[Author: Mikan Citrus]

Story Arc 1: The Hero’s Journey

 

After exiting the room we were in I was checked out of the hospital by Violet and myself as the patient. Once I received word of the results of the examinations the medical staff took of me while unconscious, I felt relieved to know that there were no long-term complications to both my physical and mental well-being, even if that fight from earlier roughed me up badly. No scarring, untreatable injuries, curses or any other negative supernatural effects, none of that thankfully. Good thing I had a combination of my own regenerative ability that patched myself up, and Violet’s healing ability to be grateful for, or else my situation concerning this would’ve probably looked a whole lot worse than it was. To be honest though, the destiny that I had ahead of me was looking pretty good considering what just happened. However there were plenty of others that weren’t so lucky. On our way out of the hospital I caught glimpses of people who were also in critical condition being taken away to the emergency room. Observing their appearances I noticed that these patients consisted of a broad range of individuals. Many were regular civilians or freelancers in the private sector like me, while others were police officers who had been injured on the job, most likely receiving those wounds from fighting against criminals and terrorists alike of both the demon and human variety. There were also a few of them in a uniformed suit and tie like Violet, which I could have guessed that meant they might have been affiliated with a government agency like her or something similar to that.

 

   “National security is a very dangerous line of work to get into, especially being on the frontlines, which is exactly what we do in the PMD. You’ve already seen it for yourself in the private sector. Whether it’s the military, law enforcement, or ARIA operatives like us, we all take on the risk of protecting this great country. As Arisakans we have the common goal of keeping our homes and livelihoods safe, our natural rights and freedoms—the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as you sure have heard before. After all, our country is called the Last Bastion of Asia for a reason,” Violet said as she glanced at the hospital's emergency departments. For a few moments the cheerful expression and tone she had been displaying earlier had turned into one of solemn and somber.

 

   “I’ve seen a lot of my friends get hurt on this job. Some recover, some don’t, and most have to deal with some kind of trauma, a lot of them are dead now too,” she said with a deep melancholy in her voice. Violet moved her face closer to mine and looked into my eyes, her emerald green orbs contrasted with my dark blue colored eyes.

 

   “Please don’t die, Hero. Can you promise me that? ” A bittersweet smile appeared on her pale face. In earnest I grabbed both of Violet’s hands and looked right back at her with strong conviction and certainty. My dark blue pupils maintained direct eye contact with the angel girl as I showed her a reassuring smile.

 

   “I promise I won’t Violet, and I trust that you’ll keep me safe. I know it’s dangerous and I get that you’re worried, but I’ll live. My life is just starting to finally pick up, and I wouldn’t want that to end. Not now, not ever,” I said to Violet with a confident smile.

 

   With a faint gasp her mouth became wide open for a moment, her lush green eyes glistened as her angel wings fluttered with liveliness in reaction to my words. Her shocked expression soon turned into one of pure joy. A huge grin beamed up on her cute face as she then nodded with a soft pink blush on her fair white cheeks.

 

   “Thank you, Hero.” Her tone finally switched back to one of jubilant hope and optimism. That’s how I always wanted to see her, happy and full of pure ecstacy. My heart warmed up with my own feelings of joy every time I saw her smile and burst out in such happiness, I couldn’t get enough of how charming and blissful she was to me.

 

   “Sorry about that, I started remembering some sad things from the past. But enough about that, I feel better now!” She continued walking and motioned at me with her body language to keep following her lead. “Come on Hero, we still have other things to do together, like having that nice lunch for the two of us!”

 

   After boarding an elevator we arrived on ground level at the front lobby. The two of us finally exited the hospital and walked through the urban streets of the capital city. Due to being at the center of the city, the area was packed up with a higher concentration of businesses and acted as a commercial hub of the central metropolis here in Amaterasu. The city was nicknamed the “AMT” as a short abbreviation; saying its full name multiple times in a row tended to be a mouthful. An array of shops, restaurants and many other establishments were present all across the region, some being locally owned while others were large corporate entities. Gigantic skyscrapers loomed across the skyline with clouds passing by them. These buildings were created with more modern architectural design in mind compared to the more archaic neighborhoods of bygone eras, some of which were constructed many centuries ago. As the nation’s grand old capital, it was one of the oldest settlements in the Republic of Arisaka—the entire world even. It had a peculiar mix of classic and contemporary construction to the city’s layout, although it wasn’t exactly a rare sight across the nation. The Arisakan continent had been founded over 800 years ago, right at the center of the Pacific, although the country had roots even further back when it was still officially a monarchy over 2000 years ago. 

   “So where are we heading to?” I looked at Violet and asked.

 

   “Oh… um, it’s this pretty exclusive restaurant called Tenshi Tavern, it’s like a VIP lounge. They’re a members only club with private dining and all that. Personally I go there a lot, so I thought it’d be nice to bring you along; it has really good Filipino food too,” Violet the purple-haired angel lady said.

 

   I perked up at the mention of Filipino, since I myself was ethnically Filipino. My national Arisakan identity was of course the most prominent, but my ethnic heritage was important to me as well. It was something I was proud of and valued, so hearing my own culture mentioned from the very mouth of the girl I loved certainly piqued my curiosity. Of course, the way she described the place as some sort of exclusive VIP club was interesting as well; I guessed that I would be allowed in since I was with her.

 

   “Oh really? I’m actually Filipino myself, and the stuff about it being a VIP lounge that you’re a member of seems cool, sounds like an interesting place to check out,” I said.

 

   “I already know, I could tell by your surname, Dimalanta.” Violet nudged my arm with hers and displayed a flirtatious smirk. “It also explains why you’re so handsome Hero.” She let out an adorable and playful giggle as she sensually bit her glossy lower lip.

 

   “Ah—” I froze up and stared at her.

 

   “Hmmm?” She stood in front of me and showed off a delightful expression. She continued to smirk at me as her green eyes slightly squinted.

 

   ‘Violet just called me handsome. Holy crap, the girl I’m in love with complimented me! Ahhhh, she’s staring right at me, she’s so pretty too.’

 

   ‘Okay, but seriously what the hell do I even say back to her? My inexperience with girls really isn’t helping me all that much...’

 

   “What do you mean by that?” I said in a nervous stammer. I could already feel my heart beginning to race and my body shaking again.

 

   “What I mean is that I think my cute little subordinate is very handsome; I’m complimenting you Hero! I think it’s important to have good self-esteem about yourself.” She placed her hand on my head and stroked her fingers through my wavy black hair. Ironically despite her comment about me being cute and little, in reality I was an extraordinarily tall man at six-foot-nine—or 206 centimeters, which was nearly as tall as the average doorway in Arisaka—and possessed an athletic physique of ripped yet lean muscle. Looking at the moderate height difference between us, Violet appeared to stand at six-foot-five—196 centimeters—which was a very impressive height for a woman, but within the context of her celestial bloodline, it was more than plausible for her to be of such high stature.

 

   “Oh, thank you Violet, I’ll take that to heart.” I let out a shaky chuckle as I briefly closed my eyes and accepted her tender touch and sentiment.

 

   “You’re welcome Hero.” Violet laughed as she patted my head, playing with my short black hair as she massaged my scalp.

 

   “So… about your surname too, Tsubasa. You know I’ve been meaning to ask, are you part of that Tsubasa Clan? As in like, one of the Founding Clans of Arisaka?” I said after opening my eyes.

 

   “Ara ara, so what if I am Mister Dimalanta? I could ask you the same thing about your last name: is your bloodline of that same legendary Founding Clan from Alamat Island?” She stared at me with a smug grin, while I also had formed an amused expression on my face.

 

“Alright you got me!” I let out a bellow of laughter with my hand over my heart, then wrapped my arm around Violet and matched her pompous gaze. “Yes, I am a direct descendant of the Dimalanta Clan, one of the five families that founded the country, but anyone that even remotely cares about history would know about my clan. Have you heard of Raiden Dimalanta? You know, the guy that’s CEO of Dimalanta Heavy Industries, Bloodrose PMC, and the man who defeated the Imperial Japanese Front during the 1990s? Yeah, that dude is my uncle.” The more I recited about my own family history, the more pride was openly expressed within my speech about it.

 

   “Wait, your uncle is Raiden Dimalanta? Of course I know him, that man is a living legend, he’s even a close friend of my parents.” Violet responded with similar passion toward our conversation; so it seemed that talking to other people—even with a cute girl like Violet—was easy breezy once I got the ball rolling. I moved my right arm from her shoulders to down to her hand, grasping it firmly as we walked through the city streets of Amaterasu together. If anyone were to look at us now, we would’ve looked like a young and happy couple in love together, and that was exactly the experience I wanted to have with Violet!

 

   “So who are your parents?” I asked Violet.

   “Hikari and Shion Tsubasa. They deployed together over in the Middle East as commanding officers in the Airborne Ranger Wing, the same Army unit that I served in for my own military career. My mother and father are both over 50 years old, and both of them still look like they’re in their 20s—that just comes natural for us angels though,” Violet said with a proud smile on her cute face.

 

   “Immortality and eternal youth comes natural for us metahumans too, you adorkable angel.” I stuck out my tongue at Violet, and the celestial angel girl responded with a girly high-pitched giggle.

 

   “The first hand stories my parents told me about the war always fascinated me as a child, their service during their time in the Airborne Ranger Wing, ARAW. My parents often provided close air support from the skies above, and took whatever fortified high ground they could get to rain down barrages of magic artillery against the enemy. I was just a little girl at the time, and my younger sister Iris wasn’t even born yet, but I still remember the series of attacks against Arisaka from those extremists, it happened shortly after the incident in New York. First they hit the Arisakan embassy in America, then civilian cargo ships and fishing boats along our nation’s coastlines—that was more than enough of a reason for the ROA to join in the fight with the Americans. Naturally, Lady Arisaka fought without any red tape as she always did, and we delivered rightful retaliation and justice for what happened to our people. It was search and destroy, just in and out. Our country has never been interested in any long term occupations anyway, but I suppose the US government was, so we let them deal with that issue after our forces pulled out. I know it’s a grim chapter of history, but personally I think it’s all just so awe inspiring, and very important to learn from and study about.” Violet’s eyes opened wide as a cute red blush appeared on her face. She placed her free hand upon her cheek and looked at me; the expression she had screamed that she was embarrassed of herself. “Sorry for going on that tangent Hero, I didn’t realize that I was talking for so long, please excuse my behavior.”

 

   “Oh no it’s fine really! I like hearing you talk, and I’m a passionate student of history myself. If I can tell you the truth… your voice is beautiful and enchanting, so don’t worry about speaking too much with me,” I said to Violet and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

 

   “Oh, well then thank you Hero, I’ll make sure to keep that in mind—maybe we’ve been destined to meet this entire time. So what else do you find beautiful and enchanting about me?” She asked with a playful smirk, then leaned toward me and pointed at herself with her index finger. This girl was going on the offensive again! My eyes widened as I opened my mouth, but I hesitated to speak for a moment as I attempted to formulate a good answer in my head. The angel woman just wouldn’t stop with her romantic flirting and swooning, but I had no complaints about it. In fact, I savored every moment of attention I received from the celestial girl I loved.

 

   “The way you act, it’s really cute and makes me feel at ease with you, and of course your gorgeous looks too. You’re literally an angel girl so the only proper way to describe your beauty is enchanting.” I stated all of it out in the truth, Violet had openly complimented me by calling me handsome and even cute, so I decided to bolden my act as well if she was going to be so direct with her romantic flirting.

 

   “Ohhh, so you do find me attractive that way huh? Good to know, I’ll keep that in mind too.” Violet let out a giggle as her feathery white wings flapped with cheerfulness, at this point I was beginning to think that they were directly linked to how she felt. They always seemed to move around whenever her emotions peaked and glimmered.

 

   As for me, it felt like my emotions always peaked as I spent time with her—in a good way though. It reminded me that I was alive, and that I had more things to do and look forward to in life. The world began to look more colorful and vibrant, no matter what laid ahead of me, or what was behind—I still had the rest of my life to enjoy.