[Message from Kingdom Come]: Hello everyone! So I have some news! First of all, now that life has stopped hating me, I've got nothing better to do with my life than to start writing more stuff. Today marked the beginning of NaNoWriMo and I am participating again this year I'll be posting my updates on dA so stay posted :3 Also, if anyone has the feeling to add me on Steam just PM me and I'll send you my steam account username :P Anyway, enjoy the update everyone!
Chapter XVI.
Lost.
Advent steadied herself, her head spinning as she craned her neck upwards, looking around the darkness. She gestured to move her arms, and went to walk forward, but to no avail. She found that she was being restrained by something. She looked down at her wrists and ankles as her vision came into a better focus and the darkness became that of a thick dark greenish haze. Dark oily tethers were constricting her wrists and ankles and she felt weightless, almost as though she was floating. She then looked around and realized she was suspended, drifting limply in the greenish haze.
"This…" Advent whispered, her voice trailing through the seeming nothingness around her, "This…but where is she keeping them?" She asked herself quietly.
She then let out a scream of pain as the tethers wrapped around her began to tighten, cutting off the circulation to her hands and feet. Advent growled as the organic restraints pulled tighter and tighter against her skin. She began to resist, throwing all of her strength into pulling them apart. She swore she heard a faint screeching sound as she wrenched the oily constraints apart, or perhaps it was just her imagination. The tethers ripped apart as Advent let out a scream, summoning all of her strength in order to break free. The tethers broke, falling off of her body and fading into the darkness below her, letting Advent move freely about the space.
She drifted through the darkness for what felt like hours, finding nothing. No indication of where the fallen souls were being kept, no traces of where they might be, and no signs of anything whatsoever. All that she found, was nothing. She let out an exasperated sigh, looking around in the thick dark greenish haze as she felt it pressing in around her. It was then when something struck her.
What if free souls and fallen souls existed in the reliquary together, but in separate planes? What if she wouldn't be able to free all of the captured fighters? What if she too was now trapped within the reliquary for all eternity?
Advent began to choke back her own tears as she gripped the fabric hanging at her chest and bit her lip. Clearly, she hadn't thought this through as well as she had believed. She clenched her fists and looked up into the nothingness and let out a long and enraged scream as tears rolled down her face.
"DAMN YOU!" She screamed, throwing her fists up in the air, and then back behind her. They collided with something, making a soft thud but for several long moments, Advent hadn't noticed. She leaned against the something, sobbing softly, and still looking into the blackness.
It wasn't until about two minuets later when she realized that she was leaning against something. She then stopped sobbing. She lifted her head and brushed away the tears hanging on her cheeks. She then turned around to get a good look at the something. She noted that it was a large, black sphere that was almost unnoticeable in the void. Her vision came into better focus the more she studied the massive object and realized that there were hundreds if these strange black spheres suspended in the void all around her.
Curiously, Advent tapped against its surface. To her surprise, it was hollow. She pressed in closer to it, to get a better look at what might be inside, but the surface was so dark, that it was nearly impossible to see inside, not to mention with how dark the void already was. Advent let out a frustrated sigh, and then noticed something brushing up against her leg. She looked down and noticed that the sheathe of her rapier was still hanging at her side. Her heart skipped a beat as she withdrew the weapon.
Instinctively, she plunged it into the dark surface of the orb. The sphere began to shatter and crackle like glass. Beneath the dark surface a bright green light shown through the cracks and grew brighter the more bits and pieces of the orb's surface that fell away. The surface of the sphere finally erupted and the light dissipated, leaving behind nothing but a limp body floating in the void. Advent drifted up to it, and lifted its face to hers.
"Aerrow!" She exclaimed, gently patting his face and trying to wake him from the trance, "Aerrow wake up! Please!"
"Huh…" He began, looking around the dark void in confusion as he awoke from his state, "w-what's going on? Where are we?"
"Inside Cypress' reliquary," Advent replied casually, much more calm now that she knew how to find the captured souls and now that she knew how easy it was to set them free.
"What!" Aerrow exclaimed, looking around the expanse, a little concerned. Although, we was rather relieved to see Advent, "Wait…so…I lost!"
"To Meno I'm afraid," Advent nodded, not really caring if the knowledge would be devastating to be Aerrow or not (and judging by the look on his face, it was), "She transformed into your father…tricked you…something I tried to warn you about remember?"
"No actually," Aerrow replied shaking his head, "I just remember fighting Meno and then a flash of light and then seeing you just now."
"Strange," Advent began, looking off into space, "So you don't remember anything at all?"
"No," Aerrow replied with a sigh as he shook his head once again, "So…who won the tournament…dare I ask?"
"I don't know," Advent replied with a sigh and a shrug, "Technically speaking…Meno is the new Champion…she did defeat Carver, but the match between her and Stork wasn't over yet by the time I was sent here…"
"Oh…" Aerrow nodded, scratching the back of his head, "Ah…so what do we do now?"
"I think it's pretty obvious," Advent replied with a slight sigh of irritation, "We have to release all of the souls that were trapped here…the more Cypress has bound to the reliquary, the stronger she becomes."
"I'm kind of confused," Aerrow sighed as he and Advent drifted through the myriad of massive black orbs drifting lazily in the void, "What exactly happened after I…you know?"
"Oh please Aerrow," Advent replied, rolling her eyes slightly, "Just say it…you lost. There is no shame in admitting defeat and as I've told you before in our many little chats, that cumbersome pride of yours is just that. Cumbersome. A little humility is good for the soul and after all it's a trait you'll need if you ever hope to govern the twilight knights one day."
"Govern?" Aerrow inquired, raising an eyebrow. Advent said nothing, she just turned and gave him an expectant look as Aerrow nodded back, "We're not a squadron…we're an institution…"
"That's right," Advent replied with a slight smile, "Now come…I'll explain everything…we've got plenty of work to do."
"W-what's going on here?" Ace commanded, looking around the void. He heard the clamoring of several hundred people, but all he happened to see was darkness. As his vision came into better view, he saw Advent and Aerrow.
"You have no idea how sick we are of hearing that," Aerrow added with a smile and a roll of the eyes as Ace steadied himself.
"It feels like it has been hours," Advent stated, turning to Aerrow, "But I believe with Anteres…everyone is now freed."
"You'll never believe what's going on," Aerrow stated direly, turning to Ace, "Cypress was using this whole tournament as-"
"As a venue to harvest souls for her reliquary?" Ace continued, raising an eyebrow at the two of them, "I know…"
"Yeah…" Aerrow replied, shaking his head in confusion, "But…how did you know?" Ace nodded towards Advent who at that moment, looked just as confused. She immediately shook it off and nodded back at him, but was still confused. Advent learned that information after Ace had been stricken with comatose, he would have had to know before hand. But the question was, how did he know?
"So…now that everyone is free…where do we go from here?" Aerrow asked, looking towards Advent. She let out a sigh as she looked to the hundreds of faces that were all floating about the void, all staring at her expectantly.
"Truth is," Advent sighed, "I haven't gotten that far yet…"
"Figures," Anaxagoras scoffed, commanding the attention of the crowd, " That the great Advent hasn't the slightest clue what in the hell she's doing!"
"Hey!" Nova screamed over the murmuring crowd, "Shove it pretty boy! If it wasn't for you and your stupid Master, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Don't you call our Master such things you valkyrian whore!" Meno screeched, firing back at Nova.
"Come at me Meno!" Nova shouted, egging her on. The crowd of confused bodies then began to scream and shout, all fighting against one another in a chaotic rumble.
"ENOUGH!" Carver shouted with a voice loud enough to be heard through the entire void. Everyone stopped and turned to look at the former champion, who looked altogether frustrated, "Fighting with each other isn't going to get us out of this…I suggest we follow Advent."
"Traitor…" Meno scoffed, crossing her arms.
"I agree," Dove chimed, drifting up next to Aerrow.
"Yes," Anaxagoras nodded, "Let's get ourselves out of this situation and fight on another day."
"Anaxagoras!" Meno shrieked, pulling on her companion's shoulder as he angrily pushed her away.
"What Meno!" He scoffed, rolling his eyes at her, "Do you expect me to stay trapped in here in the name of our master?"
"She can stay in here for all I care," Anaximenes whispered into Cyrus' ear as she let out a slight laugh.
"Well," Advent then began once the crowd of tournament losers had all turned their attention towards her, "I…ah…" She began, scanning all if their faces.
Oh dear…she thought, clearly I hadn't thought all this through…
"What's going on in there?" Cloud asked curiously as she and Stork sat at a table in the main hall of the headquarters, looking at the reliquary curiously. The object was pulsing infrequently with a green light, making it rather interesting to watch now that the relic was no longer dormant, but also had them concerned at the same time.
"…touch it…" Stork commanded not taking his eyes off of the reliquary.
"I'm not touching it…" Cloud replied disdainfully, "You touch it…"
"Jevanni," The Doctor began, turning to the statuesque Valkyrie, "What do we do now?" She inquired, staring down at the object.
"Why don't we just smash it?" Cloud asked, "If this thing makes Cypress more powerful…wouldn't it make sense to get rid of it?"
"And in theory it should release everyone inside," The Doctor stated.
"Then let's do it," Stork quivered nervously, as he lifted a large wrench above the smooth glass shaft of the reliquary.
"No," Jevanni exclaimed, rushing up beside Cloud and Stork and seizing his arm, "Destroy the reliquary and you will destroy every soul inside…they will become unstable and tear apart."
"But…" Cloud asked, turning to Jevanni, "If we can't destroy it…then how do we set everyone free? Could…could you do it?"
"That is absolutely out of the question," Jevanni stated, scoffing at Cloud as she gave her the cold shoulder. Cloud's ears drooped as the Valkyrie strode away from them, "As a matter of fact I have interfered on this mortal plane quite long enough. There is not much left I can provide for you. Sadly it is up to the two of you to sort out this mess."
"This mess?" Stork asked, raising an eyebrow in a slight confusion and sounding a little panicked.
"Of course," Jevanni replied, turning around to face them, "There's the problem of the souls, but once the souls are free…where are they going to go? Most have no bodies to return to."
"We hadn't thought about that…" The Doctor stated, biting her nails as she looked back and fourth between the two remaining guardians and Jevanni.
"As I said," Jevanni sighed, crossing her arms as she looked down at the three mortals, "You may sort out this mess…allow me to figure out where the souls are going to go once freed." She concluded, heading out of the main hall of the resistance headquarters, "I'm returning to the Old God's domain…as I said before, I've interfered here long enough."
"WHERE IS IT!" A voice screeched, booming throughout the air and echoing throughout the hall of the headquarters. They immediately recognized the hateful cry. Cypress was coming. And from what it sounded like, to say she was mad would be an understatement.
"And not a moment too soon," Jevanni stated as the three mortals rushed past her, through the foyer and out under the awning of the headquarters, "I wish you luck…" She stated placing the reliquary in Stork's hands, just before disappearing in a flash of dull grey light.
"Wa-wait! What!" Stork exclaimed, turning around, clutching the reliquary and noting that Jevanni was now gone, "She left us! She…she just left us!"
"Uh…" Cloud began, pointing up at the sky, "Stork…"
"What!" He exclaimed, turning to Cloud, still clutching the reliquary.
"Look," She commanded, not taking her eyes off of the sky. The air was bitter cold as black clouds clustered in the sky above the headquarters, darkening the already dark skies of Lumina City. Light snow began to fall, but that wasn't what caught their attention. Lighting streaked through the bleak clouds and thunder clapped with each flash, the snow fall quickening over the city as the storm worsened.
"Where is my reliquary…" Cypress growled, emerging from the sheet of falling snow with Anaximander in tow.
"We have it right here," Cloud exclaimed, stepping out in front of Stork and the Doctor as Stork held the relic close to him, but outward enough to let Cypress see.
"Hand it to me!" Cypress shouted, outstretching her arm before her.
"No!" Cloud replied defiantly.
"Lenora," Stork began, turning to the Doctor, "Get inside."
"I won't leave y-" The Doctor began.
"Enough," Stork exclaimed, pushing her into the foyer of the headquarters and throwing the doors shut, "Sorry Lenora."
"Damn it Stork!" Doctor Constantine exclaimed, slamming her hands against the doors. She tried wrenching the doors back open, but the wind of Cypress' frigid storm was barring against them.
"Return to me the reliquary," Cypress demanded coldly and calmly, taking another step towards them.
"Stop," Stork shouted, stepping beside Cloud and holding the reliquary high above his head, "D-don't come any closer!" He quivered as Cypress stopped dead in her tracks.
"Wh-what are you doing…" Cypress inquired, sounding on edge as she gently moved towards Stork, the snowfall becoming lighter as she did so.
"I'll smash it right now!" Stork stated, not making eye contact with Cypress as he looked down at the stone staircase below him.
"NO!" Cypress exclaimed.
"Stork what are you-" Cloud gasped, reaching for the relic.
"Go with it…" Stork snapped, pushing Cloud away from him. Cloud looked over to him and nodded, as she turned to Cypress as well.
"We're not afraid," Cloud snapped, nodding at her, "You'll be powerless without it…"
"On one condition," Stork gulped, hoping that Cypress wouldn't call his bluff.
"What would that be," Cypress growled, watching the object carefully as her heart pounded, hoping the object wouldn't 'conveniently' slip out of Stork's hands.
"If you can release the souls from the reliquary," Stork began, sounding more at ease as he lowered the reliquary from above his head, "I'll give it back…all of the souls."
"That's all?" Cypress asked with a slight smile as the snow storm now dissipated into nothing more than a slight flurry, "Well then…hand it to me…and I'll do so immediately." She stated darkly, holding her hand out to the pair.
"Not yet," Stork stated strongly, holding his ground before the witch, "One more thing."
"What?" Cypress commanded as she rolled her eyes. Stork held the reliquary high above his head one more time at the ample altitude for smashing as he descended the limestone steps, heading towards Cypress, her look of content fading.
"Give me," Stork commanded, looking scared, calm, nervous, and strong all in the same face, "Your word…" He demanded, standing a few feet from Cypress with his hand outstretched towards her, the relic still held high in the air. Cypress first growled, but then her anger faded and rather, she now looked impressed. Cypress strode towards him, not taking his hand, but just looking to him. Both Anaximander and Cloud looked at them both, equally confused.
"Alright," Cypress nodded, gently taking Stork by the hand, "I'll see this your way…and I give you my word." She concluded, shaking the Merb's hand. Stork looked over to her and reluctantly handed her the reliquary. After all, she had given her word and he had promised it to her if she did so. Cypress took the seemingly lifeless object in her hands and nodded to him. He expected her to being laughing manically and to rescind on their deal, but rather, she said nothing.
Cypress took in a deep breath as she pressed the reliquary to her lips. She pulled the object away and whispered something silently against the surface of the relic. Instead of the sinister green glow it used to emit, the artifact began to glow with a blinding white light that grew and grew, that started in at the end of the steps, and grew to consume the entire city. However, as quickly as it came, the light faded and when it did so, the reliquary was now radiating with the same sickly green aura it always had been.
"It has been done," Cypress nodded, turning away from Stork and Cloud and walking away from them.
"If you're lying to us-" Cloud shrieked, taking a few heated steps towards her.
"I gave my word," Cypress stated, turning around to face her, "And a valkyrie never goes back on their word, fallen or otherwise…remember that my dear." She stated with a slight laugh as she and her minion walked off into the streets of the city.
"Do you think she really set them all free?" Cloud asked, turning to Stork, looking worried.
"Only one way to find out," Stork gulped as he and Cloud pushed open the doors of the headquarters.
