DiGata Destroyer

by Runty Grunty

-DISCONTINUED- -Di-Gata Defenders- This follows the tale of the superguardian Crea, a creation of Nazmul and a reincarnation of an ancient goddess of death. In her wake is a trail of devastation as she tries to find her place in Rados. Chapter 8 is up.

7. Venin

I took a long time to get this one done, partly to blame on university work. To those who read this, expect more long delays like this. I probably won't be uploading for half of December (exam time), and I may or may not be able to during the holidays. But as for now, enjoy reading this chapter.

CHAPTER 7: VENIN

The stars and moons shone down upon the cold, desolate sand in a small desert town. There were lights and a loud ruckus coming from a tavern. Out of the shadows, Saturos stepped forward and walked into the tavern. All around there was chaos; a few men were in the middle of a fistfight, while some others were recklessly spilling their drinks from inebriation. Saturos walked up to a table and seated himself. A few people watched him as he walked past them.

After a minute or so, another man in a dark robe walked up to Saturos' table and sat down next to him. The man then said, "The veil of shadows cloaks the sight of all…"

"Except those wrapped in its mystery," Saturos replied, answering the password.

"It is good to see you are well, emissary of the Ethos."

"Did you expect otherwise? You said you had information for me concerning the whereabouts of the destroyer."

"And I keep to that. She is in this very town, actually. I suspect at the moment, she is in the company of the old scientist, Doku."

"Hmm… makes sense." At this moment, Saturos stood up and reached for a pouch on his belt. He handed the pouch to the Ethos agent and said, "Remain at your post for now. You know all the details."

Saturos then turned to leave and walked out of the tavern. As he stood outside, he looked up at the stars and moons. He remarked at how they seemed to make the night imperfect, cutting through the darkness with their light. After a moment, he pushed the thought aside, and strode off into a nearby alley.

-----

The blaring sound of alarms and the flashing of red lights permeated the dark catacombs of Doku's laboratory. All around, there was rubble and broken scrap from security systems. In several corridors, a number of security guards lay on the ground in various locations, wounded or otherwise.

In the main lab, Doku ran inside, scared out of his wits. He quickly shut the massive door and activated a panel next to it. Several metal blast shields slid into place, strengthening the door. Doku then ran back from the door and stopped at a console. He typed away at it frantically, and several blaster turrets readied themselves on the ceiling. As Doku finished, he turned to the blast door, sweat trickling down his face. Despite all he was doing, he knew he was likely a dead man.

After a moment, a large explosion blew the doorway open. Doku shielded his eyes from the blast. As the smoke billowed from the doorway, a figure appeared in the smoke. Immediately, the blaster turrets on the ceiling fired at the figure. As they did, a golden dome of energy appeared, blocking the blaster fire and dispersing the smoke. In the middle of the dome was Crea. Noticing the turrets, Crea systematically aimed a hand at each one and one by one destroyed the blasters with well-placed energy shots. Soon, all the blaster turrets were destroyed.

Crea stood still for a moment as Doku looked on in dismay. She then turned toward him and began slowly walking at him. Doku, almost panicking, raised his mechanical hand and it fired a beam of energy. Crea's shield deflected the beam, and then she quickly fired a small pulse at Doku's mechanical hand. Doku yelped in pain as the metal hand was blown apart and he held the metal stump, as though it were a real hand that had been destroyed.

"Seriously, Doku," said Crea, "is that all you can throw at me? I expected far better from someone like you."

Amidst grunts of pain, Doku said, "I would have made better accommodations were I expecting company, protoform."

"Still insisting on calling me that, old man?"

"That is what you have always been. Despite your power, you are still just a construct of Megalith Sigil energy, nothing like us humans or other species. You may think, feel, and be able to decide like us, but those things are merely constructs as well! Cheap imitations of the real thing, fitting for a– GAK!"

At this point, Crea had walked right up in front of Doku and grabbed him by the neck. She dragged Doku to a pillar and thrust his back to it as he tried to struggle free.

"Nazmul always said despite your genius," said Crea, "you never were that smart."

"Go ahead!" Doku gagged. "Finish it!"

"If I had come here to kill you, you'd be dead already."

"Then, why have you come?!"

"I'm looking for my old man. Where is Nazmul?"

"Gah! Why should I tell you that?!"

"Why? Okay, I'll give you a 'why'. Because I can make this go two ways: one, you could tell me now and make it easy for yourself, or two," Crea held up an energy-charged hand at this point, "I could make this excruciatingly unpleasant."

For a moment, Doku said nothing. Crea then smirked as a surge of energy left her hand and channeled into Doku's body. He screamed in agony as the energy coursed through him, causing unbelievable and unbearable pain.

"Where is Nazmul?!" Crea shouted.

After another moment of screams, Doku yelled, "I– I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!!"

"LIAR!!"

"IT'S THE TRUTH, I SWEAR! NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO LORD NAZMUL SINCE THE MEGALITH'S RETURN!"

Crea, not expecting such a response, stopped surging energy into Doku. He gasped breathlessly and began gasping in pain.

"What do you mean?" Crea growled. "Answer me!"

Amidst his painful breaths, Doku said, "A rumor has passed around recently that Lord Nazmul had been slain by the Di-Gata Defenders. I do not know the details, but the news came from several mercenaries who had seen the rebirth of the Megalith in the Spell Zone."

After a pause, Crea pushed Doku away from her. Doku fell to the ground and clutched his throat, gasping for air. Crea then said, "Nazmul… is dead? And… the Defenders killed him?"

Amidst hoarse breathing, Doku said, "That is the assumption. He has not been seen or heard from in more than a week. The whole Order of Infinis crumbled since Brackus' insurrection. If I didn't hear the news myself, I'd have sworn that Brackus killed Lord Nazmul!"

At this point, Crea's mind began to swell up with anger. Despite knowing the news she had just heard was only a rumor, something inside Crea told her that Nazmul was indeed gone. She had unfinished business with her creator, but now she wouldn't get the chance to see him.

"The Defenders…" Crea said, seething with anger. "They killed him…? The Di-Gata Defenders… they… AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!! DAMMMMMMMMIT!!!"

Crea screamed angrily as energy surged around her, wrecking everything around her and sending Doku sprawling across the floor. For nearly a minute, Crea continued to snarl angrily, unable to accept the fact that she could not exact her retribution on Nazmul. After a moment, Crea finally managed to calm herself down, if only slightly. The energy began to recede and soon vanished.

After a moment, Crea heard Doku chuckle and say, "Incredible…! Your power has surpassed anything I could have imagined. Truly, you were Lord Nazmul's finest creation."

"And yet the old bastard could only see me as a weapon. All he cared about for me was my destructive power, nothing else! And now, I'll never get the chance to pay him back for it!"

Crea stormed out of Doku's inner laboratory, leaving the aged scientist on the floor, thankful to still be alive. Once he was sure Crea was out of earshot, Doku said, "You are so certain of that, Crea? Sad… you know not the truth of Lord Nazmul…"

As Crea continued through the hallways of the dilapidated laboratory, several thoughts continued to race through her mind. She wasn't sure what she was going to do next, since she now could not destroy Nazmul herself. The thought of it still infuriated her, but she managed to keep her rage in check.

Soon, Crea reached the exit to the lab and she entered the cold, dark street. Crea looked up at the night sky and the sight of the stars and moons slightly calmed her. After a moment of watching the sky, she walked out of the town and into the desert. After she was out of sight, a figure walked into the light of the stars from a nearby alleyway. It was Saturos. He grinned as he saw small trails of smoke leave the hallways of Doku's laboratory, concluding that only Crea could have caused such destruction. Noticing her trail of recent footprints in the sand, Saturos began following them into the desert.

-----

Out in the middle of the desert, night was beginning to fade above a small oasis. On a nearby sand dune, Crea walked into view and eyed the oasis. She walked into it and kneeled over next to a pool of water in the middle of it. Crea placed her hand into the water and instantly felt cold rush through her hand.

At that moment, Crea couldn't get Doku's cryptic words out of her head. "You may think, feel, and be able to decide like us, but those things are merely constructs…"

Crea removed her hand from the water and after a moment said, "Why is it I feel things like humans do? Are these feelings even real?"

Crea pondered over the words Doku had said to her. Even though he had been trying to mess with Crea's head, his words were still quite true: she wasn't human. Nazmul had only made her in a human form, but Crea didn't know why. And because she was a fake human, Crea couldn't be sure whether her thoughts or emotions were real or false. If they were false, why did Nazmul give her emotions or the ability to think for herself? The more Crea thought about it, the less it seemed to make sense.

As she continued to think over Doku's words and the concept of her emotions and thoughts, she seated herself next to the pool of water and looked at her reflection. She then said, "Why did you make me like this? You could've made me into something else, something more powerful. So why a human form?"

As Crea finished speaking, she swiped a hand at her reflection, which vanished amidst the ripples of water. Crea turned away from the water and wrapped her arms around her knees. For a while, she continued to sulk over why Nazmul had cursed her with a human body.

Crea then thought back to Nazmul's recordings and recalled Nazmul's words: "The human being is a cunning, clever, and decisive species." The knowledge of such made things come a bit into perspective for Crea; Nazmul had designed her as such because of humanity's intellect and ability of reasoning, instead of using another form that would have relied on raw power or some other advantage. The concept of it both seemed reasonable, yet strange, to Crea. But still, it didn't answer the whole picture; there were surely other beings superior to humans in those regards.

Suddenly, Crea straightened up as she felt a presence approach her. The thing was, Crea had felt this presence before; it had been following her for the past week, but she didn't know who it was. Crea rose quickly to her feet and spun around toward the energy source, inside a set of trees.

"Hmm, how quick of you to notice my presence," came a voice. A man wearing a black hood and cloak stepped out of the tree shadows. It was Saturos.

As Crea looked at Saturos, she felt a strange energy emanating from him. It was like the energy of Sigils, but it wasn't like any Sigil she knew of. Also, his energy was very strong and had a dark aura to it that made Crea slightly uneasy.

Saturos then continued, "I expected no less from you, Cretia."

This surprised Crea, but she hid her surprise as best she could. She then said, "How do you know my name? Whoever the hell you are…"

"Pardon my rudeness. My name is Saturos. I am a servant of a greater power, one that soon will make itself known to the Realm."

"Whatever. What's with you following me for the past week?"

"Hmm… straight to the point. Very well, if you must know, I have been—as you put it—following you, though for longer than you have said. You see, my masters have taken an interest in your unique abilities. They feel that your talents would serve a much greater purpose under their guidance. Until now, I have merely been their eyes and ears concerning the matter, but now I act as a voice for them as well. My masters, the Dark Lords of the Ethos, wish to extend to you an offering to enter our fold. You are clearly a warrior without equal, and with the aid of my masters, surely you would become feared and respected throughout Rados."

There was a short pause, and then to Saturos' surprise, Crea starting laughing. After a moment, Crea then said, "You must not tell them very much. You think I don't know about the Ethos?" Crea's voice then took a far more serious tone as she said, "Let me make this clear to you: I am nobody's servant! My life is my own, and I don't take orders from anyone else. That will never change. Go back to the Ethos and tell them that."

Crea then turned and began to stride away, but then Saturos said, "I had a feeling you would say such a thing. So did my masters, so they gave me another order."

As Saturos finished, he reached for his side and drew his sword. At this moment, Crea turned around and looked as Saturos assumed a stance.

Saturos then said, "They said that if you were to refuse their offer, I am to kill you."

Amused by Saturos' boldness, Crea laughed and then said, "You can't be serious. If you've been following me for so long…" Crea raised a hand at Saturos as she said, "you should know just how dangerous I am."

Crea fired a blast at Saturos. Just before the blast struck, Saturos tilted his sword in front of him and it blocked the shot. Crea was startled by how quickly Saturos had moved; it had only been a few inches away from him when he moved his blade. His reflexes were like lightning, and it was as though he knew exactly where and how to move the sword.

Crea quickly recovered from her surprise and fired several more blasts at Saturos. He deflected a few, showing similar reflexes and movements, but also dodged some with short, quick movements. Irritated, Crea raised her other arm and began to fire pulses more rapidly. Again, Saturos continued to dodge and block impressively. At one instance, Saturos swatted a shot, nearly hitting Crea with the deflected bolt of energy. Crea saw it coming in time and barely dodged the shot, but was forced to stop her attack in the process.

Noticing the look of aggravation on Crea's face, he said, "Not bad… you show an excellent ability to control Sigil energy for your attacks. Your accuracy, however, leaves much to be desired."

Angered by this insult, Crea spread her fingers apart and a pattern appeared lining her arms. She then said, "Dodge this!" Several arcing lights shot out of her arms and streamed toward Saturos.

Saturos narrowly managed to dodge some of the attacks, but realized the shots were following his movements. As he dodged some blasts while deflecting others with his blade, Saturos quickly pulled out a set of shield stones and cast them. Barricade Array! A set blue energy discs appeared before Saturos in a grid and the remaining projectiles hit them, causing very little damage. The small shields began to swirl around Saturos, protecting him from all sides.

Crea stopped her homing attack and spread her arms to her sides. As she did, flames sprouted from her hands, and in a swift movement she threw the two fireballs in flaming arcs at Saturos. One of the fireballs hit the ground in front of him, spreading flames about the area, while the other streaked right at Saturos. Saturos readied his blade and swung it, slicing the fireball in two. The halves passed around him and hit two nearby trees, engulfing them in fire.

As Saturos looked back toward Crea he saw her dash toward him, propelled by an energy burst behind her. A blade of energy formed around Crea's right arm and she swung it at Saturos, but he blocked it with his sword. Almost instantly, Crea swung her left arm, attempting to strike Saturos with her fist. Almost instantly, Saturos reacted by deflecting Crea's fist with his arm, catching her in an awkward position in which she couldn't follow up her attack.

Saturos chuckled amidst grunts and said, "Impressive. But you leave your defenses open as you attack!"

At that moment, Saturos turned his sword arm and pushed forward, forcing Crea's blade away from him. He then swung in an upward motion at Crea, but with a sudden thrust of energy she flew back, freeing herself from Saturos' grip. As Crea stopped a short distance from him, she winced in pain as she clutched her face with her left hand. She then looked at her reflection in the water next to her; there was a long narrow cut running down her left cheek, energy slowly leaking from it. She quickly realized how fortunate she had been to have dodged most of the strike; it otherwise would have cleaved her in two.

Saturos then turned his blade so the flat side faced Crea. The blade had several Henges, some which had part of the new Sigil as part of the Henge, engraved in it. Angered, Crea looked back at Saturos as the wound in her cheek sealed itself with green lights. After looking at the blade, she realized it was enchanted. The wound on her cheek soon vanished, but Crea still winced from the pain for a short moment.

"You're at quite a disadvantage here, Crea. I know everything there is to know about your present powers. But you know nothing about me."

"I know you'll bleed like anyone else!"

Saturos then quickly cast a spell at Crea. Demon Conflagration! A fireball shot at Crea, who quickly performed an energy dash to her left. The shot landed where Crea once was, creating a large explosion. Caught in the blast, Crea flew into a tree, hitting it with a loud thud and falling to her knees. She then clutched her right shoulder; she had several wounds in her side leaking energy. Green lights were steadily repairing the damage, but the pain was stifling.

As Crea slowly stood up, she heard Saturos say, "I believe a man once said: Know thy enemies as well as you know thyself."

"Do you plan to keep talking poetry shit or are you gonna fight?" Crea spat.

Crea, her wounds having sealed up, got to her feet as the energy blade surrounding her right arm vanished. At that moment, Saturos cast another spell. Dark Evisceration! A mass of black energy shot at Crea, who quickly created a barrier in response. The black mass wrapped itself around the glowing dome; Crea could only watch as the energy began to tear her barrier to shreds. Acting quickly, Crea thrust out her arms to her sides and streams of energy surged to her sides, blasting away the dark energy. After a moment, the black bubble surrounding her burst and the dark energy dissipated.

Crea then swung her arms forward as she kicked off the ground and floated sideways, shooting a widespread barrage of energy blasts at Saturos. Saturos raised his sword and blocked several shots with it, while some of his small shields intercepted others. Throughout her attack, Crea slowly closed the gap between herself and Saturos. As she reached him, Crea stopped shooting and quickly swung her left arm in a fist at Saturos' head. He leaned to the side and the blow missed. Then, with his sword arm, Saturos pushed Crea's shoulder in a motion that sent her stumbling forward. Crea recovered then jumped as she quickly swung around in a kick. Unable to dodge, Saturos raised his free arm and blocked the blow with his wrist. Crea sprung off his arm and landed a short distance from Saturos.

At that point, Crea realized Saturos was far more dangerous than she had expected. She had not thought a human could be such a potent enemy, but it seemed as though Saturos was an exception.

"You're starting to piss me off," said Crea.

"Oh, but I'm just getting started, Crea," said Saturos snidely.

At that moment, Saturos pulled out a Guardian stone and cast it. Lerna, Multi-Strike! The massive form of Saturos' hydra guardian appeared before Crea. The guardian hissed loudly at Crea. Then, from its four smoking heads, Lerna spewed streams of dark fire from its mouths at her. Crea thrust her hands forward in a stance, her fingers pointed at the flames. The flames broke away around Crea as they struck her hands, causing little damage. The hydra stopped its flaming attack, but almost instantly its other four heads shifted forward and from their mouths spewed a stream of acid. Crea jumped back, but as she landed she gasped in pain as she stumbled forward and clutched her leg. Part of her leg had been burned by acid, but the wound was already sealing itself. Crea looked back at where she once was and saw the acid burning away the sand beneath it.

As her leg finished repairing, Crea looked up to see two of the hydra's heads rushing at her with their fangs bared. Crea quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. She then leapt to the side as another of the heads lunged at her from above. As she landed, Crea turned just as another head rushed at her, too close to dodge. Crea raised her hands and using her arms and legs she attempted to hold back the hydra's fangs, which were attempting to crush her. As Crea held back the guardian's fangs, she looked into its long throat and saw a red glow brightening in the hydra's mouth.

"Ah, shit…!"

Crea quickly pushed away the upper fangs and kicked away from the snakelike head, which spewed dark flames at the sky. As she flew back, Crea opened her hands and a pair of glowing golden rings of energy appeared in them. Upon landing, she tossed the rings, which struck two of the hydra's necks, severing the heads. As the heads fell to the ground flailing, their stumps leaking green energy, they dematerialized and vanished.

Crea readied herself for whatever would happen next. She then noticed Saturos behind Lerna; he was grinning and laughing silently. Before Crea could determine why, she heard the sound of Lerna hissing loudly and turned toward the guardian. The two stumps that had just had their heads severed were bulging, as though something were about to burst through the skin. The stumps burst open and from each one emerged two new serpent heads on long necks. The guardian now had ten heads.

"Great… just great…"

Lerna once again breathed streams of fire and acid at Crea. Crea jumped back, using an energy boost to increase her distance. Lerna stopped its attack and began to slither forward, its many heads tilted downward menacingly. Crea fired a salvo of pulses at Lerna, aiming for its torso area. As the blasts flew at it, Lerna moved its heads in front of the blasts. Each head intercepted a blast and was destroyed as a result. But just as quickly as they had been blown off, they grew back with new heads. Soon, the hydra had around sixteen snakelike heads.

Behind Lerna, Saturos laughed and shouted, "I'm sure you've heard this one, Crea."

He then snapped his fingers and Lerna spit acid from its mouths upwards. The acid rained down about the area in a widespread spray, like rain, making it impossible to dodge. Crea raised her arms and a barrier appeared which held back the rain. But as the acid rain continued to shower around Crea, Lerna lowered its flaming heads and in unison they sprayed streams of fire directly at her. The streams seemed to converge into one massive fire wave, which struck Crea's barrier.

Crea then heard Saturos shout, "There's strength in numbers, right?"

As Saturos finished, Crea's barrier strained under the power of Lerna's attack and shattered. The full force of the fire stream struck Crea, who screamed as she flew back into the dense trees that made up part of the oasis. Crea fell out of Saturos' sight when she crashed to the ground. Moaning in pain, Crea slowly pushed herself upright. Her body was covered in severe burns and her cape had been incinerated.

Growling, Crea said, "I'm getting really sick of this bastard."

As Crea tried to stand up, energy surges began to spark across her body, and she knelt over in pain. Crea knew her power was weakening.

"Ah… fuck…"

Meanwhile, outside the trees, Saturos turned to his guardian and said, "Smoke her out." The hydra instantly complied, spitting fire at the trees, setting them ablaze.

Inside the trees, Crea looked up to see the flames begin to engulf her cover. Knowing she had to act quickly, Crea thrust a hand at a nearby tree stump. As it touched, her hand began to glow golden and energy began to siphon out of the tree into her body. Shortly afterward, though, flames began to flicker around Crea. She removed her hand and dashed away from the fire.

Crea stopped outside of the tree cover, but out of sight of Saturos and his guardian. Crea knew she was in a tight spot; she hadn't been able to recharge completely from the tree, and Saturos' guardian was a truly dangerous opponent, along with Saturos himself. Crea carefully considered her options; she first thought to retreat for the moment, but just as quickly pushed the thought of such a thing out of her head. Crea wasn't about to run if she could help it. She planned to win the battle.

Nearby the burning trees, Lerna slithered about looking for its prey. Behind the guardian, Saturos looked around the area. He was certain Crea was not down and out yet. Suddenly he heard a loud whooshing sound and turned to see a tornado moving about the area. But the tornado wasn't moving at Saturos or his guardian; rather, it just seemed to be kicking up sand and ash. It didn't take long for Saturos to realize what was going on, but he knew he could not prevent it. Soon, the tornado vanished, and the whole area was covered in a thick cloud of dust, sand and ash. Meanwhile, Lerna looked around in confusion, unable to see anything with its many heads.

Saturos then smiled and shouted, "How clever of you, Crea. But Lerna doesn't need to see you; she can smell you." As Saturos finished, Lerna began flickering its many snake tongues in various directions, attempting to pick up Crea's scent.

A moment passed, but the hydra did not find anything. As his guardian searched around, Saturos looked about, attempting to find any sign of Crea amidst the sand cloud. He then stopped as he heard a faint sound. The sound was barely audible, but it sounded like something was charging up energy. Quickly realizing the threat, Saturos turned back toward his guardian just as a bolt of lightning flew through the sand cloud and struck the hydra. Lerna hissed loudly as the electricity scorched its body and, in a flash of light, the guardian vanished. The hydra's stone reappeared and Saturos caught it in his hand.

"Clever girl," Saturos said to himself.

At this point, Saturos had realized Crea's plot. It was never her intent to use the dust cloud to conceal herself; the cloud was just a trick while she readied an attack. Crea's choice in attacks was obvious to Saturos; no matter where his guardian was hit, a bolt of lightning would have the same effect. Saturos smirked, intrigued by Crea's simple, yet brilliant strategy.

Saturos' train of thought was cut off as several bursts of energy flew forward at him, breaking apart the dust cloud. His shields moved in front and took the blasts, shattering with each hit. The clouds cleared, showing Crea as she ran at Saturos. Saturos cast a spell at her. Arrow of Ethos! A glowing black and red arrow flew at Crea, who swung her left arm at it, an energy blade forming around her arm in mid-swing. The blade sliced the arrow in two, and Crea continued rushing at Saturos. Saturos raised his sword, ready to clash with Crea again.

As Crea neared him, she suddenly swerved to the left, to Saturos' surprise. Crea swung her right hand, which had a golden energy thread coming out of her fingertips, at Saturos. He parried the blow, but Crea quickly swung again and again, putting Saturos on the defensive. She then leapt forward at Saturos, the thread vanishing, and lunged with her blade. Saturos stepped to the side and dodged the blow. Crea pulled back quickly as Saturos countered, blocking his strike with her blade. Saturos then made a series of quick jabs at Crea, all which she blocked with her own blade.

One strike nearly hit Crea in the forehead, but she quickly parried the strike and the blade passed over her head, cutting off a few strands of her long blue hair. Almost instantly after his strike, Saturos cast another spell at Crea. Black Purgatory! A black and crimson fireball flew at Crea's feet, but she saw it coming and a boost of energy thrust her back. As the fireball landed, a pillar of black and red flame erupted. It soon passed; the sand where it had hit was turned to glass.

Crea leapt forward at Saturos again and swung her blade, but again he parried. Just after their blades clashed, Crea thrust out her right hand, which had an energy charge in it. Saturos was left unable to dodge the blow, so his shields moved in front to take the blast. All of Saturos' shields shattered and some of the attack breached the wall they made. Saturos flew back, but in a quick reflex he flipped and landed on his feet. As he stopped, his legs buckled and he knelt on one knee.

"Urgh… damnation…" Saturos hissed, but his voice strangely seemed darker than usual.

Saturos clutched his side with his free hand. There was a scorch mark on the side of his chest, and he breathed hoarsely from the pain. He slowly stood up, but his wound seemed to be affecting him. Crea saw his weakness and charged forward, her sword ready to end Saturos' life. Saturos quickly let go of his wounded side and cast a spell. Twilight Shroud! A black cloud of dense fog instantly spread out, blocking Crea's vision. Crea continued to run at where Saturos was, and as she reached the spot she swung hard with her blade. But the blade hit only air; Saturos was gone. Crea looked about as the dark clouds cleared, but Saturos had seemingly disappeared.

As Crea looked around for Saturos, she heard his echoing voice say, "Another time perhaps. Until then, please stay alive and save me the pleasure of killing you."

Infuriated, Crea shouted, "COWARD! COME BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!"

There was no response. Crea stood for a moment, seething from Saturos' retreat. She could no longer sense his presence; it was as though he vanished into thin air. After a moment, though, Crea calmed down and the blade around her arm vanished.

Suddenly, Crea felt a great weariness wash through her, and she knelt down next to the oasis' pool of water. For a few minutes, Crea stayed on her knees breathing heavily with exhaustion. The fight had taken a great deal out of her and she hadn't even finished it.

"Dammit… a mere human nearly beat me? How could such a weak species be so strong?"

Having some of her strength return to her, Crea's breathing became lighter. She rolled over onto her back, still tired, and lowered her head into the oasis' water pool. The cold water spread about her long blue hair across the surface, but Crea didn't care for the temperature. Too many thoughts were rushing through her head at that moment. She could not understand how Saturos was so powerful, even with the magic of a Sigil she knew nothing about.

Crea then thought she might have underestimated the strength of humanity. For so long, Crea thought humans were an incredibly weak species, and for this reason she could not understand why she had been made in a human's likeness. It had never occurred to her that humans could be exceptionally powerful. The thought of it first seemed preposterous to her, but after thinking about how strong Saturos was, Crea began to think the idea was plausible. She then thought about the Di-Gata Defenders; they were all humans and they were quite strong, especially for ones so young.

"Hmm… humans… are they stronger than I'd thought? Is that why Nazmul made me like this?"

Crea sighed, unsure if it really was Nazmul's reason. Something kept making Crea think that Nazmul had more than one reason for making her like a human. It was at that moment that Crea remembered her thoughts prior to her battle. She had been questioning whether her thoughts and emotions were real or not. For about another half-hour, Crea lay on the sand with her head still in the pool of water, continuing to ponder the subject.

Then, Crea finally said, "Maybe… maybe he would know…"

Crea got to her feet, her energy having returned to her, and then realized how her hair had been drenched. Crea found the cold chill of the water refreshing as it slid down her back, but only for a moment. She ran a hand through her hair, squeezing out the water. As she finished, Crea noticed the sun's first light begin to shine down on the oasis. As the sun shone into her eyes, Crea raised a hand to block the light. After a moment, Crea turned toward the horizon and spread out her arms. A small series of lights swirled around her and a new red cape formed on her back.

Upon finishing, Crea said, "Only one way to find out." Blue lights then surrounded Crea and she vanished in a flash of light.

-----

Back in the desert village, four armed guards, one of them an officer, stood outside the entrance to Doku's lab. Two of them appeared injured; one had a broken arm and a bandaged forehead, while the other had bandages around his ribs. Each one of them was alert, as though expecting something.

After a moment, one of the injured guards turned to his comrades and said, "You know, I have no idea why the hell we're still out here. That girl already tore up the place, for whatever reason, and now we're stationed out here as if the boss thinks she's gonna come back."

"Yeah, what's with that?" said the unharmed guard. "What kind of person would tear apart a place once and then come back to wreck it up again?"

"Seriously, I can't believe I'm doing this. Little bitch broke my arm with one hit, but all I get are these crummy bandages. I'll be lucky if I can ever move this arm again."

"You said it," the second injured guard said amidst grunts of pain. "I'm going to be sore for months. But at least she probably won't trouble us anymore."

"See, that's my point," said the first injured guard. "If she's not coming back, why are we standing guard out here as if she were? It's stupid."

"No more complaints out of you maggots," said the officer. "We're out here because it's Master Doku's orders. He wants us to guard the entrance, so that's what we're gonna do. Understood?"

"Yes sir," the other three guards said in unison. They then settled down, amidst grumbling.

A moment later a set of flickering blue lights began to appear before the entrance to the lab. The second injured guard saw the lights as they converged on a single spot.

"Hey!" he said curiously. "Hey, guys! Look at that!"

The other guards turned to watch as the blue lights massed together. As they massed, there was a flash of light as Crea warped in. The guards instantly recoiled in horror at the sight of her.

Crea, noticing the guards, said, "Hi there."

After a brief pause, the guards regained their composure and pointed their blaster rifles at Crea. In a quick movement, Crea swung an arm and shot several small pulses at the guards. Each shot struck the guards' blasters, knocking them out of their hands. As Crea lowered her arm, she walked forward at the guards. The subordinate guards fled, but the officer merely stood as he watched his comrades flee. As he turned back to Crea, she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him toward her.

As the officer struggled to escape, Crea said, "Where's your boss? He and I need to have a little chat."

"Haven't you made my life miserable enough already, protoform?" came Doku's crooked voice, though it was somewhat distorted.

Crea looked up and saw Doku's face on a video screen, staring down at her. His expression was of both disdain and irritation. Crea knew, however, that Doku was trying very hard to hide his fear of her.

"I wasn't aware that I was making things worse for you, Doku," said Crea. "You already seem to be wallowing away in that hole of yours."

"What do you want from me? I already told you, Lord Nazmul is gone."

"This isn't about Nazmul, old man. There's something else I need to know. About myself…"

Doku paused for a moment, and then said, "Ahh… I see…"

At that moment, Crea turned as a glowing green portal appeared near her and Doku walked out of it, flanked by two armed guards. After a moment, Crea smiled and released her grip on the officer's neck. As he fell to the ground, the officer scrambled away in a panic, vanishing inside the laboratory entrance.

"You were in charge of regular analysis and study over me when I was just Nazmul's pet project," said Crea. "As such, you'd be just the person to provide the answers I'm looking for."

"Then ask away, protoform," said Doku.

The two guards behind Doku looked at each other, not knowing what was going on. Crea noticed them and said, "First, they leave. This is between you and me."

Doku paused for a moment, then turned and gestured his guards away. Obeying, the guards entered the portal and vanished. The portal closed behind them. As soon as they were gone, Doku turned back towards Crea.

Crea then said, "I want to know the truth about what you said earlier. About me, my mind, my emotions. Is what you said about me true? Are my thoughts and feelings artificial, like my body?"

Doku did not say anything for a moment, only humming in thought as he stroked his beard. Then, he said, "That is a question for which I too was unsure of the answer for a time. That is, until that day…"

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm… you must not remember it. When Lord Nazmul first created you, you were like some mindless demon. All you knew how to do was fight and kill. Lord Nazmul's magic was really the only thing that kept you from destroying everything around you. Despite your seemingly mindless nature, however, you did show some initiative in terms of adapting to certain combat situations. Still, you were nothing like you are today. For one, you did not have that insufferable arrogance."

Doku looked at Crea at this point, as though expecting retribution for his insult. Instead, though, Crea smiled in amusement and said, "Go on."

"Hmm, um, yes. For the first few weeks of analysis on you, it was assumed that your mentality would be much like that of a machine's. Easily controlled and without originality. Yet my studies slowly made me doubt you would be like that. You showed… a sort of cleverness in combat, much like a Lord of Infinis would. For example, if you couldn't defeat an enemy through sheer force, you would exploit a weak point in your target's defenses. Some of the ways you fought were truly marvelous."

"Get to the point already."

"Ah yes, of course. About three weeks after Lord Nazmul created you, I was in the middle of one of your diagnostic tests. I'm sure you remember them."

"How could I forget?"

"It was after the diagnostic that some rather intriguing occurred. As I was making my report, I noticed you toying with some of the lab tools. You handled it quite carelessly, injuring yourself in the process. Though you quickly repaired the damage that was not what interested me. Curiously, you had felt the injury. You had felt pain. "

Neither one of the two said anything for a moment. Then Crea said, "How are you so sure?"

"I could tell from the look in your eyes and your expression. It was so… human."

Crea took this news with surprise. Even though her memory had been returned to her, she could not remember such a thing. Nazmul's entries on her never mentioned something like that. It was a little hard to believe, but a part of Crea thought it was true.

After a moment, Crea said, "How come that was never mentioned in Nazmul's files? I read them only a short while ago at his keep."

Doku sighed and then said, "Despite my loyalty to Lord Nazmul, I felt it was best he did not know all the details on such a development. After all, he was making you into a weapon of war. I feared that such news would have thrown the project in jeopardy and that Lord Nazmul would have disposed of you. I did not want to see such effort go to waste, so I kept such a development from him."

"Nazmul was no fool. You couldn't have kept something like that from him for long."

"How true. Lord Nazmul found out quickly during one of your combat routines. You quickly showed that you could feel pain. However, Lord Nazmul's reaction was far different from what I had expected. In fact, such a development pleased him. Though I am not completely sure, I have one idea as to why that was…"

"Why…?"

Doku hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Perhaps Lord Nazmul saw you… as if you were his own child."

"What…?"

"He was always so proud when you made progress in the labs. He seemed to have some joy in watching your power grow. But when you rebelled and fled his keep, I saw something in him I had never seen before… shame."

"Shame?"

"Perhaps he was ashamed of your rebellion, or that his enchantments had failed to keep you in check. As I said, I am not sure. It is merely a suspicion on my part. That is something only Lord Nazmul would have known."

"And now he's gone… I guess I'll never be sure… just as I don't know "

The two were silent for a moment, then Doku walked up to Crea and said, "Crea, despite how Lord Nazmul may have made you, or why he made you the way you are, one thing is a fact in it all. Your mind is your own, and nothing that I, Lord Nazmul, or anyone else could do will change that. You are your own individual being, like us all."

Crea looked directly at Doku, not expecting such wisdom from him. From what she could remember, Doku had always been a scientific person, brilliant, but not necessarily wise. The wisdom of his words surprised her; they had great meaning.

Crea shut her eyes and smiled as she said, "Thank you, Lord Doku. I've learned what I needed to know."

Crea opened her eyes and then turned toward the street. As she started walking down the street, Crea added, "I won't trouble you any further."

As Crea walked down the sand-covered street, she heard Doku say, "Hold on." Crea turned around to see Doku pull out a strange device from his belt. He then presented it to Crea and said, "Take this visor. Perhaps it will be useful for whatever future you have planned."

"Why give it to me, Doku? You know what I'll do with it."

"Consider it a gift. But please, I ask one thing of you."

"And what is that?"

"If you should cross paths with the Di-Gata Defenders, please make their deaths particularly agonizing."

Crea paused for a moment, and then walked over to Doku. She took the visor device in her hand, which began to glow a golden light. The visor soon dispersed into small white lights, which entered Crea's body. As the process finished, Doku smiled.

Crea then turned back to the street and said, "How I'll deal with the Defenders is up to me. But I may take up that request, if I feel like it."

Crea then strode off into the street as Doku watched. After a moment, blue lights surrounded Crea, and she vanished. As the last of the lights disappeared, Doku tapped a button on his mechanical hand, and a green portal opened next to him. He entered the portal, which closed behind him.

-----

Out in the desert, Saturos breathed heavily as he nursed his wounds. The battle with Crea had taken its toll on him, but he had been through worse. But it wasn't his wounds that frustrated him; he cursed himself for being careless in his fight. He had misjudged Crea's strength and paid for it. But the idea of an eventual second chance against her tempered his frustration.

Saturos removed a small vial from his belt and quickly drank its contents. He then tossed aside the vial, which shattered on the rocky floor. As the vial's contents coursed through his body, Saturos' burns and injuries faded away, healing with incredible speed. As his wounds vanished, Saturos held out his hand and shut his eyes. A glowing black and violet sphere appeared in his hand, soon forming into a crystal orb. As he focused, the orb filled with dark clouds, which soon parted, revealing Saturos' masters.

"How fares your pursuit of the destroyer?" said the first Ethos.

"My lords," Saturos said amidst stifled grunts. "Crea has refused our offer."

"That is unfortunate," said the second Ethos.

"I suspected as such," the third Ethos said to his counterparts, "yet you would not heed my warning! The girl is far too powerful! She must be destroyed!"

"Regrettably," said Saturos, "Crea is far more powerful than I had expected. I was unable to defeat her…"

Growling, the first Ethos said, "You may have doomed us all, Saturos! With her as our enemy, she may ruin everything!"

"Only if given the proper motivation, my lord. She may be hostile towards me, but she does not necessarily seek our destruction. Moreover…"

At that moment, Saturos produced a small vial from his belt, presenting it to the orb. It contained a few strands of dark blue hair.

"We may not require her allegiance to us," Saturos finished.

After a pause, the second Ethos said, "Well done, Blade of Ethos. Such an asset will serve our purposes suitably. Have it returned to us immediately then continue your observations of the girl."

"As you wish, my lords."

"May the darkness of Ethos guide your path," said the third Ethos.

Dark clouds enveloped the image in the orb, and then there was nothing. The orb vanished from Saturos' hand, and he pocketed the vial containing Crea's preserved hairs. As he began to leave, he grunted in pain and quickly grabbed the side of his chest where Crea had struck him.

A moment later, Saturos said, "Clever girl… clever indeed."

Recovering, Saturos wrapped his cloak around him and vanished. Across the vast sands of the desert, only Saturos' footprints hinted at his destination.

END OF CHAPTER 7

Reviews are appreciated. I had to really shift around this chapter from its original form.