Broken Wings

A Riviera Fiction by OperationJonny

This fiction takes place a few years after Ein defeats Hector, and then departs with Fia on his own adventure with her, leaving behind a heartbroken Serene. A strange turn of events leads a normal unassuming day beginning with a stroll through the forest into a day fraught with mysteries and unanswered questions.

Serene walked down the paths of Ellendia with a resounding sigh. "Why'd he have to leave with stupid Fia?" She asked herself, with a look of discontention in her eyes. She scowled and turned her eyes skyward. "Maybe he'll come back and change his mind?" She asked herself, sounding hopeful.

She scoffed. "Pfft, why should I wait for him?! I'm an ARC, dammit!" She said assertively to herself, but her burst of enthusiasm faded quickly. She was an Arc. The last Arc. She had to keep her race living on, but the man who had her heart had run away with another chick. She stopped at a stump, and sat down, leaning on her scythe which she had removed from the strap on her back that held it.

"If only I could forget how to love him..." She said. From behind her, she heard a rustle. As she was deep in thought, she didnt seem to hear the noise from behind her. Suddenly, a demon mage and gladiator snuck up behind Serene.

"Well, what do we have here? It's the legendary Serene of Arc, who fought with the bastard Ein against all demons." The Gladiator said, his gladius' edge at Serene's throat. She scowled. She was a seasoned fighter, but with a blade pressed this closely to her throat, she couldn't do much.

"What should we do, Saeron?" The Gladiators said from within his dark helmet. The azure-headbanded mage tapped the cover of his spellbook. "Well, she is quite cute for an Arc... don't you agree, Toro?" Saeron said as he began to remove his navy blue cloak.

Toro nodded with a devilish chuckle as he disarmed the now terrified Serene. "W-what are you doing!?" She demanded, trying to cover her fear. Toro began forcefully removing her overcoat. "We're doing what demons do best... defile." He said as he held his blade at her throat still while throwing her to the ground.

"Can I have the first round?" Toro asked. Saeron nodded. "By all means, you are the one who spotted her after all." Toro was delighted by this remark. Having removed Serene's overcoat, there was only her tight leather suit that she wore for maxium mobility in battle in Toro's way. Saeron stood off to the side, sitting on the stump that Serene had been previously sitting on.

Toro licked his lips in anticipation as he moved his blade from her neck to the color of her leather suit, to begin cutting it off and begin his desecration of the poor girl. "NO!" Serene shouted, but as she went to spring to her feet, she felt an oppressive force slam her to the hard earth.

"Uh uh uh, be a good girl and allow Toro some fun. You've killed so many of his and my kin, don't you think we deserve this?" He asked, and Serene looked to Saeron incredulously. "Are you guys freaking insane!? You kill people mindlessly and you blame it on me for killing your kin in return!?"

With those words Saeron held up a hand and Toro stopped his slow removal of the leather suit. He had made an incision in the suit from the collar down to the center of the chest, nearly exposing her. "Yes, I do blame you. And if you speak another word of insult towards us, we will make this more painful than it will have to be." He said in a threatening tone. Serene's eyes began to water as Saeron told Toro to continue.

She squinted her eyes shut and hoped for it to be over soon.

Ein...

"HURRGH!" She heard, as she felt some warm liquid spatter across the width of her exposed chest. She quickly opened her eyes, and saw a pair of claws protruding from the chest of Toro. They then began to move up and down with each claw and Toro shouted in anguish. The claws then removed themselves and a man threw Toro to the ground.

Serene looked in disbelief at the person who had saved her. Was it...? Ein!?

No. This wasn't Ein. This man had... wings? A pair of large white wings were a part of this man's back, and his hair was a sandy brown, and his eyes an intense gray. His face bore a serious expression.

"Leave it to demons to not know how to treat a lady." He said, with a scowl. Saeron jumped to his feet, and Serene dashed to her feet as Saeron's spell wore off as his attention broke off of her and onto the newcomer. Was he an angel from Asgard? Why would an angel come to Riviera?

She grabbed her scythe and overcoat and dashed away from the duo as speedily as her legs and wings would propel her. The two remained staring at one another, as Serene escaped. "Good, now that the girl is out of the way and safe, I won't have to hold back." The man said and stood at ready for battle. Saeron's face contorted as he began to laugh insanely.

"You don't even know what you're getting into... angel." He said, speaking the last word with utter contempt. The man who killed his partner remained silent. "I'm getting into a fight with a weak mage." He said, and Saeron laughed even more insidiously and held up his hand. Within the palm of his hand, was a dark mark, an evil sigil.

The man's resolve didn't falter. "That's a nice tat." He said, with a slight smirk." Saeron grinned maniclly. "This is a sigil is the result of touching a remnant of the great Hector, the greatest evil of all." He said, and the man's eyes showed concern.

If this demon is speaking the truth, he's bearing power beyond his comprehension. If not, he's basically dog food... The man thought to himself. Saeron sensed his disbelief. "Don't believe me? Fine, allow me to show you." He said, as he snapped open his book and with an elaborate motion of his hand, snapped his thumb and middle finger together.

The ground began to quiver as dark magic began to emanate from the demon mage's mouth as he spoke his incantation. Numerous magic circles began to appear around the man and the demon mage. The man became nervous. "This isn't good..." He said, and he charged at the mage, hoping to interrupt his spell.

As he neared him, a charred black skeleton erupted from the shadows and landed a slash across the man's chest. The man reeled back, blood begin to trickle from his chest, as the blade's tip only barely grazed his flesh. Saeron smiled mischieviously at his rival as around nearly twenty skeletons of high calibur were summoned to do Saeron's bidding.

"So, do you want to die a nameless man, or shall you tell me the name of the Angel who I'm about to slaughter?" Saeron asked arrogantly, casually flipping through his tome. The man laughed. "You've got it all wrong, pal. I was going to ask you if you planned on dying without knowing who it was who killed you." He said, but he was bluffing. He doubted his ability to take on this many opponents.

Saeron chuckled. "However you want to slice the meat, it'll still taste the same." He said, and the man laughed, doubting himself. "My name is Elleron." He said, and Saeron smiled, with a mock bow, his long light blue hair falling into his eyes.

"I am Saeron. Prepare to die." He said and with a snap of his fingers, the skeletons converged on the Asgardian. Elleron smiled indignantly, with an edge of remorse. Well, he'd have wanted me to do this... although he'd probably expect me to escape at this point. Too bad I'm in no position to. I need to buy that girl some time. Elleron thought as he launched a blow to intercept a skeleton whose blade was about to cut him.

Serene sat at the base of a tree, far away from the place of what had happened, crying hysterically. She almost experienced the one thing girls her age feared most. Desecration. With demons, nonetheless! What would she have done if she bore a demon as a child!? Serene was in hysterics as she cried, holding her scythe and overcoat tightly to her self.

Wait. What was she doing?! "I'm acting like such a wimp! What would Ein think of me if he saw me crying like a little baby!?" She said to herself, aggressively wiping tears from her violet eyes. She donned her overcoat. "He'd be disappointed in me. He'd still fight for me, being so kind... but I shouldn't be dependant on anyone! I'm supposed to be strong to impress him!" She said, rising to her feet. She was going to go back, and she was going to aid the man who had rescued her in the first place.

He deserved that much from her at least. She was probably stronger than him. She still had the scythe she had used alongside of Ein in the final battle against Hector and his devilry, so she'd be plenty fine against those weakling demons.

With her renewed confidence, she charged back into the fray to aid the man who she owed her dignity.

Back at the battlefield, Elleron was slowly losing the fight. The skeletons showed no signs of slowing down, and each slash he made with his claws only served to send them reeling back, to only come back fighting twice as hard. He had managed to down five of them so far using his Overdrive, and he was heavily wounded and his energy was fading quickly.

Another leapt at him and he caught it's wrist with one arm, and his other thrust his claws at the creature's skull, to crush and destabilize the beast. Without its skull, they were completely disoriented, and their killing capacity lowered nearly by half. With a fierce throw, he launched the very same skeleton he crushed the skull of at another skeleton that was charging at him.

Those two were momentarily out of the way. Another three were charging at him now. With a swift roundhouse kick, he knocked one five feet back, and with a spinning uppercut, he destroyed another skeleton's skull. "SAVAGE ANGEL!" He shouted, as his claws burst with light and in a frenzy of slashes, he reduced the skeleton before him to dust. Turning, another skeleton was about to land a deadly blow, but in a flash of slashes, the skeleton was eviscerated in the barrage of lightning fast strikes.

Elleron was panting now. Eleven skeletons were either dead or unable to fight against him. Saeron smiled. "Bravo, angel. It's a pity you're already tired and I could go another thirty rounds of this fun. But alas, I must end this now." He said, as he snapped his fingers, and about six or seven skeletons appeared around Elleron.

"Seize the foolish Asgardian." Saeron ordered nonchalantly. They did so, grabbing him by his neck, arms, wings, waist and legs. Saeron laughed hysterically. "Look at what position you're in now. You're in the palm of my hands. Tell me Elleron, were you taught about Ragnarok, in which your assinine gods fought against us innocent demons, to annihilate us from the realm?" Saeron said, and Elleron laughed.

"You demons aren't innocent, you're scum." He said, with a weak laugh. Saeron glared at him. "Break a bone in each of his wings." He said simply, and the skeletons grinned deviously as the ones grasping his wings took pleasure in seeing the look of terror on his face. "No, what the hell is wrong with you!?... AAUUUGHHH!" He shouted in pain as the skeletons broke a single bone in each of his wings.

"Now be quiet as teacher teaches you what truly happened." Saeron said. Elleron lowered his head. "Ow..." He said with a weak laugh. Saeron disregarded his remark. "We demons were a peaceful species, living and minding our own buisness in Utgard. All was well until you Asgardians deemed us a threat because we threated your place as "Perfect" beings. So you started a so called "Holy War" with us, because we could've overthrown you. The gods and their people didn't like that. So, they slaughtered us, robbed us of our power, our dignity and our place in Utgard. You SCUM sealed us away in this place, Riviera. And here, with the remnants of Hector's power, I will seek out the other Remnants, and take our place in Utgard, Asgard, and the rest of the realms as ours!" He said, with hysteric laughter.

Elleron began laughing with him. "You're a fucking loony, you know that?" Elleron said. "You won't be able to take the world over. The Grim Angels, the angels of Asgard, the gods, the sprites, everyone and everything will stand in your way. You stand less of a chance than anyone of taking over anything." Elleron said, with a smirk of defiance on his face.

Saeron looked at him with a deadly silence. "You really want to die painfully, huh?" Saeron asked. Elleron chuckled. "I'll die the slowest, most painful death as long as I die for what I believe in." He said, and Saeron smiled. "How quaint. You really make me sick. I'll rob you of your dignity as your ancestors did mine. You'll be my first tribute to my conquest of the three realms." He said, with a pause.

"Break every bone in his wings, and then cut him slowly until he bleeds his life out." Saeron said, unamused as he sat on the tree stump, watching his minions gleefully cackle as they played out their master's commands. "KEKEKEKE." They all cackled as with a snap and a pop, they deformed and tore flesh and feather from poor Elleron's wings.

Serene ran as fast as she could back towards the site of where the battle had started. A few minutes later, when she arrived, found numerous skeletons surrounding Elleron, cutting him all over his body after having completely ruined his wings.

Serene stood, paralyzed with horror. The pristine white wings of her savior were now crimson stained and ruined, misshapen and deformed. An angel sacraficed their wings for her. She felt a fury boiling within her, as she swung her scythe in an arc, holding it out before herself.

"SERENE ABSOLUTE!" She shouted, as her scythe burst into an azure aura and with a single swing, sent out an immense energy. Elleron turned to the girl he had saved, shocked that she bore such power. He chuckled. Such is to be expected of his comrade...

The wave of energy washed over him, but didn't harm him. He fell from the skeleton's grasp as a soothing chill coated his body and numbed his pain. The intense burning pain in his wings and the hot blood flowing from the gashes cooled over and he felt nothing. Soon, his mind too faded into the bright coldness and he fell into the bright void, losing all feeling and thought.

Serene stood as she watched one of her most powerful techniques tear apart the skeletons as unseen sycthe blades tore them apart at high speeds. Finally, they all exploded into small pieces as the final burst of ice tore them asunder.

She turned to Saeron. "You'll pay for this, you piece of shit." She said and he laughed, holding up his hand to show her his sigil of dark power. Serene, not caring and fueled with wrath ignored his oncoming speech and dashed at him at full speed. With a single slash, she tore a gash in his chest.

"What...?" He asked himself as he reeled backwards. "DIE!" Serene shouted as she launched numerous swift arcs at the man, cutting him every which way as he tried to dodge and protect his vitals. Every dodge proved futile, as she merely dashed into a new position to cut his vulnerable spots, and every time he tried to protect his weak spots with his arms, her scythe's blade cut deep enough to make up for being unable to strike at his vulnerabilities.

He managed to get a lucky blast of magic off at her, sending her sliding backwards a few feet, and allowing him a few moments of reproach from her hellish onslaught.

"WHAT ARE YOU!?" He shouted in anger as his life flowed from his wounds quickly. He was too weak from blood loss to even begin healing the myriad of wounds she had gifted his body. "I'm Serene the Arc, and I'm seriously pissed at you for what you've done. Get ready to repent for what you've done." She said, twirling her scythe. He laughed maniclly.

"Even if you kill me..." He began saying, and his sentence was interrupted by Serene lodging her scythe's blade through his chest cavity in a vicious uppercut. "...the Remnant will live on... in you." He said, and she looked confused, but didn't feel like pondering the meaning of his words. Instead, she focused her energy into a finishing move. In the blink of an eye, he was transformed to ice on her scythe's edge.

With a quick twist of her blade, Saeron and his plan of world domination was shattered. She noticed though, as the ice fell against her, one of the ice pieces were black. When that piece of ice touched the skin of her exposed chest, it melted and burnt a strange symbol into her.

"What the hell...?" She asked herself nervously, looking at the odd sigil. It didn't matter, if it was some sort of last second curse, she'd just tough it out. She walked over to the fallen Elleron, covering her mouth with her hand. She caused this to happen to him for being so careless. She shouldn't have walked out so far from Elendia.

She picked him up, and began rushing back to Elendia. She was going to make sure he got medical attention. She refused to let him die on her account. "I'm so sorry... now you're a broken angel, and it's all my fault." She said somberly to the unconscious Elleron.