Khaos Wars

Chapter 6 - The true threat

Aika held around the stranger's neck as tightly as she could. Even with her weight on his back he ran incredibly fast. Her eyes were already starting to adjust to the darkness and she could slowly make out that they were back in the forest.

She occasionally turned around and watched as the worn-out building became smaller and smaller the further they walked. She wondered if she should try to talk to the stranger. He did save her life after all; she shouldn't have a reason to be afraid anymore.

"You should be safe now." The stranger said. A moment of uncomfortable silence followed.

"Who are you?" Aika's voice had become hoarse and it trembled. Her body was still shaking.
"My name is Saito Daisuke." He sounded as static and serious as he did earlier. Despite that; there was something trustworthy about him.

"How do you know who I am? And who were those guys?" Aika asked about everything that was bothering her. He seemed to know a lot more than anyone else; hopefully he could give her some answers.

"Don't be afraid, young lady, I am your ally." Ally? Does that mean Kazu was her enemy? "And about those guys; you might already have noticed, but they aren't from Tellus." There is that thing about Tellus again. Takeshi also called it that. Aliens on Earth? They looked strangely human; if it weren't for the monsters she wouldn't have believed him. Still; this was a lot to swallow.

"What do I have to do with this? Why did they kidnap me?"

"Because you're in their way. I'm surprised they let you live that long." So they really were going to kill her. When she thought about it, Takeshi mentioned reporting something to "the Guardians". Does that mean they were being given orders? Then maybe Kazu wasn't doing this because he wanted to.

"How do you know all this? Aika's voice was starting to normalize.

"Because I am one of them." Aika was a bit taken aback by his answer. She should have expected it, but it still surprised her. Probably because of the situation they were in; alone with an alien in the woods at night. The thought was kind of frightening.

"I can't really make sense out of this. Can you please tell me everything that is going on?" Even though she was a little scared she felt like she could trust him. Daisuke stopped and carefully put her down, then proceeded to sit down on a log behind her. He tapped the space beside him twice to signal her to sit down as well. Aika did as she was told. He then took something out from his pocket; a small, transparent, slightly glowing orb.

"Eat this. What it is isn't important right now. The important part is that it will make you heal faster." Aika didn't question him and quickly swallowed it. The best way to describe its taste was something like water; cold, nothing, but still something indescribable. She felt no effects of it yet, but it was still too early to come to conclusions.

"It is kind of complicated, but I'll try to explain." Daisuke took a deep breath. "Kazu and Takeshi, together with Takeshi's younger brother are here on a mission; a mission to eliminate all of mankind."

No way, not Kazu. He wouldn't want to do that, maybe Takeshi forced him. She had only seen him one time, but felt such a strong connection. She didn't really understand it herself, it just felt right.
"That's not possible." Aika didn't know why she said that. It just slipped out. She had to defend Kazu. Daisuke sighted.

"Ever wondered where the monsters came from? Those guys are the ones behind it. The monsters are buying them more time to resurrect Khaos. He is a bloodthirsty solider who was sealed away for his crimes against our people. We need to stop them before history repeats itself."
"What crimes?"

"There was a war 16 years ago. Our people of Cronos against a homicidal species named Lazar. We barely made it thanks to Khaos; he was seen as a hero after that. Until he lost it and started killing the ones he swore to protect." Daisuke paused a bit. He looked a bit hesitant; like he wondered whether he should tell her more. He clutched his uniform tightly.
"This uniform I'm wearing belonged to my father who fought in the war. He survived it and I was so happy. Until Khaos killed him and my mother in cold blood because they tried to stop him when he lost his way." Aika could hear the emotion in his voice; it was so different from before. She couldn't see him clearly in the dark, but she wondered if he was crying.
A few seconds passed.

"I was only five years old when it happened." Aika didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry, I got carried away." Daisuke quickly got up from the log. He tried to hide it, but she could hear the sadness in his voice. He turned around to her and reached a hand out.
"Shall we continue?"

***

They had been walking in silence for a while. Aika quickly took a glance at his face. His expression was the same as when they first met; was he just trying to be strong? Poor thing.

"I think you should know," Daisuke must have noticed that she was looking at him.
"There is one tiny physical difference between humans and cronians. Our ears are different." He pushed some of his hair back. The tips of his ears were pointy, not round.
"Thanks. That's nice to know." Aika was convinced he was not lying. A light shone through the trees in front of her. They must soon be out of the woods.

They passed the trees where the light was coming through. Tall, ruined buildings and smashed police cars came into view. She was back at the scene, back where she fought that cruel monster. From the look of it, only a couple of hours could have passed.

"Oh by the way, I wanted to thank you for everything. I..." Aika turned around to Daisuke again, but he was gone. Where did he go? Back into the woods? She couldn't stop thinking about what difficult situation they all were in.

What a tragic hero.