Wow, finally... the site wouldn't let me update, or else this would have been up three days ago...
Ah, before I forget, WARNING for this chapter. A bit later in the chapter, the discription gets a little graphic, but I did try to tone it down, so just so everyone knows, I did set a warning. Can't be too careful...
Dis: I only own the CHARACTERS Eris and her sister whose name you find out in this chapter. I do NOT own the actual goddesses, heaven forbid I try to.
"On to Diadem, then!"
The ride to Diadem was shorter than the one to Sadal Suud, since the two were practically within seeing distance of one another. Andriana had dozed off, leaving Arietta and the Spirits to talk to each other.
'So, I never really got the full story on what's happened to you guys since I left,' she thought at them, not wanting to wake her best-friend-almost-sister.
'Kalas and Xelha are-' Gibari started, but Kalas cut him off.
'Finish that sentence and you'll be wishing you never get your body back.' THAT got Arietta interested.
'Kalas and Xelha are what?' she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. The image of Kalas superimposed over the blue light and glared at the image of Gibari over the teal one. Gibari grinned good-naturedly.
'Ah, come on, kid, it's not like nobody ever proposed to a woman before,' he said, cleverly letting it slip as he defended his previous statement.
'That's it!' The Kalas-image tackled the Gibari-image and the two began a fistfight that was like watching a silent movie. The blows hit but there wasn't the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Arietta grinned at them before looking at a blushing Xelha-image. Even Savyna superimposed over her green light to give a rare smile. Lyude did the same over his violet light, giving a smile that would have most girls falling all over themselves to see.
'Oh my GOD, Xelha, is that true?' Arietta asked, jaw dropping. Xelha giggled and nodded, blushing harder. 'Oh my god, if you were solid I'd hug you and then smack Kalas for not telling me sooner! And you!' she pointed at Kalas as he came back from his form of stress relief. 'Why didn't you tell me? I swear if you were solid I'd hit you for not telling me then hug you for finally getting the balls to ask! It's about damn time!'
'Well- I- uh-' he stuttered, but was saved from answering when the loudspeaker came to life.
"We are now approaching Diadem, Land of the Clouds. Please prepare to disembark in Sheliak."
The sound of the pilot brought Andriana out of her doze.
"We there already?" she yawned, stretching out and listening to her joints popping back into place. Arietta nodded as her friends' images faded back to the colored balls of light. The ship lurched to a stop and the two stood up. Within seconds, the teleporter system had them out on the cobblestone street. The girls looked around at the castle town.
"Is it always this… gray?" Andriana asked, eyeing the faded colors of the flowers and buildings. Not a single home had lights on, and most of the street lights were out as well, despite it being nearly dark.
"No, it's usually so cheerful… Maybe something's-"
'She beat us here,' Kalas cut her off. Andriana looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice in her head while Arietta glanced at the deep blue light.
"What?"
'She was here before us, and by the looks of things, she has what she wanted.'
'Uh, not to change the subject or anything, but we've got company,' Gibari cut in. A loud growl brought the girls' attention to the trio of Stripers on the pier, cutting off the only way off the pier.
"Oh, I hate these things…" Arietta groaned. She called out her Wings of Heart and pulled out Lingering Time. Andriana drew a hand of Magnus and looked them over. "Any elements?" Arietta asked.
"Just a light blue paddle. I think it's a… Mayfly? The rest are shields."
"Damn. Lemme take care of these then. Any of you care to give me a chronos attack?" She directed her last question at the Spirits hovering behind her. A few different energies were pushed at her, and she picked one she didn't recognize. Her Wings vanished entirely and she started hovering about a foot and a half off the ground, telling her it was from Mizuti. She surrendered her body to the strange girl and let her shape the finisher.
"Arcanum: Heaven's Pillar!"
The attack destroyed two of the three Stripers, glancing off the third. It stumbled, not wasting any time in charging at Andriana. Arietta didn't regain her body fast enough to stop what happened next.
"AH! ARI!"
"ANDRI!"
Andriana plummeted through the air, heading straight toward the very distant ground. Arietta's heart fell through to her feet and then skipped a beat as a bright orange light flashed, and Andriana stopped falling. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized why.
Through they were transparent, they were clearly there. Andriana had Wings of Heart.
Arietta turned around and looked at the last Striper, deadly intent in her eyes.
"Kalas," she said, an eerie calm settling in her voice, "give me Dream Blade." Wordlessly, he obeyed, the attack rushing through the bond they shared and her right Wing changed to Kalas's Wing. She faced the last Striper, activating Lingering Time at the same time as Dream Blade. She let the two attacks flow together, melding them with the pain in her heart to create something new.
"Die," she said simply, releasing the attack. "Spirit Combination: Lingering Dream!"
The green vortex of Lingering Time surrounded the Striper, and then the swords of Dream Blade crashed through the dome, destroying it. With that, she calmly put away her Magnus and turned around, seeing Andriana behind her.
"What was THAT?" Andriana asked, eyes wide. Arietta shook her head to snap out of her death-mode and looked at the pile of Striper-remains.
"I…dunno, I kinda just mooshed two attacks together and got Lingering Dream. But enough about that," she said, motioning for her friend to turn around, "let's see those Wings."
Andriana's Wings looked like large butterfly wings. They were each about three feet wide and four feet tall. They were covered in vibrant colors, mainly blue, orange, and yellow and were transparent enough that Arietta could faintly see the shapes of the town behind them.
"Nice… Very nice…" she commented.
"So how do I put them away?" Andriana asked.
"Remember what it felt like when they appeared?" At Andriana's nod, she continued, "Good. Imagine them going back to wherever that feeling came from."
Within seconds, there was a brilliant orange flash and the Wings vanished. She willed her own away and turned to the faded town.
"This doesn't look good…" she said, glancing at everything.
'We should visit King Ladekhan, make sure he's alright,' Gibari suggested. Arietta nodded and started walking into the town. As they went, they took in the washed-out colors of Sheliak and the surrounding area. By the time they got to the castle, Arietta was dreading what she would find.
There were no guards at the entrance, which didn't really surprise Arietta. The King was loved by his people, and he knew that none of his people would try to hurt him. The two walked in and made it almost all the way to the throne room before they were stopped by a passing guard.
"If I may ask as to why you two young ladies are here?" he asked politely.
"I'm sorry, I just need to speak with His Majesty, and I wasn't sure if he was in audience or not so I was looking for someone who could tell me," Arietta said, improvising the slightest bit.
"Well…" the guard said, thinking a moment, "he doesn't have any visitors until tomorrow morning, so perhaps you may be able to see him now. Do you require a guide to the throne room?"
"No, thank you, I know where it is."
"Very well, then."
With that, the guard walked away. Andriana blinked a bit.
"Well, that was easy."
Arietta led the rest of the way to the throne room, and knocked on the giant doors. They opened silently and the two girls walked in.
"It's… empty…" Andriana said, looking around. Arietta nodded.
'Try the Shrine of Winds?' Lyude suggested.
"Shrine of… Winds?" Andriana repeated.
"Yah, remember I told you about the bird-thing with ribbons hanging from his boobs? That's where we fought it," Arietta replied, heading to where she knew the passage was. It was already open, which disturbed her.
'That's not good…' Gibari muttered.
'We must hurry,' Savyna said.
"Right," Arietta nodded. The two girls ran down the passageway, their footsteps echoing all around them. They rounded the last corner and stopped dead. The passage was blocked. They were about to turn around when Andriana spotted a note on the wall.
"Ari, there's another of those weirdo notes for you," she said, pointing.
You think creatively, heading for the Wind Shrine, but I was a little better. You'll find me where the Fish of Thunder once wreaked havoc with the waters. He was a favorite until you killed him.
I wish you the best of luck.
You'll need it.
- Di Eris
The 'Di' was scratched out, but Arietta didn't notice. She was already racing through the tunnel with Andriana behind her before she even finished reading.
"Where to now?" Andriana asked, becoming out of breath.
"Lesser Celestial River, that's where we fought that Thunderfish."
"That's where Eris is?"
"I think so. Run now, Talk later."
The two didn't stop until they reached the Cloud Passage.
"We don't have time to fight Stripers and Koo-loo Birds." Arietta called out her Wings. They looked decidedly different. She still had two on each side, but they were larger, and more brightly colored. The purple was more vibrant, and the spines were spread further apart to catch the air better.
Andriana called out her eye-poppingly bright Wings. Arietta took off, flying as fast as her Wings could take her and Andriana followed. Under Gibari's directions, the girls flew directly to the falls on the Lesser Celestial River. Eris was already there waiting for them.
"Welcome. You're just in time," she said in her soft, dark voice. A small smile appeared on her blood-colored lips. Her red eyes looked at them from beneath dark lashes on her porcelain face.
"In time for what, Eris?" Arietta asked warily.
"Why, the execution of the king, of course." Eris rustled her white, membranous wings. "I must admit, I thought you would have learned my name by now, though. I am not my sister."
"Who are you, then?" Andriana demanded.
"Defeat me and I shall tell. You must rescue the king, as well."
"Andri, find the king. I'll deal with this bitch," Arietta said, taking out her six Magnus. She barely noticed that she lost track of her choker a long time ago, and didn't care.
"Right." Andriana took off, looking for King Ladekhan.
"Alright, you sorry excuse for an underling, who are you?" Arietta asked.
"Ah, ah, ah, little Guardian, answers don't come that easily. The truth must be earned," 'Eris' said. Arietta could feel four different energies pushed at her, and picked one she knew was strong and melded it with Hellfire. There was a flash of green, and Savyna's Wings blinked into existence.
"Spirit Combination: Deadly Hellfire!" she yelled, throwing the double fire attack at the pale woman.
The blue-hot flames rushed at 'Eris', and when they hit one could hear her dress going up in flames and the sizzling of burning flesh. The sheer smell was almost enough to make Arietta hurl, and as it was she felt nauseous. When the flames and smoke finally cleared, the sight almost made Arietta really puke.
The woman's skin was burned and melting. It was dripping off her body in large clumps of still-pristine flesh. Her beautiful black hair was burned and what was left was melted to her scalp. The white Wings on her back were charred and in tatters.
"Beware," 'Eris' giggled, ruby mouth twisted and bubbling, "for when the white-winged darkness alights upon the land, the world shall disappear without a sound, swallowed by a maelstrom of Chaos…" She raised what was left of her arms to the heavens and let out a delighted laugh and began to sing. "I'm dying… praying… bleeding… and screaming! Am I too lost to be saved? Am I too lost? My God, my Tourniquet, return to me salvation! My God, my Tourniquet, return to me salvation!"
Eris collapsed to the ground, ruined face turned to the sky, distorted mouth still smiling. She said four words before giving in to death.
"My name… is Discordia."
Her body disintegrated into dust, which blew away without a breeze, leaving behind a piece of parchment. Arietta stared at the spot a moment longer before running to a bush and getting sick. After a minute or so of dry-heaving, she stood up and picked up the parchment. She was about to open it when she heard her name.
"Ari!"
Turning, she saw Andriana flying towards her with another figure behind her. Arietta was too tired for surprise when she saw the King. His Wings were feathered in pale blue, and weren't elaborate by any means, but large and majestic.
"Hello, your Majesty," she said, opening the parchment carefully.
So close, yet so far, little Spirit. Discordia, my beloved sister, was only the appetizer. Time is almost up, little Guardian, you had best hurry…
City of Gold, Garden of Rainbows, Rough Frontier, Land of Kings.
Only one Illusion left to break…
-Eris
The note was written in blood red.
...I'm almost done. Wow. Three or four more chapters to go, depending.
Wow.
Well, review for me, please.
