Preventing Another Ragnarok
Chapter 4 - The End or a New Beginning?
--Prelude--
Wow, has it really been that long since I last wrote anything in here? I guess we've been so busy that I didn't take the time to document our journey. A lot has happened since we freed Lacrima from the Dark Progenitor, Isher.
From Lacrima, Sapphire and I headed straight to the Nelde Ruins. Shortly after we got there, we met Cierra, a witch that Ein befriended during his time in Riviera. Unfortunately, we wandered around in the forest for two days because Cierra couldn't remember where we were supposed to go (The trees were too dense for me and Sapphire to fly). We eventually found our way to a large tower that seemed to be the remains from an old civilization long gone. A gigantic tree had taken over most of the tower. We made our way through the tower, mostly without opposition. There were a few demons that tried to stand in our way, but the three of us took care of them easily. We worked our way to the top of the tower, and encountered the Dark Progenitor Lindwurm, a large, jet-black wyvern. My alignment with Lightning gave us a great advantage in our battle. After defeating him, he unwittingly told us where to find the next Dark Progenitor, then faded away.
Our next destination was Tetyth, a city that was flooded by the gods. To this day, it is still mostly underwater. Cierra told us that the Dark Progenitor would most likely be in the main cathedral, toward the top where the bell is positioned. We tried to fly directly to the cathedral, but we encountered a few demons along the way. Most of them were archers that fired at us from the rooftops of submerged buildings, but there were a few demons that attacked us directly in midair. When we made it to the cathedral, we decided to climb up the stairway instead of flying, to avoid any surprise attacks the enemy might have planned. When we reached the top of the cathedral, we found the Dark Progenitor, who called herself Archangel. She had an angelic figure, but was completely black from head to toe. Sapphire and I each attacked, but my lightning attacks healed the damage that Sapphire inflicted. Eventually, we decided that Sapphire should attack, and I should block attacks, since the Progenitor's electricity didn't affect me very much. Sapphire made short work of Dark Archangel, thanks to the trials and training we had endured.
By Cierra's suggestions back in Nelde, we went to Elendia, a small village of sprites in central Riviera. There, we met Fia and Lina, the other two sprites that had accompanied Ein. They gave us shelter for a few days, until we found out about another demon uprising in Mireno Cemetery. Before we departed, Fia gave us each an elixir, Lina gave me a bow and Sapphire a pair of claws, and Graham, the village elder, gave us bearings for the most direct route to Mireno. The Elendian villagers all bid us farewell, wishing us luck.
And about a week ago, we headed for Mireno. It sure seems like a lot longer than that, but I will get into that later. For now, our adventure in Mireno as we quested for the final Dark Progenitor.
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Sapphire and I arrived at Mireno, and were at a loss. There seemed to be nothing around, with no way of finding the last Progenitor. After searching the old, decrepit buildings and abandoned cemetery plots, Sapphire's thoughts echoed in my head. "Didn't Graham say something about an underground cemetery?" I thought for a moment, then replied, "Yeah, I think he did. We should probably search for a hole or some other means of going underground." We searched for a while, until we found a dry well. I charged Lihtan with electricity, making it glow. I lowered it into the well in an attempt to see how far it was to the bottom. Unfortunately, the well was far too deep to tell. I turned around to look at Sapphire and said, "Well, it's really deep, and it's too narrow for us to glide down." She tapped the side of her head, then pointed at me. "I don't know," I replied. "Maybe we can jump down and hope to land safely?" Sapphire gave me a skeptical look, then rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. I looked back down the well, took a deep breath and said, "I guess I'll go first." I climbed onto the side of the well, wrapped my cloak tightly to my body (so it wouldn't get caught on anything), and jumped in.
I fell down for what seemed like a few minutes. When I got to the bottom, I made an unexpectedly sudden landing. I landed on my feet, but almost immediately fell, landing on my back. I laid like that for a while, then started to get up. Before I knew it, I was flat on the ground again, with Sapphire sitting on my stomach. I looked up at her, and she had a rather sympathetic look, but smiled as if she were thanking me for breaking her fall. As she got up, I said, "I wish our wings weren't so big, then we could have fallen more gently." Sapphire turned her head to look at her wings, then reached out her hand to help me up. I grasped her hand and stood up, then we looked around. It was dark and damp, and the only way forward was a long corridor directly ahead of us. We began to walk down the ominous hallway, expecting almost anything to happen.
We made it through the hallway without confrontation and came upon an intersection of sorts. There was a path to our right, a path to our left, and one straight ahead. I looked at Sapphire, "Well, I think we should go straight. After all, this is a cemetery. The most important areas would be in a direct path, right?" I went to take a step forward when three demons appeared out of nowhere. A Skeleton Knight, a Ghost, and a Necromancer blocked our path as the latter answered my statement, "You may be right, but we'll make sure you don't find out." I unsheathed Lihtan and held it in a defensive stance, but Sapphire was already executing her attack. Melodia sang as Sapphire struck the Skeleton Knight with her diviner. When she made contact, a fire came up from the ground, engulfing the Skeleton. It blocked Sapphire's main attack with its shield, but was hit by the fire, which caused a great amount of damage. The Ghost attacked me with fire, and I was damaged worse than normal due to my alignment with lightning. Enraged, I struck the ghost with a bolt of lightning from within Lihtan. Then, I dashed at it and stabbed through it with my diviner. The ghost disappeared while the Skeleton Knight slashed at Sapphire. She was struck in the shoulder and was damaged by a rush of darkness from the Skeleton's blade. The Necromancer, having seen how weak I am to fire, attempted to summon flames around all me. When he did, I flew up into the air and dove at him with Lihtan aimed right at his chest. As I attacked, Sapphire put her scythe away and took out the claws that Lina had given her. She put them on and started spinning around like an elegant dancer. She struck the Skeleton with each claw twice, the third and fourth attacks stronger from the momentum Sapphire had built up. The Skeleton Knight faded away as I ran my blade through the Necromancer's chest, killing him instantly. I sheathed Lihtan, looked at Sapphire and said, "Do you think they were protecting the graves, or the progenitor?" Sapphire shrugged and pointed at the path leading straight ahead. "You're right," I said, "We should continue this way. This must be the way we need to go, no matter what they were guarding."
Sapphire and I reached another corridor, lit by a strange, glowing moss. At the end of the corridor, we saw a large underground lake. It looked as if the water was lower than normal, making it easier for us to cross. We began to walk around the edge of the lake, since the ceiling was too low for us to fly. When we were about halfway around, three elementals appeared. I unsheathed Lihtan and charged it with electricity. I fired a bolt of lightning at the first elemental. "Chain Spark!" As I yelled, the lightning hit the elemental and surged on to the other two. They were weakened by the attack, but turned yellow, making them immune to anymore of my attacks. I took a step back to give Sapphire room to attack, but she had already launched her attack. She spun Melodia around in the air, then swung it horizontally at the elementals. A wave of fire flashed from the blade of the scythe diviner. The elementals dissolved from the attack, due to their new weakness to fire. I walked up beside Sapphire and stopped when I was right next to her. "I think we're close. Three is a little much for some random demons." Sapphire nodded and squeezed my hand. We walked on, the chill of the lake finally behind us.
We made it past the lake and came up on a strange underground garden. The plants grew right up the back wall, and among the foliage was the final Dark Progenitor. He stepped forward and introduced himself. "Greetings, Grim Angels. My name is Death. The irony is amusing, don't you think?" I replied, "What do you mean, irony?" Death continued, "The fact that you are about to face me. The irony is all in the name, angel, for you are about to face your death here and now!" The black skeleton pulled a like-colored scythe from within his jet-black robes. He swung his scythe downward, causing a magic circle to appear beneath us and a dark skull apparition to appear over our heads. When the skull fell, it hit us both, weakening us slightly. Sapphire leapt into action, slashing at Death with her fiery diviner. Weak to fire, Death took extra damage from the attack. I took my chance to attack by charging my diviner with electricity, then stabbed Death three times. In retaliation, Death hit me with an ice attack. I took the hit and leaped backward, to give Sapphire an opening. As she slashed at Death again, I pulled out the bow that Lina had given me. I fired one at his chest, then Sapphire drove it deeper by slashing Melodia at him a third time.
Death attacked Sapphire in the same manner as he attacked me. I ran to Sapphire's side, knowing she was weak to ice damage. Sapphire crouched down from the chill of the attack while I fired a bolt of lightning from Lihtan. When Death flinched from the shock of the attack, I helped Sapphire to her feet and said, "Let's try our new attack! I think it'll finish this!" Sapphire nodded and held Melodia out in front of her. I hooked Melodia's blade with Lihtan's jagged edge, then we started spinning around. While we were spinning, energy was released from our diviners in waves of fire and lightning. We continued spinning while energy was being released, and once we were satisfied with the power that had been charged, we stopped spinning. When we stopped, a tornado of fire and lightning was released, aimed directly at Death. As he saw his end coming, he said, "Well done, angels. You have bested Death and will remain to live another day. However, my master may not approve…" Death was enveloped by the swirling torrent of fire and lightning. After a short while, the tornado disappeared, leaving no trace of Death behind.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked to where Death had been. I chuckled, "Well, it looks like that attack worked. Good job, Sapphire!" Sapphire walked up and stood beside me, then placed her hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at her, and we both smiled at each other. I was about to speak, when a magic circle appeared under our feet. A low, booming voice spoke out, saying, "You have defeated my minions. I commend you for that, but can you defeat me!?" The magic circle glowed brightly, then we were transported to a dark, dank corridor. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Sapphire tugged on my sleeve, then rubbed her arms. I smiled as I asked, "Are you cold?" As if on cue, a chill ran down my spine. I looked around, realizing where we were. "You know, it's colder in Hell than I thought it would be…"
Sapphire and I started walking down the long corridor, getting colder as we went. The voice from before spoke again, "Foolish angels, do you really intend to defy me? I will not be as easily thwarted as my... pawns." I quickened my pace, a new determination in my step. I yelled as I walked, "Hades! Sworn enemy of the gods! Your judgment day has come!" Sapphire jogged to catch up with me, and when she reached me, we were in Hades' lair. The large Zombie Dragon, known as Hades, greeted us with a deep laugh. "Ha ha ha! There's only two of you!? I thought I had sensed something more powerful, but no matter." I immediately dashed at Hades, trying to stab him with Lihtan. I damaged him, but it was as if I had only scratched him. Sapphire flew above me and swung Melodia, sending a wave of fire at Hades. Her attack, being stronger than mine, still seemed as nothing.
Hades chuckled, "Is that all the fight you've got?" He then raised his bony wings and slashed both Sapphire and I. Staggering from the damage, I looked to Sapphire. "We're not doing anything! What can we do!?" Sapphire looked down, a saddened smile on her face. "Yes," I replied, "We did our best. If I go down, I'm going down swinging!" We began another round of attacks, which were just as futile as the last. As Hades was about to attack again, an arrow pierced his chest. Sapphire and I looked behind us and saw four girls standing on a magic circle. Fia ran ahead of us yelling, "I was right! Hades is the source!" She attacked, her Holy attuned rapier did the same damage as our previous attacks. Serene attacked with her scythe, the Infinite Arc, theen Cierra followed by summoning a fireball. The fireball slammed into Hades, angering him due to our sudden assistance. He reared his head back, then blew a wave of dark magic over us. Since Sapphire and I had been hurt before, we were weakened greatly by the attack. We were forced to flee back to the corridor, and Fia, Lina, Serene, and Cierra followed.
Lina was the first to speak, "Lina thinks we're not doing very good." Serene smacked her in the back of the head and replied, "Duh! Why do you think we ran?" Fia scolded Serene, "Serene! You need to be nice. She only verbalized what we were all thinking." Cierra spoke up before an argument started, "We need a plan..." Saphire grabbed my arm and raised it in the air. Before I could put my arm down, everyone was looking at me. I looked down and sighed, then I got an idea. I explained to the girls, then we made our way back to Hades' lair. He saw us and taunted us further, "You have come back to die, mortals. You cannot defeat me!"
I held up my hand, and looked around as everyone took their position. I clenched my fist and brought it down, "NOW!!" Cierra summoned a wall of fire which she and Sapphire kept fueled with their magic. Serene stood in the middle of the wall, raised her Infinite Arc into the air, then slashed the wall, causing it to become a wall of ice. Fia and Lina then fired arrows at Hades' wings, rendering them immobile. Sapphire ran to the middle of the wall, and I dashed straight toward her. I grabbed onto her hands and we flew up over the wall of ice. Melodia started to sing as we flew full-speed at Hades. We spun in the air, then I let go of Sapphire, propelling her forward as if from a slingshot. I charged my remaining energy into Lihtan as Sapphire raised Melodia above her head. Sapphire swung Melodia downward, ramming Melodia's sharp tip into Hades' head. Leaving her diviner, she flew up and out of harm's way. I thought to myself, "I've only got this one shot..." I yelled, "Holy Lightning!" and a bolt of lightning, supercharged by my Silver Pendant, was sent flying at Hades. The bolt of lightning struck Melodia, which acted like a lightning rod of sorts. The lightning combined with the fire that was within Melodia, which sent a powerful wave of energy directly into Hades' body. The ice wall fell as Sapphire quickly grabbed Melodia from Hades' head. The Zombie Dragon began to implode from the energy of our attack. Sapphire and I flew toward the corridor as I yelled, "Everyone move! This place is going to blow!"
As Hades' body fell, waves of energy swept across the area, destroying everything in their path. As the final person stepped onto the magic circle, we teleported just in time to miss a destructive wave of energy. The magic circle teleported us to the Crystal Caverns, here in Elendia. The six of us were met with a hero's welcome.
Fia told everyone what had happened, and there was a great celebration. However, Sapphire and I snuck away and found a place to sleep, because our journey had made us too tired to enjoy ourselves. The next day, we walked through the village as everyone was cleaning up. I glanced over at Sapphire, "Well, our adventure has come to an end. I suppose we should head back to Asgard..." She looked at me sadly, and I understood her completely. We have been living in Riviera since that day, taking care of demon uprisings as they come. We have been spending our free time exploring Riviera, going back to everywhere we had been. Since we went through so quickly before, we decided to go back through calmly, trying to enjoy the sights. Our favorite place to go is Lacrima Castle. The view of the moon is so beautiful there, we've planned a whole week-long trip for it. Whenever we come back to Elendia, I research as much as I can about the past. Ragnarok, my family line, Riviera in general... It's interesting how much someone becomes so consumed by the studying the past when he can't even remember his own...