6

The man looked tall and strong, like he had been training. I got a good look at him when he had his back on me. Although I couldn’t recognize him, he was someone I could remember and distinct from all my visions. I thought of the forest. It looked like an ordinary forest, but the trees were huge and tall, like our forest. It felt like I was in a maze when my vision shifted to the forest where there was no one I could see. The boat in the middle of the ocean was even more confusing. It was just a small boat with one paddle and it was empty. It just sat there on the ocean still and there were no waves at all, like the waters were calm. Why am I having these visions? It doesn’t make sense. I wasn’t in contact with anyone, let alone people from Causan Industries. Except for the fact that we killed their scouts, but they’re low-leveled. They weren’t even allowed to enter their premises and they didn’t even know who they were working for. I laid on my bed and closed my eyes. How am I supposed to sleep when I’m randomly having these visions?

Suddenly, I heard footsteps from outside the tent. A lot of footsteps. I turned and saw Marco come in, followed by Josaiah and Xy. They look fine, but they look tired. This is our first time having to go on a mission until two in the morning. We had to sleep before 12 since we have to wake up at 6 for morning training with Captain Hiragi.

“Find anything?” I asked them and sat up. Xy plopped on his bed while Josaiah took the liberty to take off his uniform before jumping on his bed. Doesn’t even bother to wash up, huh boys?

“No. We gained no intel except the same line that they were going to drown Aleris,” Marco said, bummed.

“Oh! But we found this almost buried when we were burning the camp,” Marco added then tossed a book at me. The book had no cover and the pages were turning brown. It looked old and dusty, but it was still in good shape. I opened the first page and there was only a signature that I couldn’t read.

“Where’d you find this?” I asked. Marco took off his uniform and grabbed a fresh towel from the cabinet.

“There was a small camp near the mountains on the farthest south,” he said before leaving the tent.

“Get up and take a shower, you two,” I said as I opened the other pages of the book. They didn’t react for a few seconds, but they eventually stood, grabbed their towels, then left the tent as well. It wasn’t like a novel or anything, the writings were incomplete per page and it was written in cursive. I couldn’t really read what was written since there were stains in almost all of the pages, but I could see numbers and dates. I scanned and analyzed each of the page. One particular page was familiar to me, a page just before the final page. There was an illustration of the ocean and then beneath it was a legible cursive writing that said “boat”.

I jumped to my bed, shocked at what just came to my mind. Is it the boat from my vision? The drawing also had a reenactment of a sunset, so I’m guessing it was drawn from the perspective of someone standing on the east side of a cliff. If it’s the forest beside camp, then it’s possible for me to look for the drawing.

“What are you doing?” Marco, who just entered the tent with his hair still wet, wearing sweatpants and nothing on top, asked. I immediately closed the book and placed it inside my cabinet.

“Nothing in particular,” I answered. God, that was so unnatural. He looked at me confused then looked at my cabinet. Not that I don’t want to share it with my team, but I’m going to be making a dangerous mission myself, and I don’t want to pull them down with me and endanger them.

“O-kay, then. I’m going to bed. I’m beat,” he said while drying his hair with his towel. The reason I’m keeping this a secret to them is because I can’t afford having us dispatched with a broken plan. I still know nothing about my visions and this book that I just got, so I wanted to discover pieces bit by bit, so I can confidently tell the general my plan. Josaiah and Xy followed and their eyes look like they’re about to fall even when taking the shower.

“Yeah, sure. By the way, we have no early training tomorrow. You can sleep until eight or nine in the morning,” I told them. Captain Hiragi gave us the free time tomorrow to rest and just sleep in because of the mission today, not that I even contributed that much. Josaiah and Xy exclaimed and immediately went to bed. I laid down and stared at the ceiling, keeping my eyes open. I need to think of what I need and want to do tomorrow morning, it’s the only time I have for myself, so I have to keep it worth it. I can wake up around six or seven in the morning where there are only a few people awake already. I’m guessing Gabriella and her squad will be sleeping like babies the whole morning, so that’s covered.

When my mind finally calmed down, I closed my eyes. In my head, the ocean and the small empty boat appeared once again, but it didn’t shift to other visions. The sun was setting, and the sky was turning yellow and red. The ocean looked beautifully calming as there was no waves, but a calm sea.

The next day.

My mind was the first to wake up. My eyes didn’t really want to open, but as soon as I felt the morning breeze enter our tent, I got up. The sun was rising, but it was starting to get bright. I looked around and the boys were all still sleeping soundly. I got up and went out our tent. I immediately jogged to the east side of camp, straight to the forest. Luckily, I didn’t see Captain Hiragi nor General Alon around. I carefully scanned the forest while climbing, looking for some clues that were drawn in the book. I’m not certain that it was this part of the forest, but it’s better to be sure. The east and north part of the forest have the tallest and biggest trees, so this has the highest possibility of the being the same forest in the book since we went to the north part yesterday and there were no cliffs close. While climbing to the cliff, the trees were starting to get taller. Honestly, I haven’t been to this part of the forest, and it’s only been twenty minutes since I started.

“Just how big is the east forest…,” I complained to myself. The sky was now getting brighter and brighter, and flocks of birds were starting to appear. I looked ahead and saw a ray of light in between the trees. The cliff? I started to jog and the ground started to look uneven. I made sure my steps and jumps were swift in case the ground shakes. As soon as the cliff was starting to be visible, I started to run. When I reached the cliff, I halted to a stop. I breathed heavily as I looked around. The ocean beneath me was calm, but there was something weird from how the waves were crashing. It looked like they were hitting something, but I couldn’t see what it was. I tried to peek below, but the ground suddenly shook and it made me stumble backwards. My mind suddenly flashed a vision, someone running in the forest, someone who I don’t recognize. The forest began shrinking, and the person started running faster. The vision suddenly shifted to the ocean where there were people in a boat, rowing aggressively, the waves crashing at each other. Then, there were grappling hooks being fired to the cliffs, but I couldn’t see who fired them. As I tried to calm my mind from the series of visions, I felt the ground shake again, but this time, it was starting to collapse. I was starting to lose my footing, but I kept my balance by bending my knees a little. Just when I was going to jump to the stable ground, I saw the ocean in my vision again. The water started to turn red and it started to spread all across the sea, the sun was moving rapidly, following the stream of red. It made my eyes burn, like the sun was directly in my line of sight. I closed my eyes shut, but I suddenly felt weak and numb, like I couldn’t move. As the ground started to collapse, I fell to my knees and failed to get up on time just as I hit solid ground. When I slowly opened my eyes, it wasn’t solid ground after all. It was another platform, but only half of it can be seen, the other half was still on the ground. The platform suddenly made a whirring sound and the edges of it lit up. The ground started to shake again, and that’s when I noticed I was laying directly on top of it. My limbs still felt numb, and before I could get the chance to move, the ground crumbled and the platform grew wider. I started to fall to the ocean and I couldn’t extend my arms for anything to reach out and hold on to.

Just as I hit the water, my eyes caught a figure of a person on top of the cliff, looking down at me. As I sink deeper, that’s when I felt and heard someone fall in the water with me. I failed to see who it was, because my eyes already closed on its own. I was still conscious, and I felt that my arm was being dragged through the ocean. Then, a pair of arms carried me through my shoulders and started pulling me ashore. I couldn’t open my eyes even when I wanted to, it was too tired and heavy.

“Red! Wake up!” I heard someone call. I felt a hand started to tap my cheek repeatedly while calling my name. The voice was familiar, but my head was too occupied that I couldn’t think straight. My fingers were still numb, and I didn’t have the strength to at least lift a finger.

Suddenly, there were lips on top of mine, and continuous chilling breaths made its way to my mouth and throat. Those lips were so soft and cold, I didn’t want to let it go. My mind was excited to feel air, so my lungs immediately took it in and inhaled. I started gasping for air and coughing the water that got in my system. When I finally felt my body ease up, I slowly opened my eyes. The person in front of me was…

“Gabriella?”