Aikyo’s Camp in – Whispers of the Impossible

  The wounded had been moved. The dead had been counted. The battlefield, though quiet now, still reeked of blood and ash, as if the very land itself remembered the horror that had unfolded.

  Aikyo’s remaining forces had regrouped, but no celebration came with their survival. There was no talk of victory, no drunken relief, no shared laughter over narrowly escaping death.

  Because no one understood what had happened.

  Zankoku’s forces hadn’t been pushed back.

  They had been stopped—by something that should not exist.

  And that something lay unconscious in the heart of the encampment, guarded like a relic of both salvation and terror.

  The soldiers were uneasy. Some of them refused to get too close to where Hana was being tended to, whispering amongst themselves when they thought Haruka and Hime weren’t listening. Others sat in stunned silence, staring at their still-healing wounds, fingers running over flesh that should have been nothing but scars and torn muscle.

  They had seen warriors recover before. They had seen miraculous survival.

  But they had never seen an entire battlefield frozen in time.

  They had never seen people vanish into nothingness.

  They had never seen a girl’s whispered command mend bodies like a god rewriting fate itself.

  Some of them wanted to kneel before her, whisper prayers in her name.

  Others wanted to flee.

  Because if one person could wield such power… what would happen if she turned that power on them?

  Hime saw it in their eyes. She saw the reverence, the uncertainty, the creeping fear. And it infuriated her.

  She had expected whispers from the nobles, from the ruling families of Aikyo who always looked for ways to control or remove those who posed a threat to their authority. But she hadn’t expected it from their own soldiers.

  These were Hana’s people.

  The ones she had nearly killed herself to save.

  And yet—they doubted her.

  Hime clenched her jaw, gripping the hilt of her sword so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She wanted to lash out, to demand that they show the respect Hana deserved.

  But it wouldn’t change anything.

  The damage had already been done. Hana was no longer just their sister. She was something greater.

  And that made her dangerous.

  Haruka sat beside Hana’s resting form, her fingers curled into the fabric of her own bandages, her shoulders tense.

  She hadn’t spoken since they had carried Hana off the battlefield.

  The guilt had settled in her stomach like a stone, twisting and knotting, refusing to let her breathe properly.

  She had wanted to protect Hana.. Protect her sister that has always been weaker than her. She had wanted to stand beside her as an equal.

  And yet, Hana had been the one to step into the flames and bear the weight of war itself.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Haruka wasn’t angry at the soldiers for fearing her sister. She wasn’t even angry at Zankoku anymore.

  She was angry at herself.

  Because she had failed.

  Again.

  She had sworn to protect Hana, to never let her suffer alone.

  And yet—Hana had still suffered.

  Hana had still pushed herself past the brink of death.

  Haruka’s fingers trembled as she reached out, brushing away the stray strands of hair that clung to Hana’s sweat-dampened forehead.

  “I won’t let this happen again,” she whispered, her voice raw, heavy with self-loathing.

  She didn’t care what it took. She didn’t care what she had to do. She would become stronger.

  Not so she could surpass Hana.

  Not so she could compete with her.

  But so Hana would never have to fight alone again.

  ---

  Aikyo’s Council Chamber – The Nobles’ Dilemma

  Beyond the battlefield, within the war councils of Aikyo’s ruling families, the whispers had already begun. The moment word had spread of what had happened, of what Hana had done, the discussions had turned tense.

  “Hana Sato stopped time itself?” one noble scoffed, his expression one of disbelief and unease. “She erased warriors from existence?”

  “She healed the wounded,” another countered, though even he sounded unsure. “She saved our forces.”

  “She made an army vanish,” the first one repeated, his voice sharp. “That is not the power of a healer. That is the power of a god.”

  “A god?”

  The table fell silent.

  No one wanted to say what they were all thinking.

  What do you do when a god walks among you?

  Do you kneel?

  Or do you remove the threat before it becomes too great to control?

  For centuries, Aikyo had followed order, tradition, and balance. A power like Hana’s was not something that could be ignored.

  Some saw it as a blessing.

  Others saw it as a danger.

  One noble exhaled, his fingers steepled in thought. “If she can erase an army… what’s stopping her from erasing us?”. The chamber was dead silent. They were no longer discussing a future queen. They were discussing whether or not Hana Sato should exist.

  ---

  Zankoku war camp – Zankoku’s Fear

  In the occupied war camp of Zankoku’s forces, General Raiga sat in his tent, his face twisted into something that resembled neither rage nor frustration—but unease.

  He had expected resistance. He had expected Aikyo’s forces to crumble eventually.

  But he had not expected one girl to erase an entire front of his army.

  One girl had stopped time itself. One girl had undone the damage they had wrought.

  One girl had made his forces vanish as if they had never existed. For the first time in his career, Raiga did not know what he was dealing with.

  And that was a problem.

  Because you could kill a warrior.

  You could kill a queen.

  But how did you kill something that could rewrite reality itself?

  Raiga leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly.

  Hana Sato.

  He had never given much thought to the younger heir of Aikyo. He had assumed Hime was the true threat—the tactician, the mind behind Aikyo’s defenses.

  But now…

  Now, he wasn’t sure which of the sisters was the most dangerous.

  And that uncertainty terrified him.

  ---

  The Beginning of Something Greater

  Hana remained unconscious, unaware of the whispers that spread beyond the battlefield, beyond the camp, beyond Aikyo itself.

  She did not know that her name was now being spoken in places she had never set foot.

  She did not know that some would revere her.

  That some would fear her.

  That some would plot against her.

  All she knew was that she had done what she set out to do.

  She had saved them.

  She had survived.

  And now—the world would never be the same.

  ---

  Hi Kryssa Here! if you like the story or have any suggestion, question, theories, and favorite moments please let me know in the comment section!

  The update will be every tuesday, thursday and saturday. please follow if you wanted to know the latest update of Crimson Lotus!

  I Hope you enjoy the story!