Chapter V: Cold Winds
The polished wooden floors shined in the morning light. The walls standing firm, holding the floor above them in place. The light that bounced off the wood faintly glistened, giving off a nice warm sensation. The wood itself looked like any ordinary wood you could get from a tree. However, that is not the case.
This type of wood which is called Sickairu which is only found on Novis. The trees themselves are very resistant to physical damage. If anything, their hardness was comparable to chromium or perhaps even harder than diamonds.
Except for one thing…
“For Nyx sake, Tashiro! You started a world war against us!? Do you realize how insane that is!?” exclaimed a woman.
“What’s the problem about it?” blatantly said Tashiro.
The woman’s eyebrows twitched in frustration. She slapped him as hard as she could.
“You damned idiot! Do you realize what you have done? I know you’re invulnerable but the fact that someone can hurt even a clone of you worries me!” She yelled.
“Alright. Alright. Settle down. I’ll be more careful.”
“Like you would be able to keep such a promise.”
The girl sighed in defeat. She knew arguing with Tashiro is pointless. She didn’t even agree to what he was doing in the first place.
World domination? It’s such an absurd and cliche villain concept. And yet, she still decides to follow him. Although by follow, she means that she stays in a large cabin on the continent of Novis.
“Not only that, but you also just dropped kids off on me like it was nothing. Do I look like a mother to you?” pestered Lumi
“Well, you seem old and good enough to be one.” Tashiro blatantly responded.
This comment shut Lumi up for a moment. Her mind went blank from Tashiro’s answer. Her face began to look like a cherry due to her blush, causing the woman to stumble back and mutter to herself in embarrassment.
“M-me? A mother? I mean… AGH! Just shut up, you damn idiot!” she slaps him as hard as she could. Making the man stumble back a couple steps.
He rubbed his cheek for a moment and softly sighed.
“I’m sorry I worried you this much.”
“It doesn’t matter. I decided to follow you anyway, right? There’s no way someone as strong as you could lose to anyone. Well, anyone except for maybe Nathan.”
Tashiro laughed at the woman’s comment before changing his position to a closed door down the hall. His eyes began to narrow a bit until he retracted his attention away from it.
“Excuse me? Where are we?” asked a young feminine voice behind the two.
The two adults turned to see two of the young ones that Tashiro saved the day before.
The oldest girl had dark dirty green hair, almost looking like the color of needles on a pine tree. Her green eyes that shined like they were made of gems but upon a closer look, they held some sort of insecurity and had a cautious tone to them. Her figure was very slim as if she had anything to eat for the past few days. All-in-all, she was dirty and bruised all over her body.
The boy was about the same in terms of body features although there was a small scar above his left eyebrow that stretched up to his forehead. His hair looked darker than it should be, most likely from not being out in the sun a lot. His eyes still looked as dull as they were when he found them, devoid of life. Not something a young adult’s eyes should look from Tashiro’s perspective.
“It’s good to see you two are awake. Lumi, want to fix some breakfast for these two?”
“Oh, uh, s-sure. I’ll get right to it.” Lumi bounced away to the kitchen.
The two new visitors looked around the cabin, wondering how they even got here in the first place. Was it their new home? Is this where they were sold off to? Too many questions filled their heads.
“Please, children, have a seat. But first, let me fix you up a bit.” Tashiro snapped his fingers as he sat down in a leather chair, changing the two’s clothing and state of cleanliness they both were in an instant.
The girl couldn’t even comprehend what happened. Her skin felt smooth and warm, her hair was soft and silky it had never been before. “Go on, have a seat.” Tashiro spoke again.
The two immediately sat down without thinking. Something in the man’s voice before them said those words such intent that it felt like a threat. The young woman slowly looked around the room. The sight was something new to her. She has been inside a cabin before but from everything she has gone through, she was anxious to what might wait for her.
“So, tell me, what are your names?”
The young man quickly snapped to attention
“My name… Miyako Higura.”
“I’m Kayda Amamiya…”
“Miyako… Kayda… Such wonderful names. A beautiful child of night and a little rain dragon.”
“Um, if I may ask, where are we?” Kayda asked.
“You are at my cabin of course.”
“. . .”
A pan was immediately smacked against the back of Tashiro’s head, causing him to flinch forward.
“You are only confusing them more than they are. My apologies for his behavior. My name is Rylin, but you can call me Lumi if you like too. This here is Tashiro. He brought you guys here from… wherever you were originally. His reason why is something unknown to me but trust me, he’s a good guy at heart.” said Lumi.
Kayda looked down at her hands. They almost sparkled by how clean they were. Her skin felt alive for once. Smooth and soft to the touch. She slowly stroked her arms back and forth until she froze solid. Fear suddenly loomed over her mind as she shook. Miyako blankly stared at his friend with dead eyes. They were dull like soda that gone flat. He turned his head down at the table in front of them.
“They’re gone.” Tashiro blurted out.
Kayda and Miyako perked their heads up in response.
“They are currently burning in the burning hell of ice where they belong. Bastards like them don’t deserve the option of mercy. In other words, you are now free to do whatever you want.”
“Whatever we want?” Miyako muttered.
“But I’d like to give you an option here of what you want to do from here. You can either stay here and learn how to survive in the new world I am going to create, or you can leave and fend for yourselves.”
The two choices Tashiro gave them were mysterious to them. A new world? What did he mean by that? Sure, neither of them has seen much of the world for the past few years.
The conversation was interrupted as Lumi returned with two plates of food that she set on the table. A stack of 3 fluffy pancakes, scrambled eggs and a side of smoked bacon. The aroma of the food hit the receptors in the two’s nostrils. Kayda glanced at Lumi and then the food and back at the chef who gestures them to go ahead and eat.
Kayda cautiously picks up the plate and fork and pokes the warm yellow eggs. She gently stabs them and slowly moves it towards and begins to munch on the piece of yellow protein. A warm sensation surged through her body. Her stomach growled in delight, begging for more. Kayda began to devour her food. The warm sensation her body felt heightened with each bite.
It was pure ecstasy.
Before she knew it, everything on her plate was gone. Kayda looked at Miyako who has also finished eating his food. His eyes seemed like they brightened up ever so slightly.
“Um… If we may, sir, we’d like to stay here.” Kayda softly spoke up.
Tashiro let a small smile grow on his face.
“A good decision indeed.” said Tashiro.
He stood up and walked towards the hallway only to stop before he exited the room. He motioned them to follow him which both the young adults quickly hopped out of their seats in pursuit. Their strange new ‘master’ of sorts had a calm yet cold air to him. He led the two outside to a small open field.
The winds blew around them. The grass sat right above their ankles. Each blade felt soft and sharp all at once. The ground was rough to step on as the grass below hid their feet. However, to put everything simply, it was cold.
“As of right now, you probably think I am nothing more than a normal human being like yourselves. You are partially correct. But I am so much more than that.”
Tashiro’s spiel was confusing to the young adults who stood behind him, but he continued talking.
“From where I stand, I am the new god of this world. I’ve nearly killed off a quarter of humanity within a matter of a few hours. Once when I destroy everything that stands in my way. I will establish a new empire. MY empire of Daybreak.
But recently, I was told I am going to die in two years’ time. And I would like someone to after my short legacy.
I did not do this by any simple means. I used my power. A power I have disclosed to very few people. It is known as Chaos.”
A dark sphere eclipsed the trio, catching the youngsters by surprise. It was too dark for them to see. Kayda could barely make out the Tashiro’s silhouette.
Faint glowing orbs slowly appeared in front of them. There were many different colored orbs floating in the empty darkness. They silently propelled themselves in different directions. Like they were living beings. Upon closer inspection, they almost looked like jellyfish.
Except… these weren’t jellyfish at all.
The jelly-like creatures had small translucent bodies, but their insides were not easily seen. Yet they glowed one after the other like fireflies. Like they were playing a musical number.
Miyako put his hand out as one of the jellyfish creatures floated down. It was a long as his finger. When it landed on his hand, it radiated a soft blue tone with white highlights around its gown-like epidermis and faint streaks of red.
What he was witnessing was fascinating. His eyes brightened up more from their previous dull status. He looked up to see the man in front of them surrounded by these creatures. They danced around him like waves in water. All glowing in different colors ranging from the cruelest shade of red to the healthiest shade of green.
“These creatures are known as Novi. Beings that can sense human emotion and show it through color. These things couldn’t hurt you even if they tried. Such benevolent creatures.” Tashiro explained as he gently rubbed one’s head.
A tiny purr could be heard coming from the creature despite it having no mouth.
“What does each color mean?” Kayda asked.
“well, for instance that I have many dark gray Novi, means I have evil intents. You, dear Kayda, have a few yellow Novi around you. You’re anxious about something. Miyako was a handful of orange Novi around him. The color of fascination.”
The Novi around Tashiro slowly changed from the gray and blue to random shades of purple. The creatures retreated from him in desperation.
“Now, what I was originally planning to do with you two.”
The azure-haired man stood directly in front of Kayda and Miyako. A menacing aura swallowed the entire area as he reached his hands out to them. Neither of them could move. Their bodies felt like they were frozen to the bone. As his hands made contact with the two’s heads, a dark purple aura enveloped them both.
Kayda could barely see nor even knew what was happening to them.
Her eyes were out of control. Pain surged through their bodies simultaneously. It was something that was borderline torture. Agony with no end in sight.
What felt like forever lasted about a minute before Tashiro finally let go of them. They both fell to their knees, shaking and heavily panting.
“It looks like I was correct. You two have greater potential much like the rest. Glad to see my power isn’t going to waste.” Tashiro commented.
Kayda was scared out of her mind. She didn’t even know what he did to her. To Miyako. Did he do something similar to Lumi too? She remained lying in the grass. Afraid of what else might or will happen to her. But to her surprise, her fears were quickly subsided as the man sat down in the grass and began to gently caress each of their heads.
“There is no need to fear me children. You are going to be stronger thanks to me. Thanks to what I gave you…”
Neither of them responded.
“The power of a Natura.”
