Apex of the World

Wings of Hope

Staying positive might as well have been his talent.

Even after his family was broken in half by a messy divorce, he had Hope that something good would happen to stitch together the cracked remains of his life. When people asked, he would always insist that he was fine, because if he let the illusion slip, he might not be able to throw it back up again.

Part of it was genuine, but there was a lingering bit at the back of his mind that was a lie, and maybe it was that segment that fueled him. He didn't know for sure, but he was positive that he was really damn good at staying positive when he really shouldn't have been able to.

Going to summer camp with his brother was like a dream come true. If their parents were letting them see each other again, maybe this was a sign that life was finally going back to normal, the way it had been when he was young. He clung to the faith that maybe this was a sign things were looking up.

When he was caught up in the dangers of another world, he was afraid at first, but then something hit him: he was able to be with his brother. His Hope for the future remained, and he was happy to embrace the idea that maybe this was the first step back to the normality he had craved for so many years.

His Hope was shattered the instant the devil entered his life.

Takeru stared up from the ground as an angel manifested. The partner that had cared for him like he was family had changed into something completely different, and he was entranced.

Like all the stories said, the angel defeated the devil, but at what cost?

He couldn't help the tears that streamed down his face as his companion turned to little more than white feathers. They transformed into an egg, and he held it as tight as he could. His friend had just died for him. Even if monsters could be reconfigured and rebirthed, that didn't matter to him much in that moment.

After all, he had the image of death in the back of his mind, and it haunted him at every turn.

He could not bring himself to have Hope for ages after that. Even when his partner returned, it didn't seem genuine to him. Was it impossible for him to reach that optimistic side of himself after all that he had seen? He had no idea, but he wanted to find out.

A gruesome battle left him alone. His brother set off to find help, but he was on his own. He was vulnerable, more so than he had ever been in his life before. He sat on the pier and stared out over the water, praying that there would be something positive soon, but nothing changed. The months passed, but his Hope never returned. If anything, it only escaped him further.

Things began to get better as his family--the one he had put together using rogue children at summer camp--reunited, but his optimism never fully appeared the way it was supposed to. The manifestation of his joy and Hope didn't come back.

Later on, he would learn that this was because of trauma. Seeing his close friend die in front of him was too much for his mind to handle, and he began to break under the pressure. Even at the young age of eight, his brain was changed, and he didn't know how to go back to the way he had been. Was that even possible?

He was falling the next time his Hope appeared fully.

A twisted clown had him tumbling through the air to his death, but he still managed to hold Hope deep down. He was unsure if it was real or not, but he didn't care in the slightest. Yellow light overtook him, and his partner evolved to protect him. His Hope had done that.

But if his Hope was really responsible, why did he feel like he had so little of it?

After a tearful farewell, he returned home. His family did not come together as he wanted, but he learned to hide his disappointment the best he could and press on. That was all he could do, right?

Unfortunately, moving on did not always come easily.

He woke from nightmares of seeing his friend die again and again, and he could never quite get back to sleep after witnessing white feathers turn to data on the wind. His chest heaved as sobs escaped his lips in the darkness of the night. Hope and Light were supposed to fend of the darkness, but he didn't think he had that power in those moments of quiet sorrow.

Trauma only returned full force when he saw the face of the devil again. He stormed after an emperor and forced him to submission out of pure rage. His head pounded, and he knew that darkness was whispering just out of reach. He was supposed to hold the darkness at bay, so why was it coming after him?

In the end, Takeru found hope in the very person who had saved him.

It was a source of fear and trauma for him, but he found safety in his partner. He didn't know what he would do without him.

They endured battle, war, separation, infection (sometimes, he still looked down and saw the scars on his arm from the savage bite of loving teeth), and hell itself. Of course they were unstable, walking on eggshells to keep from tumbling into an inescapable void of depression.

However, it didn't matter. After all, they had each other.

His Hope was found in a small creature that nestled in his arms whenever they meant. For so long, he had been unable to find Hope for himself, so he sought in others and let it fester in his core as purifying light of yellow.

Even if he wasn't able to do it alone, staying positive might as well have been his talent. 

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I love him so much. I also love making him suffer. I really am a sucker for angst. 

Tomorrow will be Hikari!

-Digital