Chapter 4: Paradis
"I caught it, Dad! I caught it!"
A young boy screamed in delight as he came sprinting up from a glowing stream, with water dripping from his sleeves and a huge grin plastered across his face. His drenched clothes clung to him tightly – as his crimson hair stuck to his forehead.
After reaching the top of the small hill, he held up a small wriggling creature like a trophy.
A breathtaking young man with raven dark hair spilling over his shoulders and emerald eyes that mirrored the boy's own - glanced over at him with a smile beneath his dark beard and mustache.
Despite the twin suns' scorching heat, his skin was smooth and flawless - almost like he had never worked a day in his life.
"Oh, that quickly? Good job, Arbus. Was honestly expecting you to struggle a little longer." He teased with a laugh.
The boy - Arbus, pouted as he opened his hands to show his father the creature.
It was a small green Mornan-like creature with cute thin wings on its back, and a single eye. A pixie - creatures that were very common on the planet of Tarok.
The pixie sprawled lazily in Arbus's palm - already accepting defeat.
"Oh, a green one. How lucky," the man said, leaning forward slightly. "It's said that those who manage to capture a green pixie are blessed with boundless luck and great fortune."
Arbus smiled brightly.
"Really? That's awesome!"
"…But what do I do with it now? It took me a while to catch it, but I don't really want to put it in a little cage or something," he added, looking stumped.
A faint smile appeared on the man's stunning features. He was pleased by his son's reaction.
"Don't worry about that. You don't have to keep the pixie to receive its boons. Catching it is already enough."
"After that, we usually just let them go," he said, gesturing to the pixie to take flight.
The creature fluttered its cute wings and slowly rose into the air. When it got far enough, it turned back one last time and stuck its tongue out at Arbus in a final act of defiance - before flying off as fast as possible.
Arbus wasn't sure if he was okay with it leaving just like that, given the time and effort it had taken to catch it.
Still, he was glad he didn't have to take away its freedom just to be lucky.
The man chuckled as he finally stood up, brushing away the dust from his robes before patting his son's head.
"I know you're a bit sad, but you really shouldn't be. Tell me the truth, didn't you enjoy yourself more when you were chasing it around? I'm sure you weren't that satisfied by just watching it sit idly in your hand, right?"
He looked towards the bright colourful stream, then back at Arbus.
"Something I want you to remember, son, is that the journey is often more interesting than the end result. That's why you have to make sure to enjoy it while it lasts."
Then, the man looked up at the twin suns and realized the day was already coming to an end.
"That's enough for today. We should head back home now," he said to Arbus as he pulled two bracelets from his pocket.
Then, he placed one of the bracelets on his pale arm. The bracelet gave a soft glow as it slowly spread over his entire body, turning his human skin crimson, until it was hard to distinguish him from a Red Mornan.
After that, he fastened the second bracelet around Arbus's wrist and turned it on, causing his son's skin to shift in the same way.
Arbus frowned at the bracelet.
"Dad, why do we always have to wear these? Is it really that bad for people to see our real skin?"
The man's expression turned somber for a moment.
"Listen to me, Arbus. No matter what happens, you must never take off your bracelet in front of others. I know that you hate them, and the fact we have to do all this, but sometimes… you have to endure certain things for the greater good. No matter what happens, no one can know that we're human. If they ever found out… everything would change."
Arbus sighed deeply as he pulled himself away from his racing thoughts.
The days leading up to that incident had truly been peaceful for him and his family.
Unfortunately, knowing what he knew now, he couldn't bring himself to wish for those times again.
Arbus chuckled slightly.
"You're such a terrible liar, Dad," he muttered.
His thoughts drifted back to the pixie he had caught. The myths didn't seem so accurate after all, considering how his life had turned out.
"Are you talking to me?" came the soothing voice of the Knight sitting in the seat across from him.
Arbus glanced over at him.
He was a Red Mornan with neck-length green hair that framed his idol-like features and ocean blue eyes.
At the moment, Arbus was being escorted by this Vanguard team to meet the Sentinel of the star system.
He wasn't sure how to feel about that, given his currently tempestuous emotions.
It reminded him too much of the last time something like this had happened.
Arbus didn't answer for several moments as he surveyed the rest of the crew.
Unlike the Vanguard, all the Knights present had already taken off their masks when they had boarded the ship.
A female Mornan with flowing dark hair sat sprawled in a chair with her hair draped over the backrest. There was a melancholic and at the same time empty expression etched across her face.
An old towering Mornan in a bulky Knight suit stood against a wall at the edge of the room, his shoulders slumped.
The youngest looking Knight present beside the female Mornan seemed visibly distraught. Arbus was sure he was no older than seventeen.
It was understandable that he would feel that way considering what they had just witnessed.
Then, he glanced at the very edge of the room, where a young Red Mornan with dark blue hair sat next to the Vanguard.
Arbus could feel the Knight's gaze burning into him with intense hatred. He wasn't exactly sure why this Knight felt so strongly about him, but he could somewhat guess that he had probably been wronged by a Reincarnator at some point.
He was used to people often directing that hatred towards him.
He sighed as he returned his gaze to the dazzlingly handsome Knight that seemed the least traumatized by experiencing the genocide of Terytl-B.
"No I… I was just muttering to myself."
"Oh, okay then," the Knight replied with a nod.
Silence descended upon the ship once more as Arbus took in the look of the vessel.
It was the most colourful Vanguard ship he'd ever seen before.
A faint melancholic smile spread across his features.
Arbus was a big fan of colourful things.
"Nice ship," he blurted out.
The handsome Knight's eyes glimmered brightly.
"It is, isn't it? That's what I said too! I'm the reason we picked this ship by the way, the others thought it was too stale," he said with a hint of pride in his voice.
Then he leaned back. "I'm Bridge by the way, what's your—no wait, I guess I already know your name from the files. Arbus Kaelen right?"
Arbus stared at the Knight silently for a few moments. The Knight's attitude had somewhat caught him off guard for multiple reasons.
"Arbus. Just Arbus. That's my name. Don't add the last part," he said calmly.
"Oh, um, sure. My bad," Bridge said apologetically.
An awkward silence settled over the room again.
The Knight considered his words for a moment, then spoke again.
"I hope you don't mind me asking… It's just, I can't seem to get my mind off of this."
Arbus's brow rose slightly.
"What is it?"
Bridge remained silent for a moment.
Then, he asked the question that had plagued everyone in this ship.
"How did you do it? Kill the Reincarnator I mean."
Arbus didn't respond for a while as he simply stared at Bridge.
He was wondering if there was any need to tell this Knight in the first place.
Bridge noticed his expression and scratched the back of his neck.
"Sorry if it's too direct, it's just… after seeing everything that this Reincarnator did. All those lives he snuffed out. It's a bit hard for me to wrap my head around how he died."
"I just don't understand how something like that was possible."
Arbus stared at him some more, then said suddenly:
"It wasn't really as impressive as you're probably imagining it to be."
"I simply waited for him to exhaust his ability, after noticing that he couldn't keep it up for that long."
His gaze fell slightly as he went on.
"Ronin arrived in front of our base after he'd already massacred the rest of the planet and the other Renegade stations."
"We didn't get a single emergency call while all this happened. We didn't even realize we were under attack until it was our turn," Arbus said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not exactly sure what it was, but some kind of tech he had with him was probably dampening our communications."
"He didn't attack at first. He simply sat outside and watched us. As if he was toying with us - when in truth, he was recharging his nearly drained energy."
"It gave the Commander and the Vanguards a little bit of time, which they used to come up with a few plans."
Arbus sighed dejectedly.
"Unfortunately, most of them didn't amount to much in the end."
The other Knights' gazes fell on Arbus as they listened in on the conversation.
"When the battle started, Commander Mitz led the charge. Despite the difference in speed, he'd managed to keep up with the mostly drained Ronin almost evenly, exhausting his ability even more."
"Ronin was even forced to take breaks during his battle with us to monologue. That gave us precious time to treat the wounded. He acted as if he didn't care, when he'd actually been using that same time to recover his soul energy."
The Vanguard at the far end of the room shifted slightly as she heard that.
"After he'd slaughtered everyone present, he noticed I was still alive. Then, he noticed my half-human appearance as well."
"He'd found the situation hilarious, and decided to play with me more - since I was the last toy left."
"I made sure to give him what he wanted too, by constantly taunting him."
"When I was sure he couldn't activate his blessing anymore - I made my move."
"It's as simple as that, I suppose."
Bridge stared at Arbus with a stunned expression for several moments.
"…Simple, wait, do you actually think something like that was simple? Seriously?"
His eyes brightened.
"It's one thing to notice a weakness in such a powerful enemy, but it's another thing to be able to exploit i-"
"That's enough, Bridge. No more talking with our guest," came the voice of the Vanguard from across the room.
Arbus glanced over at her as the Vanguard finally took off her helmet.
She was a stunning Mornan with flowing dark-blue hair that stood out against her bright crimson skin. An unreadable expression was etched across her breathtaking features.
Arbus's eyes widened as he stared at her. He was stunned by how much the Vanguard resembled his childhood friend Arora - especially her bright orange eyes.
Memories he'd prefer to keep buried came flooding back like a tidal wave.
"We're not authorised to ask him anything about what happened on the planet yet. Not before he's questioned by the Sentinel himself."
Bridge's shoulders slumped slightly.
He'd still had a lot to ask Arbus. The most pressing being how he had managed to survive for so long against Ronin.
And why he was uninjured, despite the blood and tears in his suit.
"Oh, sorry, Yom-I mean, Vanguard Yome," Bridge muttered, giving Arbus an apologetic look.
Several moments later, a knock sounded from the cockpit, where the ship's designated pilot sat.
"It seems like we've arrived," Yome said, glancing out the small window to the side.
Arbus followed her gaze as well. There it was - the biggest moon in the star system, as large as four planets in one.
Paradis, the home of the current Sentinel of this system.