"Byleth, Byleth, please open your eyes!"
He could hear a faint voice from the distance, but he could see nothing. Only shadows remained around him, speaking in an intelligible language. He was feeling extremely tired, as if the armor he was wearing had turned him into stone. Resting was turning into a too tempting option.
"Fight it off!" shouted the voice, clearer than before, a small spark of light appearing in front of him. He extended his arm and touched the light and the moment he did he opened his eyes once again. Even though there was still a lingering darkness around him, he could see Sothis standing next to him.
"I told you to not overcommit, we are trapped here because of you" she shouted as she slapped him in the face. "Don´t you understand that this place could turn into our tomb, the air is filled with a dangerous essence. This isn´t a place we should stay any longer. We have to…Ey, don´t embrace me like that, it´s embarrassing!" Sothis complained as he hugged her.
"How could you touch me? I thought you were incapable of that" Even though his cheek hurt because of her slap he couldn´t avoid feeling happiness to been able to touch her.
"Now that you say it…It must be this place. In normal circumstances I wouldn´t be able to do it, but this place is everything but normal" she said as she pointed to the sky above them.
Instead of blue, the sky above them was purple, although most of it was covered in dark mist. They were standing in what appeared to be an ancient watchtower, although the ceiling appeared to had collapsed a lifetime ago, dust everywhere. He could also see a green light in the distance, what appeared to be a city, but apart from that everything was covered in pure darkness. He picked a rock of the ruins of the tower and threw it to the dark, waiting to hear the sound of the impact, but nothing happened.
"We should be careful or we may end like the stone you had just thrown"
"Where are we? Could it be we died?"
"Don´t say nonsense, that would mean I was a ghost, but it is clear I´m not" Sothis said as she crossed her arms in disbelief of his words. "The only thing I know is that we are trapped here. My instinct tells me we should leave this place as soon as possible, before we find ourselves in a dire situation. For now, let´s leave this place" she said as she casted a lightning spell, casting away partially the shadows around them as he did the same. As they descended the stairs, he observed the insides of the tower where they had landed. Even though it was a ruin he could see that some ornaments had survived the pass of time, strange statues of unique materials scattered around them, although the thing that caught him the attention the most was a strange eye.
"That eye…I´ve seen it before. It was also on the scythe of the Death Knight. Hanneman told me that the scythe was made of materials that had never been used in Fódlan"
"Could it be of an ancient civilization? In that case, could it be this place what remains of it and in that case, what happened here?" Sothis said as she continued walking. "Too many questions and I can´t answer them. It is really irritating"
"I´m glad that at least we can talk like this" he smiled to her.
"You should reserve your smiles for the little Princess, but I´m happy too, even if this isn´t an optimal situation" Sothis smiled back as they left behind the watchtower. Dead trees were scattered around them, although it was clear that they were walking through an old path, looking at the road before them. Most of the light was coming from their spells, although the purple sky gave them some brightness, when it wasn´t covered by the strange dark mist. Looking at the everchanging sky, he wondered if their own world would someday turn into something like that; an eternal fight between a fading light and darkness.
"I hope it never happens" Sothis said without looking at him. "This place is everything, but normal. I can feel it in the air" she said as she suddenly stopped.
A pair of giant statues were standing in front of them at the opposite sides of a colossal bridge. Looking at their armors, they appeared to be from the royalty, although he would never know who they were since the inscriptions at the base of the statues were unreadable. One of the statues was resting on a giant sword made of what appeared to be crystal, while the other was holding an orb and a rod made of the same materials. The ruins of Zanado were small compared to the size of them. In the distance, he could see what appeared to be a city, covered in a strange green light.
"It seems that there is no other way but to cross the bridge. I can´t see nothing from here so make sure to not fall or even I won´t be able to save you" Sothis said as they started to cross the bridge in front of them. The only sound they could hear was the one from their own footsteps. The air was completely idle, not a single breeze passing through, but he could smell it. There was a fade scent in the air as if something had been left to rot for a long time and inexplicably, that smell was starting to make him feel uneasy.
"Solon knew about this place. That must mean that this place and their kind must be related" he said as he continued walking.
"I agree with you, but I don´t think they are here anymore. He described this place as a prison and a place of suffering so that means that he fears it for a particular reason; I wonder why. I hope we can leave this place before anything bad happens to us" she said as she continued walking. The more they approached, the brighter the strange light was until they had a clear sight of what was awaiting them ahead. A colossal gate was guarding the entrance to the place but the walls to the sizes and in the different levels of the city where irradiating its own spectral light. The putrid scent was strongly coming from the city, which made him keep his hand closer to his sword.
"It seems that there is no other entrance to this place. I don´t like it, but I don´t think we have other option but to keep forward, she said as she placed a hand on one of the sizes of the colossal gate. Doing the same in the other side, they slowly pushed the gate. The sound of rusted iron moving once again could be heard everywhere, but they could do nothing to avoid it.
As the path before them was unlocked, they were about to step into the city, but its insight paralyzed them. The square before them was covered in corpses; some of them appeared to have died battling while others appeared to have asked for mercy. Spikes with the heads of some of them were placed in the surroundings of the statues in the center of the square as a ghoulish welcome to the city. The rotten smell was strong there, but it wasn´t coming from the corpses but from a slime like substance that was scattered around all the place.
"What the hell had happened here?" Sothis asked shocked, looking all around the place and carefully measuring her steps to avoid touching the dead bodies scattered around. "This wasn´t the place of a battle; this was the place of a slaughter"
"Even children were slaughtered here" he muttered as he took a closer look to some of the heads in pikes, the head of a newborn sparking ire inside him. "Solon wants us to meet the same fate, I´m sure about it. If this place is like a prison the culprit of these crimes must be around here" he said as he accidently touched one of the bodies which turned into dust. "This must have happened a long time ago; but we must be careful"
"I agree" she said as they carefully left the square behind them and headed to one of the roads that departed from there. Corpses were scattered all around them; some of them wielding weapons he had never seen. Even the city was strange. Even though the lower level was similar in design to places such as the monastery the higher they went the stranger it got with buildings with small domes made of what appeared to be crystal, but most of them were too deteriorated; the slime like substance on them.
"I wonder how this place looked like before its doom"
"It must have been a magnificent city, that´s for sure. Looking at the corpses this must have been a human city, but I don´t really have memories of this place, although I can´t stop feeling uneasy here" she said as she shivered a bit. "That smell is really everywhere and there is no warm here"
"Don´t worry, we will leave this place together" he said placing a hand on her shoulder. It was strange to be able to touch her after all this time, but it wasn´t uncomfortable.
"You really are an expert in boosting the morale of the people around you, don´t you?" she smiled. "It seems that we have arrived to the highest level" she said as she suddenly stopped.
In front of them there was a building similar to the cathedral of the monastery, but twice its size and with a doom that reflected the sky above them. The doors before them appeared to be made of a strange metal; no matter how much they pushed the giant doors it didn´t move an inch.
"The main entrance appears to be blocked. We should take another path" Sothis said after examining the nature of the gates. "I feel a faint scent of magic coming from the inside, keep your sword ready, just in case"
Walking around the building they were able to find a breach in the walls. Accessing from there they were able to access the building. They had entered what appeared to be a great hall; a giant structure made out of crystal in the center of it. Around them there were some bodies, but their numbers were fewer that the ones they had been finding as they arrived there.
"What are these things?" Sothis asked looking at strange creatures made out of metal. There were of all sizes, but looking at the dust on them they appeared to have been abandoned a long time ago.
"I´ve never seen something like this" he admitted. Their size was similar to the statues of the saints in the cathedral, but they appeared to have been used as war weapons, although how they were used remained unknown to them. Hidden between the metal beasts he could see a faint light coming from what appeared to be an abandoned armor. He extended his arm to reach for it and he was suddenly engulfed in a strange light.
"Byleth!" shouted and alarmed Sothis, but as soon as it started it stopped.
"Don´t worry, Sothis, I´m fine. I´m as surprised as you"
"What are you saying? You are covered in a strange armor, I can´t even see your face!"
Touching the area around his face he realized that he appeared to have been covered in full armor, although he could see the same as if he weren´t wearing a helmet at all.
"How strange, I can see perfectly fine…" he was starting to say when words started to appear in front of him.
"Analysis of surroundings completed; unusual levels of energy detected. Proceed with caution"
"You wouldn´t believe me, but this thing is talking to me" he said looking at her, completely confused.
"Really? What does it say about me?"
"Strange levels of energy are found within the creature´s body. Threat level A. Use of heavy weaponry highly advised"
"It recommends me to kill you"
"Your new fancy armor is stupid them" Sothis said as she crossed her arms in disappointment.
He was trying to find a way to get rid of the armor when a sudden message appeared in front of him. "To know what happened and access my memories place your hand on the altar"
"Wait a second. The armor is saying that we can know what happened here by placing my hand on the altar" he said as he looked for it. "That must be the place"
"Are you really going to trust what an unknown thing is telling you?"
"We don´t have other option. Perhaps if we know what happened here, we might be able to unveil the truth behind everything that has happened until now" he said as he advanced to the altar in the center of the room, placing his hand on it a faint blue light started to glow and suddenly both of them were engulfed by the light around them.
….
"How long are you going to be there?" a familiar voice asked. The woman standing in front of her was wearing elegant clothes that revealed her voluptuous body, but she knew that she was a mighty warrior, worthy to reckon.
The sun was starting to hide, but its magnificent light was reflected on the floor. The breeze was gentle and soon enough her watch was about to end.
"As long as the sages keep talking, you know them. They have been like this since they brought to the city the stones from the comet. They look like children with a new toy"
"Of all people that the leader of the guard of the council says something like that…How interesting"
"The sages are only interested in the protection I grant them. They don´t care if I don´t share their beliefs or not and that´s enough to me"
"Anyway, this time they must be really excited if they had been discussing about the new discovery for days"
She had to admit that she was right about it. A few weeks ago, to the north of the city a meteor had impacted with the surface. The scouts sent there have reported that they have found nothing remarkable apart from highly energized stones with a strange energy within it. The moment the discovery was made, the sages of the city had treasured it and they had been discussing about the matter for days.
"Not every day a comet falls from the sky. Because of their size some of them had baptized the comet as the Fell Star. It was really a magnificent view"
"I hope they can at least find some time for the peace talks. This is the best opportunity to achieve an everlasting peace once and for all"
Some sages say that conflict was inherent to human nature, but only acknowledging it would solve nothing. Despite their differences, the different realms were willing to reach an agreement to put aside their differences. It had cost decades, but finally there was an ending to such conflicts.
"The fact that they are willing to sit together speaks for itself"
"I leave you their security them"
"Where are you going?"
"I must leave on an expedition with Thales. Don´t worry I will take good care of him until he returns", she said winking an eye to her.
"As long as you don´t do anything stupid that´s enough to me" she briefly smiled before she returned to her duties.
The moonlight was already entering through the windows when the gates behind her finally opened. The sages were escorted by some of the knights of her guard and by the robots they had been developing during the last years. Robots have been part of their daily life for the last century, but most of them were employed for domestic labor. However, those in front of her were the size of giants and were wielding weapons of a colossal size that would annihilate everything that would enter their sight. The name of such robots was Titanus.
"Good evening, my Lords"
"Good evening, Captain. Today was a truly fruitful day. The gift from the skies will certainly lead us to a new era of true peace. Please guard us to the main hall. I am sure that the visitors of all around the world are eager to know about our new discovery" said Anaximander, one of the leaders of the great city and a close friend of her beloved Thales.
"I will comply"
"I know you will" he smiled as he walked beside her. "The Gods have granted us a precious gift"
She was intrigued by her words, but she said nothing. Knowing him, she knew he would reveal the new information in front of everyone.
As they arrived to the Cathedral of the Light, the magnificent doors in front of them automatically opened, revealing a huge crowd of persons already waiting for them. By the look of the clothes, she knew that people from all over the world had agreed to come there. Looking at all of them, she had the glimmer of hope that the endless wars would finally find an end. In the center of the room a brilliant mass of light could be seen. It was the energy control system of the whole city, capable of transporting troops all over the world in case of need; its light capable of eclipsing the sun. Taking her place behind the sages she stood silent as Anaximander walked forward the altar.
"Welcome everyone to the birthplace of mankind. I will assure you that this will be the day that our quarrels and disputes will be forgotten for good as a new age of enlightenment comes to us.
Decades ago, we sent a spacecraft into the unknown with the hopes of discovering the mysteries of our Universe. Our knowledge of the outer world has expanded since them, but the incessant quarrels between us have been an important obstacle in our progress. However, the Gods had granted us a precious gift to us" he said as he showed to them a stone which released brilliant emerald sparks from its inside. "This Stone holds a high level of energy, enough to bring into reality our wildest dreams. It came from a comet that impacted near this place a few weeks ago"
"Do you know about its origin?"
"Luckily yes. It comes from the system of Sirius. It seems to have come from a planet near the dual stars. However, what is fascinating about it is that the trajectory of the comet was unusually erratic, as if it was alive and it was able to warp immense distances in the space. We are not alone anymore, my Lords"
The moment he spoke those words whispers could be here across the entire hall, but she remained silent processing what she had just heard.
"Our best scouts are currently exploring the area of impact and they have sent to us samples from it. The amount of energy stored in these stones could allow us with the help of our knowledge reach new heights. We could even create portals that allowed us to reach places that we couldn´t reach in an entire lifetime. Such is the power stored inside these rocks. That is the reason why the council considers that it is in the best interest to obtain more of these precious substances. To allow us a great power in our search for the real truth of this universe and everything that contains it"
"You said that we weren´t alone anymore. If there are intelligent beings out there, couldn´t that mean our own demise?"
"That is the reason why you have been summoned here. Separately, we could face great times of peril, but together we could achieve unthinkable things. This is the time when decisions really matter. Please, forget our petty differences to embrace the endless possibilities that this world has to offer us"
As he said those words, an even higher murmur spread through the entire hall, several minutes needed until everything calmed down, but looking at the faces of everyone there she knew that an agreement was close.
"But at what cost?" she wondered, looking at their faces. She feared that conflicts would eventually arise, but she was the captain of the guard of the council, she didn´t have a voice in such matters.
"If so, powerful are these stones show us their power" said one of the leaders of one of the factions summoned there.
"I was expecting such questions and I shall show you their real power" he said as he carefully placed the emerald stone in a vessel. "With the combined power of these stones and our technology our power shall be unlimited!" he shouted as he released a spell on it, creating a bond between the energy control system and the stone. As he did so a green flame appeared in the middle of the room, quickly expanding as it created a surface similar to a small lake. The lights in the hall quickly extinguished as the ethereal surface showed them the wonders of the universe; comets, planets, stars quickly appearing and disappearing in front of them until it suddenly stopped in front of a planet similar to theirs; the only difference that it orbited around twin suns. "The source of this power awaits us, in no time we could send an expedition to this planet and with this energy we will certainly…" he couldn´t finish his words as the green light of the stone suddenly turned purple, a dark fog emanating from the ethereal gate. She quickly used her lance to destroy the vessel, but it was too late, since the mist was already there.
She could see nothing because of the mist, but she could perfectly hear the cries of those who were slaughtered. One of the Titanus ran to the center of the hall only to be ripped apart as if it was a little doll. She was familiar with the scent of blood, but she didn´t expect to smell it in this place. She tried to identify the source of the attack when she received a brutal impact to the side that sent her flying to one of the walls. Coughing blood, she realized that what they have released upon the world would certainly destroy everything.
"We need to seal this threat" she thought as she activated the mechanism to close the door of the hall. She was about to pick her lance when something trapped her, she didn´t have time to cry or shout as she was engulfed by the dark.
"My dear Thales…" was the only thing she could thought of as the world turned black around her.
…..
"So that is what happened here. It is infuriating that such tragedy could have been avoided. At least they succeeded in trapping whatever they released here" Sothis said next to him. Looking at his armor he realized it was the same armor he had seen her using, yet nobody was found inside.
"If this is the place where it was trapped why it isn´t here" he wondered, when the strange armor he was wearing sent him a message again.
"Is the armor talking to you again?" Sothis asked as he advanced to the bottom of the hall and pressed the hand of one half destroyed statue, the moment he did a small passage was opened before them, a fissure a few meters from them. He could feel the rottenness coming from it, but there was no other option.
"It says that it is down there" he said as he pointed the fissure with his sword. "To end this once and for all and returning to our world we must return the power it has stolen" he said looking at the emptied power generator. "Only then, we will be able to escape this place without harm"
"There is no other option?"
"The other option is to rot here for the end of eternity"
"That´s not an option then" Sothis sighed. "I can´t really understand how an armor can talk, but after witnessing what happened I guess some things are hard to explain" she said as she approached the fissure and offered to him her hand. "Let´s escape from this place then"
"Together" he smiled as he accepted her hand, with a final look to each of them they jumped into the fissure and entered the depths of the unholy place.
For the armor I thought about something like the Artian armor in case that someone is curious about it.