Prologue: The Reign of Light
Once, Light and Darkness existed in harmony.
But then Darkness sought to devour everything, bringing all-consuming despair to all that lived. Light struggled in a fruitless war that would bring humanity to the brink of destruction against the Darkness.
Amongst the ranks of the Light were special mortals that survived in this forsaken world. These chosen heroes took up their blades in the name of hope. They fought for a better tomorrow, for a future where loved ones and future generations may grow, where they will no longer fear the Dark. Many lives were lost in the war, but never did the heroes stop, for a world—and everyone that lived in it—hung in the balance between absolution and destruction.
There was no coming back for them. It was now or never.
"Kira!"
A young man charged forward, dragging a claymore across the ground. By his side was a horned, winged man—a demon, in fact—wielding a halberd in one hand and a sword in the other.
Their eyes looked upon the dark abyss that spewed forth demons wrecking havoc upon their world. The young man's crimson eyes shimmered with a desire to see an end to this destruction. But he wasn't the only one that felt like this.
He wasn't the only Hero of Light that desired the end of the Reign of Darkness. He had friends he made on his adventure, people he had helped and protected, his partner Kira—everyone felt the same. Everyone had something they were more than willing to lay their lives down for.
Black tendrils burst from the ground before speeding towards the two men, stopping them in their tracks. Even as the wicked spikes broke their skin anew, as their blood stained the ground and their bodies cried out for rest, this was their last chance. To fight, to live, to see the once ordinary daybreaks searing their eyes once more.
"Arus, burn them!"
At this command from nowhere, great gouts of flame razed the tendrils to the ground, leaving naught but ashes. A man charged past the two, carrying a blade that danced with flames. A woman followed behind this man named Arus, seemingly ignorant of the gashes covering her torso and legs. Her onyx eyes blazed with determination regardless.
A whirl of her hands deflected a black bolt, one as though it was made from the purest midnight, from a particularly large figure that radiated darkness.
The devil. The one they were here for. The woman raised her hands, but a sweep of a tendril slithered past Arus and struck her down. She quickly forced herself back up, desperation written into every step she took to steady herself.
"Auriel—?!" The young man's steps faltered as he turned to look at the wounded woman. She snarled at him as if his gaze burned her.
"Go! I can handle myself! We can't let the sacrifice of the others be in vain, Abel!"
Her voice boomed within this hallowed world light could not pierce through. Arus's flames burnt a path through the Darkness as he turned into a towering blaze.
Abel gave her a quick nod and hurried forward. Kira had just reached the demon that had brought destruction upon the lands of humanity. The swords that floated around the winged demon flashed, biting into the flesh of the larger devil that screeched in pain.
Abel sprung forward, hurtling himself at the devil swiping at Kira. A swing of his claymore bit at the devil's chest; a shallow wound. Abel paid for the opening he left as he was blasted back by the devil's endarkened bolt, tumbling over the stony ground. Kira's eyes darted over to his partner in concern for one crucial second.
The devil took this chance to bring down its huge claws on the Unit. The demon was unable to get out of the way, brought down to the ground. Kira struggled and punched and kicked while the devil laughed darkly at this triumph.
"'O, Holy light that guides our hand from the darkness that sleeps within us all. I beseech thee to answer our call for the hope of humanity, to save us from the devilry that torments our souls!"
Abel's voice echoed across the battleground. The young man was standing, what invisible strings holding him up about to snap. A grin was on his face as he looked at the tiny wound he made earlier.
Auriel then opened her mouth.
"We offer our life to call upon the last hope, our blades and dreams to be blessed upon your call so that the world can be saved with our lives. We, the Heroes of Light, the warriors that answered the call, surrender our bodies, our minds and our souls for the end of Darkness and the beginning of Light to return once again!"
She cried out as the two mortals that were trapped within the darkness began to glow. The wounds and scars they carry could never match the hope that lingers within their beating hearts. Fear tainted their thoughts, but to see the end was so close in their grasp...
Kira and Arus began to glow as they too raised their hands in the air, giving themselves up to the holy call.
It started as cracks throughout the hallowed world, little lines of webs spreading over the canvas of black covering the sky until it was everywhere the combatants could see. The one wound that marked the devil acted as a sign, a beacon that not even it could hide from. Its claws futilely groped the air for Abel and Auriel when it realized what they were doing.
The enclosing night above them shattered. A ray of light broke through. The prayers of the Heroes of Light were made heard to their fellow warriors scattered throughout the ruins, so battered and beaten, barely able to raise another step for victory.
But all their hearts were together now. Their voices were sent into the sky, where a lance of blinding justice engulfed the Darkness from within its own domain. Soon, it swallowed everything. The Dark's screams of defeat and agony were mixed with sworn oaths as the world around the Heroes was drowned out in a flash.
With that, the Reign of Darkness ended, and so began the Reign of Light.
The Heroes of Light never returned home after the end of the gruesome war. They were forever remembered by the people that praised them, immortalized through books, statues, and celebrations. The people they saved lived in peace and joy. It was a joyous, hopeful future they were in.
But the balance had been broken. The world was engulfed in beaming rays of light. Night no longer blanketed the world, just an everlasting brightness that covered everything in sight. Not one shadow could ever paint a land black.
Following this, the Units of Light turned on their partners and friends alike.
Unprecedented. A false hope. The Light that once protected them all from the Darkness has turned on humanity, eliminating them all in a fell swoop as their pleas fell upon deaf ears. Partners of the other elements slain by Units of Light turned as well, hunting down mortals and demons alike for upon their world. As far as they were 'concerned', this world fostered life that was but a plague of sins. They must be removed.
Now, little of humanity remained standing. Without the Heroes that saved the world, the greatest beacons of hope they could count on, they were left with only despair.
There were no heroes left to save them.
There was no hope left for them.
A young woman of nineteen years stared up and met the burning gaze of the Light. She was in front of a gateway into a small village, one of the few in the world that survived. Her hair, white as snow, brushed against her waist. Her eyes were a bright blue, ones that could have been compared to the wide blue sky before it was smothered in a mixed layer of pink and orange.
Her heart felt heavy with grief, for two years ago, her dearest twin brother headed on an adventure to save the people and his sister from the Darkness. Now he was gone. Once again, humanity was on the brink of extinction. The woman looked at her pale hand. She recalled herself pleading, crying for her brother.
Don't leave. Don't fight for an empty cause. But he had banished the Darkness. Word had spread of his and the other Heroes' deeds. They had grown to face the Darkness. As the young woman turned to study the despair her village now faced, if her brother was still around…
The Heroes of Light were considered dead to the world, yet they remained the only hope left to save them from the Reign of Light. Even though fear festered within her chest and despair hung heavy on her thoughts, she was going to find them. They must still be around to save the world. Whether this was more false hope or wishful thinking, there was nothing left for her to lose. Should she wait for the Light to come find them, or leave the place she called home for the unknown where she knew her death waited?
"Angel, are you ready?" a confident voice asked from behind the young woman.
Her head turned to stare at what was within the voice's brilliant green orbs for eyes. Emerald locks framed his fair face, graced by a reassuring smile. He held his gauntleted hand out for her.
Angel felt the fears that plagued her die as soon as she reached out for her dear partner. She grabbed his hand tight, a nervous smile on her face as she gazed into the forest where the light shot through leaves that tried to shield them.
"Quaid… do you think I'll ever find my brother and Kira?" Her words dripped with dread. Quaid squeezed her hand tighter, playing as the welcome wind at her back.
Angel wasn't a great fighter. Not now, not ever, but she could handle herself in a fight. The question was how long could she last in a forsaken world that could turn her partner against her.
"I'm scared, Quaid," she murmured.
She turned her head to look up to the sky one more time, her eyes squinting from the burning rays. Quaid's voice spoke quietly and sympathetically as he, too, stared up, "We are all afraid. You aren't alone in feeling like this. Death hangs around every corner for you and us, but we can't stay here. Even if it could be hopeless, even if we end up dying… we must push forward."
Angel's eyes closed as she listened. Her shoulders trembled as she gripped Quaid's hand tightly. People around her were dying from starvation, from Units or the Light itself. A child brought into the world could not possibly get well into their teens.
She remembered the last words her brother left with her before he left. She saw bright crimson orbs, along with courage and determination and a smile, as Angel repeated his words.
"It is now or never... We either die today, or we live to see a better tomorrow."
As the gazes of the villagers bore holes into her skull, Angel took the first step out of the gates and into the forest. Quaid remained at her side, eyes forward. Both of them did not dare to look back, even when she felt the fear return and doubts come clawing back. But she simply must.
So she continued onward for the sake of finding her brother and the Heroes of Light, even if the path ahead was paved with suffering and death.
'Then so be it.'
When the Darkness falls and the Light rises, the Heroes of Old would either return to save them… or fall into everlasting light.