Solflare: The Painter's Secret

First light touched the sky of Thule. Leaves fell from their branches and scattered in the air like sand.

A sweet, wired scent filled the air above the Bastion City bridge. Wiring hooks lost their wetness from the midnight blessing.

Metal rumbled. A truck packed with iron pipes and household belongings roared across the highway, surpassing all speed limits.

Water splashed on the pedestrian path as the truck tire slammed into a puddle that had lost its power to dry up.

Countless beads of the flying puddle danced in the air and dripped on the shoulder of a white-haired lady sitting on the raised bars of the bridge.

"I can’t continue to live while Li Mei and Lily are still at the hospital dying," Min-seo said in a soft voice.

She shifted her eyes toward the skies and watched birds diving in and out of clouds like angels. ’I can’t continue living with my sister, knowing she played a part in making the Storm family vegetables.’

Sharp air flew out of her mouth as she stared at the far, angry, waving water beneath the bridge.

Two silver fish stopped at the base of the bridge and blinked at the human sitting on the fragile bar of the highway. They dived back into the ocean when two speedboats passed with laughter.

"I guess I am now the free person I have always wanted to become," Min-ji said in a sweet tone, then smiled. Her chest rose as she closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh drifting air of the ocean, then cracked her eyes open.

On the second boat, Kate’s eyebrows raised as she saw someone sitting on the bridge base. ’Why is the person sitting there? Is she fed up with life?’

"Hey, Min-ji." Kate paused the motor of her boat and turned with a confused face. "Where did Min-seo say she was going early this morning?"

Min-ji’s head snapped downward with unfiltered anger in her eyes. "I don’t know and I don’t care wherever she went." She flung her head and made her white hair slice through the cold air.

"Wait, didn’t she at least tell you where she was heading?" Kate removed her hands from her boat handle and began shifting glances between Min-ji and the person on the bridge. She stopped and squinted when she caught a glimpse of a blue robe. ’I didn’t see Min-seo when she left in the morning. But I remember she was wearing a blue gown in the evening.’

She blinked twice and froze. ’Is that Min-seo? No, that can’t be her. Min-seo is not someone who would do that.’

An engine roared, followed by the splashing of water as Min-ji ignited her boat engine. "Are you not coming?"

Chills ran down Kate’s spine as the splashes of water fell on her. ’I hope the person sitting on the bridge doesn’t commit suicide.’ She closed her eyes for a second, then drove off.

Birds chirped at the top of the highway as a white dove and a black dove stopped at the peak of the highway hooks. A flock of crows waved through the sky, followed by a harsh wind that sent the highway wired hooks shaking.

Min-seo’s skin crawled as the metal bars she sat on began vibrating heavily. ’Do I even deserve to live another day?’ She breathed heavily and closed her eyes for the last time, preparing her mind for the jump.

The chest sleeves of the blue gown she wore flapped on her chest as she cracked her eyes open with a cold exhale. ’I’m coming, Mom.’

Her fingers opened and began slipping off the smooth surface of the metal bars. ’I’m coming, Dad.’

A wide smile tore on her face the moment the tips of her fingers left the bars and began clicking against the chilled air. The distance between her and the angry, waving ocean closed, and her childhood memories with her family flashed in her head.

She saw herself back in her sixth year playing with her mother before her mother fell sick and died on their only bed. Tears dripped out of her eyes as the dead mother’s smiling face reeled into her mind.

Her heart rate dropped when she remembered how her father breathed and coughed out blood when he got knocked down by one of the Baek vehicles.

"Get out of the way, bastard."

She remembered how the guards screamed at her when she dashed after them and tried to make them help take her knocked-down father to the hospital, but they refused and shoved her to the side.

The cold air of the ocean waved upward and sank deep into her body when she reached five feet above the ocean level. Min-seo gritted her teeth and took in her last breath.

A black, blinding light waved through the sky of Bastion City like a falling star. All the flying birds dashed out of the way when a blackened, drift shield blasted through the early morning clouds and splattered them in perfect halves.

The Hi-no-Kami blade caught every bird and crow that stood at the peak of the bridge and watched the human dark flash by the side of the highway. Leon’s dual heart plummeted against his ribs when he saw the falling human nearing the touch of the angry, waving ocean.

Grey glow seeped out of her blackened eyes and snaked around his wrist. One tip of the black cloth flapped against his chest while the other flared behind him, promising to hang him.

Water splashed as he lunged lightly over the ocean and shoved the blue-robed human. The human curled herself like a corpse in Leon’s palms when he moved back to the grass and tree-filled land at the side of the ocean, separating Bastion City from the slums.

Min-seo shivered when she cracked her eyes open and saw herself lying on the ground instead of dwelling in chilled water. "HAAAhhhhh!"

She crawled backward with black dots under her eyes when she saw the black, blazing eyes the person had. ’Is that...’

Her entire body trembled as she saw the black cloth Li Mei was weaving before collapsing under the bio-inhibitor, wrapped around the person’s neck. ’This can’t be Leon!’

She lowered her head and cupped her palms at her ears then screamed in a wordless cry. "AHHHHHH!"

Grass crunched as Leon moved a step back and straightened himself, watching the back of the person. Min-ji’s smiling face rammed through his head when he squinted at the person’s white hair.

Metal clicked as he moved his hand to the hilt of the Hi-no-Kami. The blades blazed with black essence as his fingers wrapped around it and it came out of its case without struggle.

"MIN-JI!" A wave of blackened, concussive energy blasted out from Leon and moved toward a far distance.

Death cries spilled into the air as all the trees hit by the black wave wilted in an instant. Squirrels feeding their young turned into bones in their holes while their food rotted. Birds that managed to escape before the black wave hit were able to fly five feet above the tree branches. Just as they let out a sharp cry, cut lines stretched across their bodies and slid onto the ground like gravel.

"SPEAK, MIN-JI!" The blazing blades of the Hi-no-Kami swallowed all the morning sun’s rays that stretched toward the ocean and turned it into an extreme darkness.

Flames sprawled through the highway as vehicles stopped abruptly and bumped into each other, crashing. Drivers stepped out of their burning vehicles with blood dripping on their faces.

Pedestrians that saw the black wave before the vehicles began smashing into each other rushed toward the left side of the bridge with pale faces.

"Is he going to kill the lady?"

Loud voices of plea rang out and caught Leon’s ears, but his mind was deeply broken.

In his head, he saw himself standing at the front of the Yrendal. The tall pillars of his inner world remained extremely in a collapsed state, while the Creator version, the white version, had its head locked inside a crossed, cage-like pillar. Beside him, the Destroyer version moved like air, while whispering words that didn’t define Leon.

"Kill her. Kill all of them. None of them deserve to live free after watching your family dwell in shame and pain."

Clicking echoed around Leon as the hilt of the Hi-no-Kami tapped in his palms. He shifted his gaze to the crowd standing at the top of the highway screaming, his eyes blazing intensively as he saw all of them carrying Vera, Tiger, Jade, Darian, Hu Qing, and Min-ji’s smiling faces.