Chapter 11
After Swifa had left the cave Fastilo want to his brother who was currently seated on the floor crouch down with his face covered by his knees while shivering and shaking due to the immense fear and terror he was feeling
“Hey Sped,” said Fastilo as he went to sit down next to his little brother.
Spedori remained silent; unable to move his mouth to speak due to the utter fear he was feeling.
“I know you’re scared and it's okay, I’ll be lying if I said I wasn’t scared too. These invaders came out of nowhere and now they're busy tearing our world apart, it’s beyond frightening. I wish this nightmare and soon I’ll wake to see clear skies, mom in the kitchen making some of her delicious food, and dad being as grumpy as ever, hell I wouldn’t even mind if he scolds me for doing something stupid” said Fastilo with a tear and smile on his face, remembering how moments ago he lived a happy, blissful life with his family, teasing his brother for how slow he was which greatly annoyed his mother and how he tried as much as possible to avoid his father radar, knowing how mad he got over the slightest of things now he was busy hiding in a cave while their world was slowly being torn apart from the outside by invaders they know nothing about and top it all off his parents were still out there.
Spedori upon hearing his brother's confession about how he too was scared felt a little better with the fear he felt from within shrinking ever so slightly, enough for him to move his lip to utter a sound.
“Do you think Mom will be able to find Dad and they will both be okay?” asked Spedori softly as he raised his head, revealing his eyes which were now red and worn out due to the number of tears he had been crying.
Fastilo upon seeing his brother’s eyes did not have the heart to tell him about the uncertainty he felt towards the possibility of their parents returning, remembering the hellish state their world was currently reduced to and the ruthless invaders that were still out there.
“Sure, Dad is a pretty stubborn man; he wouldn’t go do so easily. I bet that his showing those invaders a thing or two about why Kinerikan should not be messed with and as for Mom, I’m sure Mom will be alright after all someone has to give Dad an earful about how reckless it is to run head first into danger” said Fastilo, trying his best to mask the lack of confidence his words.
Spedori who was currently desperate to cling on to whatever form of hope he could find, believed every single word his brother spoke without question and the false hope of his parents coming returning to the safe and sound made a smile form on Spedori’s face. Fastilo upon seeing the smile on Spedori’s couldn’t help both feel a mix of relief and guilt because he managed to make his brother smile but to do so he had to make claims of his parents returning safely to them, claims he wasn’t sure would ever come true.
“Fastilo, when Mom and Dad come what are we going to do? All the cities are destroyed and the other Kinerikans are…” Spedori could not bring himself to complete that sentence with the memories of the countless bodies he had seen lying lifelessly on the ruins of the now-fallen cities of Kinerikan came creeping into his mind and caused his mouth to begin to tremble and shake due to the feeling of horror and dread he felt for having a witness that horrific sight.
“You can say you know, they're dead,” Fastilo said with a sigh, knowing how horrific and painful it must be for his brother to come to terms with death, especially after having witnessed it firsthand but he knew it was something he would have to come to terms with especially in their currents situation.
“Yeah, they…are” Spedori reluctantly said with an unbearable knot in his stomach as he spoke.
Fastilo then looked at his brother before saying and saying, “If I’m being honest I don’t know what’s going to happen if…I mean when mom and dad get here. I would suggest we run but we don’t have anywhere to run considering how Kinerikan is slowly turning into a wasteland”.
“Oh,” Spedori spoke softly as once again the fear within him began to grow with the horrifying thought of there being no escape out of the living hell their world had become filling his mind.
Fastilo upon seeing his brother begin to descend back into the darker corners of his fear realized that his words might have not been what someone as young as Spedori needed to hear after all, given the grim state they were currently in, hearing about the uncertainty of the future might not have been the greatest thing for him to hear.
“Don’t look so down, there is still a little bit of hope for us” said Fastilo in an attempt to cheer his brother up.
“Like what?” Spedori asked with intrigue in his voice, wondering what kind of hope they could be for them in their sorry state.
Fastilo, upon seeing the small glint of hope in his brother’s eyes, thought of something to tell him to keep the hope within him burning.
“We could always travel to one of the six worlds” Fastilo hurriedly said, not entirely sure where he was going with his words.
“How, last time I checked you need a world flier to travel to other worlds and we don’t have one of those things just lying around you know,” said Spedori, wondering just how Fastilo intended on them leaving Kinerik without a world flier.
“How?... we could…” Fastilo pondered for a few seconds before coming up with something.
“We could do what the ancient Kinerikan did to travel to the other world before being gifted with the technology from Genesis,” said Fastilo.
Spedori upon hearing what Fastilo said stopped to think, remembering the legendary tales of the ancient Kinerikan and the impressive feats of speed he and every single Kinerikan from a very tender age about how the ancients had none of the advanced technology from Genesis-like world flier to travel the world, instead, as bizarre as it may sound, traveled through all six worlds solely by foot.
Sky Runner, was the name even to the Kinerikan of old who were said to be so fast that they could run on thin air and straight into the sky, leaving the barriers of Kinerik and running straight into the vast open space that lay in between all of the six, they used their abilities to run into the sky to travel across all six worlds, exploring the wonders lying within every one of them.
Aselero, of course, did not believe in the legends, believing that the Kinerikan of old had to be weak to have lost a war with Genesis, a world he deemed to be weak, filled to the brim with powerless people who had to resort to the use of fancy tools and weapons to win their battles only to be silenced by their mother reminding him about how it wasn’t just Genesis but all the five worlds were defeated in the war all those years ago and how Genesis is ranked as the most dangerous and powerful world out of all six worlds.
“Are seriously suggesting we sky run, you do know that that’s impossible right?” said Spedori with a skeptical look on his face.
“Maybe, I mean, how hard can it be considering our ancestors managed to pull it off,” said Fastilo.
“That was eons ago and have you forgotten the long list of every single deceased Kinerikan who was foolish enough to attempt sky running,” said Spedori, unable to believe his brother would suggest an idea so idiotic and utterly stupid as sky running, knowing that nobody had ever attempted to do it and leave to tell the tale.
It was an idea so head-bashingly madden, so mind twistingly insane and idiotic to the extent that words could not begin to describe how stupid it was but it was an idea only someone his brother would say to calm him down and keep him from giving in to his fear.
Spedori upon figuring out what his brother was up to, wasted no time and moving at speeds that shocked Fastilo; he rushed to him and hugged him.
“I know I’m young but I’m not an idiot. The world is upside down, Mom and Dad are here and we are both stuck in a cave unsure if they’ll be back” said Spedori, great shocking and worrying Fastilo.
“Don’t say that, they will be…” Fastilo was shut up by Spedori yelling out with tearful eyes, “DON’T LIE TO ME FASTILO, I’M NOT STUPID”.
Fastilo upon seeing the tears in Spedori’s eyes and his pain along with his sadness remained silent, not knowing what to say or do to calm down Spedori.
“What were they thinking, running off in the chaos outside and leaving us behind? Don’t they care about us, I mean for goodness sake we're just kids” said Spedori with tears continuously flowing down from his eyes, too shrouded by the fear and sadness of being alone with his brother as the realization of the possibility of their parents never returning began to dawn on him, to realize or control the words coming out from his mouth.
“Don’t say that about Mom and Dad, everything they do has always been to protect and keep us safe” said Fastilo.
“Then where are they right now? Don’t they know we need them” Spedori couldn’t stop himself from bursting out into tears as he spoke The death, destruction, and chaos all around Kinerik was too much for the young boy to take and he just wanted it all to end, he wanted to go home with his brother, be greeted by his mother's loving smile and the cold look of disappointment from his father and his lack of improvement in his speed, he wouldn’t even mind hearing his father lecture and scold him about how he wasn’t living up to his potential if it meant h could return home and things would go back to the way it was.
Fastilo upon seeing the tears falling from his brother’s face went to him and embraced him, knowing that everything he said was just a rant driven by his fears and he did not mean anything he said.
“I just want things to go back to the way they were,” said Spedori.
“I know I do too. All of a sudden Dad's constant yelling doesn’t seem so bad” said Fastilo spoke softly with a slight smile on his face.“I wouldn’t mind hearing his and Mom’s voice again, even if it’s just him yelling at me” said Spedori.
Fastilo upon what Spedori said just sighed before pulling away from the embrace and looking him straight in the eyes before saying, “Look the world outside is a complete mess and I don’t know what’s going to happen or if we’ll even make it out of here alive. I’m not even sure Mom and Dad will…but all that doesn’t matter right now. Right now all that matters is that we’re both safe and it’s up to the both of us to keep it that way. We have to stay alive so if Mom and Dad are still alive they won’t find the corpses of their dead sons when they come looking for us”.
Spedori, upon hearing what his brother said, even though it was a horrible pep talk, couldn’t but feel a little reassured by the fact that no matter what happened he would always be there for him but this fact however would soon be challenged by the sudden rumbling of the ground.
“Fastilo, what’s happening?” asked Spedori, frighten upon feeling the ground underneath his feet begin to rumble and shake.
The young Kinerik was scared that the rumbling ground was a sign that something bad was coming, then as though to prove his greatest fears, something sped past the cave, moving at speeds neither Spedori nor Fastilo could comprehend as they could only see the flash of a faint blur zip past as the mysterious figure raced past the cave.
Then, as quickly as the figure raced past the cave, without even given a moment for either of the two boys to process what had happened, the raw power, force, and fury the figure generate as it ran past then caused the ground to crack and break apart, creating power winds strong enough to rip the surrounding out of there and send them flying and as for the cave Spedori and Fastilo hid in, it began to crumble and fall apart with massive pieces of rock and debris raining down from the roof of the cave.
Fastilo and Spedori upon seeing the cave begin to collapse around them wasted no time and began to dash straight towards the entrance of the cave only to be obstructed by the falling debris raining down from the of the cave.
Fastilo, thanks to his speed could evade the massive rock falling from the top of the cave but Spedori however was struggling to avoid them as his speed was still lacking when compared to that of his brother.
“Spedori!!!!” Fastilo yelled upon seeing a massive rock falling straight for Spedori he dashed straight for him and managed to push him out of the way before the rock could get to him.
“Are you okay?” asked Fastilo with all his attention focused solely on Spedori, hoping he didn’t get hurt.
“I…I’m alright but…” Spedori couldn’t bring himself to complete his sentence and simply meekly pointed at something behind his brother.
Fastilo then turned to the direction his brother was pointing before his eyes widened with horror upon seeing what his brother could not bring himself to say.
The rock had missed Spedori thanks to Fastilo reacting on time and pushing him out of the way but sadly, he couldn’t move out of the way in time and well the unfortunate result of it was that the rock ended up hitting him instead at the most important and valued part of a Kinerikans body, his legs.
“Don’t worry brother” said Spedori as he tried to help his brother out by attempting to lift the rock that was currently crushing his brother’s legs.
“Stop it Spedori, it wouldn’t budge,” said Fastilo but Spedori wouldn’t listen and kept trying to lift the rock.
Spedori tried mustering all the power his feeble little body could manage but no matter how hard he tried his strength was enough and the rock refused to move but still Spedori kept on trying, lifting with everything he could muster.
Spedori was so wrapped up in trying to lift the rock that had crushed his brother’s legs that he didn’t notice that cave was still collapsing and another piece of rock was currently falling straight for him.
Luckily, Spedori noticed and managed to move out of the way in time before the rock could reach him.
“SPEDORI!!!” Fastilo yelled out, fearing that his brother might have gotten hurt as the dust settled and he saw that Spedori was thankfully alright and so he sighed in relief.
“Spedori” Fastilo called out to his brother.
“Fastilo I’m here, don’t worry I’ll have you out in sec I just need…” Spedori’s sentence was cut short by Fastilo saying, “FOR GOODNESS SAKE SPEDORI STOP TRYING TO SAVE!!!!!!”
“What?” Spedori was taken aback upon hearing the way Fastilo yelled at him.
Fastilo then sighed before saying, “Look around you Sped, this cave is falling apart and it seems like I won’t be getting up anytime soon but you still have a chance to escape”.
“No, there’s no way I’m leaving you here. I can’t, no, I won’t” said Spedori with tears sipping out of his eyes, refusing to leave him behind, knowing that if he did he wouldn’t survive.
Fastilo upon seeing the tears in Spedori’s eyes, stretched out his hand and placed it on his cheek before saying, “Please Spedori, if you stay here we’ll both end up dead. Think of Mom and Dad, if they are still out there do you think they would be happy once they find out that both their sons are dead? Please Spedori, the chances of me getting out of here are next to none but you still have a chance of making it out of here”.
Spedori upon hearing what his brother said yelled out, with tears overflowing from his eyes, “No not without you. Mom and Dad are gone and I’m not even sure that they’re coming back anymore and I can’t lose you, I don’t want to be alone”.
Fastilo upon hearing what Spedori said brought out the red stone Swifa gave.
“Here take this; mom gave this to me before she left, told me to keep it and you safe,” said Fastilo as he handed the red stone to Spedori.
“What is this?” asked Spedori.
“Not sure but according to mom it was pretty important, Dad gave it to her before she left,” said Fastilo.
“Fastilo why are you giving me this?” asked Spedori.
Upon hearing what Spedori said just sighed, knowing that what he would have to tell him would probably the most be heartbreaking and painful he would ever hear.
“Let’s face facts, little brother, there’s no way I’m getting out of here and I’m afraid it’s the end of the road for me but you still have a chance to get out of here and live. I don’t know who these invaders are or why they came here but I think that that stone has something to do with it. Keep it safe and whatever you do don’t lose it” said Fastilo.
Spedori then looked at the red stone on his hand and then turned to look at the cave which was still falling apart with massive pieces of rocks raining down everywhere before shifting his gaze down to his brother, his legs crushed and crippled by the massive rock that sat on top of him, and upon seeing all that, Spedori with a reluctant and heavy heart had to face the painful truth, there was no way both of them was going to make it out of there alive.
“I’m sorry brother, if I was just a little bit faster you wouldn’t…” Spedori was stopped by Fastilo saying, “Just do what we Kinerikans do best, run”.
Spedori with tears still falling from his eyes turned away from his brother before racing away, moving as fast as his leg could carry him.
As Fastilo watched his brother run seemly for the last time couldn’t help but smile before closing his eyes, remembering how he was taught by his mother that in the final moments when one is at the brink of death and only has a few short moments left, he should use that time to pay respects to the creator.
“They say you were there before everything was, the one who caused everything to be, you were formed from light and created the six worlds out from the empty dark void of nothingness. I call upon you Yaseki Tonju, The One Who Came After the Light before I take my last breath, forgive me of my sins and accept my soul and please watch over my little brother and if they are still alive, my parents as well. May your gaze never depart from my family…” Those were the last word to leave Fastilo’s lips before being buried alive under a pile of rock as they rained down upon him.
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