Shards (Book One of Maharlika)

"Finally" The hero lay on the ground as the bittersweet raindrops landed gracefully on his face. It is as if the world slowed down for him to enjoy his last moment. How ironic that at death, he finally learned this kind of peace. Echoes of grief and rage reign in the background of the evil king as he watched the Great Crystal tearing apart. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the corpses of the ones he called "friends". They too have lost their lives in this fight. Lost their lives for the world to keep living. A tear rolled down from his eyes yet it wasn't sadness nor pain... It is just pure joy. With his last breath, he uttered a word that no one can hear but only to himself "Finally" "BEGIN!" Two people went head to head as they started smashing the buttons of the game named Tekken 7. The tension in the air grew thick as each character battled to the death through punching and kicking. To Likha's disappointment, it wasn't as brutal as Mortal Kombat were the graphics are quite "real". Each character' has a "unique" way to end their opponents that she'd even wondered if that it is even possible in real life. "DEFEAT" Lost in thought, Likha didn't even realize the game is already over with her character lying on the ground and her Filipino best friend, Adrian, looked at her with a triumphant smile. "AHA! PAY UP, LOSER!" he cheered as he slammed his hand onto one of the buttons in demand for the money. His raven black hair tousled back with the help of the shimmering liquid of hair gel, thanks to a brand named Bench. Despite the two of them being the age of 18, Adrian is much taller than her that he could almost be mistaken as a high school basketball player even though he only aced in board and video games. His body figure was quite intimidating and compared to him, Likha is basically a midget even with high heels. Today, he only wore his black batch shirt with the name "SUPREMUS" and the drawing of an angry roaring dark lion that is paired with light brown khaki shorts that reached up to his knees. "Aw, C'mon! I won most of these games that the arcade has to offer! You just won this ONCE!" she argued as she raised a single finger to emphasize her point. She stood up from her chair to dominate him yet it was pointless when Adrian did the same action. Likha's height reached up to his chin level that even her messy brunette hair bun couldn't even make them equal. She swore that her hairstyle was neat and clean before the stress of beating him in almost every game started to sink in. Likha wears an oversized denim jacket that almost covered her red tank top and ripped light blue shorts that showed her slender copper-skinned legs and her lucky blue Vans sneakers. Adrian sighed in defeat and rolled his eyes in response. "Fiinneeee" he groaned. "Hawaiian pizza before we leave?" he suggested as Likha replied like a child "You know my favorites...just eat the pineapples!". The two laughed at the same time as they exited the busy and bright arcade filled with happiness. The mall is as busy as ever when summer is around the corner. It was the middle of May so it was no surprise that there are still couples lounging around these areas and families walking towards the arcade where they came from. It has been too long since she'd hang out with her family that there are only just fragments of memories by that experience. "Who is she to blame for?" she thought. Her parents worked day and night to fix their financial crisis and to pay the hospital fees for her grandfather. These days she mostly hung out with Adrian, her childhood friend. They've known each other ever since she "accidentally" threw a slipper at the cry baby. Ha! Good times. Since then, they became enemies, friends, to "siblings" rather than having a romantic relationship. It was too "gross" for them to see each other munching each others' faces off, more importantly, naked in bed. Even though he grew up to be a handsome young man yet he taste in fashion. Not so much. "Any plans for college?" he asked out of nowhere that made Likha stop abruptly at the question. Another issue for the family. "To be honest, I don't know yet." Amazingly, Likha answered confidently. "My parents said that I shouldn't go to college first-". "WHAT?!" he shouted that earned a few heads turned to their direction in disbelief. "This is your chance to get away from that house. To leave all of your problems and you are letting your parents take that chance away from you.  he added before he stopped himself. Likha couldn't help but stare at him on how insensitive he is to her current situation. "Unlike you, college isn't my only problem. There are also finances and my sick grandparent so forgive me if I chose this life" she exclaimed. As much as she wanted to cry at this spot, she held back the tears as much as she wanted to. There was an awkward silence between them before he spoke once more in a calm manner "I guess that we both have problems, huh?". Adrian just looked at her for any kind of reaction before he continued "Besides, this will probably be our last summer hangout together" "What do you mean?" she asked as Adrian gave her a paper. It's a printed version of a college website. Likha looked at him in stun as he laughed at her expression. It was priceless. "I passed the exams" he declared as if someone won a race. For a moment, Likha thought there would be a trumpet playing in the background. "Yet my family chose a different course for me. I guess that made both of us with parental issues". Adrian continued as he grabbed the paper from her when Likha asked "Since when and why engineering? I thought you are a man of art" "Like I said, FA-MI-LY" he answered like it wasn't such a huge deal as they both walked into their desired destination. However, Likha couldn't help but feel pity for her best friend. Sacrificing his dream for the benefit of the family. Even at this age, her parents always tried to control her future and right at this moment, she realized she isn't the only one. Likha couldn't help but laugh once at his last statement and replied "Well we still got time before doomsday arrives! Besides, I could almost smell victory from here". The two rushed towards the pizza place like a couple of kids. Everything around her seems perfect if only she could stop time to let herself enjoy this moment without even thinking about the future, her place in the universe, or even her own family. Only herself, it may seem selfish but who cares! It was all fun until the phone rang with the name "Mom" on the screen. Likha expected her mom barking at the phone on where she has been yet she was only greeted by sobbing. The air grew thick around her as an unsettling feeling rested upon her heart heavily. Her mother's words are enough to crush her right at this very spot where people can see how weak Likha can be. She wasn't prepared at all on what will happen next. "Likha....Anak (My child)...You need to come here quick!" ((AND DONE WITH CHAPTER 1! Im sorry for the language warning and its my first time posting a story here. I hope you all liked it. Chapter 2 will be tomorrow so stay tunnee