144 Chasing a Phantom (1/2)

Were it not for the dire circumstances warranting extreme haste, Reed would have never forgiven Mother-Bound-In-Stars for what she had done. Even now, he doubted whether she was actually trying to save his life or end it.

Adrenaline coursed through Reed's veins like wildfire as he struggled to hold onto the blazing meteor. He screamed out profanities and terrified pleas, but they had gone unheard by his tormentor.

Mother-Bound-In-Stars had pushed her abilities to the limit, something she had not done in millennia. Not since the days of her youth when she had been little more than a mischievous princess without a care in the world.

The last time she had pushed herself this hard was during the Great Invasion of Mu. When the Infestation had broken through the final defense line standing in between the planet and them.

She had been there through it all as a child. Seen everything unfold as it had when the Infested invaded the planet. The vast seas had been tainted black with the poison they had brought, killing and transforming all that once lived in her former home.

Had it not been for the swift action of those on the surface, everything at sea would have died. The Heavenly Barrier had torn a small portion of the former sea when it activated, unexpectedly saving all of the sea life that had been closest to the coast of Mulia.

Mother-Bound-In-Stars still remembered everything about the day when the Heavenly Barrier had been activated in last-ditch attempt to stave off the inevitable...

Fleeing as fast as she could away from the endless spread of death and suffering. Observing in pure terror as the seas turned pitch-black. Not even the sunlight above could pierce through that veil of dark madness.

She had not forgotten the innumerable screams she heard within that horrifying darkness that had once been her home. What followed afterward was something still haunted her to this day.

It was the painful, lingering silence that followed afterward. Nothing had frightened her more than that event to this day. How a vast majority of the sea had gone dead silent.

Fear bred despair. Moments later, it had begun to spread again, with even greater ferocity than before. From the black seas came twisted aberrations of life commanded by a single thought: To ravage all that laid before them.

Mother-Bound-In-Stars and her beloved, Dreams-Of-Azure-Stars, had tried their hardest to escape together, but she had been too slow. Had she been faster, he would not have had to...

A bitter, painful memory rose up from the depths of her heart. She had lost much that day because of her ineptitude.

Even now, she was still chasing the shadow of the one who had given his life for her sake.

It was why she had returned to rescue Reed. Forget about her; Mother-Bound-In-Stars knew well of the fate that would await the continent if the problem was not resolved.

...She had also returned because of another reason. A much, more personal one. Within the young boy, she saw a part of her former self. And a bit of her former beloved, too.

Everything about them had reminded her of the relationship she once had, down to the last detail. A repetition of fate itself, come back to test her -- that was why she had returned to save Reed.

To her, it was a redemption long-awaited. Mother-Bound-In-Stars was doing what she had not been able to do more than five thousand years ago on the day that the Heavenly Barrier went up...

Reed grunted in pain as he continued to hold onto Mother-Bound-In-Stars' burning shell, but suddenly went quiet when he noticed something very, very peculiar...

Something was off with his vision. He couldn't tell if it was because of the injuries he had sustained. Had he not regenerated his eyes correctly? Reed was positive that he had not messed up, but there was no other way to explain what he saw other than a fault of his own making...

How... is this possible? Is this some kind of Anima technique... or are my eyes deceiving me?

He saw something in the distance, not too far away from them.

It was so faint and subdued Reed had almost not noticed the phantom, but the instant he laid eyes on it, his attention had been captured by it.

Past the heated swells of Anima, collapsing mountains of bedrock and the visage of fire obscuring his vision, there was... another blazing comet.

Reed blinked his eyes hard again and again, but the result did not change. Out there in the distance was the glimmer of a meteor dyed in shining, azure flames. Where it had come from, Reed did not know.

In a strange way, it seemed akin to a dance than a race between the two. The two comets weaved back and forth upward towards the closing exit like a pair of bound stars.

Always one step away from each other, never to truly meet. They would come closer but in the same instant, fate would push them away from one another.

She struggled her hardest and chased after the fleeting figure in front of her relentlessly.