Void.
What comes to mind, when you hear a word like this? Perhaps it is the vast emptiness of the cosmos? Maybe it is the barren expanses of a lifeless wasteland, like the moon? Maybe it is whatever lies below the surface of your world? Or could it possibly be what lies in the heart of those who you could call 'pure evil?'
For two individuals, the answer was simple. 'Void' was where the rainbow hell in which they currently floated endlessly in. Their consciousness fading in and out, unable to maintain a hold of time, or location, it was truly a hell catered specifically to them.
"Ahh… I woke up again… Geez, couldn't he have at least given me something to help me relieve everything I've got pent up?"
One of the individuals, a man in tattered clothes and raven-feathers, each as dark as his hair, floated around aimlessly. Looking through this infinitely huge prison, he spotted in the distance his unconscious companion. He let out a bitter laugh as he tried to adjust his position, hoping that a simple change like that would correct his trajectory and allow them to be closer.
It didn't work.
He let out another sigh of frustration, putting his hands behind his head as he continued to drift. "Still being blue balled like this, huh? I'm not exactly into this kind of neglect," he mused as he just stared into the vast emptiness. Closing his eyes, he let out a small mutter, "At least I can be with him while I stay here, even if he is as quiet as a dead fish."
Peace and quiet. Some people have it as their one and only desire, but for him, there was no pleasure to be found. He needed something to stir things up inside him, or he may very well just die of boredom.
Vrrrrrrnnnn…
A strange, low humming sound reverberated near him. Eyes opening, the debaucherous man tried to crane his head to the source of the unusual noise. What he saw was something he had never dreamed of- a slight crack in the empty void. Grinning to himself, he did everything he could in order to get closer.
How could this happen? Had their bondage finally begin to come undone? Was the Speaker's power finally waning? Perhaps it was some sort of miracle, a one-in-a-billion chance occurrence?
Whatever it was, he didn't care. As he approached the fracture in the rift, he saw something on the other side. He had heard of cases, where the singularity had unusual visitors join their crew for, for quite some time before his imprisonment, but never did he imagine something like that would ever occur to him.
He looked up into the void and gazed at his companion. Letting out a soft smile, his crimson eyes were filled with determination, "I'll be back for you, Cilius. Don't you worry," he said as he pulled back his fist and threw it out towards the fracture.
KRACK!
The fracture grew larger on the impact. Doing everything he could to stay close, he kept up the process, smashing his fists, his elbows, his shoulders- everything he could, into the growing wound in this empty world.
Minutes? Hours? Days? Truthfully, his sense of time had been shot for some time after his imprisonment. But it didn't matter in the end, because with one final strike, the wound shattered like glass.
The energy of the world distorted for a minute and he could feel something change. Feeling an arid breeze against his skin, he reached through the glowing rift, letting a mysterious force violently pull him through.
The inertia of the sudden movement was enough to knock out whatever sense of balance he had. As he rushed through the strange tunnel, the colors of the world all started to meld together in a disorienting blur, before finally spitting him out onto the cold hard ground.
Groaning, he opened his eyes and tried to focus his vision, staring up at a red sky, his eyes roamed over the expanse, before he finally saw something unlike any had seen before.
He let out a laugh as his hands reached up to the moon- a shattered moon, hanging ominously in the sky. "I can't believe it… I really found myself in a whole new world. Ahh, Cilius, if only you could see it…" He mused, as he made a grasping motion, as if to claim the broken world.
Thump thump thump!
Raising an eyebrow, he stood up and scanned his surroundings. All around him, were strange werewolf-like creatures, with strange bones protruding from their bodies, with an external skull. Their eyes glowed a violent orange and they snarled at him with malicious intent.
"Hey now, what's with this reception?" Laughed that man, brushing back his hair, "I'm down for a wild night, but I'm afraid that you might not be my type. Still, if you're down to dance, then I guess I'll have to be the one to pop you!"
A strange pulse washed over him. The beasts, which were hostile just a moment ago, all began to back away, as if to clear a path for something… or someone.
A figure started to approach him- a woman who let out an imposing presence. A woman who had somewhat familiar 'feel' to her, as someone who he knew. His heart began to slow down as he calmed himself and he smiled at her.
"Okay, I guess I know who's in charge here."
Things were going to be fun.
Some time later… in a world above the clouds...
Across the vast expanses of sky, on an island far away, a quartet of skyfarers were wrapping up a job. A dark skinned man with silver hair and wolf ears atop his head, took a deep breath as he looked over the area. Carcasses of strange monsters were strewn about an open field, all emitting an unusual black smoke. A curious sight, to be sure.
A noise rang in his ear. Reaching up, he pressed down on a button around his neck, activating the communication device. "This is Eustace. All hostiles in my vicinity have been neutralized. State your status, over."
A short buzz of static buzzed in his ear, before the gruff voice of a slightly older man chimed in, "Vaseraga, reporting in. Zeta and I have cleared our area too."
A moment later, a more energetic voice of a young woman came in, belonging to one of his partners. "Bea, reporting in. Cassius and I beat down these weird dog things and it's all clear."
Eustace sighed at Beatrix's casual report, but put it aside. No matter how much the Drill Sergeant tried, she couldn't quite get that habit of hers out. Not that he, or anyone exactly minded it, but it was just one of those things that they wish she'd get over. Tapping once again on the button, he ordered them all to collect what they were requested to gather from the creatures and meet up at their rendezvous point for extraction.
These people were all members of a group called, 'The Society,' an organization that fought for the freedom of the people in the skies, killing local beings of power known as 'Primal Beasts,' to let the citizens carve their own destiny.
At least, that was what their mission statement roughly was. Truthfully, most members of the organization signed up for money, or to settle personal vendettas. Even Eustace, the member of this group with the most seniority, ultimately joined in order to exact revenge on the people who destroyed his home village.
But as the years went on, the Society's more 'true' goals came to surface. Fighting against the mysterious 'Foe,' an unseen enemy who sought to sow discord across the skies… and eventually, the true threat of the moon came to be known.
Among the Society, there were members who used special 'Seal Weapons,' which were capable of destroying Primal Beasts. Some time ago, there was an incident, where the Seal Weapon used by Vaseraga, the Great Scythe Grynoth, awoke to a large, mechanical beast called an Automagod.
From there, the Society seemed to shift into gear, as they understood that their enemy lay in the cosmos above and started to develop measures to counter them.
Then there was the Traveller from the moon, Cassius, coming down to the Sky to retrieve the automagods. However, over time, the land changed him. He grew to care for this world and its people, finding it far more invigorating than his home on the moon.
But eventually things happened that forced him to return. They all bid him farewell, as he returned to the stars, but shortly after, received a message from the moon, which warned them of a danger coming, that threatened the world.
It took a lot of coordination between many parties, as well as the interference of another, but eventually, Cassius had returned to them, no longer simply a Traveller. He found his way home.
It had been some time since that whole incident, and now this group of Society members were out on a mission. Lately, there had been reports of strange monsters appearing across the Phantagrande Skydom, causing havoc. Stronger than the local fauna, these beasts seemed intent on attacking villages. These invasive creatures were never seen on their islands before, and no reports of airships with strange cargo, or strange air traffic that would imply an illegal dumping. It was as if they simply materialized through thin air.
Eustace thought over the possibilities as he made his way to the rendezvous point. As he approached, the sight of his comrades carrying their 'samples' came into his view. Zeta and Beatrix, in their blue and red armor, the hulking Vaseraga with his giant scythe and the returnee from the moon, Cassius, with his spear. On the ground, were one of the disgusting, shadow-black creatures, their bodies still letting out a faint smoke.
Beatrix waved her hand, calling out to him, "Oi, Eustace! How'd it go solo?"
Eustace let out a sigh at Beatrix's energy. Technically, he was her superior armor, but he doubted that reminding her would change anything. "I finished my mission just fine, Bea. I can see you and Cassius handled fine?"
The silver haired moon-man nodded, "Beatrix told me to not tell you that one almost bit her leg off. Everything went fine," he said casually, earning a loud scream of annoyance from the brunette.
"H-Hey, you just told him what I asked you not to tell him! Cassius, you traitor!"
"Did I? My mistake."
There was that dry sense of humor from Cassius, combined with the usual routine of teasing Beatrix for her bad luck and recklessness. Still, not like this mission was particularly difficult, so he figured that he could just omit that detail from the report.
As Zeta and Vaseraga joined in on teasing Beatrix, they all heard the sound of an airship approaching- a Society vessel. As it landed and the boarding ramp lowered for them, several cadets all came out and gave Eustace a salute.
"We'll bring the samples on board, sir. Sergeant Ilsa and Commander Ronan are in their personal chambers and are requesting your presence, ASAP."
This was odd. Eustace's eyebrow raised as he motioned for the soldier to be at ease, "And they sent you to tell me, instead of contacting me through the communicator?"
"That would be right, sir. They said something about an important message regarding a guest."
That drew a few curious glances from everyone, (aside from Cassius, though he was just as confused, even if he didn't show it) and they all looked at each other, silently asking what was going on.
Eustace nodded, "Understood. Take care of the samples and we'll be on our way," he simply said as they all walked past and up the ramp.
As they made their ways down the halls of the Society ship, there was a strange tension in the air. A sense of uneasiness that was a little bit tough to break.
Thankfully, Zeta knew just the way. "Okay, Bea, fess up. What did you do this time?"
Beatrix, looking positively shocked at the accusation, shook her head and sent a glare at her dear friend. "I didn't do anything this time, I swear!"
"This time…" mumbled Vaseraga.
"Really, I swear! I've been with you guys and the Captain ever since Cassius came back! There is no way I'd have even had the chance to cause a problem!"
"Oh? So you're admitting that you may have done something when we weren't looking?" Teased Zeta, poking Beatrix in the shoulder and earning a nervous grunt.
"W-well, if I actually did something wrong, don't you think Ilsa would have chewed me out by now? So it can't be me this time!"
"I think instead of speculating on the possible actions of Beatrix," began Cassius, earning an annoyed groan from the girl in question, "we should instead think about who this 'guest' could be. Someone who knows all of us. Perhaps someone from the Captain's crew?" He suggested.
Vaseraga nodded, "Seems likely, if you ask me. They'd have to know we're part of the Society, how to contact us and where to find us and with enough say in things to get a way to get Ronan to ask us directly."
A moment of silence passed as they all began to think. "Think it could be Seofon?" Suggested Zeta. Once again, silence fell upon them as they thought about the possibility of that man wanting anything to do with them, smiling with that annoyingly smug grin of his and wasting their time with that weird friendliness that seemed condescending a good chunk of the time.
Understandably, they all tried to stifle a groan.
As they came towards Ronan's quarters, a familiar face came down the other end of the hall. Messy white hair, black work pants and a white shirt stained in oil, it was none other than the engineer Isaac, who had aided their rescue of Cassius.
"Ah, hey there everyone," He said, greeting them with his usual nervous voice. "How'd the mission go?"
Everyone just nodded and said their own variation of 'it went well,' as Eustace went to knock on the door. Just as he rapped his knuckle on the metal, he caught a faint, pleasant aroma of coffee. "We're coming in."
The door opened and sitting at the desk, was none other than Ronan. Standing beside him, was Drill Sergeant Ilsa, looking fairly nervous, all things considered. But what earned their immediate attention, was the one sitting in the guest seat.
Soft, short, wavy, brown hair, black armor with a hood and a coffee cup in hand that he was taking small sips of. Aside from Isaac, pretty much everyone in the room knew who this guest was.
"Sandalphon?"
The beautiful man put down his coffee and stood up, turning to them all. "Hello, everyone. Sorry for coming to you all so suddenly," he said, his smooth voice inspiring an air of authority among everyone here. "But I promise that you will all want to hear this."
"Huh, it couldn't have waited till we all saw each other on the Grancypher? What do we owe the pleasure, O Supreme Primarch?" Chimed in Zeta, not at all phased or particularly impressed with his formalities.
Earning an annoyed click of the tongue, Sandalphon just looked at them all and turned to Ronan. "I came to the Society because I need to go around the Singularity's back for this job. Simply put, I want to hire you all for a mission that will take an unspecified amount of time."
Before anyone could voice their confusion at the request, Ronan raised a hand, asking them to remain silent. "I'm sure you are all aware of the strange creatures that have been showing up in Phantagrande?" Asked the older, wolf-eared man. Everyone, except for Isaac all nodded. "Well, the Supreme Primarch here, claims to have information on them."
Sandalphon closed his eyes. Reaching down to an attache case that was by the guest seat, he placed it on the table, motioning for someone to come over. "One of you is an engineer, right? Get over here and see this."
There was that refreshing frankness that everyone knew and loved.
Letting out a few startled and confused noises, Isaac walked over to see what it was. Opening it, he let out a puzzled, yet intrigued sound as he picked up… something.
It was a strange, mechanical device. A weapon of some sort with a handle and blade, but it was unlike anything they had seen before- it had a barrel, but no place for the ammunition to be loaded into. Isaac's eyes sparkled with intrigue as he fiddled around with it, making sure that it wasn't pointing at anyone, in case of an accidental discharge.
Sandalphon moved to the side to give the engineer some space. Clearing his throat, he began to explain things, "I'm sure you all know of those creatures. The black beasts with bone-like armor, that have been invading Phantagrande?" He asked, waiting for everyone to nod before continuing with his explanation. "Sierokarte has been getting reports of them for a few weeks now, shortly after your little fight with the moon. Just a few at a time, never any more than fifteen. Usually, a few skyfarers can handle it without too much issue, save for a few civilian injuries. But one time, there was about five times that amount that appeared on one island. It wasn't too populated, skyfarers having no reason to land there. If it weren't for one person who fought against them, the place would have been wiped out."
He paused to make sure everyone was still with him. Just as he was about to begin speaking again, the sudden sound of machinery reverberated through the room, causing everyone's attention to be drawn to a surprised Isaac, holding what appeared to be an oversized hatchet. Everyone's eyes widened at the device- sure, they had seen weapons that transform before, such as the Seal Weapons, but this was strangely… inelegant. It seemed almost custom made to fit the tastes of a person. In a way though, Beatrix felt impressed at how 'cool' the weapon was.
Sandalphon pointed at the axe, "That weapon, was carried by a person who fought off all the creatures. Haluel and Malluel were in the area delivering a message, when they saw the mayhem done to the village. They found a grave for the mysterious defender and when they asked the locals about what happened, they all claimed that the lone man fought off against the beasts, which he apparently called 'the Grimm.' Sadly, after killing them all, he shortly succumbed to his wounds."
"The Grimm? Think these are some like, Underworld attack force?"
The Primarch shook his head. Ilsa cleared her throat and spoke in his place, "Sandalphon apparently made a stop in the village, after Halluel and Malluel left to tell him about what they saw. According to witnesses, before the attack, they had all witnessed something in the forest," she began, taking a look at her clipboard and looking over the document. Clearing her throat, she recited the report. "A large crack in the air, like someone smashing against glass, followed by the sound of something shattering that could be heard for a good distance, and a strange rainbow light. In just a few minutes, we were overrun by these monsters which ignored all the animals and made a rush for us, but a man with a weird weapon who could make vines grow from the ground defended them, telling us to hide from the Grimm. We all listened and after a good while, the noise died down. We went to check, and he was down on the ground, bleeding out. The light had vanished and no more monsters were around."
Eustace thought about the report. It seemed about as thorough as a witness report could be, but with only the weapon around, it was all a little far-fetched of a story. Though, considering they were in the presence of an angel and a moon-person, maybe it's not the most usual story…
Even still, Eustace had to voice his most present concern, "That still doesn't explain why you're here, Sandalphon."
"I was getting to that. Thank you, Sergeant Ilsa, but I can take it from here," He said, nodding to the black haired woman. "The rainbow light and the crack in the air, sounds a lot like back at Etemenanki, when the Singularity and I fought against Lucilius and Belial. I have reason to believe that one of them has managed to break free of the prison, landed in another world and is sending them to the Skyrealm."
Gasps of surprise came from everyone, save for the unaware Isaac and the already briefed Ronan.
Vaseraga was the first one to compose himself, quickly assessing the situation and the nature of Sandalphon's request. "I'm going to guess you want us to go through these rifts and see for ourselves, right?"
He nodded at the hulkin man's observation. Raising his hand to get everyone to stay quiet for a moment, Sandalphon proceeded to explain himself, "I have already confirmed that these rifts are two ways and are safe for us to travel, if that's your concern," he said, before looking away to hide a hint of embarrassment, "I used a rat in a bottle to test."
"A rat in a bottle? Really?"
"Quiet down, Bea!"
Sandalphon cleared his throat and continued, "I found that the portals can stay open for as long as we need them to. For whatever reason, the feathers of an Angel can act as a stabilizing agent and can keep the portal open, indefinitely." He explained. Taking a sigh, his voice became fairly more serious, his words holding a significant weight to them as he continued. "I know that some of you have been away for a long time and that you want to take some time to reacquaint yourselves with the Skies. I know that some of you are probably nervous with this request, but I need you all to do this."
Eustace closed his eyes, asking the obvious question. "Why does it need to be us? You know that we're important to this organization and that we can't exactly spare everyone for a mission with no approximate completion deadline."
"Truthfully? You're my second choice. I'd have asked the Eternals, but that smug-faced bastard just told me, 'Ehhh? You need the Eternals to do a favour for you like that? I dunno about that, Sandy. We have a job to protect all the skies. If we are gone, who will be around to protect the skies from the dangers that are here and present? I know, go ask Eustace! I am sure those boys at the Society can lend a hand, you don't need us! That is kind of overkill, don't you think?'"
Some of that was improvised. Probably.
"That aside though, I understand just how efficient you all are. And the Singularity has told me about how intelligent the engineer here is. I'm sure that all of you can solve whatever mystery this is promptly."
Naturally, there was apprehension. Everyone understood just what was being asked and how important it was. Cassius and Isaac would be asked to leave their home, so soon after returning. Ilsa would have to leave her cadets for who knows how long.
Ronan tapped his fingers on his desk to get everyone's attention. "I have already contacted some people to help fill in for you all. Our activities against the Foe will not be compromised," he assured. "I have talked to the Supreme Primarch here beforehand, and we both agreed that you were to return in either three months, or if the rift began to collapse."
"That works for them," said Ilsa, turning to the commander, "But what about the cadets? They'll go soft if I'm not there to whip them into shape."
"I used a contact to ask Seofon of the Eternals, to lend their aid in the training and completion of jobs. When the contact asked him, he immediately agreed."
Everyone instinctively knew that he was talking about the owner of the famous Knickknack Shack, Sierokarte. Upon realizing that he probably could have done that, Sandalphon slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand, cursing under his breath.
"Rest assured, this mission will be safe. Not only that, but our guys down at R&D found that the weapon that Isaac is holding had a dust-like material inside it, which seemed to exhibit magical properties. Between that and the engineering of the weapon itself, I feel that we can spare you for a time to investigate this incident."
Beatrix grumbled loudly, but nobody told her to keep quiet. Eustace let out a sigh of resignation, but surprisingly, it was Isaac who spoke up first.
"As crazy as it sounds, I'd like to go. If it actually is safe for us on the other side, then I think I could learn a lot. This weapon here is completely different from anything else that I've seen, not just in how it works, but in how it was made. I've never even seen some of these materials before, even on the moon!"
"I don't think Central Axis would approve of a design like that," mused Cassius. "But, I too, wish to go. Isaac needs a bodyguard and I feel that I can provide some additional insight on some of this technology."
After that, they all began to relent. Beatrix couldn't leave Cassius alone and Zeta couldn't leave Bea to her own devices without supervision. Vaseraga felt he needed to keep an eye on his partner's back and Ilsa, reluctantly agreed to let the training of her precious recruits be handed off to the Eternals- if only for now.
Eustace looked at Ronan, scanning over his face, silently asking him if he was sure about issuing out this mission. When he saw the calm, resolute look on his commanding officer's face, he closed his eyes and nodded. "Understood. When do we depart?"
A painful choice, for the greater good.
Several hours later…
The members of the Society had arrived on an island by nightfall, the Supreme Primarch in tow. All of them were properly suited up, Vaseraga, Beatrix, Zeta and Eustace donning their uniforms for when they fought against the moon several months back, Ilsa in her formal military attire, Isaac with his hazard suit and Cassius in his usual duds.
All of them carried a pack, containing a few changes of clothes, field rations, sidearms and other miscellaneous carry-ons.
"Let's go over the mission, one more time," said Ilsa as she checked over her weapons once again. "We cross the rift and look for Belial. If we can, Isaac will examine the technology of that world and if possible, bring back some for research and development. We will send a check, every two days to the portal on the other side, to make sure that it is still open. Upon the first signs of collapse, we high-tail it out of there and declare the mission a failure. Are we clear?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, "Roger!" they said.
Zeta cracked her neck as she held her trusty spear to her side. "You know, the Captain has a lot of stuff like this happen to him, doesn't he?"
Isaac looked at her, confused. "What, you mean rifts and people from other worlds coming up?"
Everyone thought for a moment and shared a laugh, much to Isaac's confusion. It really did happen a strangely large amount of times. They now understood what it must have felt like for some of them.
Once everyone had done their equipment checks, Ilsa turned to everyone. "Alright everyone, are you ready to go hunt for that snake bastard?" She shouted, her booming voice snapping everyone present to attention. When they all let out a shout of affirmation, she turned to Sandalphon and continued to bark out orders, "Pretty boy, when we step through, we're counting on you to keep the portal stable. If you don't, I'm gonna find a way to travel through space and time and beat the daylights out of you! Got it?"
Sandalphon couldn't help but chuckle, "Understood. I swear on the name of the Supreme Primarch, that this portal won't close on our end."
This was the moment of truth. Everyone closed their eyes and took a deep breath to steel themselves. "Alright, let's go!"
One by one, those brave soldiers stepped into the rainbow gate, braving the unknown, carrying the hopes of an Angel and the Society on their backs as they took this secret mission, hiding it from their loved ones.
Only time would tell, how this would go.
I have been holding onto this for several years, since Second Advent, but the Society event stories kept delaying things for me that were critical information for me to get things right. For those of you who read some of my other stuff... consider those abandoned. I probably won't pick them up again, or if I do, it'll be with a total rewrite.
Please give Granblue a read, this fanfic assumes you know at least the "What Makes the Sky Blue" and Society event storylines for reading, as well as at least Volumes 1 through 4. This story will take place about midway through volume 2, but uses future information.