Author's Note: Enjoy the three part banana. Bonanza. Whatever.
Chapter 7 – Bigger than God Part 1
Library Chronos, Year 612
The dark room was lit by several floating orbs that cast a purple light along the walls of bookshelves that surrounded the square room. The room strangely had no door, yet at the desk propped up against one of the bookshelves sat a lone human. The human was noticeably aged, her gray hair clung to her wrinkled face. The old woman's hands were at work, dragging a fountain pen slowly against the parchment underneath.
"Velder will be invaded by demons," the woman whispered out loud to herself as she wrote the words down. The woman took a short pause to adjust the red muffler she loosely wore to keep warm. Her eyes moved to gaze at a burnt photo she had propped in a frame on her desk.
On the photo was a brown-haired young woman with her arm linked with a blond young man, and the words "Our future" written crudely in the corner. The old woman smiled at the photo and picked it up gingerly. She turned the frame over to read the words itched on the back.
Kyou and Mase, lovers forever.
"A group of warriors chosen by the El shall save the city," the old woman whispered as she returned to writing.
"The group shall then travel to Hamel and save it from the forces of demons. Their adventures will lead them all across Fluone and they will come to save the world." As she wrote the last word, the old woman smiled gently and rested her pen down. She leaned back in her large chair, satisfied with what she had written. With a content sigh, the old woman closed her eyes.
"And now I shall begin my life again," she stated to herself. As the old woman began to relax, letting her mind slowly slip away, she was jerked back to attention by a loud bang. The old woman sat up quickly in her chair, momentarily forgetting her back pain, and looked behind her. In the center of the room was a giant orb that seemed to be filled by swirling purple mist. At least it usually was. Now the mist was blood red.
The orb gave off another loud bang and the mist seemed to grow frantic. Cloudy images of the outside world flashed inside the orb, showing the old woman what was to happen in the current year. The old woman's body was frozen in her chair as she stared towards the orb. The third bang was immediately followed by a hiss as the images in the orb began to burn away. The old woman's eyes widened in shock before the orb burst into crimson flames. The burst of flames shook the old woman and danced before they lurched towards her.
With a quick duck back against her chair, the old woman watched the flames collide with the bookshelf in front of her. The flames licked at the shelf, the intense heat piercing the old woman to the bone. The old woman could do nothing but watch as the flames continued to move as if alive. All of a sudden, the flames stopped eroding at the books and left the old woman staring at words made of the flames.
Year 612. I am reborn.
The old woman stared at the words, her face soaked with a cold sweat for she knew exactly what the words meant. From the orb behind her came a deafening roar and then another bang. The giant orb shattered and flames erupted from the inside. The old woman screamed in agony, her heart seizing from the shock. All went black.
Library Chronos, Year 620
A small circle in the corner of the room began to glow before an eight year old Kyou materialized on top of it. She calmly patted herself down before she took stock of the library. The bookshelves were burnt, wood pieces covered the floor as Kyou made her way step-by-step towards the desk. The desk itself was also in pieces, but Kyou didn't seem to mind as she knelt down.
"Where is it..." she muttered in panic, her hands sifted through the wood until they found their target. With a hearty pull, Kyou dislodged the charred picture frame. She rubbed off any charring she could and breathed a sigh of relief when she found the picture unharmed inside. Kyou stared at the photo in silence, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Why...? We were supposed to be together forever, you dumb jerk. Why did you go and die?" Kyou asked the photo as if it would answer her. Kyou wiped her eyes on her muffler and stared at the photo. She let out a light chuckle at the Harmony Festival clothes she wore in the photo. "I look so dumb..."
Kyou lifted herself up onto her feet and looked around the room for a safe place put the frame down. When she finally found a little spot that wasn't burnt, she placed the frame down and went back to her desk. She leafed through the burnt scraps of paper and then paused. The papers were only burned away in certain spots. Kyou piled the papers together and looked at what had remained.
"Velder is invaded by demons, a warrior chosen by he, Hamel, all across Fluone, he will come," Kyou read aloud to herself. Kyou lifted her head to stare at the words burnt into the wall in front of her. Kyou's face paled at the words, her bottom lip trembling. Tear rolled down her face and she closed her eyes. She could vividly remember the flames.
"Back then at the first Harmony Festival, we saw the future that lay before us, Mase. But then how... How did that thing come into existence without us knowing?! Why?! Why did it kill you, Mase..." Kyou wailed and then petered off into soft sobbing. No one else was there to respond as Kyou curled up on the floor and cried.
City in the Sky, Year 632
A red laser erupted from Eltrion's core, smashing into the steel floor and moving towards the two girls. Val grabbed onto Kyou's arm and the two vanished before the laser hit where they had been standing. The two reappeared further away as Eltrion swerved its body to face them again.
"Th-That laser... That laser was incredible!" Val cried out, a giant grin on her face. Kyou groaned and grabbed onto Val's arm this time to teleport them away from a second laser beam.
"Now's not the time for that!" Kyou snapped after they reappeared again. Val continued to ramble about how the laser had more power than even the airships of the Caluso, but Kyou mentally blocked out the facts to keep her attention squarely on dodging the giant Nasod that threatened to kill them. Finally, after getting annoyed by the scientist magician's lack of fear, Kyou snapped. "How about you help figure out how to beat this thing!"
"Why would we defeat it?! This Nasod is a relic! Do you know how much we could learn from it? A lot!" Val retorted and Kyou couldn't hold in a loud cry of annoyance.
"It's either it or us!" she screamed over the noise of another laser that nearly hit them. Val seemed to ponder the ultimatum far longer than Kyou wished for before the purple-haired magician snapped her fingers. At her fingertips sprung to life a small red flame that grew into a fireball as big as Kyou's head. Kyou murmured some quick insults about Val's personality as light gathered into a ball on her palm.
The two girls threw their magic attacks towards Eltrion, watching as the balls neared Eltrion... and then vanished when they made contact. The girls both stared in confusion and then resumed running when Eltrion swung its claw down.
"Explain, nerd!" Kyou snapped when they had safely made some distance. Val panted from exhaustion and wiped her brow slowly. Val examined the giant Nasod and then glanced around.
"It's immune... Whatever the Nasod is made of is immune to magic. And it doesn't seem like it can harm the City," Val stated which made Kyou perk up and look at where the lasers had assuredly hit the steel floor they stood on. There was no sign that the laser had touched the spots and even the spot where Eltrion had swung its claw down was unharmed.
"So you're saying that two magicians came here to fight against something they can't even hurt?" Kyou asked, a small tick in the corner of lip going off. Val nodded calmly as she stared at the Nasod. She began to reach for her pocket and took out a small lollipop. Before Val could put the candy in her mouth, however, Eltrion rushed towards them. Kyou hurriedly grabbed onto Val and roughly pulled her away. In the surprise, Val dropped her lollipop that was smashed by the mere wind pressure of Eltrion's claw swing.
"Ah! My candy!" Val cried out as if she had just lost a child. Kyou ignored Val's cry and kept her eyes scanning the area before she locked onto one of the floating sections away from them. In a flash, Kyou teleported her and Val onto it to take shelter from any laser blast Eltrion may fire from its current position.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Kyou asked, but Val seemed distracted as the girl was patting her pockets.
"I'm out... I'm out..." Val murmured, a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek. Kyou grimaced at Val for not paying attention. With a quick slap, Kyou brought Val back to earth.
"Attention, Miss Nasod-Head! What do we do?!" Kyou snapped, getting tired of the situation. While Val thought of a plan, Kyou weighed her choices of ditching Val and escaping to staying and fight. Kyou had her hand ready to make a portal to escape in until she jumped a little from a sudden smack to the back of her head.
"Hey, Miss Boy-Love! I got a plan!" Val answered, clearly getting revenge for Kyou's comment. As Kyou watched, Val stood and raised her left hand upwards. High above them, a large sigil formed and burned bright red. The symbol of fire formed in the center of the sigil and glowed. Val grinned as she focused on Eltrion.
"Forces of fire! Gather upon the stars and bring down your judgment!" Val chanted loudly. As she did, the flames in the sigil began to condense into what seemed almost like miniature stars. Kyou clapped her hands together as she realized Val's plan. She jumped to her feet and smiled before she raised her right hand next to Val's raised left. On top of the flame sigil a second one formed, this one sparkling white with an eight-pointed star in the center.
"Forces of space! Rend all my foes to ribbons with your infinite power!" Kyou chanted with a cute wink. Val and Kyou swung their raised arms down to point at Eltrion.
"Combination Magic! Meteor Shower X Fate Space! Fated Shower!" the two chanted in unison before hundreds of small meteors hurtled towards Eltrion, each one surrounded by a sparkly white mist. Eltrion located the two as the meteors flew towards it, but instead of letting the magic hit it like before, Eltrion moved into action.
Eltrion's wings began to move and folded in front of the Nasod. The blue force coming out of Eltrion's wings ceased, but were replaced by a large transparent purple wall of crackling energy. The meteors smashed into the wall and exploded, creating a large dust cloud that was quickly blown away by the wind in the area. Val and Kyou gritted their teeth as Eltrion was unharmed.
"That lousy cheater! Why did he have a shield?!" Kyou asked angrily as she stomped her foot. Val rubbed her left hand slowly, steam floating from her bare skin, as she surveyed the damage.
"The magic must have been able to hurt it if it generated an external shield to protect itself," Val explained before she winced lightly. Kyou pursed her lips and gave one last stomp of her foot.
"Then we'll just hammer away at the dumb shield until-" Kyou was cut off then by a loud bang. Kyou's eyes widened at the sound, her body involuntarily shaking from it. Slowly, she looked over to see Val on her knees, her hood had fallen off her head, and a look of agonizing pain on her face as she gripped her still steaming hand tightly.
"V-Val...?" Kyou asked slowly, unable to stop her body's shaking as another bang went off. Kyou gripped her muffler tightly as she watched Val's left hand begin to blacken. Long red cracks formed along the black skin, and seemed to make Val jolt in pain. Kyou's face paled as a look of absolute terror replaced her once happy look. Val's body went limp, steam still rising from the black flesh of her hand.
The appearance of her hand had crawled up Val's arm apparently as Kyou could see the skin of the left side of Val's face start to mimic the same look. Kyou's legs gave out and she fell onto her rear, her eyes unable to tear away. Val slowly stood back onto her feet with a slight sway. At that moment, Kyou felt a familiar sensation enter her head. A sensation that once nearly drove her mad.
Eltrion seemed cautious as it didn't move but rather watched as Val lifted her head to stare at the giant Nasod. Val's right side was completely normal. Pale skin from not a lot of time outdoors and a soothing pale purple eye. On her left side though, Val's skin had turned a pitch black color with red cracks running along it as if it were magma. But that wasn't what Kyou was focused on. Kyou was staring straight at Val's left eye that had become black with a slitted gold iris.
"N-No... Why..." Kyou murmured while she weakly tried to push herself away. Her head was so filled with all sorts of different emotions that Kyou began to cry. Memories of a different life floated to the surface of Kyou's mind. Memories of her linking arms with a young man, both with large smiles on their faces.
Memories of that time being burned away as a gigantic winged monster roared. A monster whose appearance was still freshly seared into Kyou's mind. The sleek black scaled body, adorned with reddish cracks. A long thick neck, armored in black scales that seemed to hiss whenever they moved. Large black wings that seemed to eclipse the sun, creating a shadow upon all that stood before it. The golden slitted eyes that pierced into the very soul of all that gazed back. It was the monster Kyou feared most. And as Kyou sat there, trembling like a newborn baby, she slowly found the strength to form the monster's name.
"Demonic Dragon of Flames... Yaksha..."
