Heroes

Chapter 12: Arrival to the Region of the Dunes

   6 days had passed since leaving Robloxia and the whole Baszucki Region for that matter. I was asleep. I had been training Maddie and myself for almost a week. That, mixed with stress, made me exhausted. Someone on the ship was running to my room. I was still sound asleep when someone threw the bedroom door open. SMACK! The door hit the wall. I woke up and rubbed my eyes. "What's going on? What time is it?" I asked, sitting up and half-asleep.

Briar was standing in the doorway as she energetically told me, "It's 7:40 in the morning. We've reached the Mufakir Region!"

    "Great," I replied, "I'll be ready in 5 minutes. Are we already docked at the marina?"

      Briar nodded. I got out of bed, and put on my eye patch, and my prosthetic arm before getting my clothes out of my small suitcase. 5 minutes later, as promised, I walked into the living room of the boat. "Alright guys, let's get moving. We don't have a moment to waste. We have to find that gem before Kuragari does. There is a train station not too far from here and if we take it, we'll have 2 hours till we get to Zahrat," I explained.

      Arianna grinned, held up her sword, and exclaimed, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hustle and stick it to that warlord creep!"

      I chuckled. I turned to Pascal and Maddie who had gotten on surprisingly well since they met. "You two," I began, "You stay here and watch the boat."

     "What? Why do we have to stay here? We should be able to come with you!" Maddie protested.

        I groaned and told her, "Because Pascal is 3 and therefore, I wouldn't be caught dead leaving him 2 hours away with no supervision."

Maddie grumbled and nodded. Arianna, Lou, Briar, Hinata, Rue, Dahlia, Shiro, Zay, Suzume, and I walked off the Remembrance. We walked up to the registration booth where Briar had already played to dock the boat. A man in his mid-30s with black hair, tan skin, and brown eyes looked up at us. "Hello," he greeted warmly, "may I help you?"

I nodded. "Do you know the way to the Sarie Alharaka Train Station?" I asked.

The man nodded and said, "It's 2 minutes east of here. You see those shrubs over there? Follow them and you'll be at the station in no time."

I nodded again and thanked the man. We followed his directions and followed the shrubbery to the train station. I bought the tickets to Zahrat and we were on our way. On the train ride, I shut my eyes and thought for a moment. What if Kuragari did get the gem before us? What if even if we got it, he killed us on the spot? Cold sweat trickled down my forehead and back and my hair stood up on end just by the thought of those scenarios. I shuddered and shook like pebbles on the ground during an earthquake. Lou looked at me. My eyes were clenched shut, draping a fearful mask over my face. Lou, who was sitting next to me, grabbed my hand amidst my growing panic attack. He tightened his grip as I was hyperventilating. "Hey, Kira, hey, it's okay. It's okay."

Still breathing quickly, I opened my eyes. I was panicking. No one knew much about Kage Kuragari to begin with. When we asked Suzume, the only person with a history with him, she was sheepish and embarrassed as she told us that she had to do everything she could to kill him the first time, but she knew no definite or noticeable weakness. How could we be faster than a demon and stop one that, even as a mortal, was pretty much unstoppable? With my breaths sharp and in quick succession of one another, I fretted, "This whole mission is a lost cause! How can we beat him? He's a lot stronger than us, and we don't even know if he has a weakness! All we are going to accomplish is getting killed and the world will end. We'll all be controlled! We can't do this! This whole mission is hopeless!"

I started squirming and kicking my feet in a frenzy. Lou grabbed both of my hands and tugged me to look at him. His eyes were gentle and smokey like they had been since we began dating, and his thin lips were curled into a small, reassuring smile. "Kira," he began, "it's ok. Listen, you are the strongest person I know. So what if that guy is a demon? So what if he was a very powerful warlord? He is no match for you. You have something that weasel will never have in a million years."

"What's that?" I asked, looking down.

Lou's smile grew as he answered, "A pure heart. When my dad left when I was little, Mom told me to keep my heart pure because a pure-hearted one can always spark another person's heart and a group of pure-hearted people can overcome whatever suffering and evil comes their way because they have the gift of selflessness. Well, to me, you're the best living proof of what she said to me."

    I smiled and hugged him. He was right. I was just overthinking too much to realize it. A being consumed by greed, hatred, and wickedness usually, even when being smart, can act on impulse and be oblivious when attempting to take what they want. I realized that it had been the case for my family's foes for a long time. Grammy's father had been defeated in 1978 because he underestimated Papa's smarts and Grammy's loyalty and compassion towards the Bacon Hairs because of his racist and prejudiced way of looking at things. Dad's father, my didus, got shot and lost the Great War because he was overconfident and prideful in himself and his army. Shiro lost to the Astrals in that battle of 2029 because he failed to recognize the connections and love and forgiveness of our family and community. Rue lost and got reformed solely because of her anger towards everyone and her disillusion with the world. None of the foes that we've faced were dumb or not strong enough, but we knew things they didn't. We had strengths they didn't recognize or understand. Lou was right. "Lou," I said, "You're right."

"I always am," Lou replied, smiling and hugging me back.

I giggled. I sat up and grabbed a book I was, well, re-reading. It's called Every Bird a Prince by Jenn Reese. It's about this girl named Eren Evers getting chosen to be the champion of the birds and fighting creatures called the frostfangs to save her world and the bird world from succumbing to the frostfangs whispers. I read a lot after Mom died. It was a coping mechanism that became a hobby. I was immersed in the book's world when I heard a female say, "Oh! That's it!"

I looked up, stuck a bookmark on page 46, and shut the book. The voice was Suzume having some kind of realization or remembering something from her past that had been long forgotten. "What is it?" Shiro inquired, "Did you remember something?"

Suzume nodded. "I did. When I fought him, Kuragari preferred to fight during the night. Even though it was partially due to advantages on the battlefield, he had an immense dislike for anything that emitted light. He refused to carry torches or lanterns, and even if my fire didn't burn him, he always blocked his eyes," she explained.

      As soon as she said that, a lightbulb went off in my head. If he had photophobia, he probably wouldn't dare attack or make a move during the daytime. Briar commented, "Then we just need to find the first gem by sunset. Luckily, we have more than enough time to find it."

     "Even so," Zay jumped in, "We must remain alert and work with vigilance. If what Zaydi said is true, then Kuragari probably has many followers who are willing to do his dirty work while he remains dormant."

"Yeah, it's not going to be easy. There could be people everywhere who are after us," Arianna agreed.

I nodded. I knew this wasn't going to be easy. We all knew this wasn't going to be easy. We weren't taking a field trip, we were preventing the end of the world. The fate of the world was in our hands. It wasn't time to have a vacation. Putting a hand on her head, Dahlia remarked, "We must hurry, right Kira?"

"Yes," I answered, "this mission leaves no room for screwing around."

2 hours later, we reached the region's capital of Zahrat. All we had to do was trek through Zahrat and make our way to the Tazdhair Temple in the distance. We had to move. Quick.

      ((We have arrived and I've kicked Covid's butt))