My Calling
Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
MAKAI! Seperates Paragraphs
Chapter 15: Diving in
In the Nether Space...
"Huff! Huff!" Brad, having been scared shiftless by Etna's antics (and the horde of clones), had simply dashed into the ship and punched in the coordinates for the next destination, not even bothering to realize something...
"I'm safe, I'm safe, I'm safe..." These words had become his mantra as his ship sped off toward his next area of investigation.
"Um, sir.." Tikal was doing her best to keep from laughing at the sight of Brad's face. "Y-you forgot something..." Whatever she was about to say next had frozen in her throat as the atmoshpere of the bridge took a nosedive. Chancing a glance to her right, she immediately began backing away.
"Couldn't have forgotten anything... EEP!" He was then literally hoisted off of his feet and spun around, still caught in the grip. It was the fused Radara/Esara, but the look in her... erm, their eyes, made his blood run colder than the Frozen River.
"Thefirstvictimofmywrathsayswhat!"
"Eh, what?" Her look changed from an angry one to a tortuous, somewhat murderous look. "Oh, fu-"
For quite a few miles around, you could hear the sounds of body blows, explosions, and the screams of the one demon who had invoked the women's wrath.
"AAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!"
MAKAI!
"Sometimes, I wonder..." The young man who resembled a humaniod Brad just sighed. "Maybe it was a mistake to give him that level of sentience."
"Ohh, why do you have to say it like that?" The Felynn known as HellStar had wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and appeared to be slightly hovering over him. "Besides, last I remember, you needed someone to keep an eye on the netherworld you created, so, who better than..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get the point." He began to set up a communication channel.
MAKAI!
The Nekomata and the group of Etnas were sitting in front on a television, laughing incredibly hard at the footage Nelius had managed to capture of Brad freaking out. Having rarely seen the male Felynn in such a state, this was a gold mine to them, the Holy Grail (or Unholy Grail, depending on your point of view) of entertainment for them.
Nelius, on the other hand, was walking around the castle with the original Etna, mostly hearing about the miscellaneous things that happened ever since the Veldime conflict.
"Well, that's more or less how Rozalin ended up as Veldime's new Overlord. She's never had any problem bossing others around, so I think she fits the bill pretty well."
"That reminds me.." Nelius jerked his thumb back at the group of Etnas. "How in the Hell did that happen?"
"It involves this weird gemstone I found, a microwave oven, and non-dairy creamer. I ain't saying anything else." Hearing a beep, she took a quick look at her watch. "Well, I gotta go wake up Sleeping Ugly." She turned and headed for the throne room.
'I can't even begin to understand how Brad is afraid of her.' He watched Etna's retreating form. 'Either way, I've got some time to kill until the Walking Fuzzball realizes I'm still here, so, best find something to pass the time.' He considered heading to the kitchen, but a radiating heat in his pocket gained his immediate attention. Reaching in, he extracted the white sphere that had been delivered to him back on Brad's Netherworld. As it hit the open air, a buzzing feeling began to radiate from the Shatter Gauntlet as a small section on the wrist opened up, revealing the black sphere that he'd been given on his first day escaping from Sirea's. Now within special proximity to each other, they began emitting a glow that overtook his sense of sight. When the glow died, the Gauntlet, devoid of its wearer, clattered to the ground.
MAKAI!
"Aaaagggghhhhh.. OOOF!" Another three point landing for Nelius. "Eh, where the hell am I now?" A sign nearby had read 'Depths of the Shatter Gauntlet'. "Great. Now I'll bet there's a camera somewhere around here." He took a look at his surroundings.
Anyone who saw this coming, please raise your hands.
He was standing in the middle of that strange arena he'd seen in that weird vision he had. In each corner of the room stood a pillar of light, each one a different color: red, green, blue, and yellow.
'Suddenly, I'm reminded of a man in blue armor with an arm cannon. Now, which one to take...eh, just pick one and be done with it.' He headed over to the green pillar. Stepping into the green glow, he then found himself standing in what appeared to have been a library or book emporium.
"You've come at last, young Nelius." The person who had addressed Nelius was sitting at a desk. Clothed in red and green magician's robes, he stood to face the young demon, hefting up a thick, leather bound book. His face was gaunt, showing his age. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever travel all this way."
"Who might you be?"
"I am called Rudra, third disciple of Wind Entity Dogma. I, along with three others, were once part of a special team formed by your father." That got Nelius' attention rather quickly. "Yes, he was a truly brilliant mind, able to oversee various operations and situations with such skill and planning..."
"How much about him do you know?"
"Nothing more than what the others already know of him. But, enough of that. Your father somehow forsaw this event, and had each of us place a piece of our souls into this weapon. Now comes the moment we've waited nearly sixteen years for." Opening the book, the pages fluttered as wind mana began collecting onto it.
"Get ready!"
MAKAI!
"Hm? What's this?" A ghost clothed in a green jacket, finding the fallen Shatter Gauntlet on the ground, picked it up. "Don't think I've ever seen this kind of fist weapon before. Must be one Lord Laharl lost. Ah, speak of the devil."
Laharl, like Etna, had shot up over the past 450 years. The once short Overlord now towered over most of his vassals, and the much awaited growth of his wings added to his already behemoth figure. He also had switched out his shorts for a longer pair of red pants, and followed up on that with a new pair of jet black shoes. His golden wrist bracelets and his scarf were the only things that seemed to survive his growth spurt.
"What do you have there, Ghoss?" Laharl noticed his longtime vassal holding the gauntlet.
"Not so sure, really. It was just lying here when I found it. Maybe you can make heads or tails of it." The ghost handed it over to the Overlord.
"Weirdest fist weapon I've ever seen. I doubt I can get any use out of this thing, but maybe one of my other vassals might."
Inside the Shatter Gauntlet...
Nelius dodged between blasts of wind, hoping to see some kind of weakness in Rudra's form. He'd already had a few scars running down his right arm from where a few smaller attacks had hit.
'Damn, these gusts are making things difficult. I have to get past his offense, but how... !!' Dodging another blast of wind, an idea formed in his mind. 'A bit risky, but it might just work.' Dashing forward, he made to lunge at Rudra, before his form turned a hazy violet.
"The Tiger Charge, form 2, huh?" Rudra could see through this. 'I know where you'll end up... here!' Turning around, he fired a blast of wind, but nothing happened. "What in the.." Seeing his own shadow grow in size, the wind mage looked upward, only to get a faceful of Nelius' white-hot fist. The force of the attack sent him skidding on his head, right into a bookshelf, which then collapsed on top of him.
"You all right?" Nelius cautiously approached. Even though they were technically still fighting, he couldn't help but wonder about the state of the elderly demon.
"You win..." Was the only response Nelius got before he found himself standing back in the arena again, though the green pillar had faded away. "I now bequeath unto you my own present." Looking at his left arm, Nelius saw a replica of the weapon he was inside of, but at the side of the wrist, a green node lit up. "Proof of your victory, and the power to use wind mana to its greatest extent."
"One down, three to go. Red, yellow, or blue? Well, nobody gets anywhere on questions alone." He surveyed his remaining choices.
MAKAI!
This chapter helps to mark the countdown to the completion of this fic. I'm not really giving up on this by creating a quick ending, but more or less getting ready to introduce a crossover fic idea that I've had brewing for a few months now.
The only hint I'm really allowed to give is that the series I plan to cross Nelius into does features a demon world, but it's a bit different than how operations go here.
Until next chapter,
Cornell Valentine Gainsborough