Whoosh!
A fox dashed out of a red oak tree as the carriage left the town and headed into Faelight Wilds; the forest that separated Mythara from other towns. The further they went, the more the trees looked like they were growing closer to each other and their branches weaving together overhead like fingers interlocking in prayer.
Once they were out of the forest the paths divided into two: right to Eldergrove, the next laboring town, and left to Runevale, a town that dwells in the eastern part of Ayloria.
Without hesitation, the driver pulled the reins on the left side of the horses, thus, turning them toward Runevale.
Observing this, Itsuki stood up and said to the driver. "Sir, I think journey to Zenkai would be easier if we took the other path."
The driver kept going straight and also gave an answer that was in line with what he was thinking.
"Yes I know, we are going to pick up one more person."
Another person?...Who could that be? Itsuki pondered while leaning back in his seat. Watching Kairo and Takumi sleeping on their seats, heads on their bags, he chuckled to himself.
- - -
After about an hour's drive, they arrived at Runevale. Compared to Mythara's, the buildings were far much bigger and more elegant, their walls adorned with rich tapestries and decorated with lanterns. Even though it was past midnight, the streets were still alive with people.
Runevale didn't have open streets. The houses were arranged in orderly rows, their wooden structures pressed close together along winding lanes.
After driving through several rows of houses, the carriage came to a halt in front of a large mansion. It had two floors with white walls and a sloped tiled roof that curved out at the four corners.
A girl sat beneath a small pavilion in the front garden, reading a book. The moment she noticed the carriage, she closed it and called out to several servants tending the garden beds.
They quickly gathered her belongings and loaded them into the back of the carriage while she smoothed her clothes and stepped inside.
"Welcome aboard, Miss Veyra, my apologies for keeping you waiting." The driver bowed respectfully before gently closing the carriage door.
Sayaka didn't answer as she settled onto the seat across from Itsuki, paying no attention to him or the other two guys sleeping beside her.
The driver hurried to his seat and clicked his tongue once more. The horses resumed their steady pace, and the carriage left Runevale at 1:12 AM.
Itsuki watched through the window as the elegant buildings gradually gave way to open fields and scattered trees. Moonlight painted everything in shades of silver and shadow, while the rhythmic clop-clop of horse hooves against the dirt road mixed with the soft rustle of pages as Sayaka turned another page of her book..
This little rocking of the carriage was hypnotic. As he gazed into the landscape, Itsuki's eyes began to groan when he watched his surroundings blur the past; forests, open plains.
His head tilted against the window frame.
Just... for a moment… His eyes closed.
…
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of a wooden sword striking a training dummy sounded across an empty courtyard.
But something was wrong.
He didn't appear in the carriage anymore. He stood near a familiar training ground, none of which he had seen in years. Mythara community Dojo, however it was far smaller than he remembered.
What is this? He looked down at his hands and saw right through them. His body felt light, almost transparent.
A dream?
Then he heard a soft, choked sobbing.
Itsuki turned to the direction of the sound and saw a small boy sitting in the corner of the training ground, knees pulled up to his chest, face buried in his arms. He couldn't have been more than six years old. Black hair fell messily over his face. Itsuki knew those features.
That's... me!
The younger Itsuki lifted his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. His small hands were scraped and bleeding from hours of practice. Around him, other children laughed and played, their Birthright abilities manifesting with ease; small flames, gusts of wind, ripples of water dancing between their fingers.
"Why won't it work?" the young Itsuki whispered. "WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME!?!"
He pressed his palms together, concentrating so hard his whole body trembled. His face scrunched up with effort, veins visible on his small forehead.
"..."
But still nothing happened, no sign of Honshitsu manifesting. Only the desperate cry of a heartbroken child.
Why can everyone else use their ability and I can't… The question repeated endlessly in the young boy's mind.
Watching this, Itsuki's expression twisted in anguish. He remembered this day like it was yesterday; the day he realized he was the only broken child among his peers.
At that moment, a figure appeared beside the crying child.
Who is that, Itsuki wondered.
A man or something that resembled one, radiated an all-encompassing white light. It seemed to be all light and therefore obscured by the dream in terms of what he really looked like; where a head would normally be, it was only light; the same for the areas on either side of his body.
He sat down and pulled his light-filled arms around the young Itsuki.
Itsuki's wails turned into full-on screams as he hid his face against this man's chest and clutched his fists tightly onto the light surrounding him. The man did not say anything. All he did was hold him and touch its hair with one of his hands.
A tear slid down old Itsuki's cheek.
Suddenly, he felt it.
A gentle touch on his shoulder.
Slowly, he turned his head.
Someone stood behind him, same height, same build and same face as him.
However, this person did not look entirely like him; It seemed almost as if he was a reflection made of light and dark shadows… his form, but instead of flesh and bones, only an ethereal, glowing darkness.
This reflection rippled like water after being struck by a rock, continuously changing from solid to transparent. He also noticed that where the person's eyes should be, there were pools of radiant white light that somehow felt... warm.
The reflection smiled at him. The smile was not malevolent nor mocking, but one of understanding.
Crack-CRASH!
Before Itsuki could react, the world around them shattered like glass.
Whoooosh!
The training ground collapsed into pieces and fell into nothingness.
Itsuki stumbled, finding himself on solid ground that stretched endlessly in all directions. Acres of sand spreading across an uninterrupted void.
And behind the reflection floated the giant ball of light he'd seen countless times in his dreams, impossibly massive, impossibly bright.
Itsuki tried to speak to the reflection, to express himself but no sound came out of his mouth.
The reflection's smile widened slightly. It understood his frustration.
Then it extended its hand.
Itsuki stared at the luminous palm, then looked at his hand and slowly raised it.
Warmth spread through him the moment they touched. The reflection began to walk, pulling Itsuki toward the giant ball of light. Each step across the sand felt significant, like crossing some invisible threshold. The sphere's light intensified as they drew closer, bathing everything in pure, radiant white.
In all his previous dreams, he'd been pushed back at this point. Some invisible force would reject him, send him tumbling away.
But not this time.
The reflection led him forward, step by step, and with each stride, something strange began to happen.
Itsuki looked down and saw his hand—still clasped with the reflection's—starting to merge. The boundaries between his fingers and the reflection's blurred, light bleeding into flesh, shadow mixing with substance.
What's happening?
The luminous darkness of the reflection bled into him, or perhaps he was bleeding into it. The distinction became meaningless as they slowly became one.
It turned its head slightly and met Itsuki's eyes one final time.
Itsuki reached forward with his now-complete hand and touched the sphere.