“She doesn’t even know you!” Jason replied. Next to him, stood the last member of our trio. Nodding her head, Remi moved towards me.

“J’s right. Why are you so intent to help someone you don’t know? It makes no sense.”

I turned away from her as she tried to talk some sense into me. Trying to shut out her voice, I looked up. Right in front of me was the apartment where Kokoro was staying at. And right up there, on the twelveth floor, was where she lived. I knew this because a minute ago, I had called out her name, hoping to get the attention of whoever she is. As I squinted my eyes, using my hands as shades to block the priecing sunlight, I noticed someone moving up on one of the top floors. Peering down from behind a railing was a girl. The girl that I had saw in my dream. The recipent of my message.

Now the only obstacle, besides my two buddies who were not so enthuiastic on my errand, was the five-man group in front of the only stairway up. Apparently, they were not as amused by my shoutings, and intended to do everything they can to stop me from my mission.

“How can this be a mission?” Remi wondered out loud. Remi was the female half of my two best friends, and was always looking out for me. No matter what trouble I ended up in, she would always be by my side. And on the other side, was Jason. The tough- builded guy is a direct contrast with the slim girl. But both of them have an equally similar strong negative feeling about seeing me plunge into danger. Which is to say, they would do everything they can to either stop me, …or help me.

“Think of it as whatever you want.” I replied half-heartedly. Now wasn’t the time to argue with her. I’ve already came so far. No sense in giving up now. Seeing that my resolve could not be budge, Jason shrugged and gave a sigh before walking up to me.

“Come on, let’s get this over with quickly.” He said and started moving towards the opposition. “We’ll stick with the usual plan. So wait here.” Tossing a look back to me, he put on his sly smile.

The usual plan, as he called it, was simple. Since he was the only one who was any good at combat, he would do all the dirty work. The rest of us would just wait here and worry. It’s difficult to say who’s work is harder. Sometimes, just seeing the things he has to go through make us want to stop him. But so far he hasn’t complained, and we haven’t reach that point where we had to pull him back yet.

“Be careful.” Remi shouted to him as she stood beside me. Then turning to me, she asked quietly. “You think he’s gonna be alright? There’s quite a lot of people this time.”

Nodding my head, I peered over at the scene before us. Jason has already started talking to one of the guys while the other four looked on. Looks like there are some disagreement. “Hey, I’m gonna take a look. Stay here.” I decided to move closer to hear what they were saying, and in case of trouble, I guess I can keep an eye out for Jason. But Remi wasn’t so agreeable.

“I’m coming too.” She replied, but I wasn’t listening. I was already close enough to hear the discussion Jason was having with the group. Not much of a surprise, since they were pretty much shouting right now. Finally reaching Jason’s side, Remi and I stood behind Jason, hoping to give the other group a tough-guy impression.

“So what’s going on?” I whispered. Jason tossed a look to me, a stiff smile on his face.

“Not much. Just chatting. What are you doing here?”

“We couldn’t hear from over there. Thought we might hear better from here.” I looked at the current situation in front of me. The group of guys were laughing among themselves. Apparently they didn’t interpret us as any kind of threat. That’s good, in a way. Three of them were sitting down on the left side away from the stairway, while the other two were standing beside the stairs. They weren’t really blocking the stairs. Possibly because they believed that their presence there was enough to stop people from using the stairs.

“Come on, guys.” Jason tried to negotiate again. “We just need to find someone. This won’t take a minute.”

One of the two guys who were standing looked at him, and proceeded to ignore him. Annoyed, Jason started moving forward and rolled up his sleeves at the same time. That caught his attention.

“Yo, look at this. He think he’s so tough!” Guy A started jeering while Guy B started walking towards Jason. “You want a fight. One against five? You crazy or something?” Jason stopped right in front of Guy B, and stared at him with his scary eyes that used to scare me too. Well, at least it still scares Remi. Because as soon as he stopped, Remi started holding onto my sleeves. I turned to look at her with annoyance while she moved closer to me. She’s always hated fighting, even though we used to fight alot.

As I turned back to look at the present predicament, I noticed that both Guy A and Guy B were confronting Jason now. Judging from the looks in their eyes, a fight is unavoidable. I’m not afraid of a brawl breaking out, since I’m sure Jason can handle these fools, but still I wish I could stop depending on him so much.

With all five of them having their eyes trained on Jason, the stairway was pretty much opened. If I wanted to, I could run up the stairway now, and the battle would be won. Yeah. I could picture myself running up right now. No matter how fast those fools are, they couldn’t possibly react in time. By the time they started chasing after me, I would have already be one floor faster than them.

Thinking that, I used my other hand to pull Remi’s fingers off my sleeve. Startled by my sudden action, she looked on curiously at what I was doing before coming to her own conclusions.

“Hey. What are you… Don’t do anything stupid!” She said in a whisper so soft, only I could hear her.

“Yeah yeah, I know. Just let go.” I lossen her remaining fingers from my sleeves. I needed to concentrate. The five guys didn’t take their eyes off of Jason and were starting to close him on him. Looked like they were planning on surrounding him. Nothing too much for Jason, but still… Anyway, as things were right now, I have probably five seconds before the fight started.

“No! Wait!” Those two words were all I could hear by the time I’ve stepped onto the stairs. It seemed before I realised what I as doing, I had already ran up onto the stairs. For a moment, I hesistated on whether I should continue climbing. What if one of them caught up with me? Jason could probably handle the other four. But that remaining one guy would kill me.

And then my fears came true. I felt a tug of my shirt behind me and turned to see Guy A. Looked like he was fast and managed to grab onto the corner of my shirt by luck. Damn. Maybe I shouldn’t have hesistated. But then, he immediately let go as someone suddenly started choking him from behind.

 ”Go!”

Jason! I nodded to him as he tackled Guy A and proceeded to beat him up. Blocking the stairway, he turned towards the remainder of the group and faced the oncoming battle with glee.

Meanwhile, I started running up the stairs with full speed. My destination was the twelveth floor. That wouldn’t take more then two minutes.

The problem came when I reached the top. The girl was nowhere in sight! What the? Where is she? I looked around… and noticed there were five doors, all closed. How would I know which room she’s living in? Desperately, I started shouting her name.

“Kokoro! Are you here? Please answer!”

As I shouted, I walked past each door slowly, hoping that the doors weren’t soundproof. However, none of the doors showed any signs of opening. Did I make a mistake? Was it the eleventh floor then?

Still I kept shouting. A sound. I turned around to see a girl in a one-piece dress coming out from the second door. Even though I didn’t get a good look from below, I could still recognise her short hair and bright-colored hair band. Looking at me hesitantly, she held her hands tightly in front of her as if she was embarassed.

“Hello.” Her voice was very soft, yet filled with energy.

“Are you Kokoro?” I moved closer to her since she was so soft-spoken.

“Yes. How did you know?” She was averting her gaze from me. Apparently she was afriad of strangers. I wouldn’t blame her.

“I have a message for you!” I blurted out, desperate to return to my friends. Partly also because I was relieved to finally finish this mission. “It’s from your father!”

“… Father?” Her eyes betrayed a look of confusion and suspicion.

“Yes! I saw him in my dreams. He said he’s doing well. So don’t worry about him!”

Instantly, the girl’s eyes brighten up, and she smiled happily as if a big burden was just released. It appeared that she believed what I said. That was great. Because even I would have problem believing that I saw a girl’s missing father in my dreams and was asked to pass a message to her.

Running up towards me, she suddenly lifted my hands and held them in her own. The warmth of her hands transferred to me, making me face heat up.

“Thank you for coming to tell me!” Her face was only a few inches away from mine. I could feel her breathing on my skin, and it was making me ticklish. Surprised by her sudden warm up to a stranger, it was all I can do to remove my eyes from her.

“Are you alright? Your face is a bit red.” She asked, and cupped her hands around my cheek. “It’s a little warmth.”

Oh god! I’m blushing? No way! “Ah I ran all the way up here! Must be the weather!” I quickly took a step backwards and kept my distance. This girl was incredible. How could she act like this to a person who she doesn’t even know?

“Oh. I’m so sorry. You took so much trouble to pass me the message.” She apologised and pointed to her home. “Do you want to come in? I’ll get you a drink.” She proceeded to walk back into her home, perhaps expecting me to say yes.

However I have other concerns. “Wait no. My friends are still waiting for me below.” I walked past her door and was about to run off down the stairs when I felt a tug on my shirt again.

“Wait! I’ll come with you! Give me a moment.” Saying that, she closed her door and locked it.

“What? Why?” I wondered out loud.

“I want to talk with you more.” Her reply made my cheeks hot again. Mostly it was because of her smile. It was so pure and innocent. It was nothing I’ve ever seen before. Seeing me speechless and standing there rooted to the ground, she took my hands and pulled me along.

“Ok I’m ready. Let’s go.”

“Wait. Why are you holding my hands?”

Looking at me questionly, she let go of me. “I’m afraid you might run away.” She looked down, like a girl who was just scolded for doing something wrong.

“I won’t run away.” I smiled. “Why would I run?” I walked ahead of her and started climbing down the stairs. “Come on.”

Brightening up, Kokoro ran after me and grabbed my hands again. “What? Again?” I said as her warmth flow into my hands.

“My father always said to hold hands when walking so I don’t fall down.” Kokoro replied innocently. She was laughing to herself. I guess she must have thought of some happy memories of her father. Seeing how happy she was, I had a feeling that she doesn’t laugh very often. So I tightened my hold on her. In response, she turned to me, and she laughed.

“Haha. Are you afraid of falling too?”

“Yeah.” I smirked. Holding hands to prevent falling down? I guess I was right to say she was pure.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you!” She started waving our joined hands.

“I’m so happy today. Thanks to you.” She said as we walked, the happy sound of her sweet voice had a surprisingly contagious effect on me. Having her around was like a virus. Her child-like cheerfulness could bring the most unhappy person a genuine smile. “No… I should thank you.” I mumbled softly as I led her downstairs, making a mental note to forever protect her happiness.

No. I didn’t fall in love with her. Nor did I promise her father to take care of her. It was just something about her that made me feel safe. As if everything would be fine as long as her smile didn’t disappear. And for that, I would do anything to preserve her innocence and cheerfulness. This was the feeling I have for her now. As her new friend.

Typing away like a drone, I was lost in thoughts when I felt a chill on my arm, like something cold and wet just touched me. And then I heard her voice.

“Still working?”

Startled, I quickly turned to my left.

“You?” I blurbed out. “What?” I wondered what was she doing here so late. “When?” I was sure I was the only one left in the office. “Why?” So why is she here. And then I thought, to heck with it, and mumbled “How?” to complete the set of questions.

The girl removed the cold can of iced coffee from my arm and her eyes twinkled with amusement at my sudden barrage of incomprehensible queries. And she answered all my questions with a word.

“Hi”, she said.

“Sorry about that. You surprised me.” I turned my chair around to face her. “I thought I was the only one left.”

“Oh. I was having dinner with the others nearby.” The girl replied promptly, but hesistated a moment before continuing. “Then I remembered I left my bag here, so I came back to get it.” She lifted her handbag which was slung on her arm to show me, as if thinking I didn’t believe her. Then, she lifted the can she was holding and offered it to me.

“Want a drink?”

“Thanks.” I opened the cold coffee and took a sip. As the girl took a sip from her own can, she leaned in on my desk and took a look at what I was working on. “Hey, need my help?” She started to say. She probably think that since I was new I was having trouble with the work. But then she seemed to noticed something.

“Huh? This is the work report due in at the end of the month.” She turned to me with a puzzling look. “I thought you were working on the report that the boss needed tomorrow.”

I put down my drink as I turned my chair back to my desk and took control of the mouse, bringing up the file that I had completed before she came in. “You mean this?” I opened the file and showed her.

She looked at the graphs and figures on the screen while brushing her hair that was blocking her eyes behind her ears. “Wow, you already finished it. But why are you still here then?”

“I was thinking since I was already staying late, it didn’t really matter how late I leave. So I just decided to start with the other report.”

“You’re so hardworking!” She picked up her drink and sat down on the desk. Hearing that just made me feel a little proud. And it was from her too! I took a sip from my drink as I looked at her. She was a pretty young lady, with her long hair tied up nicely, wearing a skirt and blouse that was typical of an office lady. However, the common dressing was unable to hide the shy, naive girl that she was. A girl that looked younger than she actually was. In those clothes, it was like she wore them just for a presentation for her class.  I gave her a gentle smile and drank the last of the coffee before putting it onto my desk.

Seeing that, the girl jumped off the desk she was sitting on and moved forward to take my empty can. “I’ll throw that for you.” She was like a waitress, collecting the empty plates from a customer’s table in a restaurant with her elegant movements, gentle smiles and kind voice. Before I could say a word of objection, she had already grab the can and hopped off towards the door, where the trash can was. Looking at her back, I got the feeling that she looked a little joyful, like something good had just happened to her. Then again, maybe it was just her personality. Like, that was just how she is. A kind, gentle, happy-go-lucky girl.

Turning back to my computer, I decided to continue with my work. Now that she’s gone, it was kind of lonely. Well, at least that was a nice distraction from work. I was only here for 3 weeks, and I hardly know any of the guys, not to mention the girls. So it was great to have someone approached me and ask about how I was doing. And she offered me a drink. And I barely know her too.

Lost in my thoughts again, I could barely hear my own tapping on the keyboard when I heard footsteps from behind me coming closer. The unmistakable sounds of highheels. I turned around to confirm my suspicion, and sure enough, it was her walking back towards me. She has good posture, I thought to myself. Nice legs too.

“I thought you were leaving.” I said.

“Hm..? Oh no. I just went out to throw the cans.” She smiled as she replied matter-of-factly. She obviously didn’t realize the question in my words.

“I mean, aren’t you leaving? I thought you came back for your bag only.”

“Oh!” She suddenly froze, the smile disappearing from her face as she moved her eyes away from me. It was like she have something to hide from me, and she was thinking of an excuse to give me. “Well, I um…” Apparently the girl was very weak at lying and thinking of excuses to give a guy who doesn’t even know her well.

Not wanting to put her in a spot, I quickly stopped her. “Oh wait. Let me guess.” I decided to help her think of an excuse, regardless of what her real story is.

“You’re waiting for someone, right?”

Her face blushed slightly. “What? No I’m not”, she tried to say. But perhaps it was the doubtful look on my face, she quickly decided to own up and added, “Ok, yes.”

“Oh wow. Really? I must be a great detective.” I decided to continue playing along with her. “Actually you know what, I really like solving mysteries and puzzles. That sort of thing. So, I’m guessing you’re meeting a guy, right?” I expected her to quickly deny my guesses and clarify to me the real reason. Then I realized, some things are just impossible to expect.

“Um…” Her face turned crimson pink as she looked down and avoided eye contacts with me. Nodding her head, she whisper “yes” so softly that instead of straining my ears to hear her words, I was focusing my eyes on her lips. Her glossing wet lips was pulling at all the strings in my heart. The picture of her standing with her hands behind her in front of me was melting my heart. She was very attractive right now.

Shaking away my unnecessary thoughts, I continued. “I think I know what’s going on now.” Looking up at me, she laughed slightly as she took step forward. “Really? Ok, then you tell me.” She gave me the warmest yet shyest smile I have ever seen from anyone as she prompted me to continue. But I was already not thinking straight anymore.

“You were having dinner with the others and then you gave the excuse that you left your bag here and came back.” She smiled gently and looked away, slightly embarrassed. I like her smile. It was all natural.

“And you bought two coffee on the way up here, because you were late and you were afraid that the guy you’re meeting would be angry.” She slowly turned and looked at me, as if she didn’t hear what I was saying.

“But you found me here instead. And so you thought that the guy you were waiting for hasn’t arrive yet. That’s why you’re still here. Hey, maybe the guy didn’t expect me here and is waiting for me to leave. I should leave now and give you two some time alone.” At this point, the smile that she had was already non-existent and she was looking at me with an emptiness in her eyes.

“Who.. who did you think I was waiting for?” She stuttered out. Her voice was trembling. Like she was very upset.

It was then that I realized I probably made a wrong guess. But I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I couldn’t just take back everything I just said. As I was thinking of a way out of this mess, I continued answering her, trying to buy myself some time. “Erm.. maybe Peter.” I mumbled out. I remembered hearing some gossip from the others during lunch break about Peter trying to woo her a couple of times. That
must have been the last straw.

“I… I need to go.” She turned around quickly, but not before I saw out of the corner of my eyes, a hint of sadness in her eyes. As she started to leave, I leaped out of my chair and chased after her.

“Wait, don’t go. I’m sorry.” I tried to apologize to her, but she ignored all of my attempts. She was only a few steps from the door when I decided to take a last bet. Normally it would be too embarrassing for me to say this to a girl, but fortunately, there’s nobody around right now to see us. And since we were not really friends yet, if she decide to not talk to me ever again, I wouldn’t really lose anything. Stopping by a cabinet, I leaned against it and in my most manly yet gentle voice, I started.

“Actually, you know.” I crossed my arms as I turned my head slightly to see her reaction. As I expected, she stopped dead in her tracks. And not a moment too soon, for she was already in front of the door and her hands was on the door handle. She was probably expecting that I would only keep chasing after her and apologizing to her. That’s why she had a surprised look on her face when she turned her head and found what looked to be a scene out of a romance movie. The scene where the hero was ready to confess his love for the heroine.

As for me, I knew I only had one chance to get this right. I was grinding my mind for the best thing to say right now. Obviously apologizing again was out of the question. And also, my opening words made it seemed like I was going to give a very charismatic speech. I can’t trip over myself like this. What I need to do is change the mood. If she’s sad, make her happy. If she’s angry, make her laugh. And so, it was not unexpected that the next words that escaped my lips was not exactly what I was thinking.

“I really like your laughter.”

The moment she heard the words, she suddenly gasped and let go of the handle. Turning around to face me, I could see how red her cheek was. She looked like she was having a fever. Blinking her eyes, she was trying her best to comprehend the meaning of my words. Trying and failing, she repeated my words with her own lips.

“You… like… my… laughter?” She mouthed each words slowly, as if the hidden meaning within the words would show itself when the sentence was separated. Not wanting to let the moment go, and also not wanting her to come out with a misunderstood meaning again, I quickly continued with an explanation.

“Yes. I really wanted to see you laugh. That was why I was trying to tease you just now.”

“You were teasing me?” She asked again, still not quite sure what to make of my explanation thus far. But at least she was receptive. I uncrossed my arms and stood up straight, and then I walked towards her slowly. With every step I make, the blush in her cheek was turning a deeper red. Her eyes slowly widen and she seemed to panic as she tried to think of something to say to keep me from approaching her.

“Why… why do you like my laughter?” She stuttered out desperately. But by that time, the distance between us have closed to the point where she was standing right in front of me.

Very confidently, I laughed softly, as if the answer was obvious to anyone but her. “Because it’s natural.” I gave her my most gentle smile, hoping I don’t look like a fool.

“I’ve seen a lot of people smile and laugh, and usually they smile because of politeness. Some people would laugh happily at their friend’s jokes, not because they are funny, but because they are so lame. But they still laugh, because they didn’t want to be mean to their friends. Those laughter are filled with anything
but truthfulness. Your laughter, however, makes everyone else happy. Because they are genuine and real.”

At that moment, the girl looked away from me, not because she was upset at me again, but because she was embarrassed to hear someone say such things about her. Unknown to her, I was even more embarrassed than her. Not just because of the things I’ve just said, which was by the way completely true, but also because the image of her being shy and embarrassed was already too much for me to handle. Further more, I was standing so close to her that I could feel heat coming from her crimson pink cheek. I knew I had to end this fast, seeing as how I can’t keep this up much longer.

“When I saw your smile just now, I felt like my heart had melted.” I looked at her face, hoping to see some reactions. “That was why I was teasing you. So that I can see your beautiful and warm smile again, and hear your natural and soothing laughter.” As I said this, I think I saw her blink, and the edge of her lips curved
into a smile. That was the what I wanted to see. Finally, my mission is accomplished! I doubt she’s still upset now. Time to apologize for real.

“Listen,” I put my hand on her shoulders, ready for the dramatic closure. Startled, she turned to the front, wiping her smile from her face, and hiding her true feelings from me. “Wha.. what?” She stumbled out.

Taking a deep breathe, I let go of her. “I’m sorry for what I’ve said earlier. All those guesses. I don’t even know anything about you, yet I said all those things about you. And you were kind enough to buy me a drink too. I’m really ashamed of myself. I’m unworthy to receive any of your kindness.” I stopped for a moment,
wondering how I should end this.

Thinking that I had finished my apology, the girl started to say something. Right when she opened her mouth, I suddenly placed a finger on her lips to stop her. The warmth from her lips flowed into my finger, and I quickly removed it. “No, you don’t have to say anything. I don’t deserve to have your forgiveness. But I will still repay you for the kindness you’ve shown me.”

I started to turn around. “You should go now. It’s getting late. It’s dangerous for a girl to go home alone so late at night. Goodbye.” And with that, I walked back to my desk, leaving her at the door. Silently, I breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully she will forget everything that happened tonight. Sitting down on my chair, I
quickly ran through everything through my mind.

In the end, it was all because I was so insensitive that I’ve lost a potential friend. Maybe even my first friend at the workplace too. I was happy that I was able to resolve the situation so quickly. Heck, I was a little impressed with myself. I was lucky to think up all those stuff in time, before the situation escalated. Even
if I can’t be her friend, at least we’re right back where we started before tonight. But still, I was more than a little disappointed that we couldn’t be friends. Having such a kind and nice girl as a friend would be a gift from heaven to an unpopular guy such as me.

Just as I was staring at the monitor and drowning in my sorrow with random tapping on the keyboard, I felt a hand tapping me on my shoulder from behind. And then a voice.

“Save your work and shut down your computer.” Apparently she hasn’t left. I turned around with a worried look. It didn’t work? In the end she’s still angry with me. Now what do I do?

She was still looking a little red in the cheek as she continued. “I can’t believe that you think I’m meeting Peter. Where did you even get that idea anyway?” She turned back and looked at me. “Was it the other guys?” I’m guessing that this time the red in her cheek isn’t due to her blushing.

“I just heard some people talking during breaks.” I hesitated, not knowing if I should continue. “They say that Peter was… erm… interested in you. and you said that you were waiting for a guy, so…” I was going to continue but she cut me off unexpectedly.

“But I’m not interested in him!” She cried out with a strength that I haven’t seen from her before. “I was waiting for…” There was a pause as she suddenly realized what she was about to reveal.

She stopped herself from anymore outburst and took some deep breaths to calm herself down. Changing the subject, she said, “Alright, I’ll prove it to you.”

Seeing the questioning look on my face, she cleared her throat and look away, saying, “You’re taking me home.”

“What?!”

“It’s the only way to prove to you that I’m not meeting anyone here or anywhere tonight. So come on. And hurry, it’s getting late.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You don’t have to do that. I didn’t say I don’t believe you.” I started to protest. Not because I didn’t want to do it, but mostly because if I say yes right away, she might think I was waiting to do that.”

However, what I got from her was a smile. “Why? You’re not going to let a young lady go home alone by herself, are you? Or are you afraid?” I looked away from her as I thought about the proposal. Perhaps trying to give me some confidence, she added. “Didn’t you say you are going to repay me? And here I thought you were pretty manly

just now too.”

Hearing that, I immediately stood up, turning off my monitor at the same time. Grabbing my briefcase, I gestured towards the door with my hands. “Ladies first.” I smiled. Hearing that, she laughed softly and gave me the warm smile I had so adored earlier this evening, the smile that I thought I’ve lost forever.

“Thank you.” She replied as she once again hopped on her high heels, just like the happy-go-lucky girl who bought me a drink just now. Oh yeah, guess I’ll buy her back a drink some other day, I reminded myself as I ran after her.

At the exact same moment,on the other side of the world, other impossible and cruel acts of nature were occurring. The earth quaked and bellowed as cities that stood on top of it started falling one by one like dominos. People fled and people hid. And in their darkest hour, they prayed. At least, those that still believed in Gods did. Until the earth cracked open and swallowed them up.

People on small islands disconnected from the continents could see the massive destruction across the sea. That was all the warning they had. A loud sound from the center of all of the islands caught their attention, as if a hole had opened up in the ground. And as they pondered the origin, they were engulf by a sea of sizzling magma. Most of them felt the heat before they saw the source. The cold grip of Death brought them salvation as soon as they reach their threshold for pain.  The crimson sea’s effects extended all the way to the southern and northern area, and the melting of the ice lands became fuel for the next sea attack.

If I could detach myself from my shell, I would probably be able to fully behold the true extend of this event. From the highest reaches of space.  A heavenly body which initially composed of only green and blue.  A painting of unpartial serenity. But add a little red and grey and brown and you would get a contrast. Common sense denies that mother nature herself would defied the laws of nature. Yet when the impossible happens and mother nature decided that self-preservation was more important, this is what you get. A representation of a hybird of human nature and mother nature. And it is a magnificent sight.

For everyone, it was an ordinary day.
It was also the day the world ended.

“What in the world! Just when we almost made it! Dammit! ” The head-strong leader of my party exclaimed in desperation. Looking back at the other two of my party, he asked. “Any ideas?”

DiJun, the well-known coward and swordsman, was sweating profusely as he looked back at where we came from. “Marcus! I think I hear them coming closer!”

“Stop scaring me!” Jasmine the archer said. The sound of her voice was ever so sweet, even in such crucial times. “The other parties should be handling them well. Let’s just focus on escaping this hellhole.”

“That’s right” I thought to myself. “Leave all the fighting to the heroes while we cowards run back home.” I should never have joined this party led by a cowardly dog of a leader. But this was the only way to get close to Jasmine. The only way I can make her notice my heroic actions. And maybe then, she’ll fall in love with me. But so far, all three of them have isolated me. Ignoring me. Regarded me as an outsider.

“What skills do you have? Do you have any skills to blow away this wall of fire to create a path for us?” Marcus asked Dijun. Dijun hesistated for a second. Then he stood up and waving his sword, he shouted. “Gale Force!” Instantly, a strong wind blew in the direction of the flames. Jasmine and Marcus looked on in anticipation. The wall of flames wavered for a second, and then it was gone like the wind.

“You did it!” Jasmine praised and cheered as Marcus breathe a sigh of relief. “Yes!” Dijun shouted. But just as he lowered his sword and stopped the wind, the fire wall returned immediately ten times stronger.

The answer was obvious to me. The firewall was no ordinary trap. It was fueled by the pits of hell and thus, there was no hope of ever extinguishing it. However, there was a way to get past it.

Summoning all my courage, I picked up my blade and shouted “Gale Force!”. Like before, a powerful wind blew away the flames and revealed a path straight to freedom. Looking at a stunned Jasmine, I shouted, “Go! Now!”.

Understanding my plan, Marcus nodded and pointed at the path forward. “Come on, let’s go!” Quickly he and Dijun ran ahead, followed closely by Jasmine. As I watched them leave, I was thinking, perhaps now, Jasmine would see how heroic and courageous I am. If she would only just look back once at me, I would be glad to die for her.

However, they just kept running, with cheers and laughter as they escape from their doom. Not even a single tear for me, who was going to die in their stead. Not even from the girl I loved. Anger began to form within me, as I heard a roar of thunder behind me, followed by the appearance of an army of dark creatures. I lower my sword as I turn to face their commander, the Dark Demon King, ready to face my fate brought about by my foolish thinking.

“So how does it feel to be abandoned by the one you love?” A deep voice bellowed from the dark king. I remained unintimidated as I stared at his army, sword in hand. I was so filled with hatred and anger that I was ready to take on the world. Perhaps sensing my eagerness to fight, the dark king signalled for his army to back down.

“If we fight, you shall die. And suffer eternally in my hell” He began. “But, join my army as my dark knight, and you shall rain terror on those that have hurt you so.” Hearing his words, my hands shook for a moment. And with the realization that I was actually hesistating, I screamed a battle cry, and charged towards the end of everything.

Weeks later, the world was conquered by the Dark Demon King’s army. Those that survived the attack on their town gathered in secluded places where the dark creatures would not look for them. They traded food for shelters, and they exchanged stories of their town’s demise. Most stories were the same, but there were some with stories of an elite swordsman who resembled a human leading the dark army. Some people regarded that as a myth, but those that believe the stories started calling him The Dark Knight of The Demon King. An unknown swordsman who was killed and joined the dark army. People would call him a traitor of man. Nobody would know his real story.

Throwing down the remaining pieces of my shattered shield, I backed away from the looming monster. The very being that I was so confident in defeating just this very morning. That confidence was non-existant from the moment I saw those dark ruby eyes. Eyes that looked as if they were washed with the blood of the hundred innocents that were sacrificed to the Green Dragon.

A twinkle appeared in one of the crimson eyes, and I ducked to avoid a fatal haircut from a swipe of its talons.

“I can beat it.” I mumbled endlessly as I charged towards my destiny. However, fate seems to have its own plans, as the dragon took a deep breath, and I was suddenly face to face with a ball of fire that erupted from the dragon’s mouth of fiery hell. The intense heat melted my armor and burned my skin, and I unconciously pictured my death. A smoldering heap of bones lying beneath the dragon’s feet. A momento of the dragon’s feat. And that was why I accepted my fate. And threw myself into death.

From the dragon’s point of view, it must have been very boring. Like burning an ant with a magnifying glass on a hot sunny day. Unchallenging, but fun. Though one would surely get bored after the hundredth time. There was nothing special to expect. That’s why when a white hot armor broke through the fireball, the giant lizard paid no attention. That’s why when the armor figure with the burning blade stumbled towards it, the jade beast paid no mind. And that’s why the Green Dragon’s piercing scream was heard from hundred of miles away in the grand capital city, when the armor knight jumped up and thrusted his blade into the Green Dragon’s heart. And then the Green Dragon burned, and breathed its last breathe.

The two were found, weeks later, by the King’s royal guards. A grand festival was held, to celebrate the death of the Green Menace, and at the same time, build a statue to honor the Great Hero for bring the city its salvation and peace. The Great Hero who sacrificed his life and was forever bonded to his melted armor and crimson hot blade. And so the courage of the legend was passed down, in the hopes that one day should another menace appear, a hero shall stand up and save his people. Just like in the legend of The Armored Knight.