Brilliance, a Legend of Mana Story
Chapter Nineteen -Gloaming-

Elleira sat cross-legged atop one of the desks, listening quietly to the teachers as they filled her in. Cervantes stayed near the windows, appearing at ease...just casually surveying the grounds. Everything he did was with such a practiced ease that no one paid him any mind...except Mephianse, who continued to look in the priest's direction with ever-growing suspicion.

"So..." Elleira said loudly, "Let me get this straight. At some point Godhand sent his hired mercenaries away. They ended up wandering aimlessly, murdering and pillaging, and kidnapping for the slave market. The mercenaries themselves don't appear to have any attachment to the Nanten, or the Jumi Cores they were stealing for Godhand."

"Yes. We've been hearing...rumors," Kathinja began slowly. "There are a number of splits among the high command -such as it is- of the Nanten. The dismissed mercenaries we've captured have been less then willing to talk, but they've made several mentions of a 'Fortress' hidden inside the jungle."

"It explains why they'd get rid of Rosiotti...but why everyone else? Why attack the Jumi? Why the other Wisdoms?"

"No doubt," Mephianse said, "they wanted to make certain the Wisdom's would not come to Rosiotti's aid. And as for the Jumi...I believe their cores were to be used as payment for the mercenaries they hired. With their magic returned to them, no doubt a core is very valuable."

"...Ugh." Elleira put her elbows on her knees, and her chin in her hands. "Lemme guess. Hire the mercenaries to attack the Jumi, then let the mercenaries go. With that many armed groups running around, no one would be able to intervene in whatever their really after."

"That is the theory." Mephianse turned towards Cervantes. "What do you think? You haven't said much since you got here..."

The priest glanced at them briefly. "...I wonder. Something about this whole situation strikes me as odd. Fa'diel has no standing army of any sort. They have a number of do-gooders -forgive me, Elleira- who are seemingly the only ones capable of standing and fighting. Where did all these trained warriors come from?"

Elleira blinked at him in surprise, even as Kathinja waved it off. "Across the ocean, of course."

"But where? What country? There are thousands of trained warriors. No nation is entirely composed of mercenaries, no matter how bad things may be there. Which means that these men came from a number of countries. But if this is the case, why wouldn't they -the countries, that is- have been heard from before? Whether through political delegations or conquering war parties, if other countries existed, they should have been here before now."

There was silence in the room as everyone contemplated what he'd said. Mephianse asked, "What are you trying to say? 'If other countries existed?' What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Explain it, then." The priest shrugged, and gestured out the window. "Explain why a world such as Fa'diel exists. I've read the histories...an apocalyptic war occurred, and all the lands were 'sealed away'."

"We've heard this from the Sproutlings," Kathinja said, quickly cutting off Mephianse's infuriated reply. "Its madness. The world is not imagined. I exist. I've always existed. No one thought me up."

Elleira slid off the desk, crashing to the floor. She landed with a loud "Oomph!" and everyone turned to her. Blushing furiously, she leapt to her feet, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, haha, I should probably...go...do...things..."

She made a break for the door, and Cervantes followed her quickly. Kathinja and Mephianse exchanged confused glances, but Thesenis merely sat in the darkest corner of the room peering out from under her bandages darkly.

Out in the hall, Elleira whirled on Cervantes. "What was that?"

"Me?" he scoffed. "I'm not the one who rushed out of the room after falling on my ass."

"You know what I mean!" Elleira snapped. She paused for a second, waving an accusatory finger in his face. "...How DO you know what I mean! Nobody else knows anything about the Artifacts except the Sproutlings, and they're insane!" She started pacing the hall, frantically waving her hands in exaggerated movements. "You always speak about Fa'diel in abstract forms, yet when you do talk specifics, its all stuff nobody but I should know!"

Cervantes eyed her carefully, a smirk slipping onto his face. "Do you think you're living in an imaginary world?"

Elleira leaned against the wall, scowl deepening. "I want to know who you are."

"I've told you-"

"Quit yanking me around," she snapped.

Cervantes studied her again, and let his smile slip away. "Do you believe in other worlds? Worlds you can't see?"

"Like the afterlife the Reverend talks about?" she asked. "The one where we all go to live happily with the Goddess? No. I've been to the Underworld. I know what happens when we die."

The 'priest' shrugged. "Then its something you won't understand."

"Why you!" Elleira grabbed his collar of his coat, pulling him roughly downwards, forcing him to look her in the eye. "I'm glad you feel all superior and smug, because since you've been playing me this whole time, I feel like smacking you around."

The walls shuddered, and the two were thrown apart, slamming into opposite walls. Swearing under her breath, Elleira rubbed at her head furiously as she started for the front hall of the school. Cervantes followed closely behind, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder. She scowled at him, but said nothing as the school shook again, flinging her backwards. "Whaaaa!" she cried out, falling backwards into the old priest's arms.

He helped her keep her feet, but turned her to face him. "Listen to me."

She stared up at him, shocked. They could hear screaming from up ahead, Mephianse shouting orders, the sounds of battle and crackle of spells reaching them through the hallway. Cervantes was holding onto her tightly, and the look in his eyes made her nervous. She tried to pull back, but he kept holding her tightly.

"Wha-what are you doing!" she cried, panicking.

"You don't understand what you've seen, not yet. But you will." Cervantes leaned closer, and she flushed red. What the hell was he talking about! Was he going to kiss her? What was he thinking! "Your world is a lot smaller then you'd like to believe." He turned his face upwards, and she followed his gaze, looking up with him.

Shining brightly among the clouds off in the distance, was Lucemia.

Inside the small clearing where Rosiotti had once held sway, Godhand watched a myriad a chains stretched from the somewhere deep in the ground, to high in the sky, as Lucemia performed her final service to the Nanten.

"Unbelievable! Unconceivable!" Pierce ranted, his voice a high screech. Godhand shot him a glare meant to silence him, but the sorcerer continued rambling on. "The Wyrm can't even pry it free! Where is that worthless necromancer! Why isn't she whipping that monster, or however she tamed the stupid beast-"

"Shut. Up."

His fury was at a fever pitch. At the moment of his greatest triumph, Kana, Vandal, Khoval, Saiga, Agony, Ecstasy, and Sable were nowhere to be found. Did they not understand how close he was? How close to attaining everything he'd ever dreamed He had thought that at the very least, Kana would...

With a scowl, Godhand shoved Pierce roughly aside, stepping forward to where the chains were stretched taut. They extended far into the sky, where they were attached to the great Wyrm Lucemia, and deep into the earth...to the Mana Fortress.

Godhand grabbed two chains, one in each hand, and heaved. Pierce watched, stunned, and the ground cracked and shuddered beneath them, as Godhand attempted to tear the Mana Fortress from the grasp of the planet.

Of course Kana understood. She knew what he was after, what he hoped to find within the Mana Fortress. The truth about the entire affair; the war, the swords, even the elves. She knew...and she resented it. How many times had she tried to convince him to change his path? How many times had she tried to convince him to leave with her, to walk away from his obligation? All her professions of undying love...and where was she now?

His feet sunk into the earth, and he pulled harder, giving everything he had. Nothing would stop him from attaining his final goal.

Something far below cracked, and the chains came free. He held onto one, grinning, the elation of victory swirling through him as Lucemia carried him into the sky, along with the Mana Fortress. The earth broke apart, and he saw Pierce scrambling away from the site, trying to find safety from the massive chunks of dislodged rock and dirt.

As the Mana Fortress crested, Godhand slid down the chain, his hand sparking as it slid over the metal, and he landed atop the fortress, smiling down at the planet as he was carried into the sky.

Pearl stopped running, holding the hammer loosely in one hand. She stared up at the sky, unwilling to believe her eyes. "What's going on?" Lucemia -at least, she thought it was Lucemia- was carrying something. A large object, black against the sky...she thought for a moment that it looked like a bowl. She squinted, shading her eyes, trying to get a decent look.

Lucemia kept climbing higher and higher, and the bowl passed in front of the sun.

Red tendrils shot out from the object, criss-crossing the sky, seemingly breaking the world apart. The sky was turning black, except for the lines, which remained bright red and angry against the rapidly darkening sky. "What is this?" she whispered, and the planet itself seemed to groan in pain as an answer.

Escad and Niccolo blinked in surprise as one, and stared up at the sky, taking their eyes off there opponents. The girls made no move towards them, they just ignored the sky as it blackened, ignored the distraction it caused their enemies.

"Um, say..." Niccolo asked, carefully watching his tone. "I don't suppose you know what's going on, do you?"

Escad tore his eyes from the sky, looking towards the girls. They both met his eyes for the first time. Red light bathed everything in an eerie glow, and the red-haired girl actually smirked.

"We didn't have to do anything after all," she said softly.

"The Mana Fortress. That Nanten psycho has raised it up." Escad grit his teeth angrily. "Niccolo, focus. We've got to fight."

Niccolo brought his gaze back down to street-level, eyeing the two girls carefully. "Y'know...this world ending business happens too often for my tastes."

"Let's go!" Escad snarled, charging forward. He brought his blade in low, slashing upwards, but the girl red-head leaned backwards barely moving, and still avoiding the blade. One hand snapped forward, and he dodged it, making her grin. She attacked witha fervent bloodlust, trying to grab him, strike him...anything to make contact with him.

He leapt backwards, keeping her at bay with careful slashes. She was enjoying herself, and he could tell from her eyes that she could keep at it all day. He cast a glance towards Niccolo, where he was desperately throwing punches and kicks, trying to land a blow on the other girl, who danced around lazily, avoiding his attacks with unorthodox but graceful steps.

"Stand still, will you!" Niccolo snapped, throwing a quick series of punches. She ducked them, coming up inside his reach, slipping her arms around him with the same fluid ease she'd dodged his attacks. He stiffened, arms and ears shaking rapidly, but otherwise unmoving. "Silly rabbit..." she said softly, almost sadly.

The red-haired girl got inside his guard while he was distracted, and tried to grab his face, but he stepped forward, using his shoulder to deflect the attack, and slammed the hilt into her stomach. The blade shook like he'd tried to strike rock, but her eyes bugged anyways, and she leapt backwards, cartwheeling away, hissing loudly.

He blinked a few times in confusion. The blue-haired girl had dropped Niccolo, and was approaching her partner, eyeing Escad with something akin to fear. He side-stepped, trying to get close to Niccolo, but the girls blocked his path. The red-haired girl no longer looked happy, and the blue-haired girl no longer looked sad. They bnoth stared at him, eyes wide with horror and revulsion.

"What are you?" the blue-haired girl whispered.

"Step aside," he snapped. Raising his sword, he took a step forward. He could tell from their movements that it wasn't the sword they were afraid of...it was him.

"You...you're dead..." The girl continued. "How...?"

"Stand aside, NOW!" Escad snarled, and they charged forward, surprising him. He ducked and dodged their attempts to grab him, and each time he slashed one, there was no effect that he could see.

"Rrrrrgh...Enough!" Escad flung his sword at them, and they side-stepped it easily, and moved in for the kill. He clapped his hands together, and they stopped charging. "Fall---Down to the Underworld!" He dropped to his knees and slammed his palms into the ground. The earth opened up, and the girls shrieked in terror...but didn't fall.

He looked on in shock, and the black portal to Hell reached up, grasping them, sinking darkness into their bodies. Their veins filled with the black ichor of shadows, and they stopped screaming when the black lines criss-crossed their faces, and filled their eyes with blackness.

They collapsed as the portal dissipated, unmoving on the stone. Escad looked briefly at his hands. "What happened?"

"They were life. When touched by the Underworld, they did what most do: they died."

Escad glanced sideways, seeing the speaker emerge from an alleyway. "Looks like I'm late," Larc finished.

"Life? What do you mean?" Escad asked angrily. He couldn't get the horror of their deaths out of his mind. He feared he'd see it forever.

"The facets of life. Pain and pleasure. Agony and-"

"Ecstasy!" Niccolo sighed dreamily, sitting upright. "Oh my. That was good. I'd pay for that, even."

Escad and Larc gaped at him in horror. "I uh...guess it doesn't work the same on demi-humans?" Larc wondered aloud.

"Or Niccolo's just a freak," Escad said. "Come on, we've got work to do."

"Oh, I'm all right." Niccolo continued on in his dreamlike tone. "I think I'll...sit here and bask in the afterglow."

"Um...Yeah. You...you do that." Larc said. He threw up his hands, and started heading for the gates.

Escad rolled his eyes, collected his sword, and headed off after Larc, avoiding looking at the darkness looming overhead.