THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

There is no wind here so my mother's ashes remain in place, showing the silhouette of her body. Only her clothes and the ornaments she was wearing have stayed behind. How come I don't feel better after seeing her die.

Is it because I am not the cause of her death? Is it because she said she loved me before dying? She said she loved me and yet she abandoned me to save her own life. She apologized for it but she never tried to find me and lived her life carefree of any thoughts for me. Yet, she loved me and apologized. I would like to laugh right now but my head can't accept her last words as a joke.

"Because, deep down, you loved her." 

"Stop reading my mind, Maria." 

"It's okay, Kevin. You don't need to hold it. Your tears are already proof enough of your feelings. You should let it all out." 

"There is nothing to let out!!" What are you even talking about?!! "She abandoned me!! She gave up on me and lived her own happy life!!! Without a care!! Without a thought!! She never thought about me whatsoever!! So why!! Why would she loved me now of all-"

Before I can continue, Maria grabs my head and squeezes it on her chest. Again, how come you are a ghost and yet, you are so real? 

"It's okay. Everything is okay. You did your best." I try to push her away but she just applies more strength as I do. 

"This is pretty much the same as last time, you know that, right?" You did the same last time, though that was because I was abandoned. I guess nothing has changed since then. 

"Things have changed." Maria finally releases me and instead places her hands on my shoulders. "You have gotten stronger. You fought bravely even though it was hard. You-"

"Like I said, this is not the first time we have been like this. I know what you are going to say already." 

"He is right, Maria. Besides, this is my fault. I miscalculated the time the goddess would need to break through my scripts because I was overconfident. Your mother's death is my fault and I will understand if you hate me for it." 

"I would have to be crazy to hate you, N'donkeu. And there is no point to it, she is dead and that is that."

"I see. Then you should at least bury her." 

"I will." I will at least do that last thing for you, mother.

"But not here, not now." 

As N'donkeu says that, a sound of shattered glass resounds from the sky. When I look, the sky is broken. The sky is broken?

"What the fuck?" 

"Our seal is starting to collapse. Soon, this place will be connected back to the real world." And of course, he says some pretty disturbing things once again. What is even weirder is that the sunlight starts enlightening the place as the previous sky was only an illusion.

"Huh? Meaning?" 

"We told you that we sealed this place away in order to flee from the goddess right?" 

"Not that I remember but yeah, I guess. What do you mean by sealing anyway? How do you do that?" It must be a very strong script to even stop the goddess for almost a year. 

"It would be too long to explain now. But the papers I gave you should help in that area as well as others should you understand them. Right now, we have more urgent matters to talk about." 

"N'donkeu, he just lost his mother. Can't you be more sensitive?" 

"I would like to but we don' have enough time now."

"It's okay. Just tell me."

"There are two things you need to know. The first one is about our souls. The ring I gave you is the vessel I used to contain my soul while waiting for someone worthy of the knowledge I left behind. Just like Maria sealed her soul in her weapon, hoping that someone would find us one day." 

"Okay, and?" 

"Although I still doubt you are really the one we were hoping for, the fact that you are here right now can only mean that the time has come. Therefore, I will leave everything that I understood during my life to you. Spread it in the world or burn it. Your choice. But whatever you do of it, please do read them before deciding."

"I will try to, if I get the time." Though I am sure I will need a whole life to understand what this guy explained. Smart people are really…

"Thank you very much." N'donkeu bows to me with a respect I wasn't ready to see coming from him.

"That's-That's surprising."

"Yeah, trust me. He doesn't do that often." Even Maria agrees with me? Then this must really mean a lot to him. 

"As for the second thing…" 

"It concerns my mother." Maria takes the floor and her voice turns into a sad one. "While climbing the tower, you said that the world's record considered Genesis as the first hero, right?"

"Not considered, you guys were utterly and completely erased from history. The only thing left of N'donkeu is a story about the betrayer and an unfindable tower that he built." 

"I see. Then she must have erased us from the people's memory. Which means that it is highly likely that she will do something similar in your case." 

"That's why I told you it was a bad idea to fight her."

"She would have done it either way, Cissa." 

"Gods aren't as whimsical as you seem to believe. They can show mercy proven that you begged enough." 

"You think I should have begged her in order to save her own world?" 

"If you cannot pray for something-"

"Seriously, Cissa?" 

"Yes. I am serious. Our war was already hard enough as it was because of your emotional and sometimes uncomprehensive behavior. But now, we will most likely have to deal with schamerian chasing us around because you have decided to fight for whatever reason you could think off."

Cissa of all people is throwing a tantrum? Well, I must have really messed up if she does. 

"Well, I-"

"Being sorry won't cut it. So don't try to apologize. Besides, you don't have a lot of time left, so whatever you do from now on, consider that carefully."

"You sound really scary right now, Cissa." 

"You haven't even seen how scary I can be." The sound of the shattered sky is getting noisier and noisier as we are talking.

"Are you guys finished?" 

"Yeah, we are." I am sure you and Maria were listening to the whole thing. 

"Logically speaking, your soulmate is right. There was no need for you to intervene in our fight and she would have most probably let you off if you begged her enough."

"Come on, not you guys as well." 

"But still, the fact that you stood your ground for us means a lot. Even though you had to fight your own parent. That is a debt that I…we, as the ones who have received your help, cannot let go without paying it back. That is why we will let you summon us once. Well, at least, I will let you summon me once." N'donkeu looks at Maria who smiles with unbelievable cuteness.

"Yeah, me as well." 

"Okay, we will let you summon you once. When you will face the greatest need for help, call our name, and we will answer as fast as light itself." 

"You really like to brag about your strength, don't you?" 

Maria and N'donkeu start fading. Their images get hollower while they smile at me like friends. 

"Well, it is not my fault if you are weak, right?" 

"Hey!! I am not that weak! Maria, tell him I am not weak!!" 

"Huh…Let's say you are cute at least." What?!

"What does it have to do with anything?" 

"See you later, Dragonroad." 

"See you later, Kevin. Take good care of my sisters in the meantime, okay?" 

"Tch. Yeah, yeah. Just go already." 

Finally, they both entirely disappear entirely, leaving me with my mother's ashes still on the ground. Now, I am forced to wonder, was it really like this that I envisioned it at the time? When I was hoping of making you pay one day, was this really what I had in mind? 

"I can only move forward now, right, Cissa?" 

"Yes, we can only advance and face our unnecessary hardships." 

"Sigh…" Unnecessary wasn't needed here. "But before that, we should greet our visitor, right?" 

"Do you know who it is?" 

"There is only one person I can think of right now." I turn around and look at the forest. Even though it is so quiet, I can feel her. And I am sure of it, not only by the number of crystals but by that sense of fear that won't leave my body even after all this time. "Won't you come out?" 

Finally, from the branches, a silhouette appears, together with the loud noise created by the sky that is shattering. She lands before me, with the worst smile of the world. 

"You…"