Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Memory Lane
November 15, 2032. Hidden Dungeon, Cedar Forest II.

"Strike it!" She commanded.

I swung at full force, seeing the wild bull defenseless as I dodged it to the left, it's horn lightly brushing the surface of my jacket. I maintained my stance as it bellowed in pain, preparing for my next hit. However, as I repositioned myself, I lost footing of the ground, tripping myself off balance. I watched, preparing my body for the pain I was sure to experience as the wild beast rampaged towards me.



Just then, Mia burst into the scene and countered the animal in incredible speed. The fact that she was able to set her position to defend in front of me was already impressive; I felt like she established her guard in the blink of an eye. It all happened so fast: the bull being only a few meters away from me, Mia somehow managing to get between us, and her light sword piercing the bull to death in just 3 blazing-quick strokes. The bull slowed down and stumbled right in front of me as Mia moved out of the way. She was that good. And I, was nowhere near whatever 'just good' even was. "Good training session today!" She said happily, putting away her weapon back into its case. "For you," I replied back tediously. "You did great! What are you talking about?" She asked, extracting the materials of the bull as we spoke. I approached her. "I barely killed a squirrel." "Hehe, yeah but that doesn't matter." She said, almost finished with transferring the bull's raw materials into her Soul DP. "It's the experience and progression that makes the biggest difference. You'll see what I mean one day." It's been nearly 3 weeks since we left Murphy's shop. Ever since, I've gone into the Cedar Forest with Mia, training everyday from sunrise to noon & from afternoon to sunset. For the first 2 weeks she trained my hunting skills in the realm of Cedar Forest I. Once I got the hang of the fundamentals, we began to go deeper and deeper into the forest until we cleared the entire region. Today, we decided to train in the next region, where the two of us first met: Cedar Forest II. She showed me a mini hidden dungeon, the home of hundreds of wild bulls that grazed and ran around in the lightly dense area. After Mia finally completed extracting the last bull that I, errh, that WE fought, the two of us grabbed our things and began to walk back to Central.

On the way back, we passed a patch of land that Mia decided to stop at. "You tired?" I asked. "No," she smiled. "I just remembered something." "What?" "Hehe, silly angel! Can't you remember?" I looked around at our surroundings and finally realized that we stood in the exact spot where I fell from the sky. The exact spot where Mia and I first became friends. I lightly chuckled. "How could I forget?" We smiled at each other, reminiscing on the moment a while longer as we continued on our walk. The journey was fairly silent, until Mia began to speak a couple distances later. "You know," she started, looking at the ground trying to avoid making eye contact with me. "I always wondered what would've happened if I didn't meet you. I mean, if I didn't chose to go through Cedar Forest. And if I wasn't even in the Cedar Forest II realm to spot you falling from the sky." At this time, the sky was a warm orange hue, with the wind softly brushing against our faces. The colorful leaves falling from the trees were like confetti, swaying left and right until it finally touched the ground. "Like what would've happened to you? I can only imagine the different things that could've taken place. What if no one went through this realm & helped you? What if you, you know... Died?" I kept quiet and thought about the idea of it happening. I didn't lose my life which itself is a blessing, but the fact that it was a possibility suddenly stood out in my mind. It was a frightening thought, but I wasn't going to let my emotions get the best of me in front of Mia. "Well... It's not like you could actually die in Cloud 9, right?" I joked, not exactly sure if what I said was true or not. She looked at me and thumped her fist on the top of my head. "Stupid! Coming from a person who isn't FROM C9." Mia said. "Wait, that's actually to be expected... Does that mean in your world people don't die?" "Well, they do --" "Then same here! Duh--" "But it's different because we don't have crystals to heal ourselves and whatnot!" "But on Cloud 9, no matter how graceful and beautiful it may seem, is a world of free will. What I mean to say is..." She paused for a moment. "Unless you're part of the Commons, you aren't protected by The Commons' law. Even then, miscues and accidents, or even intentional deaths can occur. But as a Target, you have no protection from whatever happens outside or inside of a city, in any region or realm, in any continent or space." Mia looked at me with a serious face as she continued on with her deep knowledge of the type of life on Cloud 9. "At any point, anywhere, someone can strike you. To what degree of pain or suffering they have in mind is up to what kind of person they are... but in the end, people are people. And people do whatever it takes to get ahead of the other. As a Target, you're literally--" "A target." I answered, thinking hard about what she was telling me. "And it's up to you to make parties, join guilds or work for others in hopes that they will provide you with some form of protection. However, even then, they have the free will to do you wrong." Mia explained. "Choose your friends wisely," I coined in. "But, for you, is it easier or harder in terms of being born into Royalty?" I asked. "Truth is, many have the perception that because you're from a Royal family, or have royal bloodlines, you automatically are secured with supreme protection." She sighed. "That, is all a myth. In fact, being Royalty puts an even larger target on my back if anything else. Not only is it more dangerous, but its responsibilities are harder. A Royal Family often owns a city; with that, not only do I now have to take care of myself, but also for the Commons and territorial turf in my region. At this point, I lose my free will; I'm forced to protect my kingdom or else, I might lose it all. I'll tarnish my Royal Dynasty that unfortunately has been passed down to me." I could tell from the way she talked, from her body language even, that it upsets her. Mia was the type of girl who wanted to chase her own ambitions, or at the very least, wanted the freedom to choose what those might be. The fact that she saw her prestigious name as a burden made me realize that she was suffocated by her role as the daughter of a royal family. I could feel how bad she desperately wanted to breathe freely. "So you have your family and royal guards that work for your kingdom... That means you all work under one guild?" I asked. "Yeah, a royal family guild, I guess. Knights of Rias Royalty." "And you're part of that guild, right?" "Vice Commander of all operations!" She said proudly, almost as if she was trying to impress me. "Wow, that's great" I told her. "But I have a question." "What is it?" Mia asked, drawing interest in what I was going to say. "After everything you just told me," I began. "On the day I fell on Cloud 9, why were you here, in Cedar Forest II? Alone?" I inquired. She stayed silent for a long duration of time, thinking about the question I just asked. I always wondered where she was headed, or what she was doing, on the day she literally saved my life. "You know, if it's something personal I'm fine with you not telling me," I mentioned. "I didn't mean to put you in an uncomfortable position." She looked at me and smiled. "No, it's not that" she replied. "But it's sweet of you to even consider saying that to me, thanks." Mia looked at the sky as we finally crossed over to the realm of Cedar Forest I. "Truth is, I don't even know why I decided to go through here. I had no intention of going to Central, and I had no business in the Cedar Forest Trail." "How far is your city from here?" I asked. "Well..."



"And why were you not with a small party of your guards?" I then questioned. "If it's dangerous, especially for a person like you, why travel alone? Why leave your kingdom to begin with?" "..." Mia began to let it all out, tired of holding everything in. What I assumed about being strangled in the neck by her responsibilities were finally justified as she tried to take the weight off of her shoulders. "Because I hate it. I hate the pressure I constantly put up with. Like, for once why can't I travel Fiefa just for fun? To hunt & to fight & to discover new things like I used to? Ever since I've been Initiated, it's never been the same... I barely get sleep, I never get to do things my way... I can't even engage in friendly competitions at the coliseum! My father expects so much from me, and I want to make him happy; I want to make all of my family happy, but they're never even there to acknowledge me. Sometimes, I feel like a slave. Sometimes, I feel like a tool rather than a person. Sometimes, I feel so alone." I watched the expressions on her face fill with stress, anger and discomfort. But, what I didn't expect to see was the feeling of relief that showed up on her face as she began to smile. "But, I don't feel so alone... Anymore. I left my town at dusk in the middle of the night to give myself time to cool off; time to escape from my life and to just enjoy myself before my father sends his knights to find me. It's weird because I could've chosen to go in any direction, but I decided to travel at random. The next thing I knew, I was in Cedar Forest II watching something fall from sky in broad daylight. Little did I know, that something... was someone. I still can't think about what would've happened if I decided not to run away, or if I decided to go a different path. You changed me, Gabe. For the first couple of weeks that you've been here on Fiefa, it's been the best couple of weeks I've had in years. Maybe even the best couple of weeks I've had, period." I smiled at Mia, her words hitting the part of my heart that I've been trying to fill for years. I felt a sense of belonging. "I'm glad that I met you, even though the true odds of meeting you were by pure luck. I mean, like I said earlier, someone else could have helped you - or maybe no one at all would've been there to lend a hand." "But in the end, you WERE there. And in the end, we DID meet." I told her. "I guess I was just at the right place at the right time!" Mia said cheerily. "But your behaviour and your mindset... it taught me a lot. I enjoy being around you; I feel like I'm learning how to handle situations I probably would've handled differently if it wasn't for you! Imagine if I didn't meet you..." She said with a cute puppy-dog pout on her face. "I guess I was just at the right place at the right time," I winked. She gave me a look, and I tried to keep on my poker face. "But seriously though, I'm thankful of having you around." I told her. "I honestly wouldn't know what to do in this world if it wasn't for you. Even till now I'm still trying to get the gist of things." "Awe, Gabriel" Mia said. "I appreciate having you around too. You've shown me a point of view that I never saw before. You changed my perspective on my life. I... Sometimes I can't believe how much I've learned and how much fun I've had so far. I just can't believe how lucky I am." "Lucky... I feel the same way." "Right? Like who would've thought I'd ever meet a boy from Earth." "And who would've thought I'd end up making a friend on Cloud 9." I said. "Maybe it was just a coincidence." "Maybe it was just fate." Mia replied. I smiled. I thought about it while finally noticing the walls of Town Central Palace in the horizon. I felt special, having Mia of all people to be able to open up to me about her personal struggles and feelings. Our conversation carried through for most of our walk back to Central; it felt great to hear her out and empathize about her situation. But, it felt greater to know that we inspired each other, cared for each other & helped each other in one way or another. As we continued to walk out of the Cedar Forest I Realm approaching our destination, we smiled at each other as every moment we spent together was a moment of bonding, fun and friendship.

"Man, I'm blessed." I said to myself out loud as I thought about the entire heart-to-heart talk Mia & I just had. "I know you are," Mia said to me, winking her eye as she smiled and giggled. "You're my guardian angel! And I'd expect nothing less." I always wondered, for once, if she knew. If she knew why I said that to myself. I wasn't blessed because I was HER angel; I was blessed because she was mine. My angel from Cloud 9. What a blessing.