Saga: Journey to the Sunrise
Arc 1: Retro Anomaly
Chapter 11: Words
The moon kissed the horizon and the day began with a love-stare between the sun and moon, standing opposite to each other.
The clouds looked faintly divine today, as Lanmyth had been unconscious for hours.
"Mister! Mr.!" Erika was shaking him, trying to wake him up.
Zarita, out of irritation, stomped her foot onto Lanmyth's stomach. He jolted awake with a scream.
Eh? Where am I?
I'm surrounded by beautiful girls? Am I dreaming?
His blushing cheeks, right after waking up, made Scyures hide his own face in embarrassment.
"Oii, idiot! Stop slacking off!" Zarita yelled. Lanmyth, still dizzy, looked at her—but her face was blurry; he couldn't quite see.
However...
With a rather unusual smile on his blushing face, Erika just stood there staring blankly. Hein grabbed Erika's hand and pulled her out of the hut under the excuse of a "family matter."
Thud! Slam! Rumble!
The door burst open and Lanmyth stumbled out, blood trailing from his mouth. He'd been beaten up by Zarita for what she sensed as "incest-like" feelings.
Lanmyth calmly rested his hand on Erika's shoulder and said, "Even God has to act human. So don't think I'm just a mere human because of this, my divine mistress."
Erika was flustered, but kept her composure and helped steady Lanmyth.
Myale, standing on the rooftop, jumped down in a new robe made of special fiber found during their stay.
"I'm not wearing a bra," she announced.
Lanmyth, Erika, Zarita, Scyures, Hein, Gunbo, and Guffu stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Did you just say something?" Scyures asked, thinking he misheard.
"Are you right in the head?" Lanmyth added.
"(Sigh) Did the anomaly affect your brain?" Zarita questioned.
"That's weird," Guffu said.
"What in the what?" Erika asked.
"Huh?" Hein blinked.
"Is this a puberty side effect?" Gunbo wondered.
"I'm not wea—"
"We didn't ask you to repeat it!" Scyures cut her off.
"Why? If I may ask?" Zarita added with sarcasm.
"I once read that empresses and women in ancient civilizations didn't wear it either. It restricted their fighting movements," Myale said.
"...?" Everyone was stunned.
"This was just a shackle imposed on girls. In modern times, modesty is preferred over survival," she explained.
"If I say anything now, I'll be damned," Scyures muttered.
"It's your choice. If you're okay with it, no objections. And let me make it clear—we're not interested. No one here is or will lust over something so petty. So rest assured," Lanmyth assured, drawing a clear boundary.
Zarita stared at Lanmyth for a while.
"I don't care," Myale shrugged.
"...?" Lanmyth was confused—so were the others.
"As for your feelings? They're just hormones. And if you try anything physical, I can just slice your throats."
That threat was enough to make the boys scatter.
"How does it feel, though?" Zarita asked.
"It feels... free," Myale replied.
---
Lanmyth walked near a pond, leaning on Gunbo, Scyures, and Hein for support. Erika had left for training.
Gunbo sat resting against a tree, his twin swords beside him. Lanmyth dipped his feet into the water. Scyures lay on the grass, and Hein wandered around the pond, munching on a golden, juicy fruit.
"What do you think?" Gunbo broke the silence.
"What do you mean?" Scyures turned to the side, his view of the pond blocked by Lanmyth's back.
"It's just... a weirdly uncontrollable, unique situation," Lanmyth replied.
"We can't say anything, you know," Gunbo said while cleaning his King's Sword.
"If we agree, we're perverts. If we disagree, we're evil dominant males. What a thing," Lanmyth sighed.
"Why are we even discussing something this petty?" Scyures asked.
"It's not petty. You were a gamer, right? You don't know how sensitive this issue is," Lanmyth said, cracking his fingers.
"Can't we just take it as a joke, man?" Scyures replied.
"If it were that simple, the world would be a utopia," Gunbo said, glancing at Hein picking flowers in the distance.
"'Utopia,' huh? Since you're the eldest, describe it for me," Lanmyth asked.
"(Sigh) Where do I begin? A world where men and women live in harmony. No one's forced to wear something because of society. Men only look at their own women, and women get to speak their minds," Gunbo said.
"Sounds like a politician's promise," Scyures muttered.
"Liar," Lanmyth pointed.
"..?" Gunbo looked puzzled.
"You're thinking too simply. You haven't even scratched the surface. If I speak some harsh truths, hundreds would come after me," Lanmyth said.
"But as Zarita once said—this is an era where things like that don't matter beyond the societal towns of kingdoms. We could stumble into a city of naked men or one filled with lust-driven women," Lanmyth added.
"Hey Gunbo, why weren't you shocked by us talking about past lives or eras?" Scyures asked.
"Oh, that? Zarita already told me everything. Don't worry. This world is bizarre enough to surprise me every day." Gunbo picked up his Knight's Sword and began sharpening it.
"I wonder... if women had dominance, what would've changed?" Scyures asked.
"Nothing. The world would still be the same. Rights for men would be an issue. Women would develop more testosterone, and men would become more feminine. The cycle would repeat," Lanmyth said, sipping pond water.
"Then what's the solution?" Scyures asked. Gunbo listened while sharpening.
"There are many. One is Gunbo's Utopia. Another is roles."
"Roles?" Scyures tilted his head.
"Yeah. That old-school thinking where both genders have their 'supposed' roles," Lanmyth said, brows twitching.
"Wasn't that inequality? Isn't it why it was abolished?" Scyures asked.
"You know, humans have a habit of making flexible things absolute—and absolute things flexible. These roles were created to honor strengths and give ease, not restrict. But humans made them absolute. Those who wanted to step outside were treated as taboo.
Now tell me—if I say the word sex, your eyes instinctively scan the room, don't they?"
Lanmyth continued, "Yet everyone knows it's an unavoidable truth. It's a blessing that we can multiply. But when humans thought they were above instincts, they made it a taboo.
They say never forget your roots—yet humans try to forget their animalistic origins.
Men, women... true equality will come when we stop labeling and start seeing each other as just humans."
With that, Lanmyth dove into the surreal water of the forest. Golden sunlight sparkled across the soft purple surface.
---
Zarita's Side
Zarita and Myale were walking.
"What do you think about those bastards?" Zarita asked.
"Who?" Myale bit her lip.
"Them. How bad can guys be? Can't they just chill with platonic relationships? And we're blood-related, damn it," Zarita frowned.
"It's not like they're doing it intentionally—Achoo!" Myale sneezed.
"See!" Zarita pointed. "Even your body refuses to defend them!"
"I'm not defending everyone—just those who deserve it. And incest was a thing in ancient times," Myale said, challenging her.
"You and your ancient kinks! What kind of woman are you?! You should be standing with us—not protecting those bastards."
For the first time, a tear welled up in Zarita's eye. She ran toward a cliff and sat there.
Myale followed and sat, leaning her back against Zarita's.
"You know... in my past life, my father was a drunk who beat us. My mom ran away with my siblings. I was left behind. That man tried to sell me in a dark auction, but I escaped and became a thief," Myale confessed.
Zarita's fingers twitched.
"Then why defend them?" she asked.
"Why defend? Why should I defend anyone?" Myale replied.
Zarita clenched her fists.
"Or maybe the question is, why do we even need to defend ourselves? If women were truly normalized, we wouldn't need safety from every gaze," Myale said.
"We never even got the chance, right? The world is unfair. So we have to make it fair ourselves."
"If we don't try to rise beyond our basic instincts, how can we evolve? On Earth, everyone protected modesty—but no one tried to normalize it like they did for men."
Myale's brows twitched.
"You're right! We never got a chance—those men never gave us one!" Zarita burst out.
"Why are you so aggressive toward men?" Myale asked.
Zarita, eyes filled with tears, whispered,
"I had a little brother. One small mistake—he stumbled into a girl by accident. There was a scene. The crowd... they killed him."
She couldn't speak further.
"How ironic. In my story, a man was the villain. In yours, a woman. And yet... we sympathize with them more than ourselves," Myale smiled bitterly.
"Then what? Should I just think it was his fault? Just to forget it all?" Zarita asked. "How can men learn to live with us?"
"They already do. Men and women have always coexisted. If one left, the other would cease to exist.
Instincts can't be erased—but they can be embraced within a fine line.
We were given these bodies—we should feel blessed.
Friends exist so we can show them our true selves within that boundary.
Marriage exists so we can merge those boundaries."
Myale concluded,
"We women doesen't need sympathy but understanding. And with understanding comes criticism which most discard thinking it's against us. Do you know both men and women have their tragedy,
women were taught to endure it and men were taught to embrace it.
So,
we started rebelling against it, yet they never understood their own tragedy.
And using someone's tragedy just to prove a point is the most devious sin a human can do.
It's your tragedy that you lost your brother, mine is I lost my family. But we can't use them to make something correct incorrect, we can't turn a blind eye to what's real. If we want to change the world, we have to see the truth first."