Kart's fantastical journey!

Last Moment

"Hey, you, what are you doing?"
Someone was softly poking my hips. My senses are getting back to me. The cold air was breezing into my body making my clothes flutter.
I opened my eyes. I found myself lying on the ground of a forest pathway. The rocks my body is on are colored in beautiful beige. The trees are peering over the path, they aren't normal trees, they are sakura trees. The trees are sakula, meaning, well loved. I have a bit of knowledge according Chinese culture, but it doesn't matter anymore anyways.
The trees and the path are covered in white mist making it impossible to see through the forest or at the other end of the path. The pavement is perfectly, geometrically fractured. None of the cherry blossom trees or any other plants are dangling over it.
It feels like this is all supposed to be ought. Presumably, the architects were trying to make the people who walk through here feel like they are in their own Utopia.
This is without a doubt my hometown.
"Come on, arise and follow me." demanded the boy.
I stood up and tapped away the dust off of my clothes which I could thank the powdered rocks for.
Observing this place made me realize that it really does look like my hometown. It was bright and cold, it should be about 6 o'clock in the morning.
Nothing here seemed like it would include an indicator on where to go. I'm not sure whether to follow the path behind me or the one in front of me. But I have Sai with me after all.
He has descried dark red hair and is a little bit shorter than me. He is dressed up normally and his flaming red eyes and his tanned skin made me discern what he wanted from me.
He glimpsed at me, grabbed my hand, and said, "We have a lot to catch up on, Sweetie Luna."
That's right, my name was Sweetie Luna Featherbow, I passed away in the rampage of the black girl. I am dead.

We trekked through the alleyway with Sai covering his hands in his pockets while I entangled my arms.
I was a perfect human. I inherited the beauty of my mother and the intelligence of my father. My legs were long and slim. I had a beautiful torso and long fingers which were elegantly made for playing the koto. I had a thin shoulder and a perfect jawline. My face had a nose piercing and wonderful curly hair that were shaved on the side.
I had everything I needed. I was beautiful, I could play the koto, I was intelligent, I had a pretty voice, but all that doesn't matter right now and never did, because my personality ruined everything.
I didn't have many friends due to my unbelievable behavior. I was disrespectful towards my classmates and didn't respect their boundaries while I myself dressed up weirdly. I thought of myself as a whole different person. I was selfish.
On top of that, every man who would want to get to know me better always left the moment they find out my ugly name and my true self.
I had a wonderful body with a disgusting name. Why would my parents ever name me Sweetie.
I despise my name. I wish I could have just been named Luna Featherbow without the other name. But my parents never intended on making me live a normal life. They gave birth to me so they could experiment on my body and gain free Mana. That's why I was gifted with the Manipulation Power. So my biological predecessors had the choice to become omnipotent by sucking away my Mana. That's why they named me Sweetie. I was sweet enough to let them harvest my magic even though I wasn't able to do anything against it either way due to my younger self not knowing that my parents never cared for me.
I wasn't supposed to exist to live a proper life.
"What are you thinking about?"
And then he came into my life, Sai Koryusai. He changed everything.
"Luna, we still have a long way to go." Sai smiled.
"Yes, we do." I smiled.
I loved him.

"We arrived at the first destination of our tour." Sai presented a small village which was also covered in fog and sakura trees.
It was deserted, nobody was around. We were alone.
"Your father and your mother..." Sai noticed my cloudiness. "Are they bothering you?"
Sai managed to read my emotions successfully. He was right.
"Let's sit on the spring rockers, you can ask me anything, I know every answer that is on your mind." Sai grabbed my hand and we ran through the abandoned village.
All the houses are made out of wood, none of them are considered normal homes an ordinary human would live in. We were poor, we couldn't afford anything so we lived in this dump.
The buildings look like something you would be able to build by yourself, it has thicker tree branches as support and no windows and no doors, just holes. They have no floor too, only the dusty rocks with a few wooden tables and rugs that served as beds.
Luckily, the residents had built a tiny playground for all the children to play on, except for me.
"I'll sit on the Chrysanthemum." approved Sai and jumped on the white flower spring rocker.
I sat on the Buttercup next to his, a beautiful yellow flower.
"You can ask me anything, in return I want you to answer one question of mine at the end of this span." Sai spoke tranquil.
I was seesawing on my flower spring rocker, slowly going back and forth in tact.
My parents were the head of Diūshī de yuányīn. Our small village in the middle of the forest in China. My parents lived in the shrine on a hill that was able to watch over all of its underlings. I never knew any of that since my parents treated my like a test subject until their penurious mind for power and strength led to their own death.
After my parents had died, life had finally begun to change itself, I was free from my destiny. But my parents their death led to many residents their death. They killed themselves. They proclaimed in their death message that without my parents their life was meaningless.
I, on the other hand, finally had a right to live, my family's will of power drove them to their own death because they have been manipulated, they have been tricked by their very own child.
I had the power of Manipulation, even if I wasn't aware of them causing me this harm, my power protected my tenderness and drove them insane. I am the reason for the residents to have killed themselves.
"Where are we?" I finally decided to ask Sai a question.
He knew I wasn't asking about the area and smiled, putting his forehead on the white flower spring rocker, "These are your last moments."
"What do you mean?" I asked firmly.
"These are your memories, but you are changing them." admitted Sai.
I see now. Everything acting here was nothing else than a figment of my imagination. I am deceased after all.
"But you aren't dead." burst Sai out of nowhere running his hand through his red hair.
Sai said he knew all the answers, but if he does, then must be speaking in enigmas. I was sure that I died.
"The culprit shot me with her laser gan, I evaporated and died. How am I alive?" I asked Sai.
"If you're dead, explain why you can think?" smiled Sai. "The only thing we want is inner peace, but if God is protecting your body, you shouldn't be able to feel anymore. If God finds you, that means you are dead, so, did you see him?"
I struggled, Sai was right, I never saw God, I only remember looking at the mask of the girl who ended my life.
"Who killed me?" I asked.
"No one." he laughed happily. "You are alive, Luna."
I knew that wasn't true. If I was alive, then Audacious would have to be alive too.
"The gun that hit you wasn't a laser gun." explained Sai. "It materialized you and brought you to somewhere."
I understood now, I never died to begin with, I was just teleported.
"This is hard to follow, but you are neither alive nor dead." Sai frowned and petted the flower spring rocker.
"What do you mean? What am I then?" I wondered, scrutinizing Sai with my sparkly eyes, awaiting an answer.
"You are in a sudden death situation, everyone who had been shot with that gun was given another chance of survival, the rampage was planned like that since one of the victims was working with the culprit all along." Sai smiled again.
One of the victims was working with the culprit, meaning, the reason for our strange situation was so the traitor could escape this sudden death situation without causing any disturbance, everyone who survived the rampage would think they died innocently. It was a well thought plan.
"Do you know who the traitor is?" I questioned Sai.
"Yes, I do."
"Me too."
Sai showed a quick surprising expression until he noticed and tried to change it, he stayed quiet.
"I was the last one to die, am I correct?" I pierced Sai with questions.
"Mhm." he nodded.
"Even though I am still in this Utopia, I have the advantage, I know who died before me." I stated. "Meaning, I already figured out who the traitor is."
"Heh, impressive, Mylady." Sai mocked me, making me blush a bit.
"Do you want to visit the other places?" asked Sai.
"Sure, can we go to my house?" I wanted to see if my parents maybe cared about me at least a little.
"You lived in the shrine, look up there." Sai pointed into the sky with his palm and I tilted my head upwards.
The shrine stood next to an abyss. The radix of a big sakura tree, that was coming out of the shrine middle, was halfway sticking out of the mountain. If you fall off the horizon of the shrine, you would fall into the village, it basically is like a surrounded kingdom in an anonymous locus.
Sai grabbed my hand again and escorted me through the bridle path once again.
This walkway led into the forest, I am assuming it goes to the back of the hill, we have to get up there somehow after all.
I am still a bit upset, I barely know my surroundings around Diūshī de yuányīn. I grew up here, but due to my awful guardians, I wasn't allowed to ever leave the shrine until they passed away, but everyone was already gone when that happened, so I had no other choice to find my way to Ambermoor. Living in a ghost town wasn't worth it.
"We're almost there." Sai's facial expression wasn't as happy-looking as when he greeted me. Are we nearing the end of this journey already?
He observed my blue eyes sternly and then said, "What will you do after your Utopia crumbles?"
Sai made me realize that I didn't have much time left. If this sudden death area was only designed for the traitor to escape and live again, it would probably mean that we'd die if that occurs.
"What happens if I stay here?" I acted dumbfounded.
Sai looked at me confused, "You can't. If you stay, you will die."
I giggled, which flattered him a bit, but he tried to hide it by looking into a different direction.
I patted his shoulder and said, "What if I don't want to live?"
We were almost at our final destination. The shrine was mere footsteps away from us.
Sai didn't say anything so I opened my mouth again, "We can finally be together, forever."
"..."
"My life hasn't been providing society with the needing knowledge and support." I began confessing. "My whole life, I've been cramped in this moldy building, not being able to see the outside world, and now, when I have the chance to be able to experience life, I want to throw it all away."
"Why would you do that?" Sai stayed calm, probably because he isn't real.
"I'm tired of it all, I wasted my chances of having friends, of becoming a powerful sorcerer, because I couldn't let go of the past." I pressed my hands on my chest. "I don't deserve a special reincarnation while other creatures die anonymously with no special death."
Sai looked at me curiously.
I continued talking, "Everybody is their own main character in their life, but to strangers, they are just mere background characters."
Sai seemed like he finally understood my point, "I see, very well."
We reached the entrance of the tattered shrine. So this is the place I spent over half of my life in. I never thought I would ever return to this miserable place.
The shrine's colors are fading away and the building is moldy. It has a lot of cracks and looks frail, I wouldn't be surprised if it breaks apart soon. The building is covered in ivy and the ginormous cherry blossom tree is protruding from the middle of the shrine, gliding up to the wonderful, soft blue sky.
Sai walked up the two steps and opened the door for me. I entered first and he followed behind me closing the door.
The inside of the shrine is quite fabulous and forlorn. It looks like every other ordinary shrine, however, it has a garden in the middle with no roof. That's where the big tree is planted.
Besides from that, the air is icky and a lot of the wooden planks are cracked. I can even see the dust floating in the air. The room is dark, but due to the sunlight reaching the building from the middle, we have a chance of visualizing everything a bit better.
"This is where I lived my whole life?" I am still weirded out that I don't remember my life before Ambermoor properly.
Sai nodded and we followed the inside porch avoiding moldy planks.
I investigated the area in hopes of finding any hints of my family and of all the residents here. For some reason the houses in the abyss look better than my former home. This building is torn apart and I could have sworn that it's fluctuating a little bit.
Sai stayed serene for the last few minutes, I'm kind of worried about him. He is the only one who calls me just Luna after all. He knows that I hate my first name, so he tries his best using only my second name even though they're supposed to be one, but I like to think of Sweetie as an imaginary title that I never had before.
He seems to be getting sadder and sadder the more we follow the truth. I wonder what he knows?
"You can't find the truth here." he stated. "It's only serving you as a refresher."
I don't know what he meant by that, but I did in fact only find a family photo of my parents and myself in one of the almost empty rooms.
Matsunaga Featherbow
Nagaoka Featherbow
Sweetie Luna Featherbow
The picture frame has three names listed behind it. These were without a doubt my father and mother's name including mine.
I never acknowledged this, because I only know my biological guardians as scientists using me as a project, but they had Asian names while mine was in English. I am annoyed by the fact that I was stuck with this name.
I found another paper next to the picture frame, it was a document labeled Project Sweetie Luna.
I get it now. I was named after a project, I really was just a test subject.
Ogling back at the family portrait, I discovered me being around seven on it and my face seemed emotionless, same with the two adults who treated me like an object.
When I entered Ambermoor, I never tried to think about the past, about my childhood, because I never had one. I only intended on gaining new and better memories, but suddenly, all of these nostalgic objects are unlocking fragments of my mind.
I read the words under the title of the document, and now I found out the absolute truth on why they played with my body all these years.
Harnessing Infinite Power.
The objective of this project was to harness magic from me and use it to become almighty.
After following the legend of some Chinese poem, they revealed that babies had the biggest power force, meaning that from me, they could drain as much as they obligated to and my magic would always regenerate, concluding an infinite refuel.
But due to Mother Nature, humans don't stay babies, they grow up. And that's what occurred in my case as expected. I am assuming that soon after the age of seven, my parents must have died.
I am certain that they absorbed enough power. After I was no use, they fled and killed themselves due to their overpowered usage of magic. It was too much for their own body giving them an instant impact after they tried using it. The power killed them and all their effort had been for nothing. I had to suffer under the stupidity of my biological scientists.
Sai was leaning against the big tree in the middle of the shrine.
I decided to sit next to him since I haven't found anything else except for dust and old furniture.
Sai wrapped his arms around his knees and stared up in the sky.
I stretched out my legs and sat next to the tree putting my hands on my black skirt.
"What did you mean by earlier?" I asked.
He stayed silent.
"I will stay with you." I decided to say. "Life was never in my favor anyhow."
He tilted his head into my direction and asked, "Why would you throw your life away like trash after coming this far?"
I didn't understand what he meant by it. I never got far in life, I had to spend my whole span being stuck in this shrine not being able to experience true life.
I smiled, "I experienced everything I wanted to already, I don't mind if I die young."
Sai stood up and sauntered with his hands in his pockets to the front of the shrine. I followed him in a single file line until we reached the horizon.
"The truth lies within you." remarked Sai. "Forget the lies."
We were standing next to the cliff, one more step would make us fall. But standing up here was beautiful, we could see the whole endless sakura tree forest alongside the few wooden houses on the bottom.
Sai walked a bit to the right and sat on a swing.
"There are swings up here?" I asked and sat in the second one next to Sai.
He grinned, "Thy Utopia is your imagination. Thus creating everything you please."
I don't understand why I imagined swings right next to a cliff, this is pretty dangerous. We knew that, so we only sat on them and didn't swing at all. I think we reached the end of my journey.
"Now, since we reached the end, it's my turn to ask you a serious question." Sai didn't even look at me, he instead grabbed his swings and started teetering.
"Already over?" I asked a rhetorical question and nodded.
I then also grabbed my swings and teetered back and forth. It was scary but also amazing to be in the air for a couple of seconds.
Me and Sai were swinging peacefully while we enjoyed the beautiful pink forest and the beautiful light blue sky.
This moment felt so unreal that I wished for it to never end.
I suddenly heard a weird noise coming from Sai, it sounded like a weird gulp.
We were now systematically swinging together. We looked ourselves deeply in the eyes until I saw Sai open his mouth, about to ask his question.