⁛ Origin Year 134, 14th of Hana.

5 months ago.

“Cheer up. I’m sure he didn’t mean what he said.”

Chief Wang KeZhi said, trying to console me.

“There’s no way that’s true. My brother has hated me since birth.”

I was sulking while sitting atop a rock.

“Well, uh… even if he did mean it, we’re here to prove him wrong aren’t we?”

“I’m still dead weight to the squad though.”

We were at Observation Point 1, located near the ridge of a small satellite island closest to our ship. While Chief Wang and I talked, the rest of the reconnaissance squad were busy studying the Cloud Hive.

“Sergeant Wang, I believe we need to move closer. There are a few demonica species we were unable to identify, and the location of the queen remains unknown. The Cloud Hive seems to have formed an unusual cluster-grape shape.”

“An unusual cluster-grape shape?”

Curious, I stole one of the unused binoculars and checked with my own two eyes.

Sure enough, the black mass looked like a bunch of round balls stuck together. It was rather disgusting.

“I can’t even tell what creatures those are.”

“Of course you can’t. You need to look at it from the telescope.”

Chief Wang chopped my head lightly. Ouch.

“What do you suggest sir?”

“Observation Point 4.”

Our airship was hidden by the coverage of the satellite islands to avoid alerting the Hive. If we wanted to get any closer, we could only move forward by foot.

The day turned orange, twilight settled in with the passing of time. Thanks to the proximity between the small satellite islands, moving from one observation point to another simply involved hopping from one island to the next.

“This is… troubling.”

However, we faced a problem in the final jump between two islands. The gap in height between our current island and the target was way too extreme.

“Let’s wait one day and see. The temperature difference may cause the islands to shift.”

“Then let’s camp here.”

High temperatures cause the island to ascend, low temperatures cause the islands to descend. The smaller the island, the greater the fluctuation in elevation.

That’s the simplified version of how it works. A more scientific explanation would be as follows:

Islands all contain a core of prana. Prana is a naturally occurring material that converts temperature to directional kinetic energy. Of course, it’s important to remember that temperature is also a form of kinetic energy.

So equation-wise, we would have:

Molecular kinetic energy (100%) -> General kinetic energy (~102%).

The conversion process happens through a complex quantum process known as ‘shifting’. The details of this I have yet to comprehend. What I do know is that the ‘shifting’ process is affected by the sum of ionic potential, which in simple terms would be electric potential. The greater the ionic potential, the higher the in-the-moment ‘conversion rate’.

At night, the atmosphere’s general ionic potential decreases because of temperature.

So because of this, the ‘conversion rate’ reduces, leading to a lower output of kinetic energy, causing the general descent of the islands.

Smaller islands are more sensitive to this change because the prana cores are typically much smaller than larger islands. The volume-to-surface area ratio of the prana cores has an effect on the proportion of ‘conversion rate’.

“Are we not going to start a campfire?”

I asked.

We were having our MRE in the dark. I felt uncomfortable because of it.

“It’s best not.”

Chief Wang explained.

“Some demonica are sensitive to light. So until we have a clear gauge on the Hive composition, I would advise not.”

“But didn’t you confirm that there’s no demonica around this region?”

“It’s better safe than sorry.”

He answered seriously.

“Alright.”

But it’s annoying.

Yet what can we do? This is a mission of high importance, not some simple cadet expedition.

I went to bed early.

While they took turns as sentinels. I was told to sleep through the whole night.

When dawn broke, I woke up and washed my face.

When we checked again, a visible shift between the height of the two islands was seen. But unfortunately the difference was still too great to cross over.

“What do we do now?”

“We’ll try an alternative path.”

“Chief Wang, how about we try this instead?”

I kicked my boots and ignited the prana inside me. Leaving a breath of white mist, my feet lifted off the ground.

“I can fly a little. So I’ll try tie a rope and let it down for you from up there.”

“…What?”

“Since when… oh, right. There were rumours, weren’t they?”

“Why didn’t you tell us yesterday then… you wrench.”

“W-Well! It was too high yesterday! This height is more manageable!”

The gobsmacked expression of the squad was a pleasant surprise. I flew upwards and tied the nylon-composite rope around a tree.

“It’s done, catch!”

“Are you sure it’s tight enough?!”

They shouted at me from this distance.

“You can test it with a weight… but I guarantee it!”

They hadn’t much of a problem climbing it.

That said, in order to save time, only Chief Wang and Sergeant Ko crossed over. The rest stayed back to prepare for a speedy return.

“Let’s not take too long.”

“Right.”

We made it to the next ridge, finally arriving at Observation Point 4. The telescope was taken out of its case, Chief Wang began inspecting the hive and …

“Sergeant Ko. Code Yellow. List this quick, Lionfish, various small fishes, Shrimp Horde, Moray Eels, Red Sharks, Ash Dolphins—”

“What?”

What’s Code Yellow?

I picked up the binocular hanging around my neck and checked the Hive.

“…Huh?”

A black mass was coming our way.

And fast.

“—Sirens. Okay, let’s go.”

“At once.”

They quickly packed up the items and ran.

I, being the only confused one, chased after them.

“W-We got noticed?”

“Apparently so. Quick. This way.”

“Sergeant, we’ll leave the ropes.”

“Ms. Hwang, tell them we’re on Code Yellow. Prepare your weapons, we’re heading back to ship.”

“Understood!”

My veins sparkled faintly as prana burned within me.

The temperature change had made the islands shift. With the height difference widened, it was even scarier now compared to then.

But… this wasn’t a time to panic.

Leaping off, I controlled my prana emission carefully and finally landed.

“Code Yellow!”

I shouted.

“““Received.”””

They responded as if they had been trained for it. The squad’s expressions changed at once.

We left the camp baggage behind and only moved with the important equipment and guns. When Chief Wang and Sergeant Ko arrived, we made a break into the coral forests.

Run. Flee. There wasn’t much time to ponder so much.

Before, we arrived at Observation Point 4 mostly descending. However, to return to basepoint we would have to ascend.

“We’ve not secured our return route, how should we…”

“I’ll help!”

I leapt between the gaps and secured the ropes between the many islands in our ascent.

“I’ll tie the next one in advance!”

“Alright. Go!”

Prompted by Chief Wang, I went ahead and secured our route for the last connecting island.

And then… the forest went completely silent. A certain chill that tingled my spine.

“…What was that…”

I felt something.

Something…

Click.

I released the safety pin of my Glock.

I pointed towards the space between a gap in the canopy. The light shining through the spaces of the leaves. I squinted my eyes.

A flicker of the shadow. I pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang!

A great rustling of leaves.

Bang!

A wave of eels. I fled as I fired.

Each bullet skewered the enemies as I had calculated. But a magazine of twelve couldn’t have possibly dealt with a swarm of twenty. I ejected the current magazine and loaded the next one.

Fins tinted in red, its skins protruding with blackish scales and eyes like rubies—an Ash Dolphin rushed in. Dodging to the side, the dolphin then let out a high pitched squeal.

Giiiiiiii—!

“Ngh?!”

The noise loudly reverberated in my inner ear.

It was painful.

Pushing against the nausea, I pulled the trigger on my Glock and killed the dolphin with two bullets to the brain.

I exhaled as if vomiting. The eels caught up with me and knocked me over.

“AHHH!!!”

They bit into my uniform. Their teeth failed to penetrate the fabric but I could feel the bite pressure.

“Damn you fuck…!”

Their bodies squirmed on top of mine, pressing me down.

I ignited my prana and forced myself to fly upwards. In the air I shot down the eels, each as large as my arm, and killed the remainder with a knife.

“…Huh?!”

I should’ve died there but… I didn’t?

What the hell kind of behaviour was that?

“Ms. Hwang!”

“Chief!”

“…You.”

“I’m fine! We need to get going.”

“…Right, let’s go. Good work.”

Seeing the corpses littered on the ground, and the bloody mess of my uniform, if he couldn’t tell as much I’d have prescribed him new glasses.

The rest of the squad arrived looking just as shocked as he was. But we hadn’t the time to lose.

The infected eels were just the beginning.

We quickly crossed the gap between two more islands and ran following the trail we came from previously when…

~♪

“!!!”

“This song… wait!”

If it wasn’t worse, as if on time a shark stuck down through the canopy up top.

I pushed Chief Wang out of it’s course and backed off. The shark, missing its target, slammed into the earth with its snout broken.

The squad opened fire, we killed the shark but the singing…

~♪

Light was leaving everyone’s eyes. The brief opening the shark created had won out. Before anyone could put on their earplugs we were already all bound by the siren’s spell.

What’s more to say… huh? No, hold on. I’m unaffected?

“Chief?!”

I shook his shoulders.

“Chief Wang!”

Rustle~!

A second shark shot out of the bush. Immediately, it decapitated one of the female soldiers which had been bound by the siren spell.

I stood there, dazed.

The blood that spilled everywhere, spreading…

What did I just see…

She died.

“W-Wha…”

She just died.

We’re all going to die.

…Get a hold of yourself EunHa!

I tore the rifle gun off Chief Wang and pulled the trigger.

“!!!”

With the current state of the situation, my greatest concern would be breaking the spell. Alone, it would be impossible to cover for all five of them.

The earlier I kill the siren fucker the greater than chances of their survival.

The panicked firing of ammunition managed to tear into the shark which had killed one of our allies.

~♪~♪

On beat, more demonica-turned dolphins, sharks and eels rushed towards us.

Click.

I sprayed the gun, and immediately cleared a path.

Click—!

I flipped the gun and jammed it into the mouth of an incoming shark. It was useless now without access to the magazine.

A shadow loomed, instincts reacted faster than my mind. I escaped the jaws of the eels by a quick acceleration into the air.

Bursting through the canopy of leaves, I saw it.

The siren amidst the small Split Hive of demonica, singing. Tens of hundreds of eels, fishes, dolphins, sharks… there were even killer whales among them.

I pulled out my measly Glock and pulled the trigger. Repeatedly.

The demonica acted like voluntary shields and took the hit to protect their ‘queen’.

“Damn it!”

The siren stopped singing and looked at me.

Lustrous black hair, blood red eyes. Fin-like ears, and horns protruding from the head. A lithe naked upper body and a gorgeous tail covered in black scales. She was as beautiful as folk-lore made her out to be. But…

“DIIEE ALREADY!!!”

Stuck in a life or death escapade. I hadn’t the mind to enjoy the sight.

From Ash Dolphins that covered her using itself as a meatshield, to Red Sharks that threatened to amputate my arm.

Using everything I learnt from flight control training, I weaved in and out of an omni-directional assault by multiple demonica.

My gun ran out of ammo. I wanted to reload.

And in that slip of concentration, an eel bit into my hair, completely screwing my balance.

“GHH!?”

A dolphin rammed into me. I fell towards the trees. Eels surrounded my body and restrained me.

“Damn it what the fuck!?”

All in the presence of the siren’s mindful watch. I was being crucified in the air.

“𐌸𐌰𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌾, 𐌹𐌲𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌽𐌾𐍆 𐌴𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌲.”

I’m dead.

I’m supposed to be dead.

But why aren’t they killing me?

I’m completely vulnerable.

“𐌱𐌹𐌸𐍃𐍉𐍂 𐍃𐍀𐌰 𐌼𐌹 𐍆𐍂 𐍆𐍉 𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌰𐌹?”

Is the siren trying to talk to me?

I couldn’t understand a single word.

“𐌿𐌻𐌰𐍂 𐌼𐌰𐍈𐌽𐌰.”

Cackle, cackle.

—!

“AHHHH???!”

A dolphin’s shriek from directly behind pierced my head. The pain made my world go completely white.

Alive… why am I still alive? Why are they keeping me alive? It hurt. What was going on even? I can’t even think straight. I realised then I had most probably lost. It was bound to happen one day anyways.

BANG.

A spray of light blue blood exploded from the side of the siren’s head. And then a barrage of well-aimed bullets that pierced holes into the side of the eels that held me, and the dolphin behind.

Body limp, unable to do anything, I entered a freefall.

Breaking the canopy branches, bruising all parts of my body I didn’t know—I thought I was dead… until someone cushioned my fall.

In my hazy consciousness, I witnessed the person who tried to save me… slowly die from being crushed underneath.

“I…m sor.”

Sergeant Ko’s last words.

“Let’s go!”

“Damn it! Sergeant Ko! I’ll help you up!”

Chief Sergeant Wang pulled me up and carried me on his back. Meanwhile another soldier tried to help Sergeant Ko but… only blood pooled all over the ground.

“Chief Sergeant he’s…”

“Leave him! We can’t afford to lose another one!”

““Received!””

Two had died.

One from a shark. The other one by me.

They could only leave the corpses behind, because we were still being chased.

As eels charged in, and sharks weaved in from the flank… one, two soldiers more disappeared. It was only me and the Chief left.

I was still trying to grasp reality.

The siren’s appearance was the surprise that nailed our demise. But in the same breath, the only reason the siren would’ve come in the first place was because of: me.

I brought them death.

“Ms. Hwang I…”

I’m truly sorry. He let me down from his back.

I realised I could stand, though a little wobbly.

“Run.”

Run?

“Escape. To the ship.”

He said, with an unflinching gaze. Based on our current location, it was only a little further away.

But not far enough that we’d reach in five minutes.

“No… I’ll… fight.”

Talent? So what? You’re still useless on the battlefield.

Those very words that brought me here. My brother’s sneer.

Let’s prove him wrong.

Chief Wang’s kindness.

To prove him wrong…

I must… at least make sure Chief Sergeant survives.

If I can’t do even that then…

“Hwang EunHa. Make sure this sees to safety…”

I’m a failure.

“…This is an order.”

Everyone…

Died…

I…

Can’t just…

Leave everyone…

“…Please.”

A failure.

The briefcase containing all the information obtained from the scouting mission. It was now in my hands.

The final objective of the mission… the last torch.

I had the responsibility of bringing them back.

Their legacy.

-☆▫.-▫.｡.:* ▫⌎.☆\*: .｡ ▫.-

“Your brother, Chief Wang, died protecting me.”

Ayumi and I, having just finished our bath, took a stroll out under the night sky. The cold air was a nice contrast to our warm bodies.

She remained silent for a good portion of the walk.

I hated it.

For the sake of those that died having kept me alive… it was wrong for their deaths to embellish whatever fake heroism the military believed I displayed. The only thing I did was bring back the data they entrusted me with.

I was no hero. It was an excuse to keep me alive.

I wanted atonement. To have more and more people learn of the real story, so that someone would tell me that I was wrong. To relieve this guilt. This… agony, I was the one who killed them.

Hit me. Get angry at me. Scream at me.

“EunHa-ssi.”

I killed your brother. I killed your family. I am the sinner.

You have every reason to judge me…

“…It’s not your fault.”

“…?”

What?

“The Cloud Hive may have just been moving in your direction. There’s no proof or evidence to show that you were the one they were aiming for. What made you think that they were targeting you anyways?”

Resistance against the effects of a serenade.

Being spared from death multiple times.

The siren that tried to communicate with me.

A human with the ability to…

“Just because you can fly?”

Ayumi looked deep into my eyes.

“Do you really believe that you’re at fault just because you can fly?”

I’m at fault.

I’m the one who caused their death.

I held them back because I was their most important target to protect.

“You were the one who saved my brother’s legacy. If you hadn’t used your ability to fly in order to warn the others, what do you think would’ve happened to the whole fleet? Have you taken into account your own contributions? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Ever?”

I attracted the attention of the Hive.

I attracted them with my ability, my prana, no doubt.

Had I just sucked up my brother’s words and not joined the mission…

“EunHa. Have some compassion for yourself.”

Her words struck my heart like a hammer.

You were supposed to say that I’m guilty.

Scold me,

Scream at me,

Strangle me…

“Y-You’re wrong.”

“Then prove it.”

I wanted to believe that Ms. Ayumi was right.

I wanted to believe that Ms. Ayumi was wrong.

I shouldn’t have listened.

I shouldn’t have admitted…

Her eyes remained fixed on me without flinching.

That unflinching gaze. It was exactly the same as that of Chief Sergeant to which I owed my life to.

Truly.

“I’m sor…”

She suddenly jumped at me. Her arms wrapped tight around.

Under the light of the lamp, under the skies in which the stars and galaxies blossomed. Without saying a word, she wept.

For I was the person her brother saved. The person who would prove her wrong.