Act V - Life's Pieces
Chapter 49 - Homecoming
The crumbling citadel amongst the unstable abyss clawed away at Eric, his skin cracked while his hands remained glued to the ground, sending floods of spikes to intercept the abominations conjured from the dark below, the rising temperature gathering around the ever-so furious Vex, his own power unable to usurp Eric's.
"You continue to struggle against the inevitable, how pointless." A dark wave of energy shaved the wall apart, the debris showering Eric while he ran up on of their lengths, evading two serpents that bit down on the stone. With a spin, he planted his hand down and pierced both only to be struck by a beam to his side
"I'm very stubborn." Was his reply, coughing hoarsely
"You have been gifted a power you needed no time to control, the very talent imprinted onto your memory," Charron continued, observing Eric as he dipped and dived through-out what remained of the grand architecture. "It's a shame it will be wasted." One solid blast to Eric's chest smashed him into a wall, the top breaking off
Eric was struggling to stand, shadows twisting and energies overflowing in every corner of his mind. "Yeah... yeah, I guess, never liked wasting new experiences, it's why I like the world the way it is," Pushing back to his feet, he wiped the blood from his lips. "Darkness and all."
Charron's eyes hardened, hands trembling from where he stood. "You... pathetic humans ScReWeD eVeRyThInG uP!" He vanished, then Eric felt his insides squash against his back as a fist dug into his stomach, then tossed him across the ground. His eyes shot wide as a dark purple energy gathered in front of his face. "DiE, yOu DeFeCt!"
A chilling blast rippled across his face, the very cracks in the ground frozen by black ice, the frost chilling his already crumbling body as Eric was left to face the endlessness above, monstrosities looming over him. And he laughed, the silence broke to a gentle chuckle, the flakes of his being floating off toward the abyss.
"Commendable, you can still laugh even after all of this?" Both impressed and aggravated by the sound, Charron strolled over to the fallen personality, one that has taken from him the freedom he desperately desired, how futile an action it was. "You act as though you've won."
He stopped laughing, grinning all the same. "Yeah, you're not the only one who can see how the story ends, you'll see," Eric winked. "Kai's always got a trick up his sleeve."
"Does he now..." Charron lowered his hand, watching the particles drift into nothing, then, the serpents vanished too, leaving Eric to watch what could only be described as the stars cover the abyss above. "You can rest now."
"Thaaaanks..." Eric waved weakly, Charron leaving him to his final moments in peace among the stars
Outside the range of the hazardous, volcanic landscape, what remained of the Spire slowly split and fell to ruin, fountains of molten rock and fire spewing from the impacts and reaction with new material to consume. The very hellscape reacted volatile to the earthquake.
After a painfully long time of waiting, the remains of the spire falling into the rubble below, a singular rift split the seams of reality, causing the four who remained to sit up and run toward the crack, hope rising among them. It was then, that in a flash of white light that a body threw itself out of the rift, the black armour stumbling across the stone, before falling to the ground in a crumbling heap of metal, flopping to land on his back.
Sky had made it through the vortex, just at the moment the rift destabilized and imploded, silencing the static to the ambiance of rumbling activity ahead. Coughing, Sky pushed himself to his knees, helmet collapsed as he kept his head low to the ground, tears dripping down onto the fresh ash like rain. His armor flickered and was damaged considerably, but it didn't matter, all that did was the
He ground his teeth. "Eric..."
An image flashed in his mind, to a rare moment when he was happy long ago. He was generally happy, being pushed along by an invisible force that was the steely Iota. Beside him, he could imagine Eric, arm around his neck as he tugged Sky side-to-side as he walked alone, but inside he knew he wasn't. Because the two of them were beside him, always.
Shaken and in pain, he slammed his fists into the now, trembling with anger and sorrow as the four watched as Sky let out a scream so primal that it blocked out the eruptions in front of him. Iota just stopped moving, having fallen to his knees as the realization slammed into his chest, and... he hated it, his chest felt like it twisted at why Sky was the only one present.
"...Eric... he's gone?" Iota flinched at his own words, a statement he never could believe would come to pass, it was simply illogical, and yet... it was. "No..."
Sky, shaken, bit through the tears. "I can't cry... I shouldn't..." He was trying to stand but his energy had all but faded away, he exerted his strength too many times, physically and mentally. "Eric told me to smile... I have to... I have to keep my promise."
A warm hand pulled Sky around to face Summer, herself wiping a few stray tears as she slowly wrapped her arms around his frail body as a mother would for her child, a part of her... maybe. Feeling the warmth of her embrace differ from the flames behind them, his eyes widened, before finally burying his face into her shoulder, arms latching around her back as he let out his frustration of failure.
"Keep smiling through tears,"
Albatross drew the tip of his blade to rest in the ash, hands pressed firmly to the cool metal, his head bowed toward the fire and flames that raged on, a hint of familiarity and sorrow plaguing his mind. The times he felt this way had crossed numerous times, and not a single sacrifice was ever easy, to become apathetic toward such an emotion would be to lose the lash shred of humanity anyone has.
"For a life without light..."
Iota continued to gaze off toward the raging fires, the times the redhead idiot would infuriate him was often met with an oblivious or dumb smile, no matter what he said, Eric would bounce back without even missing a beat, he envied that, the ability to just say, 'So what?', an ability that wasn't so second nature to Iota. Beside him, Amber had knelt down, rubbing his back in slow circles, herself distraught, a wave of anger for the Vex that brought this bittersweet ending.
Sky, despite the tears and that state of emptiness left by Eric's departure, with what strength he had left, and the ideas and the joy left by the personality, he managed a small, toothy smile.
"...has no future."
[A few days later...]
"Are you sure you won't come? Summer..." Sky's mouth was shut by her hand raising to stop him, seeing her adjust her hood over the mask, the modulator converting her voice to a far more robotic tone, one he continued to roll his eyes at, thankfully, she hadn't turned it on yet
"I understand, but with the coordinates from Albatross - thank you, by the way." She motioned to the cyborg
"Anytime!" He was busy packing a few things into a duffle bag
"-But to ensure Charron has been defeated I'll need to observe the hotspot for this rift to the Argus, whatever that is." Summer herself was unsure of why a place named after a northernmost city on Anima was so important, but she was certain the answers lay wherever the coordinates sent her. She then rubbed her arm. "I... also need time... to consider my choice."
That made Sky deflate, wishing he could just have her reunite with Ruby and Yang, but if his life has taught him any valuable lessons, its that no problems are ever solved on wishful thinking. The weeks when he arrived to Remnant were a very good fact to rely on. And ones he frequently became flustered over remembering some of the dumb, and somewhat edgy things he did.
"I understand, I just hope things can go smoothly from now on," Accepting her wish, Summer reached out her hand, and Sky smiled, accepting her shake
"Thank you, Sky, for everything," It was hard for her to truly thank the boy that accepted helping her and to go to such lengths to even bridge the gap she was anxious to fill between her family
"Ditto, 'Specter'," Sky winked, then grimaced at the name. "God... literally anything else, and you chose 'Specter', why?" He demanded, herself chuckling at his response
"I'll have you know it's both mysterious and awesome, 'Sky Zaffre'." He raised a hand at that, then shut his mouth
"I can't rebuke that." Putting his hands on his hips he turned to where Amber and Iota knelt, both under the large oak tree to the side of the large open yard. "In other news... is it done!?"
Iota waved a hand dismissively, Amber handing him a chisel and hammer again. "I'm not Eric, but... there!" He tapped a few times, blowing away the remaining bits of stone as his hand brushed away the remains. "I don't think I did too bad."
"No, it's perfect the way it is." Amber assured him, the two standing back as they approach, equipped for the road ahead. Sitting under the tree was a gravestone carved of the basalt from the volcanic remains of the Spire that had nearly been the end of them and all of Remnant
"I agree," Sky patted his shoulder. "You did good, better than me."
The basalt grave was rectangular and rounded at the top, carved into the face, and marked with white paint were the initials.
Eric Amadeus
"A life without light has no future"
"It took him being pulled apart by the atoms to say something... logical." Iota hummed, shaking his head at how childish, but meaningful his words were
"He was the little kid amongst the three of you," Summer giggled, graciously placing a dark pink rose on the soft soil
"I did not speak with him often, but his charismatic attitude toward anything lightened the mood, and it made it easier to commune with him," Amber too felt sorry for Iota and Sky, and a part of her would genuinely miss their talks. "Despite his eccentric nature, he's a good listener."
"Too good, one might say..." Sky murmured under a small smile
"He'll look after this place while we're gone," Albatross smirked, patting Sky and Iota's backs as a heavy burden lifted from their chests
Their next destination was Haven Academy, their next objective until Summer returned with her findings at Albatross' coordinates was to ensure the Relic of Knowledge was secure since they knew Salem would more than likely target Haven next, given Cinder's group were assigned from said school, it stands for reason the Headmaster may be compromised.
"Alright," Sky sighed, patting the gravestone gently as he assured himself to hold onto his words, his final request for as long as he lived. "Let's keep moving forward." "Until next time, Eric, keep this place together, will ya?"
"Agreed." "Yes, let's." "Armed and Ready!" "Until next time, everyone."
Their group divided, Summer heading down a path that forked, her white cloak flapping in the wind as they took the opposite route, Cognitum and Penny working in tangent to lead them toward Haven in the fastest way possible.
This road of uncertainty continues to wind down dark and sometimes foreboding paths, the truths I've heard and the lies I brought to light are merely stepping stones guiding us toward a speculative future. I've been forced to sacrifice many things to reach this next step on my own journey, and not every choice I've made has been right.
Every waking moment I spend wandering the face of this world I cause damage to its very order, and each alteration to a timeline I have no sense of knowledge continues to fluctuate, giving rise to newer threats. But that won't stop me, somehow, someway I'll find a place I belong in this world, I was born here against destiny's intricate design, I have every right to find out why.
In short, do I believe in Destiny? No, because as far as I'm concerned, Destiny can go fuck itself.
To Be Continued in the next act...
[Credits -"Catch The Moment" | ENGLISH ver | AmaLee]
Short, I know, sorry, but with that, we come to the end of Act/Arc Five! But there is still more to come, and it will take me time to reconfigure Volume 5 to fit the storyline (And generally cleaning up whatever Vol. 5's final act was), so stay tuned! I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next act!
Next Act: Act VI - Kingdom of Lies
Sky's journey is far from over, as the battle for Haven Academy and the Relic of Knowledge looms, not every victory is certain.