Chapter 3: The Will of The Gods
Lacrima was peaceful on the outside, but upon exploring this island in northeast Riviera, we found it well-guarded by demons. Sapphire and I fought our way into the castle, and we made it inside relatively unharmed. We made our way through the castle quietly, so we could surprise any demons we saw. Every now and then, however, the demons would notice us and attack first.
Sapphire and I came upon a garden after entering the castle. It was quiet, which was both an advantage and a disadvantage. Every sound made could be heard clearly, whether it was made by us or a demon. Many fruit bearing trees grew in that garden. I heard some leaves rustle, so I held my arm out, signaling for Sapphire to stop. I pointed to a tree to our right and whispered, "I think there are demons behind that tree." I waved my hand and whispered, "Come on, let's sneak up on 'em." We walked around the tree slowly, until we were behind the demons. I stepped up behind a giant spider, and Sapphire now stood behind a soldier. We looked at each other, I nodded, and we both attacked simultaneously. I thrust Lihtan straight down into the spider's back as Sapphire used Melodia to slash the soldier from his neck to his waist. I whispered, not wanting to be heard by any other demons, "Good job, Sapphire. At this rate, we'll get this done in no time at all!" Sapphire smiled gleefully. "Let's continue, Sapphire, we've got quite a distance before we get to the central part of the castle."
We started walking again, entering another chamber of the castle lit by torches and decorated by statues. However, the torches were different from any that I had seen before. Sapphire tugged on my sleeve and pointed at a torch, a look of curiosity on her face. "I don't know why the flames are blue. They must be fueled by magic or something." We walked through the other end and came upon a flight of stairs. When we got about halfway up the stairs, a demon appeared. He held in his hand a small book. Upon seeing us, he read from the book, summoning two skeleton knights. I looked at Sapphire and asked, "Are you ready?" She held Melodia up and nodded. I raised Lihtan and dashed at one of the knights, striking him three times. The skeleton disappeared after receiving the third blow. The necromancer then summoned a ghost in the place of the fallen demon. "Sapphire! Attack the necromancer!"
Sapphire flew up and over the two demons that had been summoned, then downward at towards the necromancer. She struck his chest, then swung Melodia diagonally from his left shoulder to his waist, above his right leg. As the necromancer faded, the skeleton knight slashed at Sapphire with his sword. Seeing the attack, my rage started to build. However, while I was watching Sapphire, the ghost hit me with a blast of dark magic. After taking a moment to recover, I turned toward my attacker. I hit the ghost twice, and then raised Lihtan into the air. This caused a bolt of lightning to strike the demon, killing it in an instant. I looked to see how Sapphire was, and noticed that she had just defeated the skeleton knight.
Sapphire's back was covered in blood from where the demon had cut her. I ran and caught her as she collapsed from the pain. I pulled out the potion that we had gotten at Heaven's Gate and said, "It's okay, Sapphire, you'll be fine. Just drink some of this." Sapphire opened her mouth, and I have her most of what remained of the potion. It was then that I felt the full effect of my pain from the ghost that I'd fought. I drank the rest of the potion and threw the bottle out a window of the castle. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to be careful from now on," I said, half-jokingly. Sapphire, having been healed of her wound, smiled and looked to the top of the stairs.
We made our way to the top and entered the courtyard. There were large trees and bushes along the concrete tile path that lay before us. There was a small bed of flowers to the left of the path. Sapphire pointed at the flowers and looked at me curiously. "Yeah, I noticed that they haven't bloomed yet, as well, "I said. "Maybe they open up at night." Sapphire nodded in agreement. We walked a short distance through the courtyard and came upon yet another flight of stairs. Sapphire rolled her eyes, then looked up. I looked up after she did and noticed that we could fly to the top of the tower, avoiding the stairs and any demons that hid in the stairwell. "Sapphire, would you like to fly to the top instead of climbing the stairs?" She looked at me sarcastically and I replied, "Did I even have to ask?" Sapphire shook her head and spread her wings. I spread my wings and we took flight, straight up the side of the tower.
When we reached the top of the tower, we saw a winged girl wielding a scythe fighting a demon approximately twice her size. The demon struck the girl with its sword, cutting her shoulder open. With a scream of pain, the girl fell to the floor. Sapphire and I flew at the demon and attacked with our diviners. Not quick enough to guard, the demon was hit by both of our attacks. The demon snarled, "You fools! You dare challenge a Dark Progenitor?" I examined the demon, a large knight wielding a sword and shield. I noticed that he was pitch-black, just like the demon guarding the gate to Riviera. I replied, "We are Grim Angels, sent to destroy you to prevent Riviera from becoming another Utgard! Prepare for your judgment!"
While I was speaking, Sapphire had run to the girl to examine her wound. The demon pulled his sword back and slashed me across my stomach, his attack too swift to dodge. I doubled over in pain and saw Sapphire fly at the demon. She swung Melodia at the demon, causing fire to fly from its blade. The demon winced in pain, then attacked Sapphire. He swung his sword upwards, hitting her leg as she tried to dodge. Then the demon dropped his shield, held his sword with both hands and swung it down with great force. Sapphire tried to escape, but was slashed across her arm and her side. The shockwaves from the attack hit both me and the winged girl.
I stood up, my Silver Pendant filling me with strength, and flew up into the air. I yelled, "You shall be judged according to the will of the gods!" I flew at the demon and struck him seven times with Lihtan, then yelled, "Thunder Stream!" I felt the electricity flow from my pendant, through my body, and into Lihtan once more. I pulled my arm back and thrust Lihtan into the demon's chest, releasing a bolt of lightning on contact. Greatly weakened, the demon was temporarily stunned. I fell to my knees, and watched as the girl with bat-like wings struck the demon with her scythe. That last blow killed him, but before the demon disappeared, he said, "Greater obstacles lie ahead of you, Grim Angels. You will never win!" The demon dropped his sword, then disappeared.
The winged girl ran to me, holding a vial of red liquid. She said, "Here, drink it. It's an elixir; it will heal you completely." I accepted the vial and took a drink. Instantly, I felt my strength return. I stood up, walked over to the Dark Progenitor's sword, and picked it up. I looked at it for a moment, then tucked it into my belt, beneath my wings. As I walked back to the girl, she said, "I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you helped me. I thought I was a goner." She paused for a moment, then added, "Oh, by the way, the name's Serene." She extended her hand in greeting. I grasped her hand and replied, "Pleased to meet you, my name is Liberare." Sapphire walked up beside me, reached out her hand, and shook hands with Serene. I continued, "And this is Sapphire. She can't speak because she sacrificed her voice to become a Grim Angel."
Serene thought for a moment about what I had said. "Oh, right! That's like how Ein gave up his wings to get his diviner!" Serene exclaimed. Sapphire and I exchanged glances, surprised by Serene's knowledge of Ein. "Let me guess, you are one of the sprites that Ein befriended along his journey, am I correct?" She replied, "Yep, you guessed it! And as a matter of fact, I am an Arc, the last of my people." I looked back at Sapphire, and the look on her face reflected my own, one of sorrow and sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Serene. It was Malice, wasn't it?" Serene answered, "It's okay; it wasn't her fault. I do get kinda lonely sometimes, but every now and then I go to Elendia to hang out with Fia and Lina, a couple of sprites that Ein met when he came here." Sapphire smiled, and I said, "I think what Sapphire is thinking is that it is good to have friends, no matter how far away they are." Sapphire nodded, causing Serene to ask, "Whoa, how do you do that?" "Well," I replied, "the further into our journey we go, the easier it is for me to know her thoughts. That way, we can still communicate, even without words."
We talked with Serene until nightfall, at which time we all found places to sleep. I, however, flew up to a rooftop to gaze at the moon, unable to sleep. I thought about the journeys that Serene told us about. Then I reflected on the journey that Sapphire and I was on up to that point. I felt unfit to carry out the will of the gods. I also thought about the times Sapphire had been attacked and about how I was unable to prevent those attacks. After pondering on these thoughts for a while, I heard the sound of wings flapping. I looked around and saw Sapphire land on the roof, a small distance to my left. She sat down and looked at me curiously. "I couldn't sleep, so I came up here." I paused for a moment, then continued, "Sapphire, I want to apologize for not being able to protect you as well as I should. I--" Sapphire put her hand over my mouth and smiled at me. It was a smile that said everything was okay. She took her hand away from my mouth. I started at her eyes, admiring the way the moon made them sparkle. I looked away quickly, trying to keep my feelings from Sapphire, afraid of what she might think. I felt her slide closer to me, and I put my arm around her waist.
That is the last thing I remember before I fell asleep last night. I woke up this morning lying next to her, got up, and flew to a different rooftop to get a better look at our next destination. Serene had mentioned that demons have become more abundant in the Nelde Ruins. She also said that a witch named Cierra will guide us when we get there. Serene decided to stay and guard Lacrima Castle against any more demon attacks. Once Sapphire wakes up, our journey will continue, and the will of the gods will be carried out, one demon stronghold at a time.