Sérgio's 1st Adventure
Chapter 9 - The Hero Takes to the Skies!
Written by: CS-Masyet
Uploaded on: July 24, 2015
"Okay, let's do this..."
I ran along the training ground, then jumped toward where Sprit was waiting for me.
Alright, now to just fly to where Sprit is...!
I took out my wings, them going through the new holes in my shirt mom made for me. I began to flap them... And, sure enough...!
... I faceplanted right in the ground.
"Owch..."
"Are you okay, Sérgio?" Sprit asked worriedly, helping me up.
"I'm okay, thanks." I reassured him. "Alright, once more...!"
"Enough already!" Serge groaned. "How many times has it been?!"
"Not that many! Only 20 times!"
"Jeez... Just face it, would you? You'll never be able to fly with those puny wings!"
"P-puny?!" I said angrily. "Don't call them puny, stupid!"
"I'll call them that as much as I want!" Serge looked at me, just as angry. "Puny!"
"You two, stop fighting!" Sprit shouted.
"Hmph, I'm sure I'll be able to do it if I try hard enough!"
"You said that the last 19 times!"
I ignored him, getting into position again. "Sprit, go back to the same spot again."
"Uuugh..." Serge sat down by dropping himself onto the floor, still groaning.
"U-um, alright..." Sprit said, and did as I asked him.
"Okay, let's do this...!" I stated once again.
I ran and jumped toward Sprit once more, but when I tried to fly...
"YEOWWCH!!!" I immediately fell to the ground.
"Sérgio, are you okay?!" Sprit asked me, flying to my side.
I got up, feeling my wings. "I don't know why, but they're starting to hurt..."
"It must be because you've been flapping them so much today. How about we take a break?"
"Hopefully forever..." Serge added.
I sighed. "Yeah, I guess I'll rest for a bit... Just a bit, though! Not forever, Serge!"
--
"You done for the day?" My mom asked us, once we made it home. "Dinner's almost ready!"
"Dinner...?" I looked at the clock. "Wow, it's already that late?!"
"Wow, have you been practicing so much that you lost track of time? That's amazing!"
"No, it's not... I still can't fly very good at all!" I said upset, slumping in a chair.
"Don't worry, you've only had them for a day." She reassured me. "I was only 7 when I learned how to fly, but it still took me two whole years to learn how."
"Really?" I said in surprise. "But still... I don't want to take that long to learn how..."
"Don't overexert yourself, son." My dad cut in. "If you flap your wings too much, they might fall off!"
"Oh dad, hey." I said to him, just noticing him there. "When did you get home?"
"A little while ago. Y'know, with my work and you always going on adventures, it feels like I barely get to see you anymore!"
"Good afternoon, Mr. Gi." Sprit greeted him politely. "How was work today?"
"It was fine. Thanks for asking, Sprit."
"Tell you what, Sérgio." My mom said to me. "If you have any more trouble learning how to fly, I'll teach you how myself. And once you finally learn, I can teach you more kicking techniques! How's that sound?"
"Thanks, mom. But that's okay, I want to learn how by myself."
I'm sure Darkés taught himself...
My mom sighed. "Sheesh, boys are so stubborn. Right, Sprit?"
"I-I suppose?" Sprit responded uneasily.
"Huh? Why are you asking Sprit that for?" Serge added in confusion.
"... Oh! Would you look at that! Dinner's ready!"
"I'm being ignored again..." Serge uttered, looking upset.
--
The next day after school, I went back to the training grounds to try to learn to fly again.
"Jemily wasn't able to come today?" Sprit asked me.
"No; she has to help out at the clinic again." I told him. "She told me 'Hang in there!', though."
"I bet you're glad she's not here." Serge started giggling. "That way you won't embarrass yourself in front of her."
"Shut up, Serge! Just watch, I'll defini-..."
Before I could finish, a familiar looking portal appeared in the center of the area we were in.
"C-Crystana?!" I said in shock.
"Too bad. No training today." Serge smirked.
"Mmrgh... Darn..."
Well, I am glad she needs me for something. I wonder what it is?
--
"Welcome, young hero. It's has been a while since I have last seen you." Crystana said to me as soon as we entered her shiny room. "I hope you have gotten stronger during your time training."
"Well yeah, kinda..."
"I hope you will be more prepared if you encounter your dark side once again."
"Wait, you mean... You found him? You found Darkés?!"
"Indeed. You wished for me to locate him, did you not?"
Yeah... A few days ago...
It was a couple of days ago; it was the time Crystana called for me, after the "Mechaopolis" place. After the test that day, I told her I knew what I had to do to deal with Darkés, and wanted to see him again.
"Very well. If you feel like you're ready to face your dark half, I will locate him for you. In that case, we will postpone your tests until then, so focus on your own training for the time being." Crystana had told me.
I did as she said and trained myself to get stronger, even though I didn't think I'd need to be to see Darkés. After all...
"Does that mean he can't be your friend, then? You think he's supposed to be bad, but what if he isn't? Even if he has dark powers, does that mean he wanted them?" "And then, maybe if he's happy, then he won't want to do bad things. Right?"
Like Jemily told me, I'll try being his friend, instead of fighting him!
"I sense your dark half at a place at a high altitude. It's a place you can normally only get to by flying up there. I am not sure why he is there however, so be cautious."
"He probably still doesn't want to see me, so that must be why he chose that place." I commented. "But it's not an issue for me, since I can fly now too!"
"Says the guy who attempted 20 practice flights and failed all of them..." Serge "reminded" me.
"... I'll now send you to where he was located. Good luck..."
As usual, Crystana waved her hand and sent us to our destination.
--
"Wooow!" I exclaimed, once the new area where we were sent to came into view.
The area wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before. There were a bunch of cliffs and mountaintops as far as the eye could see, but if you tried to look down from where you were standing, you couldn't even see the bottom.
"W-we're sooo high up!" I exclaimed again, super excited.
"Yeah, no duh, idiot." Serge uttered. "Crystana told us we would be sent to a place with a high 'alktitude' or whatever, didn't she?"
"I know, but look! We're so high, we can touch the clouds! I wish Jemily were here to see this!"
I tried to touch one, but my hand just went through it.
"Hey, what's going on? Why can't I touch it?!"
"Clouds are merely condensed mounds of visible water vapor that float in the sky." Sprit explained. "You can touch it, but it will just pass over your hands."
"Water vapor is like, uh, 'watery air' right? Jemily told me about that before." I sighed. "And all this time I thought clouds felt like squishy pillows..."
"Well, they don't. Get over it." Serge said to me. "More importantly, where is Darkés? Wasn't he supposed to be here?"
"I dunno. Let's look around, I guess..."
"But it's dangerous to wander around here aimlessly. It seems rather easy to fall here." Sprit pointed out to us.
"You can fly though, Sprit." I mentioned. "So how about y-..."
"I'll take care of this!" Serge cut in, with a confident look. "Check it!"
Serge sent his limbs into his body, then sent back out his legs. Only they were a lot longer now, and he was now towering over us.
"Pretty cool, huh?" He asked.
"That... looks really weird..." I uttered. "But whatever. What do you see?"
"Hm... There are a bunch of cliffs and mountaintops around, but there's also a platform, and some people are gathered around on it." He said, then changing back to normal. "I wonder what that's all about..."
"Seems neat! Let's go check it out!" I shouted happily, rushing over there right away.
"W-wait for us!" Serge and Sprit said, trying their best to follow me.
Lucky for us (well me and Serge, at least), getting to the platform was easy, even though we couldn't fly.
"Alright, we made it!"
"Jeez..." Serge said, trying to catch his breath. "Must you rush into everything, you buffoon?!"
"Hey! I'm not a baboon!"
"That's not I said, stupid!"
"Hey hey, what are you all doing here?!" A man walked up to us. "This isn't a place for children, and... you strange things!"
"We're not 'strange things'!" Serge yelled at him. "We're CSmon!"
"So, what's going on here anyways?" I asked the man. "Is it some sort of festival?"
"Festival? Are you daft, boy? Such ignorance baffles me!" He said, glaring at me for some reason. "We're setting up for the 'Sky Race', which takes place every year at CS Heights! How could you not know such a thing?!"
"Um, we're actually not from around here, so..."
"Not from around here...? What are peasants like you doing here, then?!"
"Peasants?"
"Sérgio, CS Heights is the place where the royalty of the CS Region live." Sprit informed me. "CS Castle is located here as well."
This news shocked me. "R-royalty...?!"
"So, you get it now?" The man stated. "Now that you do, get lo-..."
"The royals live in the sky!?" I exclaimed. "That's awesome!"
"No, you stupid child! This place is just the higher part of CS Heights!"
Jeez, how was I supposed to know?
"In all seriousness though, you lot really shouldn't be here. It might be okay for that purple one, but for normals and whatever that round one is, it's much too unsafe. Unless you are an avian or have a strong, flying companion..."
He pointed to another man behind him, brushing the wings of a giant bird.
"... like that, then it's much too dangerous."
"Oh, but wait!" I told him before he walked away. "I'm an avian!"
"W-wha?!" He said in shock. "You..."
"So it should be fine for me to be here, right?"
"... Wait a moment." He brought his head closer to my face, scratching his chin and examining me. "Now that I take a closer look at you... You look just like that boy with black wings that was here earlier! Are you his brother, by any chance?!"
"Black wings...?" Wait, does he mean Darkés?! So he really was here!
"Ha ha, what a fine lad he was!" The other man from before walked up to us, curling his mustache. "Indeeeed, he sure was a fast flyer!"
"He wasn't a 'fine lad' at all!" The first man argued. "After he claimed his prize, he also stole some of the food here and took off!"
My dark half... The petty food thief...
"Well, he took off pretty quickly, wahaha! Besides, I'm sure you're just upset that he beat you so easily, Swallow!"
"Wait, 'beat him'?" I questioned.
"Indeeeed! Swallow kept claiming he could easily win because he had more experience and his wings are larger, but that dark-winged boy sure showed him up!"
"You're an avian too, sir?" I asked Mr. Swallow.
"Too? Are you a flyer as well, young chap?" The other man asked before Mr. Swallow had a chance to say anything. "In that case, would you like to try racing against me?"
"A race?"
"Indeeeed, a race in the skies of CS Heights, with none other than me, Captain Mustache!" He proudly stated, giving me a thumbs-up.
"Captain Mustache?" I said in surprise.
"Indeeeed! I'm sure you must be honored to both meet me, and even race against someone of my fame and stature, but be sure to keep your composure!"
"... I'm sorry, but I've never heard of you before in my life..." I uttered.
"W-wha!?" He fell over in shock. He then got up and cleared his throat. "I see. You don't need to say such things out of nervousness, young chap! I know my magnificent mustache can intimidate some people."
"Wow, this guy makes you look like a genius, Sérgio..." Serge said to me quietly.
"Anyway, what do you say? Today's audience seems to be upset by the aftermath of the last race, so I think another, grand race will be just the thing to cheer them up!"
"It's the least you can do!" Swallow added angrily. "You owe us for the food your brother stole!"
Well, he's not really my brother, but... If I want to be friends with Darkés, I should at least do my best to help him save face... whatever that means!
"If I agree to race, will you guys forgive Darké-... er, my brother?"
"You think just racing will be enou-..."
"Indeeeed!" Captain cut in. "All shall be forgiven!"
"In that case, I'll be more than happy to race you! May the best, uh, 'chap' win!"
"H-huh?!" Serge and Sprit exclaimed in unison.
"Of course, I shall be racing you with the help of my partner, Mustache Griffin!"
The giant bird looked back at us, showing off its own long, curly mustache. "Caw!"
His bird has a mustache, too?!
"Well, I'll be returning to his side to make preparations. When you are ready, come talk to me or Swallow over there." He said, then went back to brush his bird.
Swallow sighed. "I'd better make preparations as well, then..." He added, then left our side as well.
"This is neat, huh guys? I'm gonna race against a bird with a mustache! And a man with a mustache, too!"
"Are you insane?!" Serge yelled at me, looking at me angrily.
"W-what do you mean...?"
"Sérgio, this is a flying race. And you still aren't very good at flying... remember?" Sprit reminded me.
"Guys, I don't think you realize what this means." I started to explain. "When the hero gets a new power, they always have trouble using it at first. But then when some big event happens that they have to use that power, they miraculously are able to use it during the final hour!"
"... What?" Sprit uttered in confusion.
"Don't bother trying to figure it out. He's just speaking in moron language." Serge said to him.
"Besides, I need to do this so they forgive Darkés. If he sees me doing this, it might help me be his friend!"
"Don't tell me you're doing this for him! It was his fault for stealing food in the first place!"
"But... Being able to use my new power, and being able to help Darkés at the same time... It's like I was destined to do this." I said seriously.
"But, Sérgio..." Sprit said uneasily. "It's too dangerou-..."
"Don't bother, Sprit. Let the idiot do what he wants." Serge turned around, storming off angrily. "If he embarrasses or hurts himself, it's his own fault."
"Sérgio..." Sprit said sadly, before leaving to follow Serge.
Hmph, I'll show you! You'll regret making fun of my wings when I beat that mustache guy!
"That's a shame... Friends shouldn't fight..."
"Huh? Who was that?"
An elderly man, carrying what looked like a drawing pad, walked up to me slowly.
"Those creatures... they are CSmon, correct?"
"T-that's right... How did you know that?"
"I am Zakemaeya, a traveling artist. In my travels, I have been to many places, and met many CSmon." He took out his drawing pad and showed me some pictures he drew. "I enjoy painting pictures of the favorite locations of mine that I have visited."
I looked through it, and noticed one familiar place.
"Serge Island?!"
"Yes, that is one of my favorite places." He turned his pad to look at it. "It is a place full of vibrant life. An old friend of mine lives there, as well."
"Old friend? Do you mean Rhinore?"
"Oh, so you have met him, have you? Is he doing well, by any chance?"
"Yeah, he's fine." Except for the fact that he's turned into a rhino, anyway...
"That's good to hear..." He sighed, not looking very happy.
"You don't seem too happy to hear the good news... Why is that?"
"Oh, that isn't it. It's just..." He looked at his drawing pad sadly. "As of late, I haven't found any inspiration to draw anymore..."
"What do you mean? If you want to draw, can't you just draw whatever?"
"When I was your age, I had that very same attitude." He explained. "But once I got older, I became obsessed with making my art as perfect as I possibly could. That helped my paintings and drawings become renowed, but..."
"But what? Is drawing not fun for you anymore or something?"
"It was fun... It was my favorite thing in the world. But as time went on, it became more and more of a chore." He sighed again. "I have always loved art dearly, and it has always been my dream to spend my whole life drawing fantastic pictures. But I'm getting old... Maybe it's about time I retired. I should just give up art and live peacefully with my wife in the countryside..."
"... No, you can't give up!" I exclaimed.
"W-wha?!" This took Mr. Zakemaeya by surprise.
"It doesn't matter if you're old! You should never give up on your dream if it's so important to you!" I reassured him. "I'm sure you'll find something that will make you want to draw again someday! But you won't ever find it if you give up looking for it!"
"My boy..." He started, taking in what I had said. "... what is your name?"
"I'm Sérgio, and I'm a hero in training!"
"I see... Thank you. I'll remember that."
"... Well, I'd better get ready for the race now. See ya, mister!"
He waved to me happily as I ran to the racing area.
--
"Welcome everyone, to our second race of our 316th annual 'Sky Race', here in CS Heights!" Swallow said, through a megaphone for the people watching to hear. "Our first racer is just as famous for his speed as he is for his facial hair... Captain Mustache!"
"Yeah!" "Go, Captain!" "Rock that mustache!" Audience members cheered.
"And our second racer is a first-timer to this event, who apparently claims to be a 'hero in training', the youthful avian... Sérgio Gi!"
"Ha ha! Hero in training!?" "What a silly kid!" "Does he actually think he can out-rock the Mustache?!" The audience burst into laughter.
Jeez... I don't get what's so funny!
"I'm sure many of you are aware of the rules of the race, especially since they were explained earlier before the last race today, but I'll go over them again just in case." Swallow stated. "The objective is simple; make your way along the 'Sky Road' until you reach the finish line. Your only obstacles will be stray gusts of wind and the few turns along the path. For the record, roughhousing is not permitted; doing so will result in automatic disqualification. Despite this, for safety measures, the many updrafts in Sky Road will prevent you from falling, and the avian guards surrounding the perimeter can catch anyone that falls as well."
That's good; I don't have to worry about falling... not that I was worried about that anyways. And the rules seem easy enough to follow... I can totally win this!
"Excuse me, lad, but I hope you aren't thinking 'I can totally win this' in your head right now." Captain Mustache told me, already sitting on the back on his strange giant bird. "Because you'll be in for a crude awakening!"
Uh, isn't it supposed to be rude awakening...?
"Alright, now that the rules have been explained... The both of you, get into position!"
We both slowly headed to the small marks near the downward ramp leading to "Sky Road". Of course, there was nothing below us but the upward wind Mr. Swallow mentioned before. Looking down in this situation made me kind of nervous.
I-I'm not afraid! I'll be fine. I am a hero in training, after all!
"On your marks!"
"Brace yourself, lad." Captain said to me.
"Brace myself? Why do I need t-..."
All of a sudden, the marks we were on lifted up and catapulted us into the air, toward Sky Road.
I-I was never told about this!
I thought to myself while flying through the air, the air pressure hitting my face.
But this should help me gain speed, at least! Let's take out my wings!
I took out my wings, and started flapping.
So far, so good...
"Oh, wow! His wings are so small!" "Aw, they're kind of adorable!" The audience members jeered.
Ergh... Don't call them small! Or adorable!
"You were launched pretty far, lad!" Captain Mustache shouted to me, flying by me. "It took a while to catch up to you!"
Ah, right. It must be because I'm a lot lighter than both of them together like that...
"In that case, I have the advantage, right?"
"Indeeeed... not! Your advantageness has just ended!" He responded confidently, twirling his mustache. "Onward to victory, Mustache Griffin!"
SWOOSH! The bird made one big flap, sending him very far ahead.
"Grr, I can do that, too! Just watch!" I tried to do the same thing, but...
... swoosh... I didn't go very far at all. In fact...
Am I getting slower now?!
"Uh oh, looks like the boy is losing speed. Has Captain Mustache got this race in the bag?"
"Yeah, go Captain!" "So cool!" "What a majestic 'stache!"
Everyone decided to ignore me, and just focused on Captain Mustache flying around instead.
H-hey, wait! I'm the hero-in-training here! It's my time to shine!
I just continued to get slower and slower...
"Enough already! How many times has it been?!"
... and slower...
"Jeez... Just face it, would you? You'll never be able to fly with those puny wings!"
... and slower...
"Have you honestly been thinking your life is like Jalapeño Man's this whole time!?" "This whole 'special power' stuff is new to me, and I'm still having a hard time believing it's real, but I still know the difference between reality and fiction!"
... until I stopped moving completely. I had given up flapping my wings; the only thing keeping me from falling now was the updrafts.
"A-all I wanted to do... Was to show them I could fly, even with my small wings..." I started to cry, while still floating in mid-air. "But I don't want to do this anymore! This isn't fun at all..."
"Oh no! Has the boy given up?"
"I-I'm sorry, guys! I was wrong!"
"... Don't give up!"
Suddenly, Sprit came flying toward me, and grabbed my waist.
"W-what are you...?!"
"Keep flying, Sérgio!" He reassured me, starting to move my body forward. "We can still win this!"
"B-but, with just you helping me..."
"Heads up!" Serge shouted, rolling off the audience area, towards me. "You'd better catch me!"
"Augh!" I caught him just in time, the force rocking us a bit. "Serge, what're you doing? You can't fly!"
"Sure I can! Try turning me around!"
I did as he asked, not knowing what to expect.
"Flamespray!" Serge started shooting fire, pushing us forward even faster.
"Oooh, I see! I'll do that, too!"
I moved my legs straight backward, and shot fire out of them as well.
"Whoooaaa!" We were moving at an amazing speed, even faster than when I was launched earlier!
Without even realizing it, I started to flap my wings again.
"Is this what it's like to really fly?! I don't even care if I win or not now, this is awesome!"
"Look! We're catching up to him!" Sprit stated.
"W-wha?!" The mustachioed bird rider shouted in shock, noticing us coming up from right behind him. "W-what is thi-..."
I couldn't hear the rest, because we had flown by him before I could.
I could hear the shock in the people in the audience's voices as well as we approached the end of Sky Road.
Wow! We're actually gonna make it!
To my surprise, I heard the audience cheer us on once we had blazed past the finish line. Once we had managed to land, some people started to crowd around us.
"Congratulations!" "What a flaming hot victory!" "You out-rocked the mustache after all!"
"U-uh, thanks..." I uttered, scratching my head in embarrassment. "But I couldn't have done it without my sidekicks by my side!"
"S-sidekick?!" Serge said angrily. "I already told you, I'm not y-..."
"Hooray! For the young hero and his sidekicks!" The crowd grabbed us and started throwing us in air merrily (even Sprit!).
"H-hey! Listen to me!" He continued to shout, frantically wiggling his limbs, but the crowd ignored him. "Stop it!"
"Hold it!" By then, Captain Mustache had made it as well, and didn't look too thrilled.
The crowd noticed this, so they stopped tossing us and made way for him, who had walked up to us.
"U-uh, that was a good race, Mr. Mustache..." I said nervously, not knowing what else to say.
"Indeeeed it was! ... However." He waged his finger in disappointment. "You cannot claim victory for that race! As you broke the rules!"
"I-I did?!" I exclaimed in confusion. "How did I, exactly...?"
"Those CSmon friends of yours interfered in the race, and helped you win! Indeed, that is very unfaaaair!"
"Oh, oops..."
"... Unfair, yes. But not against the rules."
"W-wha?!" Captain said in surprise at Mr. Swallow, who had made it to our area as well.
He took out a book, and began to read it. "According to the offical Sky Race rulebook, one may gain assistance from up to two allies before or even during the race, as long as the opponent is being aided by at least one ally of their own."
"And what ally did I utilize, may I ask?" Mr. Mustache questioned.
Swallow said nothing, instead simply pointing at his bird with a dull expression.
"Caw!" Mustache Griffin cawed.
"... Oh."
"So, that means I... er, we really did win, right?" I asked.
"Yes, that's right." He handed me a shiny, gold medal. "It's nothing extravagant, but this is for you. We already offered our better prize to your brother, so..."
"It's fine! Thanks!" I took it in excitement.
"Hey, you'd better share that!" Serge reminded me.
"It wouldn't fit you, anyways..." I put it on, and faced the two CSmon to show them. "So how do I look?" I asked, making a victory sign.
"... My boy."
I turned around, and saw a familiar old man holding a drawing pad walk up to me.
"Congratulations on your victory." He said to me. "Look at this."
He opened up his drawing pad, and showed me something new he had drawn. It was a picture of me, Serge, and Sprit flying through the sky!
"It was truly an amazing sight, and a wonderful show of friendship."
"They really are great friends, huh?" I looked back at them. "Thank you guys... for everything. Really."
"Don't mention it!" Sprit smiled at me happily. "We're friends, after all!"
"W-what Sprit said..." Serge looked away, trying to hide his blushing face. "Even if you can be a pain and a dumbbutt, you're still my important traveling partner. So I'll always be there for you, no matter what."
You guys...
"Your camaraderie has reignited my will to draw again! I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"O-oh, don't mention it!" I said nervously.
"I've heard legends that only one with a truly kind heart can befriend CSmon. After meeting you today, it only makes sense that you were able to make friends with two of them. You told me you were a hero in training, but to me, you are already a full fledged hero."
"There are a lot more realistic ways you could help people, without having to use superpowers."
"It's actually one of your best 'superpowers'. It's... your kindness."
"I want to be a superhero. More than anything. To save the world, I'll get stronger, defeat all the villains harming others, and... I'll give kindness to those that need it."
... It seems I was already well on my way, without realizing it...
"Excuse me, young lad." Captain Mustache came up behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I apologize for making a big fuss earlier. In exchange, I would like to take you somewhere."
"Really?" I turned around to face him. "Where?"
"To tell you the truth, one of the princesses of CS Castle is a really cute girl around your age. Would you like to meet her?"
"F-for real?!"
"Don't be absurd!" Swallow said to him angrily.
"Ha ha, relax! I was only joking!" He turned back to me. "However, there is a lookout point nearby that offers a good view of the castle. Would you like to check it out, lad?"
"Sure! That sounds neat!"
"... I suppose I could allow that." Swallow said.
"Can my friends come, too?"
"Indeeeed they can! Follow me, everyone!"
--
Captain Mustache led us three to a high cliffside off by its lonesome. It wasn't surrounded by many clouds, so you could easily see off in the distance. In fact, I could already see the castle from here.
... But that's not what caught my attention. As there was already someone at the lookout point...
I can't believe it; I almost forgot about you... And you've been here this whole time!?
"It's Darkés! He's still here!"
"... I'm assuming you want to talk him alone, right?" Serge uttered to me.
"Uh, yeah... Sorry, could you guys wait a sec?"
"Of course. Take your time." Sprit reassured me.
"Indeeeed! Brotherly bonding is important, too!" Captain Mustache added for some reason.
I thanked them, then walked toward him. I made sure not to make too much noise, as I was afraid I might scare him off. I eventually made it to him without getting his attention, him still silently sitting on the cliff.
Man, you sure like staring off into the distance at cliffsides...
"U-um, excuse me..." I said quietly, so I wouldn't surprise him too much.
It seems that was in vain though, as he still sprang up with a fright. Obviously, he looked shocked to see me again.
"Y-you... You're..."
"Yeah, I'm..."
"... A mirage?"
"Uh, no... I'm definitely real!"
He looked away from me, not looking very happy to see me. "... Why are you here? How did you find me...?"
"That's not important right now! I want to ask you something!"
He said nothing, taking out his wings. He began to walk off the cliff, getting ready to take off.
"Wait!" I grabbed one of his arms to stop him. "Don't leave!"
"... Let go." He whined, although in his same, monotonous tone.
"Listen! I don't know where you came from, but we don't have to hate each other, or be enemies! In fact..." I let go of his arm, instead offering him my hand, giving him the warmest smile I could. "... Let's be friends, Darkés!"
He looked at me in shock, with eyes wider than I'd ever seen from him before.
"... F-friends?"
He slowly moved his arm, closer and closer to mine...
To be continued in Chapter 10...
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Writer's Comments:
Ha ha! Indeeeed, I can write two chapters in only four days time, if I really put my mind to it! Honestly, I shock even myself! In fact, I could probably finish this saga this month if I really wanted to! ... Which sorry, but I'm totally not doing that.
Yeah, sorry about the cliffhanger at the end. But seriously, will Sérgio really be able to befriend Darkés? How will it change the story? And why am I asking you these questions when I'm the writer? I'm so silly~!
Anyway, on to my thoughts on this chapter. While I admittedly haven't felt that proud of the more recent chapters of this series, I really like how this one turned out. I really liked the mood I set up; I've actually wanted to show it off this way in this series for a while now. Also, the "flow" of this one was so much better, so I had barely any difficulty writing this one at all! (Although yeah, there were still some distractions and stuff...) I think it's because I had just done another chapter, so I didn't have to get used to writing again.
I might end up doing the two chapters in a row thing again because of this. Actually, I definitely am for the next two months, as I want to finish this series's saga before October comes. Why? Just 'cause. So yeah, in other words, this saga will be done soon. Look forward to it!
- CS-Masyet