Project Honkai (VERSION 1, DISCONTINUED)

A normal village? I think not!

I turn my head back at the tree. The golden glow of the sun contrasting with the dark branches of the tree casts a shadow over me. The sun is setting now. I should probably get some rest.

I sit down, my back resting against the harsh surface of the tree and slowly drift off into a deep slumber. Not the best place to take a good rest after a long day but bear with me.

***

I wake up to the golden glow of the sun shining in my eyes. I stand up and start walking towards a nearby spring where I wash my face. I glance at my reflection in the water. My hair seems to be all messy. What was I doing last night? Well, I don't have a hairbrush so I guess I'll just have to deal with it.

I look upwards. In the distance I can find the silhouette of the city. It shouldn't be that far from here. I can get there by the evening.

I start walking and pick up a good pace. The atmosphere feels.. somewhat thicker around here. The amount of trees start lessening and the air turns from a nice cool spring breeze to a cold dense fog. As I was walking, I find an old village. It gives such an eerie and obscure feeling that sends me shivers down my spine. The village seems to be abandoned, though it feels as if it wasn't, and there was still civilization living here. All the crops, still good as new. Vines trimmed, you can barely find even a spect of dust here. But why is no human here? Are they perhaps in hiding? Did they leave recently? But wouldn't they take their crops with them? They can't be dead. There are no signs of a mass slaughter. No blood, no anything! Were they captured? That would be impossible for every single civilian to be kidnapped. There has to be at least one still here.

Curiosity gets the better of me. I look around, and around, and around. No signs of life. Then, I walk upon a large house, unlike the others this one seemed more significant. It seems suspicious. I put my ear on the door to hear if there are any happenings on the other side. There is a slight melody, a nostalgic one. I don't know where I've heard it but I definitely recognize the tune. Someone in there is playing the piano. For some odd reason, I think about that girl again. She reminds me of that tune. Same with that Cerise girl. They give off that sort of odd energy, as if they weren't originally from this world, or the world I had came from. They both have a futuristic style in a way.

The harmonious melody stops. Right there and then I hear a loud blood splatter. I try opening the door without haste. It's locked. Various locks are holding the door closed. There is also a sofa in the way. I start kicking the door down. I broke most of the locks, and the sofa, but one lock still remains. Someone combined their aura into it and it seems like they mastered the technique of nen. Shit. Was this a suicide? I then stop aiming for the door and instead go for the window. Millions of glass pieces shatter. I crawl my way in to get a good look at what's inside.

On the floor I find a a pair of dismembered legs. The upper part of the body has blown up. As I get closer to inspect the body, it wiggles and twitches. I gagged at the sight. Around the room there are white and blue petals? Usually they are red. What could this mean. On the floor I find a burnt out candle, a book, and a music sheet. I pick up the book. It's a 'spell' book, or well a fake one. One you could find at your local Walmart during Halloween. So the person here didn't know how to use nen? So then someone beforehand had placed their nen into the lock. Then did this person add all those other locks? How did they blow up exactly? A million questions rush into my head. I want to keep investigating, though there is a voice in my head telling me not to continue on.

Right. I should probably be heading to Asgard. No time for lingering.

I continue walking. The atmosphere feels thick, so much that it's suffocating. I continue pushing forward. I have gone through worst, of course. This is nothing.

I reach a cliff side. There's nothing here. I look at the map, then back at the cliff. The city should be here. But from the looks of it, it isn't. I perch my head downwards. Nothing. I tilt my head up. A giant floating island sits above me. Ah, so it's up. How the hell do I get up there?!?!!?

Do I fly maybe? Akane had teached me before a while back just in case I fall off of a cliff or something like that. I never had the opportunity to try it out before though. What if I fail? There would be no coming back if I screw this up. I can't just 'respawn' if I do actually manage to fall. I can't die, not just yet! I had made a promise to Kronnii..

I inhale, I exhale. I can't be scared. Then I wouldn't get anywhere in life. Even if I do die, Kronnii would accept it. She would give me a pat on the back saying "Hey, at least you tried!" with a cheeky grin on her face. If I back down now, then I would fail her even more!

On that cue I suddenly feel a presence, like a hand on my shoulder. "You won't get anywhere if you give up now! Keep going on with life. Always take the risk. You never know if you would die or not, but that's ok! Give yourself your own purpose, and then focus on it like it's your everything in life! If you don't know your purpose, then make it your goal to find it! Treat it as if it were a mission. You wouldn't want to fail a mission now would you? That'll disappoint someone in this world. If you gave up on your mission in life, then that very person would feel discontented. I used to know someone who had given up on their life.. They left me alone, saddened greatly. There's a difference between giving up and risking your life. Risking your life means that you're doing it for the greater good!If you kept going then you would make someone in this world feel proud! Even if you died, they would still feel satisfied since you were brave enough to take the risk, to keep going, to persevere! Always take the risk, we can think about consequences later. It may sound stupid but trust me! It'll work out in the end!" I hear a familiar voice say.

I turn my head, shocked. I see a slight glimpse of Kronnii with her blue streaks swaying in the wind and with an uplifting smile plastered on her face. Her eyes are closed, though I can see a small, singular tear running down her face. The glorious sun gleams a ray of brilliance on the dark strands of her hair. I jolt up and try to reach for her but when I blinked she disappears, as if she were never there.

I then feel something wet on my face. I maneuver my arm towards my face to find out that I'm crying..? I really do miss Kronnii that much don't I? I wipe the tears out of my face. I can't be crying now, I have a mission to complete!

I raise my arm up into the sky and close my eyes. 'Calm yourself and embrace your true potential' I remember back to the words that Akane had told me back at our time training with Kronnii. I steady my breathing and slowly open my eyes back up. Suddenly the air around me rises up and conjoins together into the palm of my hand. 'Focus all the wind at one part of your body. Then release!' I unleash the gust of wind from my hand and surround my body with it. I combine it with my aura to make my body lighter than usual so it's easier for me to fly. My feet lift up from the ground and I start ascending slowly but surely. I glide around in the sky. It's hard to control but I'm sort of getting the hang of it. And then eventually, I finally, after all this time, reach the city of Asgard.

My feet reach the ground again and I'm finally at the city. It's all lively with many street vendors, children playing around, you can practically see five parties going on even just at the entrance! After staring at the city in awe I decide to stroll around the streets for a bit. The delicious aroma of food fills the air, and colorful lights fill the avenue in every direction! The loud, playful music of the street musicians strums into your ears, making it seem as if you were in a movie and this is the background music. In the distance, I find some kids playing with this sort of spinning top game. Must be a sort of local thing. The festive and entertaining atmosphere transforms my usual straight line of a mouth into a soft smile.

But quickly that smiles fades away because of a harsh hit in the head, knocking me unconscious.

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