【80 - Conclusion to the Epic Saga of Light!】
Sinan felt like praying, though he had no one to pray to. He used to do everything with such confidence, and oftentimes belligerence. Now he felt amputated - not in the sense of missing a limb, but like he was cut off from something greater. How reckless he had always been, telling himself that he didn't need to be careful! That faith would ensure his safety. That his god's will would always be done, and that it would ensure nothing too bad would happen to him because… - and this notion had never formed words in his mind even if he'd believed it - Sinan was one of the good ones, one of Solvus's favourites.
Sinan ran down the metallic halls of the space station while his heartbeat thud in his ears. He couldn't be sure how much noise he was making, everything was drowned out by his panting and fear.
Sinan reflected again on how being a Solvusite made him believe his thoughts and actions were righteous. So righteous in fact, as to find every other thing offensive. He'd become like his God: furiously insisting on complete obedience and wishing suffering on those who wouldn't. Thinking so linearly… had been safe. It simplified the whole world. And Sinan wanted to go back into that hazy cloud of light, which illuminated nothing but kept him in a hypnotic un-reality. At least there he would die at peace with everything and have no fear.
Sinan turned a corner and fought to keep up the pace, realising that he'd never grown up in life. While most children grow to learn harsh truths, he'd forcefully slapped God onto everything and religion became his new fairytale, and he'd never had to accept anything painful, and his defiance of everything was probably just a way of fighting to keep that buffer and to never have to feel the harsh edges of anything.
But a mind that has been stretched can never return to its original dimensions, no matter how much Sinan wanted his to. Solvus was a story to control, and for self-control. Sinan had to face this reality with no buffer and he felt as helpless as a baby in snow.
Sinan stopped at a fork. The corridor had ended and he needed to choose left or right. Having to choose overwhelmed him, like staring over a cliff. Sinan just stood there and trembled.
"Left," it was the water chosen.
Sinan felt a brief jolt of relief that passed as quick as it came. He started running again.
"Kanoa isn't following me. What do we do now?" Sinan asked.
"Amira's KO-ed, so we can't depend on her powers helping us even though she knows about Urobach's plan."
"So what do we do?"
"I'm thinking…"
The water chosen was silent for several seconds. "Uhh?"
"Go left and then take the next right."
Sinan tried to clear his mind of worries as he ran. He knew they had to either: kill Urobach by somehow getting through his guards and catching him unawares, or destroy the final engine by somehow acquiring explosives, or damage the ship so as to prevent its journey which would also require explosives. Sinan waited for more instructions and soon noticed a rumbling under his feet.
"M-006 just informed me that a dozen other rockets from all across the continent have also launched. It's mostly just supplies for the moon base."
"What's that rumbling?"
"You're accelerating."
Sinan stopped, "I need to find that engine room! There's no time!"
"Next left, hurry!"
Sinan turned his head and saw someone from his peripheral, appearing around a bend. Sinan ran, grimly anticipating gunfire but he got into the next corridor and a blast door closed. Sinan paused and heard an order to split up followed by echoed running.
"They're going to surround me, aren't they?" Sinan started running again.
"Go faster!"
Sinan cursed and pushed his muscles to get to the next bend. He felt the last of his hopes sinking. The door ahead opened and a soldier pointed his sub-machine gun.
Suddenly gravity switched off and Sinan flew over the crouching man's shoulders, unintentionally kicking his face and making him careen back. Everything turned, the ceiling and walls changing places as they rotated. Sinan hooked his arm over a bend and threw himself down a hall, using his hands and feet to push himself along in the weightlessness.
"We're in space…"
"Yes, you finally got far enough that Aurellia's gravitational field is much weaker… and now you're on your way to the moon."
"Okay," Sinan resisted the urge to repeat the question: so what now? He waited for the water chosen to think of something, after all it seemed they were the only chosen not yet cornered.
Sinan emerged next into a big room and couldn't tell which way was meant to be up or down, he was just drifting through a rectangular prism, as if the whole architecture had changed. From the other end Sinan heard a door open.
"There's a valve on the wall! Turn it!"
Sinan had difficulty orienting himself, but looked back and saw the emergency sprinklers.
Reaching with his leg he kicked off a corner and flew back across the room, noticing again in his peripheral: a soldier pushing himself into the room. Sinan turned the valve and water sprayed. It came from below, meaning he was upside-down. The moving water obscured him from view. It was blasted by pressure not gravity, and some of it collected on the surface above from water's tension properties, becoming a rippling layer. Many other droplets flew about the room like thousands of pearls.
Sinan ducked low into a crouch then pushed off, launching himself to an adjacent door. Droplets he touched wet him in patches, or clung to his arms a bit before rolling off.
"You have on the count of three to surrender or I fill this room with bullets!" the soldier announced to the room. He couldn't see through what looked like flowing frosted glass.
It seemed Urobach would prefer to capture them all alive for one last hurrah. One final grandstanding speech before executing them. Sinan had already reached the doorway and swung around, he heard it whoosh closed behind him.
Sinan soon found himself in another large room that looked like an engineer area: more grated metal and with a huge pipe in the middle travelling its length. He saw an upside-down staircase and had to turn his head to avoid bumping it on the railing. He pushed himself further in, hoping that all this time running was going to contribute to something. Hopefully the water chosen was close to coming up with an idea that could save the disastrous mess their mission had become.
Another door was heard opening and the water chosen cursed through the communicator. Sinan reached for a huge pipe and turned himself. The familiar face shocked him - Saishi the head priest drifting in and also using one hand on the huge pipe to orient himself.
"Sinan, my child… what a disappointment you turned out to be."
"It's you…" Sinan grit his teeth. Saishi's black eyes were entirely one shade and the more he looked into them the more he was reminded of Henka's. "Everything… all of it… it was all just a fucking lie!" It was very irrational to be having a breakdown over his old religion right now, of all things. Yet Sinan felt his chest ache with grief and his head was getting hot with anger.
Saishi frowned and said nothing. He was still holding onto his air of teacherly superiority.
"Sinan..." the water chosen could tell they were losing him.
Sinan smiled bitterly as he got an idea. One way for him to get some satisfaction, or just solace. His body was quickly shrouded in yellow and small stars scattered from him like dandelions, blowing toward Saishi who gaped in surprise. He swatted the air as they blew over him. After a moment where he didn't notice anything happen Saishi inspected the sparks curiously.
"Tell me the truth. You deceived every Solvusite in the world just to help Urobach almost annihilate humanity, didn't you?"
Saishi's mouth ran without his permission, "The prophecies were convenient for the General to use. We had the cooperation of a major city that stemmed from not just fear, but loyalty..." Sinan's eyes darkened though he'd already known the answer. Saishi continued, "But I am a true believer."
That stunned Sinan, "...what?" The stars had all dissolved and Saishi looked around in surprise. Sinan's yellow glow receded, "You actually believe. Even though you came from another world?"
"Scriptures aren't always meant to be taken literally," Saishi spoke freely now that he'd calmed from that experience. He seemed eager to talk about Solvus, and perhaps outside of Urobach's orders he was hoping to reconvert Sinan for the sake of the god he believed in. Saishi could see Sinan's open surprise and was using it, "Other dimensions weren't mentioned in the scriptures, but nor is the world flat. Solvus just allowed that to be written in his holy word for the sake of our smaller understanding."
"And how very convenient that your scriptures are open to interpretation depending on how the world changes," the water chosen spoke up once more. "Sinan, don't listen to him. We don't have time for this and he's trying to distract you."
Sinan curled forward where he floated, grabbing his head with both hands under the mounting stress.
"Human beings aren't meant to exist in fear. We're meant to live in peace and that comes from the security of our faith," Saishi watched Sinan who remained still. He waited for a tense few seconds, as did the water chosen who was staying quiet over the line.
Sinan began to unfurl, "No... you're clinging to a foreign religion to escape your fear of Urobach and the gatekeeper." Sinan lifted his head, angry again, "I won't go back just to escape that fear! Because I never asked for an escape! All I ever wanted was to know the truth - about life!"
Saishi growled and opened his robes, pulling out his deck.
Sinan presented his and tables appeared floating between them. They shuffled and readied themselves, the ten shields flashing to life between them.
Sinan went first, charging light-water and then his opponent charged fire.
The turn passed back to Sinan, "I summon Mixel, Strange Stone!" The bronze-tipped flier was sure to screw around with Saishi's cost-reducing abilities for his Brand creatures.
Saishi drew and was already formulating a plan to remove it, "I summon Bastard Brand!" The rexstars beat jockey looked like a muscled red humanoid on a hoverboard.
Saishi's smile faded as Sinan summoned: "Another Mixel, Strange Stone!" The pairs floated alongside each other as a blockade of jamming. "Turn end!"
"Gah… I summon Dachicco Churis!" A pink mole rat with a green bandana around its neck sported fire on its head and the end of its tail. "My next beat jockey costs three less! I can also reduce Gagaga Gaial Brand's summoning cost by an extra six, so for one mana I star evolve it onto Bastard Brand!" It shone red and grew larger, the armour becoming more elaborate in design. Notably it had large shoulder-pads, with red horns and gold sabres emerging from both arms. "Shinkapower! I destroy one Mixel!" It lunged, still glowing from its recent summoning as it carved downwards through a ship that exploded.
Sinan raised his arms protectively against the shockwave, when it passed he raised his arm, "Mixel sends Gagaga Gaial Brand to the bottom of your deck!" It shone and shrunk back into Bastard Brand once more.
"Star evolution! Only the top card goes and then all my creatures become speed attackers!" At Saishi's declaration Sinan grit his teeth and the pair of beat jockeys were now shining red. "Dachicco Churis, shield break!" It gave a marsupial cry before pouncing through glass that started reassembling before it could cut anyone.
"Shield trigger, Rainbow Spark taps Bastard Brand!" Sinan watched the other creature kneel down and frowned as he realised he didn't qualify for mana arms. With only one multi-coloured mana he couldn't draw two.
Then it was Sinan's turn, "I cast Miraculous Snare and Bastard Brand becomes a new shield!" An underwater light-show rippled over the creature before it spun back, becoming a sixth panel of glass. Sinan felt uneasy, against a deck this fast he just had Mixel to hold off the attacks on his shields until he had five mana for Dragon's Sign or Now or Never.
On the other side of the match Saishi was wary of more shield triggers but still determined to attack, "I summon another Bastard Brand, and I star evolve him into another Gagaga Gaial Brand! Shinkapower, again!" The events repeated, with the second Mixel being destroyed and then Gaial Brand vanishing brightly back into the deck. "Once more, both creatures become speed attackers! Dachicco Churis, shield break!" It leapt again and Sinan turned away, feeling glass bounce off his dark suit. "Bastard Brand, shield break!" Another crash and Sinan turned to see the hoverboard rider arcing around just as another trigger reformed in Sinan's reach.
"You've done it now…" Sinan smiled and plucked the card, "Dragon's Sign! I bring out Kirazeus Savark and send Bastard Brand onto one of your shields!" The gold and amethyst dragon spread its wings with a roar, blowing back the opposing creature until it flattened against a shield as a hieroglyph.
"Tch… your turn…"
"I'll take it gladly. I summon Emeralda, Pitch Dragon Elemental!" Sinan added a shield to his hand, and holding no other cards he put it right back again. "Kirazeus double breaks your shields and I gain two new ones!" It roared before flying out and spinning its tail through the far-right shields. Glass bounced away and there were no triggers. As the new shields formed on Sinan's side they were now both four apiece.
"No charge this turn," Saishi said after drawing, "I summon Bruce Quack," a comical duck in armour spread its wings and quacked, "then I summon another Dachicco Churis, that means my next beat jockey costs three less! And with Master Bad Action Dynamite I reduce Bad Brand's summon cost by another four!" It appeared looking similar to its other incarnation, but with a gear pattern to his armour. "All my fire creatures gain speed attacker!"
Sinan was willing to bet on more shield triggers so he readied himself. Saishi too took a moment before going ahead with the onslaught, "Bad Brand, double break!" It launched through two shields, the attack so violent that Sinan rolled over backwards and glass blew into a storm alongside him. But then both shields returned as triggers and he pushed off, floating back to his table.
"Kernel, Stagnation Dragon Elemental freezes Bad Brand and Arcadia Spark taps all the rest!" Sinan's whole body shone yellow and he seemed dazzling and terrifying, like the sun. Fire's attacks were stopped by the defences of his civilization. In turn the beat jockeys knelt down and a third dragon joined Emeralda on the other side of Kirazeus.
"Dammit!" Saishi slammed his table with both fists. "...at the end of my turn I destroy Bruce Quack." As per Bad Brand's requirement, the selected creature burnt up.
"I expand Memento Guardian Shrine, Prison Court of D." Light beams twirled up as the D2 field expanded as a series of colourful posts connected by wreaths. It gave all his creatures blocker, and now Sinan could use denjara switch to tap all Saishi's creatures again for a turn. Sinan saw him freeze and continued with his turn, "Kirazeus double breaks and I gain another two shields!" The largest dragon zoomed out, and without any triggers declared Sinan continued with the others, "Emeralda, shield break!" The other readied its musical staff and flew out. "Kernel, shield break!" The other swung its bell into the last shield. There were no triggers at all.
Saishi drew slowly and Sinan interrupted him, "Denjara Switch!" He turned the card upside-down and the two Dachicco Churis knelt down once more with the still-frozen Bad Brand.
Saishi glared across, revealing his defeat, "Mark my words Sinan, you will never enter into paradise!"
"Right. I don't choose promises - I'm right here," Sinan explained as his creatures untapped. "I choose reality. Kirazeus, todomeda!" It advanced and breathed golden fire that seared his opponent from existence.
Sinan floated in place, breathing, until he finally calmed down.
While Amira drifted unconscious in the control room, she was dreaming that she was floating in space. Amongst the blackness and countless stars were colourful galaxies and nebulae. She floated there and frowned at her faded memories.
"I never thought of myself as heroic… but part of her got to me and now for the first time… I want to fight."
Amira noticed a darker patch of space and recognized it as Supernova Pluto's silhouette. Her old phoenix, had he returned to her? The memories rushed back faster now but Amira didn't wake.
"That's right!" she exclaimed. "I went with Heidi, to save Kanoa and Sinan. To stop Urobach. If we're not too late can you possess my body again? I can't seem to wake up on my own for some reason."
Pluto's shadow stiffened and snarled, his edges flickering. He'd approached her subtly, but now he was like a furious cat reacting to something.
"Hello, Amira."
Amira stiffened and turned around. Floating a few paces from her was Gatekeeper Pluto, a slight smile on his face. The two of them were alone in this dream of outer space, Amira's phoenix was barely visible as just an angry outline.
"It's you…"
"I sense you've had a change of heart. Isn't that so?" The Gatekeeper asked. When Amira could only gulp and stare he continued, "You were never from the colony, so if rejoining your planet is what you desire I won't stand in your way."
"...really?"
"Of course." There had to be a catch, and sure enough it came: "But if you're no longer my subordinate I will be reclaiming the power I gave you." He raised a dainty hand and Amira went rigid, gasping in pain.
"N-no…" Black fiery vapour was extracted from her temple. It felt like it had bonded to her completely, and she was being pulled apart to get it out. It took several agonising seconds and then the power was gone and Amira gasped. She was surprised at how normal she felt, she could feel it in her cells - nothing but an ordinary girl once more.
Breathing hard she looked up and saw the power that was once hers. A beachball-sized inferno of black floating above Pluto's open hand. It dived into his body, the silk kimono and his raven hair billowing before the magic seeped into his skin. Pluto lowered his arm.
"I'm curious…" The Gatekeeper said after seconds of silence went by. "I wonder how long you'll remain happy with this decision. My forces on your planet might kill you for this treachery. You could go back to hiding for the rest of your life, or you could fight… Urobach has reported to me how his lieutenants have dwindled, but just so you know…" Pluto's smile raised an inch, the most emotion he'd ever shown and it still felt fake, "If Urobach is defeated I will destroy all of Aurellia and just move on to another dimension."
Amira floated there, unsure of what to say about that, "...oh."
"Goodbye, ex-General Amira…" Pluto faded and then so did the dream - Amira could feel herself waking.
"Fuck…" Amira jerked and all the soldiers floating in the room pointed their guns at her. The fact they were all floating meant they were now in space.
In her mind she could feel Supernova Pluto's presence. He was with Amira again and watching everything through her eyes. She felt sheepish, but could sense that her phoenix understood everything. His silence was a response to her feelings and it seemed to communicate an almost-begrudging 'don't worry about it'. After all, there were more pressing matters of concern - like the fact Amira's teleporting powers had been taken from her right after she'd used them to get her and Heidi into this ridiculously dangerous situation.
Amira turned her head across the room to Heidi and Kanoa who floated a few paces away. Heidi's expression conveyed urgency and hope, but Amira's returning look of sadness dimmed the spark. Heidi knew right away something was wrong.
Amira had barely been conscious for a few seconds before Urobach noticed.
"Quick! Stop her before she teleports!" He yelled.
Before Amira could respond she was struck again by tasers and swore before convulsing and falling unconscious again.
Everyone in the room stared at Amira who was still once more.
Urobach faced back, "Phew, she must have been too disoriented to escape. So where was I?" He received only glares from Heidi and Kanoa. Urobach snapped his fingers, "Oh that's right, your plan has failed and any minute now Sinan will be captured, again, and brought here so I can kill you all together. Now, I don't want to let you kids out of my sight, but I'm sure I can come up with some good ideas for slow and painful deaths regardless. It will be so…" he mentally grappled for the right word, "cathartic."
"Get bent!" Heidi spat.
Kanoa joined her, "Grandstanding prick."
"Your defiance born of hatred for me is understandable," Urobach put his arms behind his back and smiled. He leered over, "But it will be oh so fun for me to break."
Heidi and Kanoa couldn't help but feel afraid for what was coming.
In another dimension, there sat a dome. It was a beautiful and enormous underwater city. Some distance away was the shadow of a Poseidia Dragon as it unfurled in the deep. Witnessing both these majesties was a comparatively microscopic - but in actuality quite large - submarine base. Floating around it were curious Magic Commands and Splash Queens, they were spread apart but had swarmed to study the curious creatures through the glass rectangles inside. They were ancient and odd-looking beings called… humans.
Through the glass were halls where uniformed workers strolled about, peering out at the water civilization creatures outside with equal measures of idle curiosity. Some stood with arms behind their backs, by themselves or in pairs. If they weren't examining the beings that swam close, they were looking at the far off city dome or the distant dragon. Others just strolled along and didn't look up from their clipboards.
In the heart of this moving base sat three young women, peering through monitors. To the left was Summer Hirazumi, no longer wearing her desert attire, her long hair tied back in a loose scrunchy. To the right was Natsu Hirazumi, her broken leg in a cast and the other cuts and bruises she acquired from jumping out a moving van were taped up. In the middle chair was Tailee, pushing up circular glasses as she peered at surveillance.
"Do it again," Summer demanded.
Tailee hit the enter key and they got another computerised burp in response. The teleporting pods behind them remained empty.
"I can't. I just can't!" Tailee yelled, frustrated.
"Heidi…" Natsu spoke softly, and the three sisters stared helplessly at the footage of their youngest relative in that control room with Urobach and his soldiers.
"It's that other lieutenant…" the water chosen's voice came through a smaller monitor.
"But how?" Tailee demanded, her chair auto-swivelling with a subtle movement of her fingers. "You're the one using Mercury to connect all three of our dimensions. We're using the water civ tech here to beam people out. How could Urobach's lieutenant be jamming that?"
"Because we still rely on Urobach's systems for accurate coordinates and that's what the lieutenant is scrambling."
Summer angrily shot up, "You should be here with us, helping. So why aren't you? You know Heidi's going to come here once she finds out the truth."
"You think Heidi would choose to go to you three instead of finding me?"
"She will," Summer persisted.
"You sure? Heidi recruited Sinan and by the looks of it, Amira. I'm the last chosen left."
"That's true…" Natsu sighed, "But Heidi doesn't yet know… that Mum and Dad are actually lost somewhere here in the creature world."
"...I see."
They were quiet. Natsu glanced over her shoulder at the medical workers who were tending to Jayden and Hillary. They'd not woken up but were lying in stretchers with IV tubes in their arms and their vitals were being monitored by equipment. They were hurt but they'd been beamed over to safety. Engyo, Henka and Tsukumo were sadly lost. These two were likely to pull through. But there was still Heidi, Kanoa, Sinan and now Amira on that rocket and in danger.
Tailee's fingers flew across the keyboard and once again she got another error message. She growled in frustration before whipping back to the water chosen's screen.
"So what do we do? I can't do anything else from my end!"
"Okay… there might be one last thing I can do."
The Hirazumi sisters quietened and leaned forward to listen.
Sinan was panting as he raced with his arms and legs across the wall of the corridor. He was swerving to one side as he ran, and so in effect he was turning up different walls, spiralling along without any sensation of blood pooling to his head. Hopefully this made him a harder target to shoot, but probably not. All he could really do was keep turning corners.
His communication device flickered back to life, "Okay. New plan."
"About time," Sinan groaned, "What is it?"
"Let them catch you."
"Are you joking?"
"I need you to be with the others. Tell the soldiers you're giving up and they won't shoot you."
It went against Sinan's instincts to go quietly. He'd been evading capture fairly well so far, ignoring every time a soldier yelled at him to give up and come quietly. True, there was no place to run to anyway. But all of this adrenaline in the past ten minutes was feeling like wasted time.
Sinan had made no move to slow down when a doorway ahead beeped and unlocked. Sinan hadn't noticed it and the butt of a gun came out and whacked him. Sinan flipped over several times and collided with a wall, then drifted away from it slowly. He was bleeding from his forehead and dizzy as the soldier pulled his arms behind his back.
"I guess that works too…"
Sinan was taken to the control room, finally, after his momentary flight of freedom. The double doors whooshed open and he was kicked from behind so he drifted to his comrades. Heidi and Kanoa caught and steadied him.
"Excellent," Urobach grinned, "Now I wish you all could live long enough to see your planet destroyed, but lucky for you I don't have the patience for that." Urobach thought something through before making up his mind, "Okay, I'm going to start by torturing Heidi."
Soldiers from the edge of the room crouched to launch themselves over. Kanoa and Sinan both squared themselves around her protectively.
A point of blue energy appeared in the room and lightning streaked out, just a bit at first and then there was a maelstrom spilling into the room, shocking the guards and Urobach who bared his teeth furiously while igniting with black fire.
The three stared as a shining blue vortex expanded before them, illuminating the wonder on their faces. Heidi thought she could make out something in the glow. An outline: she could see and also feel… the water chosen.
"It's you…"
Whatever this was - this event occurring - it looked highly unstable. What was this final move going to cost them? But in having no other choice, the water chosen was doing this. Kanoa and Sinan knew at once that they needed to go to it. Heidi kicked her feet across the floor and grabbed Amira, who stirred and raised her head. Heidi got Amira's arm over her shoulder. Sinan went first, Kanoa next while looking back at them, Heidi then took Amira with her and they vanished inside.
They'd failed to stop Urobach. While he was temporarily restrained by this energy, his enraged roar echoed after them and promised vengeance. The four chosens left the rocket, and they left their world.
Where do you run when the world becomes your enemy?
They left for somewhere safe.
『AN: My results for the Uni semester I just finished are going to be released at midnight tonight. Based on my marks I really shouldn't fail, but perhaps saying so is premature and I'm jinxing myself. No, no it's very unlikely I'll fail. So I'm going to have two highs tonight. Finally finishing my penultimate arc of the biggest story I've ever written! AND finding out I've passed my penultimate year of my uni course too! Thanks to Shuriken for reviewing! Also, thanks to Convergence for flying through this. He's already at chapter 12 and who knows what he'll be up to once I start Water Arc some time next year. Until then I have minor projects to update, AUgmented Realities and my digimon TCG fic, Aeon: Digital Transcendence. Be good to finish those arcs finally. Thanks again to everyone who reads!』
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