I - The Dragon of Yang
It had been days since Angel set out into the realm of light, the place she had once called home. Mistral was nothing as it once was, left in utter ruin by overzealous followers of the light. How unfortunate it was for a place that was once thriving with people to meet a perilous fate under the hands of those they once had faith in. And maybe another oblivious soul will lose her life in an attempt to save what was lost to the impending light. The Light and its minions were rampant here, as usual, a fact that was tiring Angel as she wielded her rapier against a winged Valkyrie.
A wild bash of her rapier's pommel to the head sent the flying maiden to the ground, dazed. Angel recoiled from the impact and tripped onto her rear end. Quaid quickly stepped in to drive his sylvan blade into the maiden's gut before it could do anything else, causing the Valkyrie to dissipate into little orbs of light as it succumbed to mortality.
"Angel! Are you okay?" the man asked as he helped his partner up.
She could barely make out his words, a cloud of darkness seemed to be making its way into her mind, her conscience slowly losing its grip on life. The longer she kept Quaid in her presence, the more she felt drained. But recalling him while the Light was all around was a death sentence for Angel.
"Stay with me," Quaid told her. To Angel, feeling light-headed, it almost sounded like he was speaking through the water. "We'll find shelter. Just hold on, alright?"
The Light and their converted made themselves heard with their battle cries. They sounded within seconds' of running distance. Angel willed her legs to stand, sheathing her rapier as she gazed up at kind eyes.
"Quaid…" she managed to bring up a whisper, "I need you to fade. I can't fight any longer, but I can run."
Hesitance was clear in his eyes, but the sound of wings flapping reminded him of the enclosing enemies. Acknowledging the lack of choices, he let himself turn into wisps of light.
Not wasting a second, Angel ran into the forest. Her arms and legs pumped as she sprinted, but in the corner of her eyes, she saw white fur. The wolves tainted by the Light were drenched in the blood of countless victims and Angel feared that she was their next. She heard the wings of Valkyries beating a rhythm towards her doom. Her heart was in her throat. She could not give in now, even if she knew that no ordinary man could escape the howling tides of the Light's shadows.
A shrill scream escaped her mouth as she tumbled to the ground, pain piercing into her right calf. She dragged her rapier out of its sheath and looked at a wolf gnawing at her leg. She thrust the rapier straight through its skull. It lets out a whine before dropping to the floor, dead. Angel crawled away from the body, tearing up in pain as she stared at her bloody mess of a leg. The bite was deep. She cannot afford to run with it anymore. If I don't do something about this wound, I'll—
Angel barely withdrew her rapier in time to block the blade of a swooping Valkyrie. More wolves flanked either side of her. The girl despaired in their entrapment. Well. It was a foolish quest, but at least she tried her best. Once she was gone, though, nothing will stop the Light from taking Quaid. The useless little girl closed her eyes. She silently apologized to her brother and her partner. At least I tried… But I guess it's over for me now…
Suddenly, the darkness within her closed eyes brightened. It felt hotter in front of her. She opened her eyes. Between the girl and the servants of the Light was a wall of fire. It blazed, keeping the killers back. But Angel's sight was drawn to a man dressed in black within an arm's length in front of her, standing stoically in the wake of the inferno. His long, silky hair flowed behind his back like a river of rushing water. The mysterious stranger swiftly carried Angel off the battlefield. Her baby blue orbs, clouded with pain, stared into onyx and faded gray eyes. For some reason, they held a sense of familiarity. They were eyes that she had seen before—maybe— from some time ago, filled with an eerie calm like a storm. The flames that shielded her danced behind him, the scar on his face much more distinct.
"Forgive me…"
A response to her pathetic cry? He sounded so familiar. She tried to reach out for the memories that came forth in her mind, but then came his next words.
"Rest. I will deal with this."
Her eyes obliged and shut themselves closed.
A white fog surrounded Angel in her mind. She sat alone in a world of endless light and dark. A fine line was split between these two backgrounds, which was where the lost girl sat. When she looked into the darkness, two crimson dots stared back at her.
"Angel…"
His words were soft. Haunting. Comforting. Was it a dream? A vision? She was unsure, so she reached out for a twin who had been missing for two years.
Abel reached out for her too. Their hands never came close. All they ever did was move away from each other in this forsaken world. Her twin brother's gaze stayed upon her before his arms fall to his sides. He was smiling, though.
Then he showed his back to her. Angel remembered him doing that at their village before he became a Hero of Light. He was drifting away from Angel, towards somewhere she could never reach. She ran. She reached out again. She grabbed at air. Her hope died out once more.
The light faded. There was only darkness now. Just Angel. Misery. Her legs would never stop running for the search because the suffocating darkness that shrouded her was the perfect backdrop for a spark of light to shine. Anything! Anything to reach out for.
So far she never found it. She felt herself falling deeper into the darkness…
Then she sat up with a gasp. Her eyes darted around. Pain shot up her right leg.
Letting the pain clear from herself, she finally made out nondescript rocks all around her on the ground. Looking up, she saw a jagged ceiling of stalagmites. Angel was in an ordinary dark cave.
She blinked. She looked at her leg and found that there were bandages securely wrapped around it. More of her confusion stirred her thoughts. How was she not dead? Then some shuffling to her right made her raise her head.
"A—Auren?" she murmured in disbelief.
She knew the man. She had met him a couple of times and considered him a friend, but she never expected to see him alive now, or for him to be alone. Auren had changed a bit, but not the change she expected. Maybe if the war didn't happen… He would've been different. Something about his dark armor seemed to warp his silhouette, threatening Angel to lose sight of him in spite of the distance between them. Her gaze lowered to note the katana strapped to his waist before going up to meet his cold eyes.
"You're awake. Good." Uncaring and uninviting, just like how she imagined him to be back then. Her brother always butted heads with him before Abel left the village. Still, there was supposed to be someone beside Auren…
"What are you doing out here?"
She snapped back into reality. In Auren's outstretched palm was an apple. He expectantly waited for her to take it. Angel accepted the fruit, finding the words for an answer. The problem was how weak she knew she would sound. Auren hated weakness.
"I… I want to find Abel… That he would fight and the end the Reign of Light." How solemn she sounded. She waited for no words to come out of Auren's mouth. Or maybe an insult instead.
There no words. Angel opened her eyes. Instead of nonchalance, anxiety and concern were written all over his expression.
"You too…?" he said.
Angel had no clue about what Auren meant. That was all he said as he moved away from her and looked over a bundle of wood. He was starting a small fire for both of them. His Unit was nowhere to be seen, which meant he was likely resting, which left the two humans alone.
Still, it was odd to see Auren alone. And very concerning. This gave Angel some courage to ask him a question.
"Auren… where's Auriel?"
Tension blanketed the two. The girl felt more and more unnerved as the silence stretched, bracing for Auren's snappy reply. Only when the fire was lit did he turn to her. He sat down, glancing at the cave entrance where the world was bathed in light.
Only when the fire was lit that Auren turned to her, sitting and glancing out into the world of corrupted light.
"Gone. Went out with your dumbass brother to stop the darkness." Angel's heart dropped. Auren's black form stayed where he was, unmoving. The girl did nothing else either. There was just silence between the two of them.
And grief. Loss. Sadness. They may not have known each other, but there was certainty in the pain they know of losing a twin to the Darkness in a world made a greater peril by the Light they thought was safe. Now here they were, wandering around with no guarantee they would ever find them again.
"We're going to find them, Auren, I… I'm going to find them, I… want to…" Angel sniffed, hearing Auren shuffle. She winced when she felt her leg flare up at the slightest shift. But this was not going to stop her, not ever.
"I'll find Auriel," she declared quietly, "I'll find my brother too... Then they will banish the Light as they have done with the Darkness!"
"In your state? How? You can't even—"
"I have to try! I don't want to give up… I don't want to lay down and die cowering—! Even if it's hopeless and pathetic, I—I have to try!"
No one said anything else. Angel felt stricken with helplessness when she thought about what she said. It sounded hopeless as ever. If she woke up and Auren was gone, then she would not blame him for leaving her.
A pointless girl chasing a pointless dream that belonged only to her.
It was all that was left that mattered to her.
Soon the girl was asleep, leaving Auren to stare at pointless rocky walls.
He was frustrated. Here he was, searching endlessly for Auriel and turning up with nothing. He knew the bitter truth that the heroes of Light were dead, but here was Angel, a positively naïve girl who wanted to find them.
...No, he could not just leave her here to die. Here was a girl, desperately searching for a solution to humanity's grief, desiring those ordinary days before the invading brightness. Auren had nothing to lose anyway. Following Angel was better than a fruitless death. At least, he knew it would do the Light some disfavor.
Auren's eyes closed, but he was not sleeping.
He detested unwanted guests.