Legends of the Stars

Chapter 10: The Wasteland

Part II

Exodus

July 10th-July 20th, 2019 AE

"A man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth."

-Charles Darwin

"Long is the way and hard, that out of that Hell leads up to the light."

-John Milton

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."

-Buddha

Chapter 10

The Wasteland

July 10th, 2019 AE, 8:31 AM

Jaden woke up at 8-o-clock the next morning for his journey to the third Divine Temple. His phone's alarm clock pierced through his eardrums with its incessant ringing. He woke up groggy, still exhausted from all the planning they all did the night before. Thankfully, he's always been an early bird, so he immediately got ready to leave with his comrades. He changed out of the pajamas that he borrowed and into his outside clothes. He hopped across his room, trying to get his pants on, and it was just as hard getting his boots on. At that point, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" he responded.

The door opened, and he saw Astra entering the room. She was dressed in her royal, white battle armor and armed with her golden rapier.

"Good morning, Jaden. We're almost ready to go," she said. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yeah, I just need to get my stuff."

As Jaden was putting on his black shirt, Astra saw all the scars on his back that he got in battle. Astra instinctively looked away from his torso, but couldn't resist taking a quick glance at it. Each of his wounds told a different story. They were written with swords, knives, claws. One of them was even made by a speeding bullet. They were the marks that this war has left on him.

Jaden then took the Astral Sword, leaning against the wall and resting inside a black scabbard, and wrapped it around the strap carrying his own blade, the Dark Night Sword. These were the best weapons that he had in his entire arsenal, and he chose to carry both of them, keeping them close at hand.

"Do you think you're prepared for this?" she asked him.

"Your father wouldn't have chosen me if I wasn't, right?" he asked.

"Yes, but we're walking into something greater than all of us."

"Well, there aren't many people greater than me." As Jaden spoke, he put on his gloves and his hookshots around his wrists.

"And what if we run into something that even you can't face."

After a few seconds of thinking about this possibility, Jaden finally responded. "We'll just have to see what happens."

Even though he was trying to be humble, it was true. The only people Jaden could think of that matched his power were Revan, Kaiser, his Death Riders and possibly Astra. He only prayed that he didn't have to face the wrath of the gods themselves.

Jaden put on his long, leather coat, took his sword in its sheath, and carried it over his shoulder with its strap. He looked in the mirror with his electric blue eyes and saw a warrior completely draped in black. On the buckle of his strap was the eight-pointed First Star: the symbol of Arkaeon, King of the Gods, and the Ark Knights that served him.