KAI, CRYSTAL AND CHRYSTHERIUM

PREVIOUSLY IN THE ZASHIN LEGACY...

Alex Zashin faced Philus Orakamon on K-Day, the opening day of the K-League.  

The K-League is the annual fighting competition held on Chrystheria to determine who is the strongest.  

The winner strives to follow in the footsteps of Lord Kamen and become the New Divine Ruler. 

With a flash of his power and just a hint of showboating, Alex delivered a devastating blow to Philus’ jaw, leaving the poor boy unconscious. 

K-DAY WINNER: ALEX ZASHIN 

---

I felt a bit bad that they had to drag Philus out by his ankles. Not that bad, though. Winning ALWAYS feels good. I reckon Kai enjoyed that one, too. 

- Alex Zashin’s private journal 

Date: K-DAY 

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PART TWO 

“...and that’s when I learned that male porcupines will actually pee on the female porcupines, almost as a bit of foreplay,” Kai explains.

I look between Crystal and Kai, for just a second. I hesitate. Then I go with my gut.

“Well, no judgment, I guess. I do wonder what the first porcupine to pull that move was thinking at the time, though,” I offer back, contemplating the thought.

He nods, firmly. Then I snap out of it.

“Wait, how do you—no, fuck that, why do you know that, Kai?” I ask, intrigued.

“Common knowledge, ‘cro,” Kai replies.

All three of us pause, thinking for a second. And then the sound of laughter fills the air. My stomach creases in two as Kai snorts, choking simultaneously. Crystal suppresses a laugh to my right.

“Shut up, Kai. Just shut up,” she giggles. 

The laughter continues, eventually fading away as we all look back toward the sky above. Stars flood the sea of black for as far as the eye can see. We sit in a small opening between the last line of trees and Chrystheria’s sandy shore, which stretches to the ocean beyond. We’re on the northwest side of the island, just the three of us.

I stare off at the horizon. This part of life—moments like this—always feel simply worlds away from life in the Kakuto Sanctum. Mind you, my first fight of the year was only this morning, and our little circle here marks our K-Day celebrations.

My opponent, Philus, had been dispatched. As expected, to be honest—but in epic fashion, if I may say so myself. The corner of my mouth rises at the thought. I replay the knockout in my mind, just trying to savour the art of it all. The moment, the rush, the success—there's nothing like that feeling. Nothing in the world.

Crystal reaches into the inside pocket of her clothing, wincing and holding her ribs with her other hand as Kai opens his mouth to speak.

“You didn’t have to humiliate Philus with the flashy bullshit today, Alex. He’s a good guy, really,” Kai says with a mix of laughter and disapproval. “You’re unbearable sometimes, you know that? The elders were not impressed either. You should’ve seen old Ven Xhensson’s face. If looks could kill—and I’m not certain that his can’t—you’d be a dead man,” he continues.

I reflect on my earlier actions from a different perspective for a second, and a hot pulse of self-awareness floods through me, like a mini tsunami of anxiety and regret. I shuffle awkwardly on the grass.

“Oh, I—” I start, before Kai cuts me off.

“It was pretty fucking spectacular though, you asshole. I’ll give you that.”

The air cools again, and I can’t keep the smug grin from breaking across my face. It was pretty awesome; I knew it was.

Kai chuckles, shaking his head. It’s big and round and reminds me of the moon. His brown hair is cropped close to his forehead and all the way around his skull. His hazel eyes are the same colour as his scraggly beard, which wraps messily around his chin. His stocky frame matches the roundness of his head, and his clothing is just ever so slightly too small for him. Looking at him just makes me laugh. Not in a mean way, though: there’s nothing wrong with him, but nothing spectacular about him, not even anything abnormal, really. He’s just...Kai.

The same Kai I’ve been best friends with since we were first able to fight, at just five years old. Twelve years later, he’s barely changed. He still wears the same stupid smile and still has his mother lay out his clothes for him each day, Kamen bless her soul.

“You won, too. It’s a hell of a start, ‘cro,” I say back, shifting the conversation away from my own win—only slightly reluctantly.

“Yeah, it was against that rat Hashan, though. I see how he managed to finish below Philus last year now. Good thing he yielded, though, ‘cos I thought I was gonna shit my pants if I strained for much longer,” he replies, sheepishly.

Crystal exhales sharply to my right.

I empathise with Hashan for a moment. He’s not a bad guy, but like Kai says: he is just a bit of a rat. Plus, he’s really not got much fight in him—and that just won’t cut it here. He gets a lot of stick from both the elders and the K-League fighters. I try to avoid jumping in on the blatant bullying that other people dish him, but I don’t exactly help him either. He’s just got to do better—be better. It’s as simple as that.

Crystal opens her mouth as if to speak, but hesitates. Meeting my eyes, she continues.

“You used your morphalteration for your knockout today, right Alex? I heard you yell.”

She sounds apprehensive. I nod.

“And how did it go?”

“Ask Philus.”

“I’m asking you,” she replies softly.

“Well, it worked. Obviously. But...”

“...but not exactly how you wanted?”

“That’s right,” I say, turning my right fist toward my face and studying the red, swollen knuckle of my middle finger. Below it, the cap of my knuckle on my index finger bears an almost translucent, grey tone. Not good.

Morphalteration is our gift. That doesn’t mean it comes without a price, though.

“You missed,” Crystal notes, her eyes locked on my hand.

My eyelids droop and the corners of my mouth curl into the most sarcastic of smiles at her. She’s right. I had meant to channel the Power of Kamen to harden the knuckle of my middle finger with my morphalteration—the one that would connect with my target first. Controlling it within the body is no easy feat, though, and I’d focused it on the wrong finger, hence the lifeless skin hanging around there as a result. My unhardened middle knuckle had then taken the brunt of Philus’ jawbone, leaving that one wrecked too. That’s what I get for trying to look cool.

Raising her eyebrow at me, Crystal opens her hand and flicks two fingers on her left hand toward her face. A pearly white, spherical object launches from between her fingers. She catches it between her front left teeth, held in place by her tongue. Another drop of laughter pours out of her mouth as she bites down, the crystal-like shard in her mouth vapourising into a fog-like crust. A misty white cloud forms just beyond the edges of her lips. With a single flick of her tongue, the fog whips itself into a swirling haze, before dissipating, disappearing into her mouth as she inhales.

The muscles around her eyebrows relax, and her eyes soften. They flutter, catching my eye before diverting down and into the grass between us.

I raise my eyebrow back at her, holding out my hand in an indicative gesture. She rolls her eyes, just softly. Then she reaches into her pocket once more and tosses me a crystal. I catch it with a downward sweep of my hand. Turning my wrist over, I roll it around in the palm of my hand. Chrystherium. As someone had so aptly named it. One of the only forms of release around here, other than the tavern on Fiskolholmen, the nearest island to Chrystheria. We shouldn’t really be dabbling in either, but Kamen will forgive us. Probably.

A sensation like the flapping of wings passes through my body in anticipation. Kai watches me with interest as I follow suit, chucking it toward my mouth and catching it in my teeth. Biting down, the same white cloud seeps outward. I try to flick my tongue. Nothing happens. I frown. I hear an exhale to my right, and then I inhale. The mist vanishes into my lungs.

“Not bad,” Crystal says, turning her lips upward.

I go to reply, but then a deep sigh falls out of me from within. I feel the muscles in my face relax. In fact, I feel the muscles all over my body. Truly. An acute awareness of every fibre in my body suddenly presents itself, both surprising and soothing at the same time. To my left, Kai now studies me intensely, his eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

“Fine. I’m not going to be the only one. Come on,” he says, gesturing at us both.

“Yeah?” I manage.

“Yeah.”

I nod at Crystal, who reaches into her pocket a third time and passes another flash of white to Kai. He holds it in his hand before throwing it toward his face.

It hits him straight in the eye and falls down into his lap. I double over, at what might be, in the moment, the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Crystal does the same. Kai chuckles too, embarrassed, before placing the crystal in his mouth, biting down and inhaling the mist. He looks between us and the floor as he holds in his laughter, his face turning red.

Crystal covers her mouth with her hand again before falling silent as she stares off into the distance. There’s a glow to the startling blue in her eyes. Her lip trembles, just barely. I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t staring. I pause for a moment, choosing my words carefully.

“You did well today, too, Crystal. Screw Jakun, everyone knows he’s a cruel bastard. You’ll beat him next time, though.”

“Mhmm,” she muses.

Noted. Don’t talk about her fight today.

She’d faced Jakun Xhensson—an unfortunately brutal opponent to fight on K-Day. Although her ability to use morphalteration is definitely better than his—and most of the K-League's at that—he's on another level in terms of physical prowess and sheer fucking sadistic violence. He’d been the only person to beat me twice last year.

Well, other than him...

Another hour of nonsensical chitchat and general tomfoolery passes, before Crystal rises to her feet.

“I think I’m gonna turn in for the night,” she says, her eyes still fixed on a faraway point.

“Me too,” Kai slurs, to no one in particular.

“I guess that’s that, then.” I confirm, somewhat sadly.

We rise to our feet and say our goodbyes. I draw back my hand and slam it into Kai’s, our palms interlocking. Our thumbs stay pointing upward as our hands clasp each other.

“May the might of Kamen be with you,” we say together out of habit, just a hint of sarcasm tinging our tone. We bring our foreheads down to our thumbs until our heads touch—a display of our mutual respect—and then we smile.

We take turns doing the same with Crystal, before parting ways once more.

Today was K-Day, but that fight was just one of many for the year. One down. Seventy-seven to go. The K-League is no joke.

My next bout isn’t for a few days, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to rest on my laurels. Tomorrow won’t be easy—in fact, I don’t think a single day of my life has ever been easy.

My mind is racing as I wander home. It’s a blend of today’s epic highlights and nervous anticipation of what’s to come.

I can’t complain about my result today, but I also can’t shake the sickening uneasiness that plagues me. Something feels off. Something lingers just around the corner; I can feel it.

Doing my best to settle my racing nerves, I rush to bed ahead of another day of training here on Chrystheria. I can only face life as it comes, I tell myself.