Setting Sun Vol. I [Teaser]

by Joshua K. H. Murray

  Clyde was hesitant at first about Chiyu’s advice. Leaving Jet to someone else usually ended up in abuse, but seeing as how she was the nurse, he could trust her a bit better than he could trust his classmates.

  In addition, she seemed…trustworthy, like she genuinely worried for his friend’s health. She apparently cared for his safety, despite the rumors of God hating him. Clyde smiled at the thought.

  Clyde’s smile soon fell to a frown as he thought of the princess’ reaction to this. Just how exactly was a princess of a religious nation supposed to act toward someone who was “hated” by God, Himself? Would she leave him, too? That can’t happen! If it did, Clyde could wave Jet’s confidence good-bye for good. Jet had always talked about how he missed the princess and wanted her back. If she were to reject him and cast him away, too…he’d be left broken.

  All those pieces Clyde had worked so hard to recover would come crashing down all over again to a point where no one would be able to pick them up.

  Clyde had never really thought about such a negative thing, but now that the princess was reachable, he began to worry. Lord Adonai, he quietly prayed, if You love us, please…don’t let the princess hate him, too.

 

  The nurse gazed once more at the student lying shirtless in the bed with a bandage around his waist, covering the horrid wound on his stomach. She soon turned away, feeling discouraged at his immovable countenance.

  Upon opening his eyes, Jet found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. His body ached from head to toe. He gritted his teeth in response to throbbing pain as he forced his body to lie on its side. His attention followed the low rustle of a nurse at work with some paperwork. He met her surprised gaze with his own confused one.

  Where am I? The question, of course, was unspoken, but his dazed and concerned eyes seemed to imply the thought, eliciting the correct inference from the nurse.

  The nurse smiled lightly before she spoke. “There’s no need for concern. Your friend and I took you here, to my infirmary. Thank goodness you’re okay,” she breathed in relief. Her relief soon transformed into a bewildered fury. “Clyde told me everything. Just what were you thinking, taking on an attack like that? You’re lucky you came out alive!”

  Jet, though awake, still felt asleep in a way. It took a minute or so until he could process just the first sentence. Your friend and I took you here to my infirmary.

  Friend…

  Like a jolt of lightning, he sat up, shouting, “Clyde!” He instantly regretted his quick rise as he inhaled, hissing through his teeth as his body burned painfully.

  The nurse had waited for an answer and an explanation for the stupid thing Jet had done, but instead she received a quick jolt from the patient as he sat up quickly from his bed. Her body moved quicker than her mind could as she soon found herself pushing the boy back down gently. “You mustn’t get up yet! Your body still has not fully healed,” she chided but then offered a small, reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. Clyde is fine.”

  Jet frowned in guilt at his healer’s mix of concern and fear.

  Don’t worry, Clyde is fine. He let his body fall back onto the mattress after hearing the confirmation of his friend’s safety.

  The nurse breathed a sigh of relief as Jet’s body did not fight with her guiding hold. She gently laid Jet back down. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, too. The bandages I wrapped around your waist are not ordinary. Lord Adonai gave me the Gift of Healing. The bandages I touch can heal practically anything, given the right amount of time.”

  Jet nodded lightly, tightly clenching his teeth shut afterward. It was almost annoying at how the littlest of movement hurt so much.

  He closed his eyes, allowing the frailty of his body to support his attempts for slumber. After a few painful minutes, he fell into a numb sleep.

  Once Jet had taken enough time to rest, it was time to pack up and head home. Jet walked through the crowd of students in the halls toward his locker.

  He wasn’t wearing his original attire—just a white shirt that the nurse had given him to compensate for the shirt he once wore, the shirt that was now tattered from Electro’s attack.

  As he walked through the hallway, he could faintly hear the rumors beginning to grow. Word of his confrontation with the infamous bully had apparently spread throughout the whole school. “He tried to take on Electro? No way. He can’t be that dumb!” Jet heard one voice whisper to a friend.

  “They say he meant to get hit," another added.

  “What? Does he have a death wish now? What a freak.”

  Jet walked awkwardly past the hear-sayers, fighting with the tempting idea of running to his locker. For people who gossip, they sure were not being quiet about it.

  He decided it was best to just look down at the marble floor and tune out the ongoing rumors spreading about—until he neared three girls. They laughed giddily. Jet really did not intend to listen in, but nevertheless, after a hearty giggle from one of the three students, he heard her say, “Oh, my gosh. Now that the princess is back, we should so tell her about Jet’s fight!”

  Jet could have sworn his eyes would fall from his sockets if he had opened them any wider. The princess! As in Crystal? He was no longer tempted to run; rather, he was tempted to stop dead in his tracks. That single bit of information seemed almost physical, like a weight had magically appeared on his back the second they mentioned her homecoming.

  Jet dared not stop and let the three know of his unintended eavesdropping. He just kept walking—as hard as it was—at a normal and casual pace. He just needed to make it past the corner, and he would be just fine. Just a little bit more, he pushed.

  He had to hold back all the emotion as best he could, and it seemed the second he found himself in this conflict, the hallway had somehow extended to a greater length.

  Once again, Jet fought with himself from running out of the hallway. If he quickened his pace, they’d notice. He had to remain calm. His brows pulled together impatiently as he eyed the end of the hall.

  His eavesdropping had done more than affect his mentality and patience. In what seemed like forever, he finally reached the end of the hall and found himself now fumbling with his keys, missing the keyhole entirely as his hands were shaking constantly.

  “Hey, Jet.”

  Jet’s body shook in surprise as he exhaled a loud breath, placing a hand on his chest afterward in an attempt to comfort his poor heart’s frantic beat. He let out a long sigh as his heart rate lowered.

  Clyde raised a brow as he witnessed his anxious friend. “You okay? You seem on edge. Something happen?”

  Jet darted his gaze left to right then answered the question with his own, his voice a mere whisper. “Did you see…her today?”

  Clyde pursed his lips, biting it lightly as he nodded in reluctance. “But I didn’t really have any time to tell her anything.”

  Jet couldn’t help but notice there was a bit of relief in his tone of voice, like he was glad he didn’t get to hear her response. Maybe he was feeling the same anxiety Jet was. Perhaps he, too, thought of the disaster that would come about should she decline him.

  “That’s okay. I can wait…” That was no lie. He could wait. He would wait an eternity if he had the choice. While he would feel an itch of curiosity pertaining to how she would have answered, life would be at least bearable not knowing.

  Sadly, Jet did not have the choice. Waiting just a day seemed impossible as the two heard the nostalgic cheers of infatuation. She was nearing their corridor—Jet could tell by the huge patter of feet following her.

  Jet contemplated if he should run or face her. He wanted to see her again. It had been nearly a year, and all he could remember was the solemn farewells they had spoken before her departure, yet he also remembered what he had promised her.

  Out of pride, he had promised her he would be strong and have a Gift that no other Nebulanian had. The princess was expecting him to have extraordinary powers, when in actuality, he was almost as weak as a
n Earthian. How shameful.

  Finally, Jet decided on running, but again, it wasn’t as if he had complete control. The girl’s angelic voice called to him as he turned his back to the crowd to run, the silky voice paralyzing him on the spot.

  “Jet!” She squealed with excitement. How he had longed to hear that voice again. He turned to face her as he heard the girl’s footsteps nearing.

  Her appearance was as captivating as he remembered—long, golden-brown hair that stopped at her lower back, caramel eyes, soft and luscious lips, and skin smooth as satin.

  Jet gasped—along with the whole class—as she ran to him then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled Jet into her embrace. His eyes closed in content. He missed her gentle hold.

  Slowly, his hands wrapped around her waist.

  Her hold tightened as if he would disappear if she let go. The hold concerned him a bit. “I missed you…” he heard her whisper into his ear.

  She held tightly, not wanting the embrace to end. It seemed like she had spent a century away from him. “I missed you, too…” she heard him reply before he, too, tightened his hold.“... Crystal.”

  The moment was one that Crystal never wanted to end, but sadly, her friends had a problem with her paradise. A girl called Andrika, the second-most popular girl in school, came running by and grabbed Crystal, pulling apart the warm embrace the two shared.

  Andrika had blond hair that stopped just a little past the middle of her back. She also had dark-red streaks on the back of her hair. She had emerald-green eyes that seemed to scold Crystal’s act.

  “Crystal, we need to talk,” she said as she grabbed the princess’ wrist, ignoring the look from Jet that begged her not to tell. Before Crystal could say anything else, Andrika pulled her away from the now troubled Jet.

  Andrika dragged an agitated and bewildered Crystal out of the school and sat on the swings, talking Crystal into sitting down as well. “Now listen, Crystal. You can’t talk to him anymore,” she said with reluctance.

  Crystal almost laughed at her friend’s statement. She was a good actor. Of course, this was a joke she was trying to pull—that had to be it. After all, she knew just how important Jet was to her.

  “This is no joke, Crystal, and I do know how important he is to you…” Andrika paused, searching for the right use of words, “but he’s different now.”

  Crystal’s heart caught in her throat. Different? What was so different about him? His appearance had not changed. Was it his character or something?

  She hoped not…

  “No, Crystal, that’s not it,” Andrika reassured. “He doesn’t…” Was there even a nice way of saying this?

  “Doesn’t what?”

  Andrika looked down for a moment. She cleared her throat and looked straight into the princess’ eyes. “He doesn’t have…a Gift.”

  Crystal speculated the face of her friend skeptically. After finding no hint of attempting deceit, she spoke through the silence. “Is that it?” Crystal asked with furrowed brows. He couldn’t be labeled bad just because he didn’t have a Gift! That was absurd.

  “You’re wrong. He can be bad.”

  Okay, now Crystal was getting a little annoyed. “And how do you figure?” she half snapped, half asked, her eyes lit with distaste.

  Andrika looked down in response to the slightly aggravated stare—partly to avoid the cold look and partly to disable her from hearing the raging thoughts of her friend.

  Very few had seen Crystal’s angry side because it was very hard to anger her, but when she did get angry, it was never a pretty sight…nor were her thoughts. “He just…He’s not…”

  She had to be very careful with her words now. One wrong word, and Crystal would chew her out for sure. “Lord Adonai has not given him a Gift. It was fine for you guys to be friends before his sixteenth birthday…but now, because Lord Adonai treats him so low, the school believes he’s a curse and Lord Adonai’s enemy.”

  Crystal did not like the words carefully chosen one bit, and she made sure Andrika knew just that. She stood from the swings, glaring at her friend. “I can’t believe you!” she barked. “So the whole time I was away, you’ve been avoiding him?” Her eyes gleamed angrily at the girl. “What kind of friends are you?”

  Andrika stood in defense, glaring at Crystal’s forehead, still afraid to hear the thoughts of her pissed-off friend. “Now look here, Lord Adonai gave him no type of Gift or blessing on that one birthday you missed. If he wasn’t an enemy of Lord Adonai’s, why would He do such a thing?”

  Crystal fumbled for an answer. What was the reason for Lord Adonai’s doing? Why didn’t He give Jet a Gift as He did with everyone else? Why would Lord Adonai do such a thing if Jet wasn’t bad? She couldn’t find the answer.

  They have to be wrong. They have to be! No way would Lord Adonai rebuke a kind-natured Nebulanian like Jet. That was impossible!

  Crystal saw Jet as an angel. There was no possible way to agree with the school. She could never think of Jet like that. She would never hate him because, in all truth, she loved him. Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t care what anyone says. Jet… Jet is Jet, and that’s all I need to know!”

  “Crystal!” Andrika snapped.

  Crystal’s tone rose in volume, her voice slightly breaking. “I said, I don’t care! So just…” She bit her lip trying to hold in her tears. “Just shut up!” she cried as she turned and ran from Andrika.

  Crystal continued to run through the nearby forest and then stopped to catch her breath. She pressed her back onto a nearby tree and thought to herself, Maybe I was overreacting… She rolled to her side, still leaning on the tree. But there is nothing about Jet that would make Lord Adonai hate him so.

  As she began to regain energy, she pushed her body away from the tree with one of her hands. Her palms slid against the engraved wood before she gave a light whimper as a splinter pricked her skin.

  After having a fun time picking out the splinter, she turned her attention to the engraving that caused it, then gasped as she realized where she was. This place…when we were little…

  A flashback flooded Crystal’s mind of a boy climbing a tree in an attempt to meet a girl sitting on the branches of the tree.

  The girl smiled brightly as he sat beside her. “You climb really slow, you know that, Jet?” She giggled.

  “I do not!” the boy protested.

  “Do so!” the girl contradicted with another giggle, earning a growl from Jet.

  After their little argument subsided, they grew quiet and watched the sunset. “Hey, Crystal...”

  The girl turned to him. “What is it, Jet?”

  The boy turned to her. “When we get older, do you think we’ll still get to be friends?”

  The girl smiled brightly. “Of course, dummy, that’s why we’re here, right?” she replied cheerfully.

  The boy nodded then started to pull a knife out from his pocket. “So…you ready?”

  The girl responded with a nod, and they began climbing down to the base of the tree and then carved an engraving together into the tree.

  When complete, the boy smiled at their craft. “There, finished…”

  ‘Crystal and Jet Together Forever.’

  Crystal gently pressed her hand on the carved wood. Her lip began to tremble as she kept her hand pressed to the tree. “Jet…” she breathed, then closed her eyes tightly, two hot tears rolling down her cheeks. If being the Princess of Nebulan meant rebuking the one she loved so dearly, she’d rather give her throne to someone else.

  If only it was that simple. Ever since her birth she was to be the next Princess of Nebulan. She was destined for that position.

  But did that really mean she had to stay away from Jet? This wasn’t fair. She'd kept Jet in her heart the whole time she was without him, dreaming of the day she’d return to his side…and in the end, it turned out to be just that—a dream and nothing more. Her eyes welled with more tears.

  Finally, she hit the point of insanit
y. This subject was making her mad. Without much thought, she began to beat the tree frantically with clenched fists, as if the tree was the culprit for the despicable reality she was in.

  Her discontented thoughts raced about as quickly as her flurry of blows. Why did the school decide this? One blow. What is so wrong with him being deprived of a Gift? Second blow. Why can’t I be with him? Third. Why wouldn’t Lord Adonai give Jet his Gift anyway? Fourth.

  Strangely, she felt a little better…but she wasn’t done yet. After the fourth beating, she screamed in a heartbroken cry, giving an additional blow.

  As much as it helped her vent her frustration, her attacks did not heal her broken heart. Her legs fell numb to all of her distress, and she fell on her knees before sobbing against the abused tree.

 

  Jet was having a bad day. First, his friend ditched him the second he reunited with the princess. Second, Andrika probably had told Crystal about his powerless state by now. And third, after just coming out of the infirmary, Electro’s fist had once again come into contact with his stomach.

  “Let that be a lesson to you!” the bully snarled. “If you so much as touch her with your grubby hands again, you’ll answer to me!” he growled viciously.

  Jet couldn’t help but smirk. Electro actually thought that his threat would work. What a laughable concept. The thought of not being able to be with Crystal was far worse than any other kind of torture imaginable. Anything Electro could do paled in comparison.

  Of course, the smirk did not bode well for him. Another fist of Electro’s came crashing into his jaw. He fell and hit his back against the metal locker. Electro grabbed a piece of his shirt and yanked him toward him.

  Electro glared with a mischievous smile that made Jet cringe. “Listen here, you little turd! You’re not the only one who’ll get punished. For your, Clyde's,” his eyes glinted with malice, “and even her safety, you’ll stay far away from the princess.”

  Jet’s mouth fell open slightly as he heard Crystal would be in danger, as well. He glared at the bully. “You wouldn’t dare,” he snarled.

  Electro gave a demented smirk. “Try me.” He threw the speechless Jet back against the lockers and pointed straight to him with a glare of spiteful caveat. “You stay away.”