Yashin & Jiyu's Ultimate Adventure!

The Tiresome Journey [44]

The Royale ship of Crystopia landed on the sandy plains of O'Ryant as the door opened in its usual vertical way.

Our team got off the ship one step at a time, imprinting their footsteps in the vast desert. Ahead, was nothing but golden sands, blowing in a light wind under the blazing sun.

The one driving the ship turned on sleep mode and said, before closing the doors, ''O'Ryant's village is just up ahead! Go straight forward and you'll see some small buildings. I'll stay here and wait for you, just let me know what to do after that!'' he smiled and waved as Linette replied, bowing, ''Thank you! And please get in touch with Queen Colette, letting her know that we made it here safely!''. The driver tipped his hat in response and readied the communication system, closing the doors and giving one last wave.

It was a long walk but they finally came across a crooked sign, labelled 'O'Ryant'. Behind that, was spotted a few small, very broken buildings and a few intact ones in the distance. Upon seeing it, the group fast-walked over and barely saw a single person in sight.

Suddenly, somebody came out of one of the intact buildings. They gasped at the sight of visitors and then smiled sweetly, rushing over. Just in case, Cyrus hovered his hand over one of his swords.

She then stopped in front of them and spoke, ''Hello there, travellers! Welcome to O'Ryant! We weren't expecting another tour group but I can escort you myself to Nokrihara Church!'' she stepped to the side and showcased the largest building of all, shining in its concrete grey exterior. ''Ah, so that's what the church looks like...'' Seiko muttered, under his breath. Yashin then looked to Jiyu and she gave a small nod. Before the girl could continue, Yashin exclaimed ''Actually, we were hoping to talk to your Lord... about some pretty serious affairs regarding what you may or may not have heard from Kwamslak.'' Yashin finished, unsure if she should've taken out some details. The girl then responded, ''Oh... Well, Lord Addaline already knows about the new president! And is handling their reign perfectly fine, in my opinion!'', Jiyu rolled her eyes and said, ''We still need to talk to him. If you could just point to where he may be, we'll be gone before you know it!'', the girl looked nervous as she then spoke quietly, ''I don't know... he's really not in the mood for unexpected guests at the moment...''. Pico pleaded, convincing her ''Please, this is really important...''. She thought for a moment with a guilty expression and then gave in to their request. ''Fine... But I'll warn you now, the Lord isn't the friendly type!'', ''That's fine! We've met plenty of unfriendly people before! Plus, this is too important to let it slide.'' Linette reassured as the girl smiled slightly and nodded, ''Alrighty! The lord's office is just this way. I'm Nadia, by the way! The lord's right-hand gal and military's second in command! Nice to meet you all!'' Nadia introduced herself as she started walking to another intact building. ''It's nice to meet you, Nadia! And thank you, my name is Akarui! That's Yashin, Jiyu, Pico, Linette, Seiko and Cyrus!'' Akarui spoke up, pointing to each of her friends and introducing them to her. Nadia then smiled and commented, ''Wow, I've never seen such a colourful group before!'' She chuckled lightly as she stopped in front of a wooden door, with a sign stating 'Do Not Disturb.'

Nadia knocked three times and yelled out to the one inside, ''Um, M'lord? There are some people here to see you...''. In reply, a serious voice rang out, ''Not now, Nadia! I've got a lot of work to do.''. Nadia nervously yelled back, easily guessing his annoyance, ''And I told them that but they really need to speak to you! If you could just spare them a little of your time...?''. The voice wasn't heard for a few seconds before finally giving an annoyed groan and continuing, ''Fine. Bring them in.''. 

Nadia opened the door and let the group slowly walk in, seeing the face behind the voice. A black-haired man in light armour was sitting at a desk with piles of paperwork on it. He crossed his arms, staring at each individual. Jiyu noticed a map of the region pinned neatly on the wall behind him. He then sarcastically said, ''Well? What was so important?''. Cyrus stepped forward, speaking for the group as they too had caught Nadia's nervousness. ''Lord Addaline, we wanted to join forces with you in order to properly stop Itazura from whatever plan she has brewing because we both know it isn't a good one. We're all somewhat skilled at fighting, among other things and could prove to be a useful asset. Additionally, we have the rest of the gems. You were smart enough to trick Itazura with yours, maybe we can trick her again and successfully take her down this time.'' Cyrus finished, bowing slightly in respect. Unexpectedly, Lord Addaline started to chuckle slightly. Linette then asked, ''Excuse me... What's so funny?'' to which he answered, still chuckling now and then, ''You're just kids - Aha, and yet you wanna join up with my military and pronounce yourselves heroes? Who gave you the idea that you could take down a nation leader so easily? I bet you've never even fought a war before.'' He stopped chuckling and gave a serious expression. That's when Yashin snapped calmly, ''We technically have though. We joined with the Khojumeno military and fought Itazura's Kwam Imperials directly.'' she smiled, proudly, trying to show off their experience. He raised an eyebrow and then said, ''Khojumeno? as in Lieutenant Lou's army? I knew Lou was stupid but this is a whole other level - I mean, letting kids join the fight? She's so irresponsible. Look, no offence-'' the Lord was cut off by Jiyu as she angrily snapped, ''Uh? A lot of offence! We've done a lot to get where we are!''. Lord Addaline sighed and replied, ''And I'm sure you have. But we've got things under control here. So for hisome's sake, just let me protect the gems and go home, play your videogames or whatever you kids do.'' the Lord finished as the room went quiet. Nadia shuffled her way to the front and Cyrus hesitantly gave her the box where the gems were, along with the key. She opened the box and there they were, 7 gems, each with a slightly different colour. She showed Addaline who told her to close it and stay in his office after the seven left. 

They slowly left his office, heading back the way they came. Before they got to the sign, Nadia ran out, leaving the box with her lord. She waved, thanking them for coming and finally, saying a common O'Ryant farewell, ''May hisome guide you, travellers!''. She then rushed back, getting back to her duties.

Before they saw the ship in the distance, Yashin vented, ''I can't believe he just called us kids... we're trying to help! We have to go back and convince him.'', but still riled up, Jiyu snapped, ''No, Yashin! He had a point. There are literally whole nations ready to fight this. We're trying to be heroes but- I mean, can't we leave it up to the professionals? Why does it have to be up to a bunch of kids to save the world?! We've met gods who could protect us when the time comes so why did WE choose to fight?!'', before Yashin could reply, Seiko thought back to when he had to face Charlie, and the pain they all went through before that. He then agreed, ''I knew this was going to be a challenge, but it feels like stupid torture at this point.'' Akarui added, ''Yeah... Can we like, take a break... or something?''. Linette put a hand on Jiyu's shoulder, calming her down. Yashin then replied, ''B-But you guys- Itazura is planning something big, I know it! Let's just talk about this for a second -'' Pico then cut in, saying in a sad tone, ''We don't even have a plan if we were to keep fighting. Yashin... I think its time to go.''. Akarui spoke up again, crossing her arms and looking down at the sand, ''Yeah... I think so too. I'm tired.''. Yashin stuttered, not wanting to believe that her friends had slowly given up. She barely got out, ''I... I-'' until Jiyu replied, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving a bittersweet smile and saying, ''Let's go home, Yashy...''. Yashin hadn't replied. She simply followed the others who were slowly making their way toward the ship.

While walking away from Yashin and Jiyu, Cyrus turned to Seiko and said, ''Are we really giving up and going home...?'' as Seiko replied, ''I think so... yeah.'', ''I didn't expect to be going back so soon...'' Cyrus mentioned as he looked toward the ground, disappointed. Seiko noticed and reassured, ''It's okay! You can stay with me in Cloverton.'' Cyrus thanked him as Seiko smiled and they continued their way to the ship.

The ship driver didn't question anything after asking if they were alright. Linette asked him to drop everybody off in their respective homes, leaving Crystopia for last.

Linette, Akarui, Pico and Jiyu hugged Seiko and Cyrus as they got off at Cloverton. Yashin waved from behind as she continued to sit and think alone. After the door closed and they were heading to Cloakskyne, Linette realised something and said aloud, ''Oh! Akarui, since you can't really go back to Kwamslak, you can stay with me and Colette, if you'd like!'', Akarui happily accepted and thanked her as the two leaned on each other the rest of the way home.

Finally, Yashin, Jiyu and Pico got off at Cloakskyne. They hugged and said their sad goodbyes to Linette and Akarui as they waved and the ship door closed, heading back into space to its last stop in Crystopia.

The three didn't talk much as they headed to Yashin's place. She realised she lost her house keys. However, she smiled to herself and picked up an extra one from under the welcome mat.

After entering her old home, the three slumped on the floor, in front of the couch. They miserably stared into space, processing the past few weeks of their lives and what it all led up to.

Well, at least they were home.