25 His Decision

Michael looked at the three children in front of him. Judging from the match he just watched and assessed, each and every one of them was capable of going to the school. The school that Michael was in charge of finding potential candidates for was The Starseeker School, one of the best in Elia, in terms of how much power it had when it came to the figures that supported it, it outranked almost every other school - it had the favor of many kings, emperors and even some Legends. This was why it was a major achievement to join it, joining it was practically the same as being held in favor by it, thus, you were also held in favor by all the people who supported it. This wasn't the only reason one would want to join the school, the way it taught it's students to grow stronger was extremely adaptable and efficient. Joining it was definitely a good oppurtunity to grow stronger as fast as possible as well as making life-long friends that were just as powerful as they were, even if they didn't become friends they could still gain a powerful figures favor.

But...

All three of them had been conflicted in making this choice, they had spent their entire lives here, they didn't know if they were ready to move to another area so quickly - they knew it was a chance that, whilst had an 'unlimited' amount of time to accept, it would be best to accept as quickly as possible so as to give Yuin time to invite other people to join the school, all of the preparations had been made behind the scenes and all they would have to do is say yes. Del and Rez looked at eachother, waiting for one to make the answer for them both, they knew that they would most likely stay together, if one went, the other would too, but because one wanted the other to answer, neither answered for a long time. Yuin and Michael were silent as they waited, they weren't the most patient, but a choice like this required the weighing of multiple different factors - emotional significance, important memories, friends, family, saying yes meant you had to leave it all here.

Even the crowd had went silent at this point, Yuin had come down with a man they didn't know, they were extremely curious as to why, as soon as they heard that both the winners and the losers had been given an option to go to one of the most prestigious schools in the plane, they all awaited their answers. Some people had already knew, most of the hunters that hunted with Del and Rez knew, Sonia knew, Sora's parents had discussed this with him already and even Seiju and Kuo knew. It was really only the villagers and people that travelled from faraway cities and villages to spectate that were surprised.

The silence lasted a long time...

S: "I-"

Sora hesitated and looked at Rin, he put a smile on as he looked at Yuin

S: "I accept the offer..."

Del and Rez looked at Sora, he was the first one to answer, such a hard choice made by the most unlikely person here, and he said it with a smile on his face. This gave them confidence, now that someone had already accepted they, too, would accept.

S: "I've always been thinking about how I could get stronger, now more than ever after the battle I had in the forest... it seems that staying here won't allow me to do that anymore..."

Sora looked to his open hand.

S: "This new magic that I can use... it's something specific to me alone, but... as I am right now... it's wasted on me..."

Sora clenched his hand into a fist.

S: "I need to learn how to really use it, how to fully utilise this power"

This was the main reason Sora had thought of to go, and had blocked out all other reason in his head so that he could just say yes, he knew he had to get powerful, but he was just as hesitant to leave. Yuin, Del, Rez and even Michael could see this, but they commended the fact that he actually accepted.

D: "Um... about me... I'll-"

R: "Me and Del will go with ya then Sora!"

D: "Eh?!"

R: "At least we won't be alone now, right?"

Del sighed.

D: "Yeah, I guess"

S: "You guys... you don't have to go..."

D: "No, we want to"

R: "Yeah! Why would we waste this!"

S: "Haha... I guess so..."

All of them were laughing and happy on the outside, but inside, they were all more hesitant than ever, now that they had agreed, they had to deal with saying their goodbyes to everyone, they all had families to say goodbye too, they also had friends, and Yuin. Yuin had been with these three since they were basically children, all of them had been laughing and cheering for their victory, but she could sense the immediate consequences of the choice they had just made, she sighed.

Y: "Listen, you three. I never said you could never come back you know..."

D: "Hm?"

R: "What does that mean?"

Y: "You serious?"

S: "What?"

Y: "You think I don't know what you guys are going through? You ain't leaving forever"

All of them could guess that Yuin figured out what they were feeling, the crowd could barely hear what they were saying, some people further back only knew what was going on through the whispers they heard from the front. The only one's who could really clearly hear what was going on was aura-users. All three of them sighed.

Y: "This is a choice you've already agreed to, but... I'll give you all 24 hours to figure out if you really want to go, think of it as a confirmation"

All of them went silent, this was a good decision by Yuin, but 24 hours, to them, felt like too short of a time.

Y: "Well, time to split up, some people want to fight and test their own strength, you three, figure it out for yourselves"

Yuin jumped back up to the podium and began shouting to the crowd, saying that if anyone wanted to fight, just volunteer and they could. As she was shouting Michael looked towards the three hesitant candidates in front of him and sighed.

M: "You know. The school holds something for each of you, that I can say with extreme confidence, I don't even have to know someone's type of magic, or even someone's aura - to say that you will definitely gain something there that will change your lives, I wouldn't be inconvinienced by you not accepting either, there are many candidates to choose from, I just came here first. Please do not think that you will be resented by something if you do not accept. This a choice made by 3 people, to change their lives. Do not think about anything else, just think about yourselves..."

Withthis, Michael also jumped back up onto the podium next to Yuin, she had already finished shouting to the crowd and many people had volunteered.

Y: "So?"

M: "Hm? So what?"

Y: "What'd you tell them?"

M: "Huh? Weren't you listening?"

Y: "Nope, shouting"

Michael snickered.

M: "Nothing much..."

Y: "Hmmmm..."

Michael pretended to fall asleep, Yuin could easily see through it but just let it pass, if he didn't want to say anything, she wouldn't pressure him.

Del, Rez, Sora and Rin had already walked out of the arena, they had gone to their spots already to really think about their decision.

[A Clearing In A Forest]

Sora was sitting down, laying down on the grass, staring straight at the sky - he really wanted to stay, but knew he couldn't. He was definitely going, he couldn't refuse, but right now he was just trying to find any way to ignore the fact that he was leaving everything he knew behind to go into a new place.

S: "..."

Rin walked up to him and rubbed her face against his. Sora let it happen, after she moved back he looked at her and petted her.

S: "Thanks Rin"

Rin had become a very close friend to Sora, almost as much as Reiner was, both despite not really being able to speak in the normal way.

S: "What do you think I should do"

Rin stared at him with a neutral expression.

S: "Hm, guessed that..."

Sora turned his body to look back up at the sky.

S: "I... don't really have any reason to go besides getting stronger, but that one reason is more than enough... it's just..."

Sora thought about it, before all of this, he had been living for the thrill of the fight, he knew people were stronger than him, but he had never met against someone he felt hopeless against, he was never one to be scared of death, but after actually being given proof that there was someone out there coming after him who could end his life as easily as breathing... it wasn't the greatest reaction. He suddenly became afraid of death, and scared of the world around him for a start. He was the easygoing, carefree, always smiling Sora. Whilst people still viewed him that way, his friends could see that there had been a change. He would have given anything to have that back, to have this new constant threat be forgotten and taken away, so that he could return to his old life, where he truly believed in his strength.

S: "I can't think of life that way anymore... I want it all back..."

Sora had never been the most mature, but he found that he was getting more and more depressed as time went on, ever since that fight in the forest, there had been a critical change in his personality.

S: "Why..."

Sora sighed

S: "How do I get back to that..."

Sora closed his eyes...

[In A Dark Space]

S: "Hm?"

Sora looked around, he was back here.

S: "So... this place again..."

?: "You..."

Sora turned around.

S: "Who-"

Before Sora could fully turn around he was hit in the face with a fist that seemed to carry boundless amounts of power in it, he was sent flying through the dark space before regaining his balance and stopping, he was shocked, the thing that sent him flying was no longer here.

?: "These thoughts!!!"

He was hit in the back again with what seemed like a kick, sending him flying downards.

S: "What?!"

He regained his balance once again before getting hit again.

?: "These don't belong to a successor!!!"

Sora kept looking around, he was being bullied in this space, he could feel the full force of this hits but his physical body outside didn't take any damage. Sora was sent flying once more in a single direction before being caught by the neck and lifted up, looking down he was shocked to see who it was.

S: "A-Azu?!"

Azu was standing beneath him, angry, for the first time in a long time.

S: "Wh-What are you doing?!"

A: "What?! What am I doing?! What are YOU doing?!"

Azu threw him up in the air and kicked him back up, before immediately appearing above him and kicking him down, what was weird was that Sora actually landed on a solid surface of darkness, he was no longer just floating in midair. Azu landed and began walking towards him.

A: "I've been distracted by those guys for a while... it seems someone hasn't been doing the best behind my back..."

Sora tried to defend but Azu's attack broke straight through his defense, launching him back once again.

S: "I-I can't keep up!!"

A: "Of course you can't..."

As Sora flew through the air Azu appeard above him and kicked him down to the ground once more, leaving Sora paralysed on the floor.

A: "You won't feel any pain on the outside... but in here..."

S: "Wh-Why are you..."

Azu crouched down.

A: "You made me mad, kid"

S: "What?"

Sora sat back up.

S: "What did I do?"

A: "You did the worst thing one of us could do"

S: "What? What's that?!"

A: "Doubt. I told ya, we all gotta deal with this, but we didn't care about the duty, we just lived our lives how we usually did then dealt with it later"

S: "What... but... you all died through that duty right?!"

A: "Yeah... so?! I lived my life with friends that I could easily call my family now, my duty got me killed, but I still somewhat fulfilled it whilst living my life at the same time, stop caring about it so much and just do what you wanna do!"

Sora was taken aback by this. Isn't this the worst advice someone could give when the main villain in question could most likely destroy the entire plane if he invaded?! Azu knew this but didn't care? Then how did he get so powerful?

S: "I would like to! But... I can't... I can't stop thinking about this..."

A: "Thinking, thinking, thinking, just stop thinking! Look forward at your own life, stop worrying about every. Little. Thing. Who are they... what are their names... Del and Rez! Those guys! They definitely wanna get stronger! But it's not all they think about! They're living their lives, meanwhile you're over here... killing yourself over something that won't even happen for the next 100 years at least..."

S: "What?! How do you know about them?!"

A: "Bro... we're inside you... we can see what's happening on the outside..."

S: "Then why have you only done this to me now?!"

A: "Cause I've been looking into other things..."

S: "What? What other things?"

A: "Well..."

Azu hesitated at first, but he explained his death, and his team.

S: "What? You've been looking for signs of them?"

A: "Yep"

S: "Why would they be here?"

Azu smiled.

A: "You'd be surprised..."

S: "Wha-"

A: "Anyway that doesn't matter, think about it this way kid. Just live your life, put the duty behind you man, the power doesn't choose you cause it wants to, it chooses you because you're the best choice. Don't go changing your entire life just cause you're chosen"

Sora thought about it, it was true, he had changed the way he had lived, he had been much more cautious and was really only back to his usual self when he was with his friends, whether it be Seiju, Del, Rez, his parents, Reiner. The only reason he had been able to keep up his happy side is because Rin was constantly by his side.

S: "But... how do you ignore something like that..."

Azu sighed.

A: "Find people to hang out with, easy. Go to that school man..."

S: "What? That easy?"

A: "That's what I did, not the school thing, I found my people, you just gotta find yours.."

Azu stood up.

A: "I swear though... think like this again, I won't be this easy on you next time..."

S: "That was easy?"

A: "Yep, you don't wanna see me when I don't hold back, trust me..."

Azu was enveloped in a light blue energy, slowly fading away.

S: "Wait! Azu! How..."

Sora hesitated.

S: "How do I know I've found 'my people'?!"

Azu turned around and smiled.

A: "Serious dude? It's not hard..."

S: "How?!"

Azu sighed.

A: "Cause you'll realise the only thing you can think of is them..."

Azu faded.

Sora stood, sitting down on the solid darkness, thinking about the message, the floor that he had been sitting on seemingly disappeared as he fell into the dark space once more, but there was a difference this time from when he came in. As he fell into the darkness... genuinely... he was smiling...

[A Clearing In The Forest]

Sora woke up. With a genuine smile. It was the first in a long time.

S: "Thanks... Azu..."

Sora was still thinking of his duty, but now, he had a reason to be excited to go to the school other than his duty.

S: "Meeting new people huh..."

Sora lay back down and looked back up into the sky.

S: "Guess I'll give it a try after all..."