Chapter 4
The room reeked of blood and I had to pinch my nose to even be able to enter the room. I walked over to the dead man, blood spilled from his mouth and I noticed his arms had a discoloration of blue. He must have been hit by a lot of those light cannons, his ribs are most likely broken right now if his mouth is that bloody. I look over to his hand and noticed that he had a spear on him, poor man must have forgotten to bring powerful firearms like me. I walked over to the machines, they had holes in their plating which I am guessing is from the spear. I look around the room again and see old storage cubes.
Oh right, I still have a job to do.
"How could you think of something like that in a time like this!"I approach the storage cubes and proceed to slowly slide the lid off, I peek inside to see various things but some things caught my interest.
The first one was a device that seemed to have an A-photon generator inside if the glow on some parts was any clue, it had a diamond shape and spires all round it. I picked it up and it disappeared in a flash of white, safely storing it in my photon storage.
The next one was a round item the size of a golf ball, it was mainly black except for the white glowing lines that covered it. My guess is that it's some sort of old photon reactor. I picked it up and hid it in my storage again.
The last one was a plain piece of gray cloth, I picked it up and slung it over my shoulders before turning around and covering the dead body with the blanket. This way she won't see it, hopefully though she won't ask too much questions about the blood. I stood up and shoved my hands in my pocket, his eyes was closed so I am guessing that he had already accepted his death. I continued to look at the covered body and I couldn't help but think; what if that was me? What if that was her?
I immediately shook my head, no…don't think like that. We're going to get out of here…or at least she will…I'll make sure of it. Her scarlet eyes are too beautiful to die here…
What the fuck am I thinking…
"Hmph! If I were you I would just leave her here" Luckily, you aren't me so shut up.
-line break-
I let out a frustrated grunt as I held my saber up to block a metal stinger. Green bolts of photon shot from behind me, missing the intended target.
"Emilia! Aim properly will you!" I scold the blonde shooting as I turned my body to the side to allow a charging «Strateria» to pass me harmlessly. I flipped my saber so that the blade came out of the bottom of my fist and stabbed the floating machine on the back, sparks flew and the photons around the machine disappeared before it fell to the ground. I turn to Emilia who was looking at me nervously, calm yourself, Mikey… she's new to this.
"Sorry…" She apologized quietly. She must have been panicking when the «Strateria» attacked. A sigh escaped my lips, I think I am getting soft.
"Duh" Oh shut up, who asked you. "You did." If you don't have anything good to say then please don't talk at all. "I am just looking after you, you know?" Then look after me without putting the blame on others whenever I get hurt, crazy deity.
"It's okay, just remember not to panic." I scolded lightly, great…I am developing a soft spot for a stranger I just met around 3 hours ago.
"More than you know…" I would have rolled my eyes if you were in the maternal plane…oh wait, you're not. "That hurts…" Deal with it, you're the one that chose me. We proceeded to go deeper into the relic site, with the voice in my head slightly whimpering. I know she's just pretending, we have a relationship somewhat similar to bickering siblings.
Everything went by smoothly, we encountered a few more «Straterias» but nothing we couldn't handle. It wasn't until we entered a particular room that things started getting out of hand.
"Oh shit!" I cursed as I duck under a ball of light. I look up and see 4 «Vulgatus» model «Straterias», facing us. I grit my teeth as I materialized a long red staff with a flat silver cross shape on one end. I bang the blunt side on the floor, and red photons sprouted from the cross before solidifying into a red trident tip, «Mugungri». A spear with a powerful photon reactor but it's light weight still allows it to be used rather easily. A spear should be enough to keep me away from that gas and still finish these machines off. Green bolts of photons shot towards the cannon type guards, looks like Emilia is improving.
I carry the spear with both hands and charged to a «Strateria» before it started shaking, gas emitted from the gaps in its metal plates. Time for a maneuver! I flip the spear and stab the tip on to the metal floor before using it as a leverage to fly up. I spin horizontally in the air, using the speed of my spin to pull the spear off of the floor. I flew over the gas and struck the machine causing it to flinch. Green bolts found its way to the guard machine and it finally went offline.
I found myself landing in between two of cannons, with one already charging for a light cannon. I smirked as the machine launched the ball of light, I rolled over to the side to dodge the big projectile.
*KA-BOOM*
The attack hit another unsuspecting «Vulgatus», knocking it to its side and unable to stand. I swipe at the one who just attacked and I sliced its horn clean off before I drove the tip deep into the machine, sparks flew as it shut down. I turned to the last one, who was charging its light cannon but before I could react.
"Guh!" I grunted as a jolt of pain struck my right shoulder. That one second was enough for-
*KA-BOOM*
"Graaaah!" I scream in pain as the light cannon struck me right on the chest, sending me flying and skidding on the floor before stopping. "Ugh...I am gonna feel that tomorrow." I groan exasperatedly as my eyes slowly opened. My eyes immediately snapped open once I realized that I stopped beside Emilia and I was in an angle where I could see white with pink stripes. My face flushed instantly before I scrambled to stand up. Emilia looked at my flushed face before...
*PAH*
My cheek stung as I fell on to the floor again, this time face down.
"Pervert!" She screeched with a red face. I could only produce a pained groan from my position before I propped myself up. My spear was beside the «Vulgatus», I must have dropped it when I got hit by that cannon. I willed my saber to appear in a flash of white, the silver and onyx colored hilt materializing in my hand before the green photons came to life before forming the sharp blade of green. I bolted forward, ignoring the seething blonde behind me. I can apologize after I kill these things off. The machine started shaking again, signalling that it's about to release that white gas. I flip the saber so that the blade was coming out of the bottom of my fist. I spin to the right in a clockwise motion and stabbed the blade in the «Strateria's» side. The lights on the machine started flickering before I pulled my saber up and the lights died down.
I picked up my spear before storing it away. A sigh escaped my lips as I turned to Emilia, an expression of anger still present on her face.
"Blame the machine for blasting me." I stated nonchalantly. I just want to get out of here and get some sleep, I am too sleep deprived to be nice for a long time. I stifled a yawn before I pressed the terminal button, opening the blast door standing in the way. The next room took my breath away, both positively and negatively. The room was multiple times bigger than the other ones, it was a big dome with water rushing out of the holes and running along the walls and into the gap between the platform and the walls. There were statues that were neatly aligned in the walls symmetrically with axes bigger than the statues themselves.
Those statues look too familiar, but I can't place my finger on it.
"These machines, they're the site's automatic defense." I heard Emilia mumble from behind. Good, she's not angry anymore but I still need to handle more oppressing matters. Wait...these aren't statues, they're «Straterias»... a total of 6 lined the walls, all of them look identical...they must be the same models. I continued to ponder on the feeling, but I always ended up in a dead end. "What if they went live?" After hearing the blonde say that something clicked in my head, causing dread to wash over me.
«Svaltia», a heavy security model «Strateria». Wields a gigantic axe capable of manipulating electricity from a small generator located at the blade of the said weapon, requires no mechanical gear but instead uses a gigantic photon reactor located inside its chest, capable of generating an immense amount of photons and forming it into large, thick threads which connects to the arms and legs to allow movement. The reason the «Svaltia» is a heavy security model is not because of its power but because of its top of the line scanner which uses the stagnant A-photons in the air to power itself, and once it scans a large unknown threat...
...it activates.
"EMILIA, RUN!" I shout immediately, I grab her wrist and dragged her across the room. A metallic scream resounded in the dome, I turn my head without stopping to see one of the «Svaltias» had activated. Shit!
"You have got to be kidding me! I should have kept my mouth shut!" Emilia shouted in exasperation before going over to the terminal to open the door only to be denied. There's only one, I can assume that the other ones are not working properly. These things have tough armor, so the best thing that I can do is destroy it from the inside. I hide my saber and my hands flash a bright white before revealing a pair of violet square gauntlets with black plates and a yellow glow present on each knuckle, these are «Grater» model dusters.
"We can handle this!" I shout over to her while the yellow glow on my dusters condense brighter, the photons visibly thickening. I also modified these pair of dusters with the help of Hyuga, I set the photon reactor to react once it receives that order to materialize it will improve the photon output to 150%. This is called overclock mode. I need to finish this quickly, each strike has to be precise and powerful...I might finally break my right shoulder in this fight but at least we'll get out alive.
"Handle this!? What do you mean handle this!? Don't tell me you plan on fighting that thing?" She shouted in disbelief, I answered with a simple nod before pulling my left foot back and rearing my left fist with it before ducking slightly to get into a fighting stance. "Ugh...fine! If you say we can handle it, we can handle it." She gave up as my peripheral vision revealed her equipping the staff that still felt familiar to me. I shook the feeling away, no time for distractions.
Emilia
I can't believe I am actually going to fight something like this! I felt my knees tremble but I stayed firm when I noticed that Mikey was calm, he continued to look on impassively. Why are photons gathering on his back?
"Command 001: Initiate" I heard him mumble, a nano-transformer command? The photons on his back then start condensing...it's forming something. Streams of photons soon fly off of his back, once I looked at the streams closer I felt my eyes widen.
They were feathers...at least photons shaped like them.
I turn my attention back to Mikey and my eyes widen again, the photons on his back formed wings! Even though it was made of photons it looked so realistic what's more was it looked so angelic. The wings were made of white photon feathers, you could see each feather clearly like it was a real pair of wings. I was awestruck at the revelation that the «Arctic prince» could sprout wings of light, is he really this amazing?
"Emilia, focus him down with you «Technic» but keep on moving, don't stay in one place for too long." I heard him instruct me but I wasn't even able to answer as his wings started flapping and he proved that the wings weren't just for show as he flew up. I couldn't tear my gaze away from him, he had the usual impassive look on his face but his eyes held a serious gleam. He turned away from me and glared at the giant robot, I gripped my staff tighter. I'll help him, I don't want to be useless anymore!
I focused photons on the tip of my staff, allowing it to gain a faint yellow glow. I'll be helpful, I'll help get both of us out of this place!
"Zonde!"
Mikey
A flash of yellow electricity shot from beneath me and towards the «Svaltia», the moment it struck the electricity surged through the machine, making it stagger. That was one hell of a Zonde...
"Keep it up!" I shout as I dived in with my fist reared back. The shell is too tough the best thing I can do is to destroy it from the inside! I let out a battle cry as I landed my fist straight into the thing's chest, searing pain enveloped my right shoulder but I didn't stop hitting, each punch sent a shockwave through the machine's body and each punch I made with my right proved to worsen the pain. I was too focused on attacking that I failed to notice a claw coming for me.
"Mikey!"
"Gaaah!" I scream in pain as I get thrown on to the floor, my back slamming against the metal platform. The cold metal sent shivers down my spine, this is the downside to this photon wing chip... it needs so much energy that it has to take away the protection of your «Shield-weave» to materialize properly. I weakly stand up, my muscles crying out in pain as I do so. Damn it! This hurts!, the pain was unbearable and I fell down again.
"Resta!" I heard Emilia cast from behind the machine as green light covered me, taking the pain away once again. How does she know how to cast that «Technic» so powerfully? I shake my head as a shadow descends to me.
*CRASH! BR-ZZZT*
In the place I was in a few moments ago was the «Svaltia's» axe, lodged in to the metal floor with electricity going rampant around it. Whew, just in the nick of time, without a «Shield-weave» I don't think I can survive that attack. I raise my dusters again before charging forward, my weapons glowing a brighter shade of yellow even though I was focused on making sure that I literally punch the lights out of that «Strateria» an idea out of nowhere suddenly entered my mind...an idea for an attack.
I abruptly stopped my charge and closed my eyes as the familiar surge of power washed over my body once more. I felt my eyes change color for the umpth time today. I opened my eyes and noticed the blue glow surrounding my body once more, I focused the blue photons behind me and condensed them. Large and very sharp icicles form behind me and I felt myself smirk, a little sadism escaping my lips.
"Arctic Barrage" I cast out of the blue as the barrage of icicles shot forward, the icicles proceeded to shatter upon contact because of the machine's hard shell but it was enough to deal a considerable amount of damage if I base it on the fact that the attacks are leaving dents. While the machine was still staggering I shifted the reactor on my left duster, it glowed so bright that it looked like a ball of yellow light. I dive forward, my wings was already dissipating as feathers of photons started falling off signalling that the «Shield-weave» is starting to lag behind on giving the wing's required energy.
a 100 feet...
Just one more hit!
80...
Come on! don't give out now!
65...
I could feel my speed dropping and my descent pace increasing.
55...
COME ON!
50...
I felt another surge of energy in my body, as my wings grew bright blue and a burst of speed encompassed me.
5...
"It's over!" I shouted loudly as I struck the machine on the chest, the thick coat of yellow photons shot towards the machine's chest before surging in the metallic shell. The machine jerked as the yellow photons surged past its body before it fell backwards with a loud crash.
I noticed Emilia with her eyes closed just a few feet away from the machine's head as I descended slowly before letting my wings finally shatter. Finally... we're safe.
"Huff...I am alive?" I heard her ask herself as she opened one of her eyes. She's sweating quite a lot...guess she isn't used to chain casting. I let out a weak smile as she opened both of her eyes and a joyous expression present on her face.
"I am alive! We did it!" She celebrated as she jumped in the air. "The bigger they are! The harder they fall!" She taunted while laughing loudly, no sign of her past fatigue what so ever. I felt my eyes change color once more and I wobbled as the power exhausted itself from me. "I knew you could do it! I knew it!" She ran over to me, I let out a small chuckle as she continued to run over to me...
*ZZZT*
My eyes widened as the «Svaltia» we just defeated stood up, it's tethers glowing brighter than before. Emilia turned her head, stopping in her tracks as the «Strateria» raised its claw. Move you idiot! I shouted in my head as I bolted forward, the surge of power returning to me almost instantaneously. I felt my photon wings come back to life as a burst of speed blurred my vision. In one instant I was a a good few feet away, the next thing I know I managed to push her out of the way before all the strength in my body left... no it wasn't that I lost strength.
Fear found its deadly grip on my soul...
I can hear the speed of claw bearing down on me, time seemed to slow down as Emilia looked at me with fear in her scarlet orbs. Her mouth opens and her voice reaches my ears.
"Mikey!"
It hurts… it hurts so much, my entire body hurts. I feel my back hit something… must be the floor. Darkness covered my vision…no… I just have my eyes closed… and I can't open it. I can barely hear the rapid footsteps that were getting louder.
"Why… Why'd you do this" I hear a voice… who's that? It sounds vaguely familiar. I try to open my eyes again to no avail. It felt like my eyelids weighed 4000 pounds.
"It should be me lying there… not you" I wanted to answer… but my lips won't move. It was as if the Holy Light was punishing me by being able to hear someone's cries but I can't do anything about it.
"Why aren't you getting up? Get up!" The voice cried as I felt something shake me.
"Come on, just open your eyes!" The voice continued. I want to… I want to open my eyes and tell the person that I am okay just to stop her cries.
"It's no fair. Why is it always like this" My hearing started to fade, I could barely make out that last part.
"Why do I always end up alone?" The voice continued to cry.
"No, I won't let you leave me like this! Please don't leave me alone!" I don't want to. Even with the numbness gripping my body I still felt water drip… please don't cry.
"Come on you have to wake up" I want to… I want to.
"Please…no" My hearing had totally faded, I can no longer make out what the message said.
"Somebody help! Somebody has to help me!" I felt the small remaining strength in my body disappear. I wasn't able to help her… I wasn't able to save her.
"Please don't leave me alone!" Run… please. That was the last thought I had as I lost all feeling… this is it, my heartbeat began to get slower as the pain in my body started to subside, replaced by numbness instead. As my breath grew more difficult I felt my heart get closer and closer to a stop...
Death is a dull way to finish this journey...
As the young prince of ice drew his last baited breath
The girl of yellow held out a desperate prayer
a prayer to never let her be alone again
a prayer answered by the mother of all
In the young prince's mind, darkness surrounded his consciousness
A light found its way to his realm
A light so small that shimmered
A light so bright that held second to none
A light so full of hope
A light that brought a tender voice
Only a loving mother could hold
You are not alone, I am with you always
AN: Sorry for the long update time folks! School started 3 weeks ago and my schedule is already this full. And sorry to those who're expecting a longer chapter, things are getting out of hand and I am scared for the future.
