Chapter -122: A Birth Under Shadow

And so, time continued to pass, like a boat down a gentle creek.

Every day was it's own adventure, as Sarajin, Justek and Temporis continued to venture to each of the Tribes they had visited thus far and learned more about the elements within.

While the days spent in Tanglefae resulted in a lot of napping with Carmine, Sarajin began to learn how to make large plants grow from the ground and even spoke to Mos about how to use certain plants for medicinal purposes.

Temporis wanted to visit the Grove of Eternal Night, naturally, finding herself drawn to the Fae that lived there, which Justek joked was just her being attracted to her own kin.

Over in Aquamoria, Sarajin kept fishing with Brine and Lulu, with Justek eventually caving in and attempting to fish himself...Which led to disastrous results and a couple broken fishing rods.

But eventually he got the type of fish he had been craving since the beginning, and they enjoyed a hearty meal out of it.

And Sarajin would spend the night there sometimes practicing his control over water when no one was around to get disturbed by it. Him and Brine would enjoy the dance of the mysterious green-haired maiden under the moonlight...

Johnathan taught Sarajin how to control the ground beneath his feet, showboating a little with his feats of raw power capable of fracturing a fissure in the planet.

But he was able to express the prettier side of rocks as well, revealing that even the most unassuming of boulders could hide a geode of gems inside.

Sarajin and Ezekiel started to work together a lot as well, as Johnathan became more and more distracted with dealing with the drones from Pulsa Minoria.

Pulsa Minoria was trying their best to recover from the damage Voltneir had brought down and were managing to rebuild the tower. Sarajin was hesitant to revisit them though, and Valic's hostile demeanor didn't make that any easier.

But on the rare occasion when he came by, Rai was there to sneak him in and talk a bit about his visions of the future. Though Sarajin didn't understand a lot of what Rai was saying, he sounded like a man with dreams bigger than his home.

Adderbolt was there too most of the time, handing out more of his patented sweets. Curiously though, Temporis never wanted to come back to Pulsa Minoria after her first visit.

Cryofloe and Canofloe remained at odds with each other, despite all of Sarajin's best efforts. The Titans continued to rally them to battle, and people died, but Colrez and Valflame lived, forever stuck in a fruitless deadlock of wills.

Sarajin thus chose to practice those elements away from their battles. The chill of ice and the heat of flame, polar opposites of one another, yet just as capable of bringing death upon living beings.

It didn't take him long to not really want to experiment with them beyond their basic uses, that being to cook foods and keep himself cool in hot environments.

Before he knew it many months had passed, and while he was slowly but steadily gaining knowledge from his adventures he was being riddled by a constant nagging problem in the back of his mind...

There was still the one person in this whole wide world who would stubbornly deny his attempt to bring peace and unity: Ophelia.

There had been no sightings of her since that fateful encounter but she didn't need to be seen for her presence to be felt.

She would always be a shadow over the world's affairs so long as she was alive, an impenetrable wall with a grim, smiling face...

Yet as every single other person in this world would stand their ground in cursing this "monster's" name, Sarajin remained alone, for he had peeked beneath the shadow and saw the woman's true expression laid bare.

But with familial ties that were thicker than blood, Sarajin hadn't felt compelled to go near the land she ruled over, let alone approach her directly...

That would all change on one otherwise innocuous day, when he and his friends finished up another hard day's work in Oreore...

They walked out of the ravine together after saying their farewells to Johnathan, whose wife offered them a delicious feast of stone-grilled meat.

Temporis was her merry self with her hands behind her head like always. Despite the passing months, she didn't look any different than she had when they first met. While Sarajin and Justek had gotten a little taller and slightly more defined bone structures, she remained pure and spry.

She spun around with her grinning face and a few drops of sweat trickling down her arms, "Another fun day of mining guys! My muscles are gonna feel this in the morning!"

Sarajin smiled and waved his hand out, saying in a slightly deeper voice than his norm, "You did most of the legwork today, Bunny. You've earned some rest."

"Yep!" She proclaimed, "After all, somebody's got their 16th birthday just around the corner, don't they?"

With a couple deliberate wiggles of her brow in his general direction, Sarajin got a shocked look on his face and then pointed at himself, "M-Mine?"

"Yeah silly, who else?" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Wow I..." Sarajin rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "I must've lost track of time."

Justek turned to him with a smile and a hand on his shoulder, "You HAVE been busy lately."

Sarajin's smile flattened a little and in a soft, reflective tone he murmured, "16 years old...I'm that much closer to being an adult, like my dad..."

"Mmm..." His humming got melancholic and made Temporis curious.

"Everything going ok at home?" She wondered.

"Now that I think about it, ever since I ran into Ophelia, dad and I haven't talked too much," Sarajin said, not sounding sad about it but rather, aloof, like it didn't need to affect him, "I guess he just...finally decided to give up on stopping me."

"Well that's a relief," Temporis proclaimed, "Parents need to learn how to butt out of our affairs! We're old enough to take care of ourselves!"

Justek gestured at her and chuckled, "Speak for yourself, you're still the same old overzealous little girl."

Temporis smirked and leaned back, "Just you wait until I get my growth spurt, four-eyes. Then you won't be calling me 'pixie' anymore."

"Hmph, and Argent Heavers will fly." Justek said back, the two exchanging a couple lighthearted chuckles, much to Sarajin's relief.

Temporis then closed her eyes and shrugged, "Well! I'll catch you guys tomorrow!"

"You know where to be, right?" Justek remarked, much to Sarajin's puzzlement.

"Yeah yeah, I'll be there. Don'tcha be late now, or I'll gift ya with a noogie."

As Temporis turned around Sarajin rapidly swung his head between her and Justek and wondered, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Temporis looked over her shoulder and winked, "It's a surprise!"

Justek then faced him and remarked, "Just be sure to be at my place early tomorrow and I'll explain then."

"Alright." Sarajin obediently nodded with a smile.

"Later!" Temporis then walked off back home, leaving Justek ready to depart not long after.

Sarajin was going to go on his merry way as well. However, it took one step forward for his chest to start glowing faintly with the lights from all the Wellsprings inside of him.

He felt their warmth pulling him to the South, and he knew just by looking over the horizon where, or rather who, he was being guided towards.

He laid a hand over his beating chest and looked mildly concerned, which Justek noted as he turned back to check on him.

"Is something the matter?" He said, the Wellspring glow fading out of his sight prematurely.

Sarajin lowered his hand and then looked Justek square in the eyes to say, "Justek? Can you trust me to take care of something by myself?"

Justek's expression was dulled with worry, as he began to pontificate the implication of Sarajin's worries.

Sarajin, nevertheless, gestured his hands out and said with the sincerest tone he could muster, "I promise, I'll be there to meet up with you tomorrow."

This forced Justek to smile and nod his head, whispering to him, "Alright...I trust you know what you're doing. Please, just be safe out there."

"Thanks." He replied.

The two parted ways, with Sarajin making his way to the South after taking a deep breath in to prepare himself for what was to come.

The sun was still up but had begun to fall. The cold domain of night had yet to make its appearance, but for this one instance, that didn't seem to matter to the one who allured Sarajin towards her.

Time changed many things about himself and his relationship to the people around him, but his bond with that horrific lake of blood was still the same.

He hated the rotting stench it exuded, the fear it brought on, and the haunting presence it left on the world.

But he had to approach it one more time, because that's where she was choosing to meet him.

Ophelia, the Queen of Shadows, had beckoned to him from the middle of this lake of blood. She stood there, unmoving, her head tilted back towards the sky.

Everything about her was the same. The silent beauty, robed in a black and violet garb that hid many scars, still smiled no matter where life took her.

Sarajin stopped at the edge of the blood lake and thought he had locked eyes with her behind her mask. However, she was choosing not to acknowledge him yet. Her gaze was aimed elsewhere, angled in a perfect way towards the floating city he called home, little more than a speck from this distance.

Sarajin felt his heart beat get heavier, and uncomfortable, watching her stand there with unknown intent towards his home.

But nothing about her stance suggested malice, or aggression, but merely silence and reflection.

The shadow at her feet rippled the blood around her, and finally, her head began to move downward.

With fifty feet between the two of them, her calm voice had to carry a lot of presence just to reach him. But she did so on friendly terms, starting off by saying, "I didn't think you'd have the courage to come here, Sarajin Stratos."

Sarajin didn't feel ready to respond to her yet.

She twirled her parasol in one hand above her head and her smile widened, "You've grown up quite a bit since we last saw each other...Now you're really starting to take after your father's looks."

Sarajin's eyes widened with a slight pressure that made even this sterile queen chuckle warmly.

"I mean that only with the sincerest of praise," She replied, doing little to defuse his ire, "But caring about the age in appearance is pointless vanity...What matters to me the most, is what has become of your heart."

"You braved coming here, so I know you have resolved to try and foolishly get through to me yet again, have you not?" Ophelia smiled and chuckled some more, her tone dashed with a hint of mockery, "A fire there may be in your eyes, but can you truly call it your own...Or is it merely a by-product of the power you've gained?"

"Six Wellsprings...Your journey has taken you far and wide across this world. And I can tell just by looking that your experiences have shaped you into a different man than your father," Ophelia seemed to shift to praise, but that was merely to strength the power of her sharp-tongue mere seconds later, "Yet still, you continue to be plagued by his idealism."

Sarajin stood there throughout it all, shaken, but not reactive towards any of her prodding. Her smile quivered with a hint of delight as she then asked, "Well? Do you have nothing to say to me, Sarajin Stratos?"

"..." Sarajin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, taking his focus off her in a more daring move than any he had performed thus far.

But when he relaxed and looked her in the eyes again, he wasn't angry, or bitter about what she had said. He even believed some of it was true. But still, he came here for a purpose, and he'll do his best to see it through.

"First, Ophelia, there's something I wanted to ask you."

Ophelia was stunned into silence, folding her parasol up and planting the tip at the ground before her feet. She then looked Sarajin directly in the eyes and remarked in a humored tone, "Ask away."

"...Do you still love my dad?" He said, forcing those words from his throat like it was a stone.

"...I do," She said sincerely without hesitation, "He will forever have my heart ensnared in prickled thorns."

It was the result Sarajin expected, unsettling though it was to hear directly. He had to shake off a shiver of ill-will before continuing with his next question, "Then...why did you kill all those people here?"

Ophelia was silent, her smile unchanging. She returned to life with a mild giggle, and a lifeless remark of, "As I explained to you before...I was born to punish the sinful. That is all a monster is capable of-"

"Stop that!" Sarajin shouted, stunning Ophelia to silence once more. Sarajin then laid a hand on his chest and said to her with some fierceness in his voice, "Maybe you're a killer, but you're not a monster!"

He patted his chest twice and shouted, "Your heart beats the same as mine. You have the same skin as I do, the same eyes, the same nose, the same ears! You're human, Ophelia! Why do you insist on seeing yourself as less than that?"

Ophelia gave her parasol a brief twirl to ripple the bloody surface. She then propped her palm atop the handle and chuckled softly.

"I am not in the habit of lying. I have been confident in what I am since the day I was born...For it was that day that decided my destiny." She propped her parasol over her shoulder and turned sideways, keeping her gaze locked onto Sarajin's face.

"It's time you understood my story, Sarajin, and the true depravity of the people you've sworn to unify."

"I never knew my father. And my birth killed my mother. I was born, naked and damp with blood, crying into a lightless sky."

"Only our Titan was there for me, but not out of a sense of pity. He was simply too lazy to seek out another to carry his power and, instead of leaving this child to die, took me by the neck and brought me to his crypt."

"There, I was dipped in the blood of my mother to begin the transference of power, which Xiark enchanted to seep into my skin."

"Before I could even learn to crawl, I learned of pain, and suffering, beyond any human reckoning. The power of a Titan flowed through my veins, burning my nerves and churning my flesh inside out."

"I stopped crying, only because the pain left me numb. And in the end, it left me with a permanent smile."

"And because my body was too young for this power, it feasted on my life force as I grew up, leaving my arm deformed and weakening my skin."

"Xiark performed the minimal amount of care he needed to keep me alive and prevent himself from putting in more work seeking out a successor."

"I was fed until I could walk on my own two feet, with knees as brittle as wood, and sent out into my village."

"I had a cloth around my body and didn't even know what a 'word' was. All my body felt a desire for was to feast."

"I wandered Obscura in search of food, as the people watched on, endeared by the 'playful' antics of this child."

"But that endearment wasn't to last. They found my smile...unnerving, my withered appearance...different."

"A shadow was at my back, moving all on it's own, snatching food and grabbing me better clothes to wear from full houses."

"Wood seemed to wither and rot in my wake, and the people took that as an ill omen."

"By the time I was four-years old these people learned of my heritage, the daughter of their former leader, and that somehow, I needed to be held responsible for her death."

"Me, just by the mere act of being born, had committed a crime so grave it drove these people to violence against me."

"They sheltered their food, clothes and children from my reach, but I could not understand why. I was a creature driven by purpose: To survive, to feast, by any means necessary."

"The shadows at my back grew with my desire, breaking the barriers between us and what we required."

"All I wanted was to eat, and the people took offense to that."

"They slung rocks and daggers into my ill flesh, inflicting me with wounds down to the bone. I moaned in pain but could not stop smiling."

"Eventually my body began to give in, and one opportunistic villager thought they would become a hero, and slay this monstrous child before they brought ruin to them all."

"But the shadows had another opinion, and turned the aggressor's wrist until blood spurted from their body, then forced their dagger into their heart."

"I didn't know what was happening. The villagers began to back away, realizing that they could not stave off the forces of destiny that conspired against their bigotry."

"So they used their dark magic to exile me from the comfort of their home, and into the barren wilds of Genestasia."

"At the age of seven I was alone and forced to survive in a world I knew nothing about. Pushed forward by nothing but the aching knots in my stomach and the pain brought on by the dust in my wounds, I sought survival."

"I cried as my body was forced to fall onto hands and knees and drag itself through the dirt. But eventually, I persisted against all odds and made it to Tanglefae."

"There my eyes feasted upon colors galore and the fruits that bore them. I was ravenous, the shadows ripping the fruit down so I could fill my howling stomach until it was barking with delight."

"I knew what it was like to be happy for just a few brief moments, before I had to be reminded of what the world was truly like..."

"The people of Tanglefae stumbled upon me laid back against a trees with the viscera of dozens of fruits laid around me."

"They cast me out without a second thought, calling me a 'monster'. And so, I was once more forced to endure the empty lands of this world, unable to comprehend why I was perceived as this 'monster'."

"The shadows continued to be my only friend, having snatched a few more fruits to help my body sustain itself before we had been cast out."

"I made my way to Aquamoria, attracted by the overwhelming smell of fish."

"I did the only thing I was capable of, grabbing food and eating it, while the shadows grabbed clothes to keep me warm."

"But again, the people of this land saw me and rejected my existence. But this time, I was able to mount a defense, pitiful though it may have been."

"When they asked what I wanted, I told them 'Food' and 'Hunger', the only things I knew were necessary..."

"But they threw me out, feeling mocked by my permanent smile."

"So I continued to keep going further to the East, and all I could begin to wonder...Was 'Why?'"

"I stopped at a puddle and looked at the reflection of my face staring back. I saw myself as no different from the others who had cast me out, and yet, they hated me for what reason? I could not understand..."

"I droned on about 'Food' and 'Hunger' until I eventually arrived in Oreore. But here there was nothing to eat...At first."

"I was on the verge of starvation and there was no food in sight. However, a dog soon walked into my line of sight, detached from it's miner friends."

"My shadows lashed out, obeying the call of my hunger by dragging that dog to me. It screamed and yelped until the shadows crushed it's throat."

"I squirmed at the twisted corpse set before me for only a few moments, before hunger kicked in, and I began to claw my fingers deep into the dog's flesh."

"I ate and I ate until I couldn't no more, the beast's viscera and blood oozing down off my chin."

"The miners rushed towards the sound of their wailing companion and found me, merrily enjoying it's company in my gullet."

"The leader of Oreore at the time attacked me, for it was his dog I had killed. The other miners joined in, bombarding me with rocks and calling me a 'monster' and 'killer'."

"The shadows retaliated in cold blood, slicing the leader's arm off and impaling the other miners through the chest."

"My body forced itself to stand and run away so I wouldn't feel pain anymore."

"But now, I had been rejected by so many lands, so many people. It was becoming harder and harder to scavenge for food when the only land that would still have any easy acquisition was far to the West..."

"But I had no sense of direction, no guidance. Just the pain in my stomach, and the tears falling down my face."

"Pulsa Minoria rejected me for my unsightly appearance and inability to speak. Caimanabel denied me as one cursed by a terrible darkness..."

"I had nowhere to go. No home to call my own. Everyone and everything saw this pitiful, starving child as a creature that could be shooed away without a care."

"Eventually I had wandered so much that my body fell flat on the ground, forcing gravel into my wounds."

"And yet...I continued to smile."

"I tried to grab hold of that smile in frustration and force it down, but the shadows rejected my attempts."

"I flailed my arms down and stood on my knees, crying dry tears as the moon looked down upon me, the only object in this world that never judged me for my looks, or my actions."

"I reached for the moon as my heart pounded on death's door. The reapers, the beasts of rotting flesh, answered my call and began to encircle me..."

"I begged the moon 'Why?', wanting for an answer to my own existence, as the memories of all the pain I endured rushed through my head."

"And then...I screamed."

"Leaving the planet trembling in fear, my jaw tore it's muscles to remove this agonizing scream from within me. The shadows blossomed into a beautiful, titanic tree, skewering the Rot Walkers a thousandfold, and illuminating their rotting blood under the moonlight."

"And then, I cried no more..."

"Falling on hands and knees I felt...changed."

"As the Rot Walkers fell in heaps around me, the shadows propped my head up and returned to me my smile, then caressed me with their cold warmth."

"I embraced the shadows, my only family, as my mind began to awaken..."

"It was only when I had reached the deepest part of the abyss of despair did the darkness recognize it's master. Now one with the Titan's power, my mind and soul was filled with the knowledge of those who held this power before me. The knowledge...of who I was, and what I needed to be."

"I was a monster. And from the tear and blood soaked ground I rose to my feet, reborn, internalizing all the pain endured and making it my willpower to live...Out of spite for those who deemed me as trash."

"I continued to endure for years after in the wasteland, learning how to command my shadows to take what I needed without ever being caught, bringing misery to those who wronged me without ever laying a single hand on them."

"Until the eve of my 18th birthday, where I chose to return to my 'home' and make them understand the folly of what they had done."

"With little more than the scraps of clothing on my back and a lone dagger, my power cast a violent shadow over the moon and I waltzed into my home."

"They recognized the 'Cursed Child' they had scorned and fell to their knees in fealty immediately, begging to be spared my wrath."

"But I didn't give them the benefit of an early freedom from their guilt. I walked past them all in silence and returned to the home of my mother."

"Xiark had slept these years away until my arrival, where we silently exchanged expressions, and he left me to my affairs with pride."

"I went to my mother's old chambers and took up her robes, with a few adjustments to benefit my body. And then I crafted a mask from the purest of darkness, one that would force all to see only my deceiving smile."

"Then I left this palace to the sight of everyone in my village, gathered out of a sense of curiosity and fear of what my judgment would be."

"And I would remind them of the grief they had let befall me...Only so that I could boast over how it made me stronger."

"And then, I made my rule law, decreeing the end to any violence so that no child may suffer my fate. And if any had faults with my law, they could challenge this...'monster' to the death."

"It was my first exertion of power over the weak and it felt more succulent than any fruit that dripped from my young lips..."

"And yet...I barely cared for the state of affairs in my village beyond that. The people returned to their daily lives and just merely accepted that I was their leader."

"I heard no barks, no cries, no sharpened knives, and honestly...It numbed me a little. After everything I had done...I had a home, did I not? I could feast however I wanted, and clothe myself however I wished."

"Yet...I found myself returning to that wasteland on many a stroll, like it was more of a home to me than the place I was born."

"It's like my journey had rung...hollow. Yet for all my knowledge, I did not understand why."

"And while I spent my days wandering in wonder, the people of this world chose to keep fighting, their bodies as ugly outwardly as they were inwardly."

"I did not care. If they were to die they could do it themselves."

"But then came that fateful day, when I met your father. A victim of the war's degradation on the soul, he gazed at me not with fear, but a glistening sparkle in an otherwise dead pair of eyes."

"And he looked at me...And called me 'beautiful'."

"My cold heart now stirred with warmth as I found myself attracted to this spawn of man. He denied everything I believed in and welcomed my scars and flaws as something to embrace, not push away."

"Suddenly, my body didn't feel so hollow. Before I knew it, I had invited him into my home, dressed him in our clothes."

"It was the first time my smile willingly wavered. I was elated...and confused, unable to truly confess my feelings to your father."

"We exchanged thoughts and feelings over candlelit dinners and strolls under the moonlight. He stuck to my side like a wounded puppy but his nuzzling warmth on my shoulder merely endeared me to this behavior...And drew us closer."

"I could be honest with him over any minor gripe I may have had, and he'd let me vent over the war...Because deep down, he still believed in the strength of the people."

"He forced me to visit the lands that had rejected me before, an offer I nearly scorned..."

"He wanted me to see what people were truly capable of when not under the pretense of war. And I saw it. Every bright and colorful expression of joy and pleasure were present on these people's faces...And it disturbed me."

"I thought of every chance I had been denied this comfort and acceptance...Of every person who kicked me away and called me a 'monster'."

"All this journey did was reinforce my belief of what humanity was at its core...A self-serving, judgmental lot who will attack those they see different from themselves without stopping to think of their suffering or pain."

"...But I sheltered those thoughts deep inside of myself for the sake of our love."

"Our love culminated in one magnificent night, as our bodies laid bare atop our bed, and we pressed our flesh together, merging mind and soul as one...The passionate warmth of his body seeping into my cold, lithe frame, giving birth to something far greater than love...Life."

"...But it was this gift of life that spurned a deeper sense of fear within me. What would the world think? How would it act? Why should another life be forced to endure the pain I had?"

"I forced myself to act upon Darnia's wishes for peace, just this once. And as luck would have it, the forces of Canofloe, Cryofloe and Oreore were about to engage one another on the outskirts of Pulsa Minoria, with their leaders at the ready..."

"I approached them by myself with the sincerest gesture of goodwill in an attempt to get them to lay their arms, questioning their need to fight so viciously with one another..."

"And all I received was laughter. Cruel...and prickly laughter."

"I was called 'daft', 'ignorant', a figurehead in a Tribe of pacifists..."

"To demonstrate the naivety of their assumptions, I took off my mask, exposing them to the violence that had been inflicted upon me."

"And thus, the persecution began anew, as these leaders of man called out to me as a 'monster', just as they had long ago."

"There was this sinking feeling in the pit of my gut as the leaders of man rallied their forces to take arms against me. They had achieved unity...For the sole purpose of hunting down this...'monster'."

"They thought they could wound me with their pitiful elemental attacks, but one man, the leader of Oreore, knew just where my weakness lay..."

"Taking aim with his lance, he threw it straight at my uterus in an attempt to deny me my gift of life..."

"...And I snatched it out of the air with my bare hand, and crushed it like a twig."

"My heart started thumping, pounding with the drums of rage, and liberating any sense of doubt from my fevered mind."

"I was never wrong. Humanity was an irredeemable blight on the world. Violent, cowardly, they would never be reasoned with, and the peace Darnia sought was little more than a dream..."

"With a gaze colder than the coldest ice I turned to the leader of Oreore and reminded him just who I was..."

" "You wish to call me a monster? When I look at you, I do not see a man...I see a savage. A craven BEAST who seeks only war. A disfigured CREATURE who would raise their arms against an unborn defenseless child...A heartless shell, who would bring harm upon a scared and hungry child, who only wanted to survive." "

"He had little time to regret the misdeeds of his past and present, for when I put my mask back on, it was as though I had slammed a gavel upon the ground, prepared to render judgment upon the sinful."

"My shadows ran amok among their large armies, cutting them down, impaling them upon their own weapons and choking the life from their eyes."

"And as they struggled and bled for me, I let my wail echo through their ears."

" "If I am to be a monster then so be it! For I shall be the monster who HUNTS monsters like you! You violent, damned cowards who prey upon the weak and perpetuate the evils of war shall be dragged to your rightful place in the abyss! For I am she who burdens all the evils of mankind, the deliverer of death, and anguish of the fallen made flesh...! I am Ophelia, I AM YOUR PENANCE MADE MANIFEST!" "

"I finally chose to embrace my birthright, my destiny, and let my shadows devour these pitiful humans until they howled no more."

"And when it was over, I stood alone in this very pool of blood...Satisfied."

"...But there was still one chain tying me to earthly desires...One not so easily broken."

"For not long after my slaughter, Darnia arrived."

"...I had betrayed everything he stood for. I could have explained my reasoning...But when I saw the look in his eyes, the love we had was already becoming a distant memory."

"For he was in love with Ophelia the human, not Ophelia the monster."

"It didn't matter that we had given each other more than everything we had to each other. He knew what he saw. A blood-drenched silhouette, surrounded by a lake of corpses..."

"How could anyone accept that type of creature? He spoke those words with the cold rejection from his gaze, and concluded any argument we could have had when he attacked me in fear."

"Before I knew it he was gone from my sight. And I, left alone, could only announce to the world what judgment would befall them were they to continue their violent ways."

"And just like the day I was born, I returned home...Alone."

Ophelia ended her story just like that, and it left Sarajin feeling like tears were being twisted out of heart.

The two's eyes met and Ophelia continued to present her eternal smile, stating to him with the utmost curiosity, "Now do you understand humanity's cruelty? Do you STILL believe that can be redeemed and saved with such a...vague ideal like peace and unity?"

He had come to meet her in the hopes of changing her mind, but it turns out he had only tapped the surface of her beliefs.

There was this incredible gravity coming from her words and experiences that was thicker than darkness and more cold than space.

She had every right to believe the way she did...But even still.

"I...understand now." He murmured, clutching his hand against his chest and slowly raising his head to look at her with more certainty, and a little taste of sorrow.

"Ophelia..." He hesitated, swallowing his courage a little as he felt her gaze fixated on what he would do next.

But he refused to be silent. She may stand there, cold and detached from everything, but that's only what she wanted her mask to show.

"Maybe you're not lying to me...But you're lying to yourself."

Ophelia's perfect stature became disturbed with a quiver, and she lowered her head a little and made a cold remark of, "What do you mean?"

"...You may think you're a monster, but no monster I know would ever love someone as much as you loved my dad."

Sarajin then stood upright and continued to look at her with trembling eyes, "When my father stood before you after all these years...I saw sadness in your eyes. Your real eyes."

"..." Ophelia hummed to herself.

"And if you really were the one sent to judge all of humanity for their crimes, I believe you could've killed every one of us long ago."

"..."

"But I think deep down...All you want is to not be alone," Sarajin stood his ground on this assumption even at the cost of endangering his life, "And you don't have to be. You're human, with emotions, feelings and dreams just like the rest of us."

He swung his hands out and admitted, "I've seen a lot of the world in these last two years. I understand that people can hurt other people, but they can also reach out to others and comfort them, or help them accomplish their dreams. We don't just have to reach out to one another with swords and spears."

He pulled back, resting his fist against his chest and looking at her with a determined, iron gaze, "And that's the world I want to help create...A world where no child has to suffer the pain of war or be abandoned to hunger."

He gave it everything he had and took Ophelia quivering in response as a sign that he was getting through her defenses.

But instead, she pulled her head back and began to laugh, unnerving him.

"Am I really being examined by a child?" Her smile continued to grow and she shook her head, looking at Sarajin with an overall humored whimsy to her demeanor.

"Everything you say is conjecture from a naive perspective. You've never truly suffered loss or pain like I have. How can you even begin to comprehend how I feel?"

"You let your guard down around me," He said, as much as it pained him to admit it out loud, "...Because I reminded you of the person who got to see your true self."

Ophelia went silent, grabbing hold of her parasol tightly and craning her head back to look up at the twilit sky.

"...Do you understand what 'darkness' is, Sarajin?" She murmured.

"...No?" He replied.

"Everyone makes the assumption that Darkness is evil and to be feared. But they are wrong. Darkness has been there from before the beginning of time as a cradle for new life."

"But then Light invaded like a parasite, creating the first signs of life through the light of the Original Conception...Humanity."

"Yet despite its territory being infested with the spawn of Light, Darkness embraced this new life and protected it, having the strength to carry out whatever deeds were necessary to make the world a better place for life to flourish."

"Light hated Darkness for it's acceptance and sought to besmirch it's name, spreading ill-words of Darkness throughout the universe, causing humans to come and fear it, and judge those who were 'cursed' with the powers of Darkness."

"But over time the differences between those who bore Light and those who bore Darkness became blurred, and humanity took in the emotions both sides felt in the aftermath."

"So yes, humanity does have the capacity for kindness, just as Darkness nurtured them with all those eons ago. Yet violence and hatred will always win out in the end, why? Because it's a stronger emotion. It gets immediate results. And when their mentality is enforced, they keep doing what they think is best. Thus violence and hatred continues in an endless cycle, leaving those different from them to be judged, just as Light wrongly judged Darkness long ago."

She looked Sarajin straight in the eyes and asked, "Do you sincerely believe you can redeem a race who at their worst, would kill a child for satisfaction?"

Sarajin trembled all over, but clutched his fists and swung out by his side as he declared, "You can't judge all humans the same! I'm different from other people but I still made friends with people from the other Tribes!"

"And I can assure you that in their thoughts, all they think is that 'You're just one of the good ones'."

Sarajin squirmed with his eyes getting squeezed shut, before he then thrust his head out and shouted, "But it shows that it IS possible to reach out if we try!"

"And what of the people who have already committed to a life of violence? The lives they have reaped can never be reclaimed!"

"I-I know that..." Sarajin clutched his fists up by his chest and said softly, "But if I can save them from having to take anymore lives, then it'll mean everyone who died didn't do so for nothing."

Ophelia thrust the tip of her parasol out and declared with an echoing voice, "What you ask for is impossible! The dream of a child...!"

"So what?! What's wrong with having a dream?!" Sarajin proclaimed, "I don't care if it takes me my whole life to make this world a better place. I'll do whatever it takes to make everyone happy, including you!"

Ophelia froze in place, and both watched as the parasol loosened from her grip and drifted down atop the lake of blood.

Her mouth briefly turned to a look of open shock, before her smile creased back out in full.

"...How did you end up this way?" She murmured aloud, "Surely a broken man such as Darnia couldn't have imparted this level of determination and kindness in you."

As the shadows raised her blood dripping parasol over her head, there was a sense of unease growing in the air as she spoke, "It's all because of your mother...Isn't it?"

Sarajin bit his teeth down as the air grew cold, and Ophelia continued with a similar tone of voice, "I wonder..."

She craned her head back and looked up towards Arc Hurricanos, "Would that kindness die if I cut it off from the source?"

Sarajin widened his eyes with his pupils shrinking to the size of dots, "W-What are you saying...?"

Ophelia's smile widened as she looked down at Sarajin once more, "If I wanted to, I could kill your mother within the blink of an eye."

Sarajin put one foot out onto the lake of blood and screamed, "Don't you DARE lay a hand on my mother!"

"Oh?" Ophelia chuckled, "And you would stop me?"

Sarajin trembled, worsening in feeling all over as Ophelia continued unimpeded, "It really is a trifling matter for me, you know. I may just take my time in squeezing the life out of her eyes while you and Darnia watch. Yes...just long enough to break the last little bit of hope in his eyes so that I can drag him back home to my side once again."

Without a second thought Sarajin reached inside of himself and activated the Lightning Conduit Form, filling the blood lake with pulsing electricity coming off his toes.

As the lightning surged out of his head out of control he concentrated as much of it as he could into his fists and slammed them against the empty air with an angry roar.

A blistering blast of electricity tore through the ground and smashed into Ophelia in the blink of an eye, shaking the area around them and making the wildlife run in a panic.

When the tremors were over Sarajin was hung over and panting with a massive headache. He dropped out of this Conduit Form and looked out at the smoke where Ophelia once stood, biting his teeth with regret...

But with a gentle sway of her parasol, Ophelia parted the smoke and left it pointed at Sarajin. She looked no worse for the wear despite him believing he had hit her with the same force as Pulsa Minoria's rail gun. However, the front of her mask did soon crack apart to reveal both eyes. And all the electricity he unleashed dispersed throughout the surface of the blood lake, getting corrupted from blue to a deep crimson before they vanished.

"See?" She said triumphantly, "This is the proof I had sought from the very beginning..."

"For all your talk of 'peace' and 'unity', in the end you're still human, Sarajin Stratos...And just as capable of anger and violence as them."

Sarajin stared down at both his smoking hands and found himself shaking just looking at them. His panting worsened, and he let out a heavy gulp as he looked up and saw shadowy hands rising up from behind Ophelia.

"And yet, I am expected to just accept the words of a hypocrite as the absolute answer to mankind's sinful nature? Foolishness, Sarajin, foolishness...Empty promises cannot save this world. Only judgment can."

She gently pulled her dagger from the bottom of the parasol and let the rest fall to her feet before stepping over it.

Sarajin pulled away, trembling all over as he could feel her overwhelming presence squeezing the life from his body.

With her smile at its widest, she called the hands of shadows to her side and declared, "If you are more than empty words, Sarajin Stratos, then you will survive me...! I, who embody the wrath of the fallen, and manifest the end of all sinners!'

Her eyes widened with sheer delight as she shouted bombastically towards him, "I am the face of your judge, Ophelia, and you shall pay for your humanity in blood and shadows!"

Next Time: Dark Descent