Ranathia heard Mithos request that they try to cooperate with one another. This was a rather bizarre and very uncomfortable request for Ranathia. She had not worked with very many boys before and those who she did work with she reminded them she had no interest in forming any kind of relationship with them which left a very sour and cold impression from the beautiful silver haired maiden. She let out a deep sigh as she perceived the situation and knew it might be better to work together with Mithos, but it would be only for means to her end and nothing else. She wasn’t about to get friendly with some boy she didn’t even know. “All right Mithos, just this once I will work with you. Do not get any ideas that this means we are friends or that I like you, because I do not.” She reminded Mithos as she agreed to work with him despite her reluctance.
“On the contrary; I find your open hostility rather refreshing.” Mithos replied. “Although I do have to wonder; why do you feel the need to stress that you have no romantic interest in me? I certainly didn’t suggest anything like that. I have to wonder where you got such an idea from. Oh well, I suppose that’s neither here nor there. We do have more important things to do after all.”
When Mithos asked why she had no romantic interest in him it made her blood boil and almost brought to life the fiery essence of inflicting pain on those who make her angry, but she decided she would ignore it since she felt it was some sort of taunt or trick. When she was about to say something a hand reached over and grabbed her hand then spun her around where they pinned her arms behind her back. “How dare you grab me in such a manner? Unhand me you fiend, this is no way to treat me!?” She exclaimed as two other men walked off to both of her shoulders. “Our boss wishes to meet with you. Just come along quietly and no one will get hurt.” The goon reminded Ranathia as they were about to walk away with her.
Mithos walked over to them “well now, that’s hardly any way to treat a lady. Even one with such a...volatile…temper like her’s.” He chastised the goons right before pulling their arms off of her by applying light magic to the palms of his hand to make them too hot. The goons had a hard time holding onto her and resisting the heat at the same time. “Honestly, wouldn’t your mothers be ashamed of you if they saw this? I for one am embarrassed, and I don’t even know any of you.”
“A wise guy, huh?” The goons got a bit irritated from what Mithos did. Ranathia was able to break free of their grasp though she didn’t think that was a very wise decision.
Ranathia peered over toward Mithos, “why did you do that? I never asked for your help and your actions could reflect on others since they could punish them for your carelessness.” She said a bit irritated even though she was happy that she managed to get away those goons. Though she felt a bit uneasy about the fact a boy just rescued her from being kidnapped. She didn’t quite understand why he helped her in the first place. “Why would you help me after I said all those terrible things about you? Do not expect me to thank you for that either because I won’t” She paused for a moment still confused about what Mithos did since it made no sense to her. “I just don’t understand you boys…”
“We have a trouble-maker over here!” One of the goons yelled at the others as they made their way toward Mithos and Ranathia.
“Me a trouble maker? How ridiculous. You and your friends are the ones making trouble here.” Mithos countered. “Grabbing a lady like that. You truly are a bunch of ill mannered ruffians.” He sighed. Then turning to Ranathia, he said “I doubt that would be a problem. Why would they need to use a hostage to make me comply? After all, I’m just a spoiled noble, who has never worked a day in his life. Surely men such as them, who have clearly been in more than their fair share of fights could take me down without even breaking a sweat. Also, I find your confusion about my actions more than a little disturbing; you were very clearly being manhandled in an extremely inappropriate way. So as a gentleman, it was naturally my duty to fix that. What other reason could I have?”
“It’s not like I don’t appreciate what you did for me…” She paused for a moment as her face turned red from embarrassment. “Gah, why did I just say that!? Would you just forget about it before I start saying weird things again!” She yelled at him as she tried to suppress the embarrassing feeling she felt inside herself.
“What is all the commotion over here?” One of the leaders said as they made their way toward the situation. The men explained that someone interfered with them taking a girl to the leader where he backhanded all three of them after learning from another source that they were taking advantage of the woman who he was ordered to take into custody knocking photos of Ranathia out of their pockets which fell to the ground. “Mind explaining me what these are?” The leader said with a serious look burning in his eyes as he was quite irritated by why they had photos of Ranathia on them.
“Where’d you get those!” Ranathia exclaimed as she saw some of them were pictures of her in her lingerie and bikini. She thought it was rather insulting that they thought she was some kind of pleasurable object to please them. “DO NOT LOOK AT THOSE!” She said she tried to cover them up with her feet.
The man grabbed her hand when she tried to strike them down and shook his head at her. “These are my subordinates and I will punish them. You are just a bystander who is under our captivity.” He turned away from her as he continued to hold her hand where she protested for him to let go. “I just received orders to come escort Princess Ranathia to our leader. I’m sure these dopes were eavesdropping and using it as an opportunity to force her into a situation she would find most unpleasant.” He paused for a moment as he signaled toward his men as they grabbed the two men taking them away after he ordered, “Take them away!”
“Let go of my hand!” Ranathia continued to protest as the leader’s grip over it grew stronger. “You over there! Grab that rope over there and tie this girl’s hands behind her back!” He ordered one of his guards as they picked up the rope he pointed at then pulled her hand behind her back and used his other hand to pull her other one as he began circling it around Ranathia’s wrists as they were pulled behind her back. Ranathia was not pleased with her hands being held together with rope that rubbed against her skin though he reminded her, “had you not resisted me I would have not taken the action of restraining you. Once you settle down and we take you to him we will remove your restraints. I suggest you cooperate with us for now. Take her away!”
“What about him?” One of the other men said to him where he answered just to leave Mithos, because he had not been ordered to be taken away to meet with their leader like Ranathia.
Reaching down to grab the pictures, Mithos quickly blasted them with a bolt of light magic, making them completely unrecognizable. “How sick” he sneared briefly before returning to his poker face. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. Trying to take a woman hostage like that while keeping her tied up...it makes it look like you’re planning to do something worse to her than your goon squad was.” Pulling out his sword, he quickly sliced at the ropes binding Ranathia before returning his blade to its resting place. “You can’t call someone a bystander when you get them directly involved.”
The leader turned around though wanting to draw for his weapon he didn’t. Instead he ordered his man to grab the person who thought they were going to do the same things his subordinates were going to do where he decided he would take him along as well. “Our leader is not that kind of person and he knows Ranathia personally. If you have any doubts then come along with us. Though he did not order us to bring you along I see no harm in you coming along to act as an intermediary.” He shook his head as he had his men stay close to Ranathia, but this time didn’t order them to tie her up again.
Ranathia stopped resisting when she heard someone who she might know wanted to meet with her. She looked over toward the man then nodded, “All right, I will come along. This time I won’t put up any resistance, but don’t you dare tie me up again!” She demanded as she decided to follow the goons to where there leader was stationed. She looked at Mithos with a look of irritation since he once again helped her when she didn’t ask him to. She was thankful he cut away her binds, but also irritated that he intervened when she thought she could have gotten herself out of her predicament.
“You’ll have to forgive me if I question your motives; your actions haven’t given me much reason to believe you.” Mithos claimed “I guess that I’ll have to come along, since I seem to be the only person here who knows how to treat a lady.” Then, turning to Ranathia, he said “if it really bothers you that much, then next time you should escape on your own. I’m not going to just watch as someone let’s their pride causes them harm.” Ranathia was proving to be shockingly difficult. It was something that he had never experienced before from a woman his own age.
Ranathia and Mithos both were lead to a room the back where the guards told them both to get inside. They both were brought inside the room as the door closed. Ranathia looked over toward an individual who had their back facing them sitting in a chair. “Been a long time, hasn’t it, Rana?” Said a familiar voice which almost made Ranathia break down in tears. She was so glad to see this person as they turned around and revealed themselves to be a man with long blonde hair sitting in a chair. “LUCENT, YOU’RE STILL ALIVE!?”
When she tried to approach Lucent one of his guards barred her path. “Lucent, buy why…” Ranathia answered as she was very confused why Lucent was not letting her near him. The guards told her to take a seat where she did.
“I am not the Lucent you knew ten years ago, Ranathia.” Lucent answered as he shook his head at her keeping his direct eye contact with her as minimal as possible. It seemed he didn’t act like he really knew who she was anymore and treated her more like a stranger than an old acquaintance.
Ranathia was confused by how he was acting which caused her to question his actions, “why are you acting like this, Lucent? You brought me here for what reason?”
Lucent closed his eyes as his cold expression continued to remain on his face. He knew Ranathia, but he had decided to forget about her and move on. She wasn’t important to him anymore and now that he had her there he would get down to business. “The reason I brought you here is a simple one, really.” He said with a lot of mystery surrounding his real intentions and motives.
Peering over toward one of his guards, “Also, why did you bring this person? I never asked you to bring that Angelian?” He questioned as he found it rather strange they would bring that individual.
“I’m here because your men seem mentally incapable of treating a woman with the proper respect. From roughly manhandling, to tieing her up, and even carrying around rather obscene pictures of her. Quite frankly, such things made me worried about just what you wanted her for” Mithos explained. “I can only hope that everyone in this room is capable of self restraint”
“I see…” He said as he took into comprehension everything that Mithos had told him. It bothered him that his men would dare treat any woman like that. He had no feelings for Ranathia anymore, but since she was a ‘woman’ still it did make a bit irritated. He brought his hand up and snapped his fingers pointing it at one of the guards in the room as a small lightning bolt shot at one of his guards sending them straight into a wall.
He looked over toward his other men with a very serious look on his face which was one that caused them all to quiver in fear. “See that this does not happen again. Anyone that does anything unspeakable to any woman will be punished severely or even exterminated. Do not forget my words!” He yelled at his men as they stayed where they were not leaving their positions.
“The reason I summoned you here Ranathia is very simple. My terms are simple and now that you’re involved I think I will use that to my advantage.” He grinned as he snapped his fingers and had his men bring in Princess Phalasia who was restrained with ropes and blindfolded. “You should have stayed out of this chess game I’m playing with Ranathia, Angelian but you wanted to get involved and now I think I will persuade you to do as I ask and help Ranathia with the task I have for her.”
“LUCENT, HOW COULD YOU GO SO LOW AS TO TAKE A HOSTAGE!” Ranathia said in anger as she rose from her chair as he ordered his men to sit her back down.
“You do what you must to preserve humanity. If you must make sacrifices or take extreme measures to achieve that goal then so be it.” He once again grinned knowing that Mithos would fully comply with everyone of his demands.
The idea that someone could take Phalasia hostage was one that he had long since realized. She seemed like the perfect target. However, that also meant that Mithos had prepared for something like this. Normally, making a barrier over someone at a distance was either hard, or extremely obvious...but this wasn’t normal. Not only was Mithos a barrier specialist, but he was also very familiar with Phalasia’s mana. Getting a barrier set up around her and using it to push back the men holding her was easy for him. He then walked over to her and cut off her bindings “it seems that you were misleading me when you led me to believe you had even an ounce of chivalry in you. To have your men handle my cousin so roughly...you’ve just made this personal” Mithos made sure that he was constantly pumping mana into the barrier around Phalasia, so that it didn’t die out on him.
“If you want your Princess back then you can have her back. I already got what I needed from her anyway.” He said holding the gemstone he took from her tiara which he held in his hand as he turned his back toward the group to walk away. Before he did he teleported Phalasia near Mithos and ordered his men to stand down and leave.
“Wait, Lucent! Why are you doing this!?” Ranathia questioned not understanding at all why Lucent would be doing something that went against what he believed in. She knew Lucent better than this, he wasn’t this kind of person unless he had a valid reason for it. “I know you feel obligated to undo the damage your father created for you, but you are not alone. Stop this foolishness and let us help you.” Ranathia pleaded to him revealing his real motive to why he was acting the way he was.
Lucent turned his back toward her and shook his head in disbelief. It was his problem and he had no right getting Ranathia or anyone else mixed up in it. Let alone someone who tested his patience. “I do not need anyone’s help to fix what my father did. It is my problem and I will solve it on my own.” He said stubbornly as he walked away from the group. He had no intention of getting anyone involved in his problems let alone someone who was trying their luck with him.
Phalasia looked at Lucent and was a bit disappointed he was leaving without even giving them an idea of why he was doing what he was plotting. “Lucent, why do you insist on thinking you’re all alone in this world?” She said but her words did not reach Lucent since he just continued to walk away without saying a word and not turning his head around to acknowledge anyone either.
Hurrying to remove her bindings and taking off her blindfold, Mithos was tending to his cousin “are you unharmed Phala!? They didn’t do anything untowards to you did they?” This was all completely unacceptable; this man had mugged and kidnapped his cousin, the princess of his country. In fact, he only returned her when Mithos showed that he could protect her without giving into his demands
Phalasia nodded at Mithos letting him know she was okay, but she couldn’t help feeling some sympathy for Lucent whose father treated him so poorly. And even now, she knew like Ranathia that Lucent felt so obligated to fix his own father’s mistakes on his own. “He lives such a lonely life. I feel sorry for him, because I learned the true nature about that man. His father caused him a lot of pain and grief which he continues to live with today. I know you do not like or trust that man, but try to understand him.” She paused for a moment as she embraced her necklace which still had the gemstone except the strange glowing object inside was gone. “I trust that he will use our portion of the Rune of Absolution for good.”
Ranathia stared at the ground as she didn’t quite understand why Lucent wouldn’t let anyone help him. She had feelings for him, but anytime someone tried to get close to him he pushed them away like they were an obstacle. “Why do you continue to think you must do everything alone, Lucent? I wish you would at least open your heart and lift yourself out of that loneliness or at least let someone help you escape it. It isn’t your fault that the balance is broken. I wish you would stop feeling so sorry for yourself!” She yelled at the end frustrated with Lucent, because he wouldn’t acknowledge her even once.
Shaking her head in disappointment she peered over toward Phalasia asking if she was okay and Phalasia acknowledge her that she was. She was relieved at least part of the situation had been repaired, but that was no reason to lower their guard. If Lucent wasn’t the actual mastermind behind this, then who was?
“If he is truly so lonely, then he only has himself to blame. What do you expect would happen if you push away everyone around you” Mithos said, barely hiding his contempt for the man. “Just because someone close to him betrayed him, it doesn’t excuse his actions...I of all people should know, something you are perfectly aware of Phala. If he’s not careful, then he may end up becoming the very thing he hates. So yes, I believe I understand him well enough, and that is why I dislike and distrust him”
“Good, I’m glad you at least do not hate him enough to kill him. I would forbid such an action.” Phalasia answered toward Mithos as she began to ponder what Lucent and her talked about while she was under his care.
“Phalasia had just remembered that Lucent said something to her when he visited her while she was in captivity. Unlike a lot of the other people who were holding people hostage he was very kind and nice to her. To think that her mother liked such a man a long time ago made her heart skip a beat. Sure he acted all tough outside, but on the inside he was a pretty gentle person who was always considerate of others. “I remember Lucent mentioning he came across my mother in the Romantha Empire. He wouldn’t tell me exactly everything about the encounter other than she is being held in the catacombs and that he possesses something of hers which she gave him during their chance encounter. He also said he stole back our Holy Weapon.”
“I wish you would have said something sooner since now we are too late. He is gone.” Ranathia interrupted her knowing that their chance to ask Lucent what he knew was gone. There was nothing they could do about it now since they wasted a golden opportunity because of Phalasia’s hesitance.
“So he possesses our missing Holy Weapon, but did not turn it over?!” For a brief moment, Mithos’ poker face fell, however he put it back up a second later. “This is unacceptable. After what he has done, he owes us that much at the very least. I am not at all looking forward to tracking him down to reclaim it. Come to think of it...why would he let you know that he has it, but not return it? This reeks of a trap.”
“Wait a minute…” Ranathia questioned as she had a flashback of where Lucent before he walked away handed her something wrapped in a cloth. It felt like some kind of chest though she thought nothing of it. She also felt a strange light being emitted from the chest. “Lucent handed me this before he left. Where he nodded at me before he walked away. He also said in his own words ‘I’m a man of my word. Tell Phalasia I will rescue her mother and give her this.’ Before he walked away not saying a single word afterward. Could this thing in this cloth be…” Ranathia questioned as Phalasia made a ‘huh’ like expression from the shock of her words as Ranathia handed it to Mithos.
Taking it from Ranathia, he unwrapped the cloth to reveal a very familiar book. Letting out a sigh of relief, Mithos said “well, I suppose that takes care of that.” Unwilling to say anything else on the subject, he spoke to Phalasia “well, we have our missing Holy Weapon, and we know the location of your mother now. What shall we do next?”
“I think we should employ Lucent’s help. Let’s look past his actions and since he has shown he is a man of his own word there is no reason to doubt we could use his help.” Phalasia requested though Ranathia wasn’t entirely sure if they could convince Lucent.
Ranathia remembered that Lucent was a very stubborn person who did not like to work with others. How were they going to get him to help them when he preferred to work alone? “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Phalasia. Lucent is a pretty stubborn person and I don’t think we could ever convince him to help us.” Ranathia reminded her as she got up from her seat and brushed herself off.
“I must agree with her” Mithos began “I don’t believe he would be willing to lend us his aid. Nor do I think we would be able to track him down easily. I think our time and energy would be better spent on other things. Unfortunately, his word alone is not enough proof to convince the other nations of the world that the Romathan Empire is currently holding her. I suppose that would greatly limit our potential allies”
“Veles, you’re going to pay for this!” A voice said as it bolted in an essence of light at Veles who was standing at the throne. When the light reached the throne and in a lightning strike hit the floor it revealed itself to be Reala who had a very determined and serious expression on her face.
Ranathia turned her attention away from Mithos and the others only to see a sudden emergence of a certain person to catch her attention. “Reala?” She questioned as she saw her go straight for Veles. She turned her attention away for a second to notice the terrorists had been disarmed and people started pouring out of the room finally able to get out safely. “I wonder who managed such a powerful magic to disable not only their weapons, but also the bombs they planted in this room?” Ranathia whispered quietly to herself as she brought her attention back on Reala.
“Mithos, that man…” Phalasia” paused for a moment as she looked toward Mithos knowing full well who that man was standing in the throne area was.
“Would you care to finish that sentence Phala?” Mithos asked. “I’m afraid I have no idea who that is, or even why I should care at the moment” he added. ‘Just wonderful. Here I was believing that this ordeal was over at last. Silly me, I forgot that things are never so simple. Everything has to be as complicated and drawn out as possible.’
Now outside, Nathan had Meira sit down on the grass as he did so as well. “I’ve found that taking a nap in the grass in sunny, warm weather is one of the best ways to calm your nerves after something traumatic. Hell, it worked surprisingly well for me on the night my parents died. I’m sure it’ll at least stabilize your mood. With that weird voice talking to you, It’s not a good idea to be too wound up, until you learn to just ignore it.”
“Don’t you find it strange how Reala decided to go off on her own? She is my sister after all, but I cannot help, but worry about her?” Meira questioned as she had concern for her sister who just took off without saying a single word to either of them.
“So you think, you have the power to stop me, young Reala? What makes you think you can surpass the power of the Rune of Power I hold in my hand?” He questioned with a grin as he activated the rune only to have his body transform into a dark nasty creature of destruction.
“Aira, execute demivolution!” Reala said where a voice answered her, “ Demivolution… Evolution process in sequence. Demigod mode one processing… Process complete, transformation phase in progress.” The voice paused as a light shot down from the sky transforming the girl completely her. Her dress was replaced by a pink leotard and some chest armor was laid over it with thigh high armor boots and lastly gauntlets on her hand. Her sword transformed into a dragon fang of light which she held in her hand. Lastly a group of hawk like angel wings formed on her back.
Ranathia looked on and was caught in awe when Meira’s own sister could transform so easily into her demi stage without consequence. “How can she enter that stage with such confidence in her eyes?”
“That man is Veles, our uncle.” Phalasia reminded Mithos as she looked on with Ranathia at what was going on and the girl who had just transformed into a spirit.
The voice said to Reala as the light cleared, “Transformation complete!”
“That is Veles? How strange, he looks nothing like I remember. Of course I mean before he transformed into that hideous beast” Mithos commented “To be honest, I had forgotten all about him. It’s been so long since I’ve so much as heard his name. I wonder where he got such a strange item. Oh well. Do you think we should do anything?”
“Wait...she’s your sister?” Nathan blinked in confusion “I thought the only family you had left was your aunt” he confessed, before adding mentally ‘that scary woman.’ Shaking his head, he went on “look, right now you just need to get yourself calm. I don’t think you’re in any condition to go back inside. I think...Reala was it...went in, so she can probably tell everyone that you’re more or less okay.”
Reala listened to the vibrations in the air where she made several glyphs appear which made her press her index finger at the ground. “SPIRIT BREAK!” She yelled with fire in her eyes as she let lose a column of light was about to envelope her target only to have them fly upward to avoid it. Even though it avoided the attack, it left a huge crack in the floor.
Ranathia wasn’t sure if they would get involved in Reala’s fight. She tried to say something only to have her words interrupted by a crack going down the center of the floor. “This is getting intense…” Ranathia said as she sidestepped the crack moving away from it.
“This is our problem too, Mithos. He’s our family and our Uncle. I think we should deal with our own problems too and not let someone else have to shoulder that burden.” Phalasia reminded him as she prepared her staff in a defensive position.
Meira thought a moment about what Nathan had said especially when he questioned if Reala was her sister. She wasn’t sure Reala was going to be okay and wasn’t entirely convinced that was the reason she left. “Yes, she’s my sister who I found out about just recently.” She paused as she looked at the ground worried, “I sure hope you’re right about that…”
“True...but she seems to be heavily invested in this fight, I’m not sure she would take our intrusion very well. However, I can hardly say no to you” Mithos replied as he readied his sword, and created several dozen light arrows around him, all aimed at his uncle.
“You mean you didn’t know before?” Nathan asked, bewildered. “That’s crazy. What are the chances that she would just show up here if you didn’t know that you were related?” Sighing, Nathan next said “Eh, we can think about it later. Right now, you need to relax” he lightly pushed Meira down so that she was lying flat on her back. “And remember; if you hear any strange voices, ignore them”
Reala looked back and noticed that two other people were getting involved, but didn’t have Egis to battle a Ragnanite Demon with. She didn’t have time to bother telling them that fighting it was pointless at their level. “They obviously need some education on demons…” She said as she turned her attention back toward Veles who managed to catch her off guard and strike her from above where he drove his fist into the ground knocking her backwards. “GOT YOU!!!” He grinned as he watched her fly backwards from the force of the attack.
Reala was sent flying into a pillar that was right beside Mithos. She stopped after crashing into it leaving a marking of herself in it as she brought herself back up on her feet after cringing from the pain of the impact. “Is that honestly the best you can do?” She questioned with a grin on her face which had a hint of confidence in it.
“No one ever told me…” Meira paused as she was pushed down by Nathan. Normally she would get mad, but it was like the time when her and Lucent did it when they were children where she laughed a little.
His arrows flew and failed to do any damage. “Well...that was disappointing. I suppose now is as time as any to use this” he said to himself as he pulled out his family’s Holy Weapon. “Perhaps this will manage to scratch you.” Mithos allowed himself a smirk as he felt it’s energy building up.
“WHY YOU LITTLE BRAT! YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR OVERCONFIDENCE!” Demon Veles said he decided to charge at the girl which is exactly what she wanted him to do.
Reala began to grin since he had taken the bait of her taunt which is why exactly she wanted to do since she was going to draw him up close where she had her hands stretched outward gathering enormous amounts of energy into them.
She peered over toward Mithos with one eye since she wasn’t about to be caught off guard again. “This one is an SS Class. A Holy Weapon by itself is not going to defeat it so easily. You must be naive or really stupid… or perhaps even both.” She said to Mithos before she focused all her attention back on the demon charging at her. “You must be a real loser if you can’t even transform.” She paused for a moment shifting into a hmph type of body language. “Even for your age, you should have learned to evolve into a demigod, but you haven’t. You’re so useless so just stay out of the way and let a professional handle it.”
Ranathia looked onward shocked by what Reala just said. She never imagined that Meira’s own little sister could be so self-centered and nasty about her comments. She didn’t know what to say and she was still drained quite a bit earlier from having to block an attack from the assailant they ran into earlier.
“Well that was quite rude of her” Mithos mumbled. “I just got this back, of course I don’t know how to achieve divinity with it yet...or even that I could.” By this point, he was talking more to himself than anyone else. “Although I suppose it’s never too late to learn. This is tied into my families blood...so in theory, I should get some results if I just let it’s energy flow through me. If it turns out to be a bad idea...well, I should be able to tell before it’s too late.” His plan (more of a vague idea, really) set, he began to wash his body in the energy of the Holy Weapon.
“Fine, do whatever you want! Just stay out of my way. My power is hard enough to control without you around. I don’t need some useless paperweight weighing me down.” Reala answered in a snotty tone as she wasn’t very happy about him sticking around. She didn’t really care about the rest of his words since she found them inconsistent and just meaningless babble. “Don’t blame me if you get hurt.”
Deciding to simply ignore her, Mithos continued what he was already doing. As the energy of the Holy Weapon flowed through his body, he could almost feel some outside force guiding it. Soon, it consumed his entire body in a flash of light. When the light faded, Mithos was in a completely new form; While his hair reminded blond, it changed color to a reddish orange once it reached the base of his neck. His hair itself had become unnaturally long, almost looking like a tattered cape from the front. He was also toppless now with 4 arms. Two of them each held an oddly shaped sword, while the other two instead had spears of similar design. All of his skin below his waist was ash black, but his legs were mostly covered by a strange pair of blue greaves that covered everything on his legs, starting from his kneecaps. His male anatomy and nipples were missing. “Well...this isn’t quite what I expected” Mithos’ spoke his first words in his new form. “divinity is far more drafty than I thought.” After taking a few moments to recompose himself, Mithos readied his weapons and charged at the monster before him.
“I think it is time, Aira!” Reala said as she paused and only could hmph at Mithos’ transformation. She knew it was time to go to the next level of power to deal with this threat. She wasn’t about to let anyone defeat her target other than her and she was determined to make sure she was the one who destroyed the demon and extracted its Matrix Core. “Aira, execute Weapon Matrix Demivolution. Ascension system start!” She said as she paused for a moment and then heard a voice speak to her. “Weapon Matrix Demivolution system integration in sequence. Demigod weapon synchronization fusion processing… Mode two process complete. Exceed Demivolution activation linking… Link established. Processing synchronization wavelengths. Wavelengths are in perfect symmetry. Executing ascendance transformation stage.. Transformation phase is now in progress…” The voice paused as Reala’s body began to glow. Features about her body changed. Her sword merged with her deity Aira and turned into two fancy looking blades with weird inscriptions bathed in a strange light. Her wings vanished and they were replaced by metallic like wings which there were six of. Her armor became more bulkier and heavier and changed to gold and blue color. A short slitted in the middle skirt appeared around her waist. Her hair glowed a violent crimson red glow as it turned almost into wild flames that flickered about wildly. “Transformation complete!” The voice added as Reala had reached the second level of Demivolution.
“You might have transformed so easily, but your form is incomplete and lacks sufficient power. You wouldn’t be able to achieve second level unless you established a far better connection with Xaliana. Don’t even try it since I’d be stuck fighting you too since you’d Dark Demivolve.” She said toward Mithos as she was ready with her new form and waiting for the right time to strike the demon. She thought to herself as she maintained her focus on her enemy, ‘Sure he transformed, but he forcefully activated it not knowing the risk. I hope he doesn’t do something stupid like try to force activate second level, because his wavelengths are out of symmetry with both his weapon and deity.
Reala grinned as the monster had just closed within the right distance for her to use her attack. Her hand was still glowing with the energy she conjured for the attack even after she decided to ascend evolve. She moved at sonic speed at her target then placed her hands up against its chest before a wide grin came across her face. “This time both I’ll use both hands. Meet Aurora Destroyer!” Reala yelled sheathing both her blades as an enormous amount of Spirit Force shot through her palms blasting through her target’s body which caused Veles to writhe in pain enveloping him in a giant blinding light.
The blast was so powerful that it ripped a giant trench into the floor and destroyed any obstacle such as a pillar or debris that was in its path. It also blasted the demon backwards, although its form is hidden due to the light was so bright it blinded everyone. Reala hoped it was strong enough to fill the beast with that energy in an attempt to make it explode from being overfilled. They could not see if the beast was dead or alive after such a massive use of force against it. Reala had let loose with a payload of energy and it was a good thing everyone else was out of the room so they didn’t get caught in the aftermath.
When all the dust settled the beast had taken damage, but was still standing which shocked Reala. She couldn’t believe it just survived one of her strongest attacks. “No way! How did it manage to survive such a massive amount of discharge of Spirit Force? This thing is no ordinary Ragnanite Demon and must have something that makes it stronger than others.” She examined the beast further to see a glowing object on it which had a symbol which she recognized, “That’s the Chaos Rune: Power. So that’s how it managed to withstand my attack? Unless I get rid of that rune, this thing is going to continue to tank my attacks. I cannot let that happen since that last attack took quite a bit out of me.”
‘So that’s the source of his powers is it? Looks like an easy enough target.’ Mithos thought to himself. While the monster was still occupied with Reala, Mithos sneaked to the side. Out of sight of everyone, he prepared his attack. Creating a single light arrow, he poured more energy into it then normal. Taking careful aim, he fired the overloaded light arrow at the rune, intent on destroying it, or at least damaging it so much that it was useless.
Reala looked over toward Mithos seeing that he was aiming right at the Chaos Rune which caused her to go on the defensive as her eyes widened in fear knowing that destroying a Chaos Rune was the end since it realized dangerous energy that destroyed everything in its path. She remembered what happened the last time a Chaos Rune was destroyed. “He’s a fool! He’s a fool! If he destroys that rune…” She paused for a moment frozen with fear unable to conjure the energy to use her technique.
“MITHOS DON’T DO IT! DO NOT DESTROY THAT RUNE!” Ranathia exclaimed as she prepared to summon the dangerous power she used earlier to deal with the intruder who invaded Meira’s estate uninvited. Though she knew that her words did not reach him.
Stellvia looked on irritated that she could trust mortals again. Just now there was a stupid mortal who was about to destroy everything. “Just when I thought I could trust mortals again… I was a fool to think they had a shred of goodness inside them…” She said very upset about the fact how reckless Mithos was being.
Phalasia was about to say something only to be interrupted by Miia. Miia had a very serious look in her eyes. A look that gave the impression she was not at all joking about what she was about to do. “This is why foolish mortals should never know about power beyond their comprehension.” Which was probably a surprise to most since it sounded like something Siia would say.
“Have you fools given up?” The demon grinned as it waited to make its next move. The arrow hit the rune dead center where an enormous amount of dangerous energy began to build up. The rune was starting to crack and the radiance became stronger and much more dangerous. If no one stopped the rune from breaking, the energy would explode and annihilate everything. “WHAT!?” The demon said caught by surprise.
With the monster distracted, Mithos was free to make his next move. Rushing at the beast, he sliced the arm the rune was on off. Taking the appendage, he began shoving the rune back into one piece by crushing it under his own magical energy. “You know…” he began, addressing everyone else in the room “this is something that I really should have been told about earlier. How was I supposed to know that damaging this blasted thing would cause it to blow up and kill us all? It looked like a simple weak point to hit, one that could end this fight really quickly.”
“Oi, four arms!” Whizzle called out from where he was floating with his burden. There was a sense of urgency in his voice. “Get over here if you can! I’ll help with that if you’re not so close to the frog!”
Moving over to the stranger, Mithos held out the rune. “I certainly hope you know what you’re doing” Mithos voiced his concern, as he continued to hold the rune together with his magic. With it in a more stable state, the energy washing out from it had been lessened
Dropping to the floor, Whizzle put Alice down and started to channel his magic into knitting the Rune back. It was fortunate that he has a template to base how to repair the damaged Rune. The build up energy was worrying however as he has no mean to disperse them safely. Should he absorb it? No, the sheer amount and density would just meant he’d be the first one to explode.
“Give me the rune. I will lessen the damage with my power. Even if you lessen the damage, the big bang at the end is the worst part of it. At least this way the big bang will do minimal damage.” A very cold and unhappy voice said as it appeared right before Mithos and Whizzle both while everyone else could just stare in awe surprised by who it was.
Ranathia was very surprised to see the person who left them earlier not wanting to lend his aid had come back to help them deal with the out of control rune. She could recognize it was the same person they ran into earlier and was relieved that he came back. “You really came back... “ She said with teary eyes happy to see him again, but she knew this wasn’t the time for happy reunions.
“We cannot prevent this castle from being severely damaged, but at least I can keep the casualties down to a minimum. After this over, I never want to see you again! If I do, I will kill you!” He said toward Mithos very angry about what had just transpired as he had been watching from the shadows of what was going on. “Gael, lend me your power.” He said as he closed his eyes and started speaking to himself as a mysterious power started to awaken inside him. “You there!” He said as he pointed at Whizzle. Help me, keep the rune together with your power until I can absorb most of the energy from it!”
Whizzle just raised an eyebrow towards the latecomer before rolling his eyes as he returned to repairing the broken rune.
“NO, YOU CAN’T, LUCENT! THAT’S TOO MUCH POWER FOR YOUR BODY! IT MIGHT DESTROY YOU!!!” Ranathia protested against Lucent’s actions who just shook his head at her.
“If I do not do this, everyone will die. If I die, at least I won’t have to see that imbecile again.” He remarked as he wasn’t about to be talked out of what he was about to do.
“So after all of this, I’ll never have to see you again? Sounds like a wonderful deal to me” Mithos said as he handed over the rune to Lucent. He didn’t like how he was getting lectured by someone who had just stood back and watched as they fought a monster.
“Mithos… I appreciate all that you’ve done for me and thought maybe you could understand me, but… Just when I thought there was at least one boy who understood me…” Ranathia shook her head in disbelief very disappointed with Mithos carelessness. “I was a fool to ever trust you.” Ranathia added who looked very upset and still keeping her power on standby in case they needed it. Ranathia had started to like Mithos and was becoming slowly attracted to his light when his darkness which was his own recklessness which shaded the light. She didn’t look like she was about to trust him anytime again soon either.
“I wish I could say something, Mithos, but I cannot.” Phalasia even said with eyes that looked like they felt sorry for Mithos. She knew he didn’t know that would happen, but that was no excuse to be reckless.
“You know what, this is your mess. You deal with it! I was going to help and hoped you had at least some decency, but I was a fool to even trust you might have even the slightest bit of common sense.” Lucent said as he slapped his hand away in anger powered down then jumped up in the air onto a railing on the ceiling. “Okay, Prince Perfect let’s see you get yourself out of your own mess. Don’t expect any help from me, because I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but not now. It’s your problem so deal with it yourself!”
“Lucent stop this! This is no time to start an argument!” Phalasia called out to him. She wanted him to help them as did everyone else, but he did look like he was going to be cooperative anymore.
“No, he thinks he can get himself out of this mess so let him! If he kills millions of people, because of his arrogance that’s not my problem! Maybe he’ll learn the consequences of his actions when he has the blood of the innocent on his hands!” Lucent yelled from the railing he was standing as he jumped up onto the other floor and disappeared out of sight.
“Lucent why are you acting like this?” Ranathia questioned as she knew it was unusual for Lucent to get so angry. She sensed that he actually did have a shard of respect for Mithos, but due to Mithos arrogance he just lost it.
“Okayy…” Whizzle drawled as he kept on working with the Rune. He had it mostly stitched over but he lacked the ability to fully repair it. What’s left right now is how to deal with the amassed energy. Glancing at Alice, Whizzle noticed that she was suffering under the strain despite his prior protection on her. “Just saying, if we die here, I’m going to haunt you all.”
“If I am going, I’m taking you with me!’ The demon said as it jumped over and latched onto Reala building up energy then exploded. The explosion was so large that it send Reala up in the air and out of the castle until she landed near a house where she fell to the ground unconscious still in her transformed state. A boy who worked at a bakery had seen the shooting star land where he was walking only to discover it was a beautiful pink haired girl who was covered in burnt marks. A sword landed implanted in the ground which laid right beside her.
“NO REALA!” Ranathia said as she was powerless to stop the demon from self-destructing and taking Reala out with it. “Dammit! This all happened because you two act like children!” Ranathia said as she raised her voice burning with anger.
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Meanwhile, back on the ground, a young boy named Danny suddenly had an unconscious girl to deal with. He had been out, getting some groceries that Mr. Pucci had asked him to pick up, when he had returned to the bakery to find a strange girl out cold in front of him. “Oh dear! Is...is she alive?” Quickly looking around to see if anyone else was there and finding no one, he rushed inside to put down the groceries before returning out to take her inside as well. Although due to his young age and her weight, he struggled to so much as drag her inside. Once he had managed to get her up on a booth seat, he went back for the sword and put it on the ground next to her.
The girl muttered the words in her sleep, “Celesna…” Strangely she kept on muttering those words. With the group looking around her they were unsure what kind of dream the girl was having. Her wings still remained as they drooped on one part of the bed and laid perfect on the other side.
Since Mr Pucci would be gone for the day, that left Danny all alone, except for this strange girl. since he wasn’t sure if she had eaten lately, he got to work in the kitchen, baking some cinnamon rolls. Once they were finished, Danny took them out of the oven and brought them over to the girl’s booth and sat them down on the table. Taking a quick look at her to make sure she was okay, he quickly went upstairs to his room to grab a few things.
Reala tossed and turned in her sleep as she stopped muttering the words Celesna. Her dream became so unbearable where she finally woke up, but couldn’t bring herself to her feet. She was in a lot of pain and noticed one of her hands covered over a wound on her side which was bleeding. Looking around she was very confused since she had no idea what was going on what happened. “Where…” She mustered the power to get one word off. “Am I?” She questioned as she continued to look around in the room.
With pillows in hand, Danny descended back down to the ground floor, where he saw the strange girl was up. “Oh, you’re awake!” He finished climbing down the stairs. “I didn’t think you’d wake up so soon, so I went and got some pillows for you. Sorry I just left you on a booth, but you were too heavy to carry upstairs. I had to drag you this far. Oh by the way, feel free to help yourself to those rolls. I made them for you. Although I thought they’d get some time to cool down first, so they’ll be pretty hot. Will you still need these?” He asked, holding out the pillows
Although she was very confused with what was going on, she decided since she was in no condition to remedy her condition that she would let him help. She looked over and uncovered her hand which was covered in blood from her side bleeding. “I could use one…” She paused for a moment as she coughed for a moment. “near the side of my ribs. There’s a nasty wound I suffered there. You can also put one under my head.” She paused a moment finding it hard to speak before she continued, “If it is not too much to ask, a blanket would be nice too.”
“Oh!” Danny would have slapped himself if he didn’t have pillows in his hands. “Blankets and the first aid kit. Why didn’t I think to bring those?” Rushing over to give her the pillows, he said “I’ll be right back” before rushing off the gather the other needed items. He came back a little later with a heavy blanket under his arm and a first aid kit in his hands. Putting the blanket to the side, he opened up the first aid kit and took out some disinfectant and bandages. Then he lifted up her shirt a little bit so that he could get to the wound “this might sting a bit, but the pain just means you’re alive” he told her before applying some cloth sprayed with the disinfectant on the wound. When he was satisfied that it was cleaned, he began to bandage up her wound after handing her a wet towel “you can use that to wipe off your hand. It might not be great, but it should do for now”
The pain caused Reala to conjure energy into her hand which she fired out of her hand randomly in the form of a lightning bolt that struck across the room. Luckily it didn’t hurt so bad that she would start freezing things with her mind. “Urgh…” She cringed as she did feel quite a bit of pain from her wound. Too bad her energy was so exhausted that she couldn’t use any form of magic to negate the effect.
Reala looked at him strangely not sure why he was helping someone he didn’t know. She found it rather awkward, because she would never meddle in the affairs of other people. Though she shook her head shaking off that thought then nodded muttering off her lips, “Thanks.” She said as she wiped the blood off her hand with the cloth he provided her.
“You’re welcome. Although I have to ask that you don’t shoot of magic like that inside here again. This is where I work and live after all.” Danny told her. Then he went over to clean up the small mess made by the lightning bolt that Reala launched. “Oh, and you can start on those rolls whenever you want. Don’t worry about saving any for me or being polite. Just take care of your tummy first”
Reala was a bit confused about what he was talking about unless it was her sensitivity to pain that usually resulted in her using magic. She over toward where he was cleaning up the mess she made where she conjured a small ball of light which was strong enough to repair any damage she might have created. She also remembered he said she could eat, but she didn’t have the power right now to lift herself up yet. “Forgive my sensitivity toward pain and use this to repair any damage my random magic might have caused you.” She paused for a moment as she held out her hand which held a transparent golden ball of light. “Also, just curious? Why would you help someone you do not know?”
Danny stared at her for a few seconds in confusion “I...I don’t understand” was his answer “what does not knowing you have to do with anything? Well...I guess it does mean that I have to make a random guess as to what to make for you, but unless you have any kind of food allergy, that shouldn’t make a difference.” Taking the strange light ball from her, he said “thanks for this by the way” before going back over the damaged area and using it to repair it.
The light from the ball transformed into light which shot off in all directions until it lit up what was damaged and in a flash repaired anything that was broken or shattered making it look brand new as if nothing ever happened.
“Hmmm…” She said as she heard Danny ask her if she had any allergies to anything where she shook her head. She did though find it strange that he never asked for her name since that is what most people do when they find someone they don’t know. This boy was an exception which intrigued her interest. “I find it strange you haven’t asked my name or at least introduced yourself yet.”
“Oh!” Danny slapped himself in the face “silly me, I forgot all about that. That’s awfully rude of me.” After taking a quick look to check if everything was alright, he turned back to Reala. “My name is Danny” he told her. It was then that something occurred to him “Oh no! You’re too hurt to feed yourself aren’t you!? Stupid! I should have known” Rushing into the kitchen, he came out with a fork and a knife. “Here, let me feed you” he said before he cut of a piece of one of the rolls and speared it on the fork, holding it out to her.
“Danny, huh?” Reala paused for a moment as she tried to make sense of the distorted thoughts that were spiraling around in her mind. Everything was so cloudy and confusing for her and she was in a lot of pain. “I am Princess Reala Calthustruanua Primavalthera.” She said with a very weak introducing herself since she was not afraid to hide who she was.
“Huh?” She said surprised by the fact he was trying to feed her. Though she didn’t like the fact she was so powerless to take care of herself she muttered, Thank you.”
“A princess? I didn’t see that coming” Danny confessed as he kept feeding her “I never thought I would find a princess face down in the street with a nasty wound on her rib, but well...a lot of things have happened in my life that I never expected, so that’s nothing new.” He rambled more to himself then to her “but what were you even doing out there in the first place?”
“What am I doing here?” Reala said finding that a rather awkward question. She remembered she came with Melianth, but the person they were working under had disappeared. Since she was working for a secret organization she wouldn’t be able to reveal any details. So she decided she would have to come up with cover story that sounded sufficient enough. “I am here to see my older sister. Only to be attacked by a nasty monster that sent me flying and I was unconscious the whole time I was airborne so I don’t exactly know where I’m at.” She said since she couldn’t reveal at all what was going on since she didn’t want to alarm the boy. For someone who helped she did not like lying and since it was a time she was truly a damsel in distress she was grateful.
“Well, I found you outside out cold, and brought you in here.” Danny explained “but I haven’t heard anything about monsters in this city, so that’s pretty worrisome.” he said, despite not looking worried at all. “Although it makes the fact that you got off with just a wound on your ribs even more impressive.”
Reala looked at herself to realize that she was still transformed into her demigod state. Her face turned a bit red when a boy got a close up look at her body which showed quite a bit of skin from what she was wearing. Also her wings still lied drooped on the surface of the booth. “You didn’t see, did you?” She said as she was a bit embarrassed that she had not returned to normal yet.
Danny blinked twice in confusion “see...see what? There’s lots of things to see. You’re going to need to give me a noun before I can answer that.” Was his response ‘is this a girl thing?’ he wondered to himself ‘girls are weird’ was his final conclusion
“Ugh, you idiot… That’s not what I meant! Just look at what I’m wearing…” She paused for a moment before she finished that sentence as she was still embarrassed. “What am I saying!? I let you see what was underneath my armor when I allowed you…” She paused for a moment as she tried to muster up the strength to punish him, but she was too injured to do anything. “You pervert! Do you have no dignity as a male? How dare you look there without asking! And I was stupid enough to let you take advantage of me..” She said as she had enough strength to bring one of her hands across and slap Danny very hard across the face feeling like she had just been violated.
Poor Danny was so confused “but...I was just trying to dress your wound. If you couldn’t muster the energy to even feed yourself, then how could you disinfect and bandage your injury?” He asked as he held the part of his face that had just been attacked. “What does dignity have to do with first aid anyway? And how were you able to slap me like that when you couldn’t even feed yourself?”
“Nevermind!” Reala said irritated that he was being so confusing. She didn’t understand how a boy didn’t understand a girl’s boundaries though his clumsy methods did intrigue her a little. “Just let me sleep!” She answered as she immediately fell fast asleep.
Danny just scratched his head in confusion “um...okay?” Was really all he could say to that ‘girls make no sense at all. Why do they have to be so confusing?’ he thought to himself. As she fell asleep, Danny took the blanket he had brought down and put it over her, tucking her in. With that done, he went around the bakery to lock all the doors before he went up to his own bed to sleep.
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Down on the planet of Gaia, a giant symbol appeared in the sky beyond the clouds. A giant circle enclosing the face of a wolf. A second ring glowing with energy appeared around the edge and started to shrink, no focusing, on the center.
As it reached the middle, the ring became nothing more than a dot, like a star in a far off piece of space. And then, it began to grow and a pillar of light descended to the planet, surrounding the rune.
Within a blink of an eye, there was a dot in the sky, and now there was this pillar. The pillar of light faded just slightly slower than it appeared, the rune was then surrounded by some form of barrier, and the energy leaking out of it appeared to be moving else.
Just then, a figure appeared nearby, a Nekrian. He spoke quickly, "I am not here to harm you. If I figure right, if this thing explodes, cities will die. I am not going to let that happen."
Mithos was getting really tired off all of this. He was tired of people acting like he was some evil monster just because he didn’t know that the obvious weak spot was in fact very explosive...so he decided to take matters into his own hands. “Fine, I’ll handle this myself.” And with the rune still in hand, he flew up. Quickly managing to break through the roof, he continued on upwards as he made his way up to the atmosphere. The air had become thin, and it was hard to breathe all the way up there. With a mighty throw, he flung the rune up even further into the air. As it left his hands, the energy from him that was keeping it held together began to fade, and it exploded, hitting only him. Since it had been far enough away when it did blow up, he was only hit by a little bit, but it was enough to knock him out of his new form and send him flying back down to the ground.
“I don’t know whether you mortals are worth saving… Though a girl showed me that maybe not all of you are evil.” Stellvia said as she closed her eyes and enveloped everyone in the room in a protective light which would shield them from the effects of the dangerous energy. This was the first time Stellvia ever did anything nice for mortals who she had a strong hatred for. “Temporal Dispersion!” She finished as she let loose an enormous amount of of her own energy using the power within the Chrono Sphere to neutralize the energy in the room. Sure it didn’t save everyone, but at least this way casualties would remain at a minimum.
Miia was caught in surprise by what was going on. Not only did Stellvia use her power to preserve the very people she hated, but also a mysterious figure appeared who she could not identify let alone know who it was. She didn’t have any words for what was going on as she could only look on in complete surprise.
Ranathia was also caught in complete surprise, but looked in the sky to see Mithos falling. Sure she was angry with Mithos for many things; however, she also owed him a favor which she would repay. Using her magical force to levitate herself she propelled herself into the sky and caught Mithos who was falling in freefall. “I’m only doing this, because I owe you a debt of gratitude. Don’t get any ideas that I have forgiven you for what has happened.”
The rune was thrown toward the ship where it was pulled in. In seconds it exploded releasing a magnitude of energy into open space. The explosion was so intense that the ship literally just disintegrated not leaving a single piece of it to remain. A strange light appeared out of nowhere, another girl with a very sinister looking face. “So the fools do my dirty work for me? Perhaps there is use in you mortals after all. If I let you destroy the runes you will bring about you’re inevitable end!” She laughed as she disappeared right after the rune had disintegrated.
The Nekrian looked towards the sky, and simply seen a flash of light far off in space. A lone tear trailed down his face, but his face remained stoic.
Whizzle glanced around the room and towards the sky with a contemplative look, “Ok, that happened…” Behind him, Alice stirred awake, both from the pain she was feeling and the commotion around her. She was confused for finding herself lying on the floor and staring at the far above ceiling she was unfamiliar with. “Oh, you’re awake, can you move?” Whizzle said when he noticed Alice was awake.
The human girl’s eyes quickly focused onto Whizzle both confusion and question apparent in her gaze, “What happened? Why are you here?” she weakly said. She struggle to sat straight before flopped down on her back, being too tired and exhausted to even do the simple motion.
Once he was on the ground, Mithos got to his feet and brushed himself off. “Well...that could have been a lot worse.” He said more to himself than anyone else “at least on one died” he continued that line of thought. Then turning his attention to Ranathia, he said “you have my thanks, and you can consider us even now. I won’t force you to endure my company any longer.” Walking past Phalasia, he said to her “forgive me, but I need to rest for a bit. I don’t think I can maintain my composure around other people for much longer.” After that, he left in search of somewhere he could lie down.
“Stellvia, tell us about the runes.” Miia turned her attention away from everyone else wanting to know the full story about the runes. She knew everything that she had read in a book, but she remembered that someone told her that the runes were special, but didn’t know why.
Stellvia sighed since this was knowledge she thought was better off left out of the hands of mortals. She wanted to think that, but since the dye had been cast it was time to reveal what was so special about the runes and the impact they have. “I guess I have no choice but to tell you. The Chaos Runes were created when the Universe was being born. A long time ago the two most powerful runes that used to be one Sword and Shield did battle. Sword said it could cut through anything and Shield said it could block everything. The two tested their mettle where they collided exploding into the fragments that shattered from them which are called the Chaos Runes. The Chaos Runes are actually dark matter that make up the physical matrix of the Material Plane and act as pillars that empower the Chrono Sphere.” She paused for a moment because she had an idea that someone was about to interrupt her.
Ranathia was in even more shock when she learned that the runes were an important part of the Material Plane. It was like they were building blocks that made up its form. “Stellvia, are you telling us that the runes represent the important qualities of the cosmos?” Ranathia questioned as she wanted the goddess to answer her question.
“Yes, they represent the qualities of all existence. Power is a very important quality since it not only gives us strength, but also courage and the willpower to overcome adversity. Now that the Rune of Power has been lost, the Chrono Sphere barrier has weakened. This is the reason why I do not trust you mortals. You act on your instinct which is selfish reaction that can result in catastrophic ruin.” Stellvia said toward the group as she still remained in sight. She floated in the air while she examined the area and the devastation that was caused.
“That’s all because…” Miia paused as almost everyone turned their eyes at Mithos. Their stare was one that showed both pity and anger toward his actions.
“Exactly, his mortal drive toward being prideful brought damnation and ruin upon you all.” Stellvia nodded at her after all the others started staring at Mithos.
“Huh, so they’re that important?” Whizzle piped up before raising a hand as if he was in a classroom. “Question, wouldn’t you have something to reform the rune?”
Stellvia turned her attention toward Whizzle who she didn’t really like since she sensed he was too curious for his own good. Though he did ask her a question that was well within her own power to answer. “I’ll never understand mortals like you who are too curious for their own good. I will remind you that I will only answer questions that are the solutions to problems. Do not get any ideas that I will answer your questions on ancient races or ancient magicks. I don’t even know why I’m so driven to helping you mortals and your cause anyway...” She paused for a moment as she said that with sincerity before she shifted her tone back to normal. “Not all runes can be reformed so easily. The Rune of Power was actually one of many True Runes. The True Runes are much more fragile than regular runes so extreme force can damage them. They are a lot more powerful than regular runes.” She paused for a moment again as she contemplated what she was gleaning from the planet’s database which no one else was able to see, but found a lot of unknown materials that had yet to be discovered and then with doubt sighing she continued, “You dare ask me to waste my power while protecting everyone else to form a rune you mortals destroyed? How insulting, you mortals can make a new one yourselves. You brought this upon yourselves due to your curse I like to call curiosity. So you can remedy this problem on your own. I will at least provide assistance, but do not take me for granted!” She paused once again as her voice became a bit more calm where she continued, “I’m not even sure if there are the right materials on this planet to create another Rune of Power.”
“Eh, that’s fair,” Whizzle shrugged.
“As much as I’d like to stand up for Mithos…” Phalasia paused knowing he wasn’t completely to blame, but still it didn’t excuse his reckless behavior. Ranathia shook her head at Phalasia adding, “He’s not worth it, Phalasia. Do not stick up for someone who is always thinking about themselves and not others. If he truly desired to protect you he would have thought more rationally about his actions.” She walked away before Mithos would say something that would just annoy her even more. She wasn’t in the mood to listen to someone who probably felt sorry for themselves.
“Ranathia, where are you going?” Phalasia questioned as she didn’t know what to say in Mithos defense. There were just no words she could use that would ease everyone’s minds.
“I’m sorry, I can’t stand looking at your cousin right now. I know he’s going to say something like ‘I didn’t see you do anything! Don’t just blame me because it’s not my fault!’ which is useless conjecture that will just annoy me. I’m not interested in listening to mindless rambling.” Ranathia finished as she walked away from the others disappearing out of sight.
“I’m sorry no one else stuck around to at least thank you, sir.” Miia said toward the Nekrian who had appeared to help the group. “They all are grateful for what you did, but after what has happened today I don’t think anyone is in a thankful mood.”
“I dunno granny, it looks like seeing the explosion is his own reward judging from his expression there,” Whizzle interrupted.
The Nekrian turned towards the man, “I would choose your words more carefully around me. I have shot people for less reasons.” he said.
“Oh?” Whizzle raised an eyebrow. “I’m wrong? You sure fit the bucket for it though. Anyway your help is appreciated, things would have gone worse than that otherwise. I think, I’m not the precog here.”
The Nekrain sighed, “I won’t even presume to argue with you, I will just continue to observe the situation. It is the only thing that I can do for the moment. You have already managed to nearly destroy the universe, obviously someone must do damage control.”
“How noble of you,” Whizzle smirked. He then noticed that someone was trying to draw his attention by pulling at his pants. Looking down, he saw Alice who had crawled despite her exhaustion. “Oh geeze, what are doing trying to move around?”
Whizzle crouched down to listen what Alice was trying to say, “You haven’t… answered ...question,” she drawled. Even so, her desire to know the answer of why he was there was obvious in her eyes.
Scratching his head, Whizzle looked at the girl, “I think that would be something for later, you should rest now.” Hand touching her forehead, Whizzle cast out a spell to make Alice fell
asleep.
The stranger who appeared from nowhere just scuffed, “Don’t confuse self-preservation with charity.”
“Self-preservation, you say?” Stellvia paused as she found that an interesting choice of words. “Self-preservation is what bends your mortal will toward being selfish. It is such a selfish trait about you mortals which you use to judge everything else with. You decide the fate of nature yet you think you are above it dictating whether it lives or dies all for your self-preservation. I asketh of thou this, what gives you the authority to decide the verdict of other living things? You deceive yourselves into thinking that you’re gods when you’re not.” Stellvia answered as she didn’t really care what his response to what she just said was. In her heart, no mortal could ever be trusted.
“You!” She turned her attention immediately away from the unknown visitor turning it directly on Whizzle. “What do you think you’re doing there!?” She questioned toward Whizzle as a more fierce and deadly look overshadowed her face.
The goddess’ question was loud enough that it interrupted his casting. With a sigh, Whizzle instead ruffled Alice’s hair, much to the girl’s weak protest. “Preserving the last of her normal life,” Whizzle simply said without turning. “Though your disagreement is apparent.”
Alice stared at her adopted brother with disbelief. What did he meant with normal? What was he hiding? Just what did he know? “Tell me…” she insisted.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Whizzle looked towards the rest of the people remaining in the room, silently asking them to be the one who did it because he didn’t want to. “...No takers?”
“Listen to me, Alice and listen well.” Stellvia said though she wasn’t very pleased with Whizzle hiding things from the girl. She needed to know the truth and gravity of the situation. “The True Rune of Power has been destroyed and a pillar that maintains the Material Plane has been destroyed. The True Runes act as a medium to maintain The Dividing Line which prevents all three planes from assimilating each other. They represent qualities within the physical matrix of the Material Plane.”
Alice frowned still, that didn’t answer her question on why Whizzle was there! Only that something important happened while using words she knew is important but not why! “But… he’s just a mage…” she spoke, trying to rationalizing a reason.
Mia looked over toward Stellvia since she had a great idea. She knew this idea might interest the deity into helping their cause. “Lady Stellvia.” She paused for a moment only to have Stellvia interrupt her and tell her that calling her Stellvia was fine. “I have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition, huh? That’s a first from you mortals. Usually you’re only thinking of yourselves. I will hear you out.” She answered Miia as she turned her full undivided attention to her.
“If we help you understand mortals better would you be willing to help us understand spirits better? I think we could both help each other and this means we would be doing you a favor too and not just imposing all our problems on you.” Miia suggested toward Stellvia hoping that the powerful spirit would agree to the offer.
“Let me get this right? You are asking that we help each other?” She paused for a moment as she put her down onto her hand to think it over. “Do you honestly think I would be so easily persuaded that you mortals wouldn’t be greedy? I am not convinced that you mortals will help
me. How am I not sure that you will deceive me like you do others just to get what you want and preserve you pathetic kind?” Stellvia said with doubt in her mind. She wasn’t really willing to place her faith in mortals. Not after what they did to her in the past. “That uncivil one there.” She paused as she directed her attention toward Whizzle pointing her finger right at him. “Suggested that it was fair to use my power for your selfish ambition of self-preservation. Why should I take your word for your part of the agreement when I know how devious you mortals can be by stabbing those who you use for your own selfish purpose in the back. I am not a pawn for your foolish games!”
“Oh wow, self-absorbed much?” said uncivil one spoke up. “I said ‘that’s fair’ for ‘we caused this therefore we should fix it ourselves.’ But it looks like you didn’t hear it that way, maybe next you won’t even allow us to fix the Rune because you can’t trust us with the knowledge on how to make one? Yet you’re willing to throw an innocent, and a weak one at that, in the midst of it all,” He said, gesturing towards Alice. “Then again, you’re a goddess, you have all the reasons for being selfish.”
Hearing Miia’s suggestion and Stellvia’s retort, Alice remembered that she promised to help… even if she can’t seem to remember who she promised it to. That… that’s more important than her no good brother, she could always pester him for explanation later. She gave her brother’s leg a tug and Whizzle looked down to meet her gaze. Sighing, he crouched down to put Alice’s arm over his shoulders before picking her up, leaning her weight against one shoulder. “Right, so this stupid one here doesn’t seem to care and is willing to jump in anyway,” Whizzle grumbled.
Stellvia chose not to answer Whizzle’s remark about her being selfish. She wasn’t about to listen to a fool who destroyed the natural balance of nature and the natural surroundings above them for their own selfish personal gain. As much as the goddess wanted to say something, she decided to remain silent until she faded away into disappearance.
“I suppose, I better go look for my sister.” Miia said as she turned toward one of the doors in the coronation room and ran out it in an attempt to look for her sister.
___________________________________________________________________________
“Nathan? Can you feel that?! I feel like something bad is happening inside!” Meira said toward Nathan as she stood up from the grass as she felt the enormous amount of energy being released by the rune which was distorting the environment around her. “What is going on?”
“No idea” Nathan replied. “I really hope it isn’t one of the bombs that guy who had you captured left behind. No one would tell me anything about them, so I’m honestly not sure what happened to them. Then again...I’m not sure he could get ahold of something with this much power and sneak it in the castle”
Meira was alarmed when she saw something get sent flying from the castle skyward. It looked like a person, but she wasn’t sure who it was. “Did you see that just now?” Meira questioned toward Nathan since she wanted to know if he saw that person she saw get blown away.
“Yeah...not sure what that was just now though” Nathan answered. “I’m starting to get worried. I thought everything was already over...looks like I was wrong. Just my luck” Nathan sighed. “Do you think we should go check it out, or would you rather wait and see what else happens?”
Meira saw Ranathia walk outside the castle and she had a very foul look on her face. Meira was curious to why Ranathia looked so upset yet also worried at the sametime. “Hey Ranathia, what’s with the face?” She questioned as she tried to get Ranathia’s attention.
“Oh.” Ranathia mumbled as Meira managed to catch her attention. She walked over toward Meira and Nathan only to say something bizarre to the two of them. “So you two are out here alone?” Saying in a tone which gave the impression they were lovers as she threw the Lovers tarot card at them that she took out of her pocket.
“WWWWWHHHHHHAAAAATTTTTT!!!!!???? It’s nothing like that!” Meira said in surprise as her face turned bright red. “Do not make such weird judgment!”
Nathan rolled his eyes at their antics ‘girls.’ Picking up the card that Ranathia had thrown at them, he asked “so...is there a reason why you were just carrying this around in your pocket or something?” Nathan didn’t bother to question Ranathia about what was going on inside because he both realized that whatever it was, it was over, and he doubted that she would answer him, or even acknowledge him.
“NATHAN!” Meira yelled at him as she stood up clenching her fist. What Ranathia said just aroused the thought that he was taking advantage of her weak mental state. She jumped backward then prepared for his punishment!. “WIND DRAGON BLAST!” She said in fury still embarrassed as she brought her palm forward hard which blasted a massive gust of wind that took the form of green energy shaping into the head of a dragon that she sent at Nathan. She was sure the blast would send him flying into a wall which would relieve her of her current embarrassment.
Meira’s choice of spell was really a poor one, since it stirred instincts inside of Nathan that had been asleep for a long time. All at once, his arms changed, becoming scaly and thicker, while a set of wings shot out of his back, ripping his shirt and causing it to fall off. Crossing his arms in front of him, he took Meira’s spell head on, and used his racial strength to push it away, impacting into the ground. A second later, his mind caught up with his body, and he realized what he had just done, what they had just seen. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” he screamed “Don’t look at me!” Unwilling to see the looks on their faces, he covered his face with his hands “Don’t look at me! I’m...I’m a monster!!!” With that said, Nathan took flight towards the only place he felt any kind of security; his home.
“Huh?” Meira looked on confused not understanding at all what had happened. She had never seen Nathan in that form before, but Ranathia didn’t look at all surprised.
“I knew this might happen…” Ranathia sighed as she engulfed her hand with a very dark form of energy then conjured up what Meira had just used then combined it with another attribute to form a more powerful attack. “ICE GUST DRAGON!” Ranathia sighed as she shot the blast of wind and ice combination that took the form of two dragons intertwined at Nathan to freeze him into a block of ice so that she could revert his transformation using a forbidden magic that she hadn’t used in years. “Don’t fight it, Nathan. I’m a lot stronger than you are and even though I used up a lot of my power earlier from that intruder I still have enough to bring you down!” She said as she made sure the blast would hit Nathan dead center where she prepared the other spell with her other hand. With him frozen in a block of ice she would use her telekinesis to bring him back to solid ground.
“...So you knew…” Nathan lamented. It was really disappointing to him, since he thought he had been doing such a good job of hiding his heritage from everyone else. The idea that he had been fooled into thinking that was really disheartening. “Fine...just make it quick. I’d appreciate it if you just cut my head off really quickly. I doubt I’d feel that”
Ranathia froze Nathan in a solid block of ice from head to toe so he could not get away. She then placed her index finger toward the block of ice as a very strange glyph with ancient writings on it appeared below her feet. She then converted the rest of the dark energy on her arm into energy which was used to incase Nathan in a six sided glyph cube. Closing her eyes and muttering words of the Ancients she then said at the end of her incantation, “Power Seal!” The cube transformed into a glyph that wrap itself around Nathan’s body, but then disappeared as it turned him back to normal where it vanished. “For your own good, I’ve sealed the power inside you. Don’t worry, the Power Seal comes with a trigger and when the right time comes the seal will undo itself.”
“Ranathia, what was that?” Meira questioned as she just saw what she thought was a dragon appear then disappear after she used her magic. She then continued with another question which she first directed at Ranathia, “what kind of magic did you just use now? I’ve never seen a spell like that one?” She said still in complete confusion over what is going on.
“Are you okay, Nathan?” She said as Nathan was still on his knees in his usual humanoid form after Ranathia reversed his transformation.
Nathan was in shock. He hadn’t known that his Dragonite forms could be sealed away. He was also stunned that Ranathia only did that. He couldn’t understand why, so he wracked his brain for an answer, and he didn’t like what came to him ‘a collar. She just leashed me like I’m some kind of animal! For my own good she says, hah! I bet this seal comes with something else to keep me from acting out, like maybe something that can electrocute me when she wants.’ Turning his attention to Meira, he answered her “no...no I’m not okay. I haven’t been okay for half my life, but now I’m even less okay now than I normally am.”
Ranathia walked over then slapped him very hard across the face. She was tired of him whining and making excuses and the fact she had to provide the energy to maintain his seal made her think even less of him when she saw him as being selfish. “Stop whining! Do you think I want this!? God, you’re really stupid. In order for me to maintain the seal I have to provide my own energy to stabilize it. But you didn’t know that, did you?” She said before she walked away in disgust.
“Ranathia, what do you mean?” Meira questioned because if that is what she thought she meant then that means Ranathia’s life would be in danger if Nathan pushed himself too hard. She remembered someone talking about the spell that Ranathia used and how dangerous it could be on the user.
Wow, what a bitch. She seals away his powers, and when he complains about it, she slaps him and calls him stupid. ‘Just great, I can’t believe I’m at the mercy of someone like that.’ Nathan snorted ‘if she really didn’t want this, then why the hell is she doing it!?’ Nathan was never really fond of her before, but now he outright hated her. “I’m going home, I’m afraid that if I see your aunt again today, I won’t be able to control my temper.” He told Meira, before he began to walk away, back to his home. Meira didn’t say a word as Nathan and Ranathia both walked away. Even if she wanted to say something, she didn’t know where to begin. Maybe she should leave them alone to cool down for awhile.