The soft bloom of night air flutters the white curtains. The night sky is accompanied by a quarter moon that helps brighten the sky. The light also flashes through the opened curtain. Apo is sitting on the couch near the big opened window, fortunately the light shine is enough for him to read the books.
The night air is refreshing, it gives him time to breathe in and out, capturing the peaceful moment. Apo caressing the book cover. He noticed that the cover is a drawing of a beautiful galaxy. At the centre there is a big star that dimly lights, he traces it lightly with his finger, there undoubtedly a trace of power. Someone had left a piece of his soul here. He carefully opened the book, and there a piece of paper fell out of the book onto his lap. Apo picks up the small, almost fragile, paper.
My Light,
Are you aware that the beauty of light is said to exist because of the darkness?
I don't believe you owe that beauty to me.
You are the beauty.
Apo's cheek unconsciously heated up by the cheesy attempt of sweet words. He flipped the card but there was nothing written on the back. There is also no name indicating who wrote this. He put the card back at the end of the book. He opened the first pages. It looks like someone's journal rather than a formal book. The writing on the first pages was a bit messy, like a teenager learning to write calligraphy, and it was short. There are no years and time written on the paper.
Dear Diary,
Today the history master said that history was known because people save a record of it. Today marks the day that I'll write all my life story, but I don't want my name to be known to the world, if one day I die and someone did read this. I will be embarrassed. I asked the master how to stay mysterious. He said I can use a made up name or an acronym. What should I do? I should ask my friend.
Sincerely,
x
Apo's face spread into a smile at the young hearted writing, the kid that wrote the book must be really young. He could sense the youthfulness just by the writings. It was nothing but simple writing, but Apo couldn't help but continue reading.
My friend called me Sun. He thinks I shine more than anyone and I give him energy. It's sweet of him. I called him Moon, as a gift. Today our training is harder than before. Moon can control the water more than before. On the other hand, I can't help but trip over and over again with this power. I guess I do not deserve this element. Mother kept on pushing me to learn this power and told me it will help our family to be in higher ranking if I'm capable of overcoming it.
The light does not suit me at all.
Sincerely,
Sun.
'Sun?' he mumbled,
Follow thy unhappy shadow, black as night. though thou be a powerful sun.
Powerful Sun
It could be related, but it could also be coincidence. He doesn't want to put his hopes high. But what is important is that he knows, whoever this kid is, he is an elementalist. Light doesn't suit him? Moon?' Apo's eyes widened as he remembered something he thought he heard in the library.
"We need to go before The Moon gets angry"
But it can't be coincidence that Apo heard that before and in the dream. All of the things that are related to the Moon and Sun. He needs to know more, these things can help him to finally lead to something. Apo is not dumb he knows something has been happening since the death of Blue. Since his dream started happening.
He opened the third page.
The other Elementalist is really annoying. I know that they are stable in controlling their own power. So what? It is not making them more special. Wait till I can control it. They pushed me around again. Luckily Moon is here to beat them up, it is a peak to have good powerful friends. This book sounded unprofessional now, well. I needed this.
Also, there is a new kid here, he is a bit weird, no one wants to be his friend. Should I talk to him? our power progress is so slow. So we can help each other.
Sincerely,
Sun.
The story continued about the day Sun and Moon had for training. For more than ten pages, he keeps on complaining that he has made no progress in his power and speaks highly about the Moon. There is no indication what type of power the kid got, but Apo guessed it must be fire elements if it related to Sun and light. He also doesn't mention the weird kid that he wants to befriend. Apo's eyes got droopy so he decided to read one last page. The first sentences pick his interest immediately
Today I spoke to that weird kid. I should stop calling him weird. He is actually nice, and he is related to Moon. He also can't use his power yet, we talked and thought that maybe we are most likely not an elementalist. I hope mother will not be angry if I told her this. I asked him what spark he got when he got evaluated, he said it was a dark spark. I never heard of dark spark. It was the same as mine, the odd spark, I'm white spark. Could it be a coincidence that we are the odd one. I would love to know him better. His code name in this manuscript is Dark. He doesn't seem to mind. We talk a little bit about practising together, not until Moon comes and interrupts us. I also think Moon is strangely angry with me today. I hope tomorrow he will be fine, maybe he is tired because of practice.
Sun.
Apo sighs, this gives him almost nothing, it mostly ranting about his failed attempts and punishment he received because of it. Nothing seems important. His eyes started to water. He bookmarked the pages, walked to the bed and put the book on the table beside the bed. Only to take it back.
"What if someone found it?" Apo wondered. He can't let someone else take this book away. Not when he has not finished it yet. He looked for places to put this book. At last he hid it in between the bed and bed frame. Feeling safe enough, Apo starts to dove off.
***
"You guys go into spying without me? How could you? Oh that's why you told me to fill in your fight with Ken! The betrayal! I miss Apo! He would never do that" wailed Job. Bas just rolled his eyes at his frame of mind and loud voice. They'll be caught one day because of this.
"What did you hear earlier, Jeff? You look shocked" asked Bas, he ignored Job completely. Job comically flabbergasted by the treatment.
Jeff has not sat still since earlier. When Bas asked him, he just said that it is better to talk about this topic in private. Now that they're in private with locked doors and close curtains of their own room, Jeff doesn't seem like he can speak. His finger keeps fidgeting the bed sheet.
"Jeff, you can't keep quiet about something so important. We are in this together" said Job, he became serious, Jeff worried face alerted him. His playfulness disappeared instantly.
"I think we need a bigger team", said Jeff suddenly, his eyes wandered into nothingness.
Bas sighs "We can't trust anyone. You know that. If our plan is out, we are as good as death" he whispered, threatening
Job groaned and pushed his bang to the back. His hair is now longer, he doesn't have time to cut it due to intense practice.
"What do you hear?" Bas asked again. Jeff hesitated for a moment before finally looking at them. His face became more serious.
"They want to start a war again"
“I thought we were in a wa-"
"Job, listen!," Bas hissed, annoyed at the interruption.
"It is not any war. They want to finish the unfinished. They want to wake him up!," Jeff stand up and walk back and forth, visibly worried and terrified
"What? I don't get it" asked Job confused
"They want to start the Dark War again! They want Starless to finish what he started, so they can bring down the current Monarchy of Huahin completely. Genocide," Jeff said, he was terrified. The Dark War is a war that shapes their society now. It is also the main reason why Huahin and Irving are not one country.
"That doesn't make sense. What do you hear exactly?" Job asked seriously.
•••
Jeff was using his power to concentrate on the wave of the sound around the air, so it resonated within him. At first it was muffled, then everything got clearer.
"-rything done? Do you think you can wake the devil himself?" asked Jake, their head of the Red House
"You know this is my field. I can wake him up but we need an amplifier" said the strange man. "If we want to put down the King, we need that one person open that damn gate. I can use all my power to find where he is trapped. I can bring myself to be his sacrifice, if he needed a body to stay, but it all for nothing if the last key is missing"
"What do you mean? I thought you had already finished your work. Sound confident when you took the job" there was a slight mocking from Jake.
"You'll never understand. I thought it was easy, but after all the research. We still don't know why the Dark War started and ended, we don't have any record about him or why he started the war," argues the man
"We all know about that, some said we are crazy to disturb the devil" a sigh could be heard "We already made it this far, tell me what or who do we need?" said Jake tiredly
"A Sun Elementalist"
There an audible gasps, he could hear something fall down and crash, maybe a glass. "Are you insane Kan?! There are no such things. It's just a myth! We will never open that damn door" yelled Jake.
"No. Trust me it is not just a myth. It's real. If the Starless is real. So do Sun Elementalist. While Starless controlled the darkness, he needed a balance. That comes from the Sun. Ever heard of elementalist that meant to be with each other? A complete opposite but complete each other" babbled the man, Kan. He never heard such a name. Is it from rebel groups? Why is Jake on the same pages as the enemies?
"Yeah I heard of that, Water-Fire is one of them" he sounds tired while the other is optimistic. "Please continue your theory so we are not killed by our leader", There is also an audible “We're screwed” by Jake.
Kan suddenly whispered, Jeff's eyebrow furrowed, a sign that he was really focused, a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. "I hope you don't get mad with me, I meet someone that is immortal. She lived during the time of the war"
"You meet a witch?" Jake was shocked. It was illegal for Elementalist to be in contact with witches or wizards.
"It's not important. Whether she is a witch or not. What important is, she told me that Sun Elementalist truly exist"
"You trust her blindly? That witch can play with your mind. She just wants you to be her sacrifice," Jake angrily scolds the man.
"No. She showed me proof," he then pauses, the sentence trails into silence, "Gather the other members. We will talk again later" said Kan. Jeff heard him walk to the door. Shocked, he moved away from the door. Right before he lost his concentration, he heard, "My friend, this room is not suitable for meeting. Someone could hear our conversation or maybe already heard it," he casually said.
Jeff was shocked. He took a run and caught Bas wrist, sprinted into the field. Bas was dumbfounded but hurriedly moved into a stance of fighting. They act as if they are not just spying on their principle
•••
"So changes of plan?" asked Job. They ignored him.
Bas tapped his nails on his knees, "The fact that our principal hates the government and the King, just the same as us— is fascinating. He works for him!" he whispered. "We could be a team"
"Are you crazy? They want to wake up the devil himself. If Starless is indeed still alive and they wake him up, he could kill all living humans. In The Dark War, he killed thousands of elementalist" said Job, visibly worried and terrified, pointing out the obvious. The Elementalist needed to learn about The Dark War to prevent it from happening again. They know how cruel the Starless could be.
"Well at first, we are just planning to know what happened to the kid that was sent away to the castle and goes missing" Jeff mumbled, he pitched his temple. "To know what the King truly did to all of the orphans" Jeff added. "This time it's different. It looks like the King has a higher motive, even his own people go against him" he sighs.
Bas looked sad, biting his lips, "My brother will be proud if we could help people. Let's find out why they want to bring that King down" he concluded.
They looked at Bas sadly. He lost contact with his older brother more than 5 years ago, when he was sent away to be an army for the country. Matt had promised to send a letter to him every two weeks. It went on perfectly for the first three months but suddenly it stopped completely. The last letter stated that there was something strange around the palace. That fuels the three of them to find out what happened and help Bass reunite with his brother, or maybe give him closure.
•••
The morning light shone beautifully, casting a beautiful sun upon his face. Apo was walking to the ground of the Huahin Great Castle. There was no guard as he walked with the King. The man himself has asked his company for a light walk around the castle. The area looks rather private as the high fence covers the area, and no people accept two of them. The palace ground is naturally littered with tall trees and flowers, grass covering its land, and there are also beautiful white and red flowers. Apo noticed there a white horse with its leash attached to the tree. He approached the horse, it was tame, he glanced at Kinn to give him permission to touch it. Small nod makes his smile bloom. The beautiful horse did not run from his caressing hand.
"If I can walk out of this castle. I'll show you everything around here. You could use this horse," whispered the King, Apo was taken aback by the closeness. His breath seemed to send shivers down his spine. He took one step away, widening the distance. Kinn just smiled fondly.
He took another deep breath, fresh air greeted his lungs, nothing like the village or orphanage, "This place is nice and peaceful, Your Highness. Outside world is chaotic,’’ claimed Apo while caressing the horse.
"You really insisted on calling me that? you have the permission to call me by my name. I allowed it. It planted my curiosity, why don't you?" Kinn asked, a bitter and sad expression adorned his face
"How could I? I'd like to stay polite with you" said Apo, he glanced at Kinn, both of his hands were at the back, he was standing tall. Full of power and elegance. His eyes never left him, watch how softly he caresses the white horse. Apo looks away at the intensity,"If I called you by your name, it just feels inappropriate. You're the King, I am nothing", Apo looked at the creature that now happily nuzzled back to him.
He did not catch Kinn's face, he was taken aback by the reply, but he did not argue further. Instead, he looked into the distance, at the fence that wall the castle and the outside world. The air of sadness prominent in the air, it suffocated. Apo felt like someone ripped half of his heart out. He looks at the man again, he looks sad. Apo could not take his face away longer than a few seconds from the handsome man burdened with power and title.
"I have never been this close to anybody. Do you know that?," Kinn suddenly said. He looked at Apo with an expression that he could not describe. Fondness maybe.
Apo let out a small smile, "I figured. No one could meet you, unless you were a warrior or family member," said Apo. Kinn and him were only a few feet away now. Kinn looks handsome and proper as always. Today he wears a royal blue suit, his hair without styling, covering his forehead. He looks younger.
Kinn sighs, his shoulder slack. He let go of his composure in front of him, Apo noticed it every time they were alone. "I guess you know about the strange arrangement of the Kings. They called it the No Face Kings"
He walked through the path around the flowery ground. He signalled Apo to follow him, which he did. There is a stone table and chair at the end of the road under the big trees.
"The King that people don't trust. King that doesn't do anything for the people. That's what everyone said if the time comes for the King to hide its identity" he said sadly. He sat on one of the chairs. "You may take a sit"
Apo can see from his face how much burden Kinn had to face in order to lead a country. The plan in the meeting room is one proof.
"Your Highness, you can talk to me", He looked deeply into the Kinn's sad blue eyes, sadness overpowering his soul. His aura sour, also almost bitter in Apo's mouth, "If you want," he quickly added.
Kinn chuckled, his smile lightening the sad topic, "I trust you. I don't know why but I do". He clenched and unclenched his fists on the marble table.
"Do you know why there is this arrangement of Kings?" he asked Apo, earnestly
The question he had been asking himself, Apo shook his head, "No, Your Highness"
"The late King's power was corrupted and cursed after the Dark War. The earliest Kings during that War sacrificed his power to the darkness making the power almost destroyed. Luckily the healer could save him, but as a result, sometimes there is a deadly surge of this power," Kinn shared, he looked into the distance, at the big fence, longing in his eyes, "It is embedded in our genes, and activated as the curse likes to. We could hurt others suddenly, without warning. But, this curse does not happen in every King, it always skips from generations. When that happened, us Royalty didn't want this power affecting others. It can suddenly destroy things, it could make us lose our identity, we could kill. The tradition remains until someone knows how to fix this." he casually told Apo about the Royal secret. He was taken aback by this casual revelation.
"Why don't you choose another ruler, if the curse happened to you? You have cousins", he remembered Bible, the King's cousin, that mocked him
"Funnily enough the curse did not work like that, it only affects the King in charge. If I walk away from the throne, the others that step up will suffer. I don't want that to happen," he said, finally looking at Apo. He looks sad, his hand on the marble table playing with the dried leaves. "People think I'm useless as a King", he suddenly said. "You too probably think I'm useless", his voice trembling, eyes downcast. "My father thought the same, the day I was chosen as the King. The late King, my uncle, had chosen me over his own brother and son. What do you think my father did? He hated me. If he hates me, what makes it different if others do the same?"
It brings back the memory of his family, his father to be exact. He had the same story, hated by his own father, Apo's heart wrenched. Kinn looks younger and vulnerable, makes him think of himself. The only difference between the two of them is, he had a sister. If his calculations are right, the late King was assassinated when Kinn was only 17 years old. He remembered the news, it was shocking. Unfortunately Kinn's name was named to be the next in line before they could assign his cousin or his father. This King sitting in front of him has all the burden given to him before he even knows the whole world, on top of that his father despises him for the late King's decision.
"I don't have any word to everyone who chose to hate you, they can have their own opinion, Your Highness. It is normal for humans to judge others before meeting them. It doesn't mean what they say is true" Apo cooed. He also busied himself with the fallen leaves on the marble table.
Kinn looked at him, a soft smile forming on his handsome face, "What did you think of me, then and now?" he asked.
Apo looks at him, he looks like a happy kid with that smile adorning his face, so childish for a King. All he could think of is that Kinn deserves someone to talk beside all the formal settings inside this castle. So he playfully said "You are kind of a heartless man who only thinks about winning the war without thinking about other consequences," he said sarcastically, he was almost afraid of his life. Kinn laughed at his bold answer, it soothes his heart.
Apo softly smiled, he looked straight into the blue eyes, "Now, all I see is that you just a boy needed some company above all these crazy things", he added. Kinn went silent, his blue eyes looking at him, genuinely appreciating his honesty.
He sighs, "Then, could you be the one who accompanies me for my whole life, Nattawin?" Kinn asked, not breaking eye contact. The wind blows Kinn's ungel hair, he looks youthful. If he meets Kinn at other occasions, he might think Kinn is some normal kid without the burden of the world.
Apo cover his awkwardness with a laugh, "Your Highness, I didn't know you good at making joke"
"I'm serious. I like you", the Kinn mumbles. The scratching his nape, his cheeks gradually turning red.
Again, Apo sees him like this, his heart fluttering. He himself has never been in this situation, but this man in front of him is also lacking social interaction. He is awkward in making friends. He was never out of this castle. "How about we become friends? We know nothing about each other. So you shouldn't just ask someone out"
Kinn laughed, "Then, be my friend, Apo?"
"Of course— Kinn", he called the King by his name, the first step into friendship he thought.
•••
Apo wakes up again in his dreamland but this time it's different.
There is fire everywhere, people fighting with each other, using swords or the elements they have. Death bodies on the ground, blood cover the earth and it slips into the depth of the earth marking the day of destruction. There are elementalist, infermum and innocents people fall to the ground due to this madness. There also remains of human limp lay shattered without its owner, no idea if its owner is still alive and fighting or dead.
Apo feels like he was watching a tape, a movie. He doesn't feel any burning sensation from all the fire, but he feels nauseous as he sees the gore scenes. Unfortunately, he can't look away, curious as to what all this means.
The darkness and fire aluminates. The warriors were having a hard time controlling their power and fighting the enemy. Lightning strikes the enemy, fires blow back in return. There is no end in this fight. Among the others, a blurred face of a man with a dark cloak walks through the chaos, his eyes colour is pitch black, like it contains only darkness within. He walked as if he had only one destination in his mind, people that tried to stop him were engulfed in darkness, cracking sounds could be heard as if they were fighting with something, and all of them lead to their own end. The dark eyes look at the end of the destruction land, never breaking his focus on one man with white golden royal battle clothes. The highest most valuable warriors were around him, protecting him. The King stood still as he watched the angry man walk into his direction, no fear inside him.
All the faces were blurry, even if Apo tried his best to focus on the faces. It still turns out blurry. His feet glue into the ground, watching the scenes but cannot move or talk. Completely frozen.
The dark eyes that void any emotion turned into anger as he was stopped by the warriors only a few metres away from the King.
"Stop it, Phakphum!", the King's voice roared before the battlefield. "You're killing innocent people!"
Phakphum's hands form a shadowy mist, surrounding him turning darker. The aura he emits was murderous. Apo instantly knows that this man is the Starless, the only one that can control the darkness.
"Your Majesty, you are the one who brought upon this war!" he roared. His long hair swepts away by slow wind.
"Phakphum. Stop this madness. He'll never support this act", said the King. His voice sounds familiar. Apo could not think when he heard this voice, he cannot overlap the voice and faces.
He could feel an extreme aura from the Starless, it started from anger turned into sorrow before turning back into nothingness. "Don't" he warned.
The faceless King pulled out the sword from its white and gold scabbard. The crossguard, pommel and scabbard of the sword was littered with white diamonds. Gold and white dominated the beautiful sword. The Starless looks shocked, his face contorted into sadness. "You use his sword." tremble him. His voice shook.
"He is the one that gave me this sword. You know this is the only weapon that can kill you right? He doesn't have the heart to kill you", the King announced, "He told me to do it on his behalf", he continued. Phakphum stood still, mist of darkness slowly dissipated. The sky, once dark, lets the light slip through.
The Starless unsheathed his almost identical sword to the white one, only his are black and gold with black diamond. While the white is elegant, this sword looks deathly.
"Did you know that if a soulmate sword meets, it causes more destruction. You follow that old witch order. Snap out of it. Look what it cause" shouted the King, the chaos on the surround started to slow, many elementalist had fallen.
"I trust her more than my life! You are the one that caused this!" shrieked the faceless powerful rare elementalist. "You killed the innocent!"
"You are the one that attacks Kalasin first! You killed the fire kids! What is your motive?" shouted the Starless. "I'm trying to save them from you. You started this war!" he yelled.
The faceless King scoffs, "They are traitors, you are on their side. They are the ones that killed our own Huahin people! We needed to kill the fire. They are too powerful. Us, other Major Elementalist already decided this!" The King announced. Then softly he added, "Mile, as my brother, it is not too late to come back. I'll forgive you for what you did. He will forgive you. We never need to clash swords. He hates it", pleaded the King. The other warriors unsheathed their weapons as the enemy started to advance.
"We already killed the general! Why kill the innocent? Woman? Children? Why do you need to kill everyone?" Mile shouted. His grip on his sword handle tightened, mist of darkness almost staining his fingers.
"Their wicked minds will take revenge. We must execute them all. You need to understand this Mile. It is for our own future" the King said. “Think of your soulmate”
Mile looked at his hand holding his sword, it was covered with darkness and blood, his own colleagues' blood. All for protecting the innocent one. "Why can't all of you see from my perspective?" he mumbled
Apo saw a black dust covering his vision, the area was different this time. It's like he was pushed to another set of scenes. He felt his hand trembling due to anxiety. The mist slowly dissipates from his vision. He sees the man with the dark cloak which is the Starless, Mile had dropped into his knees. He was embracing the lifeless body of someone. The white cloak of the person inside his arms is soaked by blood, destroying the good fabrics. Mile was wailing, his sword laying on the ground near both of them. It was covered in blood.
Suddenly there was a man with royal clothes bursting into the rooms. He ran in a rush but stopped in his tracks, witnessing the scene in front of him.
"Mile Phakphum— you– what have you done! you killed him", The King said in disbelief, his body trembled, "You sank your sword into his heart! I guess darkness will always get into you" he screeched. He pushed Mile aside and took the lifeless body into his arms. The Starless let his body fall, tears rolling down his face involuntarily.
“I’ll kill you, I'll kill you Mile. I swear” said the King. Mile picks his sword back involuntarily trying to defend himself if the Faceless King suddenly launches at him. He stopped, looked into his hand, shocked. Feeling the sticky blood on his hand. The black sword dropped to the ground. Apo trying to look into the young Starless face, he can't, the only things he catches from his feature is the familiar eyes, full of darkness, tears shining in it. Apo didn't understand what happened but his heart broke into millions of pieces as he got the glance of the young man's eyes. Apo clutched his own heart, it hurt so bad. Tears run down his face as his knees collapse into the ground, wheezing for oxygen. Ugly sobbed mirror the Starless as it was a parallel between the two.
Like a mirror, both of them collapse into the dirty floor, full of blood. Apo looking straight above, then his head turning to the Starless direction, he sees the man was engulfed in his own darkness, away from the world. He vanished from the world, just like that. Apo can feel his sorrow, guilt and despair. Apo closed his eyes, expecting to wake up inside his cosy room.
°°°
New Main Character Unlocked
Mile Phakphum Romsaithong, other detailed still mystery.
[If you read my other ongoing series and wondering why I post this faster than the other. Its because I wrote this storyline until chapter 13 years ago for other ships. But never post it. Then I rewrite and change it into this ships]