The moon shines over the earth. High in the sky, lies a floating city. The city that holds technology beyond every

  country, Anthian City. It lies isolated in an obscure piece of land near the ocean, that only specific types of planes

  can reach.

  March 9th, 2022. The city is as lively as ever, people chatting, the flowers were blooming, marking a peaceful atmosphere.

  It wasn't much different from any ordinary day.

  "Understood, you are free to roam this city. Make sure to take of yourself, have a nice time."

  An officer says.

  The blue haired child runs into the city and mutters, "Finally..! I hope I'm not too late..!!"."

  A nametag slips through his suitcase, the name of the child was Hafiy Danial. He runs through the city, hoping to find

  his friends nearby. Yet he sweats, already knowing he was 30 minutes late.

  Hafiy: "Darn it! How'm I supposed to find the others now?! This city's huge!"

  He then turns his head over, bright lights coming from the car heading towards him. Hafiy stumbles over, startled from

  the sudden danger.

  Hafiy: "Eesh.. What'r rough beginnin' to my first time.."

  He slowly gets up while dusting off his pants, he looks around the city to search. Conveniently, he spots them nearby.

  Hafiy swiftly ran towards his friends, waving at them.

  Hafiy: "Hey! Hey! I'm here!"

  Just then, one of his three friends present punch him in the gut. He makes an annoyed smirk, clearly done with Hafiy's

  shenaningans.

  That friend was Adam, the sporty kid with blond hair and a black vest that doesn't suit him very well.

  Adam: "Tch, you really know how to piss me off! Y'know that?"

  "Come on, get up! I'm not sitting here for who knows how long to wait for your ass."

  Hafiy gets up, teary eyed but even then laughs through it. Another friend then speaks up, worried about him and slightly

  angry towards Adam. His hair has a strong resemblance to Hafiy's, though it is a darker blue and more messy, this one is

  Harraz Akif.

  Harraz: "You really shouldn't hit your friend like that, Adam."

  Adam: "Don't mention it, he's fine. I barely put any power into that!"

  "I don't wanna waste my time here, adding on to the fact that I'm forced to enter with ehr--"

  ..He did put a lot of power into that.

  Lastly, another one joins the argument. The short blond one with little maturity and hair ends that feel like thorns

  whenever you touched them. That is Muaz Fatullah.

  Muaz: "Jeez, what a stupid argument! Let's just go over to our hotel room and do something fun."

  Adam: "Finally! I thought you would never say. I'm too good to argue with dumbasses!"

  It didn’t take them long to arrive at the hotel, though the trip had been exhausting. No one wanted to walk an inch after

  standing for so long doing absolutely nothing, it was torture. Once they've arrived, an old man, who was the hotel handed

  the card for their room.

  "Have a good stay, warriors!" He happily says.

  Hafiy: "..Right. Thanks."

  They move over to their room, Adam looks around trying to find a card scanner.

  Adam questions, "..Where in the world?"

  Harraz chuckles as he grabs the card off Adam, then staring towards a circular machine besides the door. It scans his

  face, letting the door open.

  Harraz: "See? As simple as that, donkey."

  Adam runs in, relieved as ever. He starts throwing in the luggage and prepares to go shower, nearly slamming the door on

  Hafiy as some sort of rock falls in his mouth which nearly chokes him.

  Harraz: "What the hell, Adam?!"

  Adam: "I call dibs on that bed, that water bottle and I shower FIRST!"

  Muaz takes off his hoodie and lies on the couch, he lets out a satisfied laugh. He looks towards Harraz and smirks wide, shaking

  in excitement-- trying to restrain himself from running over everything in the room.

  Muaz raises his hands, "This'll be the best trip EVER! You here me, Harraz?!"

  Harraz: "Yeah. I'm not a stonehead, dude."

  Muaz: "Come on, you're no fun..! Get a grip, man."

  Harraz lowers his head, "Yeah, right. I'm just a little ticked off by what just happened."

  "..He should really be more careful with.."

  ...

  "Actually-- Hey, you good Hafiy?" Harraz asks.

  Hafiy: "Right, I'm fine..!"

  "It would'da been better if that rock didn't taste bitter as hell though.. Uegh.."

  * Creak! ..Adam comes out of the shower, refreshed.

  Adam: "Hah, great! A little clean-up does wonders."

  Harraz asks, "Hey, Adam..? Could talk to ya' for a bit?"

  Adam nods his head, "..You need somethin'?"

  Harraz replies, "Well, like, y'know.. Could you be a little.."

  "--I'd be a little better if you'd be a little more gentle."

  Adam looks at Harraz, confused.

  Adam: "Gentle? What are you tryin' to get at?"

  "I'm not an idiot, I know when I'm being patronized and your suggestion's bugging me."

  ..

  ...

  ....

  Harraz shakes his head, "Yeah, I wasn't suggesting."

  * ..Adam grunts: "Ngh?"

  Harraz: "I'll be heading to sleep now, got that? Goodnight."

  * He says while taking off his hoodie.

  Adam: "..Wha..?"

  * He frowns.

  ...

  ....

  .....

  It's a new morning, the cold snow falls down to the ground, the people of Anthian chat and chatter. The sky brightens

  with a bright light and the day greets all.

  Adam shakes Hafiy aggresively, trying to get him to wake up.

  "Get up."

  ..

  "Get up."

  ...

  "..Hey-- GET UP ALREADY!!"

  Hafiy wakes up, "...Hengh.. Wha'da ya' want?"

  * He pauses for a moment, tired.

  "..Adam?"

  Adam: "Come on, man. Finish up, we're going somewhere."

  ...

  After some time, they head outside towards the park. The area seems lively and filled to the brim with visitors, locals, and people

  of all traits and colors. It's peaceful.

  Hafiy: "So.. like, where exactly are we goin'?"

  Adam: "Manira Café, ever heard of it? It's really popular."

  ..Hafiy scratched his head, completely empty of anything familiar.

  Hafiy: "Well, nah.. No idea."

  Adam: "Pshh.. You really do live under a rock."

  "Come on, we're almost there. There should be any proble-"

  "HEY!!"

  Adam: "What dogsh.. Ehem, horrible timing."

  ..An unfamiliar face runs towards Adam, she seems to know him well. Hafiy looks on, completely confused.

  ??? : "Seriously, you're way too dense to acknowledge that you abandoned me suddenly."

  Adam: "..I didn't really care."

  ...

  * Hafiy looks towards Adam.

  Hafiy: "..Hey, who the hell is this?"

  Adam: "That person? That's my cousin."

  He looked at Adam with visible confusion in his face, while tugging on Adam's vest.

  Hafiy: "Seriously..? You didn't tell any of us about this.."

  Adam: "Yeah-- Whatever..! Don't bother."

  ???: "Least you can do is tour me around, ya' pain.."

  "Couldn't hurt to atleast say where you're headed to, right?"

  Adam: "Manira Café, then we're headed back to the dorm after."

  ???: "Really? Best if I join in, huh?"

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Adam: "Yeah, sure. Alright."

  * Hafiy stares deep into Adam's soul, whispering something.

  Hafiy nudges Adam's arm, "You're kidding right?" he asks.

  Adam: "One catch, pay for him if you actually want to follow us."

  The girl thinks slowly before coming to a conclusion; "Sure, why not?"

  * Hafiy stares even deeper into Adam's soul.

  Hafiy sweats, "..Excuse me???"

  Though, Adam and the unfamiliar girl don't notice his words at all. In a blink of an eye, they're already at the coffee

  shop. Adam and the unfamiliar girl argue about random things, in a noisy matter at that.

  Adam: "--Right, I'll probably lose a match or two in 2 years. Competition's getting way too good..!"

  ???: "Hmp? Never heard you ever say anything this humble."

  Adam: "Yeah, alright. Zip it already."

  * The girl is suddenly reminded of something from before, that which she wanted to mention.

  ???: "I just wanna say, have you ever heard about the tales about this island?"

  "They're fun to read about, I wonder how it all happened."

  Adam: "Tales..? Does this place have some kind of folklore or somethin'?"

  ???: "Pretty much, this island was actually built on an old race! Though, they're all extinct."

  "They've been gone since World War 1, an ancient tribe raided the race and they decided to flee here!"

  Adam: "..Did the tribe kill off the people?"

  ???: "Well, only later on. Most of the city was built by then, but sometime after the event they were raided again!"

  "It caused a small war, though it killed both the tribe and the old people on Anthian."

  Adam and Hafiy seemed interested, the latter was clearly more intrigued despite his shyness.

  ???: "Since the war, the people here worked their hardest to ensure that no crimes were committed on this island!"

  "There hasn't been a major crime since then! Not even murder."

  Adam: "Just goes to show how developed the city is, huh?"

  ???: "Yeah but other than that, there isn't much to talk about."

  "There's been a rumor that a shiny crystal has been jumping around lately, I don't know if that's even real."

  Hafiy; "..Huh, nev'r knew that.."

  * Adam clears his throat, ready to leave.

  Adam: "With that, I'll probably be heading off to meet the others."

  "I'll be seeing you.. never!"

  ...

  ???: "Talk about impatient.."

  "..Whatev'! I'm satisfied with what I've done here, catch ya' later!"

  * She turns her head towards Hafiy.

  ???: "It'd be better if you were more talkative, not sayin' that it's for bad you-- nothing wrong with that!"

  "I'm just suggestin', got it? ..Well then, see ya!"

  The girl would run off into the crowd, blending in swiftly. Hafiy pauses for a moment before remembering he was supposed to

  follow Adam to meet the others. He gasps for a second, only realizing how fast Adam had gone.

  He runs over the his friend quickly and after some time, they arrive to the shopping district. Harraz, Adam, Muaz and Hafiy

  take some time to explore the city, seeing all kinds of places. They head to check out ancient remnants, towers, restaurants,

  arcades, resorts, just before returning back to the district.

  Adam stops, "..Hey! Could you all wait a minute?! Let me buy a hoverboard real quick!"

  * Muaz scratches his head, he'd rather just go-- but that'd inconvienience them in the long run.

  Muaz: "I guess we could wait? Just don't take too long!"

  Harraz: "Let's check out the game store nearby while he's at it, Muaz!"

  * Muaz nods, just before heading to the store with Harraz.

  Hafiy waits for them outside, just then, a familiar presence hops across the floor. It was the crystal the girl had mentioned,

  or atleast what seems to be it. It jumps around the floor until it suddenly comes to a stop, sitting in place.

  He lets out a small grin, amused by the convenient sight.

  "Well, she wasn't wrong after all!" , Hafiy thinks to himself.

  Without a thought in his mind, he quickly pounces on the crystal-- only for it to bounce away. He tries to catch it again, but

  result stays the same. Attempt after attempt, he fails to catch it.

  Hafiy: "You're such a son of a.."

  * CATCH!

  Hafiy: "Gotcha!"

  Though, something didn't feel right, he had just crashed through a door. He looks around himself, a room of complete darkness.

  The floor feels like nothing, and suddenly.. Everything falls apart.

  Hafiy loses his balance and falls into the dark pit with the crystal held close to his body as it shines a bright light, yet not

  enough to brighten the room. After some time, the fall comes to an end.

  Hafiy: "ACK..! Darn it.."

  * Hafiy turns his head and looks around, it seems to be a mossy cave. A waterfall splashes near him, his hands feel weak from

  the heavy fall.

  Hafiy: "Where am I..?"

  The young boy is distressed by the atmosphere of the room, his anxiety building up horribly fast. Suddenly, he spots another

  person, one that looked younger than him.

  The boy asks, "W-Who are you..? What happened? W-What is this place...?!"

  Hafiy replies, "I-I don't know anything at all! How did you get here..?"

  "What even is this place anyway..?"

  Hafiy gets up, everything seemed blurry-- His vision painted red from the fall as his head bleeds profusely; though not enough

  to be the biggest danger to his life.

  He gets up, trying to find an exit. Helpfully, he finds a rocky staircase that seemed to be made by man. Though, it seemed to be

  a long way up.

  Hafiy: "Let's try going up there, j-just hang in for the run.. Got it?"

  ...

  Hafiy: "...Got it?"

  "..H-Hey, ya' hear me?"

  ..But there were bigger problems to worry about than just a bleeding head and an obnoxiously long staircase.

  * The child looks over Hafiy's head with fear, frozen, not knowing what to do-- not even flight or flight. His face went pale.

  ..The smell is just too obvious.

  It's the remnants of the past.

  Despite everything, Hafiy tries to ignore it all, "What's with that face..? Don't scare me like that..!!"

  "I-It's nothing, right?" He whispers quietly.

  * Hafiy turns around, knowing full well of what's to come.

  Unexpectedly, what looks like a dead corpse of an Anthian lingers out of the shadows-- Multiple of them. All with their own deformation,

  pale and purple, dried of blood, rotting away.. And yet-- They move like they're still alive.

  The ghost launches an unknown energy beam from their finger, the destroying the mountain above Hafiy and the child. Suddenly,

  Hafiy's leg was crushed from the boulders. "WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" Hafiy shouts as he pushes the child out of the way; making the rocks

  barely miss him.

  Hafiy shrieks in pain, unable to open his eyes-- trying to escape from the heavy rock. He can only hear liquid splatter and

  the cries of the child that he had met only mere minutes ago. There was nothing he could do.

  ...

  Finally, he manages to escape. His leg free, but not without injury. Even then, that is far from all the unfortune that has

  unfolded-- All he could hear was a dying plead for help fading away.

  * Creak.. A dark red liquid splatters across the rocky floor. Slowly, all that Hafiy could see was a destroyed corpse of a familiar

  face.

  "..."

  * Hafiy can't bring himself to utter a single letter, he's beyond speechless-- and on the verge of vomitting.

  The ghost-like figure chuckles to themself, grinning at the blue-haired kid. They hold a grenade tightly to their hand, making

  the intent obvious to Hafiy.

  "Well, can you grasp the situation now.. Child? Just in time for our escape from this hellhole."

  "It's unfortunate, isn't it? ..It might've even been your fault for the others death."

  ...

  "Though I suppose you should part ways with your soul now, child."

  "Signing off, may you feel honored that you slaughtered by the hands of Admiral, Grum."

  * A loud explosion detonates, completely destroying whats left of the area.

  In seconds, the grenade explodes point blank, right infront of Hafiy's face. Grum assumes that the blue-haired child had been

  killed. He tells the others to report everything that happened and suggest to start the upbringing.

  ...

  It took a while, but that wasn't quite what happened to the child. A light-blue figure rises from the ash, one that resembles

  Hafiy. A shining, white sharp eye locks onto Grum. The figures body, textured with water.

  ...

  Grum: "..What the hell..?"

  "Quite bold of you to carelessly kill a child, even if I hate him too." the figure speaks.

  "Don't be mistaken, I ain't the kid you tried to murder! Far from it, asshole."

  ...

  "Let's just say, he's a vessel for me-- Being stuck in a child's body sucks, y'know?"

  The figure inspects his body, warming-up for what he will do.

  "Call me Soull, you'll remember that name."

  Grum stares in shock-- believing what he thinks Soull is,

  "You can't be.. You're the.."

  "A fighter..?! With the crystal of the sea..? I thought they couldn't be.."

  Soull smirks, "What's wrong, scared of me? I can't blame you!"

  "Say, you kinda look like an Anthian.."

  Grum grins, though is clearly bluffing: "What..?! Nonsense!! You won't see it coming!"

  * The Admiral deforms his body, expanding his muscles to an unbelievable amount-- becoming even stronger than he just was,

  Grum: "What's the call, hotshot? ..You're going to fight me?! A loyal admiral?"

  Soull: "Getting beefier ain't helpin' you, bud."

  "Won't lie-- I'm impressed, you're one of the strongest people I've seen."

  * CRK!

  Grum rushes towards Soull at the speed of sound, putting all his strength to slaughter the latter.

  Though, Soull throws one punch that completely cancels Grum's assault.

  Soull: "Raw power isn't going to get you far, that much velocity only gives me the advantage."

  ...

  "Tell ya' what, here's some information. By putting enough pressure into the water on my hand, I can enhance my punches

  greatly!"

  ...

  Grum groans in anger, "W-WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS..?!"

  Soull laughs, "It's because you're completely incompetent, try again."

  Grum tries to punch Soull over and over, though it only results in failure. The longer he tries, the closer he gets to hitting

  his opponent.

  Eventually, Soull notices this-- he dodges the final punch as it hits a mountain instead. It reduces it into mere atoms, Soull

  was slightly shocked, the attack could have been the nail in the coffin.

  Soull: "H-Hah! Curious, huh? Let's just say I understand the stakes now, bud."

  Grum roars, "I'LL SLAUGHTER YOU!"

  The admiral punches the grounds, sending Soull into the air as he flies high into the sky to land a massive punch. Soull narrowly

  evades the attack and grabs onto Grum's hand, using it to boost up and kick him down to the ground with an enhanced attack.

  Soull thinks to himself, "A juggernaut huh? Maybe it's best if I tire em' out first."

  * Soul taunts his enemy as he runs up a wall, trying to lead him on the wall for his plan.

  Grum eventually falls for the trap and climbs up to capture Soull, though Soull curls up into a water ball and attacks Grum's

  face with it. In a blink of an eye, Soull then slides into the opposite wall and jumps off towards his enemy and delivers a impactful kick to the back.

  * CRK! ..The sound can be heard all over the pit, the sound of the complete breakage of Grum's spine.

  Grum roars louder, frustrated with his opponent.

  "I-I LOATHE YOU, CHILD!"

  * Grum sends a barrage of attacks towards Soull, and the last one finally hits his chin.

  ...

  ..But nothing happens.

  Soull: "Next time.."

  "..How about you try to fight SMARTER!"

  Soull water-punches his opponent away, then swiftly goes to his back. He lays his hand calmly, ready to end the job. Grum sweats,

  everything that he had thrown was all just a failure.

  Soull: "I should just kill you already, right? Come on, say your last words."

  ...

  Grum: "You failed."

  Soull turns his head slightly, "Come on! A bluff can't be your last words, that's just depressing."

  Grum: "I said it, you failed. There's no lie."

  Soull sweats a little, "R-Rightt.. Now actually say your last words!"

  Grum smirks, "The others have already invaded the city, Anthian City will be ours once again."

  "All you've done is kill off a cog in a machine-- An unnecessary one, at that."

  ...

  "YOU'RE ALL DEAD!!"

  ...

  Grum laughs maniacally, satisfied with what he had done-- even if it was just stalling a potential enemy. Soull grits his teeth,

  only realizing the weight of the situation.

  Only then, Soull obliterates Grum with a water-blast with his palm. He rushes towards the shining exit, where thousands of others

  escape from their underground prison. Soull realizes that his form is starting wear off as Hafiy is taking back control of the body.

  Soull: "Damn it..! Son of a.."

  * Soull bursts up with his water-flight, he reaches the exit-- but not without Hafiy taking back control over his body. He slams face first

  onto the concrete, beaten and battered from the encounter.

  ...

  The once peaceful city roars with chaos, the flames burning bright, the buildings falling down, everything being destroyed by the

  rampage.

  Hafiy wakes up, only to see the place destroyed. The only thing he can think of is to worry about everyone-- Everyone in the

  city might already be doomed.