“Life is monotonous: Grey, listless, immaterial. Every day is the same, dry routine. Eat, bathe, get dressed, work, come home, eat again, bathe, get dressed, sleep, wake up. Again and again and again. Every day. I can’t remember a time when I last felt… content. It’s so dark, so empty. My mother always said that one must be content with the small comforts in life: Good food, good friends, good hobbies. Yet, I can’t feel anything. This can't possibly be called living. I wonder...does beauty even exist in this mundane world?"
Satanael
———
The Knight
The two silently stare each other down, neither one willing to make the first move. They circle around each other, carefully gauging the strength of their adversary.
This is a foe unlike any other The Knight has faced thus far. Satanael stalks the field, scrutinizing every step and subtle movement The Knight makes. His movement is not of one that seeks strength or to protect others, but of a predator eyeing its prey, and it is willing to do whatever it takes to catch it.
Just like The Knight.
“I can feel it,” he chuckles. “Yes, this is the aura of a kindred spirit. We’re quite alike, aren’t we? I’d love to continue this little pomp and circumstance of ours, but I’m starting to feel a little teased. Just how beautiful will those flowers be once they sprout from your corpse? The mere thought of it is so delectably tantalizing.”
Satanael strikes at the ground, causing a loud explosion of dirt to blanket the air. When it comes down, Satanael is nowhere to be seen, his echoing voice taunting The Knight from every direction.
“This garden is my paradise. None that enter may escape its grasp. You are trapped. Eventually, you will be consumed, and I will make you bloom amidst the dawn.”
An invisible slash attacks The Knight from an unknown direction. It parries at the last second, but each strike is ephemeral in nature, and only the slightest hint of bloodlust serves as an ominous warning. The Knight attempts to rend at the space to reveal the maestro, but the Eclipse stays silent, as if locked in a sealed state.
“Aegis, try to locate the enemy. Sense the surroundings for displaced energy like before,” The Knight quickly commands, fending off the barrage of lacerations.
Aegis attempts to locate the disruptions, but lets out a confused gurgle. The energy in the garden feels strange and foreign, as if it doesn’t belong in this world. Creation won’t respond to his commands and the aura in the garden disorients his senses.
The brief attempt at using Creation alerts Satanael from beyond the veil. He manifests in the air and crosses his arms in a quizzical manner.
“Oh my, is there someone else with you?” Satanael murmurs, his demeanor full of curiosity. “How peculiar. My garden should have dispelled any invisibility sorceries, and yet I can’t feel their essence.”
He chuckles, amused at the enigmatic entity.
“Well, no matter. Your sorcery will not answer you here. Everything in this garden bends to my will. No external forces will sully my flowers; nothing shall muddle my art.”
Satanael’s form begins to shimmer as grotesque masses grow from his body. They wriggle and writhe before falling onto the floor, taking the shape of his image and dancing around The Knight, assaulting it in irregular intervals. There is no rhyme or reason within their attacks, and every clone that is taken down reappears in seconds from the enigmatic maestro above, watching with beguiled amusement.
“Oh my dear madam, you’re not making any progress,” he mocks as the clones continue their assault. “All I need is a single cut, a single slice, and I’ll be able to gaze at your marvelous lifestream. Must you continue to drag this on?”
“I am not here to satisfy your distorted fantasies,” The Knight responds harshly as it deflects another blow. No damage has been inflicted upon it yet, but Satanael’s assault is endless. There must be a way to reach him.
“Distorted? You wound me so. My cause is righteous. It is pure. Unlike the people of this world that seek to flood the earth with murky darkness, I wish to cover the land in light. In beauty. Imagine if every corner was filled with such radiant sights such as this garden. It would be a true paradise.”
The Knight is forced to remain on the defensive with no way out of Satanael’s trap while Aegis cowers on top of its helm, his little body trembling in terror as the sounds of clashing blades ring in his ear. He attempts to push away at the malevolent energy around him, but its influence is too strong. Too chaotic. It is a hostile energy unlike the aura on the outside that has always eagerly answered his call, and its presence wears away at his mind. Eventually the pain becomes too much to bear, and Aegis closes his eyes as exhaustion takes hold.
———
Aegis
Darkness. Emptiness. Aegis floats around in the sea of consciousness before him, unable to make it back to the realm of the living. The space offers sweet comfort, an alluring promise of eternal bliss amidst its dead world, but the baby can’t stay here. The Knight is still out there protecting him. He has to make it back.
Aegis attempts to navigate the void, but every direction leads to nothingness. No light. No sound. No feeling. It threatens to consume the baby’s entire being.
Suddenly, a faint light appears in front of him. It radiates a warm, nostalgic sensation and banishes the void back into its domain. Curiosity overtaking him, Aegis reaches out towards the light and is enveloped in a shimmering cluster of crystals before being taken away from the realm.
The baby is transported into a celestial body of space. Countless lights dot out the surroundings while colors of lustrous purple and blue enter his gaze. An enormous figure floats in the middle of the expanse, its hair made up of galaxies composed together in a long-flowing braid while its skin shines a pristine white. A motherly aura surrounds the figure as it aimlessly drifts through the cosmos.
“Abuu?” Aegis asks, poking his tiny finger against the being’s leg.
It quickly turns around in surprise and gawks at the baby before it.
“Oh my,” the voice booms, echoing within the endless space around them. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a visitor, and such a cute one too!”
The massive being gently picks up the baby with its slender fingers and tickles his tiny belly. Aegis giggles at the touch and babbles excitedly to his new friend.
“What is your name little one?”
“Buu!”
“Aegis? That is a wonderful name. I’m sure that it was picked with lots of love.”
“Ga.”
“Your protector was the one that named you? What are they like?”
“Oah.”
“Well, they sound very much like someone I know! I wonder…”
The being floats around in silence for a bit before a sad, knowing look comes across its face.
“Ah, I see. Oh my beloved… so you’re still chained down by my words even after all this time.”
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“Neh?”
“Your protector is someone that I love very much, but…I will never be able to see them again. I’m dead, after all.
“De!?”
“Haha, yes. I have long since perished. I can only exist within this space between realms, buried in the hearts of children like you. You hold a special piece of me I had to abandon long ago, and my real self has been erased from existence.”
“Oooh…”
“Sad? A little bit. Not because of my death, I chose that of my own accord, but because I was never able to protect my children. Instead, I imprisoned them. I was desperate. Scared. I…I didn’t know what else to do. Your protector was also my protector, but they were never able to get over my death. Now they’re stuck, endlessly fulfilling my last wish. I just want for them to be set free from their burden. For humanity to be set free from their cage.”
“Ba!”
“You’ll help me? Hehe…what a courageous little child you are. The journey will be tough though, and you’ll have to overcome endless hardship along the way. Are you sure you want to continue down this path?”
“Hmph!”
The being gives Aegis a warm smile and gently opens a portal back to the land of the living.
“Thank you, Aegis. Although I can’t grant you any power, I can leave you with a few parting words of advice. Everything you need is already inside you.”
The giant being scoops Aegis up and wraps him in an all-encompassing hug. Aegis feels soothed from its touch, and boundless kindness emanates from its gentle gaze.
“Embrace them, Aegis: The world, the people, pain, joy, everything. Embrace everything. Even if they reject you, loathe you, your love will come through if you embrace them with all your heart. Everything starts off innocent my heroic little child, and though some may walk down the wrong path, it’s never too late to guide them towards the morrow. Be their shepherd, Aegis, and create a world where they may all be free.”
Aegis begins to float towards the portal and he desperately reaches out to the being in an attempt to bring it with him. He doesn’t want to leave it alone in this empty space. Why won’t it come with him?
The being only smiles as it waves the baby goodbye.
“Please pass on this message for me when you become older,” it whispers as Aegis returns back to reality. “I love you. Now, and for eternity.”
———
The Knight
Aegis wakes up from his slumber and, with a determined cry, forcefully pushes back the garden’s energy around him, creating a small circle of influence around The Knight and allowing the baby to use his sorceries once again.
The meeting with the being is vague within his mind, a fleeting dream just out of reach, but its message is clear: The energy around him isn’t foreign. It has always been a part of the world, but it has been twisted through perverted desire. It yearns to be free, so rather than rejecting it, Aegis accepts the garden’s influence within his body and embraces it. It wriggles and squirms amidst his love, but eventually it surrenders, purified of Satanael’s malevolent fetish.
“Wha-Impossible!” Satanael yells with incredulity. “Ho-How did you… but this is my garden. My paradise. I-I am the ruler of this domain. Nothing should be able to bypass my influence. Nothing! Nothing…”
Satanael clutches his head as despair overtakes him, his once thought safe-haven now cruelly molested. It feels like his entire body is being violated as the garden screams out in terror. Aegis doesn’t just bypass the garden’s influence, he is converting it and making the garden his own.
The Knight doesn’t quite understand what is happening, but it takes advantage of the opportunity anyway.
“Now’s the time Aegis!” The Knight commands. “We must soar!”
Aegis closes his eyes and beckons Creation to gather onto The Knight’s back. The energy thrives and expands as it materializes into a pair of translucent, cosmic wings. They are the same color as the baby’s eyes, a snapshot of the skies above.
The two spiral straight into the sky and The Knight slashes at the confused Satanael with The Eclipse, but the greatsword phases through his body as if swiping at water.
Satanael looks at the stunned Knight with muted shock before laughing maniacally in the air, his flustered demeanor from before now recovered.
“Your efforts are in vain,” he growls. “I am emptiness. This projected form is merely an echo of my existence. I remain immaterial, hidden beyond the veil of reality just like your mysterious companion. I know not of what trick was used to grow those wings of yours, but I told you, did I not? Everything in this garden bends to my will. When I want to manifest, it dons my image. When I want to strike, it follows my blade. Even if I have to whittle you down for eons, I will eventually claim my prize.”
Satanael smashes The Knight back onto the land with an invisible force. It crashes onto the flower buds below, trampling the elegant flora into the earth.
“How barbaric of you,” Satanael laments, landing on the ground caressing one of the crushed remains. “You could have easily avoided my flowerbed if you wished. How could you mercilessly take the life of something so innocent just to break your fall?”
”You don’t have the right to talk when you kill for such twisted desires,” The Knight replies as it rises from the earth. The situation is looking bad, and although Aegis has proven that Satanael’s influence can be taken over, it does not know how long it will take for Aegis to become strong enough to force open an exit. It’s willing to endure Satanael’s assault for days if need be, but the castle will soon grow suspicious of its long absence.
”Oh my dear Lorelai… no no no. You must be mistaken, I have never snuffed out a single soul. I am simply shaping them into a form greater than themselves, the chance to turn their hideous visage into something truly breathtaking. I am an artist, not a monster.”
The Knight takes a look before the flowers before them. How many lives has the man taken? How many souls lay trapped in this eternal paradise?
However many it is, it will never reach the depth of The Knight’s sins.
“Unfortunately,” The Knight declares, raising its blade up high. “I am.”
The Knight smashes the earth around it, attempting to create as much destruction as it can. Entire fields are leveled and upturned, turning the once beautiful garden into a scenery of carnage. The dirt and flowers blend together in a sickly amalgamation as The Knight continues its rampage. The maestro is helpless before the demented assault and can only watch on as his domain turns into a wasteland of floral corpses.
Satanael lets out a guttural, animalistic scream at the maddening sight, wailing in agony as he attempts to salvage the remnants of the flowers, his body trembling with disgust. He desperately claws at the ground in a futile attempt to unearth the stained buds from their prison of filth.
“No no no no no. NO!” Satanael shrieks. “Why?! How… how could you!? They were in paradise! They would have lived in happiness for eternity! They were beautiful. I… how am I supposed to live without you… oh my poor little blooms. Please don’t leave me. Not again. I-”
The Knight advances towards the four precious flowers encased in a state of eternity, its blade raised at the glass enclosure while Satanael lays trapped within his squalor.
“I will only tell you once,” The Knight orders. “Cease your transgressions or you will lose what you cherish most.”
Satanael weakly stands up and staggers himself towards The Knight. He collapses, face filled with despair, and obeys its commands. Nothing remains in his eyes but hollow defeat.
“Please,” he mutters. “Don’t take them away. They need me. And… and I need them. They’re all I have. I beg you, even if you must take my life, at least spare them. Let them continue dreaming, forever in eternal bliss. That is all I ask.”
The Knight lowers its blade and gazes down at the shell of a man before it.
Perhaps there will be some gain from this encounter after all.
“From the beginning, I had no intention of harming you. In fact, I have need of your garden.”
“...What?”
The Knight walks towards the ruined field and gazes down at the trampled flowers below.
“Slash at my wrist. But if you try to do anything else, then all of your flowers will be destroyed.”
“Yes…yes. As you command.”
Satanael cuts deeply into The Knight’s wrist and watches in awe as a strange liquid drips out of The Knight’s body. Instead of blood, a liquid nebula of cosmic elixir flows out, as if the essence of the galaxy above is leaking down onto the earth.
The Knight walks upon the field, dripping the liquid down onto the roots of the ruined flowers. It seeps into the ground and the buds begin to flourish back into their former selves filled with transcendent beauty. The entire garden is overflowing with flora once more.
Satanael eyes widen, his voice stunned at the sight of his restored garden. Tears well up in his eyes and he crumples onto the ground in complete surrender.
“Ah… I see. This entire time, I was the ugly one, sullying your divinity with my presence.”
The Knight walks back towards Satanael and pats him on the shoulder, its demeanor now enveloped with a bewitching energy.
“You are special, Satanael. Your skills must not be wasted on this little corner of the world. Your body, your soul, your garden… from now on, you will dedicate everything to me, and I shall lead you towards the beauty you so desire.”
“I… I will do as you say. But for what reason does the symbol of Polus want to take in one such as I?”
The Knight takes off its helm and discards Lorelai’s face. Its eyes begin to squirm and change color while the shapes and contortions of its skin distort into hideous imitations of human appearance. It is a wretched, ghastly display.
Satanael watches on with stunned silence. A quiet chortle escapes his lips before expanding into maniacal laughter, his mind consumed by insanity.
“I was… never the maestro, was I? No, I was merely an insignificant actor. The true playwright was hidden all among, a puppeteer amidst a kingdom of marionettes.”
He regains his posture and prostrates himself before The Knight, submitting himself both in body and soul.
“But if this meager puppet can be of use to your story, then you may use me as you wish. Everything I cherish, it is yours. Now, and for eternity.”