The drinks, the music, and the feelings that grew in my chest were intoxicating. Yet it was all coming to an end that day, so I had to move on, I had to grow, so that this fire I had lit in my chest would continue to burn till I die.
Placing my arm around Jabari, I say, "I have a favour."
"NO!"
"WHY NOT!"
"We are finished with this expedition, and I want to go home and get my money. You're going to try to make me do a crazy, nonsensical job. It's always something crazy, Jabari jump into the mouth of this sea creature, Jabari run into that volcano, Jabari use your body as a lightning rod, Jabari suck up all the poison gas. I AM SICK OF IT!"
"But didn't you say you wanted me to push you to your limit, so you can finally be free?"
"I TAKE IT BACK, YOU SLAVE DRIVER, DO YOU JUST THINK BECAUSE I AM STRONG I CAN DO ANYTHING!"
"You've yet to fail me."
"I will fail next time."
"You won't because I will die without you, and are you going to let your friend die over something like this, Jabari?"
Sighing, Jabari says, "You're definitely going to be an evil person someday."
"Don't you know, all legendary heroes are tyrants in their own way."
"Are you Captivant?" I hear a tiny voice say.
Turning my head to the origin, I see a small child, and crouching down to meet his sight, I say, "You know kids aren't allowed in places with alcohol like this; it's bad to sneak here."
"I know, but I just heard you were in the city, and I didn't know what to do with myself. Here," he says, handing me a book in his hand.
Looking at it, I say, "It's my book."
"I read about you, and your expeditions, and it really touched my soul with all that you've done for our people and the dangers you've faced while moving through this land. Would you sign this?"
Seeing the wonder and desire within the child's eyes, I grab the book and sign it, and deep in my soul, I feel the origin of my existence. Yeah, this is what I live for.
-Break-
To move forward in this world, you can't be happy with where you are, with what you've accomplished so far. You must constantly look for greater and better challenges to push yourself against to overcome all that stands in your way and move forward. Well, at least that's what I thought.
Location: Ghost Country, Song; Eastern warzone
Staring into the mass of blood, bodies and screams that exists in front of my eyes, I grab my pen and write on my pages, filling it with as many details as my eyes can take in.
"CAPTIVANT!" His voice says, shattering my eardrums, making me turn to him.
Looking at Jabari with his chain wrapped around men, I say, "No more screaming!"
He throws all the men he has under his grip into a sack of unconscious bodies and says, "How much longer do we have to stay here? I have already taken out over a hundred soldiers."
Clicking my tongue, he says, "Keep bragging."
"I am not bragging! It's hard since they're all trying to kill me, and I am not used to fighting against humans."
"This is already the 8th battlefield we have arrived at. You'll get good at it eventually. We will keep going until I take in everything that I need, until I can put my thoughts into words that can break down the world around others into a new form."
"You say that, but then why are you smiling so much?"
Grabbing my face, I say, "Am I? I didn't even notice. I guess it's just amazing, watching the fragments of a battle that could one day be written in the history book for how amazing it is. In the legend of Dá Wèilái, this moment and what comes after will be put to page till we lose the ability to."
"Hey Captivant, you know that people are dying down there."
"Of course, yet they all do it for their goals, no different than you and I. We are watching history in the making and should be prou-."
In an instant, Jabari grabs me and jumps away as a giant hole appears where I was once standing. Looking at it, I say, "What the hell was that?"
"I have been getting a bad feeling for a while, and it seems that thing I didn't want to notice us has finally caught wind of your actions."
"What who?"
"The bastard who started eying us on all the battlefields!"
ΦA giant distance away from the two boys, he sits in his siege tower, looking down on the battlefield from on high, an archer dressed in green and white robes, with dark blue and gold hair, along with a decorative dark green and gold armour across his chest, waist, and arms that, together with his robes, resemble a bird.
He stares into the distance and says, "No, whoever it is still lives."
"Who are you talking about, general?" an attendant carrying a giant quilt.
"I have been sending reinforcements to the battlefield on the left, yet it isn't turning out how I thought it should. I can only imagine something has been interfering with them, and from that last shot, I can tell it was two boys. From what my Regalia showed me, both of them look rather young, somewhere between 14 to 16, not the kind of people I expect to be able to defeat my trained soldiers."
"Young boys with such skill, why would they be on this battlefield? Do you think they were hired by the Song? Or maybe they are some aspiring martial arts users who wish to test their skills."
"Maybe, but I have another idea. I have heard there have been strange happenings on battlefields that men have had when dealing with Ghost Countries. This means they either have a goal of their own by being on this battlefield, or the Lotus has finally started to strike back at us. Either way, I don't like when people affect my strategies; we will strike them down now. My next arrow."
From the quilt, his attendant gives him an arrow with a blood red organic arrow head, which he places in a short bow and then he spins it before saying, "Sacred Storm Battle Art's; Cyclone."
He fires the arrows, and soon wind starts to gather around it, forming a giant cyclone around the arrow as it moves to Captivant and Jabari's location.
ΦA giant spiralling cyclone comes towards us both, and, grabbing the chain, Jabari says, "Four Beast Battle Art's; Condors Paradise!"
He releases a high-pressure lash with his chain, which, when it slams into the cyclone, shatters both his weapon and disperses the cyclone. Seeing his chain shatter, Jabari grabs the arrow and breaks it, saying, "What the hell was that? There was Spirit Energy in that arrowhead. It should be impossible to shoot spirit energy outside of a Spirit Bow."
"Looking at the arrowhead, I say, "It must've been made from the Divine Lotus of this country. To my knowledge, it allows for spirit energy to be transferred and used in a similar way to Spirit Metal, though it's inferior for you know being living."
"IT SHATTERED MY WEAPON! Besides, if we get found out participating in a war without properly notifying the guild of our situation, we will be kicked out and branded as criminals by Cordum. I am putting a lot on the line just being here with you to begin with."
"Then I guess we should run."
Turning, he stares at three more cyclones and says, "YOU BASTARD!"
Grabbing me, he dashes off as they chase after us, and feeling the wind pressure move through my body, all I can do is laugh from the bottom of my soul as he yells, "WHAT'S SO FUN ABOUT THIS!"
"EVERYTHING!"
-Break-
I couldn't stop when faced with that excitement that was forbidden for people like me to ever gaze upon. I needed to gain more of it, I needed to utilise everything I could to break free and reach a point where it became normal for me.
Location: The Bastion Kingdom, Dá; Chuan Village
Feeling a blow against my back, I raise my head and look around until I stare down and see my doll over a sack of pages and say, "No!"
"Please stop yelling."
Turning my head, I see Jabari with a giant bag against his back, and say, "Wait? What time is it?"
"It's the middle of the night, your body finally gave out and forced itself to sleep. This is your punishment for not taking good care of it."
"DAMMIT!"
"SHHH! People are sleeping in the rest of the village."
"They should savour it, they will one day be recounting when the hero Captivant stayed in their lands."
"If you keep saying things like that, people are not going to like you."
"I don't really want to be liked, I want to be revered."
"That's pretty stupid."
"Easy for someone like you to say, people always revere you because of your strength. People like me need to find unorthodox ways to reach the same heights."
"That's not what I was talking about. I think it's pretty lame to stop people from being your friend, given how cool you can be."
"Flattery won't get you any more money. I have already paid out your extra sum for helping me over the last six months since the expedition ended."
"I don't need to flatter you, given how easy you are to it. How many times have women interrupted your advances at this point?"
"Shut up!"
Laughing, he says, "Captivant. Thanks for being my friend over this last year and a half. It's been lots of fun spending time with you."
His smile feels like the one my father always gave me when I cooked a meal for him and my mother. It's one that I can barely keep my eyes on, fearful of the memories it brings. "It was fun learning how special people work a bit more. I will be using you as a model for some time in my mind."
"All thinking of different ways you can work. If you keep going like that, you might collapse from over exhaustion."
"Wouldn't that be a pleasure? A sign that I have dominated my measly flesh."
"You can't be sincere at all unless it's a woman at this point. How many more times do you need to be defrauded, used, and laughed at before you realise there is no true bond like friendship?"
"I don't pay my friends."
"If I weren't your friend, I wouldn't do all of this asinine nonsense for your sake. Just like how I wouldn't give you these two words of warning before I leave. First, I don't know what you're planning, but be careful. I can tell people have been watching you recently. I don't know how much of this you planned, but know you stand no chance in a fight against them."
"You don't need to tell me that, I already have everything ready and prepared. What else do you want to say?"
"If you truly love the world as much as you say you do, please always keep this in mind. Who does the world belong to?"
"What kind of question is that? Do you want me to say, God?"
He smashes his forehead into mine, forcing me onto the ground. "HEY!"
Standing up, he laughs, then says, "Figure it out for yourself, mister genius. See ya later."
As Jabari walks away, I stand up and get back into my seat as I whisper, "Asshole."
Yet as his footsteps continue moving forward, I turn and say, "Don't di-."
A ball smashes me in my forehead, and his voice says, "Knew you would turn!"
"DIE!"