Part 3 –
Huh? That’s weird… where am I?
A black fog enshrouded her blurred vision. The world cycled through total darkness to small breaks of light. She could barely make out what was happening beyond the darkness; her sight so blurred that it was like peering through a glass mosaic.
My leg it’s – I can’t feel anything… is… is that it? Is it gone?
She caught a glimpse of her body, the sound of a bell and a blaring siren deafening her as she struggled to understand what was happening. Her breathing was rugged, made incredibly difficult by the massive indent on her breast plate that crushed her ribs.
I’m moving away. Is someone dragging me? The skies are black… when did become so dark…? Am I… where am I?
The disorientated Lizen groggily stared up into the darkness of what she believed was night. Her eyesight prevented her from seeing the destruction all around her as flumes of red flickered in the corners of her eye.
Everything is so… blurry… my body… hurts…
Her senses slowly returned, and somehow, she could still feel the presence of her lost leg. A phantom pain seared from the knee down, easily overshadowing the agony of what was left of her crushed body. Soon, the memories of mere minutes prior returned to her all at once when her vision finally cut through the blurred fog.
At the end of her only foot, she saw the place of her death.
Or so she thought.
The rubble… that’s right. I was buried under the rubble over there. Ah… Did I…? I survived. How did I… I can’t be alive… there is no way…
Lizen could not tell how she managed to survive. Her ears rang as a liquid dripped from them. Once total sensation returned to her, she finally realised that she had miraculously survived being crushed by the clock tower.
At that moment her eyes shot awake as she devoured the reality around her through all five senses. The sensation was like being woken by an electric shock.
The clock tower… how did I survive? I just held down my shield, so I should’ve…
She was convinced that she should’ve been dead. But the trail of blood that followed her leg, which had been twisted with her greaves into metallic scrap – like how one squeezed out water from a wet towel – spoke otherwise.
Lizen was alive. Miraculously alive.
I was in the centre so why…?
She didn’t know. Black spots invaded her vision again as it waved in and out. She had lost too much blood already. While she didn’t know how she survived, a part of her believed it must had been the combination of her own [Barriers], the Greater Knights and finally, Amy’s.
But even so – given the trauma she bared she should have bled out by now.
Perhaps she had only survived by the slimmest of margins. Slim being a critical understatement.
The brave rescuers dragged her back to the injured by the southern gate, weaving through falling obstacles as she tumbled against shattered remains of homes and over carcases.
Yet her mind was filled with Amy. An overwhelming wave of sadness ate at her more than the pain of her injuries. She remembered her face in her last moments. The terror of losing one of her closest friends from a girl who had so little in her life.
… how can I tell her I’m not dead…?
This was all she could think about as the world fell apart.
* * *
Lizen was blind to suffering. She was raised in walled gardens by a wealthy noble family, never destined to see the light of combat, war or death despite being trained to fight. Amongst the noble bureaucracy of Pathfist and Truebirth, some amount of combat prestige and knowledge was a requirement for children to wear, no matter the minimum.
They were toy soldiers, left only to be displayed by their families and made as a conversation piece more than anything else. A minute status amongst an array of countless others.
Lizen had always despised that.
They knew her not by name, but by the internal rankings that compared them to other nobles; a culture adopted from Pathfist’s nobility.
Her name, Airu, was no more than the name of a rank. A name given to children that possessed considerable talent and strength. Lizen was a gifted child, blessed with strength that made men twice her age gaze upon with envy.
But this was not decided by true merit or combat experience. Rather, it was determined by simply following an instructor’s commands and landing blows against a training target, which merely ‘calculated’ their strength.
Unsurprisingly, gold coins played a role in determining one’s strength. Even amongst the nobles of Pathfist, who seldom allowed their kin to participate in the countless battles waged at the borders of Katho and in the Great Plains.
Colight was not immune to the corruption of nobility, although, calling it corruption was a stretch. Regardless, Airu’s ‘gift’ of strength was not her physical prowess but was rather in the form of gold.
Airu was the name given to her not at birth, but when she reached the age of 10. All that time she was pampered to believe she was strong, eventually causing her to develop a certain stoic coldness. She took pride in it because it was all she ever had.
A shell that only took the sight of a real human dying before her eyes to crumble.
Lizen had no given name at birth. That was why she took the opportunity to become a Hero with absolute vice. It was yet another title given to her without any form of effort on her part. Another name that embodied something other than herself.
In her blindness to the world, she wished to open her eyes and to see what laid beyond. To gain merit in her titles. To become someone that fit the names she was given. A sense of purpose to unveil just what she was because in the end, the titles that defined her meant nothing if she could not fill in the gaping cavity that was left as she stood within.
But when she met Haiyoto and Amy for the first time, she realised that the title meant more – so much more than just fulfilling a role defined by its name. A Hero wasn’t any one thing, but a combination of many…
Yet was somehow also just a single thing.
Herself.
When she asked what it meant to be a Hero on that stormy night, she realised that to be a Hero, she did not need to be Lizen or Airu. All it encompassed was the willingness to act for the sake of others. Therefore, her name didn’t matter at all.
She just needed to find courage.
She just needed to see the world for what it was rather than to remain blinded by her walled gardens.
And when the darkness of her vision dissolved, she saw the horrors of reality for the first time –
– People died around her as the injured struggled to escape into the safety of nearby buildings. A black orb engulfed the sky, raining hellfire across the skies of Palvel as it struck hundreds dead.
Lizen could not avert her gaze, even as objects were hurled straight into the cowering mass of people around her, who desperately tried to drag their beloved away whether alive or dead. She suddenly came to an abrupt stop after a quaking thud.
The people who dragged dropped dead as their upper bodies were all crushed by a single bolder. Their legs drooped behind her head as blood quickly pooled and sept into her sullied hair.
However, and by what could only be described as a miracle –
She rose.
Instead of running, Lizen chose to stand on her sole leg, supported by only what remained of her shield and spear. Perhaps the moment intoxicated her senses. Her fight or flight screamed at her, but she refused to give in. If she were to die, then she’d do it while protecting these people… like how she was supposed to while protecting Amy.
And if she survived because she gave up her own for another, then maybe… maybe there was a chance for her to survive here again. To prevail in the face of certain death. The airship of Pathfist broke with a torrential roar as it fell from the skies, ploughing tens of meters through buildings not far away from where she valiantly stood.
As a result of the sight that could only be described as the end of the world – an unidentifiable object was hurled straight towards them.
Even if she had both legs, she wouldn’t run. Her conviction was too heavy for her instincts to budge. She somehow became heavier. Her only foot had seemingly become one with the ground itself. She slammed her shield down, cracking the ground as she erected a [Barrier] to defend against what she now realised was an explosive barrel.
A panicked crowd quickly swarmed behind her, desperate for cover as the surrounding buildings began to crumble as if constructed of sand. They were herded towards the centre of the main street, perfectly aligned right behind the back that promised to protect them all.
She was going to die. She knew that. But even so – her resolve remained cemented.
Was she afraid? Yes. More afraid than one could imagine. Her heart ravaged in her sunken chest cavity, aching to break free. But so we’re the others around her. In the face of her greatest adversity, she stood defiant and placed her entire faith on her shield.
However – and unfortunately as she expected – she was not destined to survive.
Neither were they.
The object exploded mid-air, the shockwave shattering her [Physical Barrier] instantaneously just as hundreds of metal fragments lacerated her body.
In the blink of an eye the world was engulfed in flames. Her flesh steamed the very moment her shield split into dozens of pieces, one becoming skewered with her shoulder as the blast sent her hurling into the air.
Larger fragments of metal were swung like a massive guillotine, bisecting countless of the people she had wished to protect in only a single blink of an eye. A bloodbath of monstrous proportions haunted those that survived, though only momentarily before they were struck by the still-falling debris from the black orb.
The world seemingly disappeared from under her, the soaring wind only stinging her wounds until all went numb. Her vision waned again, but this time she didn’t fight it. Lizen couldn’t muster the energy to defy her impending death.
I… I really am going to die now… I see…
… it’s cold…
Lizen was afraid. Death was the ultimate fear of the living, but it was also an inevitability. An unchanging circle of life.
… Amy… Haiyoto… Inkshard… Clark. I’m sorry…
It was only moments before she’d be splatter against the ground. Amid the cold embrace of death, Lizen found refuge in the warm thoughts of her friends with what little life she had left in her last moments.
And with the final ounce of life remaining –
– She cried.
* * *
A tear ran down Lizen’s face as she awoke to the sight of a breathtaking sky. A pink atmosphere replaced the darkness of Palvel as fluffy wisps of clouds soared by. The comfort of this new world took her by surprise. Even the ground she laid upon was soft, as were the black coat she now wore, like a uniform given to the dead to wear.
“… I really did die… no one told me the afterlife would look like the break of dawn.” Lizen thought aloud, a steady stream of tears falling down past her ears as she felt something rumble against her chest.
Something was on her. Something heavy. Warm. And damp.
Given her anatomy, and the angle in which she laid, she could not properly see what was there. With a hand, which she hesitantly drew as she remembered her injuries, she placed it atop what felt strangely reminiscent of a head.
No. A normal head wouldn’t be this small. It felt more like the head of a child.
Was this their Goddess? One of the Children of Balance accompanying their chosen Hero into the land beyond the living? She didn’t know. But it would be rude of her to not acknowledge them if this were the case.
Slowly, and with surprising ease, Lizen slowly began to squirm her elbows behind her as she brought herself up, only now realising that she floor was of a scale-like material.
In fact – the floor was not a floor at all. She was on top of a flying creature, finally seeing the flanking wings row through the air with powerful ploughs. As she brought a hand to her head to check if she was somehow dreaming in this world of the dead, which blocked her vision, a voice suddenly spoke from ahead.
“Oh. You’re finally awake.”
“Exrite…?”
She recognised the voice immediately, slowly removing her hand away as she wondered if she was hearing things. But almost as immediately as she saw him, she realised that the person that laid atop her was a certain little priestess.
“I-Inkshard?” She questioned aloud, causing the girl to roll her face towards her. A pair of sore eyes stared back. They looked like they had been crying for hours. “Why are you… did everyone –?”
“LIZEN!” Inkshard suddenly cried, weakly dragging herself up her body as she wrapped her arms around her neck. “You’re ok! You’re really… Wait – are you still hurt!? Lizen! Lay down! Lay down right now!”
Inkshard’s tiny paws did little to push her. Her strength was almost comical if it wasn’t so sad. By the way her tears barely formed, and how her body quivered as she her body struggled to keep her upright on her knees – Lizen quickly realised that Inkshard had undergone a severe mana depletion.
A part of her already knew why, given that her body was cleansed of all injuries. Surprisingly enough, even her leg had returned. But this was the last thing on her mind. After all –
She couldn’t bear to see Inkshard like this. Not when she knew Amy as also likely going through a grieving process right now. With her recovered arms, she embraced the priestess instead and clutched onto her head like a mother. A strange, calming ticking emanated from the coat. It felt oddly alive, almost like she too was being embraced by an invisible entity.
“Please lay down! I’m begging you Lizen! Don’t… don’t die on me again!”
“I’m not going to die. I’m right here… Inkshard… I’m sorry you had to see me like that. I’m sorry.”
Inkshard could no longer respond. Her weakness had suddenly caught up to her, rending her unable to speak as she could only shiver in Lizen’s warm arms. As she cuddled with her on the back what seemed to be a dragon, she dragged her eyes to the people around her, shocked to see so many familiar faces aboard this strange place.
The Commanders were there, alongside Frosty and Khaos. Uru was present too, as was… a child with silver hair?
“Inkshard… why are you all here? Wait… everyone – please tell me everything that happened to me while I was…” Lizen didn’t know how to describe her state of ‘unconsciousness’ other than calling it –
“Dead?” White answered for her.
“Yeah. Dead.” She hesitantly nodded.
* * *
They explained everything to her in detail. From when Inkshard found her at the footsteps of Palvel amongst hundreds of dead bodies, to how Exrite managed to heal her using magic that could inspire legends that spoke of the golden orbs for countless years to come.
Lizen needed a silent while to digest it all. Even now she could not believe she was still alive. None of them knew exactly how either, but it was likely that the Children of Balance had a hand in this miracle. Whatever the reason was – she was endlessly thankful that she lived despite all odds.
“So that’s what happened…” Lizen sighed as she formed a strange face, her eyes wandering down to the exhausted Inkshard who silently shivered in her arms. “I… I’m lost for words right now. I can’t find anything to say other than thank you.”
“The one who saved you is in your arms.” Exrite stated with a slow voice. The man she knew as the Exrenity stood just across her with the others. “She’s the one who dragged you all the way to Saicry, with the help of Phase of course.”
“Yeah… I guess you’re right.”
Where Exrite chose to speak slowly, Lizen could only speak with a strange delay in her voice. The shock of it all still lingered in her system. Sudden jolts of panic surged through her veins whenever she happened to glance down at her once injured body, her mind unable to comprehend how these parts remained as if her experience was nothing but a bad dream.
“I’m glad she hasn’t changed. She’s still a bundle of energy. I remember the first time she tried to push me down to conserve my strength, even though I was fine.” Exrite suddenly spoke, causing Lizen to gently smile in agreement.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Mhm. That sounds just like Inkshard.” Lizen gently brushed the girl’s hair. “… I wish she didn’t have to see me in such a state. She’s so young… but was brave enough to step into Palvel. Braver than I ever was. I can’t imagine what went through her mind when she saw…”
Her words fumbled towards the end, trailing off into a saddened whisper as her eyes glistened with moisture.
“Why… is this all happening? Everyone is going to die in Palvel to that orb. To the Undead. How can we win against those things? How can anyone survive in that place?”
Lizen begged for their help, even though she didn’t outright say it. These people were the only ones she could ask, for there was no one else. She knew the tasks and the responsibilities of the Exrenity completely overshadowed the situation in Palvel, which must have appeared trivial in the eyes of their Gods.
But even so – who else could she ask for help?
“Well, isn’t that were we come in?” Khaos answered with a hearty voice as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He pointed at himself with a thumb and revealed a brilliant smile that shone brighter than any sun she had ever seen. “C’mon. We wouldn’t turn our backs to Truebirth. Your people have given us so much for nothing in return. It’s a heaven compared to where we were brought up in. It would be a tragedy to forget a place like that. And not to mention we have friends there, including you, and most importantly – the food is great as well.”
“Like my glutton of a brother said – who the hell do you take us for?” Frosty, despite her words, spoke with warm conviction as she broke into a comforting smile. “Listen. Forget what you knew about us. Whatever’s in there won’t stand a chance against who we are now.”
The Frosty that she knew once adorned leather gloves as if it were a part of her flesh. She wondered if she was hiding some vile injury or scars that she was too ashamed to reveal. But now she realised that this was not even close to the truth. The hands that suddenly clasped onto hers reassuringly were beautiful, and much warmer than she could have possibly imagined from someone with such a cold name.
“I made a vow in front of Anoma to protect Truebirth in its time of need.” Was Exrite’s simple response. Everything he wanted to add had already been said by the two, leaving him oddly silent for the briefest of moments. “And that includes the people I’ve come to call my friends as well. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I abandoned them. And besides, where do you think we’re headed to right now?”
Lizen slowly drifted her gaze out into the world beyond. A spectacular scenery of the world beyond the lands of Colight sprawled further than the horizons of most worlds, stretching many thousands of kilometres away. From the mountain ranges of Endo behind to the ever-stretching plains ahead – Lizen saw the vastness of the world for the very first time. A flurry of uncontrollable emotions swept through her heart as she stared with bewildered eyes. For a moment she nearly forgot about Palvel altogether.
However, the vibrant greens and jagged outcrops of the beautiful world only caused her to realise that an equal ugliness existed. The calamity of Palvel ached her heart as her mind went back to the darkened city, wondering if her friends were still alive.
Hoping for them to survive felt like a pipe dream. The break of dawn and the pinkish hue further twisted the dagger in her chest. She had been unconscious for more than half a day while her friends were fighting for their lives… or worse – they were already dead.
But even so, Lizen was determined to return to Palvel despite what awaited. Ill could not begin to describe how prepared she was.
She suddenly felt small. Tiny. Insignificant in the scale of the world beyond her walled gardens. A grinding sensation sparked at the bottom of her stomach. It felt heavy. Her body locked momentarily as her stomach wrenched, urging her to vomit but she managed to steel herself.
Inkshard was in a far worse state than she was. And even though it appeared that the little priestess was fast asleep, Inkshard remained conscious as she laid her arms and head atop her lap, breathing slowly to conserve as much energy as possible.
For a child like her to willingly expose herself to the horrors that broke even the minds of the sturdiest of soldiers was courage that she could just marginally fathom… now that she understood what it meant to be a ‘hero’.
And the sacrifice that it entailed.
Just thinking about it now caused her to realise how little control she had of her own body when she was ‘in the moment’.
How she threw Amy before she even realised what she was doing.
The fear that washed away as adrenaline took rein over each act as instinct replaced thought.
She laughed to herself all of a sudden. It was a quiet, small laugh. A rare sight from the normally cold, stoic young woman.
“Haiyoto was right…” She inadvertently spoke, almost in self-ridicule. She didn’t know she had spoken, believing she had merely imagined those words.
Suddenly, her eyes went blurry as a strange bitter warmth fell down her cheeks.
Lizen was crying. Everything hit her all at once, and before she realised it, Frosty pulled her head into her chest.
“You did what you could. Just leave it all to us, Lizen.” Frosty assured, rubbing her back.
Lizen did well to hold off her tears. But upon hearing those words that offered to relinquish her of this burden –
The tears fell like a burst dam.
She wept into her chest, clutching at her own limbs which were once lost as she could not believe that she was still alive.
Awake… and that this reality was not a nightmare of any kind, or an illusion casted by a nihilistic God. It was their reality where any nightmare would appear as a blessed dream in comparison.
What she saw in Palvel was forever etched into her soul. It had already become a part of her. A tempering hammer on the medium that she was, exposing her to the ugliness of the world that laid beyond the paradise that was Truebirth.
Whether it strengthened her as a whole or left her cracked was yet to be seen. Until the hammer stopped pounding no one would know – save for the Gods who has masterfully planned this calamity.
After some time in a much-deserved silence and respite, Lizen regained her composure. Her mind was still heavy, her shoulders spiritually bruised by the phantom burden that loomed above her.
But now she could finally breathe again.
The young woman apologised extensively, and as per Frosty, she was adamantly scolded by her. Frosty hammered the notion that there was no shame in showing how one felt, even though she was one of the last people to lecture another on that.
The others also made it clear that this was the case, teasing her as Frosty landed punches against Khaos. A sudden warmth enveloped the group, dispelling the despair that had once enshrouded them.
Lizen could have sworn that the skies seemed more vibrant now.
“A young soul again. Exrite. That is a ‘Hero’ from the supposed creators of my Creator. Is there a reason why they choose the most ill experienced to do their bidding? In no offense to you.”
An unknown, strange-sounding voice spoke. Lizen blankly blinked, as if she had been forcefully pulled out of a daydream as she looked over the shoulders of each person before her, curiously wondering whose voice it belonged to.
“You answered your own question. It’s for experience.” Exrite answered with certainty. “If there’s anything I know about Gaia, it’s that she values experience. It might be the same with the Children of Balance, given that… well, they’re almost certainly her creation. Otherwise, the chronological order of their arrival doesn’t make sense.”
Uru proudly nodded as Exrite spoke, devouring his words for they were the truth. If her body could adorn permanent scars, she would have carved his words into her supple flesh, for they were the truth that she as a Demon desired above all else.
“It’s likely they were chosen for that reason.” He ended, gathering a few eyes. They could tell even he uncertain of why the Children of Balance chose them as Heroes, despite having some insight. “Or they’re just a vessel to consume hope and despair. I wouldn’t put anything short of cruel past them.”
“Interesting that you’re not counting yourself~” Black hummed. “If there was anyone who lacked experience the most, it would be you.”
“Yep.” He nodded. His lacklustre reaction to left Black somewhat disappointed, causing her to mumble a profanity under her breath. “But if that was Gaia’s only criteria then she could have taken anyone else. Not that it matters now. Anyway, does that answer your question Nav?”
“For now. I think I understand what you’re saying. In the end, the creations of her still possess a fragment of her mind. Are there no bounds to her cruelty? Experience... I shall remember this.”
Lizen finally saw it. Hovering above Exrite’s shoulder was a heart-sized, pale gear-shaped object. It methodically spun like a cog, almost ticking in tune with the seconds that elapsed.
She didn’t know if the voice came from the object directly or from something else in its direction. But whenever the voice spoke the gear seemingly vibrated ecstatically, hence why she believed it to be the source of the voice.
It was either that or the giant, floating… hammer? Staff? She didn’t know how to describe the other object that hovered over his shoulder. Dread oozed from it as naturally as she exhaled, as did beauty oddly enough from its matte-black appearance.
“U-um –!” Before she even realised it, she had vocally expressed her curiosity. All eyes fell to her all of a sudden, leaving her no choice but to follow through.
But just as her mouth parted – Exrite spoke.
“Lizen? Is something wrong?” He asked in a kind voice, lowering himself to match her gaze. Upon finally seeing him up close, she finally realised that the man she knew from only months ago appeared slightly different than she remembered…
No. To call his left arm a ‘slight’ change was neglectful at best. Even his height had changed. Lizen, who had never seen the complexity of Dwarven machines, was still able to understand that Exrite’s arm was not something that could be replicated by normal means.
It was an artifact of indescribable intricacy. At first, she thought it was a special piece of armour or a metallic sleeve. It never crossed her mind that this was in fact his limb. There were strands of metal and layers that mimicked the appearance of sinew and exposed muscle, seemingly pulsating with each rise of his chest as if it were alive.
“– Haaaaah….” She finally exhaled, surrendering her mind to her curiosity as she slumped forward, feeling Frosty lightly support her arms just in case. “I have so many questions. A taking gear and that arm. Palvel… me…”
“Oh this? Don’t worry about it.” Exrite tapped his arm. It resounded with a dull thud. Lizen nearly burst into a small laugh when he easily brushed it aside as if it were nothing. “As for the [Gear] – this is Nav. They’re the newest member of our group. Nav – this is Lizen. She’s one of Truebirth’s Heroes.”
“Hey~! What about me~!?” Cried Pale, the strange child with the silver hair. “I’m part of the group too, right!? Isn’t that why you brought me along?”
“Cheeky brat – I already explained you’re only here to fight.” Black scraped her knuckles into the head of the child with viciousness. A small groan of pain left Pale’s lips as she ducked to try and escape, just as steam rose from her head. “This is a prime opportunity for you to stretch your little wings. Do not disappoint me.”
“Awwww. Okay~” She muttered sadly, poking her fingers together as she made puppy eyes. Black raised a fist again, threatening to drill it straight through her head as Pale instantly straightened herself and gave a perfect salute.
“Hero Lizen of Truebirth, it is an honour to meet a friend of Exrite’s. From the outside no less.”
“Woah. It really does talk.”
“Doesn’t it?” Suddenly, and without any warning, Phase’s voice echoed in her mind from seemingly nowhere.
“… W-what was that –!?” Lizen jolted, looking down at the dragon’s scales with shock.
“Please don’t jerk around so much back there. You’ll hurt her.”
“Y – yeah… mm. This is Phase’s voice I’m hearing, right?”
While she knew that the dragon was a transformed Phase, she didn’t know that it could telepathically speak to them, hence why it took her by surprise. Upon being met with small nods and confirming eyes, she placed a hand by her heart and gently clutched at it. Her eyes waned from face to face, wondering how they their spirits remained unafflicted by fear.
Especially Exrite. Now that she had experienced was it was like to die, Lizen could not help but to stare at the man with utmost fascination. He had died more times than she could count from what she had heard, but what stood out at the forefront of her thoughts was how Exrite easily brushed off his own ‘death’ when they first met.
So how can he still make a face like that?
This was the thought that stuck with her for some time as their voices overlapped with the roaring winds, and the thrusts of Phase’s wings. She fell into silence as Frosty remained by her side, keeping both her and Inkshard married to her warmth.
Was it courage that allowed them to keep smiling? Bravery? Or did they just not know the true nature of Palvel?
With these thoughts fresh in her mind, she mustered the courage to convey the lump in her throat into words.
“… you guys… are you all not afraid? Phase already told you what’s happening in Palvel so… why aren’t you all scared?” She needed to ask, despite knowing that these people were not by any means ‘normal’ like she and everyone else were.
The answer was obvious. But even so, she needed to hear it from them.
“Of what though?” Exrite genuinely asked, causing her to instantly lock eyes with him.
“Of… Palvel? The Undead? D… Dying…?”
“You’re mistaken if you think we’re afraid of such little things. Granted – It is natural for us to be afraid of death. Maybe not so much for this guy. Hah. But you see; I’d hate to lose our friend Talia in that mess more than having to fight off any Undead. Even worse if Truebirth gets trampled.” Khaos heartly announced, clenching a fist by his chest. “There is no journey worth embarking on when you have no one beside you. Even worse when you have no one left to come back to.”
Lizen’s eyes widened as they glistened with spectacular light.
“Exactly right. I’m sure you feel the same way as well. You know we’re heading straight back into Palvel, but you haven’t once asked to stay out even though you’re afraid. Either way, I don’t think you would have in the first place.” Exrite slowly said, his eyes narrowing kindly. “So, it’s a waste to ask if we’re afraid. We just have to do what we have to do regardless of what stands in our way.”
“That’s what I like to hear!” Khaos laughed.
Lizen heard what she wanted to hear the most and faintly smiled.
“… Yeah. I guess it was stupid of me to ask. It was so obvious that you guys weren’t afraid at all. Really… that courage. I wish I had that.” Lizen whispered near inaudibly.
“The absence of fear is not bravery. Someone close told me that.” Exrite began as Uru’s eyes swelled momentarily before sealing shut. A look of contentment filled her as she keenly listened to his voice. “But – in your case, I think it’s plenty courageous to want to go back in and help your friends. You didn’t have to. No one has to… especially people as young as Inkshard. But you chose to regardless of what happened. I wouldn’t call it recklessness because you have people you want to save. And besides –”
Exrite pulled out a fragment of her shield from somewhere behind him. That was the piece that had impaled her shoulder. Seeing it reflexively caused her to gag as the memories came surging back.
However –
“– What you did there already makes you a Hero in my eyes. For Amy’s sake – I hope you can find her.”
“H-How did you…!?” Lizen was lost for words.
She knew what Exrite was referring to. How she nearly scarified her life for Amy in the heat of Palvel’s cataclysmic hailstorm. A strange concoction of ice and warmth ran through her veins as she was rendered dumbfounded by how Exrite knew this. No one currently present should have known.
Yet Exrite somehow did.
And if he knew this… then he must also know what’s happening in Palvel. The black orb. The voided skies. The all-consuming [Barrier]… the demented Undead – everything that she had seen through her own eyes.
“Exrite… how did you know?”
“let’s just say it’s an ability of mine.” Was all he was able to say. Although, for only a split second, she saw him make a pained face.
What else could he have possibly seen to make him react in such a way?
Regardless –
“You know what’s happening then. Everything.” Lizen sighed defeatedly, falling onto Frosty’s shoulder. “All from my point of view…”
“Vaguely. From everything we’ve gathered there are three major forces in this mess. The Overlord of Desire, her apostle, and Despair herself. Desire and Despair explain the appearance of the Well of Wishes. But what we still don’t understand is the purpose of their wish.”
“Ho? Are you not more concerned about whose wish is being granted? I can vow to you with my all my being that it will not be the so appointed apostle.” Uru offered her body on the line, though she would not mind giving it if Exrite so desired. “Not even a devout follower like myself will ever attain that privilege.”
“No. The nature of the wish is what I’m more intrigued by. I didn’t know that thing can grant wishes. I only thought it devoured despair.”
“Devour? I saw it release despair instead. Two bursts of beams. One in the catacombs that initiated the Well of Wishes when she said it was ‘complete’. And the other in Palvel… the second was unbelievably stronger than the first. In all the thousands of years of existing I had never felt so much despair.”
“Tch. The knowledge kept within the Exalia state nothing of despair being part of the Well of Wishes. It was souls that fuelled it, and desires that dictated the essence of its contained wish.” Uru explained the discrepancy. “Despair should not be a part of its mechanism. Unless this is something unheard of until now? Hmm~”
Uru sounded enthusiastic more than anything. The prospect of uncovering yet another truth sparked immeasurable honour. As a Demon, or the only Demon in her mind, this joy was only second to being held by Exrite herself.
“That’s why I’m worried. We don’t know what Despair wants. She called it the staging grounds because that is where the wish will be fulfilled.” Phase exclaimed.
“You’ve been with them the longest and yet you are not aware of their intentions?” Uru mocked. “A worthless worm like you has no place beside the Children of Balance.”
“… don’t think for a second that I’ve been living in that place freely. I’ve been kept in the dark much more than you can imagine.”
“Enough Uru.” Exrite commanded, and by his will, Uru sealed her mouth shut, eagerly awaiting to be called upon again. “The situation’s more complicated than we thought. There’s no way to tell what we can and can’t do once we’re there. Other than to protect whoever’s left, first and foremost. But you know something about the [Barrier] surrounding Palvel. Isn’t that why Phase came to us in the first place?”
“Precisely. I know all that needs to be known about that [Barrier].” Uru confirmed. “What surrounds Palvel is magic beyond the power of any God. A magic incomprehensible to man, fathomed only by the catalyst who controls the Well of Wishes; and its master, The Overlord of Desire.”
Uru delivered these words as if reading from an ancient holy text, lifting her arms with seductive elegance as she prepared to announce the sacred name of Desire’s most powerful magic.
It deserved nothing less.
“[False Disillusion – The World]. What lays within the [Barrier] of manifested desire and countless souls is subject to the world envisioned by one. A megalomaniac of a necromancer commandeering an Undead army and begging for an audience of whoever is left is what I can already envision. How pitiful. There is no lack of those that seek to surround themselves with false confirmations of their reality. Human– Lizen. I want to ask you a simple question.”
“… p-please.” Lizen’s body locked up all of a sudden. The Demon’s dominating presence only made her further realise just how different their levels of strength were.
“Will you come to regret your decision to live henceforth? Death is more merciful than what fate will offer us on a golden platter.” Uru slowly spoke, echoing the warnings she made to Exrite’s group, Bailey, and Allen months ago when they first met.
The future was unpredictable. With the Overlords moving like pawns across the chess board as the Gods fiddled with their pieces – Eastern Six Point was at the brink of the dawn of a new era.
And as Uru – a member of the legendary Librarians of the Atlas, sh knew the general direction that the world was headed to.
It was but one of the reasons why she sought for the Children of Balance, other than seeking for the truth.
Lizen silently croaked. An agonised pain overcame her as she did everything she could to quickly claim otherwise. But nothing left her parted mouth. Uru was unfortunately correct. The future was as bleak as she could ever imagine. She wondered if the rest of the world would be plunged into a similar darkness and clutched at her heart –
– And at the small paws of the girl resting atop her lap.
The answer was obvious. Painfully obvious. Because in the end, her conviction had not changed. She had saved Amy at the cost of her life. She would do it again if it meant that they wouldn’t have to be hurt.
And therefore, the fear of the future was ultimately dwarfed by the fear of losing her loved ones. Her eyes suddenly widened when she finally came to this conclusion. She had shocked herself more than anything had in the last few hours.
Because she had finally realised what courage meant to her.
Uru didn’t smile, grin, grimace, or nod. Rather, she simply shut her eyes, accepting Lizen’s resolve as an answer and hummed:
“Humans as a collective are a nuisance. However, as individuals I can see why our race can come to envy you. Lizen. Heed my words. The world does not expect you to uphold your resolve. It only demands that you adapt. Perhaps it has already happened. Perhaps you are already in the process of changing. Regardless, you will never remain the same. As for this one –”
She clasped onto Exrite’s face, pulling herself close like lovers.
“– This is the only human that I expect to take it to the bitter end. If we’re lucky it will be sweetened. Please do not make me look so ridiculous in hindsight if you too manage to make it through.” Uru warmly smiled at the young woman.
“So you can say nice things too.” Black casually jabbed.
“Ho? Does you love for the Demi-humans make you any different?”
“Gross. Love is such an icky way to call my conditioning.” She quickly grumbled.
“You didn’t deny it though.” Khaos chimed in.
“Oh. Sorry, with all these roaring winds and this mellow mood I couldn’t really catch that. Khaos. Can you please repeat that for me?” Black tapped at the gun by her hip, causing beads of sweat to instantly fall from the man’s forehead.
“Y-you heard nothing. Nothing at all. It must have been the wind.”
“I can make it a gunshot if you want~”
“Is it really that fun tormenting him?” White asked with a long sigh as she swept her long hair back behind her head.
“Then who else am I going to torment? Frosty genuinely hates me. Exrite’s become dry as fuck. Uru’s Uru, and you take my insults to heart.” Black suddenly complained as she hung over White’s shoulder with a drooped arm.
Those that she mentioned immediately reacted. Exrite stifled a laugh as Frosty looked up at her with strange eyes, wondering if that was how Black truly felt about her. Uru only smiled and nodded in agreement, whereas Khaos could not help but to feel like he was the only one incapable of contesting Black’s insidious humour.
“Wait, what do you mean dry? It’s become too hard to take you seriously anymore, you know that?” Exrite nearly laughed. “That whole time you were berating me about my humanity was all because you were trying to look out for me. Aren’t you kind.”
Black instinctively cringed.
“… shut the fuck up.”
“Hate you? How can I hate you when you –!”
“Can you all please shut the fuck up now!?”
“Well, you brought this upon yourself, the most feared Tyrant of the Colour Plane.” White subtly jabbed.
“Tch. I can’t fucking wait till our powers return.”
A blissful mood encased the group atop the back of the glistening dragon. As they soared amongst the pink skies and the gentle twirls of clouds, Lizen finally for what felt like years broke into a beautiful whole-hearted smile as she laughed.
In her heart she knew if it were these people, then there was no need to worry. But even so, she silently vowed to fight once again in the heart of Palvel. This time not as Airu Lizen, but as the Hero she had been anointed as.
And an in ironic twist of fate, the Goddesses who had anointed her were very same beings who had called upon this calamity.