Disciple of Zero
Verse 0: Remembrance
He felt two things when consciousness phased him back into feeling. The expected grogginess of just waking up, and the feeling of a plush bed beneath him. Aside from those situations, everything in his head was fuzzy. Not a thing to remember at all. All except a name: Nil.
"Where am I anyway?" His eyes cracked open, revealing that above him was a deep red canopy, and glancing around, a red silk screen surrounded the large bed he was outright sinking into. The bed was soft enough it was actually a bit hard to move off of it too. But, kicking off the equally plush bed sheet covering him, he threw the curtain aside to see more. The room was itself warm, giving off a homely air in the dark, well kept wood of the walls, and his feet brushed down onto soft, white carpet. All around him, right up to the ceiling, the walls were lined with filled to the brim bookshelves, every book on them being all sorts of sizes and colors.
"Weird." Standing up and stepping over, his hand brushed against a nearby armoire. The mirror quickly caught his reflection, letting him see his appearance in full, at least from the waist up. His face was thin and somewhat soft in looks, skin pale as marble with only the faint flush of blood providing any color to him. His hair was also pure white, falling to his chin at longest and messy in the manner of just having nothing but fingers run through the comb it, while the cloud colored strands fell around and between eyes a bright, pure colored shade of blue, over his left eye being a faded scar that left a nick in the eyebrow.
He ran a hand over his chin, feeling not even a hint of stubble, just smooth and clean, quite like the rest of his body actually. Not feeling like standing around naked was too good an idea as well, and with the armoire right there, he chose to investigate. Weirdly, it was like the clothes were for him anyway. Randomly grabbing some things, he threw them on. A black jacketed with elegant patterns stitched at the coughs and tails of it in lighter black thread, a simple white shirt, and dark pants. Also in the armoire that he pulled out were fingerless gloves he slid over his hands, and he found a pair of black boots not far off, putting those over his feet as he went to the door.
He did take the time to look over the room more. It was rather large now that he was past the bed, but still clearly just a bedroom. At the other end of the room was a large, comfortable looking couch and a table with even more books stacked in front of it.
"Whatever. But that name… Nil… is it mine? Has to be." Deciding it was, Nil opened the door, wincing a bit as harsh light met his eyes immediately. When he passed the door, the upward gaze he had showed him a clear glass ceiling above him, showing a bright blue sky with sparse, thick white clouds, the sun high and beaming directly down through it. Lowering his eyes, the sudden blinding from the light faded and revealed to him the rest of the location.
The space he'd entered was huge. Counting up, he saw that above him from this foyer were several more floors from the grand staircase that went out before him, numbering five floors in total, while at the end of the first set of stairs was a massive, ornate door covered to the brim in engravings of all sorts of things, a constant motif on it being a peculiar flower that ticked at Nil's mind.
"Is this… some kind of library?" Nil's voice echoed a bit in the grand hall as he walked out, his boots moving over soft carpet that was spread over fine wood floors. Each wall was, just like the bedroom he'd left, lined to the brim with filled book cases. "And what the hell is up with the glass ceiling?"
"Ah, so, you're finally awake." A girl's voice made Nil turn to his right. Just across the way, seated at a table and surrounded by stacks upon stacks of books, with a large travel bag near her seat, was a girl in simple white and black clothes with brown hair and green eyes behind rimless glasses. Something was familiar about the girl, who was currently turning the pages of a book merely marked with an "A" engraved into a flower shaped plate on the front. "You at least remember your name, I hope? Getting you here was a rather trying thing to do. I hope it didn't cause much damage."
"Nil. That's what I remember. Nothing else." Nil answered, approaching the girl, who sighed in relief. As he approached, Nil raised a brow as he noticed the book she was holding was completely empty, the pages lacking so much as a blot of ink on them. Why was she flipping through it then? "Where is this place… and who the hell are you?"
"Easy answers. My name is Accord. I'm a Recorder, an android who, well… I suppose I watch over time and how it branches." The girl answered, though that only added on more questions about her. "And as for this place, it's known as the Library. Right now, we're in the Foyer. I suppose you could call this room the "hub" of the place. It's much bigger than just this."
"That answers two questions and adds a whole lot more… and why are you reading a blank book?" Nil asked, Accord clapping the book shut.
"That is an excellent question. Though despite how it looks, it's actually not empty. Though right now, it only has one chapter." Accord opened the book again, opening to the first page, which bore elaborate ink art of a flower, and the words 'Verse 0.' "The book begins here. You said you don't remember anything right? Well, what if I told you starting to read this book would help you remember more?"
"… huh?"
"Just give it a read and see for yourself." Accord handed the book to Nil, who turned it around in his hand, giving a cautious look to Accord. With a shrug, Nil turned the page of the book… and that was when it began glowing, the light getting brighter and brighter until it outright enveloped him within it…
Long ago, in an age tarnished by endless conflict, five beautiful goddesses descended upon the land. The goddesses sang mystical songs that restored peace and harmony to our broken world. The people began to worship these holy songstresses, and came to refer to them as "Intoners". Thanks to the efforts of these Intoners, the chaos of war became a distant memory. And as a result, mankind enjoyed an age of sweet reverie, basking in the newfound light and beau—
A sword shot through the writer's chest, interrupting his monologue as his pen clattered to the ground, blood dripping from the old man's mouth as he stared down at the blade protruding out of him, and he looked back to see that the black blade was held by none other than Nil, dressed in black attire and with a hood over his head from the heavy coat on him, an eyepatch covering his left eye.
"Wait… no way, Partition? Shit, I didn't recognize you. You aged pretty badly in a few months." Nil spoke wryly with sarcastic amusement in his words, the old man coughing as his eyes filled with shock.
"N-Nil!? How… you… you died back then… didn't you?" The old man spluttered, Nil shaking his head, lowering his hood so his hair fell loose, and removing the eyepatch, the item falling to the ground, and the old man's eyes went wide as he saw that the blue of Nil's left eye was marked by a black, ornately shaped zero. "So… you really are… that's why you…"
"Sorry, but rest in peace… though I'm pretty sure hell is waiting for you." With a swipe, Nil ripped his blade free of the body, blood splattering out and across the wall behind him.
"Wait, how the heck did you know that guy?" Nil turned as he wiped his blade off on the body, approaching from the other room being a girl who didn't look any older than Nil, someone who couldn't be more than seventeen. The girl was equally pale as Nil, her white hair having a vaguely pink tint to it. Her clothes were white in color and rather exposing, not leaving much to imagine about her incredibly slender body's surprisingly good curves. And over her shoulder was a long, white sword with a black edge, the sword ornately decorated with flower designs.
"Remember when you had me tailing the Intoners for a while? This guy was a mage serving one of the old lords of the land. Traveled with us for a while." Nil said, jamming his sword into a sheathe at the back of his waist. "Probably better off dead anyway, take a look, he was chained up to the table."
Nil's foot brushed against a nearby chain, the girl just humming and stepping near the window, pulling aside and looking across the city before them.
"So Zero, how much of a mess did you make on the way here huh?" Nil asked, Zero closing the curtain and stepping back from the window. "I've got a bad feeling… what did you do?"
And before anything else could be said, cannons could be heard firing, and the room was soon blasted away by an explosion, smoke filling what was left, Nil coughing as he waved it aside, though Zero was quick to leap out, and Nil let out a groan.
"Gagh… here we go again." Nil growled, rubbing his eyes and following Zero out, swinging himself off of a protruding rod from the wall, landing and driving his sword through the chink of one soldier's armor, and when others tried to strike at him, Nil raised his left arm, flames kicking up from his palm and flying back across his arm, a ball of fire being released from his hand and blasting through the oncoming soldiers with ease. With that done, Nil ripped his sword free and flipped to avoid another, descending from the upper pathway and landing next to Zero, who was standing among a slew of bodies and blood.
"Michael." Zero spoke, and from nowhere, the soldiers above the two were blown away by a gout of crimson fire, and through the smoke and embers, a dragon landed behind the two, fire broiling at his maw as he roared, "It's time… to put an end to the Intoners."
"Then let's get down to business." Nil spun his sword while fire licked across his free hand, smirking as more soldiers arrived, Michael taking off as the two began fighting again.
"Your graves beckon, apostates!"
"Die you damned traitorous Intoner!"
"I might take you seriously if your voice wasn't quivering!" Zero scoffed, one slash being all she needed to kill the soldiers, Nil skidding past and cutting down several more, flicking the blood off of his sword, Zero dashing through the next set of doors.
"Well that's one issue with these guys! They're a bunch of quivering weaklings!" Nil snapped, blocking two swords and sending the soldiers flying, another ball of fire launching from his left hand and incinerating them in seconds, Zero taking the chance as other soldiers screamed in terror at the sight to lunge at them. "And why the hell are there so many here already?!"
"I got impatient!" Zero snapped, looking back at Nil as her sword left another set of soldiers.
"Is that what you were doing after we split up!? Getting every damn soldier in the city to follow you?!" Nil yelled out as he also swung his hand and set the area near them ablaze to drive off the soldiers following them along the path, Zero just rolling her eyes. "I am 100% of your impulse control aren't I?"
"Michael! Take em' out!" Zero yelled, swiping her sword down from above.
"As you wish." Michael rumbled, his voice reverberating as did most dragons, sweeping down and blasting the soldiers that were above the Intoner and her partner into nothing more than ashes.
"That's one method of mass slaughter." Nil hummed, kicking a soldier off and leaving a nasty dent in the armor, casually sweeping his dagger past another's neck, the wound spraying blood all over the road.
"Why is an Intoner killing her own?!" One soldier snapped, and Michael hummed.
"Shall we tell them? They seem genuinely curious." Michael quipped.
"Why bother? They're about to die anyway!" Zero responded, a spinning slash bisecting more enemies, the walls of the steps she was on splattering with red, Nil then shooting past and grabbing another soldier, stabbing him and tossing the body to his comrades.
"The end of the world is nigh…"
"They… they told me Intoners were supposed to be peaceful!"
"What kind of crap are they teaching you people these days?!" Zero growled, cutting down the shrieking soldiers, but this time with a much harder slash as her expression grew angrier.
"Obviously some bullshit that's no doubt gonna piss you off." Nil muttered, kicking a cannon to turn it around and then striking its trigger, blowing away a crowd of shield holding soldiers and their allies.
"Get a medic! This crazy Intoner and her servant are gonna kill us all!"
"Sure why not, I haven't killed any medics yet." Zero chuckled, already cutting apart the next group of quarry, while Nil stabbed the soldier who'd spoke out.
"Partner is the term I prefer." Nil grumbled, kicking the body off of his sword.
"You seriously let these guys hit a chord with you Nil?" Zero scoffed, amused.
"Hey, closest thing to servant I'll tolerate is Disciple… other than that, yes, they did." Nil responded, turning around and slamming his hand onto a soldier's helmet, the blast of flame that followed turning the man's head into nothing but ash before he let go, the two continuing on until running into an even larger group of soldiers, "Do they just breed these guys like rabbits or something?"
"Get out of my way dammit!" Zero growled, sweeping her blade through, blood caking her as she cut down the soldiers in droves, Nil at her heels and picking off stragglers.
"And here she goes again…" Nil sighed, and Michael swooped back over.
"Be calm Zero, anger will only slow your sword." Michael cautioned, Zero letting out a breath.
"Look, I know that it's just… Ah, forget it!" Zero snapped, "Where the hell are my sisters?"
"I'd wager and say at the center of the city." Nil quipped, swiping his blade past a row of archers.
"Are you certain about this Zero? About slaying all the Intoners?" Michael asked, and Zero nodded as she drew her sword out of the last soldier in the swarm she and Nil had ran into before a large pair of doors.
"Of course. Why else would I be stabbing everyone?" Zero scoffed.
"Because you enjoy killing things." Nil scoffed.
"Nil, don't make me stab you as well." Zero bit, Nil chuckling.
"Couldn't help it." Nil responded, Zero sighing.
"Fine… the way they scream is pretty fun, I'll admit that." Zero muttered, kicking open the doors, which led to a large courtyard, and standing there, seemingly waiting for the two was a massive, mechanical looking beast wielding a sword just as big as it was. "Oh hell, what's this thing?"
"I bet money Three made this sucker…" Nil quipped, he and Zero dodging the massive sweep of the thing's sword.
"It's no human… and yet, not quite a beast. Likely some sort of automaton devised by the Intoners." Michael stated, Nil humming as he landed on the sword of their foe, Zero jumping and slashing at its head.
"So something made by Three then? Knew it…" Nil muttered, cutting the joint of the automaton's arm, landing behind it and stepping back from its stamping legs. "She got way too interested in dolls."
"Just what the hell happened when you were with them?" Zero asked, Nil sighing as he avoided the automaton's sword again, Zero slamming the massive weapon aside when it came near her, Nil getting up onto the thing's head and blasting flames down it's front. "Crafty little bastards though."
"Zero, don't tell me you're actually impressed by this." Nil chuckled.
"What? No, of course not. Let's just kill the thing and be done with it!" Zero snapped, jumping back from the titan, skidding back and barring her sword, Michael landing and blasting a gout of fire at the machine, only for it to lunge down and drive its sword through the dragon's wing, and Zero went to make a move, but the dragon spoke.
"Zero, go! Defeat your sisters!" Michael demanded.
"No! You don't have the strength for this!" Zero snapped, and Nil grimaced as two more of the machines appeared.
"Hahaha." Michael scoffed, "These puppets are no match for a dragon!"
"I trust that Zero. Come on, we should be close to the center now! We need to go if we're going to do this!" Nil stated, his and Zero sighed, giving a nod.
"Fine. Just don't die on me." Zero stated, turning, "Nil, let's go."
"Right behind you!" Nil responded, the two running past the dragon, who pounced at the automatons, his jaw snapping at their limbs, the dragon looking back to the two as they ran through the closing doors before them.
"Farewell, fools…" Michael hummed, roaring as he turned back to his foes.
"And right up there… I bet your sisters are waiting for us right on top of that hill." Nil looked over the edge of the walkway and up at the top of the mountain like hill that held the old cathedral this city was named after, and Zero simply growled as she turned to face the soldiers.
"All of you… Women, children, the elderly… It doesn't matter. If you stand in my way, you're gonna die." Zero's words were cold and harsh as she cut through the soldiers in her way, Nil keeping pace and matching her blows as he faced his own enemies with flames flying over the place from his hand, "If that's what you want, then get in line!"
"As bloodthirsty as ever." Nil sighed, the carnage the two brought out keeping up as they rushed along the bridge, bodies being left in their wake, the ground stained crimson by the blood of the soldiers and covered by dark scorches from Nil's flames.
"Men, take your positions, stand strong!" A soldier shouted… only to get caught in a blast of flames.
"Get. Out of. MY WAY!" Zero shouted, one heavy slash cutting through multiple soldiers.
"You guys have pissed her off now, sorry, but there's no mercy with this Intoner!" Nil shouted, launching a flying kick at a barricade and sending it careening down on the soldiers behind it, crushing them under its weight, their screams being cut short before their splatter burst from below the barricade, "And you'll get none from me either."
The two continued along the bridge, the cowering soldiers screaming in terror, and Zero was getting fed up with it as she cut down more and more.
"Shut up with the bullshit already would you?!" Zero snapped, blasting through an oncoming group of swordsman, "Move, move, move, MOVE!"
"It's Zero, Zero the betrayer!" That soldier didn't last more than a second before getting barreled through by Zero.
"Get the hell out of my way!" Zero roared, and Nil simply followed suit, though he kept a much calmer air around him as Zero cut down the soldiers in a complete rage, and once they reached the gates to the cathedral, Nil put a hand on the seething Zero's shoulder.
"Zero, come on, calm down, we're almost there." Nil murmured, Zero's breathing soon becoming lighter as she took longer breaths, "You need to stay calm when we fight them, we don't want to end up failing, not when Michael is waiting for us to end this."
"I know… sorry… I lost control." Zero replied, standing straight, Nil taking his hand off her as she looked up towards the central cathedral, "Hold on my beloved sisters. I'm coming to kill you all."
Once the Intoner and her partner had made their way to the top of the hill, the cathedral of the city, they were met by five others as they reached the entrance of the chapel, the five standing atop the entrance and looking down at the two. Zero's five sisters, the other Intoners who ruled the lands… the five they were here to kill.
"It's been a long time, Zero." The Intoner in the center was the first to speak, a small girl in white with short blonde hair, a mark of the Roman numeral for one on her forehead, her red eyes staring down at the two with disdain.
"Has it? I didn't notice." Zero scoffed in reply to the Intoner.
"You haven't changed a bit. You're still insane." The Intoner scoffed.
"Stop it, you're embarrassing me." Zero snickered.
"That wasn't a compliment." The Intoner replied.
"One, don't even try." Nil muttered, and One hummed as she saw the young man near Zero, finally drawing her attention to him.
"Nil… so, you're alive after all. And with the traitor… why am I not surprised about that?" One hummed.
"Heh, that was then and this is now." Nil sniped, flames coursing from his left hand as he flexed his fingers, and next to speak of the Intoners was the one with blue hair and eyes, a mark for two on her forehead.
"Hey, it's Zero! Hey, Zeroooo! And Nil's with her too! Cool, good to see you again!" Two called out, and the purple haired girl to two's right, who bore a mark for three, simply laughed in a mildly disturbing manner.
"Three's just gotten disturbing I see." Nil grumbled, and he let out a sigh when the Intoner marked four spoke up, "And cue Four…"
"Zero, this fighting is pointless! We have to stop, we're sisters!" Three shouted, Zero just rolling her eyes.
"Oh don't be such a prude Four." The blonde one marked five chirped, "A good catfight really gets my juices flowing… and such a fine specimen of a man she has with her… hello again Nil! It's been so long since we last saw each other!"
"Hehe… not a pleasure to be seeing you again Five." Nil growled, and Zero simply chuckled in sick amusement.
"Wow, I sure am popular around here." Zero scoffed.
"Enough talk Zero, this is the end." One scoffed in return… and then a fireball slammed into where the Intoners were, Zero snapping to look at Nil as he lowered his left arm as the flames around it died down.
"It was taking too long." Nil muttered, though the smoke was swiped aside by One, and the other Intoners dropped down in front of Nil and Zero. "Of course that didn't work."
The four Intoners shot after them, Nil blocking Five's spear while Zero swatted Two's blade to the side, Four throwing a punch that Nil stopped with his dagger after pushing Five back, Three lunging at Zero only to get kicked aside.
"Hey, Zero, guess what? Next month, I'm goin' on a trip!" Two cheerily stated, "So, actually, I really don't have time for this right now!"
"I wouldn't bother packing up for you trip Two." Zero scoffed, backing away and ending up back to back with Nil as he was shoved back by a kick from Four, though both shot back into the clashing of weapons just as fast.
"Huh? Why not? Are you gonna pack for me?" Two asked, even as she was being slashed at by Nil while he also blasted at them all with fireballs.
"No, I'm gonna kill you!" Zero snapped, shoving Three away and lunging at Two, who dodged the slash.
"Cheery as ever I see!" Nil growled, skidding back as he stopped Five's spear again.
"A caged bird cannot be free, even if it flees the cage." Three murmured, her scissors stuck on Nil's dagger, and the young man growled as she had an all too eerie grin on, even when Zero landed a solid kick to the head on her. "A bird without freedom doesn't have any place in the skies."
"Tch, you never did make any damn sense Three." Zero scoffed, stopping Four's gauntlet with the guard of her sword.
"She's a creepazoid, what do you expect?!" Nil snapped, ducking Two's sword and kicking up to knock her back.
"Perhaps restraint is a source of happiness itself." Three hummed.
"Would you just shut up and die already?!" Zero snapped, landing a blow to three, who chuckled as she skidded back, and Four shot in next, Nil attacking as she threw a flurry of punches, though Four knocked him aside without so much as a care.
"Please, Sister! Reconsider your actions!" Four shouted, "The real Zero would never do anything like this! We're a family! Whatever's troubling you, I'll help however I can!"
"So you say as you try to kick our faces in!" Nil snapped.
"And Nil, what happened to you?! You were so kind when you helped us defeat the lords, what happened to you and Zero?" Four was sent flying back as Nil blasted her, lowering his left hand as he gave a scoff.
"As I said, that was then and this is now… and just what the heck has the Flower been filling your head with huh?" Nil said, stopping a punch from Four, grabbing her arm and wheeling around to kick her to the side.
"You'll help huh?" Zero hummed, dodging stabs from Five, "Well, I suppose there is one thing you can do for me… You can curl up and die!"
Four was knocked aside next, Nil skidding back as she got one last kick in on him, and Five chuckled as she attacked him again, Nil dodging the spear, parrying and growling as sparks flew off his blades when he caught it, the blonde than turning to Zero.
"Are you really about to get ravaged by your own sisters Zero?" Five mused, shooting away from Nil's sword as he attacked her again.
"Whatever. Stop leering at me." Zero scoffed, Five licking her lips.
"I just love a sore loser… and I am quite surprised to see Nil with you, dear sister… quite the shocking development, we thought he'd died! Oh I bet you have such amazing times in the bedroom, don't you? It just makes me all the more curious to what you're really like." Five hummed in a manner that seemed aroused, and Nil shuddered, a disgusted growl coming from him.
"Again, fuck off." Nil snapped, ducking attacks from the other three Intoners, "Lay off me will ya?!"
"Ugh, I get the worst headaches from listening to you. And he's useful in a fight, that's why he's here." Zero responded, Five chuckling, while Nil rolled his eyes.
"I understand that, but honestly, there's surely another reason. You are an Intoner after all. If he can manage you, I can only wonder what he's like… makes me want some myself." Five mused.
"FUCK OFF!" Nil shouted, still stuck fighting Two, Three, and Four, forcing them back by sweeping flames between himself and the group.
"And so what if we do? None of your business to know what I do with Nil, so shove off and die already!" Zero snapped, and Five chuckled again.
"Oh my… did I just hear a hint of possessiveness in your voice right then?" Five chuckled, "Ah, such an amusing sight…"
"Just shut up already!" Nil shouted, breaking free of his engagement and lunging with his sword trailing flames, Five dodging and sweeping her blade up, knocking Nil back and to Zero's side again.
"What do want from us, Zero?" One demanded, still above the fight down below.
"What do you think?" Zero replied, "There's only enough room in this world for one Intoner."
"And you'd kill your own sisters for that right?" One demanded, Zero simply scoffing in reply.
"That's kind of what I'm doing, yeah." Zero replied.
"…Traitor." One growled.
"Can't really betray someone you were never on the same side as." Nil said in addition, and One scoffed at the Disciple, snapping her fingers, her sisters pulling back and returning to her side, and One then stepped forward, raising a hand up.
"Gabriel!" One commanded, a magic circle forming above her, and dropping from it came a large, beast of a dragon with armor over its face and ominous purple scales, it's jaws slowly opening as it growled, then letting out a roar at Zero and Nil as they readied their weapons again.
"Hey Gabriella… been a while." Nil murmured, a grimace coming to his face. "The hell did you do to her huh One eh? Transforming a dragon into a daemon… hah, and you call yourselves the good guys!"
"Hah, rare to see you being mad about something!" Zero said, dodging the stamps of Gabriel as the dragon lumbered about, Nil jumping onto the beasts back and driving his blade in, keeping a hold as Gabriel tried to shake him off. "That's no longer a dragon you've got there One. It's just a monster!"
"A shame, I actually liked Gabriella too! But now we're here!" Nil snapped, rolling in the air as he was thrown off, using his sword as a brake as he landed. "It's a dying goddamn shame."
"Shut up!" One snapped, genuinely angry, "I'm not subject your judgement, Sister! And you Nil… a traitor like you has no right to pass judgement on our actions! We Intoners swore to keep the world in balance! And now you seek all our power for yourself? It's shameful!"
"What's shameful is what you've done to your supposed "friend"! You shouldn't be assuming so much either." Nil snapped, dodging the beast's maw.
"SHUT UP!" One snapped, and Zero shook her head.
"Yak yak yak yak. Shut up and DIE ALREADY!" Zero roared, Gabriel then swiping his tail, sending both fighting him flying to the edge of the cliff, Nil and Zero shooting back in as Gabriel tried to spear them by launching glowing, sword like projectiles at them with swipes of his tail, though Nil and Zero closed the distance again, but, their attacks didn't seem to have any effect on the daemon dragon.
Eventually, Gabriel growled, sweeping Zero and Nil back again, Nil landing further back than Zero, and Gabriel then fired a blast from his maw, Zero caught in it, her effort to dodge falling short, and the blast took her left arm, and Zero struggled as she couldn't stay up, blood spurting from her wound, and Nil's eye widened.
"Zero!" Nil yelped, running back to Zero's side, snarling as he turned to face One, who was no in front of her daemon, a stoic expression on her face.
"Finish them." One ordered, Gabriel charging another blast, Zero struggling up.
"You…" Zero growled, "Will DIE!"
As Zero shouted, Michael shot up from below, his wings flaring out as he rose up despite the wounds on him.
"Zero, Nil!" Michael shouted.
"Fire!" Zero and Nil shouted, Michael firing his own blast at one, and the other four sisters rushed down near one, combining their Songs to form a barrier to stop the blast, though Michael maintained it even amid the barrier holding it back.
"How can he still have so much strength…" One murmured, looking to Nil and Zero, the Disciple now helping his Intoner to her feet, and Gabriel then released his own blast, Michael shooting down and shielding Zero and Nil with a wing, but the blast sent him flying and tumbling down the side of the cliff, and with him, the Intoner and Disciple were gone with him, but certainly not dead, leaving the other five Intoners to overlook where they had fallen.
"They fled." One scoffed, her sisters visibly exhausted by her, "You truly thought to kill the Intoners? Silly girl. Hahahahaha… Now, let us sing of the world's end."
And just outside the city, the wounded Michael collapsed on the plains, falling from his grasp being the now unconscious Zero and Nil, who was breathing heavily as he got up.
"Michael?!" Nil went to the dragon's side, immediately getting blood on his hands when he touched the grey beast, Michael's breathing shallow, "Hey, come on! You can't die dammit! Zero told you not to die on her!"
"Hehehe… Sorry… but… I don't think I can… keep to that." Michael weakly replied, "At the very least… I'll reincarnate. The new dragon… will be in your care, Nil. So long as a dragon is with your two, you… can fulfill Zero's mission."
"I'm not going to need to because you're not dying on me! We'll make a Pact; I'll give up something of mine to keep you alive! Zero needs you around!" Nil shouted, Michael shaking his head.
"You… cannot… Zero… would never forgive you… if you did…" Michael stated, Nil growling as he slammed a fist on the ground, "Once I pass… you need to hide Zero… somewhere safe. Take my reincarnation… and raise him… to be strong."
"Dammit Michael… don't ask me to do that… I don't care what I have to give up, I'm not letting you die! Zero would never be able to let it go if you die!" Nil snapped, tears coming from his visible eye, and even past his eyepatch, and Michael chuckled.
"Do not… cry for me Nil… we only knew each other… for a short while, but… I am glad I got to call you and Zero friends… she's going to need you just as much, if not more, than ever… watch after her… and my reincarnation… please, promise me that." Michael asked, Nil nodding, wiping his eyes off.
"I will… I swear… and this time, when I meet your reincarnation, I'll make sure he sees things through! Once this all ends, he'll still be there, I promise you that. I'll take care of Zero to… I'll do whatever I can to make sure she sees her goals to the end… I'm her Disciple… it's my job to do that anyway." Nil declared, Michael nodding.
"Good… then… I will see you… in my next life. Farewell… for now… my friend." Michael let out one final breath with those words, his head sagging down as the breath left his body, and Nil clenched his teeth as his fingers dug into the ground.
"Goodbye, Michael." Nil said, the dragon's body beginning to glow and bits of light fading off, until all that was left was a much smaller, barely cat sized dragon with scales a very dull grey, and with barely a nub of a tail and horns. Zero took off his jacket and wrapped the small dragon in it, hefting it up in his arms, a small quail coming from it. "Mikhail… that's your name?"
It was an immediate sense. Like the moment the dragon moved with any life, he just knew what to call it. The tiny dragon quailed again, Nil smiling as he pulled the coat tighter to cover it up more, and with another move, lifting the out cold Zero up and onto his back.
"Ngh… good thing you're light as hell Zero, else this'd be annoying."
It suddenly felt like he'd been released from something as his vision faded back to looking at the book. Nil immediately stumbled back as if he'd been released from a hold of some kinda, falling to his rear on the floor as the book fell down, the pages whirling and then the book slammed shut.
"What… what the hell happened?!" Nil shook his head as he felt it throb, Accord picking the book up and dusting it off, opening it and humming as she opened it to a particular page.
"You just relived the events recorded in that Verse." Accord stated, Nil looking confused as he stood up. "These books are special. Like I said, read them, and they will allow you to remember the events that occurred before you arrived here. There is a catch though, in that the other books will not open until the prior one has been read to completion, so no skipping parts, alright?"
"I don't think I can skip anything if it works like that." Nil took the book as Accord handed it to him. "Is there any other catch I should know about before I dive back into whatever horrid events this thing has in it?"
"For now, no." Accord said, tapping Nil on the forehead. "Once you finish Book A, we will have plenty to discuss. For now, just keep at it. If you feel the need to take a break and ask me questions, feel free."
"Alright then…" Nil then found a chair had rather conveniently appeared behind him, and with a shrug, he sat down in the plush red velvet seat, glancing over to Accord as the mysterious girl began flipping through other books of various kinds. Nil opened the A book once more, the pages falling open onto a new one, this page marked by an image of waves, marked 'Chapter One.' "My how inventive… whatever… let's see what else is in store then."
A/N
So this is a thing that wound up happening. Been meaning to get my ass back on this for a while and HEY, I've been on a recent Yoko Taro binge. Whipped up something for Nier Automata to do down the line, watched the YoRHa boys stage play… regretted having not gotten my ass to actually finishing Automata. Watched a whole lotta Clemps videos… dived into TvTropes and wikis… needless to say my mind's been in a mode for a few days now. So who's gonna catch what inspired me to do this whole library thing with stuff eh?