Episode 14

Tokiya's POV

(Friends, hah... How many times have I said that I don't need them? I know they've got my back and all, but still... I don't really need them, all they do is drag me down... It's honestly hard to improve my opinion towards people...)

I thought as I took a bite from the ice cream sandwich in my hand.

(She believes we're friends without even understanding how I feel about that. But I have to admit it, some things she does are kind of nice...)

I stared at her, chatting and laughing along with the other two.

(She sure has a trait that draws others. I don't get people like her. How is it so simple for them to make friends, not like I really need any.)

Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my pocket, bringing me back to reality.

(It's probably the mission.)

I turned it on and just as I predicted, it was in fact a new mission.

"This is becoming a real pain now..."

It read:

"You have two days to defeat at least a hundred three-star noise in the land of Solaire.

Good luck"

"Seriously?!"

"Tokiya, what's wrong?" Momoi asked as she spun around, a perplexed expression on her face.

"We got the mission for today-" Just then, the others' phones rang out too so they chose to check by themselves.

Nagi was the first to fall into a panic, "What, a hundred in two days?! That's way too much!"

"Guys, I have a question... What's three-star noise?" Haruka asked.

"Oh, right, we still haven't explained the ranking system to you. You see, all the noise have specific rankings based on their power and size. One-star is rated for the weakest and it goes all the way up to five-star for the strongest. Three-star is considered as average." Momoi told.

"Umm, alright... But wait, a hundred in two days! How will we possibly finish the mission on time?!" That's when Haruka recognized the situation we all were in.

"Took you quite a while to realize. Look, we have until the day after tomorrow. We should go to Solaire now if we want to complete it on time."

"Okay... Where is Solaire, exactly?" Haruka asked another one of her concerns.

"You ask too many questions...!" I muttered in an annoyed manner.

"Tokiya, I know she's stayed here for a while now but she hasn't been here for as long as we have. There's no way she already knows everything..." Momoi scolded as she nudged me with her elbow.

"Solaire is about three hours from here if we go there by foot. But on the bright side, it actually has an amazing story!" Nagi exclaimed.

"Three hours?! Aww, man... Well, I guess I wouldn't mind hearing the history though..." Haruka mumbled with her shoulders drooped down.

"Oh, it's an interesting story. Basically, from what I read back in Lunalia, it turns out that Solaire was actually the rival of Lunalia. These two nations are sometimes also referred to with different titles, Solaire is mostly called 'The Kingdom Of Daylight' since it's associated with the sun and Lunalia is mostly called 'The Kingdom Of Nightime' since it's associated with the moon. Over two centuries ago, these two kingdoms were in a conflict called 'The 100 Year War'. You could learn from the name that it lasted for nearly a hundred years.

They fought over two precious stones, Day Dream and Night Dream. These two stones held wondrous magical energy which could probably power an entire kingdom. But, they both held different kinds of magic, Day Dream held pure magic whereas Night Dream held dark magic. Both kingdoms tried getting their hands on both of these stones and after years of war and bloodshed, they finally came to an arrangement. Solaire ended up taking Day Dream while Lunalia ended up receiving Night Dream. And now, every hundred years, these two kingdoms commemorate their friendship and try to strengthen it even more." Momoi explained.

"Wow... I never knew Solaire was linked to Lunalia. I guess that was quite interesting! But it still doesn't change the fact that we need to walk for three hours now..." Haruka grumbled, her appearance still gloomy.

"I just told the brief description, there are actually so many details that I left out. But Haruka, complaining won't benefit us. We have to obey what the reapers say under any circumstances."

"Well, I suppose you're right... But wow, there's really more to it? You already explained a lot that I couldn't have guessed that there would be extra information!" Haruka spoke, her sad expression was instantly replaced with a one of shock.

"You honestly act like a kid sometimes..." I whispered under my breath.

"Hey, I heard that! Just because I'm seventeen, doesn't mean I can't like a kid if I want to!"

(Seriously, I will never know the way that girl thinks. She's really distinct compared to anyone I've encountered...)

Back to Haruka's POV

(Even though I can't get over the fact that we need to walk for three hours, that story kind of lightened up my mood. It was pretty fascinating!)

I was thinking as we headed towards Solaire. After probably an hour or two, I decided it was time for a break since I was overcome with exhaustion.

"My feet are killing me!" I shouted as I sat on the cool, wet grass.

It was a really pleasant weather at that moment. A few clouds floated in the sky, blanketing it and covering the sun. The fresh breeze blew on my face which also caused the leaves to rustle lightly. But, there was one problem, the sun started to set.

"This is no time for a break! If we hurry now, we will reach the kingdom before dark. If we don't continue the journey, we'll have to wait for tomorrow morning causing us to have lesser time for the mission!" Tokiya began shouting.

"Why do you always have to be in such a hurry, huh? Can't you just let us relax for a bit?!" I shot back, annoyed by Tokiya's constant scoldings.

"Haruka, I actually agree with Tokiya this time, he's right. We need to speed up otherwise we won't be able to complete our mission in time." Momoi explained.

"...Fine... But just when I believed we could rest for a while."

I unwillingly stood up from the ground and we went back to our journey of traveling to Solaire. After one hour of walking, which felt like an eternity, we finally reached the kingdom. By the time we arrived, it had already been night time and the sun bright was now replaced with a full moon.

"Wow, it's so much better than I had imagined! And here I thought that Lunalia was beautiful!" I exclaimed as I gawked at the scenery before me.

Instead of sparkling crystals and moon pieces, this place was filled with prisms reflecting bright rainbows and it had much more natural plants grown. Even though it was night time, it still felt like it was morning due to all the bright street lamps and tall, lit up buildings. The people over here wore bright dresses ranging from the colors of bright yellow to deep pink. But in the end, Lunalia still held its own type of charm.

"It really is amazing..." Nagi muttered with a wry smile on his face.

As he said those words, we walked through the entrance and headed deep into the kingdom.

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