The Year of the Lumin (36 page)

              The man responded with a low cautious voice, “I have no word of a Luxin's arrival.  Why do you need to see him?”

              “I have vital information about the upcoming war.”

              The man's face became stern.  “And how have you come by this information?”

              Noir was unsure of how to answer.  “It is just something that I know.”

              The guard responded with hesitation, “You are not making a very good case for yourself, Luxin.”

              Noir held out his hands in a pleading motion.  “Please, you must let me speak to him.  It is of the utmost importance.”

              “Then tell me and I will deliver the information.  What is so important, Luxin?”

              Noir looked helplessly at Asiada beside him.  She had a pitying look on her face that Noir did not understand.  He turned back to the Chrion guard.  “Look, this army is walking into a bloodbath for no reason.  We need to turn back.”

              “So you embrace cowardice.”  A few of the other guards around them chuckled.  “We have found the traitor Grandel after years of searching.  Why would we
not
proceed forward unless you vie for his safety?”

              Noir watched as the guard placed a cautious hand on the hilt of his sword and said, “No, that's not it.  I just think--”

              “You are giving me great reason to doubt your intentions, Luxin.  I suggest you turn back and guard our men as you are getting paid to do unless you want to be sent back to Chiron with a slave collar around your neck.”

              Noir saw no further benefit in talking to the man, so he gave a quick, small bow, turned, and walked away.

~~~

              Asiada quickened her step and came up beside Noir as he walked away from General Fasiliar's command tent.  “So what now?”

              Noir did not answer for a few moments and instead weaved a path between the preparing men.  Asiada was unsure if he did not know how to answer or did not want to.  Tents were being taken down and bags packed.  It looked as though the forces would be ready to move out in minutes.

              Finally Noir stopped at a spot that was out of earshot of the Chiron soldiers and looked Asiada in the eyes.  “Now I have to try to stop the battle directly.”

              Asiada shook her head.  “You're crazy, Noir.  What are you even talking about?”

              “I'll have to protect both sides from harming each other.”  Noir's face was drawn together as if he was perplexed about how to do what he had just said.

              Asiada reached out a hand and gently grabbed Noir's arm.  “Noir, you can't do that.  Men who are bent on destroying each other cannot be stopped by any normal means.”

              Oddly, Noir looked to the sky.  “Then by normal means it will not be done.”

              Asiada searched Noir's face for some sign of what he was thinking.  “What?”

              Noir grabbed both of Asiada's arms and looked her in the eyes.  “What if Osarik's right, Asiada?  It all makes too much sense.”

              Asiada broke Noir's slightly uncomfortable grip.  “Oh, come on.  You're believing him now?”

              “Think about it, Asiada.  It fits too perfectly.  I mean, how many people come from another
world?
”

              Asiada looked at the ground and said, “Actually--”

              Noir talked over her, “Well my cousin is too, but she
can't
be the Lumin.  And Steven isn't....” he trailed off.

              Osarik's voice came from behind them.  “Therefore you are.”  He walked up and held up a triumphant fist upward.  “I am glad you are taking this seriously, now.  Welcome to your destiny, Noir.

              Noir nodded to Osarik.  “Do not get me wrong, Osarik.  I admit the possibility.”  Noir shook his head in self doubt.  “But if it is, why do I not feel anything?  I can do barely any more than any other Luxin.”

              Osarik replied, “You know the answer.  I have seen you reading the prophecies vehemently.  Answer your own question.”

              Noir thought through the Lumin prophecies and came to the second-to-last section.  He recited the lines.

The three vigors he will wield through denial.  The chakra of all is the power of the Lumin.  The fourth vigor he rides like a gull on an ocean breeze.

              “But how does that apply?  I cannot use the other two vigors.  I don't even understand the meaning of the rest of it.”

              Osarik bowed deeply.  “I trust in you, Lumin.  You will discover the meaning when necessity is met.”  The man stood upright again.  “My men will protect you in the upcoming battle if it is your wish to be a part of it.”

              Noir said, “Thank you, but I must say no.  If you believe me to be the Lumin, then follow my desires.”

              Osarik nodded proudly.  “State your desires then.”

              “Stop them from killing each other.”

              “I do not understand.”

              “Order your men to not harm anyone and to counter all offensive actions on both sides.”

              Osarik shifted his stance as though he was uncomfortable.  “Noir, my men are trained in combat, not humanitarian missions.”

              Noir quickly turned and walked away.  “Then return to Chiron. I have no need of you or your knights.”

              Asiada watched Osarik's eyes follow the young man.  She noticed a sparkle of some odd emotion as he called to Noir.  “Luxin Noir, stop.”  Noir did.  “I will try and do as you ask.”  Osarik paused then said, “At each step you take, you reaffirm my beliefs in you three-fold.”

              Noir nodded and said, “Let us hope they are not misplaced,” then continued to walk away.  Asiada quickly followed after him.

Chapter 47

The Year of the Lumin

              The Chiron army continued to march toward New Talik.  The cliffs loomed in front of them but the first sign of the Tierian army had not yet been seen.

              Asiada was adamant about staying with Noir.  He had tried to convince her to retreat or stay behind with some of the abandoned, no longer necessary equipment and the few slaves that the army had brought with them.  But despite his wishes, she walked alongside him as they marched onward.

              Ratt was also troubling Noir greatly.  He had sensed the change and growing dissent within Ratt, but he had not expected his friend to disappear.  Noir pondered on then dismissed various theories that came to him as to where he had gone.

              Asiada followed at Noir's side.  As they marched, Noir was subconsciously aware that something was bothering her, but he felt like he couldn't think about it with what was quickly approaching and what would befall them when the forces collided.

              “Hey,”  Asiada said next to him.  “Hey, Noir.”

              “What, Asiada?”

              She looked uncomfortable.  “I know we already talked about this, but it has still been bothering me.”  She looked at him for a response.

              “Yeah, what is it?”

              I hate to bring it up again, and I'm not sure how to say it.”  She paused.  “In your world where you're from... this will sound stupid I'm sure.”

              Noir looked at her.  She continued with hurried speech.  “Is there a green furry monster who is in a metal can in your world?  I know it sounds stupid, but I swear I remember it.”

              Noir's mind reeled trying to figure out what she meant.  It sounded bizarre, but somehow oddly familiar.  “A green furry monster?”  He thought, “Why would she be asking about something like this?  Especially now.”

              “And also a giant yellow bird that talked.  Oh, I can't believe I'm telling you this.”

              The faint familiar feeling suddenly gave way to recognition and Noir's knees began to feel weak.  How in the world could this girl know about that?

              Asiada misinterpreted his shocked expression and said, “Okay, I know it was stupid.  I'm sorry.  Dad told me not to tell anyone.  I just figured--”

              Noir stopped walking and interrupted her, “No, Asiada!  Sesame Street!  That was a show on television!”  He spoke hurriedly.  “They were puppets, not real.  How... how is it possible for you to know about that?”

              Asiada also stopped and turned to face Noir.  “You have that where you're from?!  Noir, you've seen those things?”  Her eyes immediately started to shed tears and she jumped at Noir.  He struggled to not fall over as Asiada's weight was flung into him in a hug.  She repeated over and over, “I'm not crazy.  I'm not crazy.  I was right all along.”

              As Noir held the girl, he tried to think of any way that she could possibly know about Sesame Street.  Was it possible that he was not the first to go through that cave and end up in this world?  Why hadn't she talked about it before?

              Marching soldiers broke their ranks to avoid Noir and Asiada embracing.  Noir grabbed Asiada's shoulders and gently pushed her away from him so he could look into her eyes.  “Asiada, tell me your story.  How do you know about these things?”

              Asiada sniffed and collected herself.  She said amongst laughter and tears of joy, “My father adopted me.  He always told me the story of finding my mother and me starving in the wilderness in the plains near Aldine.  My mother didn't survive long so he decided to raise me as his own.”  She broke her story and gave Noir another hug.  “And my memories are true!  After all this time of suppressing those thoughts, they are true.  They all said I was crazy!”

              “Why didn't you tell me sooner, Asiada?”

              She pulled away and happily grabbed Noir's hand as she started to walk again.  “I didn't know how.  I figured you would think I was crazy like everyone else.  But I did try a couple of times.”

              Noir let her lead him onward with the marching men.  She pulled at his hand while she went ahead almost skipping.  Somehow all of what had happened since that cave had seemed like a dream.  It was like he would wake up and tell the bizarre dream to his parents over their breakfast.  But meeting another person from his world like this changed everything.  It gave validity to the dream.

              A series of trumpet bursts echoed on the hills from ahead of them.  They signaled that the Tierian forces had been seen.  Noir's mind went back to the coming battle, but a few new realizations came to him anyway.  If Asiada had come from his world, perhaps others had as well.  Noir felt like an immense burden had just been lifted from his mind.  The thought that he was this prophesied Lumin person suddenly seemed absurd.  He could not use three vigors and he was not the only one from the other world.  Someone else held the destiny of protecting and saving this world.  He was just some kid.

              Another calling of trumpets reminded Noir that he still had a part in this battle, and it was about to start.  Whatever that part was, he had to try to prevent as much death as he could.

~~~

              After a short, nervous march under the cries of trumpets, battle came.  Noir's plan on keeping everyone safe was still forming in his mind.  Noir hoped the Chiron soldiers would figure enemy Luxins were protecting the Tierians and not one of their own.

              Unceremoniously, the two armies flung themselves against each other before Noir.  The battle had started.  No debate had taken place.  The forces simply marched into each other.  Noir hadn't known what to expect, but this was mindless.

              Noir and Asiada stayed back a couple hundred yards on the side of a small hill.  Noir recognized the bluish-green and black armor of a couple Azurite Knights around him, but most were parrying attacks and pushing back the Tierian and Chiron forces along the battle front.  Noir was glad Osarik had listened to him for the most part.

              Noir tried to fling up light barriers to protect the warriors on both sides.  Each time that his chakra was drained a bit more, he wondered what he had been thinking.  Even if he guarded every attack for an hour, eventually he would be exhausted and the armies would slay each other.  But he had to try, even if it had no positive effect in the end.

              The cry of another man meant another swing of a weapon that Noir did not quite have the reflexes for. Where axes, swords, and spears fell, they rebounded before they connected with their target. The din users of the Tierian forces flung fireballs and ice shards which had to be diverted away from men. Each time this happened, a plate of white light shined for a fraction of a second then disappeared. Where men flung themselves at each other, they were pushed back by Noir's unseen force.

              However, an occasional swing went through and found its target. As more of the two armies crashed into each other, these instances became more frequent. The sound of men in pain came through the clamor of battle cries.

Each blow missed was felt even more by Noir. The ground beneath a small group of men heaved upwards and then down, swallowing them. How did he miss that? He gritted his teeth and shook away his tears for the fallen men. He dug deeper into his chakra and strained it more and more. He had to try his best to whatever end, but his efforts were growing exceedingly useless.

              Despair suddenly struck him. “These people that I allowed to march to war are going to die because of my arrogance.  Grandel was right.  I'm a
fool
!”  A soldier surprisingly close to him cried out in pain at a connected blow.  The forces were irreversibly mixing and growing closer to him.  There was no way to stop it now.

              Suddenly, a red fireball streaked through the crowd toward Noir. He just barely threw up a shield in time, deflecting its flames up into the air. The two Azurite Knights were suddenly in the path of where the attack had come from.  Then another fireball came as fast as the first, but this one had a curved blade at its forefront.  The Azurite Knights flung up their own light shields in time to block the attack, but the figure tumbled acrobatically behind them.  Two quick slashes came from the darting red cloaked figure and the knights fell screaming, each of their hamstrings sliced in two.

Seeing that which Noir had thought was unconquerable so easily beaten, Noir suddenly feared for his life.  Noir quickly created a barrier around his entire body as the cloaked figure turned to face him.  In an instant, fire lashed at Noir's shielded back and the Din Mage sprinted toward him with impressive dexterity.  Noir noticed the blade had a yellow glow around it, no doubt with an infinitely sharp flow of air around the enchant blade.  Noir let his lux barrier dissipate and flowed solid air around the attacker's weapon.  It stopped a few feet from his own blade.

Then Noir noticed.  The face at the end of the arm clutching the blade was frighteningly familiar. “Aimee! What are you doi--”

“You have to die, Noir!  You're the Lumin!” She did not look into his eyes, but instead at his chest as though that was her desired attack point.  “I have to kill you!”

Noir's mind quickly churned through the meaning behind what she said.  “Is that what they told you?  If you kill me... the Lumin, that you'll get to go home?”

She screamed at him through her tears, “What do you know of anything, Noir?  Just die!”

Another attack came, shaking the ground beneath his feet.  Noir made a second flow of lux to quell the earth as Aimee flung a bladed star that she drew from under her cloak.  Two flows of lux were a strain already, so Noir brought his sword up in the path of the star.  He was ready to deflect it when a blast of fire came in behind it, leaving him no option but to release the hold on Aimee's enchant sword and put up a parrying light barrier.  The star and flames buffeted his shield.  Her sword now freed, Aimee launched herself through the dissipating fire and came down to meet Noir's sword.

Her attacks were ferociously quick.  He felt like he was just barely keeping pace with her.  They were precise and lightening fast.  “Like an assassin,” he thought with deep fright.  He narrowly avoided or deflected her attacks.  The cries of men around Noir made up his mind for him.  He had to finish this fight or more men would die around him.  Their lives were more important than Aimee at that moment.

“Aimee, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but it must be done.  I won't give up on you.  We
will
go home together!” Noir put his efforts into creating a sphere shield around Aimee.  He had never before done anything like what he was about to do and hoped it would work. 

Noir lifted the sphere into the air.  Aimee slashed furiously at the barrier.  “You coward!  You jerk!  I hate you!” 

Noir said, “I'm sorry,” again then flung the sphere and Aimee away over the heads of the Tierian forces.  He heard her screaming as she flew.  He felt her land out of sight and released the barriers.  She was free, but she would be way behind the Tierian forces.  If she attacked him again, it would be after the battle was mostly over.

Noir quickly gathered himself mentally. He could not give up on Aimee, but he couldn't deal with her at that moment.  Soldiers around him were falling. He again started placing shields between weapons and flesh, but he could not contain such chaos. Within any second he was processing and diverting dozens of offensive maneuvers. His mind was strained, his lux was stretched thin, and the situation was obviously completely out of control.

“This can't be it! I won't let the lives of so many be destroyed. There has to be a way!” But even as he thought those words, he knew he was lying to himself. His mind, body, and lux  were strained to the breaking point.  He knew it was futile.

~~~

              Asiada stood behind but did not watch the battling men.  She watched Noir's every move.  She saw his yellow light burst forth from him each time he deflected another vicious attack.  Just like when she was creating Ratt's enchant armor with Steven and Noir, she saw his every manipulation of lux and was amazed by the deftness of his usage of it.  She certainly did not have control over din like he did with lux.  She also remembered watching Steven winding the blue sye around each piece of armor.  She truly was untalented with the use of her vigor, though she always thought her unique ability to see usage of the other vigors was always beneficial.

Then she saw the red glow signaling someone drawing a large amount of din nearby.  Since she knew Noir could not see the red light from din, she tried to call out to him, but the mass of fire was already hurtling toward him.  He deflected the fire with an angled shield so it blew up into the air and dissipated.  The amount of din used would have made Asiada pass out immediately.  The dizzying flurry of events that happened next made Asiada step backwards.  She looked in horror as the two Azurite Knights fell.

Asiada panicked and turned to run but was met by a trio of Tierian soldiers closing in on her.  They each had their weapons drawn menacingly.  However, the three did not seem to be looking at her at all.  They were staring at Noir behind her.  Asiada darted to the side and let them pass.  But as soon as she did, she felt a sinking feeling.  Noir was preoccupied with that Din Mage and had no idea the soldiers were coming.  A flash of memory went through her mind of Noir telling her not to come.