Chapter 15

Volcano Travels

Entering the monastery with Shania, I found myself surprisingly met not with distrust and criticism (well, not on the surface anyway) but rather a sense of pride and accomplishment. That is to say that Garreg Mach's denizens were not disappointed by my destroying the green Chaos Emerald but rather joy and praise. Specifically, I saw the Champions of Hyrule, the Ouroboros and the Emblems bursting out spontaneously into joy, as if they were pleased that I had destroyed the Emerald. "Look who's come- the man who had the courage to do what we couldn't.", Mio said. "Indeed, Mimi. Maybe he can help us to destroy the other 6 too.", Sena said excitedly. "To be honest, I thought there was something dodgy about the Emeralds too. It was almost as if they were fake; just digital illusions. Sparking good illusions, though.", Noah said. "I'm sorry, but what do you mean?", I asked. "Never you mind.", Revali said. "Uh, I think it's actually quite important that I know. That way I'll be able to know if a Chaos Emerald is either the real deal or a fake.", I said. "Still though, to actually think that you were able to destroy a fake Emerald without us actually telling you. Impressive.", Ike said. Suddenly I was warped back to Mahag Saar, only to find myself outside a mysterious desert temple. I walked inside, finding a dark red portal and a lean man in red armour with pale skin, white hair and purple cracks all over his face; he also had red eyes. On his temples were two purple energy horns that seemed as if they were made of purple fire. The man turned to me. "So, thou art the person whom hath destroyed the green Chaos Emerald.", he said. "Who are you?", I asked. "I have no name; I am but two days old. Just kidding, you can call me Z.", the man said. "What, like the last letter of the English alphabet?", I asked. "I am the leader of Moebius, also known as the Consuls. I see that thou hath met four of my Consuls already: Consul B, formerly known as Blanc, Consul G, formerly known as Goldmary, Consul I, formerly known as Ivy and Consul X. The latter is to me like my own daughter; a holy servant of the God of Aionios. For all Consuls art holy servants of mine, working to ensure the Endless Now wherein all life shalt existeth forevermore.", Z continued. "And I take it you want to recruit me?", I asked. Z smiled at this before saying, "Thou art correct. Thy holy duty should thou accept it is to serve and protect the Endless Now as Consul J, the successor of the previous holder known as Joran.", Z replied. "I'm sorry, I really am, but I don't think I'll be able to.", I said. "Why not?", Z asked. "Thing is, I might or might not have immortality so I might not be able to die and accept your offer.", I replied. "It seems thy parents warned thee well.", Z said. "Come again?", I said. "Long before yon birth, the world of Nintentopia was threatened by a being calling itself YHVH. The being waged six wars- the War of the Celestials, the War of the Crystals, the War of Shadows, the War of the Emblems, the War of Heroes and the War of Demons before waging the seventh and current war, the War of the Worlds. Said wars were recorded in the Book of Histories upon which we Consuls were called upon to protect. Your parents meanwhile were warned of us and they in turn warned you; it seems they succeeded in protecting you.", Z explained.

Before I could pester him anymore, I found myself in the castle where I met Shulk and Rex. Walking over to the throne room, I felt the pain in my right eye act up again. Subsequently, I saw a vision of well myself sleeping in my bed, but I seemed ever so still. I saw the door open with Alphen, Shionne, Rinwell, Law, Kisara and Dohalim walking through, with the six walking over to my unconscious body very gingerly; Shionne in particular stroked my short light brown hair as Rinwell examined my room with a careful curiosity. The vision then faded, giving way to a stone chamber with eight crystalline chairs; Clive, Yumi, Shiden, Eunie, Tager and Byleth were sitting on six of them whilst another was occupied by a man with short spiky blonde hair and blue eyes wearing white and blue knight armour; the eighth meanwhile was empty. "It seems that the Dominant of Phoenix is in that world. Wouldn't you say too, Flynn?", Eunie asked the blonde man. "Yes, it seems that the Dominant of Phoenix was not born here in Nintentopia. He seems to have been born on Earth; why he was born there I don't know.", Flynn replied. "No matter. Us seven Dominants are still capable of outnumbering him and overpowering him with our Eikons; not to mention how Clive can use the power of all eight.", Tager said. "Still, we must be careful that our powers do not unmake us so we don't lose sight of ourselves.", Yumi said. "Typical of the Dominant of Shiva. But still, you make a good point. After all, the power of the Eikons is not strictly ours to abuse as we see fit.", Byleth said.

Suddenly, that vision faded as well. I found myself in the Sovereign Empire's chapel where Sanctus was waiting. I approached him gingerly, only for Sanctus to say, "So you've finally realised it. Yes, Clive, Eunie, Yumi, Tager, Shiden, Byleth and Flynn are seven of the eight Dominants we know of. Respectively, they're the Dominants of Ifrit, Garuda, Shiva, Titan, Ramuh, Odin and Bahamut. But we still have no idea where Phoenix is.". "Have you tried sensing its power?", I asked. "Well, that's the thing- though Phoenix certainly is an Eikon, we believe that it's more…cosmic than the other 7. It's not that we can't sense it, it's more that it's too powerful for us to pick up without overloading our sensors.", Sanctus replied.

Walking out of the chapel, I then received another vision- this time of a dark dragon with a split nose fighting a red dragon with a multicoloured bosom. This vision gave way to the dark dragon appearing to corrupt several of Garreg Mach's denizens with Z in attendance; this was followed up in turn by those same heroes being told vaguely that they wouldn't need to worry about holding on to their morality any longer. As I pondered why this might be the case, I then found myself in an extremely snowy town. I wandered the town, arriving at a strange and sinister cathedral. I nervously approached the door before I heard Veyle behind me again, saying, "You want to learn why you're having these visions, don't you? If only for me, please, enter Destinea Cathedral. You'll find your answers there.". Suddenly, Veyle disappeared. Steeling myself for anything, I entered the cathedral, only to find a statue of that split-nosed dragon. Sensing a sinister aura from it, I then saw a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing magenta armour praying to the statue. "Please, Lord Naga, grant us thy wisdom and dark power and allow us to triumph over good in thy name. Please, Lord Naga, grant us the strength to turn all those who resist thy infinite wisdom to thee forevermore. I pray to thee, Lord Naga.", the girl said. I approached her, wondering why she was praying to a strange statue; as if sensing my presence, she perked up and turned around to face me. Getting a clearer look of face, I noticed that her right eye was covered by her hair. "What brings you to Elusia, friend?", she asked. "Hi, I was having these strange visions and I was wondering if you knew why.", I said. "By the way, my name's Marni.", the girl said. Approaching the statue, I experienced a rush of terrifying and corrupt energy from it; the energy coalesced into a foggy and vague vision of the Champions, the Emblems and Ouroboros being subjected to the energy alongside many more. The vision faded as quickly as it appeared; terrified, I found myself breathing very heavily, as though I'd seen a similar scene before. "You OK?", Marni asked. "No, I'm terrified.", I said. "Well, not everyone reacts the same to the power of the Silent Core. I was terrified too before Z showed me another path; afterwards, I learned to love the dark power emanating from it.", Marni replied. The pain in my right eye acted up again; this time, the pain was nearly unbearable. "Poor you.", Veyle said behind me, now speaking with a certainly deeper and more sinister voice than before. I turned around only to see Veyle wearing a black dress alongside a sinister crown on her head; not to mention her eyes were also red now. I also couldn't help but notice that she was also wearing heavy dark purple eyeshadow alongside dark purple lipstick. "Veyle, were you corrupted by the Silent Core's power too?", I asked. "Oh, Heavens no. I am the Fell Princess; the daughter of the Fell Dragon Sombron. And now, Dr. Maruki and Sanctus helped me remember my purpose in bringing the world of Nintentopia to its darkest hour. Darkness will cover the light and good will fall to evil. But in order for me to fulfil my purpose as the Fell Princess, you need to fulfil your purpose as the key and destroy the Chaos Emeralds. That's why we were searching for them, after all- to destroy them and tear down the barrier between dimensions. And after we do so, you will take your place as the key and bring us through to your world too so the Multiverse shall drown in darkness.", Veyle said. "And this Sombron fellow, is he also part of Nintentopia too?", I asked. "Oh no. Father came from another world; all that matters to him is finding the Emblem of Foundations and reuniting with it.", Veyle replied. "But even then, extradimensional beings like you will also lead Lord Sombron to the Emblem of Foundations anyway. I just know that you will.", Marnie said.

Running out of Destinea Cathedral in a panic, I then found myself back in the hospital ward where Ivy was waiting for me. Nepgear was alongside her, looking ahead with a vacant look in her eyes. "It seems you've met Marni and Her Highness the Fell Princess. Wonderful.", Ivy said. "Ivy, be honest with me. Why do I keep finding myself here in this ward?", I asked. "Why, it was the ward I spent time in with Alfred, Diamant and Timerra as Dr. Maruki assured us that we wouldn't need to worry about being heroic anymore. What I remember afterwards was going to Destinea Cathedral where Z was waiting to have us reborn. Or at least that's what I thought happened anyway.", Ivy said. "It's just that when I came into contact with the Silent Core's energy, I felt that something different had happened instead. Like maybe you made a deal with Z behind your sister's back in a bid to protect her only for her to become corrupted too. Your sister becoming corrupted by the Silent Core made your deal with Z null and void, but since you had already made the deal you had no choice to submit to him and become Consul I. Is that what happened?", I said. "Yes, that's right. But still, Hortensia was unable to properly synergise with the Silent Core's power; I had her delivered to this ward and uploaded into Cyber Space so she had a safe space to recover.", Ivy replied.

Before I could get further clarification on why Ivy made a deal with Z to become part of Moebius, I found myself at Garreg Mach again. "So you've returned to us. I had no doubt you would anyway.", Neptune said. "Come now, Neptune, Jack had already returned to us when he first came to Nintentopia. Now we know that he'll make a good Consul.", Micaiah said. "Wait, why are you so adamant to have me help you destroy the Multiverse?", I asked. "Ah yes, about that. Say you knew someone who was trapped in an infinite time loop and every loop he experienced had his life become significantly worse each time the loop was reset. And the people he knows absolutely grieve to see him suffer so much. So in order to protect him, the people who know him decide to destroy the loop with everything they have only to see him acting very strangely each time. That's why we tried to help you every time, but you seemed as though you didn't need it. So that's why we're going to destroy the Multiverse; so you won't have to suffer ever again.", Taion said.

Suddenly, I then found myself on a rocky path leading to a giant volcano. As I walked along the path, I then had another vision- this time it was of me following Mio into a dark room. "Congratulations on your inauguration as the Thirteenth Mage Hero. Many people try to aim for the position but they often fail. So I'd like to say I'm very impressed.", Mio said. "But still, why are we entering a dark room?", I asked. "There's just one thing that I need to confirm with you. Well two things actually, but we'll cross that bridge when the time comes.", Mio said. As I followed her into the chamber, Mio then closed the door and locked it tight. Walking over to me, Mio then looked into my eyes intently. Her left eye glowed with a sinister red light. Looking deeply at me, she then said, "Look into my eyes, deep into my eyes.". Transfixed, I felt my body freeze up. "Jack Sebastian Arnold,", Mio said, "do you promise to stop YHVH no matter the cost and to never side with his forces no matter the circumstances?". "I do. I promise to stop YHVH no matter the cost and to stop his forces no matter the circumstances.", I replied. "Good. Really good.", Mio said. The vision then changed to another one- now I was in a room with the Ouroboros after a long and hard day of training. "That'll be enough for now. Still, that match with Taion was really something, wasn't it, love? I didn't know you had such a fierce fighting spirit.", Eunie said. "Yeah, I guess so.", I said. "So, maybe you've now realised the reason why we called you here in the first place. If not, then maybe you really do have memory problems.", Lanz said. "Come on, Lanz, it's not like he has a choice when it comes to amnesia.", Taion said. "Still, why is it you called me here?", I asked. Walking up to me, Noah asked, "Jack, can you keep a promise?". "Yeah, I can.", I replied. "In that case,", Noah said, "we fear that we've been infected with a substance capable of corrupting us and turning us into monsters. Now, in the worst case scenario if we are turned truly evil, we want you to promise to stop us and the other Chosen. To reiterate: we want you to promise to stop us and the Chosen if we ever turn evil. I'm not saying that we ever will, just make sure to promise that if we do turn evil, we want you stop us. Promise that you will, please.". "Yes. I promise that I will stop you and the other Chosen if you ever turn evil.", I said. Just as I made the promise, I felt a strange sensation within me, as if I was now bound to fulfil the promise, no matter what it took.

Suddenly, the vision gave way to a destroyed city. I looked around the area, noticing the hefty amount of rubble and devastation. All around me were dying angelic monstrosities; some human, some animalistic, some botanical. I walked forward nervously, ready for what might happen. I then noticed a heavily injured man and rushed over to him. I asked him, "Hi. Do you know what happened here?". Looking up at me, he then screamed and ran away. That vision gave to another- now I found myself in a strange training room where I saw myself oddly- the other me was manipulating small pebbles and making them levitate through controlling gravity. The vision then changed to the other me forming an unfocused sword out of orange energy whilst being monitored by Ragna. "Seems your powers haven't fully awakened yet. No matter. They'll awaken in time as long as you keep training.", Ragna said.

Warping back to the volcanic path, I then saw the four Archangels again. "That piece of filth had the audacity to insult our lord by surviving.", Michael said with a condescending sneer. "If only that thing hadn't been born then our Lord who art in Heaven would have succeeded with the Ascension Project and acquired true dominion over all life in the Multiverse. But no, that abomination had to interfere and threaten our Lord.", Gabriel said. I was confused at this; why would YHVH and the Chosen have the same goal if they were apparently at odds with each other? Maybe they were never at odds to begin with, I thought. Before I could catch up to them, the Archangels then disappeared through a radiant gold portal. "Wait, they can enter and leave Cyber Space at will?", I asked. "Indeed they can. So could our Lord, but you found a way to bind him to this realm.", Z said behind me. "What do you mean?", I asked. "Well, on your final loop in this world, YHVH attacked you whence you were 11 years old. He did so in an attempt to free Cyber Space of your sinful presence but you fought back, binding him to Cyber Space and crippling him beyond measure. We tried all we could to heal him but all attempts failed. We have no idea what injured him so.", Z explained. "Still, he was trying to kill me. I have no regrets with what I did to that thing.", I said. Z sighed before walking away.

As the pain in my right eye had greatly cleared up by now, I continued up the path whilst I mulled over what the Ascension Project's true purpose was. As I reflected on what the completed project could potentially mean for humanity itself, I encountered a giant white dragon that looked somewhat avian. "N-nice dragon.", I said, nervous. As the dragon turned to look at me, she said, "Oh, my son. Why did you have to leave me so soon?". "Uh, can I help you?", I asked. Before the dragon could respond, she then leapt into the air and flew away. Undeterred, I continued making my way to the volcano. As I did so, I had a strange feeling in the back of my mind, as if this had been happening multiple times over (not me going to the volcano, but the world's history looping over and over whenever YHVH encountered something he didn't like). Entering a volcanic tunnel, I saw a mural of six heroes led by a white samurai wielding a giant sword fighting a black beast; accompanying them were seven other figures (a man wielding red mechanical gauntlets, a catgirl, a young man with blonde hair wielding a mechanised backpack, a woman with auburn hair with a staff that doubled as a lute, a man with long blonde hair and a mechanical arm wielding a giant mechanical sword, a man with short brown hair and a scar over his left eye wielding two swords and a girl with dark skin and long white hair wielding a red katana); I had a feeling that I'd seen them before in my memories.

Moving on, I found myself at a volcanic altar with three red mechanical swords surrounding it in a triangle formation; moving closer to the swords, I sensed a strange feeling that I had also seen those swords before, but from where I didn't know. "So, you have seen the Veiled Sword and the twin Monados. Excellent.", a voice said behind me. I turned around to see a man with tan skin, shoulder length silver hair and silver eyes wearing a dark blue hoodie and grey trousers. "Excuse me, but who are you?", I asked. "Even my Driver has forgotten me. Seems your amnesia is much more severe than I had predicted. My name is Alvis.", the man said. "Nice to meet you, Alvis. By the way, what do you mean by Driver?", I asked. "Never you mind. Just focus on clearing your amnesia.", Alvis said before vanishing. Walking up to the altar, I then found myself in a volcanic arena where Sanctus was waiting for me.

The story continues in the next chapter.