Chapter -61: Forged in Fire
Failure is the gateway to future success. Only the brave and the motivated have the courage to step through it, however.
It had been a tough many years for Justek. Losing his home, losing his freedom, and feeling strained under the pressure of potentially losing his children as well...
Stress has pressed upon his skin and given him early wrinkles and graying hairs, and had he not fought back he would have been little more than dust upon the ground...
But opportunity has given him a second chance to redeem himself of years of undue subservience to the ones holding his leashing.
And with it he nearly ended the life of the one who tormented his daughter.
He had been too weak, led astray by his morality into thinking that woman, that devil, was human.
It wouldn't happen again.
Sure, this was a failure, but also a learning experience. It opened his blind eyes to what he was lacking and how better to plan out his next strike.
With this renewed sense of purpose came a livelier person, who welcomed every new day as a chance to learn more for the sake of his loved ones.
He learned to cherish the time he could have with his children more, even as his son became more and more distant from him he could never hate him. It was not his fault for the influence that had pinned its stinger to his back, and dripped poison into his ears.
It was more important that his daughter's good-nature be salvaged. The Lord blesses her soul, she is so kind, curious and thoughtful, that light should not be squandered or smeared by the devil's hands.
He started to eat more again, and that gave him the strength to read with her.
He got more rest, and that sharpened his mind back to more...acceptable parameters.
From there he could concentrate on meditating, pushing his focus more towards figuring out what his new powers could do.
But he did so only in the comfort of his spare time, when he was alone in his room, his son off being "trained" while his daughter rested either in the sanctity of Auris and Sarajin's household or forced to attend Lilith's cruel disciplining.
His dragon's fire had been lit with rage and it served as an obstacle that distracted him from his mission.
He wanted to race back towards his daughter's side and force her back to her home, but Lilith was sharp and now that she knew what he was capable of, her sense of security had been shaken and those senses grew tighter with paranoia.
There was some sense of...pride Justek took in one factor. Lilith seemed to be evasive around her activities, as this escape of his had not been reported to Borealis.
And this manifested in her face twisting with repulsion every time they crossed paths in the palace. She was shivering. She had felt the cold touch of death, and learned she was no god, but just an arrogant mortal.
There were so many ways Justek could rub that weakness in further, but again, he had to practice restraint.
Today's meditation session was going well. His body felt stable, like a rock unmoving against the mightiest gale.
He decided to take an opportunity to review what he had learned from his little tests so far...
"This new power opens up many new paths I can take. It seems these 'flaws' I can perceive are gateways between different points in the world, perhaps even beyond ours..."
"I can create rifts of various sizes, the largest I've been able to muster so far seems to be as tall as my dragon form."
"I must start looking into materials on other forms of gateways I can create."
"Curiously, the future I see seems to change whenever I learn of a new 'flaw' to exploit. Fate did not seem to have this planned, and if an abstract concept couldn't predict me then I doubt Lilith will be able to either."
"We're playing a very cautionary game of chess right now, and currently she holds the advantage over me."
"I have to be careful how often I summon these rifts in Sancturia. Borealis will figure me out eventually, and adjust my slave collar appropriately..."
"And I have nary a clue if these rifts manifest as darkness. That Atrax could sniff me out eventually. I do not trust him to keep his mouth quiet, regardless of how Sarajin feels..."
"Hmmm, Sarajin...my old friend. I wonder how much I should tell you?"
It was only a few months ago that Sarajin had caught wind of Lilith's attempt to assassinate Valic and Carmine. It seems Carmine was unaware of what Lunis had looked like, and so Sarajin was clueless to the true identity of the assassin.
Still, the "news" reached Justek's ears eventually, and he had to purposefully lie to his face about what he knew.
His reasons were sincere in their purpose, if not a little prideful...
"You have enough to worry about as is. This involves my family, I cannot be your burden anymore. So I'm sorry. To you, and to Auris."
"...If only this didn't require me to also use you both to further my plans." He thought, looking towards the future at this moment.
"My vision has improved ever-slightly but I only wish I can go further. But I have learned that I can look at other people's futures if I focus my thoughts on them enough."
"Would explain why I've been so aware of Sarajin's future..."
"My daughter rests safely in the care of my friends today. It's been some time...I will check up on my son, try to glean some form of weakness from the scorpion."
He concentrated, deeper and deeper into the foggy future that lay ahead, until he could see the world through the eyes of his son.
He was currently roaming the wild lands of Canofloe alongside Vermilion.
The visibility of her influence was growing with him. He was no longer that small, energetic boy who would sit on his father's lap and enjoy story time, no matter what he'd say, but a toned, bulked-up teenager who would fit right in with the men of Oreore.
He was wearing more deep red clothing with some bits of ash burnt into it, and his hair was just a mess.
There was a small herd of Ashen Mares roaming the lands, trying to go about their day.
The leader's mane flared on end and he jolted upright from his feast of black-burnt branches, sensing tremors in the ground.
With a loud neigh he tried to lead his fellow mares away as quickly as they could.
Run, run, did their little hooves trot. The tremors got louder, the cracks were spewing magma at greater heights...
And lo, came the savage shadow to cloak their flames with the chill of death...
"MINEMINEMINE!" Screamed the frenzied red meteor crashing into the leader of the herd.
The impact "saved" the rest of the herd by blowing them far away. Their leader had been pinned to its hips against a lone isle surrounded by bursting magma.
Solaris was reining the horse's neck with one arm and pinned the legs down with the rest of his body. Snarling and grinning, he was twisting the pale neighing beast's neck to finish it off.
"Ghhh...! Quit being such an ass!" He shouted as the beast put up a bit of a struggle, spewing ash into his nostrils to make him cough.
A flare went off as bright as a red star and Solaris' eyes widened as he looked up to see another, stronger comet coming right for him.
It crashed down atop the beast's neck and he went tumbling off to safe ground. The mare's head went flying hundreds of feet up the volcano and the ground was divided a quarter mile on both sides of the isle.
As the fire flared out a figure whipped their sword to part the smoke and then stood triumphant with their foot searing the mare's neck dry.
Vermilion hunched over atop a knee and leaned out with a sneer, taunting him with a flare of ferocity, "Should've been quicker on the draw, brat!"
Solaris stood up and thrust his finger at her, sounding more competitive than angry, "Hey that's not fair! I got it first!"
"Then why'd I take the head while you were snorting its residue?" Vermilion turned her head aside and spat into the magma before punting the horse over to solid ground.
She then hopped over and delivered a harder kick to shove the beast into Solaris' arms, "Next time, kill faster!"
She then threw her sword back into the flames and cockily walked past him. He gave her a sneer and hauled the mare corpse over his shoulder, "Hmph! I'll beat you next time, master!"
"Yeeeah right!" Vermilion rolled her eye.
After gathering up the sturdiest sticks they could grab they made their way to the base of the volcano and sat their butts down.
There it was a game of take and take. Whoever could tear off more meat would have a fuller belly and be ready for the next session.
Solaris had the bigger hands but Vermilion had the tougher grip, and could rip the whole midsection of the beast out in one pull.
When they got what they wanted they impaled them through with their sticks and held them up towards the lava flow to cook it.
Vermilion went for a short time and still kept the majority of the meat raw. Solaris preferred to have it sizzling.
Vermilion gleaned him with her teeth tearing that rawhide clean off the bone and looked insulted.
"Yer eatin' it the pussy way again?"
"No shit, raw meat tastes nasty." Solaris barked back.
"Bah, your tongue's weak, just like the rest of ya." Vermilion said in a partially crude tone, but Solaris had come to accept that as normal.
"Hey! I'm not a weakling anymore!" He retaliated.
"Oh boooo hoo, so ya've got a bigger chest and grew a few inches well guess what?" Vermilion grinned and then whispered, "Women do that too."
"But you're a woman, and you're strong!"
"Ya wanna be slapped upside the head, brat?"
"I-I bet I won't flinch this time!" Solaris stammered, his cocky smile already halfway to retreating.
Vermilion raised her grin and narrowed her glare, before chopping a small chunk of her meal off with her bare hand. She threw it to him and he fumbled it around, losing his meat in the process.
"Do it, c'mon wuss." She dared with increasingly deeper tones on repetition.
"Fine! I'll show you how tough I've gotten!" Solaris plunged the meat into his mouth, fist and all, and Vermilion's face nearly became unhinged in glee.
Solaris' eyes bulged out and he spat up his drool-covered fist while choking down the raw meat with the look of a man half into the dead.
"HA HA HA HA!" Vermilion flopped onto her back and paddled her feet around, busting a gut in laughter.
Solaris then rubbed the saliva off his jaw and grumbled, "Ugh...! How can you stand that crap?"
She swung back up to toss another put-down his way, "It's part of growing up, brat. Gonna act so tough now?"
Solaris puffed his lips in a pout and then went back to eating his meal, grumbling out of the corner of his mouth, "I AM tough..."
Vermilion barely overheard that and then let out a sigh, "Yeah yeah, fine, maybe ya got a little more grit on ya."
It was said fast and under her breath so Solaris didn't get it.
She was quick to snap at him and yell, "We need to talk about yer damn 'sword' Mr. Tough MAN."
"What about it?" He shouted back.
"It's shit." She said in a hasty, blunt tone.
Solaris spat up his bite of meat and threw the back of his hand out at her, "What, you're crazy! It's huge and can kill things fast!"
"It's a fucking pile of rocks glued together by magma!"
Solaris rose to his feet and flared up his aura, "Yeah and it's damn cool!"
She stood up with her arms crossed into her sleeves and snickered, "Ha! If you're gonna prop up yer little slab of shit then stop using kiddie words!"
"FINE! It's fuuuuuuuuuuuuu-" Solaris bit his teeth down and felt a tenuous strain over his self-control before he lunged his head out and shouted at the top of his lungs, "IT'S FUCKING COOL!"
The lava exploded off the side of the volcano and rained down atop them. Vermilion quivered and then bit her teeth down with a flash of pride, "Heh heh heh!"
She then glared at him and whispered, "It's shit."
Solaris staggered against her unbreakable stance and let out an overdramatic grunt. He then put his foot down and summoned his sword under his right hand, stabbing it into the ground. It was taller and wider than he was and was having difficulty holding itself together.
"W-Well when I wield it, it feels...natural." He said, a little vulnerability gleaming through, only to be snuffed out by Vermilion's wild ferocity.
"A sword can hack off limbs and a head without hesitation! You're just dropping a huge pile of rocks on yer prey, anyone can do that!"
Solaris tossed his head aside and muttered in awe, "C-Can you do that, master?"
"NO you DUMBASS because I have a SWORD!" She said, her aura flaring up enough to cause a lava plume to explode behind her and add emphasis to her voice.
Solaris was all smiles and joy at her power, "Y-You're very strong, master."
Vermilion's pride as a hunter was appealed and she flashed a rare smile, "Yer damn right! That's why you listen to me!"
Solaris dispelled his sword and crossed his arms against his chest.
She then waved the back of her hand out and muttered, "Ah, whatever, I'll go steal you some steel from those rockheads. Least then your pile of crap can LOOK a little like a sword."
"Why don't I go and get it?" Solaris' thoughts wandered too as he begged for a little slice of the fun, "You've gotten me everything else."
"Nah forget it, ya ain't ready for the big leagues, brat." Vermilion brushed him off with a stern grunt.
"It'd be a good test of how tough I've gotten!" He defended with.
Vermilion's eye lit up as she widened it to the limit and let out a fierce growl, "I SAID forget it, those chicken shit bastards are gettin' more conniving by the day, and I ain't gonna toss you out to die!"
Solaris stuttered with a hint of fright in his expression, "I-I...wow, thanks, I didn't think you cared that mu-"
"I don't." She barked out in haste, before shifting her gaze to the side and letting off a series of incoherent grumbles, visibly shaken.
She then pointed her eye downward and kicked the remains of the horse into the lava flow, "Bah, look what ya've done. Gone flapped yer gums so much the meat was starting the spoil."
She then wagged her head back and grinned, "You want to help? Go snag us another horse. I'm still craving rawhide."
Solaris cheered right up and ran off shouting, "You got it!"
Vermilion locked onto his back and started to pace forward with her needles drawn between her fingers, "3...2..."
Her eye flared on "1!" and she bolted after him.
A few moments later they were back before the lava flow with Solaris dragging another dead horse along and Vermilion scolding him thoroughly, "Now say it again..."
Solaris hung his head and muttered, "Lesson four...any meal is first come, first serve..."
"You're lucky I let you have a few bites." She made sure to burn that fact into his head.
They sat back down and resumed their struggle to get the most out of their prey.
"Feh, when I'm faster and stronger, I'll give ya the hunt of yer life, master!" Solaris declared on the spot.
"Ha! That's what I'm aiming for!" She boasted.
After a bit of feral food consumption, Solaris was left looking at his open hand and trying to summon a flame worthy of his might.
He got something pretty big, and it glowed with a bit more yellow and orange compared to what his master could muster up.
"What're you looking at?" She muttered.
Solaris clamped the flame down with his fingers and leaned back, "I need that power I had before."
"Eh? Oh, yeah, when you completely scared off ol' Melty Bones!" Vermilion was rioting with excitement at the nostalgia of a few years back.
"Right?!" Solaris agreed with a toothy grin, "I was so damn cool back then! I might have even been as strong as you!"
"Pffft, keep dreamin', brat." Vermilion brushed him off without looking his way.
"Ghhh...!" Solaris started squeezing his fist and grunting until veins were bulging out of his skin.
Vermilion laughed at him with glee, "Yer gonna piss yerself again if you strain too hard!"
"Gah!" Solaris gasped, having only mustered a brief, yellowish flare around his body, "I-I'm going to do it, I'm going to get stronger!"
"Ha, you got the right drive for it at least!"
Solaris then gestured her way and shouted, "Well you've been a great teacher, master!"
"Heh," Vermilion softened up ever slightly and glared his way, "You gave me a lotta crap at first, but I guess a few lessons have stuck to yer thick skull."
"Ha ha ha...!" Solaris chuckled with a light, friendlier vibe around him, which made Vermilion groan.
"What's with the tone, chucklehead?"
"I filled a few pants worth of piss when you dragged me out here, I thought I was gonna die!" Solaris then placed his hand on the ground and propped up his other arm with a flex, showing how much they've grown, "But look how big and strong I am now! I feel incredible!"
Vermilion hunched over and laid her head against a raised leg, "I'm going to take you even farther, brat. Until you graduate from brathood to godhood!"
"Yeah!" Solaris cheered, "Then...I'll be able to use my strength to protect my father!"
Vermilion slacked her jaw and scoffed, "Y-You serious...? Who cares about yer wimpy ol' man?"
"Hey!" Solaris put some strength into that bite and kept holding down even as his master flinched, "...Ok yeah, my old man's got frail bones and he can barely keep a leg up these days, but shit like...He raised me."
Justek had to cut off his clairvoyance because his eyes were getting blurry from tears. His mouth laid agape, and he became choked up...
"My son..." He muttered, feeling no greater pride as a father than in that moment...
After wiping his tears on the sleeve, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, where he had to start back over from the beginning...
In the face of his heartfelt remark Vermilion was quick to snap at him and declare, "Hey! Don't lose sight of what we're doin' here. This ain't about pitiful sentimentality."
"Don't you have a dad too, master? Why-"
Her face scrunched down into a feral scowl and glare as she smashed her fist deep into the boiling rock, creating a plume of lava hundreds of feet tall.
All while growling in an utterly abysmal tone, "Shut. UP."
And the echo of her voice made Solaris bite his teeth down and leave her to quiver in her rage. She looked to the ground, then the sky, her expression growing more tired and uncertain.
She then pressed her face between her legs and started violently mumbling incoherent words beneath her breath before letting out a single loud "FUCK!"
Solaris extended his hand towards her and shook, "M-Master...?"
Her aura was as sharp as her blade and he pricked his finger on it. When he pulled away, she began to lift her head up still growling like an awakened bear...
She then stared with a void in her eye towards the lava flow, grumbling aloud to herself, "My old man died when I was still a squealing little brat..."
"It was pathetic..." She squeezed her hands until the bones cracked.
She then craned her head back to look towards the peak of the volcano, "I'm going to get stronger, and stronger, and stronger still...! Until the only person who can tell me to die is ME, you got that you shitty old man?!"
She then threw herself onto her feet and stumbled forward like she was in a stupor, "I...will go out GRINNING...! Y-You stupid bastard...!"
She then flung her head forward and gasped, "GAH!"
She then swung her head back up and unhinged her jaw laughing until her mouth was dry. All the while Solaris felt like he should do something but what the hell could he do?
She just had to be left alone to vent off her steam until her body was literally steaming from sweat overdose. Once she was done she looked exhausted and a little discolored in the face.
"...Fuck it," She then swung her hand out like a wimp and tucked both into her sleeves, "This is a pain in my ass. We're calling it quits for the day."
"Wait, why?! I can still go all day!" Solaris said, chasing her as she limped off like a beast with their tail between their legs.
"I'm the master here brat, don't forget that! So if I say we're done we're DONE!"
"What about lesson three?!" Solaris roared, "There's no time for rest! We need to keep honing our bodies to be the best they can be!"
Vermilion stopped and dug her feet into the cracks, "Do I need to discipline ya, ya dumb little shit?"
"I don't need to listen to you right now, cause you're not acting like my master! You're acting like a...like a pussy...!"
Vermilion spun around with her tired gaze flaring up with white-hot intensity and a foul whisper of, "You mind repeatin' that?"
"You're a pussy! You're a wimp!" Solaris squeezed his fists and the fire rose out of his body as he stamped his foot down and roared, "If you're not, then prove it to me, MAAAAASTER!"
The fire shot off his back in a spread and caused the lava up the mountainside to go haywire and spew everywhere.
Vermilion shivered down to her loins and her energy slowly returned to her face, as the lava highlighted the powerful, animalistic silhouette her pupil had.
From there her grin grew across her entire face and threw her into a giggling fit, "HEEHEEHEE!"
Solaris' fire dulled out and Vermilion swiped her hand across the side of her head to fix up a few stray hairs, "Guess some of those lessons did land...!"
"Fine...!" She roared in turn, "You want proof, then lemme show you how tough I can REALLY be!"
She then lunged towards the volcano and stabbed her hands into the side to start climbing.
Solaris gasped with awe and then grinned, giggling as he leaped after her, scaling the whole volcano until they could penetrate the ash and make it to the peak.
There, Solaris would receive his first glance at the patron deities of this world, the Titans...just laying around, soaking in steamy water.
One was a red furry monkey and the other was a fluffy, icy armadillo.
The monkey creaked one eye open and grinned, "Oh ho ho, if it ain't the little bug!"
Vermilion wielded her needles in both hands and poised herself into a more hardened stance, while Solaris hung behind at the edge of this plateau of the heavens.
"Hey there, shitmonkey." She growled.
"Haaaa..." Magmankey huffed some hot air and then pointed his finger out, "Alright, nice catchin' up, later!"
His finger extended out in less than a second and smashed into Vermilion's face enough to send shockwaves rippling down the volcano.
But she refused to yield, and grinned heavier than before.
"I ain't gonna let you treat me like a flea this time...!" Her aura was firing up on all cylinders, with bits of blue fire mixing in with the red.
"C'mon you lazy ape, I got something to prove this time!"
Magmankey started hooting and hollering with a hint of intrigue, "Oh ho HO! Looks like the flea's come packin' a bite this time!"
When he hopped out of the water it all went flying like a geyser had burst. He then landed in the center of the arena and reached for the hilts sticking out of his legs by crossing his arms. His growl grew in density and then, he narrowed his gaze, "I can spare you two minutes of my time, Aurian."
"Bring it...!" She growled back.
Justek was humored by the ensuing beatdown she received, but it was also a little frightening that she was even managing to stand on even ground with the Titan for a short while...
There was nothing he could really gleam in terms of a weakness, quite the opposite in fact...He found himself reassessing the Sage Vermilion as a lower priority threat. But the blue flames were definitely worthy of attention, and something he'd nudge Sarajin towards investigating at a later date…
He opened his eyes and let out a weary sigh, factoring in the attitude his son displayed into his present dissection of events...
"I presumed my son was being molded into a monster, but...it looks like he really enjoys the training she's put him through."
"Am I soft for thinking this...? Yes. And I cannot ignore her as a threat, but perhaps one of lower priority than I initially saw her as..."
"...So long as I can salvage my son's kindness, there is still hope for him. I must only act to intervene if his hunting instincts are aimed towards humans."
"..." A smile steadily grew across his face, and had been since he heard Solaris rally to his defense...
"...I-I thought I had given them nothing. Yet they think the world of me, this frail man..." He took off his glasses and let the joyful tears run free as he craned his head back and muttered aloud, "Thank you...for blessing me with the best children a father could ask for..."
Next Time: The Curiosities of a Young Mind