Beginning of Book 2.

Chapter 8: Heavy Burden

Star

Seriously, I had no idea where we were, except the fact that we were in the country of Tiberoa. We're literally walking in the middle of nowhere. We could have stayed back in Fetta to ask for directions, but with the Assailance after us, we couldn't afford risks. At least, that's what Enga said.

"Zylup!" I whined. "I'm hungry!"

"Do you want me to pull food out of my ass?" Zylup shouted. "Quit your whining!" I pouted, crossing my arms.

"We'll get somewhere," Avrin reassured, "soon."

I muttered, "Eventually, you mean."

I must have passed out, because when I woke up, I was being carried on Zylup's back. Though, it was slightly difficult to notice, as it was nighttime, and the only light source came from the Moon. It was rather silent, too, except a slight shake of the ground and our footsteps…

Wait, what?

We all stopped as we felt the ground shake. It came to my notice that we were in a canyon of some sort as I looked up. Almost instantly, a boulder crashed down in front of Zylup and I, nearly crushing us.

"Dammit!" Zylup grunted. Another boulder fell nearby Avrin and Raven, but Enga pushed them out of the way. It was like being in a meteor shower, only it was coming to kill us. I jumped off of Zylup's back, knowing that I was only slowing him down. Besides, out of the whole group, I was the second fastest. Unfortunately, I just wasn't the one with really good attention spans.

"Star!" Zylup shouted. At first, I thought that he was going to blame me for making it rain unfortunate events on us, but then as I ran, I saw two pebbles drop in front of me. I did the wrong thing and froze. Looking up, I winced as I saw a boulder ready to crush me head-to-toe.

"Dammit, Star!" Zylup ran and pushed me out of the way. Landing on my face, the "rock shower" had stopped. "Star," Zylup winced, "I'm gonna kill you." Pushing myself off of the ground, I looked at him and realized that the boulder had pushed one of his legs.

"Guys?" I hesitantly called. "Guys?"

They others ran over after a minute of searching for us through the boulder mess that sprawled everywhere.

"Crap…" Raven said. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Zylup said sarcastically, cringing, "I'm just relaxing under this rock! What do you think?"

"I was just asking," Raven muttered.

"Just get me out of here," Zylup said as he sat his head up with his arm.

I watched as Avrin and Enga were trying to push the rock off, with Zylup complaining about the pain every now and then. I wanted to help, but I was frozen. As always, Zylup risked his life to save mine, but he has to suffer the consequences.

Gritting my teeth, I got up and ran away.

Avrin

I was trying to assist Enga in pushing the boulder off when I saw Star run off.

"Star!" I called, slightly walking after her. "Wait!"

"Just let her go," Zylup said. "Let her have her girl moment." I stopped and looked down at him. He glared at me, continuing, "I would really like to see how my leg is doing. You know, make sure it's not severed and all." Despite Zylup's rude behavior, I kept my faith that Star would come back and resumed helping Enga.

After five minutes of our attempts, and the boulder not moving from its spot, I questioned Zylup, "How did you leg get pinned down, anyways? It's not like you to—"

"It was that airhead," Zylup stated, staring down at the ground angrily. "It could've been her under this rock instead of my leg, but no. She had to get on my nerves and make me push her out of the way." I never recalled Star shouting for help in the first place, so I didn't really understand his answer.

"You always speak so low of her," I said, "yet, why do you still help her to this extent?" All Zylup did was stare at the ground for a whole minute.

Finally, not moving his eyes away from the ground, Zylup answered, "She's been my only family ever since… when Jatan killed her father."

I was walking in the woods, studying what my new family was going to be like. Star and her father were walking back home, carrying all sorts of food. Star was carrying what she thought was grass, even though it was only grass.

"Daddy!" the two-year-old girl called, holding up a piece of grass. "Will Zillup like these?"

Her father laughed, saying, "It's Zylup, sweetie, and I'm not too sure whether or not he'll like grass. Before you ask me again, tell me, why are you so concerned?"

Star grinned brightly and replied, "'Cause, I want to be his best friend!"

"You will," her father assured, petting her hair.

Suddenly, someone behind them said, "Do my ears deceive me, or do you know my little brother?" I instantly recognized him as Jatan before the other two turned around.

Star's father gagged, "J-Jatan?" He hovered his arm in front of Star, as though it would protect her. "The council has sentenced you to death row! What are you doing here?"

"Just because I'm sentenced," Jatan explained, "it doesn't mean that I'll be there."

"You've killed over one-hundred beings in the past three weeks," Star's father stated. "You must stop this charade now!"

"Now, now, you wouldn't mind if I added two more to the counting, would you?" Jatan said, ignoring the man's demand.

"Daddy?" Star spoke, her voice shaking. As Jatan raised his hand slowly, Star was pushed out of the way by her father. I froze as I saw him being engulfed by black flames.

"Daddy?" Star cried. She immediately crawled up to the motionless body, yet staying cautious of the flames. "Daddy! Daddy!" Star kept on repeating the man's title as tears streamed down her cheeks. Eventually, the body had deteriorated, disappearing along with the flames.

"Now then…" Jatan began, raising his hand at the fearful and helpless child.

That's when I snapped. I sprinted out in the open, standing between the two. I held my arms out and faced Jatan. I stared at him angrily for what seemed forever.

Finally, Jatan gave me a simple "hmph" before turning around. A black portal appeared in front of him. He entered it and gave me a look before vanishing along with the portal, leaving Star and I alone.

I brought my arms back down to my sides as I looked back at Star. She looked horrible from all of her mourning.

"… You okay?" I asked her hesitantly. It was the first time that I met her, and of all circumstances, as well.

Instantly, Star wrapped her arms around my waist, crying, "Daddy! He's gone! He's gone!" I slightly jumped at her sudden action, but I didn't move when I noticed how extreme her body was shaking. Her whole face was soaked with tears, and her eyes were red from crying so much. Trying to comfort her, I slowly hugged her head.

"I'll get him back for this," I whispered, mostly to myself. "I swear it."

"… and I ended up raising her," Zylup finished, "feeding her, cleaning her clothes, stuff that her father could've done so easily." I closed my eyes, imagining what it must have been like.

Opening my eyes back up, I began to say, "Hey, Raven. How long has your sister-?" However, when I turned to face a little boy, I ended up facing a field of boulders. "Where's Raven?"

"He went after Star," Enga answered.

I turned to face him, saying, "What?" It's one thing that Raven chased Star without a notice. What was worse was that Enga – and only Enga – knew, and he didn't say a word.

Suddenly, Enga froze, sniffing the air. Before I came to the conclusion that he was avoiding his guilt, he stated, "The Assailance is here."

"The Assailance?" I repeated. As Zylup mumbled a sarcastic remark, I asked, "Are you sure?"

Sniffing the air as the wind blew, Enga looked out in the distance, saying, "I know that scum when I smell him." I looked out where Enga was looking, which was the general direction that Star went.

Star

Sitting under an arch-shaped part of the canyon, I was wiping as much tears as I could from my eyes. I was being a pansy. I must certainly look pathetic.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I slightly jumped at the question. At first, I was going to simply blow it off as my conscience talking, but then I looked up and saw Raven standing there.

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands one more time before answering, "Yeah." Raven went ahead and sat next to me. Silence settled in. After a moment, I asked, "What did you want?"

"Oh, uh," Raven began, "I just came to see if you needed any help in cheering up." When I didn't respond, a thought occurred to him as he reached into his pocket. "Here," he said, holding up an orb in his palm. It was a puce-colored gem with a slightly darker core. "I found it a few years back, in Mille Seseau. I have a hunch that you'll like it."

After staring at the gem for another moment, I took it into my own hand as I joked, "I'll have to be wary about you when you hit puberty."

Looking embarrassed, Raven corrected, "Just think of it as an apology gift from Romeo, then."

I chuckled, saying, "That, I will." Looking back down at the gem, I added, "Thanks, kid."

"How touching," someone said out of the blue. Raven and I shot our eyes at the newcomer. I recognized him as the guy that had previously abducted Avrin, Leon.

"Oh brother," I muttered. "They send the sissy one."

"Hey!" Leon shouted. "I heard that!" I rolled my eyes. "Anyways," he continued, "I heard that a little incident happened, and—"

"Wait," I interrupted. "You did that!" It was no question.

Leon raised his hands and proclaimed, "You caught me red-handed. Though, I have to admit, I might have overdone it." I was about to go reach for my tonfas when Leon said, "Uh-uh-uhh…" Instantly, he flicked a card at us and we saw an odd symbol on it. Whatever it was, it wouldn't let our bodies move. While we were struggling to regain control of our bodies, Leon held one more card in his hand, saying, "You probably won't like this next move. Unless you love your puny lives, I'd best surrender and tell where that girl is."

I grunted, "What's so special about Avrin that you have to kidnap her?"

"Like I stated to the one-eyed freak before, I have no clue," Leon explained before he grinned. "However, if Jatan wants her so badly, then it must certainly be important."

Alright, leather-shirt boy had officially gotten on my nerves. He's threatening to kill us if we don't tell him where Avrin was. Okay, simple, right? Keep our lives if we turn in Avrin? However, as much as I love my endangered life, I'm not the kind that sacrifices other people's lives just for my own.

Before I had the chance to tell him that, Leon threw the card at the space between our heads. Raven gasped, so it most likely cut into the rocky surface closer to his head. Unfortunately, the exposure of the card faced me. I immediately shut my right eye, being very cautious to not set off our fate.

Leon walked up to the side Raven was on, saying, "I had to take a precaution, just in case you did something stupid, like reject my offer." He bent down, looking at Raven. "Unless you really want to see something that can really "blow" your mind, I'd start talking now."

I had absolutely no clue as to what to do now. We're trapped. That's all there is to it. Even Leon's crappy jokes were getting me.

He shuffled his feet, moving closer to my side. "You know, you aren't the only one that can set it off. Just anyone can look at it, and BAM! You're finished." I noticed that he was talking to me. "Whaddya say, girly? Spill the info, or watch you and the kid's brains blow up?"

I grunted, ready to make a comeback, until Raven blurted out, "She went to Donau… to get help."

I saw Leon look to the left of me at the horizon, muttering, "Donau, huh?" He looked back at Raven and patted his head, saying, "Thanks, kid. That wasn't so bad, was it?" As he stood up, he thought for a moment. "You know, when I think about it, all life in this world are going to be eliminated anyways, so why not end it for you, here and now?"

I shouted angrily, "You… You bastard!"

"Oh, you give me too much credit," Leon sighed. As Leon got ready to face the card, Raven winced.

"You… jerk…" I growled. Suddenly, I felt unbelievable power growing from my hand. I instantly remembered that it was the same hand that was holding the gem that Raven gave me. I also remembered that this was the same power that Enga, Avrin, and Zylup hold.

"Bomb voyage," Leon said, making it sound like the greatest joke ever. Although, when he finally looked at the picture of dynamites on the card, nothing happened. "What?" he said, sounding very confused. He shot his eyes at me and gagged.

I had new armor on. I had pretty sharp wings. Like the other three, I was a Dragoon.

I figured that my specialty was gravity or something, because I created a small sphere, with the card in it, and it had not one trace of air in it. I'm sure, for it didn't blow up. No gravity, no air. No air, no boom.

"Another one?" Leon said, sounding very shocked. I looked directly at him. I supposed that my transformation had cured me of my paralyzed-state, for I swiftly flung my hand at him, pushing him and the card back by about twenty yards or so. As I stood up, I walked out from under the arch. Leon must have accidentally looked at the card because I heard a curse come from him before an explosion occurred from his spot. After a moment, smoke settled in the explosion's place. When the smoke faded, I saw Leon had survived (he must have pulled a last-minute jinx), but he was clutching his stomach.

"Damn," he breathed heavily, "that hurt."

"There's more where that came from!" I declared.

Leon scratched his nose and smirked, saying, "Bring it on."

We stood there, glaring at each other waiting for someone to make the first move.

Suddenly, Leon paused. He looked out into space for a moment.

Snapping out of it, Leon said, "Sorry, but the princess has called me. I gotta go do her biddings." Rolling his eyes, Leon walked away. He walked out of a fight. Just like that.

"Hey!" I called angrily. "Get back here!" He paid no mind to me until, eventually, he was out of sight. Despite my anger, I had other things to take care of.

Walking back to the paralyzed child, I grinned and said, "Again, thanks."

As I changed back and began to look for a body purifier, I realized something about the Assailance. Other than the fact that they run away from all of our battles, they also are not afraid to kill. Whether it be a giant, strong man, or a puny, innocent child, they don't flinch one bit. They just end that life. That's the same trait of their leader, the one who had ruined my life.

Avrin

While waiting for Enga to come back with Star and Raven, I stood guard for Zylup. I was trying to demand more of their life, but Zylup kept avoiding those demands.

Finally, I saw the three return. They all appeared to be okay.

"Was it the Assailance?" I asked.

Nodding, Enga explained, "They said it was only Leon." However, he said it as though he already knew himself. Maybe that's what he meant when he smelled "that scum".

"Man, did I sure kick his butt," Star bragged. "First, I made him take a taste of his own medicine. Then, before I could knock the crap out of him, he ran away!"

"Poor girl," Zylup's sarcastic tone continued, "she's in terminal denial."

"No, really," Raven began, "she changed into—" Instantly, Star covered his mouth.

"Quite being rude, Zylup," Star said in a playful tune, "or I won't let you out." She was grinning. What mischief was she up to?

Zylup snorted, saying, "Ha! You're too weak to even move a pebble."

Finally, we understand what Raven meant when he said "changed". She transformed into a Dragoon! … Oh, I get it. She's showing it off. That means she just recently got it. Slowly, Star surrounded the boulder with a sphere and slowly began to raise it.

However, it seemed that Zylup didn't notice her transformation or the movement of the boulder, for he said, "My leg's still waiting to be rescued, guys."

"I'm working on it," Star muttered, raising the boulder by a couple of inches.

Zylup's attention span must have been off or something, because he continued, "If you all were doing it, then I would at least feel it move."

Star suddenly got mad, because she slammed the boulder back down as hard as she could and shouted, "I'm already doing it, dammit!" That certainly got Zylup's attention.

Zylup yelped in pain, "What the—?" He finally saw Star in her Dragoon attire. Despite seeing her as one for the first time, he appeared to be unimpressed as he muttered, "Alright, lift it off, then."

"What?" Star questioned in an aggravated tone.

"Lifteth," Zylup repeated in an odd way, glaring at her, "the rocketh."

"Say please," Star demanded.

After a moment, with the help of Star's "motivation", Zylup said, "… please."