Chapter 2

Guest- Well, the story is eventually going to take place in the Fairy Tail verse, but I wanted to show how they got there first. So, yeah.

Akakiru- Yeah, not a lot of people actually like the End Times. If it isn't because of the world ending, it's because of how awfully written the books were.

Athel Loren

If there was one place in the entire world that could be described as confusing, then Athel Loren would be a contender for that. For navigating the forest was mind numbing at best and hazardous at worse. The forest spirits that live in Athel Loren were highly territorial and will destroy any that dare harm the forest of Athel Loren. And that wasn't even considering the other inhabitants. Elves. But these elves were not like those found in fairy tales or from those that have experience with dealing with elves. These elves were far more feral, yet also more controlled than their other kin. These were the Wood Elves, or Asrai in their own dialect.

In many ways, they were a sort of balance between the other two main elven sub-faction, the High Elves, the Asur, and the Dark Elves, the Druchii. They possess the savagery and drive of the Dark Elves, but also the discipline and vast knowledge of the High elves without their drawbacks. The Dark Elves are inherently selfish despoilers that see everything, even their own kin, as things to satiate their endless drive for pleasure. And the High Elves were arrogant to an extreme degree, seeing them as the ultimate defenders of the world, regardless of their dwindling numbers preventing them from becoming so. The Asrai, for the most part, don't have such problems with such weakness, in fact, many embrace them, seeing it as a part of themselves and to not acknowledge it as such will bring doom to them. Many, Asrai, then, among other reasons, are disgusted or distrustful of their more decadent or arrogant kin.

That is not to say the Wood Elves were perfect, no. In some cases, they were just as bad with their flaws as those of the Asur and Druchii. Their isolationism and distrust of nearly all but themselves and the forest has been the bane of many of their allies, mainly the Empire of man and Bretonnia, another kingdom of man that is known for the powerful knights. One too many man settlements and caravans have disappeared mysteriously for venturing in or close to the forest of Athel Loren. And then there were the countless times where the Asrai young would kill man, not because of an act against the forest of Athel Loren, but because of the thrill it gave them. It if weren't for the number of other foes the Empire of man and Bretonnia had to fight constantly, and for the aid the Asrai gave them occasionally against said foes, then an expedition would have been doubtlessly sent to eradicate them. Whether they would succeed is debatable though as the Asrai would fight to the death to protect their precious home and the forest spirits within.

But, on this day, none of that mattered. On this day, the Wood Elves of Athel Loren are committed to accomplishing a goal that will save not just the forest, but the entire world. Not that many Wood Elves actually cared about the later. As said before, they only cared about their home and themselves, just like any other Elf.

It's there, the forest of Athel Loren, where Arahan and Naestra were traversing with their prize in hand, navigating the harsh and dense terrain of Athel Loren, having done so many time throughout their lives. Their destination, the very heart of Athel Loren, the Oak of Ages, where the Immortal queen of the Asrai was waiting for them to conduct whatever she has planned for the child that Naestra was carrying in her arms.

As the two traversed the thick woods, Naestra prayed to Isha, the goddess of fertility and nature, that what Ariel has planned will not involve killing the child. It was not his fault that he was born as the destroyer of the world. And she refused to believe this child is forever destined to be said destroyer.

She firmly believed that, with the right guidance and nurturer, the child can instead become a protector of the world instead of a destroyer. Arahan didn't believe it and thought the child's fate had been sealed the moment he had been born. Even if he could potentially change, her sister refused to believe that it was worth the world in changing one individual. The risk was too great. While she could understand her sister's position, she believed they should at least try. If her sister was correct and the child can't change, then she'll be satisfied knowing that they at least tried to change the boy's fate.

That being said, if Ariel thought the boy's fate was unchangeable, she would have ordered them to kill the boy when she had instructed them to find him. So, she must have something else in mind for the child.

Eventually, the two arrived to the Oak of Age, where, to their surprise, Lady Ariel herself was waiting for them near the heart of the Oak of Ages, in her war aspect form.

With this form, she was twice as tall as a normal elf, massive butterfly-like wings sprout from her back along with moth-like antennas for eyebrows. She only adopted such a form when trouble had come to the forest of Athel Loren and yet, during their travel here, they found no war host assembled anywhere. No large gathering of Waystalkers of Wild riders was assembled anywhere. The Eternal guard were present in their normal positions, watching virginity for any sign of danger. Even the forest felt safe, as safe as it can be. So, why was Ariel in her war aspect form?

The two maidens, however, didn't ask such a question. Instead, the two kneeled before their queen.

"Raise my children." Said Ariel, her voice deep with power. As the two maidens rose to their feet, Ariel looked at the child in Naestra's arms. "I see you have accomplished your task."

"Yes, my queen." Said Naestra before looking down at the child. "We've successfully retrieved the child and have brought him before you." She then offered the sleeping, how the child managed to sleep through everything was a mystery to Naestra, but she was glad of it for she doubted Arahan will be very tolerate of it crying, child towards Ariel, who let out a smile of relief.

"Good." Said Ariel before taking the child in her arms. "Then we can begin." With that, she gestured for the two maidens to accompany her, which they did with earnest. "As you both know, this child will bring about the destruction of this world if left alone. He will bring about the coming of Chaos' final victory over this world and, with it, the destruction of the forest. That cannot be allowed to happen. And thus, in order to prevent such a calamity, we must alter his fate."

"If that is the case, why not just kill the child?" Asked Arahan as she walked at the left side of Ariel with Naestra on the right, which was also the directions where their masks were placed. "Just kill the child and prevent that calamity from happening that way." Naestra looked angered at that statement, but stayed her tongue. If Ariel believed that was the best course of action, she had no choice but to obey. However, to her silent relief, Ariel spoke against such a decision.

"If only it was that simple." Said Ariel. "Even if we slay the child, another will simply take it's place as the destined destroyer of this world. For you see, this child is a spawn of the demon prince, Be'lakor." Upon hearing that, the two maidens were stunned and stopped momentarily to catch themselves.

They knew of the daemon prince Be'lakor. How he came to be the first of his kind. A demon prince.

Long ago, long before even elves were splintered to what they are today, the world was ruled by Chaos. Daemons were running amok, killing or despoiling anything they pleased, nothing effectively stopping them from doing so. And in top of the chain was the daemon Be'lakor. He wasn't always a demon, however.

Once, he had been a mortal man of the race of men. But through sheer depravity and cruelty, he managed to attract the attention of the four Chaos gods. And through these acts, the Chaos gods decided to grant him a powerful boon. They transformed him from a man of flesh and bone to a being of pure magic and power, becoming the first of his kind, a daemon prince, a mortal that had went above and beyond the demands of the Chaos Gods and have been gifted immortality and great power in the form of being transformed into a daemon of Chaos.

Through this new power, Be'lakor ruled the world, turning aside any resistance to the rule of the Chaos gods with but a fraction of his power. So powerful was the first daemon prince that it was said that the Chaos gods feared his rising power that they stripped him of most of his given power and banished him from existence after the elves, back when they were whole, created the great vortex, a magical maelstrom created by the great elven mage, Caledor Dragontamer, which siphoned the excess magic in the world and banished the Daemons from this plane of existence for without sufficient winds of magic, the Daemons can't manifest into this world without some sort of host. Since then, there have been no signs of the first daemon prince. There had been other daemon princes after him, most from the race of men, especially those from Norsca, but there have been no signs of the Be'lakor since the great vortex. At least until now.

"This child is a spawn of a daemon prince and a woman of man?" Asked Naestra, feeling sorry for the woman that Be'lakor forced himself upon. She already did when she learned of the rape, but to hear it was from the mighty daemon prince Be'lakor, it was tragic to hear.

"So, this child is a daemon spawn as well." Commented Arahan as she glared at the child, her disgust with it increased even more. "But that still doesn't answer the question, my queen. Why not just kill the spawn now and be done with it?"

"I'm afraid that all that will accomplish is merely handing the task of destroying the world to another." Said Ariel. "Be'lakor, upon learning of the death of this child, will simply create another. I've seen visions of what will happen if we kill this child, Arahan. The same thing will happen. The destruction of this world. Only by another being, this one being far more protected than this child. It was only through sheer luck and Be'lakor's arrogance that we managed to steal this child from him. He will not allow us to steal another from him again. That is why, before I've made my plan, I spent weeks in the Oak of Ages, trying to act ponder on how to best act on what my visions had given us. Then, just mere days before the birth of this child, I reached to the conclusion that we shouldn't kill this child. No, instead, we need to nurture this child ourselves. To become a protector of life, not it's destroyer. That is why, we need to become it's caretakers, instead of the men of the Empire. Though they are the best defense in this world against the Chaos menace, they are also it's greatest champions as well. And easy to corrupt as well. It will not take Be'lakor much or any chaos daemon for that matter, to set this child on the path that'll lead to this world's destruction if he stays in the world of men. At least, the ones here."

"What do you mean, my queen?" Asked Naestra, confused at what she meant at the ones here.

"I mean that, in order for this child to abandon the path he is destined to become, he must be taken to a place where the influence of Chaos is not present. But at the same time, he must be around his own kind as well. To fully appreciate his own race and not be ashamed of the other half of his being as well as to lead them into future battles if my plan succeeds." Explained Ariel. "That is why, I created a ritual that'll take this boy away from this world so that he won't be influenced by Chaos. To a world where Chaos hasn't yet touched it. If all goes well, then he'll either become a champion against Chaos or will become someone that'll never heard or become influenced by Chaos, thus never becoming this world's destroyer." Both maidens were silent as they processed this. It seemed like a solid plan, but there was two things that they felt needed to be answered.

"It sounds like a sound enough plan, my queen, but what prevents the daemon Be'lakor from simply spawning another child to become the next Everchosen of Chaos?" Asked Naestra, her voice full of worry that what they plan to do will be all for naught.

"And what will make sure that this daemon spawn will become what you desire?" Asked Arahan, her voice containing skepticism at the chances of this plan from succeeding.

"To answer the first question, nothing can prevent Be'lakor from doing so." Said Ariel. "However, I suspect Be'lakor will be focusing on requiring this child than creating a new spawn to become the next Everchosen. His pride, much like other demons, is one of his greatest weaknesses. However, should he attempt to spawn another child to become the next Everchosen, I'll have our most talented hunters kill or take the spawn from him like we did with this one. It's not a perfect solution, but that is all we can do. As for the next," She then closed her eyes and both Arahan and Naestra can feel pain coursing through their queen as if what she had to say hurt her. "I'm afraid that, in order to ensure, or at least keep an eye on the boy so he won't become a threat to the Asari or this world, I must order you two, the Sisters of Twilight, to go with him and become his caretakers." Upon hearing that, both maidens widened their eyes in shock.

Naestra and Arahan, more commonly known as the Sisters of Twilight to the Asrai, were the most trusted emissaries of Ariel herself. They were the ones that represented her when she was out tending to the Oak of Ages. They had been the ones that accomplished tasks that the Immortal Queen deemed unfit for any other. And they are the ones that she considered, above all other Asrai, to be her children. And now she was sending them out to some unknown realm away from the rest of the Asrai, potentially never seeing them again ever.

Their origins were a bit of a mystery to all but the Immortal queen herself. To the rest of the Asrai, they just appeared out of nowhere and stated they were the representatives of Ariel. It was only due to the word of Orion, the king of the Asrai, were they allowed to be taken seriously until Ariel returned to officially christen them as her maidens and emissaries.

To some, they were an elf maiden that had been split into two by Athel Loren to better serve the forest. Others say that they were the darkest and lightest parts of Ariel made manifest, split off from the queen so that neither can no longer dominate her being as they have in the past. And others say they were simply Ariel's daughters, making them princesses of Athel Loren. Whatever it was, only Ariel and the Sisters of Twilight themselves know and they rather keep it that way. So, to have them be separated from Athel Loren and their queen, possibly forever, was something neither wished to be done to them. Ariel, however, was not budging on her decision.

"I know that this decision is hard for you as it is for me, but this must be done." Said Ariel. "The boy must not become the next Everchosen of Chaos. And if he must live, then he must become a protector of life, rather than a destroyer of it. As a result, he needs caretakers that can both teach him and protect him until the time is right. And what better ones to do so then you two. Naestra, you can teach him how to value life and to teach him why he must protect it. Arahan, you can teach him how to fight and help him acquire the will to do what must be done to defeat his enemies. Both of you together can teach him the things that he needs to both stray from his path of destruction and to make him a champion of life. So, as your queen, I order you both to do this, potentially final, order from me and take this child under your wing. Is that understood?" Though both were reluctant to do so, they nodded.

"We will do this. For Athel Loren. For Queen Ariel." Said the two in unison. Ariel smiled a bit at that before handing the child to Naestra, who took the boy earnestly. Arahan looked at the boy in both disgust and reluctance acceptance at having to taking care of the child.

"Will be bring our fare companions to this, Ariel?" Asked Naestra with hope in her voice. She was referring to their mounts, the Great Eagle Gwindalor and the Forest dragon Ceithin-Har. They had been with them since the beginning and neither of them wanted to part with them and hoped they could bring them with them. To their relief, Ariel nodded.

"Yes, I will allow it." Said Ariel. "It will be wrong of me to separate such a strong bond between you and the dragon and eagle. Inform them to arrive here within a week. In the meantime, make whatever preparations you both believe you need to prepare you for your journey. I must stress that you must pack any and all things that you may want or require. There is no room for seconds guessing." The two nodded at them before departing with the child in tow so they can make the preparations they needed to do for their journey and quest.

A week later

"Are you sure that we may never see each other again, queen Ariel?" Asked Naestra as she, along with Arahan and their mounts, both Gwindalor and Ceithin-Har, were standing in a large circle made by Ariel herself. On Ceithin-Har and Gwindalor were a number of large bags of supplies for their journey, from simple food to mementos to help them remember their old home. The dragon was clearly unhappy that he was carrying more than Gwindalor, but a few words from Arahan, who had the stronger connection to the dragon than Naestra, was enough to make him bear with it for the time being.

"There is a strong possibility that it is, my dear." Said Ariel as she looked at her handmaidens with a hint of sorrow in her voice before she conducted the ritual that will take them away from Athel Loren and from here. "However, I have made this for you all to take." She then brought out three amulets, all three containing a green emerald in the center. "If I link these to all of you, I will know if you all are alive and well. I can also use them to sense where you are to begin a ritual of teleportation to bring you back here, but only if you make the proper arrangements to do so. I have placed the necessary ingredients and materials needed to do such arrangements as well as instructions in here." She then brought out a small bag, to which Naestra took in one hand along with the amulets. The other was busy holding the child they were tasked with protecting and nurturing. Ever since he was placed in their care, Naestra had been the one that had to deal with taking care of the child. Arahan refused to even so much as look at the child as it stayed in their home with them. She may have been ordered to teach and nurture the child by queen Ariel, but she refused to do anything but teach it. After all, Naestra can do the nurturing. She was the gentle one. As a result, while Arahan had little, if any, love for the child, Naestra did.

Upon taking care of the child, she began to feel attached to it. Despite knowing what dark fate it will have should they fail, she couldn't help but feel motherly around the child. It still possessed the innocence that every newborn had. Truly, if she didn't knew any better, she would have thought the child was just a normal child of man. There was no indication of it's relations to daemon kind nor any indication of it's dark fate.

It had beautiful brown eyes, a common thing for men, and it acted just like any newborn. It cried when hungry. It giggled when happy and it slept like a newborn. Truthfully, it pained her to know it's true origins, but it also made her more determined to see that it doesn't become the next Everchosen of Chaos.

Once she was certain the Sisters of Twilight had everything they needed, Ariel spoke again.

"Before I conduct this ritual, know that you both have always made me proud and you'll continue to do so." Said Ariel. That caused the two maidens to smile a bit at the queen before saying they won't fail. With that, Ariel then began to conduct the ritual. As the ritual was underway, Ariel was praying internally to Isha that her plan will work and that the world will be saved from destruction. Soon, the ritual was complete and the group was teleported safely away from this world. To nurture the child and to steer him away from his dark fate.