PinkShell Village

Morning

It had finally come.

Kai Smith had fantasized about this moment ever since he watched his mother die before his eyes at the young age of six. He knew there was something greater waiting out there in the wider world, but he would have never guessed that it would come and seek him out first. They told him to rest, but he had pestered Archamed with questions all night. It was to great avail as well, he had learnt much about their people…and his own.

Archamed told him that his mother, Mary, was not from Haven, but was a great ally to them. She had chosen to discontinue her work with them once Kai was born so she could live a safe, quiet life away from the chaotic world that the Saints lived in. He didn’t answer much about his father. Only that he knew him and that he was no longer alive. It didn’t bother Kai much though. He didn’t care much for who his father was, dead or alive. The most surprising news was the final thing he said last night. 

Kai dug his fingernails into his palm as he remembered.

Earlier

Archamed leaned in slowly from the couch to Kai who sat across from him.

“I’m only going to say this once. Your mom’s death was no accident.”

The news immediately ignited a violent flame in the boy’s heart.

“What?” He said quietly, but forcefully.

“I’m only telling you this because you deserve to know.”

Kai stared at him for a bit longer before taking deep breaths, trying to calm his anger. He had already spent hours earlier manipulating his circulatory system to treat himself. His body would not react well to elevated stress. Archamed noticed his frustration and leaned back into the chair.

“Worry not. We will avenge Mary in time. After all, she is a dear friend to all of us here.”

The words brought him some ease but he still needed to know.

“Who? Who was it?”

Archamed tilted his head before answering.

“Who else?”

Present Day

“The Hold!” 

He looked downed at his hand and quickly opened his palm, realizing that he drew blood with his lodged nails. It was starting to become a bad habit. Regardless, he now understood why his mother and Sacclin had always been weary of the Hold. To think that they were both responsible for his mom’s death, and the attack on the school.

He closed the brown book he had been journaling in all morning and stood up slowly and carefully. In his excitement, he had climbed up the street lamp in the front yard and was sitting very carefully at the top…until now. Once his balance was found, he brought both of his hands to his mouth and yelled-

“JENNYYYYYYY. I’M GOING ON AHEAD.”

He would fulfill their promise no matter what. There was no way he would stay in PinkShell after what he heard. He had to learn more about his mother’s death and the people she worked with. It was a promise to Jenny, even in the afterlife. But first-

“I’m going to deal with your bosses. Sorry, Jen.”

And he knew exactly how.

“Kaiiii!”

Kai looked down from the pole and saw the blonde twins along with Archamed standing on the ground below. The sister was waving at him to join them. He climbed down as fast as he went up, thinking that it was impressive. It wasn’t.

As he stood in the middle of the three of them, something jumped into his mind.

“You two, I assume that Jeremy and Jaliah weren’t your real names. Seeing that you were undercover and all.”

“You’re pretty sharp, brother,” the blonde boy answered. He bowed melodramatically in front of them all.

“You can call me La. I’m the cool one of this here humble group.” He answered with a terrible impression of a foreign accent.

“Not by a long shot,” His sister immediately refuted.

Kai turned to her, causing her to gaze nervously.

“I’m Mina. Um, there really isn’t anything interesting about me.”

“Untrue. Mina is one of the most invaluable members of this team.” Her brother informed him. Archamed nodded his head in agreement. 

Mina punched her brother in the side, causing him to grip his ribcage.

“Stop embarrassing meeeee!” She rebuked him.

The light temporarily left La’s eyes as he groaned to speak.

“I-I was just telling the truth.” 

Kai chuckled slightly at their carefreeness. He never expected the guardians of a civilization to be so…laid back.

“You guys have such weird names, are you Easties by any chance?” 

An awkward silence fell over the group.

“Not exactly…” Mina responded.

Archamed turned to the twins, changing the subject.

“What will you two do now?”

“Well, we talked it over… and we’re heading to Solace right now to cut ties.”

“I’m sure the remaining Appointed will not be too thrilled...”

“Doesn’t matter. Our master’s mission is much more important, for all of Christaven.”

Archamed nodded. Mina hugged Arch and La bumped him in his chest with his fist. The both of them waved at Kai before walking around the rear of the inn, disappearing from sight. Kai turned around as Mr. Kim opened the door and exited the inn. The old fisherman had been avoiding him since the incident at the school. He descended the stairs and gingerly rested his hand on his shoulder.

“Listen, kid. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about me, about your people…about your mom. I knew that she wanted you away from all of this.“

Kai stared at him with a tense face. The old man shifted his eyes in shame. He had lied to him for a decade. There was no way he’d forgive him that easily.

Kai removed his hand from his shoulder.

“Thank you Sir, for doing all you could these past ten years. You truly were a father to me.”

Mr. Kim’s eyes widened in surprise. Slowly, tears welled up in the veteran’s eyes and he held both of the boy’s shoulders tightly. He tried to speak but the words would not come. He just nodded over and over again. Kai reached past his burly, aged and scarred arms and tapped him in the chest with his fist.

“Just play it cool…Saccim.”

The old man’s face lit up. He chuckled as he removed his hands and wiped his eyes.

“Yeah kid, yeah. You’re right.”

The two shook hands and Kai turned to follow Archamed who was making his way down the beach.

The two walked along the sand mounds that Kai had trekked daily. It’s strange how you can engage in something daily, but still feel like it's the first time when done with someone else. Despite that, a strange silence was present between the two. Kai was not good at conversing with others due to his decade-long loner-lifestyle, and Archamed was clearly some sort of emotional deviant. That being said, he broke the silence first.

“Do you miss it yet?”

Kai looked at him curiously.

“This life here, of peace and comfort. Free from responsibility. Do you miss it yet?”

The young boy pondered for a moment before speaking.

“All my life, I’ve wanted nothing more than to leave this place.”

“So you won’t miss it?” Archamed persisted.

“No. I won’t.”

“You will.”

The insistence stunned him. The two returned to being silent. Aechamed’s words lingered like salt paste on a ship’s hull. Prominent, but unable to penetrate the feelings of Kai’s heart.

The two finally came upon a large cove at the shore’s edge. They entered the construct and Archamed led Kai deep within where they came upon a small pool of water in its depths. A single beam of light invaded the space through a crack in the stone covering, lighting the surface. The two watched the little aquatic plants that waved back and forth from a mound of sand that broke through its face.

“Is this the place?”

“Are you familiar?”

“When I was younger I journeyed over here quite a bit. I’d sit here and write while watching those sprouts dance for hours.” Kai told him.

“Hm.”

Archamed held out his hand. Kai watched as a translucent surface appeared around his arm seemingly out of thin air. Several lights and sliders beeped to life on the device and he tapped away. He held out his hand towards the mound and pressed a final key.

Suddenly, the water around the sand began to ripple. Without any other indication, the plants extended themselves upwards and stretched to a height high above the boys. The length of the shoots wrapped themselves around each other, winding and hardening into a large archway structure before them. 

“I-Incredible,” Kai stammered, “What is it?”

“We call them LifeGates.”

As Archamed finished uttering those words, a large golden flash of light sparked out from the gate forcing Kai to cover his eyes. Lowering his hand slowly, he saw a marvellous sight. A beautiful radiant opening, brimming with bright golden energy. Its shimmer was so smooth and gentle, it almost felt like it was alive. 

“What is this sorcery,” He asked, entranced.

“Not sorcery, this is just science.”

“Come on,” Archamed said calmly as Kai watched him step through the gold curtain. His body gradually disappeared until there was nothing remaining. It was a terrifying sight to Kai. Too reminiscent of the boar creature that had emerged just as suddenly as Arch disappeared. 

He stepped towards the LifeGate cautiously. His hand outstretched, he felt the golden streams warm his palm as it got closer. But he closed it before he touched the curtain. 

This was really it. 

Everything he wanted right in front of him. 

Why couldn’t he just reach out and take it? Why-

Before he could doubt further, a hand pierced through the golden veil, grabbing his arm and pulling him through. The cove echoed with the yell he gave that was abruptly silenced as he was yanked inside. The golden gate closed up behind him, the golden curtain receding from the space. The shoots of the gate unwinded and settled back into the tiny sprouts on the sand mound, waving as if nothing had happened before.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

10 Years Ago

A younger Archamed knelt in a grassy field. He wore a full white outfit as he did for all meditations, the only notable difference being the black circle at the center-back of his shirt. His eyes were closed as he meditated silently. A sudden gust of wind blew by, sending several grass blades flying through the air.

“You’re late, master,” He stated.

He opened his eyes slowly to see a man standing further on the grass who had not been there before. He was a short fellow, but stood with great presence while his back was turned to the boy. The sun obscured his head, but he could clearly see his white cloak flapping in the wind with a black circle embossed at its center.

“That I am. Perhaps your habits are beginning to become part of my own.”

Archamed did not smile.

The man turned his head slightly, his features still obscured. The wind blew aside his cloak to reveal a sheathed blade.

“Thank you. Your mission to rescue Kai Smith was a major success.”

“Are you thanking me as your nephew or as a candidate for the seventh genration?"

“I’m thanking you…as a friend.”

“Hm.” Archamed groaned.

A silence lingered shortly before his master spoke again.

“If you wish to say something, say it now.”

Archamed stood up from his resting position.

“I just don’t understand. Everything about this mission is against protocol. You summoned me at an ungodly hour of the evening, requested for this mission to be off the books and barely gave me any additional information. Not to mention…”

He caught himself and chose to hold his tongue.

“It’s fine, go on.” His master pressed him.

“Not to mention, you knew this was going to happen. There is no way you could have reacted that quickly without having prior knowledge. Which means, if you had deployed me earlier…”

“Mary would still be alive,” his master responded.

Archamed dropped his head.

His master turned back towards the sun.

“The day of reckoning is coming, Archamed. The so-called leaders of this fair land have disregarded the Most High for their own ideals. I fear Christaven and her people will pay the price…myself included.”

Archamed raised his head in shock and opened his mouth to speak but his master cut him off.

As he listened to what he said next, he became irritated. His thoughts raced and the more he pondered, the angrier he got.

“That is NOT your decision to make! I could never grant such a request!”

His master laughed to himself boisterously.

“I figured you’d say as much. Let’s make a bet then.”