Eighteen: アルゲザの兵士 (Algeza Soldiers)

All the monsters then collapsed into heaps of ashes or fried jelly that had once been their flesh. Nevertheless, for a brief period, their queen was still alive. She said, having reclaimed half the mermaid's form, "You should do the same to the witch who sold the world and you, Hotaru." Before it was too late and all the force was lost, I closed my eyes in a daze. I tried to picture this in every detail since I wanted to leave that place quickly and desperately wished I was back in my spacecraft, far from that planet. 

The world started to disappear and shift quickly in front of my eyes, as if in a magical vision, but I knew it was much more than that. Then, a loud hum rang deafeningly inside my skull.

Even though it was leaving its solar system, I continued to perceive the rising sun as being surrounded by enormous sea waves, creating the appearance of an unsettling cosmic vortex outside my window to the cosmos. Gubimu was also present, standing next to me. I'm not sure why; perhaps deep down I wanted him to be there since he owed me a ton of explanations.

I am... I am observing two primitives, opposing beings that govern the universe while I float in an infinite sea of white ether. They resemble masculine deities and stand in for "God and Satan," "good" and "evil," "heaven" and "hell." They are shooting thick energy beams at each other with their extended arms, which I can see. In contrast to "Satan," who emanates a red aura and creates a beam of the corresponding color, "God" emits a light blue aura. Amid the space separating them, the two energy surges collide and merge.

In that never-ending battle, neither of the two parties appears to be victorious. A thought occurs to me as I am hovering to the right of "God": When the moment of death arrives and a soul departs from its physical body, it "falls" in a certain place within the streak created by the two conflicting rays. The closer a soul is to the light blue area (heaven), the better; the closer a soul is to the red area (hell), the worse. I, Hotaru suddenly awakened, startled by the distinct sensation that we have just had a profound otherworldly experience.       

Now that I'm in the air, high above limitless white fields, I turn onto a small, hazy trail that is gradually taking shape between two rows of green trees. I have a wonderful sense of freedom, yet everything around me rapidly dissolves into the astral material, the ethereal component that all universes are formed of. Now a new route is forming in front of me, barely visible between the white tree limbs that shoot up into the azure sky.

For a split second everything remains motionless, translucent white, incomplete. Suddenly, at the far end of the path, I can see a sphere of sparkling light that grows brighter and brighter, until it obliterates the trees, the path, me, and the world... The blinding light gradually began to take material forms; I was rather scared at first, but I felt a lot better when I realized I am in the middle of a huge bridge, and everything seemed to be in place.

 Yet, it was obvious to me that I am no longer traveling; the starship seemed to be inert. I looked at the main screen impatiently and I was relieved to find out that dimensional transposition had been completed.

My landing spot was a lovely green meadow with distant, lavender mountains rising over it in the blazing dawn. Small homes were a sign of intelligent, possibly human, live nearby. Clusters of dry leaves were lifted into the air by a strong wind that was blowing over the deserted land. I just couldn't believe how quiet and peaceful it was around us. I wanted to enjoy it, but I didn't know how because it seemed like the calm before the storm.

No more than a few seconds had passed, when I noticed a little sparkling light tracing a curved line on the sky, beyond the high mountain crest on the horizon. It looked like a distant shooting star, but I had no doubts about what it was.

Without explaining anything to anyone, I retired to my chamber with the excuse of feeling tired. I lay down and let my mind be still; my heartbeat gradually decelerated and became fainter and fainter, as I was falling into a state of deep hypnosis.

When the time was right, I prompted my astral body out. The astral projection verified my suspicions: the sparkling light I saw a while ago was a spacecraft.

Far off from where I am, I see a gigantic palace. When I walked in, I watched the throne prince of the Algeza Empire walk out of the pilot's cockpit and call his men. All of a sudden, he paused and looked around carefully. His set face with the clear-cut features looked stern, his blue eyes narrowed with suspicion. Can he somehow sense my presence? I wondered. My return was abrupt and awkward, leaving me with a vague impression of an ethereal wave thrown back into my physical body, as well as the bad temper that usually follows a violently interrupted astral projection. Anyway, I was back in my chamber again, my heart pounding in anguish. I sprang to my feet, dashed to the door, and froze there, as I heard rushing steps and harsh soldiers' voices echoing right outside my room. For heaven's sake, has my trip taken so long? I wondered full of worry. Then I leaned my back against the door and shut my eyes breathlessly...                                                                   

A squad of ten Algeza soldiers stood motionless as they suddenly saw someone blocking the octagonal corridor before them: it was the mysterious man I always saw wearing black and who was also the person riding a motorcycle as I was going home yesterday, challenging the intruders with a laser sword in hand. There was a moment of mutual hesitation; then, one of the soldiers launched an attack and the battle burst out. He fought them all with undaunted courage, remaining surprisingly cool during the unequal fight. His laser blade flashed deadly in the ionized air, soon exterminating three of his opponents. He seemed to enjoy the tension of every single moment, as if the result didn't matter to him, winning or losing, living or dying. He looked proud and fearless even when he was forced to retreat and captured in the end. His green eyes glowed with fury, while a big firearm was now pointed at his chest. “Hold it!” a soldier’s commanding voice echoed in the corridor and all the Algeza warriors froze at their master's order.

At that point I opened my eyes again; I was exhausted, for I knew very soon everything would be lost. The next moment the grim soldier was standing right outside my door and he was going to force the lock at once unless I did something. As I got out of my room with slow, stealthy steps, he looked at me flabbergasted. His long, blond hair waved over his broad shoulders, and he riveted his bright blue eyes on me.

This time I showed him a black-hair Hotaru, dressed in a rather provocative white uniform. “How did you find me here, sir?” I asked as calmly as possible. “You know my spacecraft can carry out space dilations; besides, there is no way you can hide from me, you know that too, Hotaru”, he replied.

Nice. I didn’t know that I would be occupied with some kind of spacecraft stuff.