Fantasy [Private] El Stories

[Phant0m]

Phantom​

He sat on the ground for a moment longer before standing. "Thanks Nox," He said quietly as his staff went to be "strapped" on his back and he made his way over to Dust. "My pronunciation is better now?" He asked albeit slowly, like he was breaking down how to pronounce each word perfectly as he spoke, "I've been practicing in between the mana lessons but even some of the words are..." The priest's face scrunched up as he tried to remember the word, "Difficult. No offense, but this is the weirdest language I've learned ever. And I thought the language that I had to learn when I started to follow Xiopetec was pretty weird."

Fume

Xiopetec​

After the unceremonious return to her domain she made for herself in Phantom's head, she's been a little miffed. "Rude," She huffed under her breath as she sat atop her rock, "Not even a proper goodbye before breaking the ritual circle...." She sighed. "Definitely not...the smoothest return I have ever experienced." She stopped muttering to herself when she sensed that Phantom's conscious was wandering at the edge of her domain of sorts. She stood and walked over to where she felt her child's mind wandering before stopping at the edge of the forest and giggling with a soft smile.

"Trying to remember something?" She asked no one in particular and she took a peek at what her priest was seeing, to see Dust in view. Her smile faltered and the goddess returned to her rock. She ran her had on its surface and she tried to grip it, only for the surface to bend along to her fingers like clay. Such is the freedom of the imagination, the freedom in the mind. She can look like whatever she wanted in Phantom's head and do what she pleases (with many exceptions in Phantom's case) while she resided in the priest's mind.

Her hair that has a mind of its own, that would be gone when she took her vessel finally. The goddess touched her hair and gave a half-shrug. She wouldn't miss the moving hair that much, it was just so she could add to the surreal image Phantom has of her. She tapped her chin as she stared at the trees, tilting her head side to side. How much of her current image will she keep? Snake eyes are out, but the goddess can definitely keep the color. Same with her hair, she liked having it to be that auburn color. The goddess waved her hand and a flickering image of herself appeared in front of her, baring fangs and hissing.

The goddess pulled her lips back in disgust. Really? This is the first of Phantom's memories of her that conjures up? "Well....it's from a recent...big moment we had. That was the worst fight ever," She mused as she examined her image for a moment and then running her hand through the image to disperse it.

Would he even recognize me? Xiopetec wondered, her heart feeling like it was bathed in ice. How many changes can she make before her priest draws his scythe on her because he couldn't see that his goddess that he dedicated everything to was standing right in front of him? Or...what if he reacted negatively? The goddess would never deny anyone if they were to claim that Phantom could be...a bit unpredictable when it comes to his emotions sometimes. Humans are unpredictable, and that sometimes that frustrates the goddess, but it could be that she...has grown used to being the conductor of the "big scheme of things" as others would put it.

She shook her head. "Get your mind off of that now," She chastised herself, "It'll be fine. Now, focus on not acting suspicious so it will go according to plan."

 

[Fume]

"Although the demon language is weird, it compares not to how they talked a few centuries back. Any language apart from what your used to is weird, and to understand it can take more time than it should to a different person. Took me a couple of tries as well for me to get a grip on the language and years to get the accent right. But that isn't even the hardest language to learn, the ancient language of the elves are a step above the demons.

It's more complex, more informal, more graceful, but at the same time it carries a lot of power behind those words. While the language of demons also carry power behind their words in incantations, nothing compares to Yggdrasil's language.

But still, your pronunciation did improve a little bit. Enough for a demon to at least understand you at least." He replied to him as he turned to the side.

"After all... This the dark language that only they knew how to talk to, the language that the humans cast away, fearing that only darkness comes from it. Even though they came from the same beginning, but then strayed from their brothers and pushed them away to claim the land for themselves, such is the greed of man. The demons couldn't do nothing but to grit their teeth and make a new beginning in an unknown land, full of dangers that they didn't know. Hence they abandoned the tongue of man and made their own, for if they were forsaken, so too were man." He talked with the accent of a demon before looking at him.

"You understood that? This is how a demons accent, and the way they talk normally, albeit in a formal tone."

Phant0m

 

[MementoDei]

Lento​

He got up after Phantom, his body had already felt a similar sensation before, it wasn't the pain or the exhaustion. It was the wave of energy he sometimes felt as he hit Dust. It reminded him to a more restricted version of his awakened form. After fighting against Assaulter Crash, he had never needed it and, after knowing he would have to inherit Lara's burden, he had been too afraid to use it.

After all, the power required to enter that form was made out of all the souls he had absorbed. He could handle the power a dozen souls before, but now that he had the power of at least a hundred, the chances he would go berserk were higher than ever. He began to walk away, and saw that Yullr was walking towards him.

"Dust...that guy has made you a bit more confident about your control over your power, has he not?"

Lento let out a sigh and stretched his arms towards the sky, letting out a yawn. "More or less."

"You're still scared of losing control, isn't that right? You could've used your new awakened self and made him fight a bit more seriously."

Lento lifted an eyebrow. It was the first time Yullr even suggested something like that. Until now, he always highlighted the importance of controlling a small flow of mana to its maximum potential instead of using one's full potential clumsily. "And what would've happened to Phantom? If it was only me, I'd gladly do it, but Phantom is still a living person, I can't-"

"You think you can injure them both? I don't think you'd ever seriously injure neither of them."

Lento scoffed. "Really? How so?"

"You controlled the flow of spiritual power within you from overflowing after those chains broke. You could've gotten so focused on the battle to forget to control your power and go nuts, but you didn't. You only liberated your own power. You released only your own mana and true strength."

"What's your point?"

"I will train you more seriously from now on. It's time you unlocked your full power, you must accept your legacy. It won't take as long as everything you've done before."

"Yullr, we only have two weeks left."

"As far as I know, you don't need to sleep. You can use all twenty-four hours of a day no problem. It isn't hard to do once I tell you how to use it."

The elf gestured Lento to follow him, and Lento stood still for a second. He was reminded of how Lara had trained him before. "Yullr."

The Necromancer turned towards him, a bit annoyed by the precious seconds they were losing. "Does that method...requires me to absorb some mana as a tribute to the spiritual power I'll call forth?"

Yullr seemed a bit surprised but nodded nonetheless. "That's a part of it. It's not an effective technique for your level of power. Now, come. We don't have too much time to lose either."

The Knight and the Mage walked towards the north of the desert. Yullr taught him to not only focus on the mana around him, but also his own mana, the one that made him breathe. It seemed like a very dangerous technique to practice, but once Lento noticed that taking a small portion of his "vital mana" would not affect him at all: the surrounding mana would promptly replace it. It was more or less like a second kind of blood: cut slightly its vessels and the wound will heal on its own; cut too deep and you'll bleed to death.

It was then that he copied more or less the same techniques Lara had taught him. He had to approach his power with care, now that her soul wasn't there to act as a barrier. She had warned him of this before, but even during those days, she thought that she'd have enough time to teach him everything herself.

Life was unpredictable, even for the undead.

After the first week, Lento had achieved a first level of awakening, where his hair, that was getting longer as the months had passed, changed to a silver colour. His iris kept their purple colour and Yullr made him realize that if his ears were shorter, people would think they were twins. One day, after his usual training, Lento walked around the desert and found Dust, who also seemed to be looking for him. The demon commander asked him if he could open a portal back to the human world to replenish the supplies. Lento acknowledged his demand and opened a portal back to the same spot they had entered the White desert before.

Phantom soon came to ask him where Dust went to and Lento answered before focusing again in his training. By the end of the second week, he had achieved what Yullr considered to be a more complete level of awakening. A few scales were drawn by his mana circuits as a last barrier over his skin. His hair was completely white and while one of his eyes maintained its natural colour, the other was now crimson.

And so, the five months finally came to an end.

Fume Phant0m

 

[Fume]

He had thanked Lento for opening a portal back to the real world, and although he half lied about the scarce of resources, for they only really had enough for 2 weeks if he continued to stay there, he set out to honor is part of the bargain with Xiopetec. To grab the vessel for her return to the real world.

He was warned that he needed to return to the spot before sunrise, which would mean that he only had, if he did the math correctly, 5 days of worth to spend and gather food. It wasn't much, but enough.

"Xiopetec, can you hear me? I'm about to get the vessel. Start telling Phantom an excuse that you'll be away for a couple of weeks. I won't take long." He warned her before ending the communication.

As he walked back into the camp, he put on his mask and hood on and a brown cloak to avoid getting attention on his side. The last thing he wanted was to be the center of attention while he just wanted a little time for himself.

"Avoid the roofs. Glitter assassins usually take higher ground, the people and soldiers are already as anxious as they are... Are there more soldiers around here?" He thought to himself as he continued to walk.

As soon as he turn towards an alley way, he noticed that a shadow was flickering around. For a second he saw a pair of eyes on it staring at him before fading back in it's own darkness.

"Is that... a shadow demon?" He questioned himself as he got closer to it. Shadow demons were shadow creatures, able to blend in the shadows without anyone knowing that they were there. They show no desire to fight nor blood lust, as they are mainly used to gather and give information. He approached it, despite recoiling a bit out of worried.

"Don't worry. It's me, Dust. Status report." He spoke to it, relaxing him for a second before speaking.

"Enemy and Angel attacked Joaquin. We were able to capture one. Pushed them away for him to gather the Angel's blood. They are preparing an attack on Joaquin's makeshift base." He reported back to him.

"What do we know about the Angel?" He asked, wanting to know what he could from what the demon gathered.

"He made a deal with us demons. He showed us the mark of royalty. A small amount of us have pledged to help him in exchange for some compensation. Joaquin didn't trust him." Once more, but this time it was serious to him.

"Fools! The previous kings before Luciela were all tyrants! Do they want to return to how the demon god's incentive of violence ruined half of the demon realm's continent!?" He kept his voice down, but he was livid to hear of this. "Listen to me, Shadow demon. I want you to do me a favor and tell Joaquin that a small faction has betrayed him, warn Chloe as well that some are starting to side with the Angel. It is imperative that we can't let anymore of our force to join in his motives. Tell them the following to every demon or dark elf under Chloe. Don't. Be. Fooled. Report back to them."

As he got his orders, he used the shadows to flee from the alley way and did as he ordered.

"I leave for a couple of weeks and things have started to look more grim than before. Damn it all..." He thought to himself as he moved from a broken down house to the next one, trying to avoid any attention. And along the way, he passed through the tent that has food rations, he only took enough to feed them for the rest of the weeks that they have and quickly left, undetected.

Now, contrary to what he said he wouldn't do, he was on top of a roof, looking at the nurse from afar. Despite on the condition that he left her, she was putting up a farce towards the other soldiers and concerned citizens about her. Not hearing her clearly, he cast on himself a silent spell to muffle the sound from his footsteps and another spell to rend him almost invisible. You would need to be extra attentive to recognize a form moving.

As he entered the tent, he walked to a corner to hear the conversation.

"How are you doing, dear? Feeling better?" Another nurse asked her colleague, she was older than most, probably on her early forties.

"A little bit..." She weakly replied to her. Her eyes were looking down with both shame and disbelief.

"It was a very traumatic experience for when we found her. I just can't believe that a beast would come inside the tent of that priest and do that to her. It's a miracle that it decided to heal her injuries." One of the soldiers explained as he was the one that found her.

"Maybe he did so to later harm her again. To play with her, since he hear her screaming so much and begging under the spell that it cast on them." Another soldier theorized, before the old nurse glared at them.

"Now, now! Don't speak such matters in front of her! She's as scared as she can be and you two aren't making this situation any better!" She scolded the two of them.

"I'm sorry, but if a beast of that magnitude could pass through our defenses without being seen, then we can't do nothing but be more alert! It horrifies us to no end that if we put our guard down for even a second, we'll be the next on it's list!" One of the soldiers shared his concerns with his frightened expression.

The other soldiers agreed with him as they didn't know how the beast looked or even how strong it is. The attacked nurse never spoke of it, as it terrified her to shut down. Every time someone asked, he would tremble in fear and grab her chest, feeling the scar that had healed up thanks to the blood beads that Dust had forcefully put in her body.

"Making her remember it, is worse for her! Only now could she recover enough to even talk just this much!" The older nurse responded back to them as they were both frightened about it. Dust never thought that he would make them this shaken up. A good miscalculation on his part.

"Look, we'll keep guarding her as we've been doing, but give us some slack. There's only so much that we can do, since we're being mobilized soon for a rescue mission. The commander is doing whatever she can, but even she has her limits."

"I... I know. Just keep doing your job, okay? This is enough for her to feel safe." She then turned to the traumatized nurse. "I'm going for a little bit, I'll come right back as soon as I can, okay?" She asked her in a caring way.

"Yes..." She replied with some relief on her eyes. The old nurse nodded to the guards before the three of them left her alone. She took a deep breath and exhaled while looking at the ground, merely thinking on what she had gone through was enough to make her scream in fear, but today she was good enough to just take it easy.

But just as she closed her eyes for a second, a shadow loomed over her. Thinking that it might've been the soldiers she slowly opened them, only to find the person that did those horrible things to her. Her mouth opened, but no scream came. Her body twitched, but she couldn't move. Her eyes widened, but she could only cry.

"I know you've done with your part of the promise, but I only made an empty one for you, nurse." He spoke quietly, but putting his hand over her face. "Sleep." He muttered, making her eyes losing any light of conscious before tipping to the side. Drawing the same symbol on her chest as it did on Phantom's necklace.

He grabbed the bed sheet and wrapped around her, before settling her on his shoulder. Erecting the spell again, he left without anyone realizing that he just abducted the woman. He coated his feet with mana, so that he could run faster, without making a sound. And just before he could leave the camp, he stole a few extra clothes for the four people, the extra one was for Xiopetec. He ran and ran, before reaching the outside, away from the camp and in front of the portal.

As soon as he entered, the portal closed itself. It was just waiting for him to pass so that it could close up. Night was upon them, but nevertheless, up north on the desert, he could see Lento and Yullr training, just like before he left the dimension.

Phantom was already in his tent asleep, which means now would be a good opportunity to do the ritual. He didn't dispel the spell, but he did slowly walk towards the back of the mountain and entered his secret cave.

"I'm about to do the ritual, be ready for when I summon you." He advised before focusing on the steps, letting the communication still one for her to listen.

Just like before, he put down the incantations and the ritual circle, but this time it was made with white chalk, making it stick to the ground until he decided to wipe it away, not like before where he drew the symbols on the sand.

He released the woman from her captivity, but she still slept like a log and put some clothes beside the discarded bed sheets. He took off her clothes without a second thought and asked Samael to hang her body from the four corners of the cave, to stretch her limbs so that Xiopetec could easily enter her body. The only downside was how exposed her privates were, but that would be no problem with Dust, for he had no desire with the woman to begin with.

"Now, let's begin..." He concentrated on his left and right hand, both having half of his mana. With his right hand, he passed his mana through the woman's body, making her skin, no her entire body glow with a light blue color, aging her backwards five years and improving her muscles and mana field to that of Phantoms.

Although this sounds amazing, the user feels every inch of their bodies change to an immeasurable amounts of pain, deeming it ill advised to even perform this life and death ritual, for only 2% have only survived this magical incantation. And this woman is no exception, for she has lost her conscious long and now is a perpetual state of her subconscious, perfect for someone to take her body.

He slammed his left hand on the ground and let his mana pass, summoning Xiopetec back in this world.

"Hurry! Take the body while I maintain both rituals active!" He yelled at her as it was putting a toll on him.

Phant0m

 

[Phant0m]

Xiopetec stood upon hearing Dust's message and she gave a brief smile before composing herself. She had an excuse ready, and the goddess wandered into her priest's dream. She gave a little chuckle as Phantom's dream self was swinging upside down on a tree branch amongst a blurry forest.

"Oh! Hey Xiopetec!" Phantom cheered as he pulled an acrobatic flip to land in front of his goddess, "What's up? You haven't done a visit like this in a while."

She kissed her priest's forehead. "I'm just letting you know that I'll be...on a vacation of sorts, child."

"Vacation? You ok?"

"I'm fine, Phantom," the goddess soothed as she pat his cheek. "Although I've been sporadic about it, I've spent a lot of my energy helping you to stay on track with your training. You're at the ends of the training, so I'm gonna take a break to rest."

The priest raised an eyebrow. "Are...you sure you're ok? If it was taking a lot out of you, why didn't you say something sooner?"

"You are more important to me. The better you are, the better I'll be."

He sheepishly shoved her shoulder and the pair laughed.

"I'll be going now," Xiopetec said and she kissed his forehead again, "So, leave me be. I'll be back soon. Better than ever."

Phantom still gave his goddess a concerned glance before nodding. "Ok. Have fun resting, Xiopetec. You definitely deserve it."

The goddess chuckled and nodded. "Sleep well, child. Behave."

Then she returned to her domain and starts to pace, and at Dust's second message, a grin broke across her face as she braced herself to practically pounce once she is summoned.

Then she was summoned and once she took a brief moment to center herself. "You won't have to struggle with that for long!" She hissed as the goddess lunged right at the woman's body, her body glowing a bright fuschia and turning into a serpent as Xiopetec slithered into the woman's mouth to claim the body as hers.

Fume

 

[Fume]

After Xiopetec had successfully integrated herself in the vessel and disposed of the old host, Dust left the cave while telling her that every night, he'd come by to give her food. Water wasn't an issue since he created a small stream with a puddle for her to drink water and a separate one to bathe herself. He'd also told her that he'd be willing to make her a weapon of her choice f if she wanted once she had gotten used to her new body, now that her godly powers were restricted, except for the ones that she knows mortals can use.

The rest of their time in here had moved just as usual, except for Lento and Yullr where they trained without taking a break. While their physical training had ended with him successfully imparting his knowledge of the variant Unleash, he mainly focused on Phantom's spell usage. Not needing his training chains anymore, he shattered them, having his power released. Although, he mainly controlled it to the amount that they were used to.

And such, they promised day came and the both of them were in front of him. More confident and stronger than what they were 5 months ago. They endured, they suffered and they learnt, this is the end result that he wanted.

"Congratulations to the both of you! You have finished your training of the five months that we had. Despite the press in time, the both of you have jump boundaries that can even rival the Earl of Hamel. Never forget what you've learn and never stop growing stronger. The people will need the both of you, either for commanding an army or for simply being there as support. Phantom, raise your left arm. Lento raise your right arm." He ordered the two of them. As they did, he grabbed both of them as Samael crawled on both arms and imprinted his chains on the both of them, leaving behind symbols of power, with both demonic and elvish on them.

"This is proof that the both of you have finished training, each symbol holds the power of understanding of each training you have done. With this, you'll never forget what you've learned, and if you ever did, just one look is enough for you to remember everything." He explained to the both of them. "The right arm, holds the warriors spirit and the left arm, holds the mages will. Both are important and both are unique in their own way. The warriors spirit will increase your strength in battle and the mages will shall increase your mana reserves further. Never stray from the path that you've chosen and never regret your decision." He let go of their arms as the two of them smiled at him. "Of course, you also need your reward for actually making me knee. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten and I fulfill all of my promises."

As he said that, he touched on Lento's armor, mumbling to himself a few incantations and taking out some dark steel in his sack, he transformed Lento's old battle armor into a demonic version. His shoulder guards became serrated with purple lines that connected each other, slicker and two purple jewels embed into the armor, purely for decoration. His waist armor grew upwards, covering his stomach as well as his hips, despite the stretch it was as strong as the armor of Dullahan, taking a more protective stance than the serrated shoulder guards.

Next it was his gauntlets that looked like caestus, they too changed a bit, growing towards the fingertips, being able to bend and protect his hands and forearms under his clothes, there was also one purple jewel in each hand. Finally we're talking about his old steel boots, they too changed into a more demonic feeling to them, being serrated to the sides with spikes at the end, they were able to reach his knees with a purple jewel on the front of each knee, but the difference between the standard military for being bulk and clunky, these fit right as a glove, giving him flexibility and protection, not to mention a means to attack his enemy, if his sword is occupied.

Speaking of his blade, he also touched it and changed it into more of a dark blade. It was as long as before, but now reinforced with dark steel with some incantations for him to better control his mana. A blue jewel was at the base of the blade.

Unintentionally. his green colored clothes changed to a purplish color and the golden lines turned red. The tie that always hanged on his neck disappeared afterwards.

"I already gave your weapon an upgrade ahead of time Phantom, so don't sulk too much." He told the boy, but he sulked anyways. "Lento, if you don't mind, I'm going to take him to a certain place. We'll be back shortly, just give that new sword of yours a test. We won't be long." He announced as he pushed the boy lightly to follow him.

As they walked towards the mountain he made some small talk to Phantom.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it? To have come this far and finally ending the training that I put." He asked to him, but he still sulked about not getting his reward. "Hey don't feel that bummed, I can't change robes that a goddess has enchanted. It's out of my reach." He reasoned with him, to which he give a small reply to him.

"But just so you know, I do have a reward for you." This made the boy raise his stare as they went behind the mountain. "This was hard to do, specially with the amount of energy I needed to give, but I know that it'll make you feel more reassured of yourself and that it'll protect you." As they gave another turn, they were face to face with a secret cave.

"Hey, you can come out now! He's here!" He called out towards her.

Phant0m MementoDei

 

[Phant0m]

Phantom glanced between Dust and the secret cave. "Wait...Dust, what's going on? Who's..?" The priest's eyes widened as a woman walked out of the cave entrance. Her neon yellow eyes were focused solely on him and she ran her hands through her long, curled auburn hair. The woman looked oddly...familiar, but couldn't place where he saw her before. "Who are you?" He demanded, summoning his staff as he gave a wary glare.

The woman's expression briefly showed pain. "I'd thought you'd be able to recognize your goddess, child," She said in a voice that Phantom couldn't forget. He dropped his staff, his body going rigid

"X-Xiopetec?" He looked to Dust and then to her.

The goddess nodded as tears cascaded down her cheeks, her grin hurting her cheeks. Phantom just sprinted towards her, wrapping his arms around her in the fiercest embrace he could muster as he hid his face in the crook of her neck. "This is real, right? This...you're really here?" His muffled voice pleaded, and his form started to trembled.

Xiopetec returned the embrace, running her hand through his hair as she swayed him side to side while gently shushing him. "Easy, child. I'm here, I'm really here."

Phantom nodded furiously in her shoulder, only tightening his hold on her for a moment before pulling back and touching her face. "H-how?" He asked, sniffling.

The goddess wiped away the priest's tears, ignoring her own. She looked to Dust before looking to her priest and kissed his forehead. "With Dust's help," She answered vaguely in a gentle voice as she ran her hand through his hair once more. "I thought your hair would be smoother than it actually is. I have to change that-" She looked Phantom over with a critical eye, "And those robes need to go. They're ruined from all of that training you did, and the sand of this desert."

Phantom made a face and he pushed his goddess away with a chuckle. "Xiopetec I am not a baby. I can care for myself!"

"Says the one that threw a pole in the middle of a spar and suffered the full extent of the consequences."

"That w-"

"And I recall other incidents where you- how should I put it- turned tail and ran?"

"Alright I get your point."

"Child, I'm practically your impulse control."

Phantom's face turned red with embarrassment as he hid his face in the goddess's shoulder. "I'm not that bad!"

Xiopetec scoffed as she looked down at him, embracing her priest once more and she hummed as he returned the gesture. "Sure, child." She looked to Dust and smiled. "His jaw didn't drop, which is a surprise." And then she laughed while Phantom muttered into her shoulder.

Fume

 

[Fume]

"As much as I don't want to ruin your moment, we have to start leaving. I'm worried on the events that transpired on the real world. It's not looking good for my side." He said in a concern tone. What he heard from the Shadow Demon was still stinging from that day.

"You two better start heading to Lento. I need to clean up what I made here in this world. No use to keep this mountain here for show." He replied to them before going jumping to the top and let his mana pass through the mountain. During what was sand back to what it originated, deleting the runes that he had etched onto the surface and erasing his traces from this world, except for that flower that he made. That grave had a familiar feel to it, it would be disrespectful to take back something that was meant as an offering.

"With this, I was never here. It's better this way. I'm not welcome here, nor will I ever be. I'm their enemy and as such, I'll need to act on that role. Although..." He looked around, despite the structures disappearing there was one thing for certain there.

"Even if it's gone, I just hope I made good memories here with the kid. There were times where it was hard, times we didn't agree and times were we just rested. Despite only 5 months, I want him to remember that I was there, to make him better than what he was before.

I know that I'll remember him, not as a priest, but as Phantom, the kid that I took a liking to. He's a strong boy and I'll be damned if anyone tries something on him." He hoistered his sack over his shoulder and started walking back.

"Maybe when this is all over, I'll show him the demon realm. The folks there would probably be afraid of him at first, but give it time. They'll treat him just like everybody else." He chuckled as he drew closer to Lento.

"We ready?" He asked them, already putting on his mask and hood on, while putting his midnight cloak on, something that he made that he was proud of.

Phant0m MementoDei

 

[MementoDei]

Yullr​

Lento seemed like a small child that had been given a new toy after Dust, that demon commander, dressed him up as one of them. I knew very little of how warriors measured the efficiency of their weapons, but one thing that seemed clear to me was that Dust had given both of them precious gifts. Those marks the chains left on their arms had certainly more demonic energy embedded on them more than anything.

I went along with the training because I thought I would come to trust the hybrid more, but now that the training was over, it was very hard for me to be slightly reassured. He had spoken a lot about liberating others and what not, and Lento, through that woman's memories, had confirmed to me the rebellious intentions in Dust's mind. However, in the end, it wouldn't make any difference. They would all get to die as warriors, and so would I.

Finally. I would've done something right, I would've made them all forgive me. I had helped a righteous hero rise to save the world, I had grown to love and hate many people, and I had learnt everything I've ever imagined to learn. It was a nice way to tie up the loose ends.

I took out my pipe and put some tobacco in it before lighting it up with a small flame. The smoke invaded my lungs and quickly left them as a warm breath where even my own worries vanished into the dark sky above. I gazed upon the odd-looking red moon of this world, it was something I had seen before, but never under the right circumstances.

Some harmony festivals had passed by under that crimson moon, it was even visible from the demon realm, but it became a bad omen for me. I guess I'll never be able to forget that war that took everything from me, well, almost everything. A single childhood friend remained alive after the massacre, but after he settled in Resiam, I had never seen him again.

It was under a sky like this one where I learnt more about a magic that would become the reason why I would doom all my people to the grave. A moon of blood, the sign of betraying not only Yggdrasil's trust, but also the death of the last ancient forest spirit that protected us. All to bring back a demon general that, after he was back, turned his blade back on us.

I let out the last puff of smoke and saw a woman I had never seen before walk next to Dust and Phantom. What good would come from asking them where the woman came from? At this point, a unicorn could've come out of the woman's head and I would've kept quiet about it; I would've been only mildly surprised by it.

It was time to leave after five months where the red moon watched over me, angered by the path I had walked. Once outside, Dust took his way off and I followed Phantom and Dust from a distance. They were closer friends now, it would've been probably what that woman would've wanted.

Speaking of which, I had been able to take the last remains of her soul from that shell. From someone that had reincarnated for more than a hundred times, her soul had been kept in a pretty good state. Her shell contained only repressed memories that, honestly, were the only thing that had truly terrified me about her. Lento would probably never believe me, even if I told him and, just like most people, he'd probably be furious to know that I had used my powers on her.

Anyone would be, really. Death had secrets of its own that even the most courageous of soldiers wouldn't be able to imagine. It had a tragic beauty I had been able to appreciate and embellish as the centuries passed. It was exiting to discover even one more layer of details to it. The more I discovered what the afterlife could offer in terms of power, the more amazed I was.

I should, one of these days, go forever.

"Yullr." Lento's voice interrupted my thoughts and I lifted my gaze from my shoes to his eyes. "Are you ok? You've been a bit quiet lately."

I was, by nature, a quiet person. I simply nodded at his worry, but he didn't seem convinced by it. I didn't ask him to care about me, he was supposed to become a hero and save the world, not a villain.

"I'm ok, Lento. I swear." my voice was a bit louder than usual, just like the bang of a closed door.

Lento was a very respectful person, he didn't force his way in to the problems of anyone if they didn't want him to.

God knows how scared he would be if he ever turned around and insisted on unveiling the past of the villain he was worried about.
Fume Phant0m

 

[Phant0m]

The pair walked away with solemn nods. Xiopetec kept a hand on Phantom's shoulder.

"If things are getting bad...do you have a weapon?" Phantom asked.

"I do have weapons, child," Xiopetec answered with a gentle squeeze of his shoulder, "Don't worry about me."

"If we walk right into the middle of a battle I..want to be prepared I guess?"

"I'm fine and armed. Don't forget that I use mana as weapons as well. Just, not the same way as you. Anyway...do I have to socialize with others?"

"Of course. Guess you can't just make your comments and expect me to keep them to myself. You're not in my head anymore." Phantom snickered.

Xiopetec frowned. "I have already tried to speak to you via thought and with me not being in there," She tapped her finger against the priest's temple, "It's not working."

"Just...think before you speak, alright? Not everyone is gonna like you but don't offend everyone within seconds of meeting them..." Phantom stopped and he made eye contact with his goddess, "And don't pull any shit on Eosfóros when we get back to camp."

Xiopetec gave an offended look. "But-"

"Nope. I get it, I really do but you just appearing out of nowhere is sketchy enough. Killing him is going to put everyone against you and then we have a whole another fiasco to try and get through. So...just, focus on trying to fit in and then you can do your whole revenge plot when you know no one is gonna be on your case."

She nodded. "Fine. I'll kill him in the dead of night then...or if it's a battle, I'll do a nice case of friendly fire and blame it on the enemy."

"That's more like it. No witnesses."

"No witnesses."

The duo found gathered Phantom's belongings before they met up with Lento and Yullr.

"Oh! Xiopetec meet Lento and Yullr," Phantom introduced his goddess, "Lento, Yullr say hi to my goddess, Xiopetec."

The goddess gave an awkward wave and a half-miler before she looked over Lento's attire. "Fashionable, but that certainly demonic looking."

"I had just asked Yullr to conceal my armor," Lento informed the goddess after a polite wave. The elf nodded to the goddess and then to Lento.

Phantom looked to Dust and he gave a half-shrug. "Xiopetec and I are ready but we need a sec so Yullr can conceal Lento's armor."

Fume MementoDei

 

[Fume]

The portal was open for them to leave, but because of Lento's armor they needed to hold on for a bit. He couldn't take anymore time than he has and his concern for his allies were taking his patience down a notch.

Until finally, he couldn't stay still anymore.

"Phantom," He grabbed him on his shoulders and struggled a bit for what he was about to do, but the boy needed to know it. He hugging him as a brother would to his sibling. "I need to leave, kid. My forces, my allies, my friends. They're in bad shape right now, and I'm sure that they don't know what to do since me and Chloe aren't there to guide them." He slowly let him go and put his forehead on his. "As soon as I leave, we'll be enemies, kid." To this, the boy's expression turned sour.

"I know, kid... I know... We both don't want this, we don't want to kill each other. But deep down, we knew that this day was coming, that out there, we'd be fighting against each other. But promise me that whatever happens, fight for what you believe is right kid. Even if we don't see each other, even if we are far apart, don't stop being the brilliant light that you are kid. Don't stop being you, the person that, even though your six feet under, even though everything around you goes south, even though no matter the situation where it's desperate. Don't lose your spark, in the end, you'll be the one that shines brighter with that smile of yours.

You can do it. I know, because I gave you a part of me when you absorbed my mana sphere. Every time you lose confidence, look within you. I'm right here, in your heart, giving you courage to take a stand for yourself. You aren't alone and you won't be alone anymore. You are a healer, but you're also a renowned hope that can give a person the will to smile for another day.

This is your new you. A person that can look through the sadness and see the good in everyone. You aren't weak anymore, you aren't useless anymore, you aren't a slave to their judging. You are you and nobody else will take that away from you. Never forget that." The boy was saddened, but he kept himself in check for now.

"Lento, don't go overboard on the soldiers." He yelled to the soldier before looking at the other dark elf. "Yullr." He spoke no more and gave no more than a small bow. Despite their differences, this much was enough.

"Xiopetec, don't do anything too far fetched. We don't want a repeat in history, do we?" To this, the goddess looked at him annoyed. "Make sure both of you are alive. I don't want to lose the both of you, even if you are what you are." He didn't like her, but she was Phantom's whole world. He could be lenient enough with her.

No more words were needed to say and just like that, he walked through the portal and made his way back into friendly lines, one step at a time."

Phant0m MementoDei

*****
​

After passing through Feita's demise, three figures were overlooking the camp below. The one in front had her bow ready with a small frown on her face.

"So this is Velder... How sad." The elf, Rena, spoke with Raven by her side and a Nasod on her back.

 

[Late]

Aisha
​

Aisha, Allegro, and Grail were successful with their job and enhanced the army's armor to be resilient against fire magic. The lizardmen tribe were a great help with this and wish to join the mission. Their scales might as well be tough like the dragon's scales themselves, making them rather excellent fireproof soldiers and already have unique battle techniques of their own that involve working in pairs. Everything is looking great so far.

Eosforos
​

On the day of the rescue mission, Eosforos was a little bit...out of it. Being allied with a group of demons and not having Xavier with him made the angel feel like he won't have the time to stay any longer with the human side. Though, he could just return back to Ishmael's kingdom if anything goes sour. Ishmael totally won't be upset to know that the only living man who can control el energy is now in the hands of the demons and probably turning him into a weapon to kill off the angel race. Eosforos sighed at the thought. It was probably best to not be so reckless for now on.

He stayed in his tent longer than usual, running scenarios in his head about how things will play out and when it was best to turn tail and run. It wasn't long that he finally took in a deep breath and walk out of his tent as he already had his armor on him. Eosforos nearly ran into a large beast, taking a step back to look up at the dragon.

"Ah, Aragorn. Good morning to you," Eosforos greeted the dragon with a small wave. The red dragon looked down to see the angel and slowly nodded his head in greetings. "You know...I was thinking about you," he said to him. "You're good friends with that...priest...what was his name..." Eosforos grumbled, snapping his fingers in hopes the name would come up to him.

"...Phantom?" Aragorn answered for him.

"Yes! Him! I noticed him and...a few others are gone for a good while. Especially that enemy of ours who planted bombs around the town," Eosoforos said as the dragon nodded his head again.

"...you're right. I tried to tell that to others but...ever since the incident with Athena, the humans here are...not trusting my words," Aragorn mumbled. The dragon grew quiet as Eosforos saw the other small one with him. Komodo stared at the angel with a blank stare and then look up at the larger dragon.

"Cornelius is gone too...I'm sure we'll have answers once they decided to come back," Eosforos sighed, patting Aragorn leg. "What are you up to now?"

"I...don't know. All they do is keeping me under watch to be sure I won't do anything that can harm others," Aragorn huffed. "I'm just taking a walk around."

"I see...take care of yourself then, Aragorn," the angel said and started to walk away. He can feel the dragon's eyes staring at the back of his head but Eosforos didn't bother to look back at him.

He made sure his sword was close to him as he searches for the commander, wanting to have a quick word with Elesis before the operation starts.

MementoDei

 

[MementoDei]

Elesis​

"Today is the day, huh? What a grim morning we have..." she thought to herself, contemplating the greyish morning sky, full of menaces of rain. The commander of the Red Knights shook off the bitter pessimistic thoughts that piled up in the corner of her mind and drank a cup of warm tea.

She stepped out of her tent, fully armoured for the battle to come. She would prefer to stay with her informal clothing, but the risk of fatal injury was too great. She put on steel pauldrons and a breastplate. To finish her attire as a commander, she hung her claymore to her back and headed out to check on the rest of the troops. The Lizardmen were preparing for combat, the Centurion Guard was already forming some squadrons behind Vanessa and two out of the five commanders that the Guard had.

"Now that I think about it...I haven't seen Lento nor Yullr around."

She wondered through the town until she found the Feita blacksmith and the Elf talking next to the nursery. Lento immediately turned around and nodded in her direction, reassuring her that he was also coming for combat. Yullr, however, turned around and quickly left the scene. The black haired soldier walked towards her and asked her where the mission was.

"I think you should know that by now, Lento. It has been decided for a few days already."
"I must've missed them. Do you mind if I ask again?"
"It's in the ruins of a nearby village. You'll be placed along Vanessa's unit. Is Yullr or any of the elf warriors coming with us?"

The knight fell silent for a few seconds. "No, Elesis. Yullr and his men will stay here with the remaining troops to defend the town."

"Ah...that's new. Did he back out just now? I thought your forces would be united in battle." Elesis replied, wondering for how much time Lento and Yullr were gone and, more importantly, what they were doing during that time. She paid no mind to their absence to the meetings, mostly because Vanessa kept her informed of what all the rest had decided. Although, to be fair, she too was was uncertain if Yullr would come with them. Lento seemed a bit surprised by her reply, and Elesis took the opportunity to ask what he was doing during the past weeks.

"Training. And building a new path for our forces." With those words, his normal clothes and armour transformed into a purple and red attire covered by a demonic armour suit.

Elesis raised an eyebrow at that change, but considering that Lento was a blacksmith and that the last time everyone saw him was nearby forest, it was plausible. It was nonetheless a bit suspicious to see him wear a brand-new armour after only a few weeks. It seemed to her that any blacksmith took way longer than that to forge something from scratch. She left him alone and continued to walk around, looking around to see how the inside and outside forces were preparing themselves until she saw Noel, playing a tragic melody with his guitar. He glanced at her and nodded; it was his salute for all the soldiers who were going to the perilous mission.

She turned around and found Eosforos in the distance. He seemed worried, clenching the pummel of his sword and sweeping the crowd from right to left. Elesis, worried by this, hurried her steps and greeted the angel.

"Hello, Eosforos. Are you ok?"
Late

****
Yullr​

Something was hiding itself in the middle of the thousands of spiritual auras around me. It was different, but oddly familiar, as if it was hiding itself from my senses. However, I had passed way too much time to ever fall for that. Unless, of course, whatever was hiding was trying to lead me to it. Either way, I smelt danger, or perhaps comfort, from a mile away. After leaving Lento to discuss with the red-haired commander, I walked towards the source of that odd feeling.

"This...no. I must be wrong. It's been over a decade since everyone in that city died."

I finally found a strange white-haired bard in front of me. Physically, sure, it couldn't be him. But something about his green eyes was very familiar. The bard glanced at me and it was then that I could see that, once more, my past was catching up to me.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

 

[Late]

Eosforos
​

Eosforos turn around to see Elesis' greeting him and he flashed a smile at her, happy to see her obviously. "Elesis, just the commander I was looking for," Eosforos said with a happy sigh. The angel paused for a moment to stare at her properly, relaxing for his next set of words he wanted to say. Yet he quickly changed the topic in his head as he glanced over at Aragorn who was asking if the people needed help to move carriages around. "I was hoping you can allow Aragorn in this operation. I believe he can be very useful in the skies. I simply feel bad that all he has been doing here was moving heavy carriages and taking strolls around. I personally love to see him in action, and it's rather disrespectful to ignore their wisdom and strength...ahh..." Eosforos glanced at the dragon again, noticing the people refused his help.

The dragon insisted yet for every "no", Aragorn was getting upset. After a loud "no", in which almost sound like a yell, the dragon huffed in annoyance and probably did the most childish thing that Eosforos has seen from dragons. Aragorn flipped over the carriage by knocking it to the side with his head and using his hands to flip it again. After doing that, the dragon stomped away as the people were yelling at him.

'That...was a tantrum' Eosforos thought to himself, surprised to see it. He questioned how old was Aragorn exactly, believing that the fire dragon was a lot older than he looks but maybe he was wrong. Aragorn probably hasn't reached his adult stage yet. The angel looks back at the commander who saw the mess that Aragorn made and the angel gave a loud cough.

"I mean...see what I mean? It's...disrespectful, heh." Eosforos said and held his hands together. "Truthfully...that was not what I want to say in the first place but I'm a bit glad I mentioned about Aragorn," he chuckled. "I am not sure how I want to put it..." The angel cast his eyes down, taking in a deep breath. He doesn't understand why he was being nervous in front of her, probably since he never met someone like her...yet again, Eosforos never took the chance to not use his charm. It almost feels like he experienced something he never felt before, or rather, for a long time.

MementoDei

 

[Phant0m]

Phantom held Xiopetec's hand as they weaved through the others. He held his head high, remembering a random sliver of advice that acting like he was confident would get fewer questions. Dust's words swam in his head, and the grip on his goddess's hand tightened momentarily, and he relaxed a bit when she returned with a reassuring squeeze.

"They're gathering for something," Xiopetec hummed as she removed her hand from his grip and wrapped her arm around the priest's shoulders as they walked.

"Yeah, I noticed. I don't know what for, and I'm not gonna ask," He muttered as they walked.

"You two!" A soldier boomed, causing Phantom to freeze and Xiopetec to turn around to glare at the man who spoke. "You're healers, correct? Do you have any experience on the battlefield?"

The priest nodded. "We do, what seems to be the matter?"

"Haven't you heard? We're finally mobilizing our troops to get the rescue plan going! But the healers here are in a frenzy after a nurse went missing, and most of them are cowards and soiled themselves at the thought of being on a battlefield."

"Rescue mission?" Xiopetec hissed in her priest's ear.

"Rescue who?" Phantom demanded.

"The fellow with the tail, the one that's always with that...I don't know how to describe that man."

"We're in," Xiopetec chimed in as she pulled away from Phantom. She almost mimicked her priest by holding her chin high, but her gold eyes stared into the soldier's in a royal manner, the slightest twitch of her pupil demanding his full attention. She looked towards the sound of a crash, and Phantom sighed when he watched as Aragorn stomped away from an overturned carriage. He shared a look with his goddess, and Xiopetec gently shoved him towards the dragon. "Go, but be aware. As soon as you see people moving out, I want you to find me. Am I clear?"

"I'll catch up to you," Phantom said and he pushed through the crowd to get to the dragon.

Xiopetec gave a small smile and she looked to the soldier. "Please, after you," She said. The soldier gave a quick nod and led the goddess to where his squadron was gathered and preparing. She was idly watching the others as they scrambled to get supplies ready to replace what was lost or damaged when the carriage was turned over. The goddess twirled her hands to crack her wrists, taking a deep breath to mentally prepare herself and she looked to where Phantom ran. Her eyebrows furrowed. "He better not do anything stupid."

The priest was running, swiftly avoiding people as he made a beeline to the angry dragon. He slowed a moment to make himself look less excited to get to the dragon. He made himself look around at the crowd, his pace a brisk walk so he wouldn't be too far behind Aragorn. His gaze landed on the brought red of Elesis's hair and unintentionally, he made eye contact with the Commander...and with the Angel as well. Phantom quickly broke the contact and he weaved himself behind a group of gathered lizardmen deep in conversation to get himself out of their sight before finally catching up with Aragorn.

"Aragorn!" He shouted as he moved next to the dragon, "I know this is a bad time, but what was that about?"

Late MementoDei

 

[Fume]

Dust​

Despite heading back towards to his side, he couldn't help but worry about Joaquin. Sure, he was the one that made the liquid dark el and that he was among others that injected him, but the old glitter was a master alchemist, the best in the demon realm. To leave him be would mean losing a valuable asset and not to mention, he might have something already made against the angel.

It wasn't a hard track towards his position, now that he didn't had his mask on making the other demon soldiers recognize him. He warned them along the way that something is coming up, for them to be alerted at all times. If the shadow demon hasn't warned them about the news, he now was.

Every squad that he made contact with, he gave them the same memo.

"Be careful, the humans are mobilizing right now. Maybe they'll attack today to regain this area. If it's too much, then it is not a complete loss if you run away. Your life is more valuable than this." Despite his efforts to coax them to run away when the dice was cast, they were hellbent on fighting, because they trained themselves for this kind of situation. He agreed, they did train, but was it enough with their raw brute strength and military tactics? They would know soon enough.

Not half an hour later, he entered the makeshift lab where Joaquin had been making his base. Researching on live 'subjects' for his experiments. Most were rather successful, or had no effect, but in some cases, it would become gruesome.

The rare cages with bodies convulsing, deforming and inflating were proof of those situations, though some cages were already open and from the looks of it, a battle had happened here. Days, maybe a few weeks ago tops.

"Just what the hell happened while I was away?" Dust thought to himself as he passed through the base, greeting the soldiers and giving them the news.

Soon, he found the towering glitter now giving the finishing touches of another experiment, this time on the potion based.

"Joaquin." He called out, making the alchemist give a side glance at him.

"Commander Dust, what can I do for you? Do you need another shot of dark el? I still want to know how much your body can take it." He asked while still focusing on his work.

"Humans are going to storm this place soon. Don't know when, but it'll be soon."

"Ah, yes- Our shadow friend told me about it. Thanks to you, we were able to set a few traps in advance, with luck I can capture a few of them alive."

"This place will be taken over." He warned him with his tone serious.

"And how would you know that, dearest commander?" He asked quite curious.

"I've been with the humans for quite a while, watching from afar. The soldiers told me while coming here that you had a fight against a small squad."

"Yes, yes. Quite the feisty fellows indeed, especially that Nasod. Releasing the subjects that I needed to further my studies. What about that squad? Are they sending a new one?"

"Around 50 soldiers will come this way. Mages, knights, archers, healers, you name it. They said that they wanted to come rescue that tailed guy that was with the angel."

"Bah! If it's about that, then they are wasting their time! That human escaped out of our grasp somehow! A shame, I wanted to see how the effects of large doses of the dark el would work on him. Oh well, I'll content myself with this instead!" He displayed 6 tubes containing a strange liquid.

"What are those?" He asked curiously at them.

"Why, they are blood samples from that angel! Curious, quite curious about them, but still oh so perplexing, it makes my heart jump with joy to the mysteries that this much blood can carry! Of course... I already made an agent to fight against him, hehehe!" He laughed ominously as he pulled out 4 more tubes, looking quite deadly with a dark green color.

"Interesting... You already took precaution against him. But that won't be enough. Some of the demons got swoon by him somehow, taking some strength from this place of yours. Give me two tubes, in case the other two get destroyed, this way you can keep making these without any problem." He suggested towards him, with confidence that it'll help him later on.

"Hmph... I'll take you on that offer, commander Dust. Just don't try to take this for yourself! This is still highly deadly to our kind as well and my achievements!" He warned before giving him two tubes.

"Don't worry, I'll keep these safe." Just in case, he put them in his sack for safe keeping.

"What are you going to do now, commander?" He asked only because he wanted a small distraction to pass the time for his agent to warm up to the flame beneath.

"I'll be nearby, looking at their forces and evaluating them. I'll mark whoever are the most dangerous ones so that our troops can be mindful."

"Ah, spotters duty again. You would fair well on the battlefield as you did in the training hall, but information can always come in handy." He replied as he noticed that his next experiment was about to begin. "Now begone with you! I need to concentrate myself here!" He swatted him away, losing interest of the hybrid.

True to his words, Dust went on top of a roof some ways away from Joaquin's makeshift base and kept an eye out for any kind of soldiers coming from the enemy side.

*****
Rena​

As they entered the camp, they saw soldiers starting to get around and managing the resources they had, getting ready for something big. It was not odd for them to see this sight, for they've been used to it on Altera as well, trying to end the Nasod King, in the end they succeeded, but the damage were large. In the end, they only got a new ally with them, although Raven was against having the Nasod.

"Wonder what they going up against. This seems far larger for a petty raid." Raven spoke up, getting the feeling that they might've arrived at a bad time.

"It is difficult to pinpoint what they are going for, but I calculate a 72% chance of them being successful, with the amount of manpower available to them, depending if they are to face a horde of the current demons." Eve, the new Nasod companion announced to them, making backup calculations and save files for later.

"For now, let's look around and ask a soldier around, they might tell us the situation." Rena advised as they started to ask around what was going on.

 

[MementoDei]

Elesis​

She raised an eyebrow at the dragon's behaviour and was about to do something about it, but after hearing Eosforos' cough, she decided to stay. The Commander continued to listen to the angel and, seeing him being nervous around her was rather unexpected. She felt her cheeks turn red and her mind began to bloom with a thousand thoughts, spreading faster than wildfire.

She cleared her throat, in an attempt to remain calm, and looked to the side. By doing so, she inadvertently glanced at Phantom, who seemed more than capable to deal with whatever was wrong with the dragon. Whatever was going on would wait. There was something more important she needed to deal with.

"Uhm...Well, I can bring Aragon with us...but. Well, that's not the, you know, your point. You just told me that...So, I mean, what...is it, Eosforos?" she mumbled.

Late Phant0m

****
Yullr
​

After all this time, all those mistakes, what my old friend says to me first is a casual "it's been a long time". I didn't know where to start; whether I should ask him why he looks so different, or perhaps what he was doing here, or how he had been.

No. That wouldn't be like me, not in after all those centuries. He also seemed to change, for the best or for the worst; I couldn't tell.

"It has." I finally managed to say after an eternity of silence.

Darhan chuckled with a laugh that seemed to hide a hint of darkness. "God. Where to start with you? The world is a handkerchief, like the others say."

It seemed more to me that he wanted me to come see him, but I couldn't be certain. After all, after I passed a certain time near the same group of souls, my instincts to distinct each one of them grew duller. One thing seemed certain, he hadn't been always in Velder. He invited me to sit down in front of his tent and brought a set of teacups.

"You must have a lot of stories to tell, Yullr. How have you been? Did you learn something unexpected?"

Although his voice was as friendly as no other, it seemed to carry despair with it...or perhaps just an old hatred he hid from me. The latter was more likely.

"No need to sugarcoat your voice. I've grown used to be treated like a mass murderer, so I wouldn't care if you joined the crowd too." I harshly said, sipping the warm surface of the black tea he had served me.

Suddenly, his fake smile dropped from his face and he stretched before letting a more genuine smirk light his face. "Ah...sorry. It's just been so long since I've had to deal with people that don't know me all that well that..." he yawned "... I've forgotten that you're different."

I raised an eyebrow. I was certain that his last words had at least a double meaning. Darhan always hid his true words behind vague words, such as 'different', 'interesting', or 'I see.' One had to know him for at least half a century to understand his every silence or the intentions he hid behind his rare words. I, for starters, knew that he was probably going to ask me a favour, but I could no longer tell why or what.

After centuries, we had grown to be very different people. It was a bit saddening, but at the same time, very natural. We both pursued dreams, but his brought him better memories than mine, I was certain of it.

"So, tell me. Is there something you need?"

He widened his eyes a little before taking a sip of his drink and regaining his composure. "Woah...you're quicker to get down to business than what I remember."

"I just don't like useless chit-chat. Things are different now, D-"

"Shh. It's Noel now." I frowned and his gaze became suddenly nostalgic as it turned towards the crowd. "Things have indeed changed. Quite fast, actually."

I shrugged as I took a second sip of the tea. It was much more flavourful than the warm water he used to prepare when we last met like this. It almost seemed like our roles had been inverted. He was the talkative one while I sat here, sulkily quiet.

"You've improved." He turned to look at me, slightly confused. "The tea, I mean."

He let out a sad chuckle. "Why, thank you. You know, back in that town, there was...actually, never mind. It's a sad story. A long one at that."

A sad story...those were words I've never expected to hear from his mouth. A sad story was the series of mistakes my life was made of. What could possibly make him think that?

Suddenly, it hit me. He went to live in Resiam, the same town the demons had plundered a few years ago. "I suppose it must be hard for you, being the lucky survivor twice in a row. From all the people I've known, you would be the last one I'd expect go walking around like I did before. But, knowing how humans are, it wouldn't be that surprising if history repeated itself. Not completely though, miraculously."

The empty gaze Darhan had at that moment made me regret spilling my own self-deprication in front of him. Just as I was about to apologize, but he put his hand in the air, signalling me to let it be.

"Yullr...I should've tried to talk to you sooner. I'm sure...all these years have been very tough for you. For many reasons. But. you and I both know that back then, no matter what decision you took, the tragedy would've happened." he sighed and lowered his gaze. "I think I'm not wrong to think that we've both accumulated a lot of sadness, of regrets, and one of the greatest ones for me was..."

I was listening to his words, but the sound was growing duller, as if the Child of the Sea was covering my ears. What I did couldn't be forgiven. No. He couldn't be trying to apologize for leaving me alone, as a wanderer, for so many years.

I deserved to be exiled and shunned by everyone, there was no way that a single breathing person could forgive me. Even souls carried anger and hatred when they lingered in dead bodies, they didn't carry kindness or forgiveness. That was the beauty of it: because no one could ever forgive what I did, no one would ever miss me.

This was the most unbearable pain I had felt since that moment. The way my chest felt absorbed by a greater void, which engulfed into its deep darkness all tears, all thoughts. All thoughts but one: the need to disappear forever.

If I just went quietly away, people would be relieved. My story would die, buried along thousands of others, even worse than mine. It would be easier to convince myself that by tying my name along a hero who saved everyone. Humans lived too little to ever care to look at who I was. And if they did, I would be already gone, and they'd be happy too.

"I'm sorry, Yullr. I shouldn't have let you shoulder all that alone."

 

[Late]

Eosforos
​

The angel stared at Elesis and took another deep breath. He was probably being insane up to this point, his time was thinning for every hour being away from Xavier and even if he did find a way to remain as an innocent angel, it won't be long that he'll turn against them. Thus being hated for his ideal of a perfect world and his goals to obtain it. He never had anyone on board with him anyways, so how could this be any different? Eosforos started to have a sad smile on his face, thinking back to wise words of an old friend.

"Life is too short to worry about the future. Just do the best you can to enjoy what you have currently in front of you."

Often times he ignores those words though now he can understand what it means. Encouraged by those words, the angel went ahead to stare at the commander straight on.

"Commander...uh, Elesis...I just want to say that...thank you for doing this rescue mission. I am not sure what I can do without having Xavier by my side," Eosforos said, realizing he was once again trailing off topic to his original thought. So strange how his emotions affect his words and thoughts. "Though I have to admit...spending my time with you is rather...refreshing." His eyes shifted to notice that the priest was wandering around in the crowd and heading straight for the dragon. He nearly stopped himself from talking, surprised to see him at all times and curious what Aragorn will say to him. "...sometimes it can be hard to speak from my heart," Eosforos confessed, his eyes darting back to Elesis. "What I'm trying to say it that...I have grown very fond of you, Elesis." He carefully grabbed hold of her free hand with his. "...and I am afraid that through this war might change our perspective about each other. This is truly a new feeling for me and I wish to let this out before...anything happens." Eosforos stared at the commander, strangely feeling warm just like before but it was a lot hotter than usual.

He hopes it wasn't a fever. That's probably bad if it really was.

MementoDei

Aragorn
​

"Leave me be," Aragorn huffed in annoyance, glancing down at Phantom. It took him a second to realize who he was talking to and nearly took a double take. "P-Phantom?" The red dragon stared down at the priest, stopped walking for a moment to get a good look at him. "...where the hell you came from?!" He nearly snapped, mixed with anger and happy to see his friend was alive and well. "I figure you ran with your tail between your legs after Cornelius gave you a good yelling," the red dragon sneered and yet, he reeled his head back for a moment. He sensed something different out of Phantom, making him squint his eyes at him. "Where did you come from? You have been gone for days, maybe weeks and you just happen to pop up out of nowhere...you didn't bother on where you went so...what's going on here Phantom? You feel different than before."

Komodo popped up in the view from Aragorn back and hopped off to get a closer look at Phantom, giving the priest curious sniffs. Obviously, the smaller dragon noticed something different too and seem to give out low growls in which Aragorn wasn't sure on what he was smelling. Yet, Komodo appears to look happy to see Phantom again.

Phant0m

 

[MementoDei]

Elesis​

She felt her heart beat so rapidly and strong at his words, but it quickly calmed down. It felt a bit heavier at each beat, as if it was covered by lead until it became completely still. It seemed like her fears of yesterday were taking a more concrete form, but from the exited flames of her feelings, the fire had simply stopped. It was still there, but it calmed down to the point where the feverish heat was reduced to the warmth of a chimney. It comforted her from the coldness of the reality around her and, from the selfish desire that had once divided her mind into a million shards -where each possible word could stop her from doing anything else- only a clear path remained.

Maybe it was a fragile one, but it began with stones as solid as a stronghold from Hamel. What laid ahead of it was shrouded in darkness, but she had the light, the light she wanted to share with the blond angel. Even if they both fell down a trap covered by the mysterious future, at least they'd see each other.

She hoped that it would be enough. She smiled and spoke calmly to Eosforos, in a way she was never able to do before. The nervousness hadn't gone into thin air, but she felt more in control over it. "Eosforos, I...it's funny. As a commander, I've been trained to be always calm and brave, but I've never had the courage to say those same words to you. No matter how determined I was...."

She felt a droplet of rain fall over her shoulder plates, echoing into a clear note as soon as it touched it. "I can't say for sure what will this war change the world, but I firmly believe that I won't change this...eh..haha..."

She chuckled and tightened her grip on the angel's hand. "Sorry, I just... can't seem to say it. I'm really silly, right? I...I've never felt this feeling of wanting the best for someone, always having him at the back of my mind, worrying when he worries, being happy just by knowing he's nearby... All this nervousness of explaining with countless sentences what could very well be explained by a single word...or a single gesture."

She looked down to their tangled fingers and looked back at him and mustered her courage to let him know of her feelings by embracing him. She remained quiet until a weak wave of water droplets played a melody over her armour.

"I love you, Eosforos." she whispered, confessing her true feelings as if it were a sin.

Late

 

[Late]

Eosfóros
​

Even though he was expecting it, he felt surprised to hear the word “love”. He couldn’t even say it himself and now he felt oddly embarrassed. Yet happy. The angel felt his heart swelling up with strange emotions and it was really hard for him to hold back a happy smile. Yet, he still can’t help to think ahead towards the future. This probably won’t even last long...at least he was able to experienced this.

Before he could say anything else to her, a soldier came by to report to Elesis that they were about to be close to ready for the mission. Eosfóros subconsciously took a step away from the knight when the soldier showed up and remembered how they were trying to get ready to rescue Xavier. Once the soldier left to check on another group, the angel sighed.

“Best if I talk to Aragorn about joining us. I really think he’ll be useful,” he said to the commander. He took a pause to stare at her with admiration. Eosfóros eventually lift up one of her hands and kiss on top of it. “Take care of yourself,” Eosfóros said with a smile before leaving her behind.

He made his way towards the dragon as he noticed Aragorn didn’t move any further away after being stopped by Phantom. The dragon was having a wary eye at the priest and eventually Eosfóros noticed that there was something different. He slowed his steps yet quickly caught up to the dragon, waving a hand.

“Aragorn, I have an offer for you, dragon,” Eosfóros said to him, forcing the dragon to peel his eyes off of Phantom. “I think you’ll like it too...and it’s interesting to see you back here again, priest,” Eosfóros said to Phantom, raising up an eyebrow. “Your disappearance among with a few others were...concerning.” Aragorn sighed as he glance back at Phantom, obviously just as curious as the angel.

MementoDei Phant0m

 

[MementoDei]

Elesis​

She smiled at Eosfóros' gesture and followed the soldier with the seriousness she was known for among the rest.

As they made their way to the headquarters, the soldier informed her about what the Elven scouts had found around the town: Alec.

"That robot has been walking around the same area for a while now, ma'am."

The Blazing Heart squinted her eyes at the news. If Alec was able to escape, maybe he was with Xavier. In that case, the mission would be less delicate, it would only be focused on destroying the demons' base and push their forces further back."How many days? Is he with someone else?"

"The Nasod is alone ma'am. The elves found it yesterday morning, but its clothing is covered by dirt. I suppose it has been outside the town for at least a couple of days. It's hard to tell, considering that he was captured."

Elesis nodded and followed the soldier to the town's outskirts, where three dark elves were gathered around a sleeping Nasod.

"...That's one less worry in this mission."
NinthSomnus9029

****
Yullr​

"....You're making everything worse for me. It's better for everyone if I die, so don't come to me to tell me that. I should be happy and thankful for your words, but I can't. What I did was unforgivable and the only solace I have left is knowing that this war will be the end of me. I'll raise a hero, and I'll die as someone that, at the very least, tried to redeem himself." My voice was growing weaker at each word and I took my head in my hands.

"Please don't take that away from me. Don't take that wish away from me. It's only thing that I've found to make sense after centuries of carrying the blood of my people on my hands. I don't deserve anything else. The stain of my crime won't go away in any other way, I've tried and it doesn't go away. The punishment for murder is death, it's written in the law of every race I've met."

I wasn't certain if I was still speaking, given the increasing silence that covered both of us as a thin rain fell over the top of Darhan's tent.

"Yullr, I..." His voice was back to what I was used to. I glanced to meet my friend's eyes, which had returned to their natural colour. He had taken back his old appearance. However, there was a magical field around us, made to hide our presence. It was strange to notice that, out of all the mana manipulation techniques, Darhan had chosen to learn Projection. He seemed extremely sad, perhaps baffled to hear me speak my mind like that. I suppose that anyone would be. No criminal admitted his guilt like this, it would make them look like weak men.

Although, to be fair,I had always been weak.

Darhan's lips moved, asking silent questions but even those movements quickly stopped. He took a deep breath and crossed his arms before putting his hands together as if he was praying. It was then that I noticed a pair of wings growing out of his back and an amulet made of blue diceon hanging from his neck.

"...You're not really alive, are you, Darhan?" I said, cackling at my own misery of having only dead people as friends. It was amusingly fitting. A murderer who could only befriend corpses.

I hoped that he would laugh with me, but he only became more solemn as he slowly nodded. "That's right...Look, Yullr. I don't know what you went through to think even consider that you...god. I don't know what to say." he covered his face with his hands for a moment and stared back at me, with a look I wouldn't be able to perfectly describe. Maybe it was fear pretending to be disgust, or it was anger disguised as sadness. Or maybe, just a twisted and dark feeling of relief now that he knew that I had accepted how useless I was.

"Yullr. I've never told you this before, but I've thought about for a while now...you can't put the blame on yourself like that. You-"

"I killed them. I was the leader and I chose the wrong choice. Yggdrasil even abandoned me because of that. It's my fault no matter how you look at it. I knew-"

"You were a kid on a throne, god damnit! In human years, you were only thirteen when you had to succeed your father! And despite that, you were probably one of the kindest leaders our tribe had. I'm not the only one who thought so, and you can't ever deny that." It was the first time I had seen Darhan lose his composure like that. He didn't seem angry, but he was perhaps letting out his own pain.

I looked down and I let a small sigh. "And how does that erase my crime, Darhan? It doesn't change anything to my actions."

"That day, the demons came with an army, Yullr. They took hostages, remember? Alma was among them! We weren't warriors like the humans, we knew how to build magical defences, but we never trained for combat. We lived under the protection of the same spirit who taught you the magic you used to protect us until that day. Everyone, including the humans around us, thought that we were safe. Those demons came out of the blue and plundered the human villages and menaced our own in less than a two weeks. There's no way we would've had the time to react better."

"Ah, Selene, that kind spirit. The same spirit I killed to bring back that demon general. My, I have a bad habit of gifting death to everyone that helps me. If only I had a little more braincells, I would've prepared us for war instead of building useless barriers." I chuckled again, but I did no longer found it amusing, it was probably the only reaction I could still have instead of crying. The sound wasn't all that different, now that I thought about it.

"Now, that reminds me of something, Darhan. I don't think you'll ever understand this. I was forced to marry at sixteen, in human years, of course. If there's one thing I don't regret is getting to know Alma. But I had to gift her death too, just like her child. Well, it wasn't mine...she was older than me, after all."

I took the last sip of my tea, it had already cooled down. "You know what I'm getting to, don't you? You've never been close to someone enough to want to protect them by any means necessary. How can you ever understand my guilt if you have no one you've tied your feelings to? It's common knowledge what happened in Resiam eleven years ago. Maybe you were already taking your lea-"

Darhan banged the table beside him and he glared at me. "You have also no idea what I've been through, Yullr. I lived in Resiam for at least four hundred years. And you know what? You'd be horribly wrong if you think I never had anyone like Alma in my life. Her name was Lara. Lara Tureen."

I widened my eyes at the mention of her hame. I would've never guessed that the most powerful Lost Soul I had seen was tied to Darhan's past in that way. I let him continue his story, even if his every word was full of hatred towards me.

"Sure, we call Resiam the Town of the Bastards, the Den of the filthy Mixed-bloods. We feel superior because we outlive them by a large margin. Yet all that petty outlook we had been taught towards that town wouldn't change a thing about how much I loved her. You want to know how I died, Yullr?! I'll tell you. The Red Knights had moved their main forces here and I took a sword from the corpse of one of them to allow Lara to guide the rest to safety. I had no idea how to use it; it was useless and downright stupid, but, just like you, I was ready to give my life if that meant that I would save at least a fraction of the people I had grown close to."

He left the echo of his words fill the air and he finally let out the remains of his anger. "And yes, it was as useless as your attempt to negotiate with the demons. You want to know why you aren't guilty of killing anyone?! There's your proof. I tried to stop them with violence. I was as desperate as you were. Perhaps even more, because I was determined to stop the same disaster to happen. Back in our village, my own family sacrificed themselves to let me flee. That night in Resiam, I had a bad feeling. I could've tried to warn everyone, but I had no proof and it was too late. Through the night, a whole squadron of demons stormed through the town. The least I could do was to sacrifice myself to allow her to live, but it didn't change a goddamn thing! The last memory I have of my life as a living being was that of Ran, in a new body, stabbing Lara to death. How many times do you think I've also blamed myself for not being strong enough?"

 

[Phant0m]

Phantom gave a slight chuckle at Aragorn's shocked reaction. "Hi Aragon," He said with a big smile and the smile grew as he watched Komodo jump down to get closer. He gave a slight pout at the growls. "I was-" When Eosforos made his way over, the priest made himself stand straighter with his chin a bit higher. The smile returned, but it was almost as if the priest was baring his teeth at the angel. "Hello. I apologize for causing the concern, but I'm fine." He gestured to himself, almost pointing out his more lean, and toned muscular appearance to drive the point home that he is well, "Being a nomad, I do have a bad habit of leaving without warning but I had gone away to train. Now, I'm back to put my training to use." He glanced at Aragorn before looking down at Komodo. "What are you growling for, buddy? It's still me."

Late

 

[Late]

Eosforos
​

The angel stared at the priest and scoffed lightly. He might as well believe him, he has no time to feel suspicious over a mere priest. Though Eosforos eventually look down at Komodo who was giving strange growls at Phantom, obviously picking up something different and strange.

"...dragons are very intelligent species. Aragorn can sense there is something different and Komodo can smell something different from you, even under this rain. Whatever you were doing, priest, keeping secrets won't keep you safe forever," Eosforos sighed, folding his arms behind him. "Shame that Komodo is unable to talk." He slightly smirked at that, staring down at the red dragon who growled low at Phantom. "Anyways, Aragorn. Mind if I ride with you for today?"

"Excuse me?" Aragorn questioned, surprised from the question as he stares at the angel.

"Back before I was even an angel...I was a dragon rider," Eosforos said and flashed a smile at the dragon who was even more surprised.

"A dragon rider? I...heard stories about them but it was really long time ago when our kind was thriving," Aragorn mumbled, wide eyes at the angel.

"Yes, you can guess that I am really old. Luckily, being an angel can have immortality..." Eosforos paused after that, not really telling lies but not all of the truth. There were circumstances to that, but he was just explaining why he appeared to look young. "It is my nature to understand about dragons and knowing their strengths as well weaknesses. I figure we can give this a go for this operation to see how it will turn out. Perhaps...we can try to find Cornelius if you find me compatible, Aragorn. What says you?"

Aragorn blinks a couple of times, glancing at Phantom who was watching the angel talking. Eosforos didn't mind if the dragon was feeling unsure about it, it somewhat reminds him back of his trainee days when choosing a dragon. Dragons are bound to feel unsure of the rider's choice and full of mix emotion of what their relationship will be. Yet as he thinks more about it, he remembers Cornelius was a dragon who refuses to be with anyone except with Eosforos. From the first time their eyes met, there was already a strong sense of connection and understanding with each other just from the eyes. Even though mistakes were made...Eosforos did not regret working with Cornelius at that time.

"...alright, I'll give it a go," Aragorn huffed, looking a bit confident with his answer. Eosforos smirked at his answer, pleased with it.

"I hope we will have a safe flight under this weather then," Eosforos said as Aragorn nodded his head in agreement. The angel eventually focused back on Phantom. "I am assuming you're going to be busy healing the injured of the future from this mission, yes?"Eosforos went ahead to step closer to Phantom for a better look of the priest. He smiled furthermore, putting his hands on the priest's shoulder to squeeze him. "Be sure to not strain a muscle from healing too much," he teased. Phantom gave an upset look but Eosforos paid no attention to it as he patted the man's cheek in a friendly matter. "Lighten up, it was a joke, not a dick. Don't take it so hard," the angel chuckled, rustling around with the man's hair and left him be to mutter out angry swears.

Aragorn blinked from the gesture he was seeing and noticed Eosforos was ready to get on board. He bends over so the angel can climb on his back and stand back up, allowing the angel to adjust himself.

Phant0m

Xavier
​

His recovery was going well. Yet there was something new out of this.

The demon's experiments, strange enough, helped him to open up his mind. Yet it was probably meant for the dark el to slip right in though fortunately, their plan failed. He can feel his memories were coming back to him, especially during the time Eosforos was training him to face his darkest fears. The darkest fears of losing those he cares for. Often times, they were the dragons he grew up with and other times...they were people he was familiar with. Yet along with his memories returning back to him, his emotions were becoming loose and free. The thought of the dragons...it was making his heart sink and forcing him into depression. He couldn't do much but to return back his strength. Even if his strength returns back to him, Xavier can't see himself returning back to his broken down family, not after what he did to Athena.

No...this was getting too much for him. He doesn't want these unwanted thoughts wandering in, as well the unwanted emotions. Xavier understands why Eosforos would restrict him down like this, it makes him unfocused and distracted. The more he tries to forget, the more painful it felt. The only comfort he had was the voice in his head, mumbling wise words for him to calm down.

Perkisas.

Yet even if the greed dragon tried to quiet him down, nothing could stop the tears running down his face, or the broken sobs of even hurting the dragons in the first place. The stare from Komodo when he rejected him hurts Xavier even more. It made him sad...and angry at the same time. Eosforos made him do this but for some strange reason, he can't see himself blaming the angel. The blood was on his hands, not on Eosforos'.

He was at least glad that there was no one else in the room he was put in. Everything has completely frozen over from him expressing out his emotions loudly. Even the door was sealed shut. It won't be long he'll grow hungry though...and eventually, he'll have to be put back to duty...

The first thing he has to do was to control his tears. The second thing was to think about his memories along with Perkisas. There was something strange about Eosforos' choice of illusions when put under training...which was strangely involved with the angel himself and two other woman...

 

[MementoDei]

Ren​

After healing Xavier, she had many other duties to attend and, oddly, Ishmael had asked her to look where Darhan was. Ren was certain that Ishmael had nothing to fear from him, but orders were orders. Before going to do her new job, she went to check on Xavier, but the door was locked and the room seemed colder than before. It worried her, but there was nothing she could do if she melted the ice. She wasn't as close to him as Eosforos.

She made her way through the vast and empty corridors of the Temple of Revelations and entered the chapel where a huge mirror made of El returned her own reflexion.

The warrior took a crystal full of Ishmael's mana from her pocket and cracked it so the mana could flow inside the room. The surface of the mirror began to glow until her image vanished.

"The goddess sends me to inform her on Darhan's whereabouts."

It was strange to say the purpose of her mission out loud. But Ishmael had, as far as she knew, other places to look after. Two days had passed since Ishmael entered her meditation room and hadn't come out.

The image of Velder, more specifically the image of an empty tent. Outside, soldier's were coming and going in different directions, forming squadrons and readying their weapons.

"Look for any barriers."

The mirror showed a complex and powerful Projection barrier covering the inside of the tent. However, it also showed that Darhan and someone else where there. No, there were three people. Darhan, an unknown person and Ainchase, Ishmael's son.

"Why would Darhan hide himself like this? There's no need to be that cautious."

****
Ain​

Listening to the conversation between the two elves was very intriguing. Both of them seemed to have forgotten that there was someone listening, but if he had to guess, Darhan simply pretended to be alone with Yullr.

It was impossible for someone as sharp as him to forget that he was being watched. In fact, there were two observers, although the second one was very limited.

It was the first time he had seen Darhan express so many emotions in a fairly short period of time. However, he seemed reluctant to put forth his real reason for leading an acquaintance to him. In fact, it was as if all this commotion was outside the scope of the mission. Yet, Darhan wasn't the person to lose time like that. He was devoted like no one to Ishmael's cause.

****
Darhan
​

Were there no words I could say to make him forgive himself? Was I too late again? The silence between us simply filled me with doubt. I was perhaps to harsh when I told him a part of my own problems. I tried to show him that there was a way for redemption, a way for him to see something beyond his own darkness.

I had been able to clear Lara's heart from her pain, so why wasn't I able to do it with Yullr? It reminded me of the first years we spent after fleeing. I didn't utter a word, I resented him for the death of my family, I pushed him away, but when others came to insult us, I took a step forward to hit them back. We stuck together, yet grew apart.

One day, Yullr decided to follow a demon to their world and I continued to travel alone until I landed in Resiam, where other elves wouldn't think of finding me and where the mixed-bloods wouldn't know from where I came. They'd only think, perhaps, that I was exiled and they would be right. It was a prison for long enough, where I could drown my worries with my work as an alchemist and, transform my anger into different poisons and other toxic substances.

I never had the opportunity to use my creations directly, but I did sell them. Somehow, I imagined that whoever bought them was going to use them to kill a criminal, or a demon. Yet, that was a twisted fantasy.

When I came to realize that, I focused my career to only heal people. It was the least I could do to repair my own grief and look beyond senseless hatred. Until Lara died in my arms, it had worked. Maybe it was because I was beginning to understand Yullr's pain that I wanted to make his problems disappear. I wasn't exactly a hero, but it felt better to find a way to tell myself that I could be a saviour.

Or perhaps, I was just an entitled vigilante.

Just as I was losing myself in my own mind, Yullr finally spoke. "So? Did you have to regret her first death for as long as I have regretted my own people's death? I don't think so, Darhan. How many years has it been, eleven? twelve? If your regret comes even close to mine, then that already makes it clear who's the strongest between us."

"You're right. I can't say I can understand your suffering, but you've never told me, really. I'd like to help you overcome this, but if I'm left in the dark, the only thing I might do is hit you instead of giving you a hand."

Yullr nervously clasped his hands together and let out a short sigh. "Why would you care about that after all this time? This is just pointless."

"Why I care?" I replied, trying to remain as calm as possible. I was not angry at him, I was just sad to know that, if only I had been closer to him from the beginning, we wouldn't have this conversation in the first place. Perhaps, he would be the one lecturing me. "Because it's the first time in four hundred and twenty-two years we've seen each other. And, because, after all this time, I began to understand your own burden. Sure, you can tell me it's not as bad as yours. You'd be probably right, but is it a crime for me to care for a friend?"

"That friend of yours is a murderer. Someone you pushed back because of his crimes. Why caring when he's already in the death row?"

"Because I, as a friend of the self-proclaimed murderer, have taken the time to breathe and see the facts from a broader perspective. And I have forgiven him."

Yullr chuckled. "Then, let's test how far your forgiveness goes, Darhan." He took a deep breath and smirked, his purple gaze lost itself in darkness. "Lara Tureen, she bears the human variation of the name Larunda. Remember the poem?"

Of course I did, Larunda, which the humans knew as Lara, was part of elven folklore. However, the humans had, at the time, other gods that changed her story to the tale of a nymph who betrayed Jupiter's trust. For us, the elves, her story was simple. She had fallen in love with the Child of the Moon, which was an allegory to dark elves of noble descent, and was silenced by the Moon herself to never confess. As cruel as it was, it was because the Moon wanted her child to have no ties to the earth so he could reign over the heavens. And so, the Child of the Ocean, torn but obedient, did what she had to do.

I squinted my eyes, I wasn't sure where Yullr was getting to.

"You're as close to the Heir of the sky as anyone of our people has ever been. It's funny how names bring huge coincidences. The Dark Water Priestess...wow, it's even in her name. How cliché. Want to know what I know about her? I found her corpse, and a fragment of her soul. It contained her repressed memories. Wanna know what they were?"

I simply nodded in silence. I knew that if I said anything for now, it would probably backfire on my intentions. Yullr wasn't the kind of person that would bluff about something like that, nor lie about it. As he had said before, it was just a test for him, as twisted as it was, for my intentions.

"How many times do you think she has seen you die? Or how many times she has tried to stopped what happened in Resiam from happening? At least a hundred times. In a hundred different worlds, she's been working for Henir to bring Ishmael down. And she succeeded a couple of times, out of love for a man that wasn't you. In worlds where you never existed, and here you are, in a world where she wasn't supposed to die. Why do you think that is?"

"Because all worlds are different. It's something outside the reach of the gods."

"Wrong. If that was the case, Henir wouldn't exist. Yet all the stories that tie themselves to Lara Tureen have always had the same pattern. Let me repeat the words Henir told her as she was falling into the Void for centuries: 'Everywhere you look, a spark of love will trigger a chain of revenge where I will be victorious. Lara Tureen, when you stop breathing forever, my reign will have even more chances than ever of completing its revenge. By that point, all people who you gathered around you will do exactly as I have predicted.' "

No god could interfere with people's fate like that. It had to be so. Henir, that god of pthumarian origins, was most likely bluffing. Even if he could predict a lot of outcomes by simply taking a look at a lot of different worlds, nothing could guarantee his success. I wasn't doing this to satisfy anyone's plan, I was doing it because it was the right thing to do. Nothing could change that, not even the God of Time and Space himself.

"You look pale, Darhan. Don't tell me, are you going to go insane for so little?"

"No. I'm just baffled by how Gods like to play with people's minds. It's not something I'd resent you for."

Yullr nodded and got up. "Very well, it looks like I have a lot to think about and it's the same for you. If you'll excuse me."

My old friend made a breach on my barrier and went away, his shadow was blurred by the rain.

"Did you get something out of him?" Ain asked.

I glanced at the small orb of light and I put back my magical disguise before disabling the barrier entirely. "The same Ishmael has warned me about. Henir is plotting something."

"He mentioned her. Does that still affect you?"

"More or less. It's still a wound I bear. Apprently, Henir had planned to get rid of her this time around. It makes me a little sad."

"You should've asked Ishmael to take back your emotions then."

"If she had done that, I wouldn't be able to complete the mission here. I would have gathered no one to help me in this."

 

[Fume]

Rena​

The trio walked around and asked from soldier to soldier about the current situation. All replied that they were going to a rescue mission and to claim the base that the demons had built. Apparently, a demon alchemist had taken residence there and has been using humans for his twisted experiments.

"How horrible, to play with the human lives like that." Raven commented with distaste. Rena then brought up the same question she had asked before to other guards.

"Excuse me, but has a male dark elf with both black and white hair been seen around here?" She had hoped to find her brother in this area.

"A male dark elf with black and white hair? I'm afraid not, and even if we did we did find dark elves, half of them on our side are fighting the demon sided forces, which the demon forces side are all women. You could look around the camp over there, though be careful, they don't have the best attitude and we're at odds ends with them." The soldier explained while pointing to the camp, before being called to join the squad. "Excuse me." He then left them alone.

"Rena..." Raven called up to her, feeling that she might've suffered a blow in her investigation.

"Let's look for him there!" She sounded upbeat, but that was her kidding herself to stay positive. No use being sad if she hasn't found him yet.

"Raven, who is Rena trying to find? She keeps asking for a dark elf." Eve asked confused towards the taker. He took a deep breath before looking at her.

"She's looking for her brother. He's the guy that trained her and helped me gain control against this arm." He responded to her, not wanting to go into much detail, since she should ask herself the elf.

"A dark elf is her sibling? How is that possible? I have no data on the subject, but through records on the books between elves that I've analyzed, there shouldn't be possible for the both of them to be pure at the same time." Eve inquired to him wanting to know more.

"That's because I was adopted into his family, Eve." Rena responded to her, despite not looking at the Nasod. Despite still having her smile, her eyes faltered for a moment.

"That makes sense. Acknowledged." She replied, backing the new data for later use.

As they walked they heard a small girl with long hair yelling at a man.

"Ciel! Why weren't we invited into this rescue mission of theirs! It isn't fair!"

"Lu, we aren't in their forces, not to mention that we're in a bit of a predicament when it comes to Ash's-" He was quickly silenced as she glared at him. "Apologies... I didn't mean to speak his name."

"Just give me another cup of tea to relax my nerves... Hearing that name just makes me angry!" She pounded the table with her small fist in a tantrum. "How dares he to abandon us like that! We went at war with the other demons! We suffered too many casualties! We got so many hurt that they can't have the will to fight back anymore!" She grit her teeth just thinking about it.

Rena and her companions were passing along, before the small girl spoke again, catching her interest.

"Not like Dust. At least he'd have the backbone to fight, stupid god of another realm..." She drank her tea before a pair of hands slammed on her table, causing her to flinch. She looked at the forest elf looking at her with wide eyes.

"Did you just said Dust..? What do you know about him!" She almost yelled to the small girl, before Ciel put up one of his gunblades up and pointed at her.

"Back away five steps away, miss." He warned, putting his finger on the trigger and putting just a smudge of pressure. But despite that, she continued to look at the demon girl.

"Rena!" Raven snapped her out. "Do as he says for now. This isn't how you talk to people."

"R-right. You're right..." She took five small steps back before clearing her throat. "Terribly sorry for my lack of composure in that moment! My name is Rena, this is Raven and this little cute girl is Eve." She introduced themselves one by one.

"Ah yes, Raven. It's good to see you again." Ciel said towards the Taker.

"You know each other?" Rena asked surprised.

"We've seen each other before a few times. We've never talked much, but they were only odd encounters, just coincident." He explained, but then the demon girl named Lu, spoke up.

"You said something about Dust. Is he perhaps a male dark elf?" She asked, to which Rena nodded her head. "That's odd, why would you know about my Dust? I'm pretty sure he didn't know any forest elves, he absolutely hates them." The way she said her Dust, made Rena a smudge angry, but pushed that anger back.

"Because I'm his adopted sister." To this Lu stopped completely and lowered her cup with a disbelief expression.

"I don't believe you." She responded back to her before setting down her cup. "There is no way that he'd have your kind as his sister. So unless you come up with a better excuse, don't speak to me. That joke wasn't funny at all." She sounded angry at hearing that.

"But it's true! We've seen each other before! A couple of weeks ago or in this case a couple of months, we were in Altera before he was called back to the demon realm to do his duties as a demon commander!"

"Keep it up elf and I'm going to order Ciel to shoot you on the spot. Anymore lies at my Dust and you'll really regret it."

"How can I prove it to you then that I know him, that I'm his sister!" She asked at her, to which the demon girl thought to herself.

"Nothing you'll say will make me believe you. That boy HAS no sister, HAS no family and HAS nobody else except the demon realm. Now leave us be, you're spoiling my mood." She disregarded her, before resuming her tea time.

Rena's mouth opened to speak, but then gritted her teeth in anger before leaving. She didn't want to cause a scene. Raven asked Eve to follow her, while he stood behind just to say a few words.

"You speak as if you know him for a long time, but truth is he was there with us. If it weren't for him, I'd still be a pawn for the Nasod king. He even treated Rena as his sister. How well do you know him, if he just contradicted you?" She didn't responded and he took that as a sign that he should leave.

"Lu." Ciel spoke up, slowly making her look at him. "What if they were speaking the truth?"

"The boy has no memory before we found him. For all I know, he still doesn't have his memory and maybe that is for the best. To know that his parents were now charred beyond recognition would be too much of a blow on him."

"But what if he already knows?" He put the possibility in front of her, to which she responded with conviction.

"Then I just made a big mistake."