Barren Cross Ch. 7
Lustre

Yesterday was fun. At daybreak, I decided to walk in the park with Nunnally. It was a nice day. The sky was changing colours, few people were walking around, and birds were singing a chorus. I was relaxed as I strolled. By a sudden coincidence, Anne took a morning jog at the same park. And the moment she caught a glimpse of me, she waved at me and began to head toward me. She halted her jog to join me in my walk even though I told her not to let me bother her in any way possible. On the contrary, she asked me if I was bothered by her presence which was complete and utter nonsense to me. Then she noticed Nunnally. When Anne tried to talk to Nunnally, she ran behind my back. We both laughed then exchanged introductions. Anne and Nunnally began to get along with each other. "So how are you guys related?" Anne asked, so we told her that we were brother and sister. She couldn't believe it because of our huge differences in our appearance. I had to explain how we were siblings and she quickly understood. After breakfast Anne told us that she was going to spend the day with her friends in the mall. She invited us to go with them. I wanted to see if Nunnally wanted to but judging by the glimmer in her eyes when she looked at me intently, I knew that she wanted to go so I accepted her offer. We were going to meet up at her workplace at noon.

We were two minutes late. As a punishment, they planned on making me do something embarrassing. We went on an SUV. Nunnally and I looked out in the window and were astonished by the view of the waters as well as the city. It's amazing how this world was so peaceful, free of worry. Such a wonderful place to be, even Nunnally said so.

It was time for my punishment… I still didn't know what the embarrassing part was. I got out of the dressing room wearing all the garments they gave me and looked at me with stunned faces. The clothes they gave me were much harder for me to put on than the ones I had on me, especially the skirt and shoes. They took the red string that Nunnally and mother used to tie my hair and tied it to the left side of my hair. It was easy for me to move, but the stares I got from Anne and her friends made me uneasy. Even Nunnally was staring at me intently. I gave out a sigh as they dragged me all around the clothing stores and had me wear feminine clothing. Whenever they found something that seemed magnificent, they had me try it on and show it off to them. In the end, Nunnally was the one to pick out all my garments as I picked hers. We all had a laugh at some stores especially when the clerks asked me and Nunnally if we were mother and daughter or sisters. They didn't believe that I was her brother until one of Anne's friends flipped my skirt up. The looks on their faces were priceless.

It was about time we went back into hour homes. But before we left, they asked us if we would be interested in joining them for dinner. Normally we couldn't refuse, so we went to a fancy restaurant complete with personal waiters, chandeliers, a glorious Victorian hall, as well as musicians. The food was exquisite as well. But every day doesn't end well, and this day just transpired to be one of those days. By the time we were ordering dessert, I felt a horrid presence within the area. It was a presence with evil intent which led me to thinking if I was a magnet for malicious entities. This wasn't something I could just ignore, so I listened in to every conversation and sensed every person's aura. One man stood out and I was sure that it was him, a person right across our table. I looked at him and made eye contact which forced him to finally make a move.

Shots were fired and everyone was on their knees, all but one. The person who fired the gun spoke crude English as he announced himself to be a remnant of a group named ISIS. He then threatened to shoot me if I didn't get on my knees. His gun was shaking as he pointed at me. So I took a step and he grazed my left shoulder. The sting was painful yet not enough to bring me to my knees, but I did accordingly as I held the wound he inflicted upon me. He called me an infidel scum. Anne's friends' teeth were chattering out of fear while Nunnally and Anne remained calm. I stood and put up a barrier as I approached him. He tried to shoot me, but each and every bullet he shot dropped at the instance they hit my barrier. He glared at me terrified and asked me "what are you?" I grabbed his collar and formed a spear-like figure with my hand. "I am a messenger." I answered. Then I stabbed him with my hand through his heart and body all the way to my elbow. It was gruesome.

When the police arrived, I altered everyone's memories except my companions as to how the incident took place. The ISIS remnant dies by being stabbed in the heart by a chandelier. The people inside the restaurant had no idea of what really happened anymore. The rest of the night Anne and her friends kept on asking me about the way I managed to deal with the incident, and I kept on trying to avoid the topic. Finally it got on my nerves so I told them that I would erase that part of their memories if they kept on bugging me so they stopped. They dropped us off with Anne at the park where we met earlier and walked Anne back home. Tomorrow was the day when we went to port and welcomed Tris' father home.

That morning at port, Tris and I wore the same clothing to confuse his father. It was somewhat stupid considering my hair was longer that his, my eyes were different than his, and I'm a tad bit taller. After a few minutes of waiting, we finally sight the ship arriving. It was an enormous ship with people standing by the edges of its deck. "It's an aircraft carrier." Tris explained to me. Nunnally and I were amazed. Everyone around us was filled with joy of knowing that a loved one has returned. And when I was basking in the presence of the ship, a surprise hit me in the face as hands quickly covered my eyes. "Guess who?" was the question asked to me by the person covering my eyes. I didn't know who it was so I placed my hand behind me and grabbed something warm and soft. There was a squeal and that was when I recognized the voice. I took the person's hands off and found that my guess was right. It was Anne. After she slapped me for a reason she did not state whatsoever, she explained to me how she was waiting for her brother form a twelve-month deployment at sea. Then she asked me why I was here. I was getting comfortable being around her, comfortable enough that I would call her my friend.

As the tug boats were settling the ship, an eerie presence appeared in the area. I don't know where it exactly is but I had a bad feeling. It was bothering me like something very sinister was about to happen. I advised Anne and Tris to leave to a safe place but all they thought was that I was being paranoid. And just when I felt that the presence was of no harm, the ship burst into flames. Everybody was in panic. Sailors jumped in the water, and a human-like figure was floating over the ship. I already knew that it was the cause of the havoc so I flew to it and attempted to stop it. As I was about to swing my sword at him, I remembered that I left it in Tris' car. In return, it attacked me and flung me towards another dock. It knew that I was after it, so it turned the tables and ran after me. As I got back up to the sky, it had spell circles surrounding him. Those spell circles casted chains from a void with sharp blades flying toward me. Luckily I dodged all of them but little did I know that because I dodged those chains, they hit the ship and caused yet another explosion. More people were killed yet it just stood there with a sinister grin.

A miracle came at my way when I heard Maya call my name from the ground. She had my sword Lilith with her. I finally had a chance to fight back. I seized Lilith from her and began my counterattack. Each and every strike was compelling with pain as both our swords clashed together. "Blaze!" Tris called me so I looked at him. He told me to dodge as he formed a black ball of flame on his hand. Then he hurled it towards our enemy. It was a direct hit. It turned its attention from me to Tris as he got engulfed in flames. It dived into the water and flew back to the ground. As I was making my way there, it blew away Tris. Suddenly, it changed its target which caused me to halt and stood on guard for a brief moment. It was a very terrible mistake. It began to target Lizzy.

I'm an idiot, a very big imbecile. I was too late. Tris' mother tried to save her but it only cost both their lives. Seeing this unfold, Tris was shocked and enraged. His aura changed with full bloodlust in his eyes, lusting for its head. Now it targeted Nunnally, Anne and Maya. This thing had to be stopped. Tris made an imitation of me, but it wasn't just any imitation. It was the perfect copy. Tris, the copy and I attacked it simultaneously with a mighty rage. Every single blow began throwing it to its knees slowly.

We thought we were winning until the enemy let out a powerful roar. A roar powerful enough to destroy the clone, throw Tris to a wall and me in the water. It began targeting me again and dove into the water. It blew me out of the water. I couldn't move and so couldn't Tris. It stood above me with a sinister grin as he pointed his sword at me. I prayed my final words. That was until I heard a scream a scream that said my name. The sound came from Nunnally running toward me. I reached toward her but nothing changed. It stabbed me. God was with me. I heard Nunnally chanting a very refining verse. I came to realize that it missed my luster, so I pulled the blade out and pushed it back toward it. And just when it was about to stab me for the second time, Nunnally turned into a sword and spun toward its arms cutting them enough to inflict so much pain. Enough pain to cause it to fall back on its bottom screaming "it hurts! It hurts!" Many questions arose in my mind but that wasn't the time to ask them.

I copied Geraint's skill and blasted wind on it and got it in the water. At that time, I took Lilith and Nunnally on my hands and casted sacred healing to everyone besides it that was alive in the area. And when it emerged out of the water, its arms were no more. It yelled out "it stings! It stings!" and launched a couple of chains on me. With enough speed and luck, I was able to dodge all of its chains and got close enough to kill him. With all my might, I slashed through his body without a hitch.

As its body was fading, it gave yet another sinister grin saying "Congratulations… your friend is now dead." I looked behind him and one more chain was launched before I slashed him. But it wasn't for me. I followed the direction of the chain and it led to Tris. He was impaled by its chain. I hurriedly ran to Tris and began to cast healing on him. The chain faded from his body but the blood loss and wound was too much. Tris' body began to fade as well.

With his dying breath, Tris asked me why he didn't trust me when I told them to evacuate. And why his mother and sister didn't run away. I took his hard and gripped it as tears rolled from my eyes as I apologized to him consistently. I wanted to say more but he stopped me, comforting me saying that it wasn't even my fault. And in his last breath, he gave me his dying wish. "Use my lustre… and kill… each and every… one of them… you're a good friend…"

He completely faded into light then his lustre landed on my hands. I stood up and turned around. Maya approached me with two more lustres which had me confused. One of the lustres was identical to that of Tris and confused me even more. That was until Maya told me that one of the lustres were incomplete. She got the other lustre from Lizzy, so I took both their lustres and tried to fuse them together and my assumption was right. As soon as two lustres came in contact, both of them fused into one slightly bigger lustre.

I wiped my tears away and asked Maya what she was going to do with the lustres now that she had them. Then she offered them to me. "My only calling is to fix dimensions, not to keep track of dragons' lives." I took them and was confused on what I should do with them. "fuse them with my, I mean your lustre." Tristitia told me.
"How and why exactly?" I asked him.
"Simply take the lustre and push it into your heart. As for why, it can benefit you. You seal them and gain their abilities and they can live inside your heart. However, there's a cost. You have to let the lustre succumb to you and not let yourself succumb to it for that may decide who controls this body. It's a risk, but it's a risk worth taking."
"So Tris and Lizzy can live inside my heart… but that would mean that they'll have to live with the person that killed them."
"Then eradicate that personality and take over the lustre. As for Tris and Lizzy's lustre, I suppose you could just negotiate with the persons in the lustre in your subconscious."
"What?"
"It's complicated. But it's your choice not mine."

He told me to make a choice. And it was a choice I did without any regrets.

Tris and Lizzy's lustre had a faint blue glow around it, while "its" lustre had an ominous red glow. Choosing which one to fuse first was difficult. After a lot of hard thinking, I decided to put Tris and Lizzy's first. It gave me a shock when it plunged itself within me. The pain was the same pain which I had received when Tristitia broke his first seal. I fell on the ground, coping with the pain. I reached out for the sky and that's when three hands grabbed mine. One hand from Maya, another from Nunnally, and the last hand came from someone familiar which I couldn't make anyone out of. Trying to endure the excruciating pain, my vision faded.

I was in a dark void again with 2 shimmers of light. One of those lights was Tristitia which left me to one more assumption. Once again, my assumption was right. The lustre took form of two people, Tris and Lizzy. "You who wish to use our power. Let it be known to you that we have our circumstances." Both of them said to me.
"I do not seek your power only, but also your forgiveness."
"Forgiveness of what? You, The person which we called Blaze. A person bearing the name Yahiro, have no need for our forgiveness. For in times of need, you were there for us."
"But I'm also the reason why you—"
"Think naught of it. Time draws near for us to be sealed. Blaze… our friend. Promis us that you will use our power for good and just purposes."
"I promise."
"And with that, our contract is sealed… Remember us."
After our conversation, everything faded.

My brother suddenly fainted on a very bad moment. Anne's brother survived and helped us carry him out of the place thanks to Anne's persuasion. Her brother called himself a corpsman. We ran to Anne's car carrying my brother and his sword. Anne's brother Tim, told us to stay in the car as he ran back to help those whom have been wounded. I was worried. Not only about Anne's brother, but also for mine. His cold sweat ran down from his brow, and the expression of pain in his eyes only made it worse. I have a lot of questions to ask him like why I could turn into a sword, who I was, why all this was happening, are we going to see mother again, or what was I exactly? As those question buried in my head, I began to weep.

Maya was holding on to some orb with a red color. It got me curious as to what it was so I asked her. This red orb is what we came for, the reason why so many people died, why Lizzy died, the reason why my brother was suffering. I felt so weak, but there was nothing I could do. I prayed to God not to let him die, to let his suffering end, and give him strength to move along. My prayer was answered for a brief moment as he put his hand on my face and shipped my tears away. But all of that ended when he told the priestess "put the next lustre in. I'm ready."

My brother was lying down as Maya dropped the orb into him. Once again he was in a lot of pain, but it seemed like the pain became lighter for he did not pass out this time. I held his hands and played over him. This time Anne held my brother's head, trying to ease his pain as she stroked his hair. And after a few more minutes of struggling, my brother calmed down and fell asleep.

We waited for hours and hours before we got to leave that port. Tim received a medal for his duties. He reported everything that he saw except for my brother as a favor from Anne. While we were on our way to Anne's house, Tim asked us questions concerning what happened while my brother lay asleep. "Where are you three from?" Tim asked
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you." The priestess replied
"By what I've seen I think I'm ready to believe anything you have to say."
So the priestess explained everything to Tim. They kept on and on with the questioning that it began to hurt my head. Soon, I had already fainted.

I have won against the lustre, and my body feels much lighter. I wished all of this would end already, but it was only the beginning. I slowly opened my eyes finding my foread with a damp cloth and Nunnally sleeping beside me. I took the cloth off my forehead and headed for the door. As I was about to reach for the handle then unfamiliar man opened the door. I leapt back and tried to reach for my sword at my side, but Lilith wasn't there. I quickly took a fighting stance against the man.

Being the idiot that I am, a book flew at me from behind and hit my head. "Stop it." Anne said to me, "is this how you treat your savior in Altera?" I was surprised when she mentioned Altera. After a while of confusion, they explained everything that happened while I was out cold. One thing that really annoyed me though was how Anne's brother kept referring to me as the "dragon of sorrows." I have a name for crying out loud. I tried reading his mind so I concentrated as hard as I could, and I was not amused of what I heard. "Thanks to this twerp, I might get dishonorably discharged." I laughed at him.

They all looked at me like I was some crazy person. I smiled and tried to read Tim's mind again, but I couldn't. I was confused. "Finally you stooped making that face." Tim addressed to me. He told me that I was making an awry smile that looked like I was being forced to. I was annoyed, but God tells us not to provoke ourselves unto wrath. Going back to the mind-reading matter, u asked Anne to think of something once. I read her mind again and told her what she was thinking of. She gave me a shocked look. Then I told her to think of something once more and it confirmed my assumptions. I could only read a person's mind once.

I had a long nice chat with Tim and Anne before we left. I was kind of sad of leaving this world, but I'm also worried of staying. As Maya opened the portal back to Altera, Nunnally and I said our goodbyes to them. Nunnally clung on to Anne's leg right before we left. It took me and Tim to get her off so we kind of had something to laugh about (even though I couldn't actually show it). We finally entered the portal back to Altera. And just when I thought my problems from Earth were gone, Anne popped out of the portal right before it closed.