Darker, yet darker still. The void eroded all that it touched. In this light-less world, what is there in the cold expanse?
"!"
Laighlinne gasped, as if stirring from deep sleep. But she knew that would not be, for sleep was a luxury robbed of her. Her eyes met the rotten ceiling of her ship, the fading false moonlight shown through the foggy windows. There she still laid, where she had taken her wounds, there was no pain. Pain would be a welcome feeling, the feeling now was simple, it was nothing, there was no touch, no sense in her limbs. They were slowly being devoured by the void, she would return to the darkness where nothing waited for her. Her spirit, memories, and will, all fuel and food for the new spirit to take over. Her chance ended, but there was no regret. Laighlinne thought back, how could she? How could take that away from the world, that precious person.
"While we were suffering! You-"
At the time she could not find the words to finish that sentence. No, rather, her answer to that only hurt her own heart more.
"-were living life to its fullest"
Laighlinne bitterly finished. She placed the memories of that encounter into her to heart. If that precious person was more selfish, self serving, maybe, just maybe she could bring herself to hate them. But the person who had come to her aid was none of that, a pure heart, a loving heart, a strong heart that had obtained all the self filling desires already. She knew all about them, the precious one, she knew they were be lured here out of concern for others, but she believe it was fuel by selfish desires of adventure and promises of treasure. But what she found was curiosity and a will to dive into the deep unknown, a pure desire free of bounds.
Once again her eyes closed, but it was not filled with the darkness that would consume her, it was memories, precious filled memories that she felt could not be made anymore. She thought back to her time spent with them, the precious one. She remembered the sombre look on their face when they gazed upon the former fleet admiral, their minds rich with thoughts of the great man depicted in the image. She filled herself with the energy they put out when they danced to her tune, the power that carried their feet and the freedom of that guided their thoughts. She remembered the sadness in their eyes when she recounted her tale to them as a story. The feeling of helplessness that they cannot over turn the tragic events that transpired, but a hopeful respect that one day they can help the spirits here find peace.
She remember her first strike after that. She had planned this all out, the emotional attack from her tale would weaken them, she would have to chance, she would take their life and powers, and save her people. They would have their revenge. But what she saw in them was not that of disgusted betrayal, but that of concern. They looked saddened, conflicted, and unwilling to continue. She took her chance to overpower them, but she could not deliver the final blow. Just as her feelings have rubbed off on them, theirs had in turn had embedded themselves into her mind. What would she be doing if she had gone through with it?
Her thoughts ran strong. She would be taking something precious from the world, only to replace it with evil, entities bent on hurting those that do not deserve their hate. Those that wronged them perished long ago, whether justice was enacted them or not, the sins of their tormentors died with them, those that can be hurt by them were innocent. She knew all about them, their power, and what they had done to gain that power. In response to a need, they gained strength, enough to defend, enough to protect, enough. Feeling of lowering her weapon returned to her arm, the feeling of self loathing filled her heart. Her will steeled then. She brought ruin and evil if she was successful, the hatred and sorrow of her people would hurt the future, which in turn would breed even more. She decided, she would seal this evil with herself, by returning the fleet to the void, perhaps the precious one can find a way to block them forever, this pit of evil lost to the darkness, unable to hurt others again.
Even if it meant returning to the void- to nothing.
Laighlinne remembered the conflicted feelings they had as they left the fleet, their heads running high with thoughts about her fate. A prayer, she thought, offer her a prayer so that when she returns to the void, the feelings she felt here would remain.
"Ah"
Her mind stirred once more. Was that a noise she heard? There would be nothing here, just the darkness consuming her. Perhaps it was a reflex left from her human days, dreams, imaginations, and longing. Her unmoving heart sank again, returning her mind to its calm state and she returned to living in her memories again.
-Crack-
No, it was not her imagination, something was happening, the ship, there was something else in this lifeless world. It was alive, breathing, and coming towards her. Laighlinne summoned her strength, what was left of it to look at the massive doors. Silence returned to the world. It was as if everything before was just simply not there. She stared stilled, cold sweat hugged her neck, then...
-Bang-
-Bang bang bang!-
The massive doors buckled and shook, they parted ways.
One mighty step slammed into the wooden ground, as if shaking the entire world from that one swift movement. And there they stood. As if cut from the songs of bards and pages of story books, the legendary holy Knight of Light stood tall at the parted doors. Their shinning armour ready to expel all darkness and evil in the world. They held a bright glowing sword in one hand and the restored compass in another, a matching shield hung from that arm. The Champion of Light took a step forward, placing the compass away. The darkness retreated from point where the Paladin stood. Laighlinne could tell, but they were looking right at her, their chest pushed out in proud fashion, there was no fear, only determination and will. In this world of darkness, that being become all the more brighter.
"Why... Why did you come back?!"
Laighlinne yelled. Her sacrifice was to safe guard the world from all the darkness and evil here. All that stood between all this misery now was the Paladin.
There was no answer. As if responding to the threat, the darkness formed tendrils and races to pierce the Paladin, but they were ready, their shield raised high and met the darkness pushing them aside. One swift movement of the mighty shield seemed to send a shock wave through the rest and it created a bubble in the assault. The Paladin stepped on one piece of darkness then spun their body quickly using the momentum to swing their sword and strike at the darkness. One would think it would be like swinging a sword at open flames, the physical metal would simple pass through the flames. But that was not the case here, where the sword struck, the darkness parted ways. In that moment the parts that touched the radiant sword glowed amber as if burnt, the piece that was separated from the larger entity faded soon after. The darkness forced another attack on the Paladin.
It is said that the Paladin held unmatched strength and indomitable will, legends that spoke of the ideal Knight, a template that all nobles should follow. Laighlinne realized why they would speak of legends like this. If such a person exist, then... No matter what bad things happen in the world, there would still be hope, however small it may be, that hope would be enough. The Paladin moved swiftly, using their shield to block massive strikes then using their sword to deal damage and prevent further attacks. But Laighlinne can see, the darkness was not just a simple mass of mindless evil. It was the hatred and thoughts of a fleet, of many people, of many talents, and they all wanted the freedom in that body. The darkness was luring the Paladin closer to her, but she knew that it was merely baiting them where they could strike from all angles. Every bit of damage it was taking now would be trivial.
The strike happened, but the Paladin had readied themselves to take the force, their armour, bright and beautiful, took painful hits. It was time for a counterattack. The Paladin once again swung their sword piercing a deeper part of the darkness, injuring it further. It became a kind of back and forth with each side in a slugging fest, taking damage and damaging the other. In this world, she knew who would lose. It was a single person fighting against an entire world of hatred, darkness and suffering.
This cannot be allowed to happen. The piercing pain in her frozen heart awoken with in her. With determination and hot tears streaming down her face she summoned all her remaining strength and called the darkness to her. The Paladin that was fighting a losing battle looked around to see the darkness retreating slowly, they then looked to where they were pulling to.
Laighlinne had gathered the darkness to her, and then she sent it all towards the Paladin. Something like this would not kill them, but it would be enough, to push them back out. If she can push them away, if she can just remove them from this world, then, perhaps they can move on and forget. Even with that resolve, she knew deep in her heart that the Millitian was not one to stop, after all, if they could, they would bend the world just to do something they wanted. But she hoped her feelings will get across. "I do not need help, I will save you, and I will protect them". The torrent of darkness pushed them away like a river. The massive doors closed, and her strength was spent. Her hand fell next to her lifeless. Was it enough? She wondered. The tendrils of the darkness seem to cling to the wall as if wanting to hunt the Paladin down, others reel back ready to tear Laighlinne apart to remove her interference. But it was fine, she gave it her all, that was... Enough right?
An eruption of light burst forth and the doors once again opened. No, rather the doors were destroyed. The Paladin did not stop, and in this dark world did the impossible, become even brighter than before. Awakened within them was a power beyond mortals. Divine power radiated from them like the sun. The Paladin then removed a spear from their back and threw it at the centre of the room. It was as if a bomb had gone off and where there was a pit of evil was now rotten wood and rusted metal floor. The Paladin took a step forward. It was a strong step, as if to shake the entire world. The darkness retreated a little at the step. It then attacked once more, but the wings of the Paladin opened, and spikes of light exploded in every direction destroying those that came for them. Laighlinne was weak and could only watch, but the darkness gathered into one again, and flew its entire mass towards the burning Paladin.
The Paladin raised their hands to guard against the torrent that hit them, they would be pushed back again, but it would be so kind this time. But the Paladin did not get pushed back. They stood, and then, they stepped forward. In response the darkness increased its efforts, but it only paused the Paladin for a brief moment. They continued to walk. It was invasive. Laighlinne can see the darkness invading the cracks of their bright armour, she can see the blood that leaked from them. The once bright armour was slowly, but surely tainted red. The pain in her heart returned, her best was not enough, and the world will lose the precious one, and the evil here will return in its place. She watched as the Paladin grabbing the darkness itself, to pull them self towards her once more.
"Just leave! They will kill you! You can't let them return to the world!" she screamed. Her body was no longer hers, too much of it consumed.
Still the Paladin did not stop their advance. Soon, they were close and then they reached their hand out to her. The torrent kept trying to push them back but the Paladin kept raising their hand to her. Laighlinne gently shook her head to protest. She's always been told she had a strong heart, but was it fine to weaken this one time. In that moment's weakness, she grabbed hold of the Paladin's hand. They held it securely. Then, the darkness started being pulled towards her, and within her, that very darkness travelled through her hand into the Paladin's. The Paladin tried to pull her close, but the forces tried to pull them away, but even then, the Paladin refused to let go. Laighlinne knew her mistake, and she tried her best to wrestle out of their hold.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"
In response to that, the Paladin grabbed hold with their other hand. Laighlinne could only scream as she saw that the slowly leaking blood coming out of the cracks of the magnificent armour was now like a river. Damage and cracks had formed on its surface already and more forming of the second. The Paladin will pulling all the darkness into their body, as if to pull the entire world into them. That was what was happening. The world began to warp and fade, being drawn into the body of the Paladin with Laighlinne as the medium. She could only scream in protest.
And then, the world stopped.
...
...
...
It was just blankness, it was different from before. The guilt, the sadness and the unrelenting hunger was not there. It was a strange sensation, familiar, yet foreign. She realized what it was: warmth. Something her dead body did not feel, rather it was feelings that it would not process. There was no point in that, that body was to fight, it had no need for such feelings. That feeling of warmth was occasionally brushed with a bit of coolness, as if, she were blown with by a gentle breeze. The feeling returned a bit stronger, but this time she recognized it. It had been so long she did not realize what it was at first. It was a heart beat, her own beating heart. The world changed from darkness to brightness. It was blinding, but she knew what happened. She had awoken to the blazing sun in the sky. She moved her hand to block out the bright rays. She was amazed at how weak her response was, but it was not an unwelcomed feeling. It was the feeling of flesh, fatigue, and life. She gently rose and looked at her surroundings. It was a beach, the hot sand under her hands and the water gently brushing at the edge.
Laighlinne stared at the sea, then the guilt rushed into her, did the Millitian take her place in that dark world. Guilt and despair washed over her. She looked at her hands then past them to the vast expanse of the sea, her heart tunnelled into her endlessly. Tears welled up inside her.
"Why me...? Why only me...?" she fought back her feelings.
As her vision got foggy from her tears, a small light emerged from the water. Laighlinne's eyes widened and she wiped her tears away. More lights began to emerge from the sea. They seem to surround her but slowly moving towards inland, it seemed like one of them was dancing around Laighlinne. She slowly reached out and touched one, memories and feelings washed over her. A young boy who loved music, Laighlinne pulled back. There was no hate, no suffering, as if the soul had lived a full and happy life. But how, all these memories were suppose to be corrupted, they were in the torrent of suffering but now, none of that was there.
She then remember the rumours of the Millitians, the difference in time experienced, their infinite, indefinite lives spent doing what they wanted. Amassing wealth, acquiring knowledge, teaching, learning, everything. They lived lives more full than anyone can imagine. But she know they were not rumours, they were fact. All of them did this, adventurous, curious, knowledge seeking. She finally understood the gift they had bestowed. The Millitian shared their lives with the souls and spirits of her fleet. The souls free to live through their centuries of memories, piecing out their ideal lives. They could do it, they explored the world, they've experienced so much of it, and they gave something so precious away. But, she knew, in sharing that with everyone there, it meant they too experienced their lives, the pain, the suffering, the starvation, everything repeated, for each person cleansed. She remembered the hopeful tunes of her crew as they danced on the decks of the ship. The lives they hoped to live, the dreams they wanted to fulfill. Though that was taken from them by her father, someone else came and returned what was thought loss.
The lights were gentle, they floated past her, ready to enter the new world, reborn to live for real. Then, they froze, as if sensing something amiss in the world. Laighlinne looked to the vast sea again and a dark fog emerged. She got up on her feet, but they shook from the strain. Weak. This was how she described her new body. Living flesh was weak, she could feel pain, injuries would impede her, this was not a body for fighting. After some struggles and falling down to the sand again, she finally gained foothold and stood. But in her state, what could she do? The lights, the representation of those from the dark world stood, surrounding her once again, as if ready to stand beside her against the coming threat. Then it emerged.
A shape emerged from the abyss, in the shape of the Millitian. The hatred had the body it wanted. An immortal body with unlimited power, enough to enact its evil upon the world. Above all, it was utterly unopposed. The Millitian walked, as they advanced, more of them left the water and the dark fog bleeding from their body. The pressure was immense. The torrent of darkness that had once consumed them pushed the lights back. Laighlinne steeled her resolve once again, but she knew her current body was not enough, and the spirits around her would not be able to do anything. Hatred, the very thing that gave them power was now aimed at them. Perhaps, they could take some back and drive it into the dark world. With each new step, the pressure grew, eventually, the strength in Laighlinne's legs left her and she fell once again into the sand. Their eyes were a piercing red, their damaged flesh bleeding out the dark fog, and their bodies tainted with evil. These features became more and more clear. They walked towards Laighlinne. They brought ruin to this land, and countless others will suffer, the escape they craved was only fleeting, for in their desperation to escape their prison, they unleashed it on the very world they wanted to escape to. Then...
They smiled. Laighlinne was taken aback. It was a bright smile, as if to say "Everything will be alright". The Millitian opened their eyes once more. None of the evil was there. As if everything before had been a dream. The Millitian then gently brushed some sand that had fallen on their shoulder and walked towards the hills behind the beach. As if it was another day in their life they just continued on to their next adventure. Laighlinne continued to sit there, the lights had now blended with the world and few remained. She was not sure where it came from, but there was strength in her legs once more and she had gotten up, following just behind the Millitian. She's not quite sure where they were headed or where they'd end up. But today the sun is shining brightly, and she was absolutely certain there would be many stars tonight.