Wind whispered and murmured. The rustling, loose leaves tumbled wildly across the grass, tickling the script carving of names over headstones.
Incense suffused air weighted the atmosphere. The hollow soothing of bird song fluttered, flailing to lift the heavy air.
Seated between two memorial stones with his back leaning over the side of one of them, a young man hugged his legs to his chest. At the whims of another rush of wind, his lower-eye-length dreads fluttered, tickling his honey-brown skin.
He wore a simple and clean outfit. A black jacket under which was a grey shirt and then black cargo pants with black converse.
His eyelids unfurled, revealing jewels of purple with particular, sculpted sharpness to their gaze, polished and refined yet...sombre; slighted within their depths by melancholy.
'It was never something I said lightly,' He thought. 'You have always been my heroes.'
A hand pinched at his nose and he sniffled. He wiped the dried trail of tears, veering his gaze to the clear sky. He smiled faintly, yet its edges trembled and it anchored back to an almost quivering flat.
Over the gravestones that he sat between, incense burned, and fresh flowers rustled in the wind, as did the trees flourishing in the graveyard. Flocks of birds suddenly rushed out of them, fluttering away into the distance leaving behind a screeching song; it was nothing like the pleasantry they just previously gave.
A swallow landed over the grass ahead of him, hopping and flapping up to his knee. It chirped with a particularly high tone, hopping between the tops of his bent knees.
"You feel it? Not so pleasant, is it?," He said with a slight chuckle, "It's not supposed to happening this early but they did predict that our presence should have caused it to rush a little."
*Chirp* *Chirp* The little swallow was curiously worried.
While Dion shook his head slightly, "It's fine, nothing bad will happen. And you've still got a lot of time on your hands before it really starts. When it does, you'll just have a nice little dream. So, you'll be okay,"
The arm by his side raised and the swallow perched himself over it as Dion stood to the full of his 185cm height. His posture remained as straight as a pillar against the wind.
Meanwhile, the swallow chirped with what sounded to be curiosity.
"Will I sleep too? Nah," He said with a faint smile, "I've got to go pick up my friends and convince them to remain home for the coming weeks."
*Chirp* *Chirp*
Dion chuckled a little. The little guy had just questioned if he was sane to not be directly going home and instead worrying about others.
"It's nearly breeding season, isn't it?" He said with a cheeky smile, "You're about to build a family, so go, rest, be strong and protect them. You're a big man, aren't you?"
*Chirp* *Chirp* *Chirp*
The swallow, though confused, seemed excited, grateful, and a little worried as well for the strange four limbed thing.
After seemingly waving its wings at him, the little swallow flew off, leaving him behind smiling faintly.
"You'll be alright buddy," He mused.
A long way away from him, deep within the eyes of the flying little bird, a faint white gleam swirled. It let out a loud, high note of a chirp, almost pained, then it continued on its way.
Meanwhile, Dion stood between the two graves silently as the wind gradually stilled.
"..."
His gaze seemed to have lost itself before he smacked himself against the cheeks. Then he gave a faintly strained smile.
"..."
"Mother... Father," He murmured, "This is it, right? The beginning?"
He chuckled a little though it came out a bit forced.
"I don't know if I'm ready," He muttered, "But I've done my best to prepare..."
He smiled gently with an appreciative glimmer glazing his eyes as he continued:
"We all have."
Then he laughed a little again, almost awkwardly this time.
"While I was away training, I even found myself a Chela, Mother," He said, reminiscing. "One of them."
Scratching his cheek, he continued, "I know you advised against choosing from this place, saying that where I was going, I'd have far better options. But I feel this one is quite promising. And Father always told me to trust my instincts, so that's what I have done."
A slightly choked laugh then escaped.
"I did have to commit a few…wrongs to make it happen," He said as he paused to chuckle. His voice gained a new spak, a vividness, "It's a rather eccentric person…"
"So I think..." His voice quivered, "I really think...you guys would have liked each other's company a lot."
"..."
He then gave an overcast look up at the sky again. It did not seem so bright to him any longer.
Yet the sun was glaring, as if spontaneouslyangered. The temperature had increased and he remembered how it had been forecast that todays weather would be rather hot.
He looked back down to the graves, gazing between them.
"..."
"Father...Mother..."
"My names... My blood... Our history... Our traditions," His voice firmed, "I'll forever hold pride in them."
Below the ground under those headstones, there was nothing of his parents but individual portraits. The substitues of their missing bodies.
He knew this, yet he spoke as if they were there with him. Spiritually, or perhaps they were watching over him through some other means.
He gave a smile as his voice quivered. He bowed a full 90 degrees between the graves, "So thank you..."
"I love you..."
"..."
"And please..."
His voice hitched.
The cement that he bowed over was blotched black by droplets of tears.
He sniffled deeply, clutching his pants.
"Please, continue to protect me as I carry your pride in me!" He spoke with all the remaining air in his lungs, not allowing his sobs hitch his voice anymore.
"..."
"..."
A short couple of minutes later, with a backpack slung over his shoulder, he was heading out of the graveyard to meet his cab.
He held his phone up to an ear, allowing the gentle euphony of a woman's voice coming from the other side to soothe him; it was his guardian and adoptive mother.
"Are you okay, Sil?" The worry in her measured words was palpable.
"Yeah...I am now. Thank you for asking, Mira-san," His voice was low and a little dispirited, nonetheless, he felt relieved, "Sorry for leaving so abruptly. I didn't get to give you that massage after you woke up. I felt changes in the atmosphere and had to leave."
"Don't worry about something like that," She spoke gently, "So…it's almost time, huh?"
He hummed in agreement. While at the same moment, he got into his cab and told him to head for Fujimi High School.
"It won't get dangerous for a long while after it happens, right?" She asked.
"It should be relatively safe for a couple of weeks," He assured, "But we're going to stay indoors regardless. I can't predict how the fauna and flora are going to react once the Awakening gets into full swing so it's best we stay put. For all we know, they could go into an agitated frenzy and swarm the city from the hills. Besides, for us, there's really no point in rushing out before."
"Alright," She gave a confident, firm reply, "Regardless, I've organized everything we need to live without depending on a completely functional society for up to a year. I'll call the girls back home right after this and we'll lock up until you get home."
"As expected of Mira-san," He chuckled, "As for the girls, It doesn't feel to me like they're in their school. Somewhere nearby there though."
"Thank you," She said, then gave way to worry again, "You be safe okay? Now that it's about to happen, I refuse to believe they'll continue staying put just because we have made a deal with them for us."
"All I'm going to do is try get my old friends from school to stay home. It won't make sense and I really have no way to explain anything to them easily but I still want to try," He soothed, ignoring the blurred sights of the city as the cab made it's way through the tarred roads of Tokonosu City, "I won't take long."
"Okay," She said, "What about Inori-chan and Yoshi-kun?"
Dion grimaced slightly there.
"They're at school so I couldn't speak to them," He explained with a sigh, "But Jii-san answered the landline and I explained to him I feel like it's about to happen. He will get them home."
"They still aren't allowed to have cellphones?" She sighed, "They live in Tokyo for Nivreah's sake, Jii-san really needs to lighten up,"
Dion chuckled, "There's no getting through to him I tell you. Propaganda this, distraction that. He's a pure old head."
She giggled as she agreed with him.
"You spoke with your Chela as well?" She asked.
"Yeah, I warned her," He said as he unconsciously nodded. "I told her not to come home though. I need her to keep looking for what I need,"
"Alright, I love you, Sil-chan," She said, "We'll be waiting,"
Dion's eyes gained a little more life to them and he smiled faintly.
"I love you too, Mira-san," He said, "I'll give you that massage when I get home,"
She giggled through the phone.
"There's little that I'd want more than something so wonderful," She lilted, "Bye bye, Sil-chan"
She hung up before he could even speak.
He chuckled to himself briefly as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
He simply sat watching the scenery, lost in thoughts about his destination. He smiled to himself, wondering about how shocked they might be to see him after he dropped out of school last year.
His introspections glid as he watched the racing scenery beyond the window.
Then nearly a dozen minutes later, his cab pulled over by the gates. He grossly overpaid and said his thanks, advising the man to call it a day early and head home.
Unpleasantly though, as he stepped out of the car, he was battered by blistering waves of heat. He groaned, blocking the sun with his hand as he removed his jacket; it had only been a couple of seconds since he stepped out of the air-conditioned cab and he could already feel licks of sweat over his skin as he made his way to the closed gate.
'If this is Spring, Summer will be a nightmare...' He complained as he attributed the desert like heat to the approaching Awakening.
Regardless, he met a guard by the gate and gave his ID along with a short explanation about how he was sent here to deliver a birthday present. He removed the crudely wrapped gift from his backpack to show the man and was let into the school.
Having once attended it, he didn't need directions.
\[T]/ \[T]/ \[T]/