Chapter 3: Aftermath
[[Time: Midnight]]
[[Location: Sakarame Village Outskirts]]
The small boat thudded against the shore as Manko half heartedly docked it, his hands trembling with fatigue. His body ached, drenched in sweat from hours of rowing through treacherous currents and blinding fog. Every muscle screamed for rest, but his mind raced with dread. He couldn't afford to stop. Not now.
The forest that surrounded the village stood still, too still. No sound of wind rustling the leaves, no chirps from birds or frogs along the shoreline. The world itself seemed to be holding its breath. And as Manko pushed forward between the trees, the air grew heavy. So heavy he felt it pushing down on his chest.
Something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut.
He tried to shake the feeling, tried to convince himself that he made it in time. That Rena was still okay. That Arisa was safe. But each step forward into the silent woods brought him closer to a truth he didn't want to face.
No lights glowed in the distance. No voices. No laughter. Nothing. Just darkness between the trees.
Then, just beyond the first cluster of cabins blackened and half collapsed from fire, came a sudden gust of wind. It wasn't natural. It wasn't even wind. It was something else, something strong and violent that wrapped around his soul and flung his body back like a ragdoll. Manko slammed into a tree with a grunt, grabbing the trunk to keep from being swept farther away.
"What the hell was that…?"
His eyes widened. That energy it was familiar.… From something long buried.
And then came the light.
A massive pulse of raw purple light erupted from deep within the village. So bright it painted the forest in lavender fire. The beam cracked through the clouds, tearing into the sky like a blade, reaching for the stars themselves. Manko shielded his face, falling back to the ground, nearly blinded. He felt its heat. Its sorrow. Its rage. The light soared beyond the atmosphere, and then boom. A cosmic explosion shattered the silence, echoing across the heavens.
It was horrifying. And yet… achingly beautiful.
He lay there frozen. He had no words for what he had just witnessed. It was power unlike anything he had seen since his old days. But this… this was no normal wrath. This was something deeper. Personal.
Only once the light vanished and the storm calmed did Manko slowly push himself to his feet, breathing hard, sweat and fear clinging to his skin like oil. He knew, he knew that light came from Arisa.
And he needed to get to her.
Without wasting another second, Manko broke into a sprint toward the heart of the village. Toward the bodies. Toward the storm's center.
Toward her.
As Manko pushed forward, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Just ahead, barely a few meters away. Stood a sight that stole the breath from his lungs, a massive mound of bodies, stacked and broken. His heart sank. For a moment, he couldn't move. His breath grew sharp and erratic as the grim realization set in, It was a massacre.
He stepped forward, slowly, heavily. With every footfall, the earth beneath him whispered echoes of laughter, footsteps, and memories now forever silenced. Each step weighed more than the last, as if the ground itself mourned what had been lost.
Then he saw her.
His eyes locked on Rena's face among the pile, twisted, bloodied, barely recognizable. His knees gave out beneath him. He collapsed, trembling, the grief catching in his throat. His hands dug into the ash laced soil, his forehead pressed to the ground as quiet sobs shook through his exhausted frame.
For a long moment, there was only silence. A cold, terrible silence.
Finally, he crawled forward, reaching for her. His hand brushed against her lifeless cheek, cold, scarred, and still. Gently, reverently, he caressed her face. As if by touch alone he could will her back to life.
"You didn't deserve this…" he whispered, voice cracking under the weight of his grief.
With shaking fingers, he closed her still open eyes.
"You can rest now, Rena…"
Manko stood there, holding Rena's body just a few minutes longer. His arms wrapped around her broken form as if refusing to let go of the past. Tears slid down his face silently, carving tracks through the dirt and ash smudged on his cheeks.
"Well," he whispered with a hollow chuckle, "I guess that means no more good food."
His voice cracked on the last word, and though he tried to make light of it, the pain in his chest betrayed him. He pressed his forehead against hers one last time, then gently laid her down with trembling care.
But then he remembered the light. That monstrous light in the sky.
His heart kicked in his chest.
He straightened up quickly and scanned the surrounding carnage, eyes darting over the twisted and burned faces of people he once shared meals and laughter with. Every face he recognized made his chest tighten further, but Arisa wasn't among them.
A flicker of hope ignited.
"Arisa!" he called out into the silence, voice hoarse and desperate. No reply.
He moved fast, eyes sharp as he searched for any sign. That's when he saw them. Small footprints in the dirt, leading away from the pile of corpses. His pulse quickened until he noticed something else.
Blood. But not normal blood.
A streak of thick, blackened liquid trailed alongside the steps, glistening unnaturally. He knelt and touched it carefully, letting it coat his finger.
It writhed.
Barely perceptible but moving. Alive.
A burning sting pricked his fingertip. It wasn't just alive, it was invasive. Like it wanted in. Manko hissed and wiped it away, shaken. He stared down at the trail, more urgent now than ever.
"Arisa!" he shouted again, breaking into a sprint.
Branches clawed at him. Vines and leaves slapped his face. But he didn't care, his eyes were locked on the trail, on the signs that she was still somewhere out there, breathing.
As he ran, thoughts swirled violently in his mind.
If something's happened to her… they we're all as good as dead.
He clenched his jaw. "The D.O.P… they don't know what they've done. Why would they do this?" he muttered bitterly. "The Sakarame didn't deserve this. Rumors or not…"
His words faded as his feet skidded to a halt.
There just ahead in the clearing.
A small figure, walking slowly, barefoot. Her steps were heavy, uncertain. Her clothing hung in shreds. Her hair was tangled, matted with ash and blood.
"Arisa!" Manko's voice broke, but she didn't react.
She just kept walking forward. Silent. Hollow.
"Arisa!" he yelled again, rushing toward her. He slid to a stop in front of her, falling to his knees.
She didn't look at him.
Her eyes were open, but blank, wide and lifeless. They weren't looking at him. They were looking through him. As if she wasn't seeing the present at all… as if she were still trapped in some nightmare she couldn't escape.
Manko placed both hands gently on her shoulders, feeling the trembling in her bones. His eyes welled up. There was something wrong, something shattered beyond repair.
But she was alive. She was here. And that was enough.
He slipped off his cloak and carefully wrapped it around her small, shaking frame, shielding her from the cold and the stares of the dead. He pulled her in close, arms tightening around her as he whispered,
"It's okay… you're safe now. I've got you."
He held her like he'd hold a daughter. Like someone trying to protect something precious in a storm.
"I won't let anyone else hurt you… I won't let them get to you…"
Still, Arisa didn't move. She didn't hug him back. She didn't blink.
She just stared ahead, into the darkness, as if her soul was still somewhere deep in that village, screaming.
"…I won't let anyone hurt you…" Manko repeated, his voice trembling as he clung to her.
And in that hollow silence, Arisa simply stood. Silent. Motionless.
Broken.
[[Location: Outer shore of the Eniyako]]
The Eniyako, a marvel of civilization, a city so massive and advanced it spanned the length of an entire continent. Though its towers reached for the skies and its technology surpassed imagination, Eniyako never abandoned the roots of the natural world. Verdant trees lined the roads, ancient mountains pierced through the skyline, and crystalline rivers ran through mechanical veins. It was a harmony of nature and innovation. Humanity's peak, untouched by the chaos that scarred places like the Sakarame.
The city was sectioned into three massive concentric zones, walled off like a fortified triad of purpose.
The First Wall stood closest to the shore, a bustling dockland hub of steel and water. Massive skyships and sea freighters came and went here, their hulls engraved with runes and tech script, bearing goods, passengers, and relics from distant worlds.
The Second Wall was the city's armored heart. Towering turrets, rail cannons, and defensive AI constructs hovered above squads of elite soldiers. Their black and silver armor glinted in the sun, faces hidden behind angular visors that whispered commands between squadrons.
The Third Wall was civilization itself. Homes carved from shimmering stone, classrooms that hovered with anti gravity walkways, and vendors from every culture of the world spilled into its streets. Children played alongside floating drones, laughter and language mixed in a symphony of life.
But today, that symphony was silent on the edge of the First Wall.
—
A battle had erupted and though the Eniyako had held strong, the cost of victory painted the landscape in pain.
Charred earth and shattered concrete littered the outer shores. A portion of the First Wall was cracked and blasted inward, its once smooth blackstone crumbled like ash. Two colossal warships, their sides torn and flames still faintly flickering, lay half submerged offshore. Their hulls bore the signature etchings of foreign design, D.O.P technology. One ship had split nearly in half, smoke curling from the jagged wound. The other listed sideways, groaning under its own dying weight.
Bodies were everywhere.
Soldiers of the Eniyako moved with solemn precision, their footsteps echoing between smoldering debris and the low rumble of retreating tide. D.O.P corpses, clad in their distinct white uniforms, were gently collected and laid in neat rows. Each one was covered with a thin black tarp. There was no hatred in the Eniyako soldiers' movements, only quiet respect. War was never meant to be this way. Not here.
Medics rushed between moaning forms, kneeling by injured D.O.P soldiers who had surrendered. Despite the carnage, mercy held firm. Bandages were wrapped. Blood was cleaned. Even the enemy deserved compassion.
Nearby, less injured captives were being secured. Shackled by glowing restraints, they were led into waiting transport vans. Sleek, armored vehicles with blinking lights and silent engines. The contrast was stark, black armor of the Eniyako versus the bone white suits of the D.O.P. Even with some soldiers personalizing their armor, one with an exposed arm bearing tattoos, another with a flowing digital cape. The allegiance was unmistakable.
Near the edge of the ruined battleground, Angel and Luis stood among a circle of Eniyako soldiers, deep in conversation. Angel's clothes fluttered slightly in the sea breeze, his brows furrowed as he reviewed a holo map projected above a soldier's wrist. His face was calm, but his voice was sharp, tactical, precise.
Luis, ever more composed, stood tall beside him. His long hair, with the single blue streak glinting under the light, swayed with the wind. The swirling shadows of his right arm pulsed quietly, reacting to his mood. He asked few questions, but every word he spoke made the soldiers stand straighter.
They were discussing the battle. The timing. The reason behind the D.O.P's sudden and violent assault. There was still no clear answer.
And yet one figure stood apart from the group, Aika.
She was silent, her silver hair glistening like frost as she stared out toward the sea. Something was stirring in the marrow of her bones.
She wasn't listening to the others. She was feeling something.
Beyond the ruined ships, past the veils of sea mist and smoke, something invisible rippled through the air.
Then it came.
A searing blast of violet light tore across the distant sky like a comet cracking reality itself. Far off, but unmistakable. A thin vertical beam pierced the heavens, followed by the echo of something vast screaming through the threads of space.
The world paused.
Every soldier, every medic, every prisoner, even the wind seemed to halt and turn their gaze upward.
The violet light shimmered in the clouds like divine fire. Most stared in confusion. A few whispered.
But not Aika.
Her eyes widened not in confusion, but in recognition. Her breath caught. She didn't speak. She didn't warn.
She moved.
With a thunderous blast of energy, Aika launched into the sky. The sheer force of her departure left a deep crater in the earth beneath her, fracturing the blackstone in a perfect spiral. A shockwave exploded outward, knocking over nearby soldiers and sending crates flying. The water itself parted for a split second before roaring back into the shore with a booming crash.
She was gone, a silver streak tearing across the sky at sonic speed, heading toward the origin of the light.
Angel's head snapped up, eyes tracking her like a hawk. He felt it too. Something wasn't right.
He turned to Luis.
No words were needed. Luis opened a portal instantly, the swirling oval of blue shadow and starlight blooming open like a wound in space. Angel bolted forward, vanishing into the tear before Luis calmly stepped in after him.
The portal snapped shut behind them.
The wind howled in their absence.
Far above, the purple light still burned.
[[Location: Sakarame Village]]
The night was thick with silence.
A haunting stillness blanketed the land, unnatural, almost sacred. The trees stood like mourners, unmoving beneath a starless sky, their leaves whispering faintly as a cold wind stirred them like the breath of a ghost. No birds. No insects. No life.
Then.
A pulse of light broke the darkness.
A portal carved open the air with a gentle hum, low and vibrating like the throat of some great beast. Angel stepped through first, jogging forward, his boots crunching against the dirt. Luis followed behind him, slower, quiet, the weight in the air wrapping around them like fog.
Something was wrong. Angel felt it the second his feet touched the soil.
The warmth of the Sakarame. The ever present life force that once made this place feel like a living, breathing being was gone. The ground beneath him felt hollow. The wind that once carried laughter and song now carried the stench of blood and smoke.
Without a word, Angel launched forward.
He moved so fast the air cracked around him, the sound of thunder trailing his black streak across the night. His body flickered like lightning across the ravaged terrain.
He stopped suddenly, frozen in front of the outer gate.
The village wall once proud, natural, strong. Was partially destroyed, splintered like bone. Leaning quietly against what remained of the archway stood Aika.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't speaking.
She simply stood there, her silver hair whipping violently in the wind created by Angel's arrival, her gaze cast downward toward the earth, her arms crossed.
Angel stepped toward her, cautiously like approaching something holy, or cursed. His eyes drifted past her, squinting in the dark. There he saw it.
A pile of bodies. Still. Stacked carefully, but it was impossible to miss the violence that came before the stillness.
His heart began to pound.
He turned back to Aika, his voice already cracking under the weight of something unspoken.
"W-what… what is that?"
Aika didn't answer right away. Slowly she raised her eyes to meet his. Her voice, though soft. Hit like a hammer.
"You should prepare yourself mentally, Angel."
Her hand gently reached out and rested on his chest. It was effortless, light, but unmoving. As if the weight of gods held it there. Angel tried to push through her hand, but it was like trying to move a mountain.
"Let go of me, Aika."
His voice now shook with something deeper than fear. Something close to desperation.
She looked at him one last time then released him.
Angel broke into a sprint.
His feet pounded the ground, breath quickening, vision blurring. But the closer he got, the slower he moved. His body resisted him. His mind resisted the truth. His sprint turned to a walk. Then a crawl of a step.
Then he stopped.
Only a few meters away now. He saw the faces.
The robes.
The jewelry.
The familiar marks and symbols of their people.
His people.
And just like that, his legs gave out beneath him. He collapsed to his knees. No pain could match what bloomed inside him in that moment. Not a blade, not a fire, not even death itself.
He tried to speak. He tried to scream. But all that came was a sound that didn't seem human. A guttural, broken cry that tore through the stillness and made the trees themselves shudder.
His cry carried through the night, long and loud and raw.
Aika remained behind. Eyes closed, unmoving. Her back still against the broken wall, her breath steady..
This was Angel's clan.
His family.
The village they swore to protect.
Gone.
Luis approached quietly, his boots crunching against debris and earth as he came to a slow stop before Aika. He didn't need to ask. He already knew. The weight of what had happened was written in the silence, in the cold stillness of the air, and in the raw sound of his brother's cries echoing just ahead. Luis lowered his gaze, unable to meet Aika's eyes.
"…It's my fault," he muttered, the words crawling out like poison. "I made you come back. I told you both to return. It's my fucking fault."
A sudden gust of wind swept through the trees, scattering ash and broken leaves, snapping Luis's attention forward like a slap. Aika hadn't moved much, yet somehow her presence grew stronger, steadier like a wall holding back the collapse of the world.
"Stop," she said sharply. Her voice cut through the grief like tempered steel. "I've seen self blame tear your kind apart from the inside out. You have a child. You were trying to protect him."
Luis looked up at her, guilt still swimming in his eyes. "But you… you wanted to stay. You felt something. I should've listened."
Aika took a single step closer. Her voice softened but lost none of its force. "I said stop. If anyone was to blame, it would be me. And I'm not blaming you."
Her words hit him harder than any scolding could. They didn't erase the guilt, but they anchored him. He gave her a small nod, unable to speak, and turned to walk toward Angel, who still knelt near the center of the field, surrounded by what remained of their people.
Angel's cries had quieted into painful, broken sobs. Luis knelt behind him and placed a gentle hand on his back. "Brother…" he said softly.
Angel's voice cracked through the air, strangled with anguish. "Why, Luis… why…"
"I don't know," Luis whispered back. "But we need to get you away from here… just for now."
With effort, he helped Angel to his feet. His brother's body rose, but his spirit still seemed to collapse inward. Then, something shifted in Angel's expression. Panic. Fear.
He jerked from Luis's grasp and staggered toward Aika.
"Where is she?" Angel asked, his voice sharp and trembling, his eyes searching Aika's face for an answer he already dreaded. "Where's Arisa?!"
He paused, breath hitching. Then, as if the truth struck him in waves, his body slouched slightly, letting out a strained, aching breath.
"She's not here… she's not here…" he whispered, a flicker of relief fighting its way through the grief.
He looked up again, locking eyes with Aika. "Did you see her? Did anyone?"
Aika's gaze turned out toward the forest. "No," she replied quietly. "But I found tracks. Manko… he came. He took her. He's not far."
Angel dropped his head. His fists clenched. "I failed her…"
Aika stepped forward and lifted his chin, gently but firmly, so he stood upright. "We will grieve later," she said, her voice steely but shaking with urgency. "Right now, we find our daughter."
She took his hand gripping it tightly. Not just for his sake but for her own, then turned to take off.
Before she could, Luis spoke from behind them.
"I'll stay," he said. "I'll gather the men… give them a proper burial."
His voice broke slightly as he looked to the ground, then back up at them. His expression darkened, etched with grief and rage. "Besides… I won't be able to face her. What could I even say…?"
Aika turned, her eyes locking with his. He saw nothing warm in them now. Just a cold, controlled fury.
"If anything happened to her," Luis growled, "I'll find the ones responsible… and I'll kill them."
But Aika's voice returned sharper than ice.
"No you won't," she said with quiet finality. "Because I will."
And with that, she took to the sky, launching into the air with Angel close behind, leaving Luis standing alone in the broken heart of Sakarame.
[[Location: Galínia Límni – The Lake Beyond Sakarame]]
The moon had finally broken through the clouds, casting its silver glow on the water. The boat drifted softly, barely disturbing the stillness as it rolled gently with each subtle wave. Manko sat near the center, staring quietly at the surface of the lake. The moonlight washed over him and the little boat, glinting softly across the ripples.
Arisa lay bundled on the boat's floor, her breathing slow and heavy. Manko had done what he could. He padded a bed of leaves and brush beneath her, covering it with a tarp to give her warmth and comfort. She hadn't stirred since they left the village. It was the only peace she seemed to have.
But then.
A faint crackle echoed from the sky. Manko's paddling stopped.
He slowly stood, peering upward as if he already knew who was coming.
The clouds shifted once more, and from above, light bent and shimmered. Descending like a celestial vision. Aika floated down toward the boat, radiant and cold, suspended in the air like a goddess returned to earth.
Manko turned his eyes away from her. He didn't need to see her expression to feel it.
Behind him, Angel was already on his knees beside Arisa. His hands trembled as he brushed strands of her hair from her face. Silent tears streamed down his cheeks. Though her severed arm and leg had regenerated, deep, jagged scars remained where they once were. The rest of her body bore brutal evidence of her suffering. Open wounds, bruises, torn flesh. And something worse, thick, black curse marks now covered her from shoulders to toes, etched like branding across her skin.
Manko stepped toward Angel, his voice quiet but steady.
"Let her rest… This might be the only peace she gets for a long time."
Angel gave a nod, wiping his eyes, but his hand lingered gently on Arisa's.
"It was the D.O.P… wasn't it? Which branch?" Angel asked, voice strained and low.
Manko's eyes narrowed, but he didn't answer right away.
"What makes you think I know?"
Aika floated closer, her presence heavier now.
"You do know something," she said, her tone sharp. "So tell us."
Manko turned to face her fully.
"What they did was wrong. Horrible. Nothing I say can change that. What they did to Arisa… Rena… Jessica, Chris…"
His voice faltered for a moment.
"But not everyone in those branches is evil. Some are cooks. Engineers. Rookies. The ones who did this… they don't represent the D.O.P. as a whole."
Aika said nothing. Her eyes had drifted to Arisa, her expression unreadable, until.
"They did more than just beat her."
Her voice cracked like ice breaking.
Angel turned sharply.
"What do you mean by that, Aika?"
Silence. Aika's eyes didn't leave Manko.
"Aika… what do you mean by that?" Angel repeated, more desperate now.
She didn't answer him. She only stared at Manko.
"Tell me what you know," she said with ice in her tone, "or I'll take it from your head."
Manko sighed deeply.
"You don't have to threaten me, Aika… you just had to ask. I just wanted to say my peace."
He reached into his back pocket, retrieving a small metal insignia, but seeing Aika still suspended in the air, he turned to Angel instead and handed it over.
A coiled snake wrapped around a raccoon. The emblem burned with quiet symbolism.
"Fídia Rakún," Manko said grimly. "That's the name of the branch."
He moved toward a rolled up map near his paddles.
"After I found Arisa, I searched the ruins. In Rena's home, I found a charred body… a commander. They must have hoped the fire would erase him, but forgot their armor had environmental resistance."
He laid the map open, pointing to a remote stretch in the middle of the ocean.
"This is where they are. Surrounded by water, guarded by engineered cyclones. But I doubt that'll stop either of you."
Angel looked at the map, then up at Aika. Her eyes didn't waver.
She stepped closer to the edge of the boat.
"I've lived on this planet a long time," she said. "I stayed away from humanity's wars. All I gave them was one rule. A pact. Etched in my blood and theirs. Tonight… that was broken."
She looked up slowly. Her voice grew cold.
"There must be punishment. I'll be the one to give it."
Manko lowered his head slightly.
"So many lives lost," he whispered.
Angel looked back to Arisa. Still unmoving, still breathing, barely. The silence hung thick, before Angel finally turned to Manko again.
"Manko… you never found anyone..you never met us."
Manko froze.
Angel continued.
"My family… my clan… they're all gone. Including Arisa" His voice cracked. "I can't think of anyone better to guide her now than you."
Manko leaned back with a long, tired sigh.
"I raised you and your damn brother, and now you toss your daughter onto me?"
Before Angel could respond, Aika stepped forward.
"Please, Manko…" she said softly, abandoning her usual sharpness.
He looked at her, paused… then back at Angel.
Finally, he nodded.
"She'll be safer with me anyway."
Angel exhaled deeply, relief flooding his features.
"Thank you, Manko. Thank you…"
He returned to Arisa's side. Aika landed gently on the boat beside them.
They both knelt, silently brushing hair from her face, holding her hands, touching her skin one last time. This would be the final moment they had with their daughter for a long time.
Angel's tears returned. Aika gently rested her hand over his, holding him steady. But the more she looked at Arisa, the more the air began to shift.
The lake stirred. Winds curled around the boat. The water pulsed with the energy in Aika's chest.
Angel noticed and stood. He gently gripped Aika's arm.
"Let's go… I don't want to wake her. I'd rather she hate me forever than go through anything like this again."
Aika nodded. But before she left, she turned one last time to Manko.
"If anything happens to her—"
"Nothing will happen, Aika," Manko cut in, firm and resolute.
"She's my kid now. So why don't you both go?"
He returned to his paddles, gripping them like old friends.
And the boat, bathed in moonlight, drifted once again into the dark.
Manko continued paddling, his focus returning to Arisa. With a gentle rock of the boat, Aika and Angel took flight, disappearing into the sky.
He let out a heavy sigh.
"What am I gonna do with you, Arisa…" he murmured.
He couldn't help but wonder what she had truly gone through. His thoughts drifted to that blinding flash of light. He hadn't found the source but he knew it had come from her.
"I don't know how you'll use this pain. You're either going to be the best thing that's ever happened to this world…" he trailed off, eyes narrowing as he focused on the rhythmic movement of the oars.
"…or you might be the one who destroys it."
Chapter 3: Aftermath
END