Desert Company: Retrospective

The only thing that separated them from their escape was that barrier. Suruj, Saya, and Mouka all contributed to the effort to break into the heavens above. But now, all those sacrifices were for naught. His mouth agape, Suruj’s eyes rapidly darted around at the audience. Someone ratted them out. Every second anger began to build up, until his eyes found someone who was looking directly at him. He locked eyes with the champion, Ayai Toya.

A punch flew at Suruj. He parried it, only to send Shunji flying into the wall in less than a second. That was a mistake. Suruj felt the sahar he stored leave his body in that block. His only chance to destroy the barrier once again, gone.

“You…” Suruj stomped his feet against the dry ground.

“Didn’t see that coming,” Shunji pulled himself out from the hole in the wall, “But now I got this. Mahou Jiguang!”

A large energy beam flashed. Suruj ducked below it, his hat falling off. He couldn’t charge up a spell now that the particles scattered about. Particle diffusion. When the air cleared, Shunji appeared from the midst. They exchanged fists and jabs. Suruj blocked them. For a moment he thanked his Arnis instructor. Then he decided to go on the offensive, landing multiple hits in a row. Shunji took a step backward and unleashed another energy beam. Suruj blocked it with his hands, taking the brunt of the force. The Buhang glanced at his charred arms, which gave Shunji enough time to counterattack.

“Did you do this?!” Suruj returned each blow while Shunji caught them, “Sabotaging our plan?!”

“Do I look like the guy to fool around like that?”

“Gh-”

Suruj threw a jab. Shunji effortlessly sidestepped. For a person that was reliant on sahar spells, his hand-to-hand combat was pristine. Shunji grabbed Suruj’s elbow and shoulder. He rendered him unable to move. Those moves were familiar. They flowed smoothly like a wind current, twirling consistently.

“Aikido?!”

Shunji slammed Suruj’s head into the cracked, rocky ground. A wave of pain stung the front of his face, feeling the unhinging of teeth. Shunji was going for the kill. Repeatedly he raised the boy’s head and violently smashed it down, a splash of crimson spreading throughout. Suruj was pinned with his head and arm. His thoughts became jumbled. The brain struggled to process the cut skin and severed teeth.

“All of this happened because of you, Suruj Zundui. You caused more damage to your home ward than we did. Your family died because of you.”

The voices called out to ridicule him, those voices of hatred. Resentment began to flow through his veins, spreading throughout his body.

“Death to the terrorists! Mga nognogan!”

“Suruj! Suruj, where are you!? Your brother is hurt, what’s going on?!”

“If you want to eat, then go entertain some male customers!”

The agonizing pain from Mouka’s memories soon entered his mind as well, as if he had experienced them firsthand. His mind soon turned blind with rage.

“Stop it!...” Suruj broke free from the locked position, and swept Shunji’s legs below. Just as quickly Shunji’s fingers wrapped around Suruj’s face. Suruj fell back to the ground, screaming as the boy’s fingers pressed into his right eye. He let go as Suruj vomited, unable to process his eye being destroyed. His consciousness was slipping, with blurry vision from his functioning left eye. Crawling on the ground, he desperately inched away from Shunji. One after another, Suruj took kicks to his stomach and face. His incapacitated self couldn’t do anything. His family slaughtered, the things they did to her, Suruj and Mouka’s darkest experiences flooded his mind. He was hyperventilating, his already erratic breathing causing him to choke on his own blood. As soon as he spat out teeth, his bloody mouth met with a fist. Everything went black.

 

Suruj walked endlessly in a patch of black. He could suddenly see, his wounds gone. For a brief moment he wandered aimlessly until he saw someone he thought he’d never see again. His breath stopped.

“Mouka?...”

He soon trudged over to her, only to figure out that it was just a projection.

“Hiya, Buhang boy! Well, you honestly never thought we would meet once again, huh,” The projection spoke aloud, as it was an exact replica of her. “If you’re seeing this, I’m already dead, sorry. I created this just in case my memories would be difficult to handle. I guess that was the reason why I was reluctant to share them in the first place.”

“Why…” Suruj reached out to her, but it was useless.

“I don’t know what’s happened after I’m gone, but I know before you ended up here, you were probably suffering,” She spoke softly, “I didn’t know how long you could keep managing both yours and my past, but heh, I’ll gladly offer the solution. If my memories are erased from your brain by using the sahar used to store these memories, then your previous mental state will return back. However…”

“...”

“Doing that will also erase any record of me in your mind. You’ll forget about me.”

“W- what?... No…” He tripped over his own foot, “I don’t want to forget. I don’t want to forget you, that’s too cruel…”

“Right now, you might be thinking about wanting to remember me. Hehe, I’m flattered that you finally acknowledge our friendship,” The projection snickered with a smile, as if Mouka was there herself. She faced her back towards him. “But, I know that it hurts. It hurts so much that you want to stab your eyes out. That’s why my burdens are going to be removed from your head,” She put her hands to her side and gave a seventy-degree bow. “Thank you, and sorry, Suruj. Hopefully even when you forget about me, the others will surely remember. Spending the past few months with everyone in Wakoku, all working together for one cause… That was the happiest time of my life.”

“No… Please don’t leave me again! I don’t want to forget! Mouka!”

“Just know I’ll return to the sand, so I’ll be everywhere wherever you guys go. Also, take care of Tvuj Hosyi, alright? I know that she’s waiting for your return, so bye-bye!” She waved gleefully as the dimension began to fade into white.

 

Shunji delivered a stomp that woke Suruj from the blackout. The throbbing wounds stinged him once more, for he had a damaged right eye, missing teeth, and dislocated shoulder. Red tears slid down his cheeks, but he was left confused. The feeling that somebody had talked to him in a dream. No matter how hard he tried to remember, there was nothing.

“You’re still alive?!” Shunji braced for another kick. Suruj drove a fist into his skull and he collapsed. Falling down with him, Suruj couldn’t think.

“Who… are you?...” He groveled in the sand, dragging his bleeding forehead. “You were someone important to me…”

“Time’s up! After a fierce one-sided beatdown, both of them are on the ground! You know the rules, folks, now getta voting!”

After hearing the announcement, it only escalated his confusion once more. He could barely see with his left eye, as the world around him solely brought him cruelty. He wanted it to end. There was someone that brought him back to his senses, whom he regretted not having to speak more to. But who were they?

“Please… Please kill me!”

Suruj shouted at the top of his lungs, before coughing out more blood. Crawling towards the center of the arena, he let out another scream.

“Kill me! Please kill me! Kill me! Kill me!” The scream turned into an ugly weep, while he could barely move his body. Suruj threw his head against the ground multiple times, screaming, yelling, scratching the jagged floor with broken fingernails. He couldn’t feel his legs. Suruj wanted everything to end. Looking with his only eye, the audience’s seating was a blur, making out what seemed to be a person standing up from the crowd. He could see the heartbeat monitor from his bracelet displayed on his wrist, reminding him of the life he still held.

“And from the results of our dear audience, it seems the fighter that will pass on to the next round is…”

Suruj’s heart full of anguish wished for him to die at this moment. He couldn’t think of anything else. Every time he tried to think of that person that answered his questions, the first friend he had made in Wakoku, he had no recollection. And soon, even those thoughts of wanting to remember disappeared from him.

“Muqatil Suruj Zundui!”