the plan will remain, and in addition, your memories will be replaced; instead of remembering me as your leader, you will only know Chronos as your leader."
"Erase our memories? Does he have that kind of power?" a voice said aloud.
"Yes, Chronos' special ability involves time, thus being able to control time, so when I said he would erase your memories; I meant he would suspend them in time until I finish my mission. Now, let us discuss about the plan. The plan consists of three elements: Timing, Precision, and Execution…"
"Ah! The Kingdom of Vestrill, finally. Am I happy to see another sign of life besides me! Can't wait! " I said anxiously.
I looked up at Vestrill's gates and saw there was an engraving of three dragons of some sort on the gates. There was gold gilded on the gates along with silver. Below the dragons, there were three figures that looked like they were engaged in a battle. I looked to the right of the gate and saw there was a guard standing near the gates, guarding it with vigilance. I approached him, and he stopped me.
"Hold! State your name and what business you have here." The guard demanded.
"M-My name is Andros, and I am here to take rest from my travels, Sir!" I announced.
"Okay, Andros..." The guard said.
There was a pause until the silence was finally broken.
"Welcome to Vestrill! Please enjoy your stay here, and remember to visit the King's Castle, all is welcomed. And today is the day of the Esordio Festival!" the guard announced.
I stared in confusion and was wondering what the Esordio Festival was. Could it be marking an important date? Or was it just another everyday "festival"?
"What is the Esordio Festival?" I asked.
"Oh, the Esordio Festival marks the beginning of Vestrill. It also signifies the legend of Neo and the three spirits. So don't you be stranger; you can talk to anyone in Vestrill since everyone is helpful!" The guard announced.
"Ha-ha, okay. For a second there, I thought you were going to tell me the whole story, phew!" I said.
"Do you want me to tell you everything about the Esordio Festival?" the guard asked.
"Yes, of course, who wouldn't? Unfortunately, I have to settle in before night fall, so I'll make sure to watch the Festival and greet the people. And maybe I will go visit the King's Castle." I said sarcastically.
"All right, now you take care of yourself, all right? Vestrill may be the safest place a person could ever be in, but that doesn't mean there aren't any thieves or danger." The guard warned.
I nodded and I walked through the gates as the gates opened. My first step in Vestrill, and I saw that everyone was in a happy mood as they minded their own business. I slowly walked forward as I observed the different shops around me. There was a sweet aroma of baked bread which made my mouth water with hunger, and there were sounds of music coming from the distance. It was still noon, and I assumed that everyone was getting ready for the Festival. I made my way to the center of Vestrill where stood a magnificent Fountain. Around it was a place to sit and there were carvings of the three dragons I had seen on the gates, and there were the engravings "AI TOW WTEC". I knelled down and spent a few minutes staring at it as the people passing by probably thought I was a crazy person talking to a fountain since I was saying my thoughts aloud. I stopped to think, and then I gave up and looked around. From the fountain, there were four roads that went different directions, and they intersected perpendicularly at the fountain. I looked up ahead and saw the King's Castle that the guard also talked about; it was north of where I was standing. I quickly made my way there. As I made my way, I seemed to be walking in the Court Yard for there were many plants, trees, and birds. I could hear the birds singing their lovely tune and saw some dogs, resting peacefully. As I continued, I came about a place where I saw Knights training. As I kept walking, a sword suddenly landed in front of me and into the ground, cutting a cloth off of my shirt, as my reflexes quickly took over. I saw a young man, about my age, run towards me.
"Sorry about that. I was just practicing with my buddy over there and I seemed to have lost my grip. Say, are you a traveler?" the young man asked.
The young man had brown, curly hair with black eyes. He was wearing normal clothing as I was, and that confused me a little. I, personally, did not know that knights could train without armour.
"Yeah, I am. I guess you could tell by the way I'm dressed right now, huh? I said in a dull manner.
"So how about a drink from the tavern? For almost killing you?" the young man asked.
"Sure? By the way, the name's Andros." I announced.
"Gawain. Pleasure to meet you. Now, shall we go? I'm sure the tavern will be packed, especially on the day of the Esordio Festival." Gawain said.
"How about your training partner?" I asked.
"Don't worry about her; she'll be fine." Gawain said, ensuring that everything will be fine as long as we hurry up and go.
"Sure, let's hurry then!" I exclaimed.
I turned to the way I came here, but then Gawain stopped me.
"The tavern is to the right of where you are standing." Gawain said.
"Oh, I knew that, I was just testing you, ha-ha!" I declared.
"Ah! Gawain!" a voice called out.
I turned and saw a middle-aged man walking towards us. He was wearing a cape with six different colors mixed to make a picture of a dragon: red, green, tan, blue, white, and black. The cape was atop a uniform that appeared to give a sign that the man was of royalty. I assumed that he was the King as I bowed down, as did Gawain.
"I need you to tell the knights that they have guard duty around Vestrill during the festival so that the people will be ensured safety. As we know, our enemies seem to always have an advantage during this time of the year, and on last year's Esordio Festival, Vestrill was almost destroyed. I do not want to repeat the same mistake. You, of course, will be attending the Festival's Ball at my castle." The King announced.
"Yes, I will make sure of that." Gawain replied.
"Now, who might this young man be?" The King asked.
I stood up and replied: "I am Andros. I wandered into Vestrill hoping for the best. I am just a traveler, and will be staying in Vestrill shortly."
The King looked satisfied, and he waved us away as we walked away and headed towards the tavern. We kept silent as we walked for we didn't have anything to talk about. I wanted to break the silence, but that would make it awkward, as if people staring at us and smiling wasn't awkward enough. We had finally reached the tavern by the time it was almost nightfall; I did not expect the tavern to be that far, especially when Gawain said that it was close by…
"Hey! You said it was close, and now it is almost sun set!" I yelled.
"I said it was close if we ran, we would make it, but someone kept complaining how tired he was from traveling." Gawain said in a joking manner.
"Hey! I—" I stopped talking.
I started to laugh, and kicked Gawain, out of respect of course.
"Just shut-up. Let's go get a drink; I am so thirsty from all that walking!" I declared.
Gawain nodded, and we both went into the tavern. The day's sun had already faded into the night sky's moon as we went in. We both ordered a drink. I ordered some coconut juice and he ordered a drink I had never seen before. We both took a large gulp, and the conversation ended, if only there was a conversation!
"So…great day, huh?" Gawain asked.
"Yeah…so what is it like being a knight?" I asked.
"Well, it is ver—" Gawain stopped talking and quickly got up.
"Oh no, the knights, I didn't notify them about their new duties. The festival is about to start any second now, and they are all going to go to the Castle for the King's Ball." Gawain said hastily.
Gawain quickly ran out, and I was left alone in the tavern.
"Why is it that I'm always the one that is left alone…?" I asked.
I heard the sound of fireworks as they were being launched all over Vestrill. I took a sip out of my Coconut juice, and stared into the air as I blanked out.
"Timing, Precision, and Execution are vital to the plan. If even one is done incorrectly, the plan will fail. As you all know, Andros is Sora's world counterpart, and he is the connection between the World of Light, and the World of Oblivion. Andros is currently unaware of this; however, which gives us an advantage in our plan. Another advantage we have is that we have been informed by one of our spies that Andros appears to have lost his memory. The last advantage we have is our enemies. With time, on the day of Esordio Festival in Vestrill, we will lead the Karais to Vestrill. As you all know, the Karais are a species of demons with deadly powers and gruesome desires. We will feed this desire by leading the Karais into Vestrill and launch an attack. Once the attack happens, the wandering Andros will also be attacked, but with luck, his powers will reawaken."
"How are you so certain that his powers will reawaken?" a voice asked.
"Even if his memories are no longer with him, his power still dwells inside him, waiting to be reawaken. With this, Andros fights the Karais himself and will win against them. After Andros has "saved" Vestrill from the Karais, he will surely be knighted by the King-and again- with luck, he will be in the Elite Guardian Spirits unit…"
It was late night as I walked to the King's Castle to see if Gawain was okay. I passed the fountain, but then I ran back to it and squatted down to look at the engravings.
I thought aloud: "Huh? The engravings are gone? I swear they were here when I first got inside Vestrill…hm could it be that my mind was playing tricks one me? That would explain why people were staring at me, but I don't understand, I'm sure that it was here. It looked so clear!"
I quickly stood up and looked around as I noticed that there was no one on the streets. I turned from street to street and didn't see any signs of life, only silence, as if death had taken over. My heart started to beat faster as I had the feeling that something wasn't right.
"Looking for someone?" a voice said behind me.
I quickly turned around to see a young man with short, blond hair like mine. He was wearing a white cloak and white garments gilded with silver and gold. A sudden grin grew on my face suddenly, as if I knew him, but I had no recollection of memory.
"You really are gullible, Andros. Turn around." The young man said.
I turned around as he had said, although I did not know why I did. I blinked and I was suddenly standing around an atmosphere where life was. I turned back to see that the young man was gone, and started to wonder what just happened. I heard loud claps in the sky, like the sound of thunder, as fireworks lit up the night sky. I remembered about the fountain, and I looked at the engraving, and saw that it was there. The engraving: AI TOW WTEC. Suddenly there was screaming, as I quickly turned around and saw demonic creatures attacking the people.
"Destinies Intervene." A voice said behind me.
Frustrated, I turned to the voice and saw the same young man I saw before.
"What?" I asked.
"Those creatures you see are called the Karais. You have to do something, Andros, or the Kingdom will be destroyed." The young man said.
"Who are you? And why are you telling me this? Shouldn't that be the knights' duty?" I asked.
"Reawaken the power that lurks deep within you. Even without your memories, you powers still remain inside your soul. Hurry! Before the Karais attack you!" the young man yelled.
My reflexes quickly took over as I dodged all of the attacks made by the Karais until one of them launched a fire ball at me, and my only option was to run to the Castle and get help. I quickly ran towards the Castle as fast as I could. I came upon the gates to the Court Yard, and I kicked the gate open and continued running. The Karais chased behind me until one of them jumped behind me as I collapsed to the floor.
"Are you really that weak?" The young man said as he appeared if front of me, standing.
"A little help here!" I yelled.
"Don't move. Or else you might get caught up in the impact. Hm maybe this will also help reawaken your powers. If you won't reawaken them yourself, then I'll make you! " The young man exclaimed.
A huge blast of light fell upon me as the Karais that lay on top of me was gone, as I closed my eyes on impact. My heart beat rose as it went faster and faster, until I found myself to be standing up again with myself attached to black armour. I looked around to see that the young man was still standing in front of me. I saw the Karais back away from me as I felt immense energy flowing through me.
"Now rise. The hero who wields the Exodiac Gauntlet! Show your wrath upon these demonic creatures and show them the true power of an Esordio Spirit!" the young man screamed.
A malevolent smile grew on my face as I somehow summoned a sword. It seemed that even without my memories, I somehow knew how to fight, and it seems that my body was moving without my memories. It was as if I had done this a million times before. I jumped towards one of the Karais and slashed horizontally. Blood spilled onto the ground. I repeated the same step several times around my surroundings until I jumped up into the air and came crashing down with my sword, knocking the Karais dead. There was too many as I backed away. As I looked around I noticed that the young man was gone. I quickly made my way towards the Castle's door and I kicked it open as I ran inside and closed the door behind me and rested against it. When I looked up, I noticed that everyone inside was staring at me.
"The Karais are attacking!" I warned.
"Don't be foolish! The knights are guarding Vestrill as we speak." A voice said.
"Knights? Guarding?" I asked.
I remembered when the King came to talk to Gawain about telling the knights to protect Vestrill.
"Gawain! You didn't tell the King?" I yelled out.
I felt thumping on the door as the Karais tried to get in. I grunted as I tried to keep the door closed.
"Unification!" a voice yelled out.
Gawain suddenly jumped towards me. He had green armour and wielded a giant sword as he came to support me. The door suddenly slammed open as me and Gawain jumped back. Swarms of the Karais entered but suddenly stopped as a dark void opened in front of me. A figure walked through. He looked human, and had a black fur coat on that extended down to his legs. He had black hair and black eyes.
"I challenge the King of Vestrill." The man said.
"No! Challenge me, the wielder of the Exodiac Caestu." I yelled.
Everyone grasped as I said that, and I was confused why.
"You are the wielder of the Exodiac Caestu?" the man asked.
"Are you deaf? Didn't you just hear me say it?" I replied.
Gawain stared with shock as the man and I were exchanging glares at each other.
"Then, show me the power of the Exodiac Caestu!" the man screamed.
Everyone in the room backed away from me and the man as we were about to engage in a battle.
"Wait! I'll only battle you if do not harm anyone, and if we battle outside." I declared
"No." the man replied.
"I wasn't asking." I said firmly.
We both exchanged glares once again and there was a moment of silence. I got into a battle pose and got ready just in case he would strike at me first.
The man broke the silence: "I am the Karais King of Darkness, Tenebris. Do you expect me to follow orders from the likes of you humans? But I will make an exception since I do want to witness the power of the Exodiac Caestu. You're lucky kid. If I hadn't agreed, you would be lying on the floor, dead."
I nodded and we both walked outside as people watched us. The King, among the people, walked up to the front to watch the battle. It seems that my Exodiac Caestu is some kind of well-known weapon since everyone wants to see what it was like. I took a deep breath and scanned the area to see if I could use anything to my advantage; there were only flowers, and an open area where the knights trained.
"I can sense a hero rising in the World of Light." A voice said, deep within me.
I spoke out loud: "What the? Where are you? I can hear you, but I can't see you."
"I am Crimson, the Esordio Spirit of Fire and Darkness. I am deep within you, Andros." Crimson said.
Tenebris quickly dash towards me and attacked with his sword, but I managed to block it with my sword, and then strike him with my sword.
"If you want to win against him, you must summon me." Crimson said.
"How?" I said.
Tenebris attacked again with a string of combos until my sword was knocked out of my hand and I was stroked down to the ground. My heart started to beat faster as Tenebris went for a strike with his sword, but I evaded it by rolling to my right side where I quickly jumped back up and picked up my sword. I screamed a war cry and attacked Tenebris, but my sword when through him without leaving a single cut; it was like he was a ghost—intangible. I kept slicing his body as he started to laugh maniacally.
"Having trouble? I thought the Exodiac Caestu's wielder was supposed to be the strongest of the three Esordio Caestus." Tenebris said, laughing.
A grin grew on my face as I screamed out: "Shut up!"
I kept trying to slice him until he finally attacked back by moving at incredible speed and going up behind me to knock me down to the ground.
"Crimson…" Crimson said.
"All right, I'm trying!" I shouted.
"You're no fun. I'll kill you right now!" Tenebris exclaimed.
I let out a scream as Tenebris attacked at incredible speed; I somehow managed to dodge all the attacks until I was hit on my right side, and I collapsed. I put my left hand around my wound as I grunted with pain. Suddenly, a tornado of fire arose out of the thin air, and the fire tornado blew away as the wings of a mighty red dragon rose from the fire. I stared in amazement as the great beast spread his wings as sun shined on him, making him look glorious. Tenebris too was amazed by the dragon.
"So, this is Crimson, the Exodiac Caestu's Spirit…" Tenebris said.
"Okay, that's it! What is an Exodiac Caestu?" I demanded.
"It's ironic really, how the person who wields one of the three most powerful weapons in legend, and doesn't even know it. The Exodiac Caestu is known as the Exodiac Gauntlet in English. It belonged to the Esordio Spirit or Neo Spirit, Crimson. That's enough for you to know, since you won't live that long anymore! The Exodiac Caestu will be mine!" Tenebris exclaimed.
"Crimson!" I yelled.
Crimson rushed in and knocked Tenebris down. My sword suddenly changed into another sword that had a golden handle with a ruby encrusted into it. A smile grew on my face as I grew confidence in my power and rushed towards Tenebris and stoke a string of combos. I slashed horizontally, wounding him, and I realized that he was no longer immune to my attacks.
"OK! Let's do this! Ikou Ze!" I yelled.
I called out to Crimson and commanded him to launch a fire ball at Tenebris. Tenebris' expression suddenly changed as he stared in fear at me. I jumped up and rushed down with my sword vertically, coming into impact with Tenebris, but Tenebris managed to dodge it and he tripped me. He attacked with his sword as I quickly grabbed my sword and shielded myself. I quickly jumped up and went for a slash, but Tenebris evaded it. I saw Gawain tried to get into the fight too, but the King stopped him.
"I guess it's just you and me, Crimson." I said softly.
"Fuse your mind, body, and soul with mines!" Crimson announced.
My body took over me, and I closed my eyes without knowing what to do, but it seemed like a part of me knew exactly what to do.
I suddenly yelled out: "Unification!"
A blast of light radiated around me as Crimson disappeared, and I felt my armour suddenly shifting, and my power growing with each breath I made. I let out a war cry, as I came out of the blast of light, and saw my armour to be remodeled. The colours were still black and red, but the shape changed. I was now equipped with crimson wings, radiating red energy, and two swords, one side black, the other, red. My shoulder armour was bigger with a strange insignia on it, and I had a gauntlet on my right arm, which had sharp claws. Was this the Exodiac Caestu? My whole body burst with an intense red aura as a malevolent smile grew on my face. I stared at the distressed Tenebris.
"Now…witness the true power of the Exodiac Caestu!" I screamed.
I quickly dash towards Tenebris and attacked swiftly as Tenebris was stunned on every attack since he couldn't fight back. My body took control again as I took out my swords and flew up to the night sky. I pointed my swords at Tenebris as I flew down and attacked him by swirling at him. I jumped back down to the ground. Tenebris was groaning with pain as I figured he had enough.
"You…the next time we meet, I will make certain of your death!" Tenebris said, coughing up some blood.
Tenebris slowly raised his hand and summoned a dark portal as he walked through it. Everyone who was in the castle rushed towards me and cheered with joy. I noticed that all the Karais were gone, and that everything was back to normal. My armour suddenly disappeared in a flash of light, and I was back to my original self. I looked around to see the Crimson was also gone, and I wondered what just happened. I saw Gawain and the King approach me. I knelled down as I grew nervous.
"Gawain may have failed to notify the other knights about their duty, but you…you took on the Karais on your own, and you even managed to defeat Tenebris, the Karais King of Darkness." The King announced.
"Yes, thank you, your majesty. But Gawain didn't fail, I was simply the distraction that caused him to forget about informing the knights." I said boldly.
"Is that so?" the King asked.
There was a moment of silence as everyone awaited the decision of the King on what to do.
"Andros was it?" the King asked.
"Yes." I replied.
"The Esordio Festival marks the beginning of Vestrill with the legend of Neo and the three spirits. Many centuries ago, Neo became the savior of the worlds who will one day cast away the chaos in the World of Oblivion, and he received the powers of a Spirit, along with the six elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Light, and Darkness to aid him. Neo found a way to unify with his Spirit in a process called Unification; fusing the mind, body, and soul with that of a Spirit. One day, the Karais overran the World of Oblivion and plunged chaos upon the worlds. Neo, of course, was there to save the worlds. The Karais are also based off the six elements, as you have witness; so do the spirits. There were also six leaders of each element for the Karais, who were called the Karais Kings, one of them, you have just battled. Tenebris is the next Karais King of Darkness. Neo defeated the Karais Kings and restored order to Vestrill. After he had won, he became obsessed with power and he became corrupted. He destroyed Vestrill as his lust for power took over. He killed all in sight; children even. Neo, wanting to increase his power, he split his powers into three spirits: Crimson, Saga, and Solaris. Crimson wielded the Exodiac Caestu, Saga wielded the Zetsurin Caestu, and Solaris wielded the Sevaritas Caestu. Crimson was fire and darkness while Saga was light and water and Solaris was air and earth. These three spirits were the first three legendary spirits known as the Esordio Spirits, or Neo Spirits. Neo wanted to unify with all three spirits for more power, but once the spirits realized what he has done, they trapped him using their own powers, but they too were trapped within the Esordio Caestus, or the Neo Gauntlets. With the last of their power, the spirits chose the three heroes of destiny and hid themselves, with their powers, within the person's soul. You, Andros, are destined for greatness. It would be an honor for one of the legendary heroes to serve me. Andros! I, King Basileus, knight you as a Guardian Spirit of Vestrill!" the King announced.
Everyone cheered as I still kept kneeling. Gawain shined a smile as I slowly rose up.
"Me? A Guardian Spirit?" I asked, excited.
"Yes. Are you staying somewhere?" the King asked.
"No, I didn't get to settle in anywhere." I said.
"There is some room left for one more person. So would you like to stay at the castle with your new team?" the King asked.
"Team?" I asked confused.
"If you are truly the hero, you are more than capable of leading your own elite team. You also mark the completion of my Elite Guardian Spirits Unit." The King said proudly.
I saw Gawain walk forward with four more people as they all bowed down before me. I was enjoying the moment, but was also nervous.
"Um, rise?" I said confused.
A girl with long blond hair who was wearing a white dress stood up. She had blue eyes, and a smile quickly grew on my face.
"This is Secelia, Elite Knight of Light, and former leader of the elite team. She is also my daughter. You touch her, you die." The King announced.
Gawain stood up.
"This is Gawain, as you already know. He is the Elite Knight of Air." The King announced.
Another girl stood up. She was wearing a black dress and had brown hair with black eyes.
"This is Mare, Elite Knight of Water." The King announced.
A boy my age stood up. He had red, spiky hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a crimson red scarf and casual clothing.
"This is Ignis, Elite Knight of Fire." The King announced.
I stood, still confused how I became the new leader of an elite team. Another boy my age stood up. He had spiky brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a shoulder plate.
"And this is Orbis, Elite Knight of Earth." The King announced.
"I can't be the leader. I may be one of the three heroes, but I'm not that well skilled yet. So I'd like to be just a regular in the team and let Secelia still be the leader." I said boldly.
"Very well. Now, get settled in, it is already night fall, and we must continue the ball!" The King yelled.
The King led me inside the castle and showed me my room while everyone else got back to the King's Ball. I looked around. There wasn't much furniture in here. There was a desk to do whatever work I get next to a bed to sleep in, a map pasted onto the wall, maybe for a battle strategy? And a window that gives the view of all of Vestrill. It was all beautiful. There was a wardrobe, and as I opened it, I saw that there were clothes in there, and coincidentally, it fitted me. I quickly changed, and headed towards the door. Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me.
"Well done Andros. You managed to save Vestrill and summon Crimson." The voice said.
I turned around to see it was the same young man I had seen earlier.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"You can call me Chronos. Consider me as an ally for now." Chronos announced.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"Your memories seem to have taken a form that is tangible." Chronos announced.
"Tangible?" I asked, confused.
"Yes, they appear to be in the shape of a shard, like those of a broken mirror." Chronos said.
"Mirror?" I asked.
"Think of memories as a mirror. They reflect who and what you are, but when something traumatic happens, the mirror is shattered into shards. In your case, it's literal." Chronos announced.
I stared with a blank expression at Chronos. If what he says is true, could I still have a chance of getting my memories back? Chronos tossed a shard at me. And I stared at it. He also tossed a picture, and disappeared into the air, like he was never there. I looked at the shard, and then the picture. The picture looked like me when I was a young boy, and standing next to me looked like my dad? I went to the bed and stared at it. I put the picture down on the desk, and took a look at the shard. When I took a closer look, I saw that there were images moving in the shard, or were they memories? I figured if my memories did somehow took the form of shards, I need to find them all, and put them all together, and also to find out what happened to me…