„Tell me Kirito-kun, the Black Swordsman: Why would I kill you now?", came the almost robotic voice from the middle of the arena. The voice echoed far through the entire cave-like hall, while not spoken with much force, alone the weight of said words and the charisma of the speaker were enough to carry it to everyone's ears, making it hearable over the relentless noise of swords clashing against shields and metal scraping against metal.
STRIKE!
Sparks followed every clash, lighting up the dark cave with each strike from the black swordsman. The two duellists began to blur as their speed picked up. It all boiled down to instinct now, the strikes not really registered in the combatant´s minds as they stared each other down.
PARRY!
The knight in pearl white and ruby red armour was a towering figure, the tower shield he carried was close to his body and the tip of his sword pointed at his adversary, a young black haired and clothed teenager.
SLASH!
Their face-off was already reaching its end, the clashes growing more rapid and the impacts louder, every last bit of force being put into them.
"That smirk, he knows! I can´t penetrate his defence continuing like this!", thought Kirito desperately.
Light!
The two swords in the hands of the teenager were glowing briefly, an unnatural azure glow enveloping them, signalling the use of a sword skill.
CLANK!
One sword belonging warrior shattered with against the knight´s tower shield, its smithereens dissipating into bits of pure, blue-green colored data.
The others surrounding the battle scene were lying on the floor, paralyzed, cursing their inability to help, to fight or even to move. They would gladly offer their aid, though they knew it wouldn´t be much. This was a stand off between gods. The two greatest players of Aincrad fighting for their lives, no, not only for that but for the fate of the 6000 survivors, themselves included.
The words of the white knight reignited their hopes, despite him being their sworn enemy. The black swordsman might be spared, spared by the knight, no, the lord who ruled them all.
Hope wasn´t lost at the very least. The fight was not over yet, the warrior clad in black could survive, ready to fight another day. And if he fought, they would help him. They owed their lives to him. Him and the second in command of the knights of the blood oath, Asuna the lightning flash. These two saved their lives again and again. The raiding team´s gratitude was immense, only dampened by the fact a third party had been there to protect them. The commander of the strongest guild in SAO, the divine blade, Heathcliff or better said Akihiko Kayaba, the perpetrator of their entire plight. Of this imprisonment. So why did he fight for them, with them? Some sick enjoyment of playing a game? Was that everything, the entire reasoning? It was too easy, there had to be more.
There was no sound at this very moment. Silence! It was dead silent, no one dared to utter a word.
The life bar of the one named Kirito was dangerously low, it was in the red while Heathcliff´s was still high up in the yellow. Even without any system protection…the strength of the knight commander was unrivalled. They doubted their eyes; however, it fitted the perfectionist they heard Akihiko Kayaba was. While grateful, many were almost laughing at their silly hopes of ending the game so soon. A simple boy wins against the god who created this world, a storyline fit for any RPG, but the man who created this death game would never allow it to be finished before the grand finale, even if it had been slightly spoiled, not that it mattered to them. This was reality, a new reality, one they knew to be harsh and unforgiving. Akihiko Kayaba knew he would win, he must have known.
"You lost in your desperation. Despite knowing sword skills were of no use against me, you used one. While it was an ultimate skill, they were nonetheless created at my own design. Yet why am I explaining things, you knew as much already…", sighed Heathcliff.
Kirito collapsed. His breath was ragged, his limbs were shaking. "He´s good, no, better than that. How can we hope to defeat such a guy? His calculations, his battle strategy, no wasted time for additional movements…and this only a 1 vs 1. As a boss he will have the entire battle arena on his side, knowledge of layout, traps and opportunities to strike. The Ruby Palace he called it, his boss summons will swarm that place! I have to…keep going!"
Kirito pushed himself up, gripping his remaining sword, his trusted Elucidator, harder, yet his legs were far too weak and gave out under him, making him plummet back onto the cold stone floor. There were red stripes all over his body, signalling the cuts Heathcliff had inflicted on him, all over his legs and abdomen.
"What surprises me however is that my second in command is crawling in my direction?", came a slightly shocked voice from the knight as his gaze landed on Asuna, who indeed was pulling herself towards her boyfriend and husband. With every pull her motions grew stronger, as if she was gradually adapting to the paralysis? A ridiculous notion.
"How curious. I can´t remember to have implemented mechanics for the power of love and friendship…consider me impressed, Asuna-kun. Have you any Idea what you just did?", inquired the knight. It was a morbid sight. After a battle for life and death, Heathcliff showed no emotion, no remorse of potentially killing a teenager with his very own hands, only curiosity. Endless curiosity for the unknown. Then again, Akihiko Kayaba created a death game and showed no remorse nor pity, they still remembered the image of the red cloaked god telling them about the game and it´s intended design, a world he called his own. A day of nightmare, where they were put in this new reality. Almost two years has it been now.
10.000 they were in the beginning, yet the more they ascended to their freedom, for every step they made they left someone behind. Doing your best was never enough. Soon the death counts were in the thousands, numbers with four digits ever rising.
They remembered his words clearly, the sky was colored blood red as was his cloak yet his words were in spite of everything he represented. Instead of fear and death, he spread hope. The Message of course brought shock to the people, yet there was no ill intent behind them, he was like an NPC educating them about the world. A god. He extended his well wishes to them on their adventures and travels
"…This concludes the tutorial and Sword Art Online now officially starts. I wish you the best of luck to clear the game!"
"Please…calm down Kirito, everything´s alright. Please stay down!", begged the fallen girl her husband, disregarding the question asked. She grabbed the black coat and tried to pull the swordsman to the ground. If she didn´t manage it here…
"…he would continue to fight. That would be his death!"
These thoughts rang through Asuna´s mind, always repeating. Her body was moved by a singe desire which was strong enough…to resist the laws of the Cardinal System. Failure?
Kayaba only stared in amazement at the interaction, simultaneously accessing the Cardinal System via his admin controls to observe all data collected about the interaction before his eyes. Every bit of code, numbers and letters all the same. I yielded no results. There was no insight to gain, it was like the cardinal system hat no access to such an interaction, the code which governs this reality should all be in his control, yet it wasn´t. Something like this shouldn´t exist, so why and how.
"A Variable. I have missed something. But what does it have to be, what matter does it entail to enable such a peculiar interaction. This is simply impossible…breath-taking. It has to be…the human will. Sheer willpower, but how? How does it work, it has to somehow interact with the laws that govern the Cardinal System? No…there simply isn´t a code that is able to collect the information before my eyes, to code it. Cardinal simply doesn´t pick up on the interaction. Cardinal…is insufficient. This is amazing!", whispered Kayaba. Nobody picked up on his words, they only saw Heathcliff stare at the couple, his eyes slightly widened. Is it wonder, is he in awe?
Kirito didn´t glance at Asuna who fell back after he managed to rise one final time.
The other people and small guilds at the lower floors have never given up hope, they cradled themselves in the hope the front liners would eventually emerge victorious. They idolized them. Yet it only blinded them for the possibility of loss. If that would happen, if the front liners were beaten so badly at only the 75th floor…who would stand up again? After such a beatdown each and every one of the players in SAO would be scared, the veterans scarred for lifetime. Many didn´t show it but the simple fact that they were ripped from their families and lived in a world were anyone could die for real with dangers untold and lurking behind every corner, it was so surreal. Yet two years were a long time to come to terms with the situation, to act and adapt. And so, many did, fighting for freedom and throwing their lives on the line for others…
"…so he did, from the beginning…", thought the young girl, painfully remembering those first months. Looking painfully at the swordsman who stumbled forward
A thud echoed through the room. Kirito fell down to the ground, a yellow lightning emblem appearing besides his name, right above his almost depleted health bar.
"It would be a hassle to kill the hero so early in the story. And you absolutely fit this role, my certainty has only grown after our little duel here. However, it is time for me to go. You have opened my eyes, there have been many revelations on this day, I hope this doesn´t discourage anyone from trying to best Aincrad. Perhaps… yes, to encourage you even further, let me disclose this: There are 8 more-!"
All those who listened to his words, from Kirito, Asuna and a couple of others glaring at him to the rest of the raid team only staring hopelessly towards the knight, were ripped from their concentration as the entire cave shook. Heathcliff himself tumbled a few steps back from the shaking walls, looking around confused.
"Wha-What are you doing Kayaba!", shouted Asuna. They were all lying here helplessly and the cave looked like it would collapse at any moment. There were first cracks forming at the walls
Heathcliff stayed silent as his eyes narrowed at the surroundings.
"The wall should have the properties of an immortal object, there is nothing inside Aincrad able to damage it.", he stated.
With one swipe of his arm a myriad of golden windows appeared, creating a large glowing tower, slowly circling the knight. His eyes skimmed through the digits on the screens speeding downwards with incredible speed and the different graphs moving ever so slightly.
Annoyed Kayaba clicked his tongue. Normally he didn´t have to manage the entire Cardinal System on his own, in the normal case it was self sufficient and even in development he had a larger team at his disposal.
"It could take hours to find the error just like this…no, the intruder doesn´t even appear to try to hide his tracks.", mused Kayaba as something almost ripped through entire bits of data. "What kind of corruption is this, the Cardinal System should be not be hackable.", exclaimed the man in wonder. notifications were rapidly coming towards him. As of now, the entirety of Aincrad was becoming infected by something…foreign.
In theory, any attempt of hacking or the spread of an injected virus should be shot down by the cardinal´s internal firewall and anti-virus defence systems, which in turn were versatile and self-adapting pieces of code, to combat any incoming thread. There were programs to identify and effectively combat any man-made technological weapon in place, the defence of the system was unbreachable.
Not to mention, there was no way of virtually hacking into or infecting the Cardinal system, as it operated completely independent from any man-made virtual space created up until now.
He didn´t even have to take a closer look to see that what was happening in this moment was in fact not human made. It was the only possible conclusion.
"Disregarding its absurdly fast adaption rate to the defensive measures and the foreign, unrecognizable script the attacking matter was written in…is what makes me certain of my conclusion is that whatever force is invading the Cardinal is no language per se. Its far above what one can consider a language to be able to do. Language on its own is simply a means of communication, to transport information from one location to another without the information changing, whatever this is…it is superior…some kind of higher developed language. Fourth wall breached…fifth wall breached. This…what sorcery is this?"
Kayaba´s thought process was thrown upside down. He was merely curious at the previous failings of Cardinal to inspect the action of two of its denizens, this right now was beyond his scope of understanding.
Solemnly he stated:" I have no hand in what is currently happening. I assure you this is not my doing. As we speak, my control over the entirety of Aincrad is slipping. I am not in control any longer."
Outrage was the answer. The game master has lost control over his tools, Akihiko Kayaba is being outsmarted?
While this would have been a joyous occasion…the players were everything other than glad. They have lived under the watchful eye of Akihiko Kayaba for the last two years, seeing the man who was in control being so blatantly walked over, such a turn of events made them uncomfortable. The change was to sudden, it came with no warning.
Kirito in particular was gazing at the event transpiring on the screen. It looked like the two entities, one completely made out of code, the other strangely alive were fighting. Wrestling for control.
"I have never seen anything like that…", exclaimed the black swordsman.
Asuna asked: "What do you mean Kirito?"
"This programming language. I have read many articles about the supposed Cardinal System.", began Kirito confused, "it should be neigh impossible to hack into it, to somehow access it from the outside to such an extent. If I am right this is only the outer layers of code which are being breached, the core should still be safe. As long as the core is not breached, no core features could be accessed or changed."
A sudden interruption hindered Heathcliff to make his own statement.
"Okay, I don´t know what is going on, but could anyone just please say what is happening dumbed down a lot for the ordinary people?", asked the samurai lying on the ground. There was sweat on his face, practically on anyone's face.
"This means, Tsuboi Ryoutarou-san that none of us have any power to counter this attack on Aincrad. It is beyond my understanding what is happening now, my understanding of reality is now being tested and quite frankly, I question my intellect. However, Kirito, you seem awfully familiar with the mechanics of programming?", inquired the emotionless voice.
The paralysis effect above the teenagers health bar vanished. Kirito stood up slightly stunned, his hands gripping the hilt of his remaining sword tighter. Kayaba wasn´t focused on him, his undivided attention seemingly on the interface before him. A strike. It wouldn´t take more than a few strikes. This would get them all out…hopefully. Kirito´s hand shook slightly. He shouldn´t have had time to activate any system aid, his focus was immediately consumed by the problem at hand.
Many held their breaths.
Kirito let go of his sword as he stepped closer to the mad scientist, observing his gaze as it wandered through the labyrinth of digits which walls were cracked down by strange purple-red elements.
The corruption appeared almost like…waves spreading through the digital space.
Another wave like motion from the digits hit the matrix of numbers.
RUMBLE!
Both glanced at each other. They have gotten the same Idea.
"…ridiculous.", sighed Heathcliff.
"simply impossible, there´s just no way", uttered Kirito.
Both stared in amazement at the code and the waves which wore it down, wall by wall, scraping at the outer layer of the cardinal system.
"What! Speak with us!", shouted Asuna angrily, the main bulk of the raid troops agreeing with her. There was something nerve racking, seeing these two, Kirito the Black Swordsmen, the beater, and Heathcliff, the divine sword also known as Akihiko Kayaba the mad scientist, almost sharing one brain cell. It was a surreal sight, the two of them working together while they duelled themselves to the death minutes ago.
"It looks like this rumbling is caused by…digital waves.", tried Kirito to explain, only to be met by clueless stares.
"He means that it appears that the intruding code is periodically clashing against the protective measures of the Cardinal System and with that Aincrad as a whole. A simple analogy would be waves hitting a wall repeatedly. Yet I would never have imagined such nonsense to be a valid theory…that is until common sense has been turned upside down.", explained Kayaba, while Kirito nodded. Both of them were absorbed into the code.
Asuna´s eyes twitched annoyedly.
"How…why are they acting like this. Why do they leave us out and work together? Fighting and now almost best friends? Men…", she thought.
Another, more violent ripple went through the cave. While everything for now seemed to be okay, both of the two programmers knew they didn´t have the great whole in their view. If the entirety of Aincrad was under attack, these earthquakes have to be felt on every singe sphere. It must be chaos out there!
"Kayaba, I suggest deactivating the barriers.", threw Kirito his Idea into the room.
"No.", dismissed the scientist immediately, "We have no idea what the other side tries to achieve. The defence system is the only thing protecting us and with that our bodies in the real word. We might all die if we let it in."
"We die if Aincrad crumbles to dust too, killed by falling debris. We can always resume to killing you however!", threatened Kirito. If Heathcliff really was intended to be the final boss, defeating him would clear the game and they would be all logged out before anything serious could happen.
"Nothing but empty threats. Right now, you are not in your usual fighting modus. Did you think I wouldn´t notice you hesitating to approach me, thinking of just taking the easy route and kill me right here and now. If you havn´t done it directly after I disabled your paralysis, you won´t do it now.", judged Kayaba.
"I could have killed you in the duel, this means nothing.", retorted Kirito.
"You didn´t have the skill necessary. While there were indeed surprises, you were not the source of them. Don´t become a victim to pride only because I designated you the hero and you´ve received a unique skill based on the fact you possess the fastest reaction time!"
"You´re one to talk. Declaring yourself the god of a world you created yourself. If that isn´t hypocritical.", shouted Kirito.
"I´ve never declared myself a god. If you have forgotten, I was down here with you, taking the burden of logistics and the organization of dozens of raids. This is but an opportunity for every player to live the life he or she wants to. A world which is separated from the ground, a world were dreams come true.", explained Kayaba, an almost nostalgic tone entering his voice.
"Dreams, a Nightmare if you put it like this!", snapped the black-haired teenager back. A dream, don´t kid yourself. What kind of sick disillusion was this?
Before the argument could escalate any further, Asuna interrupted the war of words.
"Will you get a grip again. We don´t need some discussion right now, nor do we need any justification. Just do something.", screamed the girl. Following her eyes, there were already cracks forming in the solid stone wall.
Heathcliff breathed out as he made an input into the console.
The earthquake stopped. The corruption stopped as large slabs of code were erased by Heathcliff´s command.
"As you wish, Kirito-kun, I have deactivated all obstacles surrounding the core data.", exclaimed Kayaba shakily.
The tension was high, yet nothing happened. There was no shattering, no boom or explosion.
"Puuuuuuhhh, crisis averted successfully!", exclaimed Klein as he closed his eyelids. This was almost as stressing as the fight against the Skull Reaper!
The crowd didn´t agree however as panic filled shouts filled the boss-arena.
"Our health bars, they are depleting at rapid pace! Help. Somebody, help!", shouted one of the many raiders. He wore simple plate mail armour, brown fabric beneath it and a blue cloak extending from his back, a spear laid at his side.
Kirito looked stunned at his health bar. He was shaking. This couldn´t be, was this his fault!? What was he thinking, questioning a genius programmer such as Akihiko Kayaba!
"So that´s that…", stated Kayaba.
"Kayaba, no, Heathcliff, please do something!", begged the swordsman, desperately at his knees.
"There is nothing I can do…", responded the scientist and knight. Though, there was something. "Find some solace in the fact that you have tried. It was a pleasure living this live here with you and all of the players of SAO."
With that, the paralysis was deactivated. Many didn´t even stand up, just lying there, kneeling on the ground.
Asuna pulled Kirito into a hug as she tackled him.
The bars sunk into the red. Soon, every player of Sword Art Online would be dead.
Agil saw Klein and his guild just standing there silently.
Seeing the questioning look the large giant of a man gave the samurai, he answered:" A Warrior´s greatest shame is to cower in the face of danger, to take a wound to the back."
There was no sense. Why stand if it was over soon anyway, they were no were normal people…had been. Agil stood up, so did his companions who came here with him.
Seeing this, more and more players began to rise.
And what use was it to just lie here. If one had to go out, make it on your own damn terms. That was the thought rushing through their minds. Nobody would know about this, maybe it was just some childish fantasy of looking cool at the end, but who cared. They could go out however they saw fit. It was their decision, and if they wanted to look badass, they would do so! At least this time, every one of those present unanimously agreed…this was the right way to end things. No one would remember anyways, no one would remember their struggles, their tears and sweat, the sacrifices for every centimetre of ground won against the monsters.
Zero. The bar was emptied.
All players ceased to exist at this very moment. Their bodies shattered into beautiful glimmering shards. Nobody would know of and remember the names such as Kirito the Black swordsman, Asuna the Lightning Flash, The Knights of the Blood Oath…Heathcliff the Divine Blade.
All talk in the hospital ceased. This institution was specially funded by the government to host the victims of the SAO incident. At this very moment, a deafening sound rung through the corridors, for the sound proof rooms couldn´t contain all the sounds suddenly generated by the monitoring machines.
Shock. They were in shock. Never had they expected something like this to happen. While those not near the bodies couldn´t be sure, those sitting before their screens were. A few clicks and their despair skyrocketed. It was impossible.
On November the 7th 2024, all players were killed at the same time, the exact same minute, perhaps even second. On the 7th November 2024, 15 o´clock, a second tragedy struck the word, one being far worse than the Kayaba incident two years ago.
"Raphtalia, wait for us!", shouted the young girl as she, together with other children in tow, ran after the small raccoon girl. They were mostly demi humans, and while their base attributes were ever so slightly better than that of humans, it didn´t change the fact that their level was still at 1, hardly giving them any advantage over their human friends.
"Just run a bit faster, we´re almost there!", came the reply from farther ahead.
"Ohhhh, can´t she just wait for us!" thought the girl as she threw a glance backwards. There were several others already exhausted lying at the side of the little track. It was by no way a street; a path was a generous term to describe it. Yet because the children ran several times along this way, the grass made way and a small, thin route was created unintentionally. All the better, as none of them would get lost now…
"…if we could at least just stay together!", mentally berated Rifana Raphtalia.
"Rifana…can you tell…-huuuh, can- puuuhhh, can you tell Raphtalia to wait. The rest is already at their limit.", spoke Keel, putting his hands on his knees while trying to catch his breath. A sigh of agreement came from behind, the dozen children silently agreeing to their leaders words.
Rifana just shook her head. "And he calls himself a man among men. Boys…", looking away from the pile of children, she picked up her pace, after a few more steps through the tunnel in the bushes reaching her destination.
Raphtalia was already sitting at the larger stone. Besides her were a few smaller rocks and some logs, though they were brittle, and not that sound anymore.
"Mooouuuu, you just wanted the best place for yourself!", accused Rifana, pointing her finger at the other girl, who in turn whistled innocently.
"What!", came the exclamation from behind," Men, we have a situation! They have stolen the best places, we have to reclaim them to ensure our continued greatness!"
Keel stood majestically in the small breeze, his hair fluttering in the wind. He has been told many stories of the heroes by his parents. The heroes were great generals commanding their parties, even entire armies against the endless waves of darkness. Especially the Shield Hero! In this moment he did the same, he knew what he had to do!
Awed by their leader´s might, the eyes of the smaller children sparkled as they shouted out their war cries, making their way towards the "enemy".
They would have gone farther if their unorderly formation didn´t hinder them to cross the path through the bushes, blocking the pathway towards the secret hideout.
"Out of the way!", shouted Keel over the chaos as he tried to squeeze himself through the mass of bodies blocking the entrance in vain.
"Hey, you stepped on my foot!", shouted a smaller child with bear ears over the ocean of voices.
"Oh, come on, this happens every time!", whined another, more grown-up boy.
"Just step out of the way!", said Keel as he tried to push the others away, slowly advancing through his mob´s ranks.
"I can´t - hey, who stubbed me in the stomach!", complained a bear-eared girl as she looked around with a glare.
It didn´t take long for the first brawls to break out between the children. Keel looked at his brave men with an open mouth, before he was also caught up in the entire mess, if he hadn´t been from the very start of the awry-gone operation.
"Why do the stories make it seem so easy!", whined Keel as he and the rest finally rolled out from the tunnel, landing on the little plain, an oasis surrounded from three sides by bushes, while the other lead to a faraway cliff and the ocean. It was because of that that their parents didn´t allow them to go out here alone.
Rifana and Raphtalia glanced at each other before bursting out laughing.
"Yeah yeah, just laugh! I´ll show you one day!", proclaimed Keel as he stood up again while punching into the air.
"Oh, shut up!", hushed the bear eared girl the optimistic girl.
"Swear!", exclaimed Raphtalia as she pointed at the girl, her tail wagging.
Before another brawl could break out, Rifana stepped into the centre of the seating circle, raising her hand. "Everyone who wants to hear a new story, say aye!"
The tension in the air immediately vanished, while the children all silently gathered around the cat girl. Taking seats wherever they would fit in, their undivided attention was on Rifana. Rifana smiled, seeing how they all patiently gathered around her, she must have gotten good in her trade of storytelling. Some even wagged their tails. Rifana smiled, „Times like these, they could go on forever."
"It was a long, long time ago. A time of Kings and Heroes, of glory and knights,", she began telling her story. The ears of the audience perked at the word Hero and knight. Raphtalia´s ears twitched.
"The forces of darkness, demons of unsaid horror and evil, have once again made their move. With them was what was known as a boss. His name was spoken only in fear, Chorsh, the Chimera Lord. A beast walking on four legs, a crown on his lion head; to his left the head of a snake was growing from his body, to his right the head of a goat. It´s eyes were said to be endlessly filled with cruelty, making men and warriors alike break down in tears and horror!", told the girl.
The audience shifted uncomfortably, some outright shaking or hugging their friends.
"Is this over the top?", questioned Rifana herself. She had picked up the story from one of the books her parents have hidden away on the upper parts of the drawer, it was filled with miraculous and scary stories. Yet the forbidden always had more allure in her opinion. Her friends would like it, she was sure of it, it wasn´t the first time she told a story about the heroes of the past after all!
Clouds began to cover the sun as the wind picked up. It began to get colder.
"Rumors have spread that he wandered the lands for months after the wave has ended, waiting for his allies to come from another one! He had to be stopped before that could happen, for the combined armies of all four heroes wouldn´t be able to stop the armies of darkness, overwhelmed by the onslaught of monsters!", recounted Rifana, her tone becoming louder. The children shuddered as they edged closer together.
The story began with the shied hero and his friends getting separated, and only through fighting their way through dozens of enemies they were able to reunite. However, while they were separated, the shield hero´s armies suffered a crushing defeat at the hand of the Chimera Kind. Without leadership the brave armies of the Nation of Siltvelt crumbled despite their best efforts.
The children were in awe at the story, feeling the greatest fight hasn´t even been told yet. The suspense was still building up.
The winds were growing stronger, sometimes even the trees shook ever so slightly as some leaves began to rain down.
"…So, the Shield Hero screamed at the Chimera King out of spite, simply shrugging off the swipe of it´s mighty paw. A large golden aura began to envelop the Hero after the attack, making the King shudder as it stumbled back in shock. It knew it wouldn´t survive the incoming counter attack, be it out of its meagre intellect or merely out of instinct. Flames of pure golden light began to envelop the cursed fur belonging to the monstrosity. Suddenly, at the verge of death the King smirked. While it wouldn´t see it happen himself, it knew the valiant Shield Hero would die. The Shield´s Hero´s eyes opened wide as he realized the deception of the King. If it couldn´t defeat the Hero itself, it had to stall the hero as long ass possible…for another wave to appear. That would finish the utterly exhausted Hero off for sure! At this moment…"
Fear was in the eyes of the children. Would their protector, their hero survive the story. No, the hero always survived. He would always emerge victorious, together with his friends. Tears began to well up in their eyes as they remembered the sacrifice of priestess Lunaria to strengthen her hero. This story, they had never heard anything like that. Even for Rifana´s best friends this was a totally new story, one tugging every fibre of their hearts.
"…an ear-piercing screech announced the coming of the wa-!"
Mid-sentence the storyteller was interrupted.
SCREEEEEEEEEECCHH
Raphtalia fell from her favourite rock to the ground, holding her ears. She couldn´t hear anything but a continuous ring. It was as if her head exploded, her entire body going numb. She wasn´t the only one.
A quick look to the side with lightly opened eyes revealed all children on the ground, holding their ears. She saw a small dog-boy, Semus, holding his ears as a dark red liquid began to drip out from behind his hands.
"Blood?!", she thought as she tried to stand up. Everything felt wrong. The light was different. One glance at the sky however made her heart shatter. It was wrong, entirely wrong.
Vortexes and clouds of unnatural colour spanned over the horizon; lime green, azure blue or the brightest pink she had ever seen. The complete sight made her almost vomit, so unnatural was it. Or did it come from the shock.
She felt someone take her hands. Looking to the side she saw Rifana with panic and despair written all over her face.
What was happening.
"Is she trying to talk to me?", thought the little racoon girl as her mind was still numb. Only feeling the tug, she was dragged away from the hideout by Rifana. Others were also running hand in hand, some smaller kids even carried by those larger and sturdier. She saw Otto and her big sister Mia, the bear eared siblings, carrying Lars and Klet, two more thinly build kids, coming from a rabbit demi- human family. Even Keel had Semus slung over his shoulders.
Running out from the bush tunnel they ran into the fields of high grass.
"Don´t get lost, don´t get lost!", was the thought going through their heads. Some were sobbing while running back to the village, no idea what was going on. The stress didn´t allow space for rational thought, only for instinct: Survive! Escape! Danger!7
A large shadow began to loom over them.
Raphtalia, still disorientated looked upwards, her mind going blank at the sight. Amidst all the vortexes a gigantic Iron castle was hovering high up in the sky.
"What…?"
AN: Well, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this new Idea that floated around in my head. One of many, it seems I begin to lose track on them all with how they pile up. Yet in between stress originating from school and "Idea-Pile-Management" I created this little project of mine.
Criticism always welcomed ( - :