Selene Lion and Azeena Videll - two women about to engage in the most important historic event in the past 200 years of present day, seen by none except themselves. The pending battle will truly be glorious and worthy of story and song, passed down to future generations, as the Norn would probably say on the subject. But at the moment, such things are far from Selene's mind. Azeena quickly came up with an idea.

"You prepare some normal arrows and fire one at the dragon's chest. That will distract it to you. I'll be sprinting along the side and leap at its head, impaling my greatsword into it."

Selene liked what she was hearing. "Ah, a blow to the heart and the brain. Sounds like a plan to me." Without another word, Azeena turned and ran off further along the hillside, activating the 'Retreat' skill to increase her speed, but without actually saying it.

Selene reached behind to her quiver and pulls out an arrow. As she sets it in place on the bow, she noticed it was one of the crystal arrows instead. She quickly set it aside and reached for another. It was also a crystal arrow. Selene pulled her quiver around to see what was in it. To her surprise, only crystal arrows were inside. That couldn't be right. She swore that she packed some regular ones along. Glancing around, Selene saw her regular arrows in the ocean, swept away in the waves. They fell out of the quiver when stumbling out of the time portal earlier.

She muttered a few curses, unheard by Azeena who was nearing the end of the hilltop edge. Selene only had 4 crystal arrows, which were intended for Zhaitan, not some lesser creature. But there was no choice. She prepares one of the crystal arrows in the bow and raises the Kudzu bow to aim for the dragon's chest. Running out of time, she pulls the string back and fires the arrow with haste. At almost the same moment, Azeena is now at the edge and leaps off, activating 'Leap of Faith', greatsword raised up high to strike downward. The arrow strikes true, hitting the upper chest where the heart is believed to be.

"Yes!" Selene yelled with confidence.

But in the middle of Azeena's leap, the dragon reacted to the chest blow by jerking the head off to one side, away from Azeena. With no time to react herself, the sword instead plunges into the side of its long neck.

Selene's confidence and smile rapidly faded. "What? No!"

She contemplated using a second arrow but did not want to waste them. Given the angle the greatsword thrust into the dragon's neck, it became stuck and Azeena had no way of removing it. So all she could do is hold on the hilt and pray not to slip off. Selene knew she must get her normal arrows to deal enough damage to cripple the beast further. As she was about to do just that, the crystals in both the arrow and greatsword begin to activate and glow.

Selene noticed this and didn't understand why. This is not Zhaitan... why are they activating now?, she thought.

Azeena could also see the crystal's magic beginning to build up as well. She shared Selene's confusion but struggled to maintain her hold on the weapon. But then, a strange sensation began to creep its way through Azeena's hands and slowly up her forearms. Something wasn't right about this whole plan. As the crystal's power increased more and more, the dragon was also definitely affected by it. Its normal appearance began to change and even grow larger. As a whole, it was mutating into something different, even showing characteristics seen in undead abominations. By this time, Selene's normal arrows were lost to the ocean and can no longer be retrieved. It didn't take long to figure out exactly what it was becoming.

Selene is in surprised shock. "By the Six, it can't be," she muttered. But to her horror, her worst fears were confirmed.

Zhaitan.

It was Zhaitan all along.

Unknown to history, it was the two of them that made the elder dragon the way that present time remembers it. However, unknown to even them, the crystals were not performing their designed function properly. The greatsword crystal was absorbing dark magic energy as intended but it was also being absorbed into Azeena herself. The crystal arrow was not absorbing at all. instead, it was amplifying the energy, making it far more powerful.

Without warning but still in the middle of metamorphosis, Zhaitan unleashed a massive energy wave from itself, meant to purge the two that attacked it. Azeena lost her grip on the sword as they were both knocked back with tremendous force. The impact from the wave also struck both manipulators simultaneously, causing not only more damage to them but sent a power surge that triggered the timejump sequence, which was supposed to be a manual function. Selene and Azeena were forced out of this time period as Zhaitan screams with a demonic roar, nearing the transformation's end.

1085 AE

134 years before Zaitan's Awakening

In the eerie and mysterious realm known as the Tomb Of The Primeval Kings, a powerful evil entity is being buried. Or at least, trying to bury it.

A group of warriors, ritualists and elder mystics were struggling to finish closing the tomb's large coverpiece. The tomb in question is the size of a large closet, big enough for several persons to enter while standing. Just a few more inches before it will be fully closed and the mystics can begin with the incantations that will seal the tomb, while mystic forged chains would then be secured around it.

On the other side of the coverpiece is a small petite female monk of Tyrian origin, bruised and cut from untold battles, pushing back with every ounce of strength her enhanced body can muster. Her armor is that of the Elite Sunspear style, popular in the lands of Elona, colored red with white trim. The pupils of the monk's eyes were also glowing red as a result of the evil energy she possesses. No one is exactly quite sure how she acquired it. What truly mattered is she is the biggest threat to all of Tyria at the time and must be sealed away forever.

Inside the tomb, behind the monk, another figure appeared from a barely visible time portal. It is Azeena. Unlike before, the portal quickly closed as she fell back against the rear of the tomb, waiting for the dizziness to end. Her body was searing with painful mystical energy. No one else present was aware of this unforeseen arrival, not even the monk. Her entire attention was focused on getting out of this predicament and slay her would-be captors.

With her head now clearing, Azeena took a moment to attempt to comprehend where she was and what was happening. Her skin was slowly becoming more pale than usual as a result of the energy absorbed from Zhaitan, including her eyes. But then, an urge quickly built up inside of her. Despite trying to calm herself, it became overpowering and consumed her mind. Azeena was developing an uncontrollable urge to kill. Without thinking, she reached forward and wrapped her left arm around the monk's throat, pulling her back in the tomb, choking her. The team outside finally succeeded in closing the tomb as the mystics quickly began their part while they had the chance.

Inside the tomb, the monk attempted to pull free while gasping for air. There was only one option that guaranteed her freedom, a skill known as the Signet Of Judgment, her most powerful weapon. In this dark form, the energy channeled from the signet and out the palm of her hand is devastating, and no defense has yet to succeed against it. She mentally willed the beginning of the buildup phase, which only took a few seconds to complete. The monk raised her right hand and positioned the palm to face behind her head with the intention of blasting the attacker's head off.

Azeena did not even seem to notice or care. All she could think about was killing the monk. The tomb had now been fully sealed and can no longer be opened from the inside.

Right as the signet's power would be unleashed, Azeena grabbed her wrist with her free right hand and moved the monk's palm to point at her own head instead. In a blinding yet extremely powerful flash, the entire interior of the tomb was filled with dark magic energy with power levels just about equal to Zhaitan itself. The incantations on the tomb prevented it from imploding and also neutralized the sound where no one on the outside could hear it.

The signet carried out its function with the same result as many times before. The target had been vaporized into ash. However, in a strange twist of events, the guardian was not harmed. Her body, now infused with the powers of both Zhaitan and the crystal, absorbed this new energy like a sponge. Just like what happened earlier with Zhaitan, the VM timejump sequence had been triggered once more. This time, forward into the future and present day.

Little did she know that the monk was actually an ancestor of hers. The first matriarch of her own family heritage. Azeena Videl... her great-grandmother.