Truth and Family: A God's Journey

Soon, before Asahi knew it, he approached a corridor leading deep inside the glaciers that had entombed the castles underneath. The snow fell relentlessly, swallowing half the nation in one frosty gulp.

The clouds gathered in the blue sky, covering the brilliant rays of sunlight that had eclipsed the ball of light.

Gripped by both fear and determination, Asahi clenched his fists, his mind racing with thoughts of the past and the hope of uncovering long-buried secrets.

Despite the icy grip of fear that threatened to hold him back, a flicker of hope and determination propelled him forward, deeper into the Graveyard of Castles, searching for any clues about the past.

"The Graveyard of Castles hints at the survival of my nation..." Asahi said as his followers nodded in agreement. "My question... is how did some survive outside while the rest were entombed underground?"

The followers were lost in Asahi's cold words. It seemed empty and unfulfilled, devoured by thoughts. Then that term came up from his head. 'Devour.'

Memories of the encounter with The Orb of Destruction flooded back, bringing an intense wave of emotion. Asahi felt a sharp pang in his chest, his breath hitching as the term resonated with an unsettling familiarity.

The devouring light, the orb's chilling words—it was a reminder of loss and vulnerability, of his world being consumed piece by piece, just as his own emotions now seemed to be devoured by despair.

Struggling to maintain composure, he felt a silent, burning resolve rise from within. This journey was as much about reclaiming what was lost as it was about understanding the depths of his own heart.

"Haven't you known, Devouring Prince? The truth about your family?"

The Orb's words, the title "Devouring Prince," had not settled deep in Asahi's mind. It seems that the title belonged to someone else, or rather something...

The swallowing veil of light.

The one that had consumed his world and changed it for the worse. The light that had engulfed everything and every ruler except him and his sisters.

It was the mystery of this light that had suggested a deeper clue.

All in all, now that the destroyer of the world had been revealed, his question started with...

"Why? Why destroy this world and change it? What was wrong with it?"

As he continued to pursue the ice-tombed castles, he had fought a few icy slimes. With one slice of his sword, all fell and perished to dust. Until finally, after walking from corridor to corridor, a dark entrance to the dungeon appeared before his eyes.

"I sense a presence deep in the stairway." One of the followers said as he placed his hand on the cold stone walls. "More than one presence, multiple. And a key."

"Key?" Asahi questioned.

Without thought, as the snowstorm expanded, they progressed deeper into the dungeon, finding skeletons dotted all over the ground. Some were covered in chains, while others had dark devices that resembled a guillotine or a knife.

Asahi felt a chill deeper than the bite of the cold as the grim sight unfolded before him.

An overwhelming sense of sorrow and horror tightened his chest, while his followers exchanged uneasy glances, their shared apprehension thick in the air.

A sense of desolation filled the space, seeping into their bones as they realized the extent of the suffering that had occurred. All in all, this place exuded an aura of mystery and grief.

"What happened here? Why are there devices?"

Asahi struggled to point out whether this dungeon belonged to the Second Incarnation of the world or the Last Incarnation. But that wasn't what stopped him. No, what stopped him was a vision, an image of the past flashing into his mind.

A boy with gray hair and brown eyes, wearing a skull mask straight on his face.

"This is no dungeon... it's a..."

As they saw skeletons rise up from the floor, Asahi screamed, and the followers rooted to the spot.

"It's a trap!"

Suddenly, the sound of hollow footsteps echoed over the walls as skeletons of all sizes began to rise and move. Asahi sprang into action, drawing his sword as a pile of skeletons slithered toward his ankles, attempting to ensnare him.

"Get off," Asahi yelled as he dragged his feet across the floor of bones.

Then, once he saw the faint rays of daylight shimmer in the distance, a boy with gray hair, wearing a skeleton mask, clutched his staff and hoisted it up, showering a blue essence on all the skeletons gathered around the dungeon.

"Ah, the triumphant Owner of the world has finally made their return." The boy said to Asahi as he made bones appear from thin air. "Have you already forgotten who I am?"

As the skeletons started to pile up around Asahi, cuffing him in chains, he spoke slowly in a gentle voice.

"My name is Saunek, the Ruler of Bones. I have been trapped here for quite some time, but surprisingly, I managed to see the surface. Don't you know how long it has been since you two have appeared in our world?"

With nothing to resort to, since he was cuffed, Asahi could not snap for the life of him. So he responded to Saunek with empty words.

"Five thousand years." He said as Saunek saw his skeletons clutching a knife, stabbed at what should have been their chest. "It's been a while. But why capture me?"

"You call this capturing? If I wanted you dead, I would command my friends here to do it. But no, I think you have forgotten completely who I am and was."

As Asahi tried desperately to snap his fingers, trying to break free from Saunek's confusing grasp...

"We were childhood friends back in the day."

. . .

Back when Asahi was just five years old, he had left his childhood home to play with his friends. Now, although some of them were blurry in his mind, one of them was clear like glass.

Saunek, The Ruler of Bones.

They were at the same age beforehand, playing with their tiny trinkets and skeletons. Asahi recalled a specific day when he and Saunek sat near a small creek, the sun setting and casting long shadows.

They had spent hours lost in their imaginations, weaving tales of kingdoms and adventures, their laughter echoing through the woods.

Saunek had picked up a twig and, with a mischievous glint in his eye, declared it as their royal scepter, dubbing Asahi the 'King of Hope' while he took the title of 'Ruler of Bones.'

That moment of shared dreams and camaraderie stood out vividly, cementing their bond in his memory, a bond that time and distance could not easily break.

. . .

When Asahi was given that memory, he felt his heart beginning to ache. Back when all Rulers were alive, in a world filled with prosperity and love, he yearned to see the hopeful rays of the past.

And now, after recalling everything, whether Paxon, the Ruler of Memories, had done it or not, Asahi resisted the urge to snap his fingers and instead played along with Saunek, while his followers were placed in a cell.

"My, I have waited YEARS for this reunion? So, how have you been? What have you been doing for the last five thousand years?"

Asahi didn't want to reveal too much to Saunek, thinking that it would only do harm and hurt him more. The memory of the Ruler of Ice entombing these castles weighed heavily on his mind. He tried to suppress the haunting visions of the souls that once thrived here, souls now lost to time and tragedy.

Yet, amidst his reluctance to share, he felt a deep urge to connect the broken threads of their past. How could he bridge the gap between what was and what is?

Despite the uncertainty, Asahi found solace in the thought that understanding and reconciliation might ignite the hope for a better future, not just for them but for an entire world waiting to be reborn.

"So, were you just playing around with skeletons? Or do you have an intent to capture me?" Asahi asked as he brushed away the bone essence off his shoulder.

"No, I only did it because..." Saunek tried to break down his words, convulsing with tears as sunlight was beyond just his reach. "I can't get out of this dungeon. Some force is blocking me from touching the light. You can't begin to imagine how lonely I was here without you. It's just me and my skeleton friends."

'Friends', yes, this word could mean everything to Asahi.

His 'friends' were all Rulers.

At least when he was young.

He truly hadn't established a connection to the world below Cleira until he was in his teens, when he had lived in that wooden shack with Achlys and Acheros, his parents, days before Aletha was born.

He had wanted to live beneath the clouds, to generate a connection.

But that world had long passed.

What remained of the Second Incarnation of The World of Gincad was a few rulers and perhaps earthed structures from below and on the surface.

If there were a chance, he would go back in time to that moment, before the swallowing veil of light, before all his friends disappeared; he would choose that instantly.

Accepting the current moment, Asahi stood up and extended his hand in greeting to the skeletons around him, participating in their introduction as a gesture of peace.

"This is Jery, Joe, Frank, and Limbsome," Saunek said, introducing each skeleton to Asahi while unchaining him. The tense mood lessened as Saunek realized Asahi would stay a while. Opting to wait out the snowstorm, Asahi remained inside the dungeon, despite the cold, unsettling aura. "Then there is Jaura, Josh, and Lively."

The names of these skeletons, the ones that had humanity built and structured them, had finally rested safely under the dungeons, gathering with Saunek.

"As you can see, I'm pretty popular over here," he said with a wink, slowly peeling the mask off his face.

Asahi gave a silent shrug and smile, walking deeper into the spider-web dungeon.

"So, what are the names of YOUR followers behind you?" Asahi asked, glancing back at his companions who were still wrapped up in chains, escorted by the skeletons.

His followers exchanged brief looks, understanding the prospect of being introduced to them.

One of the followers, a short, stoic figure with a trace of defiance in his eyes, spoke first.

"My name is Basque." His voice was high, carrying the weight of past battles.

Next to him, a wiry, sharp-eyed woman nodded. "I'm Mural," she added with a quick smile, her analytical mind always assessing the situation around them.

Finally, a younger man, whose optimism seemed unshakeable even in the direst situations, chimed in. "And I'm Cyriluo, nice to meet you!" he said, his voice brimming with energy.

The small introductions created a moment of camaraderie, even as the sun grew further from their reach, leaving them to the mercy of the shadows.

"What wonderful names," Saunek said as he lowered his staff. "When will you leave?"

As the howling snowstorm continued to sweep violently, Asahi, Cyriluo, Basque, and Mural gathered on the stairs and answered.

"We shall settle here until the snowstorm stops."

. . .

But then, just as they grew further from the light, a brilliant cyan luminance shone at the end of the hallway. Asahi, Mural, Cyriluo, and Basque were quickly caught by the light and hurriedly charged only to find.

A black detached halo, lying at the center of the ground. Beyond the halo was a circle of what seemed to be...

"A resurrection circle?" One of the followers muttered as Saunek looked, confused.

Then, as the skeletons gathered around, they were swiftly hit by four swordsmen, their armor glinting under the dim light, and a priest in dark robes grasping a staff.

Each attacker moved with a sense of urgency and purpose, their identities shrouded in mystery, but their intentions unmistakably hostile.

Quickly, Asahi and his followers, along with Saunek, gathered around the resurrection circle and asked.

"What are you doing here?" One of them said as the circle started to glow.

"Haven't you forgotten about the beautiful maiden that controlled the world?"

"Are you here to foil our plans of resurrecting the beautiful dame, Achlys?"

Then, as they began to slaughter the skeletons, dying once again, Asahi hurriedly raced to the halo, touching it and...

A memory flickered into his vision. A beautiful, white-haired woman wearing a dark outfit, with a wrapped scarf, holding onto a dark halo above her head.

This black halo... it belonged not only to the world, but to none other than...

"My mother," Asahi said with a trembling voice, his face growing cold with grief.