Chapter -117: Two Successors
With the successful defense of Oreore behind them, Sarajin and Temporis walked south through the wastelands.
The planet had recovered from the wounds the black monster inflicted upon it, thanks in part to time and the efforts of Oreore's Titan.
But even though the wound had healed, it didn't mean there wasn't still grime festering on the surface. The Rot Walkers continued to move in droves, ignoring the two's presence as they did nothing to warrant their hunt...For now.
As the two watched them run around with their unnerving silence, Temporis leaned her head back and remarked, "Feels like there's a lot more of them around these days, don'tcha think?"
Sarajin commented with slight discomfort in his voice, "I...haven't really been paying attention."
But now that she said it, he couldn't stop himself from thinking the same. Once, Rot Walkers were usually only found miles apart from each other. Now, they had big enough numbers to form small herds, even among their larger species.
"It's almost like they're slowly asserting themselves as the dominant species on the planet." Sarajin put his fear in the back of his mind for now by taking a deep breath and concentrating on the path forward.
It wasn't long after that they had to pass by the lake of blood. Sarajin stopped to look at it from afar, seeing the shadow of his past self standing there, meeting Ophelia for the last time.
He had words to say, even if they were just in his head, but knew it'd be better to wait for the proper time to say them.
"What's the hold up?!" Temporis shouted a good half a mile away.
"S-Sorry!" Sarajin said, rushing back over to her in a few seconds flat.
She glanced over her shoulder and then bumped him with her elbow a couple times, "What'd I say about doing that?"
"Sor-" Sarajin swallowed hard and then chuckled at himself, "Heh, I still got to kick that habit."
Temporis perked up with a couple chuckles of her own and then put her hands behind her head, looking up at the sky. The wind was whistling and the sun was as bright as could be.
"Aaaaah, another beautiful day!" She stretched her arms out, releasing the tail of her coat to the mercy of the breeze.
Sarajin stopped and turned to look at her, his heart fluttering against his chest. The sunlight made her hair radiant and pronounced the clearness of her skin. Even though she was taller and more mature looking than she was five years ago, he still saw the same energetic little pixie that he first made friends with.
This same girl still loved the same breeze and the same sunlight, and wouldn't want it any other way.
She looked at him and soon a wily smirk crossed her face as she laid her fingertips up before her lips and chuckled, "You're red in the face, Sarajin."
Sarajin flinched and only then noticed and dismantled his wide, tender smile, rubbing the back of his head as he turned away, "Yeah, I...guess I'm still sweating from the fight."
"Heh," Temporis walked on up and slapped him on the back, and it felt like a leaf, "Y'know, I could use a refresher myself. Why don't you conjure up a little water and splash our faces off, eh?"
"G-Good idea," He said with a feeling of relief, "I want to look respectable when I visit Ophelia's grave."
So with a little bit of mental flexing he created a ball of water for Temporis to take and splash on her face, then did the same for himself.
Some of it got on Temporis' ponytails and she had to shake them dry, letting out a gasp of satisfaction afterwards.
She then kicked up the pace and started walking backwards, "Alright, last one to Obscura has to cook me dinner!"
"W-What...?" Sarajin said with an unamused slump of his expression, seeing her sprint off a good few paces ahead before he grinned and shouted, "Fine! But stopping time is cheating!"
"Ha!" Temporis cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "You may've gotten tougher, Sarajin, but you're still not as fast as me!"
She stopped in place and put aura around her legs and feet, bouncing around in place until Sarajin was close to catching up.
Then she sprung forward hundreds of feet into the air, her cries of "WOO-HOO!" echoing down below, as her ponytails fluttered back like the wings of a bird mid-glide.
Sarajin clicked his tongue and looked on ahead, muttering to himself confidently, "I'm not going to lose this time."
He picked up the pace until the breeze felt like a winter gale moving around his body. He could keep a relative pace with Temporis, meeting her just as she was about to jump off again.
When the two noticed this, Temporis began to taunt him.
"Too...!" She bounced up and away, landing with a proclamation of, "Slow...!"
As they were nearing the outskirts of Pulsa Minoria, Sarajin was struck with inspiration and grinned.
"Well...let's see if this will give me the lead!" He closed his eyes and concentrated on the memory of the crackling sensation of electricity tickling his skin.
He felt weightless for a moment as his body became a living lightning bolt, allowing him to push on further ahead for a very, very split second.
By the time he returned to normal his heart was accelerating at an insane pace and he had to quickly catch his breath before he fainted.
But when he looked over his shoulder he had traveled a half mile in that span of time and Temporis was now eating his dust.
He could see her look of surprise slowly turn into excitement.
"Not bad Mr. Stratos! But you should know better than to underestimate an Aurian!" She planted herself in the ground and added a second layer to her boots.
She then shot straight ahead with a long jump arc, shooting right past Sarajin in the blink of an eye and continuing to make large leaps ahead.
Sarajin's pupils shrank as she quickly became a bright pink dot in the distance.
"Awww..." He unfortunately had to admit defeat there. Not because he didn't have anything left to give, but because if he pushed himself anymore he'd have to clean his clothes of sweat.
So he slowed down the pace a little and eventually caught up with the victorious little hopper a mile off the outskirts of Obscura.
Like the Earth fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, she had slotted herself into the role of the Hare quite comfortably, laying down on her back atop a rock and resting, confident in her victory.
When Sarajin finally arrived, she popped one eye open with a big ol' smile and said, "So you gave up?"
"Y-Yeah..." Sarajin said, splashing the sweat off his face with some water and letting out one last exhausted gasp, "Looks like I'll be cooking dinner for us again tonight."
"Sweet!" Temporis declared, accidentally clocking Sarajin in the nose when she pumped her fists in celebration.
"Whoops!" She said in a guilty tone, "My bad."
Sarajin smiled and laughed as he rubbed his nose. It was some much needed levity to clear his head before he'd have to tackle the matter at hand.
He looked at the ghastly forest that concealed the village of shadows. When the moon was high the leaves were bordered by a ghastly glow similar to the moon's on a winter's night.
But in the day they were just white leaves, no more notable than freshly laid snow.
He had passed by here a bit over the last five years. Every time he'd look between the trees and believe that if he stood there long enough, Ophelia would come walking out, enjoying a stroll beneath a violet moon.
But he would always come out disappointed and melancholic, for she spent the last years of her life denied the right to do the one thing she liked the most...
And he could only stand around and guess if it was by choice or by force.
Thus, for the first time ever, he stood tall at the mysterious spectral forest and began to walk towards it, "Let's go."
And with Temporis at his side, they went to the border of the forest and started to move between the trees. The atmosphere shifted as the morning light was denied by the black wood and the voodoo it seemed to cast in the air.
The leaves ruffled, a playful gesture, or perhaps the means to unnerve one into wandering forever. Sarajin chose to ignore them and press onward, as their path ahead repeated the same sights for a little while.
Eventually though the curvature of the ground began to straighten out and the trees almost appeared to slide away and make a path for them to follow.
And he couldn't forget what came next. They entered a world that felt detached from all creation, a land where an artisan of darkness had colored the sky in chalk and individuality was expressed in every man, woman and child.
Some things had shifted around since he was last here with new houses and people walking around. Kids that were once playing hide and seek in the shadows now had grown-up and found places to live of their own, giving way to new generations to craft their own niche in this humble village.
"So THIS is Obscura," Commented Temporis, experiencing these sights for the first time, "It's a lot brighter than I was expecting!"
Sarajin let her go on ahead and examine the trees and their strange, white glowing black leaves. She hopped and plucked one off in excitement, only to groan disappointingly when the glow faded off.
"Boooo, I could've made a fancy night light out of this!" She then threw the leaf over her shoulder and put her hands behind her head, looking around at all the people.
"Wow, every single person has a mask on," Temporis snickered and then leaned up against Sarajin on her tippy-toes to whisper, "Wanna guess how many of these people are hiding ugly faces under those?"
Sarajin gleamed at her from the corner of his eyes and groaned, "Bunny..."
"I'm kidding!" She pulled away with a close-eyed grin, "Still, this explains a lot..."
"...Huh?" Sarajin said with a curious wave of the hand.
"Just talking to myself out loud, don't mind me." Temporis then pulled her hands down to her hips and, upon pivoting her head to the right, perked up a little.
"Hey, what's with all those people gathered over there?"
Sarajin looked and saw that there was a small group of people standing on the hill leading up to the palace. He could tell they were whispering but not make out what they were saying.
"Right...With Ophelia gone, Xiark will be looking for her successor." Sarajin remarked.
"Or maybe he's already decided, and people aren't happy with his decision," Temporis added, throwing in a shrug and carefree comment of, "Well, I hope they aren't as scary as she was."
Sarajin turned to her with a mild frown, "You never even met her."
"Yeah well...Your stories painted a good enough picture of her in my head." She said, her arms shivering up against her body.
"Ok, so maybe she could be scary..." Sarajin paused, straining a defensible comment through his teeth, "Sometimes."
He then waved his hand out from his hip and suggested, "Let's find out what's going on before we go to Ophelia's grave."
"Yeah, and if push comes to shove, I can get us out of here in a jiffy." Temporis said with a reassuring wink.
Sarajin smiled and nodded, with the two making their way towards the crowd.
Inside the palace, the one called Solomon sat at his throne with Xiark resting at his side. Seated there as still as a statue for half a day, he found himself astir with a chest ache as a bit of black light radiated from it.
"Ghhh..." He grumbled, mildly irritated. He laid a hand over his chest and leaned out towards the front doors, "This...presence."
Xiark propped his head up on his front paws and muttered, "Oh? So soon? Mmm, can't a darkspawn just nap in peace today?"
Solomon's heart pounded against his metal chest like a hammer on the forge, and the claws of his grieves scratched down into his armor.
"..." His crimson gaze narrowed through the shadows and pierced the veil of paper in his path. There, he could see the shape of the one whom his mother's words foretold.
The boy she had cradled in her bosom no more than six years ago had grown into a young man, and now return did he to his doorstep...
Solomon could have wished him exiled with just a word, denied his very existence with but a mere gesture...But his heart stirred with curiosity. A powerful, gripping, curiosity.
He composed himself back onto the seat upon which he sat and tightened his hands around the arms of his throne. With a few long, bated breaths, he answered the urgings of his soul...
"Bring him before me."
Xiark groaned and then stood on all fours, stretching his hind up before making his way towards the door, bitter in temperment, "Must every generation further shove this thorn into my side...?"
Outside, Sarajin and Temporis were stuck in the back of the crowd, sticking out like a sore thumb. But everyone seemed too busy gossiping about the state of affairs to pay them any heed.
Sarajin looked over their heads while Temporis was forced to stand on her toes.
Sarajin could hear the people talking about a "new leader" but it wasn't clear if the person had been chosen yet or not. There was definitely a lot of relief expressed over Ophelia's death, which brought Sarajin's fists to clench for a brief, unconscious moment.
"...Do you feel anyone inside?" He whispered.
Temporis plopped down and remarked, "I'm sensing a HUGE power swell, buuuuuut it could just be the Titan."
"Right..." Sarajin didn't see anyway they'd be able to worm their way through the crowd, so he turned to her to ask, "Hey Temporis, could you-"
Suddenly, the crowd was silenced by the quiet sound of the palace doors sliding open. But only Xiark emerged to greet them, resuming the whispers, now slathered in confusion.
And the Titan was not about to make it any easier on them, "Sarajin Stratos, the new lord of shadows has summoned you."
Sarajin winced and stuttered, "M-Me...?"
"He knew you were coming?" Temporis said in a surprised tone, "Can darkness do that?"
Sarajin laid a hand over his chest and remarked, "No, I think...When Wellsprings are close to each other, there's a resonance."
He turned to her with a nervous grin and said, "I had a problem with that for a while, but I got it under control these days."
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Temporis put her hands behind her head and took a deep breath in.
"Alright everyone!" She shouted, spooking Sarajin and the crowd all at once, "You heard the cat! Move aside, guest of honor coming through!"
And when she marched the crowd just sort of accepted it, too puzzled to really put up a fight. Sarajin definitely felt awkward walking between their weird glares and all.
"I don't think you needed to yell, Temporis..." He sort of had to just laugh it off and accept things the way they were until he got up to the palace.
Xiark then turned aside and murmured, "Enter, so I may finally get some peace and quiet."
Sarajin started to step foot into the palace with Temporis in tow. However, Xiark stretched his front paws out to block her path.
"Oh, did you want in too?" He said sardonically.
"Duh, Sarajin and I go most places together." Temporis replied.
"Mmmm, well, this cat doesn't feel like letting you in," Xiark then waved it's tails forward and muttered, "So run along, little bug. Go on, go."
"..." Temporis quietly shrugged and turned around with her hands behind her head. As Xiark turned and re-entered the palace, Temporis smirked and in the blink of an eye, used her time stopping powers to zip past the Titan and stand beside Sarajin.
Xiark just stood there, letting out a long and arduous sigh, "Haaa, Aurians and their privilege...I'm too tired for this nonsense..."
He thus walked up beside Solomon's throne, passing by the long, quiet examination between two complete strangers, meeting each other for the first time.
Solomon sat there and fixed his gaze on the one whom his mother saw worthy of leaving an impression in her final days...And now he too, could not get this person's visage out of his head. There was not a fixture of their body being wasted on feeble twitching. Their eyes met his and he smiled like they were...familiar.
For a moment, he was flummoxed by an ill churning in his stomach. The longer he stared at this person, the more the image of another appeared to lay over him.
It was the face of the man whom his mother loved more than life itself...Whom had brought both the men standing here into this world, but only one was chosen to know the joys of their tender embrace.
And thus Solomon knew that the only recourse for him was to envy this man, and act upon these sinful urges with hostility and disdain.
Sarajin felt an unearthly cold nipping away at his heart. This man. This solitary, stationary man, was shielding himself from the world both physically and emotionally...With eyes, and thus his heart, locked away behind a curtain of shadows.
He was a statue. But more than that he was a mirror, one that reflected the image of Ophelia to perfection. This was no mere metaphor, but the masterpiece she had crafted with every last drop of blood and sweat she had to spare...This, he knew in his heart, was her son, the inheritor of her will.
The existence of a world may as well have been irrelevant for them at this point in time. It was the silence, the tension, the atmosphere, that defined this moment in time for them.
But every moment, no matter how ephemeral, was fleeting...
"So," Spoke Sarajin to break the silence, polite as he always was in both tone and manners, "You're Obscura's new leader?"
Solomon groaned deeply and curled a finger into the wood, "I am. And you...are Sarajin Stratos."
"..." Sarajin nodded slowly.
"You can also call him the Elemental Overlord if you want!" Temporis said, "By the way, my name is-"
"I do not recall granting you permission to speak." Solomon asserted firmly.
Temporis then rolled her eyes and plopped her hands down, "Ugh, don't be a dick. We're just trying to introduce ourselves."
"As I was saying. I'm Temporis Aurora," She then presented her hands out and asked, "Now...you tell us YOUR name."
"..." Solomon's gaze turned weary and he leaned back into his throne and obliged this girl's pushy request, "I am Solomon. But as long as you stand upon the land of which I rule, you will refer to me as Lord Solomon."
"See? Was that so hard?" Temporis said with a bit of smugness.
"Mmm..." Solomon groaned, returning his full attention to the one called Sarajin, "Now, you will answer as to why you have come to these lands, Sarajin Stratos."
Sarajin bowed his head slightly and closed his eyes, "I came here to pay my respects to the prior ruler, if that's ok."
"..." Solomon's eyes could be seen narrowing, and with it, grew a sense of unease and hostility in the air, "Why now?"
It was a deep and personal question, one that rocked Sarajin to his core. He had an unsteady look in his eyes as he tried to make eye contact with Solomon, who was unrelenting in his antagonism, but maintained a perfectly calm baritone throughout.
"As the proud woman shriveled away to oblivion, all she ever thought of was you, yet you distanced yourself from her pain for years like a coward. And now, you have the gall to approach me, her heir, as though familiarity has bred a bond of respect?"
Solomon dully raised his hand and both Sarajin and Temporis watched as their own shadows thickened to the blackest black, bubbling, boiling over, representing the man's true feelings.
"I will not sit here and be mocked by a half-hearted gesture of respect. If my mother truly holds a special place in your heart, then speak thusly...Lest I suffocate your lying mouth in darkness."
Temporis started to flex her muscles but Sarajin put his hand out and shook in disapproval. He then stood there, resolute, and looked Solomon straight in the eyes.
"I only knew your mother for a couple of days. But if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here today," Sarajin didn't shake, even as the chill of darkness crawled up his spine, "Your mother was frighteningly strong, and maybe we never saw eye-to-eye..."
Sarajin clenched a fist before his chest and raised his voice, "But she taught me that to achieve your dreams, you have to use more than just your words, you have to be strong enough to back them up. And she could. She followed her dreams to the very end, even though it hurt her to do so."
"You're right..." Sarajin laid his hand by his side and hung his head, "I was a coward...But I didn't let those five years she gave me go to waste."
"I've kept learning about the elements, about myself and the world I live in. And with this strength I WILL do everything I can to make this a world where nobody has to die or feel afraid to follow their dreams."
"THAT..." Sarajin stood still and felt a little tearful in his eyes, "Is what your mother meant to me."
"..." Solomon groaned for a long time, the tension in the air only getting thicker before it suddenly stopped with the clenching of his fist.
The shadows at the two's feet disappeared, and Solomon laid his hand to rest on his throne, tapping his fingers at the edge.
"Mother was resolute to her last breath." He said. Him just plainly uttering that word, "mother", disturbed Sarajin more than his intimidation tactics. It was hard to understand how this came to pass, but this was the way things were, and there was no lie in Solomon's voice.
"...Fine," Solomon uttered with disinterest, "You have my permission to pay your respects. But you are to leave immediately when you are finished, and never to return."
"...Alright," Sarajin bowed his head, "Thank you, Lord Solomon."
Temporis then interjected bluntly, "Hold on. I have a question."
Solomon glanced aside with little care expressed in his mannerisms, "What?"
"If you're Ophelia's son, are you planning on following in her footsteps or what?"
"Temporis...!" Sarajin hissed through his teeth.
Temporis rolled her hand around and remarked, "C'mon, you were thinking the same thing!"
Solomon groaned and then answered near-immediately, "Say I were to follow in her footsteps..."
The glow of his eyes increased in intensity towards Sarajin as he whispered, "Would you stop me?"
"..." Sarajin shivered and hovered his hand around the hilt of his katana, "I don't think I'd be able to...But I'd still try."
"Honestly..." Sarajin withdrew his hand as far away from the katana as he could, extending it towards Solomon in a brief gesture, "I hope someday we can be allies, Lord Solomon."
"Allies?" Solomon lingered on that word like it was foreign to him. He then shook his head and muttered, "What happens next to me concerns only myself alone. So if you dread the fear I may spread, then for now at least, know that I will be sparing the warring members of man my presence."
"Well..." Sarajin withdrew his hand and nodded, "If the war or any other kind of trouble gets near your land, I'll do whatever I can to help keep your people safe. That's my promise to you, as an ally, and a friend."
"..."
Sarajin turned for the door and remarked, "Come on Temporis, I'll go pay my respects and we'll be out of here."
"Alright," Temporis waved her hand over head and then made a sharp turn around, "Later, your lordship!"
Once they were out the door it sealed shut behind them, leaving Solomon to his thoughts. He slanted in his throne and rested his head against his knuckles.
"...'Unity', he preaches. 'Friend', he calls me. Mother, how did you ever let yourself fall prey to such...empty words."
"And yet..." He tightened his fist and his eyes narrowed, and then his mother's dainty hand rested upon his shoulder as she leaned in and whispered into his ear "He makes life just a little interesting...doesn't he?"
Outside, Sarajin made his way towards the hill beyond the nearby fence.
"I'll wait here." Temporis said, leaning up against the fence and whistling a tune to pass the time.
Sarajin slowly scaled the spiral hill, passing the graves of those who ruled before Ophelia. Her gravestone marked the top, unspectacular like all the rest.
She died at the age of 48, and her body was laid to rest below the light of the moon. False though it may be, she couldn't have asked for a better resting place.
Sarajin took off his sheath and put it down as he knelt down before the grave, resting his hands on his legs.
"Hey," He whispered in a friendly tone, "Hard to believe it's been five years already, huh?"
"I'm doing fine. Dad's been happier these days too. He didn't want to come with me to visit you. I get why, I hope you'll understand too."
"It hasn't been easy though...My friend Justek is still trapped in Sancturia, I couldn't stop Johnathan Gaia from dying, and now that the war has started again...I realize just how much work I'm going to need to put in to protect everyone."
"But I'm going to keep moving forward, getting stronger and stronger by the day with the help of my friends and family."
"This sword next to me isn't meant to be a weapon, but a shield to protect those who can't protect themselves," He said, patting down the sheath with a smile, "I'm going to renew the promise I made to you back then, Ophelia. I won't take a single life in pursuit of my dream."
"So...Wherever you are now, I hope you keep watching me...I'm going to try my very best to live up to this daunting task you left for me. And I hope you rest well. Maybe we'll see each other again in the afterlife."
Sarajin bowed his head all the way down and ended it on, "Thank you...for everything."
He slowly stood and attached the sword back to his hip. When he turned around he was surprised to find Xiark standing there on all fours.
He scratched the side of his face and muttered, "I thought you'd never end that speech."
"Sorry, did you come to pay your respects too?" Sarajin wondered.
"WHY would I?" Xiark muttered coldly.
Sarajin closed his eyes and felt embarrassed, "R-Right, someone a millions years old wouldn't be fond of every life they meet."
Xiark then lowered his paw and closed his eyes, "Mmm, I suppose if nothing else...She provided me with some peace and quiet."
He then opened his eyes and there was this sense he wanted to roll them in disgust, "But then she's gone and run me ragged with pointless errands post-mortem. Ugh..."
He took a couple steps back and beneath his paws was a small scroll, "She wanted you to have this. Hurry up and read it. I want to nap."
Sarajin bent down, picked up the scroll and unfurled it. The words weren't written cleanly but there was enough there for him to make out what she wanted to say.
"This is my final message to the world, and I deliver it unto you. Though my body and soul have parted this mortal plane, my will lives on in my sole heir, Solomon. Through him our battle shall continue on. So do not relax for even a second. Show that you can surpass me and humanity's darkness, Sarajin Stratos! Seize the world you've seen in your lofty dreams!
And let Darnia know...that he can finally sleep. For this monster, shall soon know Hellfire."
Sarajin curled the scroll up and tucked it away in his pocket, his hand trembling inside. He closed his eyes with a hard smile and chuckle, "It's almost like I was still talking with her..."
By the time he opened his eyes, Xiark was off, back to the palace.
Sarajin walked back to Temporis and she peeled off the fence with her hands by her sides, "Got everything off your chest?"
Sarajin nodded and Temporis smiled in turn, a loud gurgle coming from her stomach, "Well I don't know about you, but I'm starving! And remember...!"
"I know, I owe you dinner," Sarajin said with a half-humored tone, "Let's head out and set up camp for you for the night, then I'll whip something up for us both, alright?"
Temporis crossed her arms and declared, "Fine! But no more salads. I'm never going to grow bigger without some meat."
"You're 19, Bunny, I don't think you're going to get any taller."
Temporis stood on her toes and pressed her nose against Sarajin's chin, "My 20th birthday is coming up soon! I bet I can muster up a couple extra inches by then if I try hard enough!"
"Ooookay, if you say so." Sarajin quietly laughed her off and patted her on the head to put her back down.
The two then made their way out of Obscura, leaving the shadow of Ophelia behind them for now...
Next Time: The Exiled Soul