The Chronicles of Gaia

Prologue Act

Prologue Chapter

In Your Heart Shall Burn

            “Hah, catch me if you can!”

            “Then don’t run!”

            Cheerful cries from a group of children that were playing together echoed through a vast, green field full of grass. But that didn’t disturb a boy who was lying peacefully under the shadow of a nearby tree at all. This maybe was the last time he’ll ever get a chance of doing this, so he wanted to be with it as much as he could.

            “Hey~”

            But it was so short-lived because of a glass-cracking sound of someone running toward him and stopped only a step away from stomping his head.

            “Wh...What are you doing?”

            He lifted his eyelids up a little before pushing himself up, gave out a long yawn and looked at that someone who was panting for a bit from running.

            “Sleeping, you see, what’s it that you want this time?”

            The answer sent the asker, who was a girl with shoulder-long, dark-red hair. Her face painted with a broad smile. She held something out for him to see instead of answering.

            “What...wow, where did you find this?”

            In her hand was a bright, red gem about a toe’s size. It shone brightly under a gentle sunlight of the afternoon.

            “I found it when I was playing with this girl.” She gesticulated at another girl that just caught up. She couldn’t run easily because of her long skirt, or even couldn’t run at all.

            “Don’t call me...‘this girl’ please.” The second girl treated her long, curly hair, colored like a newly bloomed daffodil, trying to make it looks more neat.

            “Then what should I call you? This childish girl, maybe?” The red-haired girl laughed at the other girl who pulled a wry face in displeasure. The boy smiled while looking at both of them. Since the moment they knew each other, there wasn’t a single day where these two didn’t get into a fight. And he realized that this probably was the last time he’s going to see something like this, a smile faded from his face.

            “Is something troubling you? Why do you look sad?” The long-haired girl asked him when she noticed about his mood.

            “Nope...”

            He replied, but then changed his mind.

            “Um...tomorrow I will move out of this town...”

            The two girls fell into silence for a moment and each of them reacted in the same way as the boy had anticipated.

            “Eh? Rea...Really? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!” The red-haired girl gave out all her shock and rushed to grab the boy by his shoulder and started to shake him.

            “...Where will you move to?” While the long-haired girl kept her calmness and asked for the most important information instantly.

            “Hey, stop shaking me...My dad said we’ll move to Crysalis, his new workplace is there.”

            That answer sent the two girls into depression, Crysalis was really far from here, making it impossible for them to meet the boy after he went there.

            “And...Will you come back here again?” The red-haired girl questioned, her former cheerfulness already slipped away.

            “That’s...” The boy hesitated, although the truth was as clear as day.

            “So...this is the last day we’ll see each other?” The long-haired girl couldn’t cover her sadness up anymore so it showed out in form of tears welling up in her eyes. The same thing also happened to the red-haired girl.

            “Hey, this doesn’t mean we won’t meet again....Someday in the future, I’m sure we’ll...”

            “But now you won’t be here...!” The long-haired girl started to cry out loud, which wasn’t what the boy wanted even for a bit. He bit his lips, tried to keep the sob inside his mouth.

            “Don’t...cry.”

            Surprisingly, the one who handled this situation best was the red-haired girl. She wiped the tear from her face and did the same to the long-haired girl.

            “If we have to say goodbye, we ought to say it happily, right?” She held the boy and the long-haired girl’s hands and said it aloud. The warmth that passed from her somehow greatly vanquished the two’s sorrow.

            “Hehe...always the optimist, aren’t you?” The boy let out a sigh of relief, if the two girls continued to cry, he’d probably cry too. Come to think of it, he decided that this must be better than disappearing without any notice.

            “What about we hold a farewell party tonight? With everyone in the village!” The long-haired girl popped an idea.

            “Um...I don’t think there has to be a party, my family wants to leave quietly so we don’t disturb anyone...”

            “No worries! If it’s my place, no one will be disturbed! And I’m sure they’ll like it!”

            The boy looked at her, amazed at her enthusiasm that he almost never seen before.

            “Alright, I’ll go tell my mom and dad to see if they’re up for this or not. I’ll come back here when they decided.”

            “Wait, I have something for you” As soon as the boy started to pace, the long-haired girl halted him with her call. He turned to her and almost staggered back as she drew her face so close. Her hands went to the back of her neck and detached the chain of a golden locket. She put it around his neck and smiled.

            The boy stared at her with puzzling eyes before the long-haired girl said in a shaky voice, her face blushed.

            “Every time you see this locket...ple...please think of me, okay?”

            He became speechless in that instant, unable to find an appropriate word to say to her while the red-haired girl rushed to him.

            “That’s unfair; I’ll give this to you too, here!”

            She opened the locket, delicately inserted the red gem she found moments earlier into it, when its lid was closed once again, the boy could feel the evidently increased weight.

            “Now you have a reminder of us both. Go, hurry!”

            “Come back soon!”

            “Yeah!” The boy answered shortly and started to run, leaving the two girls behind.

            In his heart, no longer felt rueful as it was before, now filled with joy. Even if he had to leave this village that was his home for all of his life and part from his two best friends, he knew that their bonds will never fade away.

            He strode past the village’s department store, where a bunch of people with familiar faces were seriously talking about something.

            “I’ve heard that the Kingdom’s army is marching on this way and the Union’s army is ready to drive them back, didn’t they say the war is almost over?”

            “Several days before, I’ve seen the Federation’s droid lurking around my farm, perhaps...”

            “Nah, they won’t open up a fight in neutral area...I hope so.”

            “What will we do if the war spreads to here?”

            “Don’t be such a downer; no one pays attention to a small farming village.”

            The boy ignored those words; the only thing he was interested in is telling his parents about the party, it must be great.

            But then, something has caught his attention.

            It was three black dots soaring from the east horizon with high speed, faster than any living thing. An atrocious feeling built up in his chest. He turned back, intended to tell the adults.

            It was too late.

            Boom!!

            As the black dots flew past the sky above the village, six places in the area exploded almost simultaneously. Scarlet flames rose up with black smoke columns, the shock from the blast poked the boy into the ground, his ears deafening from the thunderous sound. When he jerked his face up, all he saw is a wreckage of the department store, burning with hellish flames. And the people, who once stood there, were no more.

            The boy rose up, confusion and immeasurable fear mixed together rendered him unable to understand everything that just happened.

            Everyone who talked a minute before, were all dead?

            “A..aw...awah!!”

            He let out an unintended cry, turned around, the only thin remained in his mind was home. When a small townhouse he lived since he was born started to become clear in his vision, three black dots went back over the village again.

            And six more areas went into dust; the boy curled himself until the shock vanished and stood up, feeling glad that he wasn’t dead yet. But then his heart fell as he saw that his house was catching fire from nearby building that now lay crumbled.

            To make matter worse, an army in deep green armor, armed to the teeth, spouted up from underground all over the village, one of them was near the boy. It turned to him and said in low, crude voice.

            “Run, boy, if you still want to see tomorrow.”

            Just as the sentence ended, the armor was hit by something from the side and thrown aside into a destroyed building. The boy turned to the direction that the attack was sent from.

            It came from the forest near the village, where another army wearing different armor was sprinting out like there was no end of them and some fired their weapons upon the green-armored army. The chaos that erupted suddenly almost made the boy forgot that his house was burning.

            He pushed the front door open so hard that his mother would’ve scolded him and his father, who always slept in his office, would’ve waked up. But the boy didn’t care now.

            “Mom! Dad!” He shouted as he braved through the heat of merciless flames that were consuming everything he knew, his favorite sofa and bookshelf in the living room, the dining table that still had leftover food on it, the photos hanging on the wall, all turning into mere ashes.

            Still, there was no sign of his parents.

            Bedroom, living room, dining room, they weren’t in any of these; the only place left was his father’s office.

            Even in the situation that offered no time to hesitate, the boy was still reluctant to open the door of that room, because his father once told him: ‘Never go inside’

            But in the end, the worry became the victor; he opened the door, and lost his breath at what he saw.

            His father lied on the floor; his long, white coat soaked in blood that it turned red, and several holes were on it. While his mother leaned against the room’s wall, her black hair almost hid her face. On her chest and stomach were wounds from bullets. The boy dashed to her and fell to his knees, shook her frighteningly.

            While she saw who was shaking her, his mother smiled feebly, light came back into her eyes. Her lips sent out words that weren’t louder than whispers, one of her bloodied hands touched her son’s cheek.

            “I’m glad you’re safe...”

            And that hand fell down, leaving a trail of blood on the boy’s face.

            Breaking his world along with it.

            “No...No...No!!!”

            The boy cried out uncontrollably, but his mother was no longer there to comfort him.

            ...He had no one left now...

            The flames stormed up, but he didn’t notice it. He no longer wanted to live.

            A part of the ceiling broke down, and pressed the boy against the floor but he didn’t bother to try to escape. The heat slowly turned into kind warmth. His eyes saw nothing but the red flames and pale faces of those he wouldn’t see again. His ears seemed to hear somebody’s footsteps when the remaining ceiling crushed down.

            And everything he saw turned into blank darkness.