Take Notice:
Hey readers, I just have to leave a little note at the top to inform you of my less than active updating on this story. The reason for this is because I am in the process of moving and finishing up helping my parents for a move. So, I do apologize if any of this is making you go crazy, although I hear most fanfic authors update at a much slower pace than I do. With that said, once the move is over and everything is settled down and hopefully I am not going to be overwhelmed with school this semester and fitting in work in between those times as well as working on my own indie series, I will try to get back on track and see about maybe squeeze more chapters each month. For now, I will have to work at an awfully slow pace. Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy this story and encourage you to check out The Chaos Gemstone Chronicles to familiarize yourself with the Character Maximus a little more. Peace out.
The Forest of Cursed Senses:
The four of them made their way into the forest and after traveling for a few minutes, they each began to notice the silence within. The crickets, birds, wild beasts, nothing was making a sound. Aqua was unnerved and could not help her fear from getting the best of her.
"Oh man, it's places like this that usually spells trouble for everyone." She said feeling scared and soon remembered she was within Maximus' arms. "Then again, with him here, I doubt we will be in too much danger. Especially after he has regained his composure." She finished.
Maximus and the others were keeping their wits about, waiting for any possible enemy to appear.
The next moment a breaking sound of a small branch of a tree snapped. Maximus instantly turned around, maneuvering Aqua to his side, arm still around her, and his left arm stretched forth. He had his arm filled with a fair amount of built up mana to launch an attack and waited to see what caused the noise from within the silence.
Kazuma had flinched in fear and hesitantly prepared himself, squealing out loud, and drew his sword.
Chris had turned around the same time Maximus had with her Magical Dagger at the ready.
All of them were quiet, holding their breath in. After a few moments had passed no signs of a person or monster was presenting itself.
Maximus tried to use his familiars to survey the area and the moment they flew ten yards away they were instantly destroyed.
"Clever for you to set something like that up or something else is at play. I did not sense any attacks at all which could mean there is Anti-Magic within the forest. Yet it is strange to eliminate them so far away from me and not upon activation. Someone is either confident or there could be another variable I have yet to account for." Maximus said to himself.
Maximus turned to the others.
"Let us continue on, we need to leave this place as soon as we can. Hopefully not too much time has passed in the real world, which I am fully counting on." He said to them and they nodded.
The four of them pressed forward towards the direction of the castle. The silence of the forest made their ears feel as though their heads were about to explode. A buildup of pressure from their anxiety of not hearing anything made their uncomfortableness gradually mount.
"Why is it so quiet in this forest, I feel like I am going deaf not hearing anything at all." Aqua said out loud and looked up at Maximus and noticed he was having a little difficulty with their surroundings as he was constantly looking around. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked as she took hold of his arm.
Maximus stopped the moment he felt her touch and turned to look back at her.
"I am fine, it's just I feel unbalanced, as though my equilibrium is not centered. It is not too much of a concern, for now. I wonder if there is something at play that is keeping all of us from not hearing anything." He said with a half-smile and turned forward. "I feel as though we may be walking into another trap. It is difficult to sense anything at this moment let alone hear any movement. I wonder about this place, wonder at the idea that the further we walk into it the more our hearing is lost or something." He finished his thought.
"What are we going to do if and possibly when that happens?" She asked while she tugged on his arm a little more to get his attention.
Maximus turned around once more and saw she was trying to talk further with their conversation.
"Maximus, I feel like we should turn back and…"
Maximus soon noticed her voice was echoing no more from her mouth and she soon noticed he had a concerned look on his face.
"What is it, is something wrong?" She asked and saw him moving his mouth and could not hear his words reaching out to her. "What is he saying?" She wondered to herself and tried to respond.
Maximus stopped from talking and looked up to see both Chris and Kazuma were gone. Aqua saw him looking around and soon noticed their companions were missing. She quickly took hold of him and held on tight thinking the worse idea of imaginable.
"Where did they go, what happened to them?!" She tried to yell as loud as she could and noticed Maximus was not hearing her as he looked down with a confused look in his eye.
"I bet she is worried about what happened to the other two and is deathly afraid to let go. I do not blame her I don't want to let her go as well." He said to himself and soon a flashback of when he saw her die right in front of him appeared in his mind. "It happened just like this, we were walking down the road on a quest and soon found ourselves unable to hear. That is when…" He stopped and looked back at the makeshift trail they had trekked and saw Chris and Kazuma in quicksand.
The two were shouting desperately and noticed Maximus turned back to them.
"God, it's about time he heard me, I am nearly about to die in quicksand!" Kazuma said to himself and stopped looking over at Chris. "Wait a minute, why am I not able to hear her at all?" He wondered seeing her screaming, mouth moving yet not even a whisper escaping her tongue.
Maximus and Aqua both ran up to the two and stopped a few yards away. Both of them looking around as though inspecting the ground to insure they were not in the quicksand as well.
"Okay, I think we are just mere feet from the edge. Now to get them out of that sinking pit." Maximus said to himself.
Maximus raised his arms up and with his hands form a C shape, as though holding a teacup, to take hold of the two. His magic began to aid them from the grasp of the quicksand. The moment the two were nearly out, Maximus felt a shock, tingling against his back as though a bolt of lightning struck him. He soon felt his magic dissipate and was gone the next instant.
Chris and Kazuma fell back down and began to sink a little faster than before. Maximus looked around and rushed over towards a nearby tree. He tried to use his magic and soon noticed none of it was within his arm.
"Guess I am going to have to resort to this after all now my magic has been taken from me." He said as he gathered his Spiritual Energy around his right arm.
The next moment he swung it across and cleaved it horizontally. He took hold of it and threw it towards Chris and Kazuma. The tall tree landed in front of them and they could feel the vibrations rippling through the quicksand. The two took hold of several branches and began to climb out. Aqua had already met the two holding out her hand and Maximus soon joined her.
Chris and Kazuma began to catch their breath from the excitement and was about to shout at the other two and soon remembered they could not hear a thing.
"Curse whoever is doing this, making our ears not hear anything. That is a well thought out idea, even I would never imagine such a thing. Now I wonder, will continuing on do anything worse than what has happened thus far?" Maximus wondered to himself.
Chris and Kazuma stood up and began attempting ways to communicate. Both were trying to signal each other and soon noticed it was not working as Chris turned away feeling disgusted.
"Damn it, I am trying to say we need to leave by going back. If I know anything about this kind of stuff, then the next best thing to do is retreat, regroup back at the town and see about flying over this forest!" Kazuma said to himself feeling frustrated.
"I am not even sure what hand gestures he was trying to use, but whatever they were, I am not sleeping with him." Chris said and turned to Aqua and Maximus who seemed to be understanding each other without making any gestures.
Maximus placed his forehead on hers and his hand over her heart. He also took hold of her other hand and placed it over his heart as well. He began to use a skill he had been trying to perfect ever sense he first started his journey on his home world.
"Aqua, are you able to her me?" Maximus' voice echoed in her head.
"Yeah, I can hear you, how are you doing that by the way?" She asked.
"I am using my mind to communicate with you since we are not able to hear each other speak because of this forest. I believe it is either designed for this or someone made it this way. I need you to walk with Chris while I walk with Kazuma in order to continue on. Reason for this is because should anything happen, I can communicate with you and lead Chris away and possible Kazuma as well. Hopefully it will not come to that, so go ahead and take her hand and I will let him know." He said to her and she felt uncertain about pressing on until he placed his right hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, it will be okay." He finished and she nodded her head.
The party continued on after explaining it by writing it in the dirt patch nearby. Kazuma at first was unsure of it but went along with the idea.
After walking for a few minutes, the party slowly began to lose another sense their bodies naturally had. Kazuma had brushed up against a thorn bush and the sharp cuts did not register at all. He had only noticed it when he brought his hand up to wipe his forehead randomly and instantly noticed his minor injury.
"Holy crap, when did this happened?" Kazuma wondered and tug on Maximus' coat to get his attention.
After several times, he noticed Maximus had not registered the pulling sensation.
"Is he ignoring me or can he not feel I am trying to get his attention?" He wondered.
Aqua and Chris had noticed his frantic attitude and both wondered what he was so worked up about. Kazuma moved in front of Maximus and pointed at his hand with a worried expression.
Maximus was curious as to why he was making a big deal about his minor injury. Kazuma began to point out he had lost his sense of touch and turned to the others. He signaled for the two to join them.
"What is going on, how come he has a cut and why did he not register it until now?" Aqua asked as Chris looked on with curiosity.
Chris began to bandage up Kazuma's injury and Maximus began to contemplate about their situation.
"Two out of the five ordinary senses humans naturally possess are taken from us. Could it be something about this forest that is causing this to happen?" Maximus was beginning to think and raised his right hand up with his palm facing him. "I still don't feel any of my magic coming back after first losing it. I can only guess that Anti-Magic can last up to an hour at the very least and it does not help I have never fully looked into this status affect. I wonder," He paused his thoughts as he turned to Aqua who had just finished helping Chris patching Kazuma up.
Maximus walked up to her. "Aqua, I need your help with something." He said and began to explain his idea.
"Basically, and if I am right, I can get my magic back and if not, I do have a backup." He said to her.
"What is it you are thinking of doing?" She asked, wondering how she could help him restore his magic.
"It's possible for you to use your Sacred Dispel Spell to cancel out this status effect Anti-Magic puts on anyone struck by it. I have not fully tried it out, however I have been looking into the idea for some time now, ever since I first saw you use it way back. Care to give it a shot?" Maximus asked and Aqua nodded her head.
Aqua stood in front of him and held out her right hand. Moments later a circle formed in between the two.
"Sacred Dispel!" She had shouted despite her words not registering in the ears of everyone present.
The next moment a ray of light shot forth and upon Maximus. Both Chris and Kazuma were wondering what she was doing and just as the light illuminated it was quickly dispersed. Aqua soon felt the same tingling sensation upon her back and black bolts struck her entire body along with the ray of light.
Aqua shouted in pain and Maximus instantly took hold of her and felt the bolts struck him. Both screaming in pain as their bodies felt as though thousands of needles were piercing every inch of their bodies.
Maximus soon pushed her away and to his luck and hunch the bolts stayed attached to him and left Aqua unharmed. She landed on her bum and looked back seeing the black bolts jolting around Maximus' body.
"Maximus!" She shouted in her mind and noticed he was not responding.
Aqua got to her feet and readied another spell.
"NO!" Maximus' voice echoed in her mind to make her stop. "There is no telling if this same attack will happen again. So, what ever you do, don't cast another spell." He ordered.
"But Maximus, what are we going to do?" She asked taking a step towards him with her hands pressed against each other, wondering what she could do.
"I wonder how long this is going to last?" Maximus wondered to himself as his body felt as though it were burning up.
"There is got to be something I can do; I can literally see his skin beginning to bister." Aqua wondered as his screams were now becoming prevalent and they could hear once again.
His echoing screams and grunts echoed loudly throughout the forest as though his powers were beginning to cancel out the magic within the dense forest. Soon after Chris had a terrible feeling and quickly took both Aqua and Kazuma's hands and began to run away.
"What are doing, we have to help him, we cannot just leave him here to die!" Aqua protested.
"There is no time to waste, we need to get as far away from him as possible. If I am right, he is about to unleash his Nephilim powers all around at once. Anything caught within the area, the blast is literally going to destroy everything it touches!" Chris briefly explained and remembered a time when she saw a Nephilim destroy an entire country. "If something like that happens, I may have no choice but to reveal my true form in the hopes of containing him. However, doing that will more than likely cause Aqua to pester me more than before and I am not sure how Kazuma will take it. Perhaps I can tamper with his mind in order to keep my secret safe, unfortunately; Aqua would be most unreasonable." She said to herself and began to think what she would consider should the worst happen.
Maximus' screams began to turn into roars as he was unable to hold back what his body was trying to do.
"Good, I think they are far enough… from me to let… loose. Thank you, Eris, I owe you big on this one." He said to himself.
The next moment a crimson circle appeared before and moved over to instantly transform into a form that was completely opposite to his Angelic Form. His chest had a large oval crimson diamond that formed over where his heart is and round gold diamonds formed over his elbows, knees, and each of his knuckles. His body appeared to have no skin making his muscles visible, and new skin momentarily developed over them, turning to the color of crimson. His entire body began to have features of a dragon as his feet formed three distinct toes with scales growing and hardening.
Over the skin, armor began to form and harden with a scaly appearance making it appear impenetrable. Thick talons, two inches long, extended from Maximus' fingernails. Two large horns formed out the side of his head curving upwards and several smaller horns formed beside them.
His face began to shape a chin blade, and his teeth formed like spears with four sharp fangs that grew longer than the rest of his teeth. Upon his back wings formed liken to a bat's wings, but with scales upon them with the thumb forming razor-sharp bladed spikes and a bladed tail extended from his lower back. His hair on his head turned silver, and when his eyes opened, they were a solid crimson color with silver pupils at the center.
Maximus' armored body protected him from harm and had crimson aura form around him. He could sense the rage quickly building after undergoing such pain and torture. He began to wonder if Maxwell had designed this outcome.
The next moment his rage continued to rise and he began to struggle to keep it under control.
"No, what is causing me to continue to go out of control? I should be able to hold this all back, yet it is building at an accelerated rate. Could this be part of the forests design to cause select people to eventually lose control of themselves outside of losing their senses?" He wondered as he struggled to keeping himself from exploding his powers outward.
Meanwhile, Chris and the others stopped when they reached an opening within the forest and stopped to catch their breath. Aqua quickly turned around in the direction where Maximus was and soon saw a gigantic pillar of crimson aura stretching towards the heavens.
"What is causing that to happen, is it Maximus who is causing that and if so, why do I have a terrible feeling about it, like something that is demonic, is it his demonic side that is the cause?" She wondered as the memories of seeing so much devastation caused by his ancestors flashed in her mind.
She began to remember seeing one Nephilim destroy an entire city by just using his Demonic aura that erupted forth, destroying everything it touched.
Meanwhile, the area around Maximus began to erode and wither the trees, grass, and caused the soil to be corrupt. Everything around him was beginning to die as though the very life was being sucked out of the vegetation around him.
"This is just like the time when I took the soul of Oceanus from his corpse, as though I was feeding off of him in some way. Yet I do not remember fully absorbing him into my power. Could this be another ability my ancestors were capable of doing, using the Demonic side to drain the life out of all around, if so, how is it activated?" He wondered to himself and began to force himself to stay in control but soon felt as though something was taking over.
Maximus could feel his rage wanting to unleash further as the diameter of all around him began to expand further.
Meanwhile, the others began to feel the uneasy aura racing towards them.
"I am afraid I may have no choice but to interfere or else we are finished." Chris said to herself.
The next moment Maximus appeared in the air above them. The three of them saw the Demonic Form floating above and both Aqua and Chris recognized him from watching his previous events on his homeworld.
"What is that, a Demon?" Kazuma wondered and began to quake before his presence.
His eyes took in Maximus' Demonic Form and he soon fell to the ground. His chest had a large oval crimson diamond over where his heart is. He saw round gold diamonds had formed over his elbows, knees, and each of his knuckles. Maximus' crimson was visible through the open areas of his joints. The armor upon his entire body had features of a dragon as his feet had three distinct toes with scales stretching up to his knees, one over the other.
The black had the scaly appearance making it appear impenetrable. Thick talons, two inches long, extended from Maximus' fingernails. Two large horns formed out the side of his head curving upwards and several smaller horns formed beside them. His face began to shape a chin blade, and his teeth formed like spears with four sharp fangs that grew longer than the rest of his teeth.
Upon his back wings formed liken to a bat's wings, but with scales upon them with the thumb forming razor-sharp bladed spikes and a bladed tail extended from his lower back. His hair on his head turned silver. His eyes were a solid crimson, soulless feel, and an evil gaze stared down upon them.
"This is not going to be good; I have no choice now but to contend with him in my true form." Chris said to herself and looked at Aqua and Kazuma who were stunned by the sight. "I wonder if I, being a lower-level Goddess, will be enough to accomplish such a task." She whispered as she turned back up to Maximus, who still remained where he was.
"Maximus, listen to me, you got to get a hold of your senses, please come back to me!" Aqua cried out and soon noticed he did not recognize her nor flinched when her voice cried out. "Are you even in there, why you seem to not recognize me?" She said feeling sad.
"Aqua, I need your help in what is to come, you and I are the only ones capable of taking him on." Chris said shedding her mortal form and into her Goddess attire.
Aqua was caught totally off guard and stared at her for a few moments in shock.
"That is why you acted the way towards me when we first met, you knew who I was the entire time and did not say anything. The nerve of you to go down into the Mortal Realm and sneak around like a dirty thief is both shameful and unforgivable!" Aqua shouted at her with her right index finger pointing at Eris.
"We can argue about that another time, right now, we need to focus our efforts on him. This might be a long shot since you and I are not really trained to handle combat too well, but we are going to have to make the most of it here and now. I know you only have a mortal body with some God like traits, however, it may be enough to contend with him." Eris snapped at her.
"Hmph, whatever, I will say that I am only teaming up with you because our lives are at stake. Do not think I am going to let this go so easily as your superior. Besides, as a high caliber Goddess that I am, this should not be… so… hard." She began to say with a nervous tone.
Aqua's mind began to falter a little.
"I remember seeing the devastation just one of them can wrought upon others, do I really stand a chance against him?" Aqua said to herself and took a big gulp.
Eris stood her ground and the two began to prepare themselves for the fight they were unsure of how it will go down. Kazuma kept frozen until he fainted from the pressure.
