Rias pendragon
I sat alone on the citadel's limestone-carved wall facing the open ocean and the bay behind the throne room. Feeling the warm ocean breeze I hadn’t noticed Artoria approach me from the stairs that led up from the orchid. It may have been because she wasn’t wearing her armour or the fact her abyssal sorcery masked all the sound her body made. In the corner of my eyes, I saw her long blonde hair blow in the wind as she came close. We both watched the open ocean that calmly moved, the tide like a beautiful and graceful waltz.
“I never knew something could be so beautiful.” Her words were quiet barely audible. She stared towards the ocean where the sun's rays flipped the sky's hue, making the sea go from a colour similar to a transparent blue diamond to something like a chemical-made flame with a rich yellow pigment.
“Sorry to disturb you Rias but we have something important to show you.” Lithran spoke walking towards me with a large piece of red embroidered fabric bundled up in his hand. Without needing to ask he gave me the piece of fabric. “I can’t make sense of it but when I showed it to Ciaran, she told me to give it to you immediately saying it's important.” Taking the fabric from him completely I opened it against the wind, placing it down onto my lap.
“Well fuck… when will I ever be able to catch a fucking break.” I groaned igniting the banner without a second thought.
“What is it?” Artoria and Lithran both asked seeing the burning banner be taken away by the wind directly towards the golden ocean. In my head, the sea turned to blackened gold, a mess of floating bodies being consumed by the slumbering elder leviathan Orochi. It was a good thing that Ciaran told Lithran to bring the banner to me directly, I knew whose banner it was, what the bloody thing meant to us Talos gods. my current banner which was a remade version of my old banner meaning ‘under rays of gold and burning stars’. This red banner meant something else, something darker.
It didn’t belong to castil, it belonged to our sister the Talos pantheon’s goddess of blood warfare.
“Hey, Artura. Your face looks troublesome.”
“This banner where was it found?” I asked jumping up from the wall. I grabbed Lithran who became worried by my face that turned to expectation of horror.
“According to my elf informant, it was found in a cave far below Onrath’s kingdom of Riel even further below the rebel camps. What does it mean?” He asked as I dropped my hands off him as the memories flooded back the ones I wanted to forget… the memories I repressed that Ciaran forced herself to also forget. As quickly as I could, my feet began to move into a run. I ran from the wall. A few times rift step was used for quicker traveling of distance. Continuing to move fast people began to wonder what was going on asking Lithran and Artoria for an answer. They didn’t have one as they themselves had no idea either as to what the banner meant, even if they did, they might not think much of it. Just a relic from a bygone era, I on the other hand felt the fabric’s weight and smelt its newly cleaned state. The fresh blood that still plagues the sewn black embroidery fan in the centre.
I kept running and running past Nue, past Cirilla and Elinore even Talia who seemed worried by my face. Quickening my pace even more I ran to where I thought Ciaran could be, Talia began to follow then Cirilla then Elinore. All wondering why I was in such a hurry. Why I was showing the fact I was genuinely scared, why I’m worried. I turned street after street past people who recognised me well until I reached the place I hoped wasn’t filled with corpses.
“Ciaran!” I shouted running towards the secret warp gate that was set up for emergencies seeing her talking to a guard who was barely clinging to life. Before she could look toward me, a crazed knight clad in red jumped through the portal swinging his blade down. My head began to pound with the overloading of my emotions, Ciaran on instinct protected herself from the first crazed knight yet another after another came through the portal. With no choice but to use rift-step which would risk everyone’s health, I dashed sinking my elven black blade into one. Grabbing hold of the other I held his throat firmly. He began to laugh speaking in the ancient tongue.
“The mistress will raise and bring ruin to you all, all hail the mother Sin!” The crazed knight chuckled through the increasingly firm grip I was having on his jugular with my bio-mechanical hand. ‘Marin if you don’t mind.’ through my extensive research with my own power somehow there was a way that me and Marin could switch as the owner of the body, this was only possible because we had the identical soul. unlike me and artura, the body treated me and Marin the same which should be right whereas me and Artura aren’t. ‘We are the same but aren’t because Artura I as artura could never utilize the fragments’. Artura not to mention she couldn’t talk to me.
“Cut the shit you fucking weasel! Tell me where the fuck my sister is and why the fuck your around or I’ll torch your ass until you do.” Using my body my voice along with my appearance changed, obviously only my hair colour did in the appearance area. My voice became more dark, ethereal and all-round terrifying. The crazed knight’s tone changed trying to wrestle free from the grip Marin currently had on him.
“I’ll tell you don’t kill me please!” He pleaded trying to push himself away from the wall, having no room to move for herself, Marin dropped the crazed knight letting me take control again. Placing my boot on his chest to make sure he wouldn’t move he began to speak knowing his life was running out of time either from me killing him or my sister doing it from afar. “Below Onrath’s kingdom of Riel I don’t know where exactly… please let me live. We retain our memories but anything we do she controls, some let it happen willingly she uses an obelisk its-.”
“Red. Like the one hanging from Amaranth’s cathedral ceiling?” Using a lower tone I began to question his words wanting to make sure if the obelisk was red and he confirmed this by shaking his head vigorously motioning yes. This meant two things. One the clergy somehow knew where my former sister was maybe even who she was. The second thing being the red obelisk hanging from the cathedral’s ceiling was a blood siphon.
“Please fill us in.” Cirilla interjected waving her hand to Ciaran who just pulled her moonlight blade out of a Crazed knight who attacked her.
“It means the goddess of insanity or blood warfare is roaming free beneath Riel using the blood siphon obelisk to probably heal herself and well siphon the life of anyone who isn’t part of the church for example the Riel royal family.” I replied picking the remaining knight up to his knees. Dragging him across the floor by his knees, he scrambled in my grip even trying to pull away as I made him look at his companions.
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“Who were they?”
“They were just children taken from their families by the church… I helped them willingly at first as a holy knight. Please don’t kill me!” he pleaded. The crazed knight still struggling growing weak in my grip, I slowly began to let go of him. He soon ran towards the portal without looking back. Just as his fingers touched the warp gate Luna bit down on his leg forcing him to the ground, pulling him back. She dug even deeper with her teeth breaking his leg. His pained cry resounded throughout the area.
“I hope you realize that you aren’t a holy knight when you kidnap children and turn them into feral cannibals. How long has this been going on?” Talia asked seeing the knight trying ever so hard to heal or seal this wound with his magic. He didn’t answer through his pained screams feeling Luna’s bite seconds after she removed her teeth, and the adrenaline wore off.
“Answer her!” Luna barked showing her blood-covered maw that just so happened to scare the hell out of everyone in the vicinity. Her gentle warm voice was now replaced by a fierce tone filled with hate that matched my own, in response to her emotions her fur changed colour becoming blood red. Black flames spat out from her eyes.
“… since the great fall of the religions. Mistress has been consuming life since then!”
“Tha-that was five thousand years ago. When Sophra and Gawain defected. Who is in charge of this?!” Talia exclaimed placing her hands on her stomach thinking what I probably was.
“Arch-bishop Gawain and your grandmother. Ev-even the Queen consort, they are in charge of it.” When the words left the knight’s mouth I turned to see Talia bow her head trying to mask her tears, the crazed knight on the other hand began to laugh manically like he truly was insane. Not wanting to speak, more things arose than I had expected Gawain for the five thousand years was probably still alive in his original body. And well Talia’s grandmother is just a terrible person for cursing her but also kidnapping children for a few thousand years at least. Both no doubt had their lives extended by my former sister and that red obelisk.
“What about Sophra?” I asked calmly.
“That girl… she’s the one that finds suitable kids for the obelisk and the mistress. She comes up with plans—just so she can get her Loverboy back! Isn’t that funny o’sister mine.” My jaw tightened at hearing high pitched tone with a hint of sinister delight. The crazed knight changed to a candy red. No longer was it the holy knight who became a willing cannibal now the body belonged to my former sister.
“Hello kaliryn my twin.”
“Well, you’ve changed looks, Marin. It suits you… that expression of anger would fit nicely beside our master’s.” she smiled with the body of the knight. No matter what body she was I could recognise that smile anywhere, the smile she wore whenever she would do something that would even scare our father. “Before you ask. I’m not working for nor with Castil that heap of shit could rot as a mana battery for all I care. I’d love to see that actually!” She laughed not feeling my mana’s weight tighten on the knights near limp body.
“Oh, Marin how did you like my present of numerous dead knights… I loved eating them, their screams and the agony as they wailed. Didn’t make me turned on but oh how I reviled in their pain. It was delight like an ice cream on a hot summer’s day. They were so full of life until I ate their friends before them.” continuing to laugh she whispered ever so softly into my ear making a shiver run down my spine forcing me to drop her. She couldn’t move but seeing a half-dead cannibal laugh while bleeding was not a sight I want to envision again.
“You sick freak.”
“To each their own that’s what you always said right? Does it pain you that I take joy in eating people literally while they are alive screaming for a release? No. just so you know Marin I enjoyed eating our master… I loved it.” I was trying to hold my anger back so hard, though it slipped a few times I was trying so damn hard. Kaliryn was making it more difficult with each passing moment.
“You may be my Former. Keyword ‘Former’ sister. You are my former sister but as of this moment you are nothing more than a rodent in a place it isn’t wanted.” My anger began to slip again as I watched her try her best to sit herself up in the crazed holy knight’s body which was still bleeding to the point where he should be past dead, the body should be decaying which it isn’t.
“You really are no fun. Should’ve guessed that you were Queen of Numena. You know you can’t really call yourself a pendragon anymore.” She left moving to lean beside the warp gate. I didn’t respond to her words just lowering my head in acknowledgment of her words.
“I hate to admit it but she’s right.” Elinore spoke up looking directly at me. Kaliryn was right, when I ventured to Camelot, I was adamant that I was a pendragon but through this life so far and my life as Artura I never tried to prove I was a pendragon. My mother always said that a pendragon is someone who serves the dragon, like a knight to their princess. My mother also said that every pendragon at birth was given a path from the first dragon bonded to our ancestor, everyone saw the path that I didn’t. I never received a path like my sister sifta, mother or Castil.
“HAHA. You’ve realised haven’t you… you may have been born a Pendragon, but you aren’t one in the same respect. Just a blackened gold nameless.” Kaliryn’s words actually hurt like a knife to the throat but like her words before she was right.
“Your right.”
“Rias what are you say-.” Elinore stammered before I cut her off speaking my mind aloud.
“Your right Kaliryn. I’m not a pendragon like the rest only in name and blood through descendancy… I haven’t seen the path a pendragon that is given at birth. I was given ‘nother path. Do I deserve to be called a Pendragon?” I asked aloud raising my mechanical remembering everything I’ve done with this same arm as Marin and when it was coloured black as Artura even in this life. ‘What is my path? Not even I have an answer to my own question… who am I really? A Shepard? A wolf? A sheep? Am I just someone who exists for no other reason.’ I thought to myself looking at the palm of my hand.
‘I’ll help you find the answer you’ve been looking for no matter how long it takes.’ The last words Talia spoke to me before we left Akron’s home resurfaced in my mind.
“Gods this is boring… I thought I’d find some ecstasy giving you an existential crisis, but it’s just plain boring.” Before kaliryn left she looked back and laughed saying some final words. “I hope you enjoy seeing dead children when you return to Riel sister.” Before I could think of anything else I turned back to our fallen knights who were shells of their former selves, igniting the fire mana inside me, flowing into my right hand I touched each knight one by one turning their bodies to ash.
“I'm happy Galahad or Bedivere won’t see this.” Artoria whispered silently picking up a knight’s body that hadn’t been burnt yet with my fire mana. Holding the knight in her hands she looked into my eyes and spoke making sure I could see the unwavering emotion in her eyes. “We have lots to do and not a lot of time but when we meet her on the battlefield let me take her head.” Looking deeply into her eyes, nodding seemed to be enough of an answer for Artoria. Holding back her anger, she proceeded to leave the vicinity of the wrap gate carrying the elven knight in her arms.
“Yeah, me too.”
Seeing the aftermath of what Kaliryn could do after so long made me churn in horror, I had grown numb to this sort of thing serving as a queen’s guard things such as exposed innards, bodies hanging from trees. Corpses were used as mana bombs, but this made me feel even worse, the numbness I had grown to protect me was gone seeing corpses eaten like they were on a fucking silver platter. I wanted to throw my fucking guts up. Looking away from the last body which could no longer be recognised. The head was eaten down to the skull charred black, the chest completely exposed down to the ribs. The only place untouched was below the waist.
I didn’t want to imagine it nor think about it though I knew this knight was alive the entire time his body was cut open and eaten right down to the bone. Constantly healed or revived until Kaliryn grew bored of their screams or no longer felt some form of ecstasy from them.
“Hunt any of her knights you can find whilst trying to find Kaine.”
“Don’t need to order me or anything I was gonna do it anyway.”
“Sorry to interrupt but what now?” cirilla jumped in holding the skull of a stag with large mossy horns. Cirilla held a stag skull with a snapped-off bottom half just leaving the top half of the skull which didn’t connect to the jaw. Before anyone could protest Cirilla placed the stag skull on her face and then flipped up her hood so it hid the crude straps, she created for it.
“Cirilla.”
Elinore tried to voice her concerns to her adoptive daughter, but it seemed Ciri wanted none of it showing her determination to help. I hadn’t been the only one affected by what Kaliryn had done to these people, Ciri was different this single encounter had fuelled her determination and courage. “I want to be part of the coming war, to be a part of the sororitias. Rias I want to fight!” she exclaimed placing her fist on her chest, an ancient salute of the firewatchers. Like her mother and Auntie Kyte, she showed she wouldn’t back down.
“Alright then. Ciri… as part of the sororitias you take charge of your legion, it’ll need a name and a banner. Oh, like the other commanders, you’ll need a name that your legion can call you.” Each grand commander of a legion had their own and the one that their legion would call them sort of like a nickname. They also had their own banner which matched the legion’s name. An example would be the Abyssal hunters, artoria’s legion with their banner being a seraphim.
“Then how about Nox?”