Middle Heaven
By Esodane
A/N – Guys! I'm ready to start this new fic, so I hope this story would grow in flying colors. I'd really love if you would start reviewing by honestly writing if the story is worth continuing, as for the chapter 1 isn't really that clear, cause it's a prologue for heaven's sake… Maybe by chapter 3, you'll finally get a part of the plot, oh, I hope this wouldn't be too much complicated… I remember Father Pen's insolent flames, heck, I hope you'll like this better. Hehehe. I'm back aren't I?
---Jewel Past ---
Sounds of footsteps filled the forest… Rustles of dried leaves united with them…It was dark, and it was midnight, above the distant, starless, red moon sky…A woman was running… With sparkling red-eyes, and raging auburn hair that reached down below, clipped near the end with such intricate circular brown ornament. She was wearing a long, red robe, and the wind countered her, passing by the flow of her movement… and she was holding a baby girl… a baby too silent, sleeping comfortably in the lady's arms…
The running lady, though, her face crumbled by worry…She was exhausted, tired… but she didn't stop running…
"Freya! You won't go anywhere…" A male voice trailed behind her, almost like just a meter away…Cruel, mad, insane, crazy… A marching sound accompanied the angry voice… "You can't hide, Freya!" the voice continued, getting nearer and nearer…
The woman gasped with fright and hopelessness… She was facing the cliff separating the land, from the majestic city of Juno, the tower-like community in total peace, except for the ground level, which was the ground for the inns and the bars, there was no path to save her life, and there was no one to save her life…
She was a criminal, a divine criminal… a criminal holding a baby? She turned about, and stared patiently in front of the marching footsteps… She glanced at the sleeping baby, tears suddenly appearing on her face… The sounds of feet were getting more audible every second… And she could finally identify the man… or rather, men… "What do you want?" she bravely said, hoping the baby won't open her eyes…for if she did, she had to witness this gruesome moment, maybe her last even…
The leader smirked, "You're life… You are to die for tricking a human to born you a baby!" he shouted, drawing out his sword, "This is the end, Goddess Freya!" he mockingly said, "Men!" he announced, the knights behind him drew their swords and spears to their battling stance…
"Stop it! Please… Stop it!" Freya mourned, as if not as a goddess… Her hands trembled… The battalion of knights surrounded her. There was no way out of this mess, she was surrounded by a troop, behind her was a cliff… She was a goddess, yet, she couldn't do anything…
She was thrown out of Asgard as punishment; she murdered the wife of Odin out of jealousy…She was a Fallen… a divine being whom society looked at as the enemy… Freya, a half-mortal… Any divinity thrown in rejection, is, as too, the rejection of mortals… She was goddess whom all despised…
She wept in agony, "Don't… don't take the baby…"
The leader smirked, a nasty, disgusted look on his face, "How touching… Having revenge by having this baby live without a mother?" he yelled, and spat arrogant saliva on the woman's face…
She just looked at him with pained eyes… she couldn't do anything… All diving power vanquished inside her… All she could do was stare at him hopelessly… Offended, feeling guilty, feeling she had done terribly wrong… It was a feeling she thought was the most dangerous…
"You don't have the right to live, my Goddess Freya!" he said, insolently pointing the ugly Tsurugi on her chest…
Freya closed her eyes heavily, she was being insulted, yet they still call her goddess… She listened to her breaths closely, for these breaths were her last… 'I entrust you my spirit, my daughter…' she thought hard enough to reach the baby' soul… Oh how she hoped it reached her…
She could feel the cold blade touching her chest… Oh how terrible was the feeling of that blade playing with the skin of a half-mortal…
"Goodbye," the leader mumbled near her face, and stabbed her cruelly, deep through her chest…the blood spurted out… Making the face of the knight in disdain with red mucky water, shocking blood for the once said a mighty woman, be scorned, let it be…He smothered the blood with his free hand, still looking at the bloodshed…
She didn't scream in pain and in agony… She wanted a quiet death, for if she screamed she would wake the poor baby… Blood crawled on her mouth, on her robe, dirtying the immaculacy of the cloth… "My child…" she mumbled, looking her last to the sleeping baby. She couldn't even name her only child… She felt she was pushing herself on the cliff… she trembled, trying to release the baby girl to the ground…
But it was too late… She was already dead… A goddess's corpse, along with a living half-mortal infant fell to the mysterious, dark cliffs of Juno…
The leader watched the two beings fade below, swallowed by the oblivious black of the abyss surrounding Juno… "It's over, this mission of the Incarnat is over," the knight heavily sighed, and held on his crucifix, "may God forgive me…" he mumbled to himself, and made the sign of the cross…
"My Lord!" A sturdy crusader called the head knight,
"Yes Ferrer… I think The Highness of the Third Generation may be heard from us now. The Fallen Freya is already dead!" The leader announced, and observed the obedient looks of the soldiers…
"Yes sir!" all of them said in unison, tough despite the gruesome, godly murder…
"We'll set at Geffen, and by morning, let us go to Prontera safely…From there we'll get food and an inn… Nobody tells about this, for if we will, it might reason out profanity, and it might be the end of this successful mission…" he announced, but it seemed like he was talking to nobody, as the soldiers were not looking at him, but behind him…"Is something wrong?" he asked,
The soldiers didn't do anything, but some of them pointed behind the leader… "The b—baby…" one of the knights exclaimed…
'The baby…?' The knight faced opposite, and he too, was wide-eyed…
It was Freya's child… the infant was glowing white, she looked divine and pure, but her mystic, purple eyes weren't… She was flying, and then suddenly, she grew awesome white wings… wide, magnificent feathers flying out of nowhere furiously…
"What on—" the knight couldn't continue…
They watched the baby shine, flying by wings, the child opened her mouth, murmuring a language silently, and the ground suddenly shivered and emitted a series of icy fireworks, piercing every soldier with huge icicles, and their blood trickled in them… then, the sudden coldness of the atmosphere suddenly formed mists…
The baby descended to ground calmly, her wings deforming back to her behind, and she lost the overwhelming light shining inside her… and she wailed again, like a normal, healthy infant girl…
…………………
"What the heck was that?" A young green-haired female sage voiced out loudly inside her room. She was staring at the window, when something like a bluish ice blast flared at the edge of the cliff, then she also saw an angel…
There was suddenly an annoyed yawn, "My god, Kaeryl! Would you just sleep or shut your mouth every night!" a girl's voice yelled angrily at the sage in her green pajamas…
Kaeryl, who was ignoring her roommate's nagging was still disbelievingly staring at the land… "This is so cool!" she exclaimed, as she pointed out of the window,
The girl rushed beside her, "Is it a naked cutie!"
"No! Stupid! You're such a bitch, Sandra," Kaeryl said as-a-matter-of-factly, "I just saw some kind of an ice spell, and then an angel just popped out of nowhere…"
Sandra, Kaeryl's roommate, groaned, "You're the stupid one Kae, maybe it's just some monster-killing addict who killed a goat at the middle of the night, and unexpectedly, he leveled up… you know that level-up effect? That angel thingy above your head?" she said, she noticed Kaeryl's keen eyes, and she sighed, "You're so difficult. I'm going back to sleep… And please don't shout like a nut again!" she said again, and got back to bed…
"Hey," Kaeyrl blurted, Sandra looked back at her, "I'm going out." She said,
"Seriously?" Sandra said, surprised… "Wait! You might get caught! You're still a student, you know!"
But it was no use, she was already undressing herself, and wore her sage clothes, and smoothed out her hair, "Yes, seriously…" Kaeyrl grinned, "Goodnight Sandra,"
"Wait—!"
Her voice was wasted; the young, curious Kaeryl was already out…
…………………
Kaeryl sneaked down the well-designed dorm passageways of the Juno abbey. It was middle of the night, yet, she wanted to know about that strange blast just minutes ago… It was like the blast was calling her… something, or maybe even someone was attracting her…
She finally approached the entrance and exit of the dorms, and grabbed her arc wand given by Koga, one of the anonymous guys who were dead-in-love by her glances. She hid behind the wall, "Sorry, whoever you are," she mumbled with an unnecessary giggle…
She slammed the head of the security guard hard enough to daze him off… and she opened the door, "Finally!" she said, and she hoped there was no one who observed she was younger than any of the women around the city…
…………………
She was finally out, again, slamming any guard's head questioning her about anything in panic…
It was a rough walk, there were an unbelievably number of rogues lurking on the alleys… but with a few quiet spells, and a few slams on their poor heads, she was able to beat them sneakily like a tricky thief in the dead of the night.
To her relief, she was finally out of Juno, walking on the very, scary bridge separating the city from the wild forests. She looked behind; thinking where was her room, and where was the blast of ice…
She faced somewhere, a plain Cliffside decently distant, the place was totally secluded, but her eyes were right, there was an unusual mist there…
She cast a weak ember on her wand enough to give light. She began to run. She was excited. It was not everyday she would experience an escapade as adventurous like this… She was the typical student girl sage, always being bossed around by strict teachers, always being annoyed by the so-many guys she didn't even like… She could hear her exhausted breaths, tired, impatient, waiting for the outcome to burst out… but they were just music.
She could finally see an opening, an outside of the forest, and the mist… "This is amazing… the cold, thick mist still remained, the caster must be really strong…" she whispered, and as she entered the Cliffside, she gaped in shock…
"A… a frost-diver spell?" she walked backward, she realized it really wasn't that exciting at all… It was a sight of gored soldiers, a battalion! Every soldier was stabbed by dangerous looking ice spikes… and their blood painted on them… "Oh my god," she burbled.
She wanted to run away from the horrible sight, but she couldn't, she even stepped forward again, and walked uncontrollably… She observed a tight-looking dead man, holding on his crucifix, she quietly moved his hand, trembling… "Ma--ranatha Incarnat?" she said, as she saw the army's emblem, letters M and I in a single character (A/N – You can really do that, it also looks nice!) at the center… She observed the silver cross, marveled by such a beautiful thing…
She was surprised once again… The Incarnat? In the middle of the knight?
And then she saw something move just near her, "Who's that!" she daringly said, and had her sage stance,
"Gha—gha," a voice blurted
She faced about, and she widened her eyes, awe-struck… "A… a baby?"
The naked infant was crawling around, her face innocent, not knowing how nasty-looking was the place, "Ghaa?" the baby mumbled,
Helplessly, Kaeryl smiled, "How did you get here?" she said, and ran to carry the infant. Kaeryl eyeballed her face, "Purple eyes…?" and the sage was wondered by the baby's beauty…
She didn't know that instant what to do… Yet, she knew what she wanted… She kissed the baby's clean cheek, and whispered in the baby's ear, "I'll have to name you, Anaiya Estefanne Obelath… That's your name, Anaiya…" she said, and she walked away in a splendidly unknown feeling, and she hardly noticed the dead people surrounding them…
She walked back, covering the baby in large tree leaves, hoping Anaiya wouldn't cry and cause discernment inside the city, or even worse, in her dorm… She was worried what would her best friend, Sanra would say… Recklessly bringing a baby inside… Despite the obvious consequences, she moved to walk forward without hesitation…
She never did turn back from a risk… she was a danger-taker… She silently fled back to the Juno abbey dorms…
…………………
"I'm back…" Kaeryl announced, as she opened the door…
She saw there was no one… she went to the bedroom, there was Sandra, sleeping… Kaeryl was holding Anaiya, and she stared at the baby's face
She couldn't handle taking care of the infant… She needed some help… "I won't give you away to the teachers…" she whispered, and she really didn't want to… "I know who'll take care of you…" she said in Anaiya's ear…
It was herself, she'd try…
……………………
The Next Morning, Prontera Castle, Throne Room
The whole room was rich and luxurious. It was decorated in candled chandeliers, waggling flags that symbolized each city of Midgard dressed the walls, and on the ceilings, and floors, and doors and thrones were embedded in rich, fine Emperium…
There were three thrones, one sat the King of the third generation, and the second sat the two year-old prince, Enovah, and the last throne was empty, only for the highest lady of Midgard, the dead queen, Lumiera…
"My Lord Tristran," a slave announced, kneeling in front of a mighty- looking dressed in royalty's clothes… He turned his head to the king, who was nodding calmly… "The Mistress Liandrin is here to see you." He informed, with another bow of his head, his voice trembling by mentioning Liandrin…
"I see, let her come in, Tutha," Tristan's voice sounded pleased,
The slave crawled back the red carpet, "Yes my Lord!" he stood, still looking at the king, bowed, and knelt, walked backwards, and bowed again…
Tristran sighed as he heard the door open again, and a huntress came in, mustard yellow hair that was cut off in a manner that made her bold and strong… She was dressed in leather tights, footed with payonese, silken boots… strapped at her back were her green arrows, and along it was her trusty bow… A cheerful pink blob jumping on her head,
"My highness," she knelt, and the king stood, "Koy! Show respect," she murmered above her head, seemed like talking to the poring.
The poring jumped to the floor, and formed a body of a cute soldier made in slime, and knelt, "Good morning," he said,
"You too, Koy," Tristran coughed, and then faced Liandrin once more, "What comes you here, Liandrin?"
She looked at the majesty's right, and smiled as she saw Enovah, it was like watching beauty itself, appreciating it… and then she looked back at the king,
"It was reported Maranatha Incarnat, storm battalion, had been killed just beside the cliff of Juno,"
Tristran's eyes narrowed, "What did you say?"
"The storm battalion was killed… The Juno people said they came to see a bloodshed, dead men lying in their own dried blood, and water,"
His eyes jumped in horrible upset, "So I was right!"
Liandrin gave him a polite, asking stare, "What do you mean…? Did Freya escape?"
The king shook his head, and his face trembled in a mixture of fear and prophetic faith… "The goddess is dead,"
Liandrin remained calm, sure that her highness wasn't finished yet, "But…" she waited for an answer,
The king thinly smiled… but his eyes were in mystery… "but her life isn't over yet…"
"You mean she still lives?"
He frowned, "Still lives, but in a body of another half-mortal… as she had sealed something inside of its soul. Freya was certainly stipped off her power, and its up to us to finish her off… But Storm were still defeated, with a high-level spell, possibly, it wouldn't be her,"
"Freya has comrades?" Liandrin said shocked, Koy returning back to his poring form and jumped to her head,
"Yes, she has,"
"Then who?" Liandrin didn't even forgive silence to intervene, despite the annoyance of Koy,
The king had no speculation, his eyes of gemstones were determined and sure, "Her baby daughter, Liandrin,"
"I'm not getting you," she stood up, "That's nonsense, I will not accept your proposal, I can't even understand it, sorry, my lord,"
Tristran laughed, "You really won't, and you'll never really do… nor me, or anyone else in this kingdom…" he then faced the young prince, "But this child beside me will do… Enovah will…"
And then there was another long shot of silence…Still letting go of time, as their breaths continued, on and on and on…
………………..
A/N – Want to continue? Hehe. I guess that was such a cool cliffhanger, good thing I'm too kind. I'd rather post the first group of chapters so that you really won't get bored because of its lack of plot. Hehe. Don't worry, by the next few chapters, you'll finally know… :3
Au Revoir! I'm Filipino by the way!