Chapter 4
Love is watching the Petals Fall
"You don't have to panic over it y'know?" A beautiful voice echoed in his dream. He remembers her. Her warm voice, her flowing hair. Her aura always seemed to calm his soul. Well, he supposed that's what a mother is supposed to be for their child. "You don't have to keep worrying over the small details, I promise I'll always be here when I can."
"I…" He hesitated, shame keeping him from looking her in the eyes. "I promise, I'll make you proud." He made that promise to her once.
Then he made it to her again.
Then again.
Then again.
He would never fulfill that promise.
"Son, when are you going to get a job?" On the other hand there was always something stoic about his father. When his mother was the soft cushion his father was always the sturdy pillar.
"When… I find something fitting." He said softly. That was the excuse he would always go with.
He heard his father sigh. "Anxiety runs in this family, I understand that very well." He turned around. Father and son stared, one filled with anxious foreboding and the other filled with pity.
"But you'll never fix it if you don't even try."
"I…" The boy hesitated again. "I'll tell you when I find something."
He would never say anything after that.
When are you going to get off your ass?
When are you going to accomplish something?
When are you going to be someone?
Everything they have done was for you.
When will you prove that all their efforts weren't for nothing?
I'll help you accomplish the greatest. I promise you that,
My Guardian.
Kane woke up to an empty ceiling. He stood up and wiped his eyes, fatigue leaving him each second. He looked out the window, the sun not out and only darkness covering the sky. He heard a soft noise and turned towards it. Adam laid in his bed snoring softly.
Is this going to become a normal thing? God, I fucking hope not. His thoughts drifted back to his dream. He shouldn't be surprised that he would have nightmares of his past life. That was most likely something that was bound to happen one way or another.
Yet each time before he woke up he would hear a voice.
One so soft yet would echo loudly.
One so strict yet so gentle.
Maybe his mind was just creating a coping mechanism on the spot? No, that's not how coping works. Probably.
He stopped thinking about his dream and got out of bed. The floor creaked softly as he slowly walked to the door. Luckily the door made no noise as he opened it slightly to fit his width, then slipped through, slowly closing it behind him. He thought that closing it completely would make too much noise so he left it cracked open by just the tiniest bit.
The hallway lights were on for some reason, and he could see the lights downstairs also on. He assumed that Aria was awake.
The clock was right next to the T.V so he thought that if he could just sneak a glance at the time that would decide whether he should stay awake or go back to bed.
His footsteps almost echoed through the hallway, he nearly tripped from how loud it seemed. Perhaps he was still just tired. He made it to the stairs and then quietly, slowly, took a few steps downwards.
The T.V was off and the lights were on, but he didn't see anyone there.
He took a few more steps downward and looked around again. There was still no one there. He used this opportunity to check the time. Six PM glowed red on the clock. If there was someone down there he would have gone back to sleep, but since no one's awake, might as well use this opportunity for some reflection.
He walked the rest of the stairs down and moved towards the couch. He sat down with a focused expression.
He held out his hands, focusing his mind and his magical energy. A second later the same distortions from yesterday appeared around his hand.
It was a weird sight, it looked as though his hand was under water, light twisted in that specific area.
This is so cool. He couldn't help but think. That distorted area reformed to cover his entire forearm.
What exactly is this supposed to do though? He thought to himself. Of course he knew what fire does, and he had so many questions about the little "caption" that Adam made just the night before. So many questions but he felt like he had so little answers.
He idly put his hand down without "canceling" the distorted area he formed. The minute his hand touched the sofa the fabric exploded.
"Eep!" Thank goodness no one else was there to hear the totally manly squeal that left his mouth.
He jumped up and away from the sofa, frantically breathing.
"Jesus christ." He sighed as his nerves finally calmed down. He looked at the affected area and then looked towards his hand.
The distorted area was still there.
"Is this…?" That little incident gave a hint to one question he had. Exactly what was his magecraft?
With the distorted hand, he swung to the side. The force behind the swing was light, almost as if he tried to swat a fly. Yet despite that the swing caused a noticeably larger gust of wind. Everything around him wobbled for a few seconds before the wind finally calmed down. That whole sequence occurred in only three seconds.
"Shockwaves?" He asked no one in particular. It was a random guess, but it seemed to be the most logical way of explaining his magecraft.
Whatever it was, it allowed him to create shockwaves, or create a force that exceeds the normal output. At least, that is what he thought, perhaps Aria had an answer.
Speaking of which, he wanted to know more about the family of the boy whose body he stole. The family of the new world he found himself in.
But wouldn't that mean… replacing my old family? That thought plagued him the minute he thought of it. It was dumb, it was petty, but he still feared it.
Was it possible to get used to this new family without it replacing the old one he cherished?
He doesn't know, and he definitely wouldn't know if he didn't try. Something that he wouldn't have done in his older life.
"This isn't going to get me anywhere." He mindlessly said out loud, berating himself for his sudden pessimism. Shaking his head he looked to find something to change his thoughts.
His eyes randomly moved, he wasn't exactly aiming to look at anything specific at the moment, as the only thing on his mind in the current moment was what to do next.
Then his gaze stopped at the large hole in the sofa.
An idea formed in his head.
Then he turned towards his hand.
Perhaps he should practice with this "magecraft" stuff.
"Let's go with that then." His thoughts leaked through his mouth again. He was going to move towards the door but he looked back at the sofa again.
"Maybe I should clean that first." A lone sweatdrop traveled down the side of his face.
He finished up minutes later and walked out the door.
The sun is just starting to show its face. It gave enough of a glow for him to see. He moved to the spot that he was practicing in yesterday and held out his hands.
Remember that feeling.
That distortion filled the area in front of him, forming a "spherical" shape.
As if you're throwing something.
He let go of that familiar feeling, and he felt something bursting from it. It grasped onto that, and focused it into a specific area.
The sphere shot forward from his hands. It reached the treeline that he was aiming towards, and the very second it made contact with a tree, the entire tree exploded.
Kane looked with a surprised expression. "This is," He paused, staring down at his hand.
"So cool." He whispered, his surprise turning into a large smile.
He held out his hands again, forming a "distorted" sphere even larger than the last. That orb shot forward at blinding speed, this time it destroyed multiple trees instead of one.
"So fucking cool."
Thankfully there weren't any other houses for miles, so it's not like they would have to pay for property damage. It was a forest, not like they owned it anyways.
Probably.
Holding out his hands he would let his magical energy flow through his arms. The distortions would change its size depending on how much energy he uses, but he made it a point to keep it in a "spherical" shape.
He continued those motions for a few more minutes. The time not exactly he had on his mind as he kept his focus entirely on his magecraft. So he was very open to something that can abruptly stop his focus. He felt a force push against his back and something wrapping around his shoulders.
"Oi, what do you think you're doing?"
That distraction came in the form of a little brother that just woke up.
He heard a giggle before Adam moved his fingers in a circle.
In front of him a little square appeared with text.
"(Bonding!)"
Adam tightened his hold on his older brother, keeping himself latched onto his back. Once again, Kane wasn't exactly used to this kind of familial bonding with siblings. So he resorted to just doing what he thought would be an appropriate action. He placed his hand against Adam's head and began to gently rub at his hair. That was the correct thing to do apparently as he heard a hum from the younger boy.
"(What are you doing?)" The text on the square changed.
"Practicing." Kane answered. "Not sure how this magecraft stuff works exactly but I'm getting results."
Wow, Adam thought. He moved his head to stare forward, where he saw a huge amount of demolished trees.
"(Cool…!)"
"I know right?" Kane chuckled. His hand ruffled his younger brother's hair before he let go.
"What exactly did you and Daybit do yesterday?" He asked, poking at the blue square that was in front of him, his finger going through the square. The look and design reminded him of "game layouts" that are popular in Manhwa.
Uh oh, then what does that make Adam?
"(He taught me some more words, and he helped me make my communication clearer. He called this a 'caption'. He said a few other things about "theories" and stuff but I didn't really understand.)."
I definitely wasn't writing or speaking like this at age five. "Are you a genius?" Once again Kane's thoughts slipped right through his mouth.
"(Yup!-Ow!)"
That slipup was a courtesy of Kane, who lightly bonked Adam on the head. "There's a thing called humility lil bro." He said with a teasing smirk.
"(But– you asked!)"
"It was a rhetorical question. You don't answer those questions."
"(I know what rhetorical is! And I know that wasn't!)"
The two bickered for a few more seconds before their conversation before it ended with them laughing at each other.
With a smile on his face and with his laughter dying down, Kane decided to ask something that has been plaguing his mind.
"Hey Adam, what exactly does Aria do?"
With a questioning hum, the 'caption' in front of Kane changed.
"(Why do you call mom that? Also, what do you mean?)"
"Sorry slip of the tongue," Kane said, "but I mean, she's always off somewhere most of the time right? Have you heard anything about that?"
That question lingered in Adam's mind before he eventually answered. Kane felt the younger boy on his back shrug his shoulders.
"(I don't know any more than you do)"
With a hum, Kane looked towards the sky, they were outside long enough to see the sky begin to turn its usual blue color.
"Maybe she's a mage, she explained those yesterday." He said, mainly talking to himself.
"By the way," Another thought occurred to Kane so he turned to his younger brother. "When are you getting off?"
Who was still on his back.
"(Never)" The caption wrote.
"(Continue practicing, I wanna see)"
"Don't think I can, what if something hits you?" He asked, attempting to get his younger brother off his back. The younger boy wasn't heavy but Kane didn't think he had the strength to carry him for this long, and it was almost starting to take a toll on his legs.
"(It's fine, I trust in my big brother to protect me!)"
Kane did not see the smug smile on Adam's face.
"(Think of it as extra training, I know my big brother can do it!)"
Kane just sighed, any argument he could think of died off as he asked, "You aren't going to get off then."
"Nhnm." He felt Adam shake his head.
"Fine then." Kane relented. "Guess this could help."
He held out his hands as the square caption disappeared. That distortion appeared again.
"Just hang on tight."
Gusts of wind flowed through both of their hair as another tree exploded in the distance.
As the brothers were in their front yard, the mother was finishing business elsewhere.
In a small motel room Daybit and Aria people sat at a table. A stash of money laid in the middle of the table.
"Teacher, I don't think–" Daybit attempted to reject the cash, not because of good will or anything, but because he didn't do much to deserve this gift.
He did teach Adam, but surprisingly Adam was very smart and figured most of the things out on his own, all he did was teach the young boy how to properly form sentences.
"Just think of this as a 'thank you'," Aria said, not giving any room for negotiation. "Now then, what exactly did you two do?"
"I taught him sentence structure." Daybit answered, "He didn't accomplish much when it came to your family's magecraft, but he knew how to apply magecraft to separate things."
"That square that appeared, what exactly was that?"
"I'm sure myself, I figured that it was him applying a different logic to your magecraft, but even then that wouldn't produce something as clean as that. I called it a 'caption'."
With a hum, Aria began to think things through. Kane didn't accomplish much in terms of magecraft but Adam had already done something astonishing when it came to what he was limited to.
Perhaps she should…
"I don't think that's a good idea, teacher." Daybit said, his voice surprisingly solid.
"What do you mean?" Aria attempted to play it off, but perhaps her thoughts were appearing on her face. She felt slight pride that her student was able to catch onto it, even if it annoyed her temporarily.
"Whatever you did with Kane, I don't think Adam would be ready for it. He's still a kid, his innocence is still clearly there."
Aria sighed. "So, you could see it too?"
"I saw it in Kane's eyes, there is more to that kid's mind than what he is outwardly showing. After the spectacle with his circuits, that confirmed my thoughts." Daybit paused, a question in his mind finally springing forth. "What," He chose his words carefully. "Did you do to Kane?"
The question wasn't an accusation, it was one of genuine curiosity, but that question came with its own weight. Silence filled the room, and Aria took in the question. She didn't respond quickly, taking the time to choose her words carefully, but before she could answer Daybit continued.
"I understand the fundamentals of the Alaya, you explained it clearly. The unconscious will of Mankind to avoid extinction. It's honestly so jarring that it seems so simple."
It truly was something that only a world filled with mystery could have. The will of mankind to keep moving forward. For mankind to keep existing until the end of time. That was the basis behind the existence of "Alaya."
"Yet…" Daybit chose his words carefully. "I don't understand your obsession with the Counter Force.
"Kane and Adam, what is it that you attempt to accomplish with them?"
A few more seconds of silence followed Daybit's question. Once again let it be known that he isn't emotionless. The teenager held emotions, and he held Aria in high regard. The woman who brought not only him but his family out of their stagnation. His teacher.
Yet now he saw a side to his teacher that he didn't see before. It wasn't out in the open, in fact it was something he only just realized was there. Yet it left him concerned.
It was only a few seconds, but it felt like minutes before Aria finally answered.
"I suppose I shouldn't have expected less from you." Aria began with a sigh. "You really are a genius, I am honestly proud."
Before Daybit could ask her to not change the subject, she continued. "I can't explain it now, I don't think it's the right time, so I'll only say this."
"Kane will grow to be a legend. A true Guardian for Humanity."
As those words lingered in Daybit's mind, he asked her, "How… would you accomplish that?"
"I've made a deal with the devil, so to speak." She said, her words carrying an unnatural weight. She got up with her statement still lingering in the air. She moved towards the door with the intent to leave.
As she left Daybit contemplating her words, she left with one final note.
"This world holds more malevolence than any of us could ever perceive. People need modern day heroes, and I'll make sure Kane is at the forefront of it all."
As she closed the door the words finally settled in Daybit's mind. A while back Aria had explained the concepts behind the Counter Force. He understood the meanings behind Gaia and Alaya, but there was also something else she explained along with it.
A certain concept that is powered by a mindless counter force.
Protectors of the Balance.
Magi are truly inhuman. He thought to himself, fully knowing the irony in that statement.
He stared at the stack of cash in front of him. His thoughts were preoccupied by his own goals.
"I suppose I'm no different."
On her way home, Aria reminisced. Her mind goes back to when she first met Daybit. He was a young mage, not exactly an aspiring one.
His family had grown stagnant in their magecraft, they did not dream for more but they did not allow for decay.
A boy who wanted to accomplish more but was unable to, that was Daybit the day they first met.
"What lingers in your dreams? What path do you long for, Daybit?" A question she asked him before she decided to become his teacher.
There really was no plan behind it. At first she didn't see any "potential" in Daybit nor did she have some overarching goal when taking him in as an apprentice.
It was merely a decision brought by slight pity and curiosity.
Of course that decision would eventually bear fruit. Daybit was skilled in many things involving magecraft, from then on she did not regret becoming his teacher.
She stopped a small distance away from the house. Kane stood upwards with his hands held out with Adam clinging onto his back.
She turned towards the direction he was aiming at, and pride swelled in her.
Multiple trees along the treeline into the forest were demolished. It looked as though a tornado had only destroyed the very front of the forest.
I suppose he's ready for that then. She thought.
"Kane." She said while walking up to the two. Both boys snapped their heads in her direction.
A wide smile appeared on Adam's face as he waved towards her.
Kane smiled as he greeted her. "Mornin' ma."
It was for a split second but she saw his face change, the smile on his face disappeared as he looked downwards with a grimace. He quickly returned to his original look, greeting her with a smile.
"Did you do this?" She asked, although she knew the answer.
"Yup! I don't know how it exactly works, but I assume my magecraft has to deal with shockwaves."
"Hm." With a hum of approval she observed the carnage more.
"Well if you believe you're decent with that, then I have something else for you."
Both of the boys looked at her curiously. "How would you like to use the sword?"
"Really, now?" He asked quickly, almost as if he couldn't believe his ears.
"If you believe you're prepared for it, then I can teach you now."
"Yes!" He blurted, then paused, clearing his throat. "Yes, please."
With a smile she seemingly vanished. Kane leaped backwards at the sudden movement with a look of surprise.
"She could teleport?" He asked Adam. Who got off his back a few seconds prior– when Aria offered to train Kane with a sword.
The mute boy nodded his head, giving Kane an odd look, as if to say "shouldn't you know this?"
Feeling scrutinized Kane tried to wave him off. "Look, I'm forgetful sometimes." He didn't feel as though it was an appropriate time to explain that he didn't forget he just didn't know in the first place.
He felt as though he probably wouldn't find an appropriate time to tell them the truth.
'Hey the boy you two knew isn't here anymore and instead was replaced by an edgy 18 year old. Thank you for having me.' What the fuck was he supposed to say?
Before his mind could go on another tirade, Aria appeared in front of them with the sheathed blade in her hand. She held out the blade to Kane, who gently took it into his hands. He looked up at her as if to ask for permission to unsheath it. Aria nodded.
As the beautiful sword slowly revealed itself to the world, Aria began to explain. "I have had this for as long as I can remember, I believe it was my father's before he passed. He never told who the forger was and they never carved their name into the blade or sheath."
Kane stared in awe as the full blade was unsheathed. The bright steel reflecting the sun's rays. As he observed the blade in his hand he finally noticed an odd fact– the sword was light. Despite the fact that the sword was definitely taller than him he could still comfortably hold it with one hand.
"It has no name, neither the bladesmith nor the wielder before me bothered to name it. Respecting their decision I did not attempt to name it either.
"But you, I feel it is appropriate for you to finally give it it's name."
Her words brought Kane out of his awed stupor. "M-me?" He stuttered. "I don't…"
"You don't have to give it a name now of course, and it's probable that you won't give it a name until the far future. But I still trust that you will give it its name."
With that final statement about the sword's name, Aria held out her hand, blue flames appeared in her palm and changed its form. In a second, a blue sword made out of flames appeared in her hand.
"Shall we begin?"
…
…
…
A few hours passed as Aria taught Kane how to wield a katana. He wouldn't want to admit it, but it started off horribly.
The first thing he did was to spread out his legs to hold the sword to the side, with one hand holding the handle and the other behind it. Reminiscent of a certain motivational katana wielder from a widely acclaimed action-adventure video game. Perhaps you know of him?
It shouldn't have been much of a surprise that he butchered the pose horribly.
"Are you attempting to cut your own head off?" Aria asked him.
"(Bro's just trying to look cool)"
"I'm not!" Kane stood up straight with flushed cheeks.
With an exasperated smile, the sword in Aria's hand dissipated, and she walked over to Kane.
"Here, let's start with this."
She held onto his arms, both of which were grabbing onto the katana. Then she slightly separated his legs, so one was holding his body upwards and the other looked as though it stopped mid-step.
"I believe this should suffice." The sword pointed upwards but still slightly forward in his hands, he recalled seeing this pose in many japanese media.
Maybe he should have gone with this first.
Aria had walked back to her original spot, and the blue flaming sword appeared in her hand again. In contrast to Kane, she stood up straight with no form present.
"For now I'm going to test your durability, handle as many swings as you can." She had said, and before she could let the words settle in his mind she had swung already.
"W-Wait!" The flaming sword stopped just centimeters away from the katana.
"What if one of us got injured? Couldn't we use… fake swords or something similar?" Kane asked, he only just thought of the question and he slightly berated himself for not thinking of safety earlier, he was too excited to use the sword.
He remembered her response to that question very vividly (and not just because he asked the question only three hours ago).
"As if you could harm me at the current moment, and also," She swung her flaming sword at his arm, but before he could dodge it the flames already made contact. What he was fearing was his arm to come right off, but what happened instead was a weird warm feeling.
The flame sword looked as though it was lodged into his arm, but he didn't feel any pain, instead there was a warm feeling in his arm, almost as if he was merely just holding his arm above a flame instead of in it.
"A flame that only burns what the user wills it to, I believe I mentioned that yesterday."
"Ah." She did say something like that yesterday. "Right."
Finally, when they were both ready and in position, she swung. A loud clang echoed as the sword almost flew out of his grasp, thankfully Kane held on tightly. So tight that he felt his palms sting just from his grip.
"That's a good start, keep it up."
Which brings us to the present.
It was only a few hours but Kane had oddly managed to get a grasp of it.
Aria would swing her sword from one side, and to block it he would slightly swing his own sword into hers, attempting to use the force of the clash to stop the force of his swing if he swung too hard and if her attack pushed him then he would know he swung too lightly. Gradually his hold on the sword improved. Each of her swings was delivered faster and each clash would sting his hands less and less. With each clashing of blades (well, one steel blade and one mystical flame blade) his hold on his own posture and body greatly improved.
Finally, after hours of practicing with his blocking, and as the sun began to slowly set, Aria decided to end it off with something special.
With her final swing she held nothing back, Kane could hear and see the wind flow right by her arm as it came down.
There was no way he would be able to block this attack while holding his ground, so instead he brought the katana back–closing his eyes–and with as much force as his younger body could muster, swung his sword directly at hers.
A loud clang echoed in the yard, and he felt the sword slide out of his grip. He expected it to be because Aria had knocked the sword right out of his hand, but his assumption was put into doubt when he heard clapping. He opened his eyes and looked towards the sound of the clapping.
Adam stood up straight with a bright smile, his small hands clapping with joy.
Kane looked down to his hands to find that the sword wasn't there, but in fact it was stabbed into the ground right next to him. Almost as if he threw the sword instead of dropping it.
He looked to Aria, to find that her own arm was aimed away from him.
"Did I…?"
"Next time, keep your eyes open when you put more pressure into your swing." She explained, lowering down her arm and letting her flaming sword dissipate into thin air.
"If I truly kept on going then that sword would have been knocked out of your hands, luckily you were able to push my attack backwards." She looked towards the katana, still embedded into the ground next to them. "If you had been paying attention with your eyes open, you wouldn't have let the blade slip out of your grip."
A small, almost mischievous, smile appeared on her face. "Were you attempting to throw the blade at me?"
"N-no, I just…" Kane sighed. "Was a little afraid."
Aria hummed and raised an eyebrow. "Of the clash? That's why we've been practicing for hours straight, so you wouldn't be fearful of a more powerful attack."
He felt a little dejected, and he kept his eyes on the sword–away from her.
"Sorry…" He mumbled as he went to grasp the blade handle. Pulling it from out of the ground, he said nothing as he used his hands to wipe the dirt off the blade.
Aria saw his dejection and could only sigh. "It's fine." She walked up to him and rubbed his head.
"You still did good, even better than what I expected."
She saw his eyes almost visibly light up and had to look away to hide her own smile.
"Alright, we're done for today, I suppose it's time for dinner."
With a bright smile, Adam hopped over to the other two and latched onto Aria's leg. She rubbed his head and continued walking. Kane picked up the sheath and inserted the blade back into it. He walked right next to them before he stopped at the steps leading to the door.
What the fuck. His gloominess right after Aria's explanation felt way too immature for his own liking. Why did I act like that?
Maybe this mind had slowly let itself go due to this young body. He doesn't have the responsibilities of an adult anymore– and most likely will not for a while– so maybe his mind just subconsciously went back to something more casual and immature.
And for the first time in his life, Kane actually wished he was older.
(A/N)
Fixed some exposition inaccuracies regarding magecraft in previous chapters