The Fallen arc
The Azalea Forest
Imperial Warship (Silas' Division)
In the skies above, the Imperial Warships were making their way towards Oak Village. With the order to lay waste to the entire village.
"Admiral. We're fast approaching Oak Village." Said one of the staff.
"Excellent. Prep the cannons and have them ready to fire on Lady SIX's command." The Admiral Ordered.
"Yes sir!" The staff member complied. Suddenly he detected a red dot on his computer fast approaching the ship. "Uh sir? We have picked up a rather large heat signature fast approaching our ship."
"What!? Well what is it? Some kind of weapon?" The Admiral asked.
"Uh no sir. It appears to be..alive. And this mana....it's..."
"SPIT IT OUT! WHAT IS IT!?" The admiral barked.
"SUR! It's mana reserves are on par with General Fury's!" The staff member cried out.
"WHAT!?"
BOOM! An explosion could be heard coming from right next to the warship.
"What was that!? Status report!" The admiral ordered.
"Sir! One of our warships was taken out! By...a large pillar of fire! It was that heat signature and...it's right in front of us." The staff member said with terror.
"No...it can't be." The admiral said as he began sweating pours.
In front of the admiral's ship was none other than Arkin floating in the air. The fur on his body was covered in golden flames and behind him was a large pillar of golden fire.
"HOW DARE YOU IMPERIAL DOGS DESECRATE THIS SACRED FOREST! HOW DARE YOU COME AND HARM MY FAMILY AGAIN! NO MORE! NO MORE SHALL I STAND FOR THIS! HOW DARE YOU!" Arkin roared in demon tongue.
Arkin let loose the large pillar of fire and sent it towards the imperial warship.
"NO! NO! THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! GENERAL SILAS!!!" The admiral cried out.
In a flash of beautiful golden fire, the imperial warships that invaded the forest were gone without a trace. Not even dust particles remained as if they were never there at all.
Arkin fell from the air and onto the ground. He tried to stand up but he fell back down and slumped on the ground exhausted.
"I leave the rest to all of you. My dear comrades." Arkin said as he went to sleep.
***
Fury's Imperial Warship
The Bridge
"Lord Silas will not be pleased to know that you used his one men as canon fodder. He needed them to gather more yokai for his experiments." SIX said a hint of stern in her tone.
"Oh well uh nobody cares. Now shush. My show is on." Fury said as he watched Ziera fight the spiked draugr.
The Azalea Forest
Outside of Oak Village
Ziera vs The Spiked Draugr
Ziera shot her energy blast at the spiked draugr but it dodged the attack.
"REEEEEEEEH!" The spiked draugr screeched and released a powerful supersonic blast that sent Ziera flying back. She performed a backflip, landed on her feet and covered her ears.
This thing is faster than the big one! And these vibrations... This is no ordinary draugr either. If I'm not careful it'll-
Ziera's thoughts were interrupted as the spiked draugr blitzed right in front of her and slashed at her. Ziera dodged but the spiked draugr wasn't letting up. She blocked and countered it's slash attacks with her own fists.
Those sonic blasts are powerful but they can't be magic related. Given what Arkin said about this forest's mana conflicting with the mana of outsiders it wouldn't be possible for this thing to use any type of magic. Let's see if it's magitech then.
They exchanged blows until Ziera turned her leg into an Omni-Blade and went to slice it's head off but the spiked draugr ducked but that was just a fake out for Ziera to take a disk out of her thigh and plant it on the draugr's chest.
"Try this! E.M.P activate!" Ziera shouted.
The E.M.P rapidly beeped and went off releasing an electromagnetic pulse on the draugr. But nothing happened.
I knew it. It's not magictech either.
"REEEEEH!" The spiked draugr screeched in Ziera's face sending her flying back into a tree.
"GAH! Ziera coughed out.
"REEEEEEH!" The spiked draugr screeched as it leaped towards Ziera. Ziera flew up and avoided the attack. While she was in mid air ziera was feeling dizzy.
Ugh. Those screams are giving me a headache. But that's fine because now I know what it is. Since those sonic screams come from neither magic or magitech that only leaves one conclusion. It's genetic. This draugr used to be a ghoul.
Ghouls are a race of demons that rarely leave the underworld. Unlike other felons they mostly feed off corpses and are born with the ability to release powerful ultrasonic vibrations that can destroy both organic and inorganic objects.
They are extremely dangerous creatures but despite this, Ziera was now more confident than ever in this battle.
"REEEEEEH!" The ghoulish draugr released another sonic cry but Ziera dodged it in time. While Ziera dodged it's attacks she was left in thought.
Now that I know what it is, I just have to keep its mouth shut. And if I wanna do that I have to pin it down first. Easy enough.
"Hey loud mouth! I'm right here!" Ziera yelled out. She shot more energy blasts at the spiked draugr the draugr dodged but growled in anger. Ziera stuck her tongue out at it and then flew off.
"REEEEEEH!" The spiked draugr screeched. It grew its wings and flew into the air. Giving chase to Ziera which worked in her favor.
Good. This thing isn't smart like the big one so I can lure it into a trap without endangering any yokai nearby. I could risk it and rush it but I don't want to risk getting poisoned again. Luckily for me I'm not alone.
Ziera continued to fly through the forest with the draugr right on her tail. Until eventually Ziera had reached her destination and stopped in her tracks. Ziera suddenly stopped in her tracks and then turned around to face the draugr coming towards her.
"Alright, loud mouth. I'm right here. Ziera said as she held her arms out like she wanted a hug.
"REEEEEEEEH!" Ghoulish Draugr screeched.
It swiftly flew towards Ziera trying to tackle her but suddenly vines popped out from the ground and wrapped around the draugr. The draugr screamed and struggled against the vines.
"I'd like to introduce you to my new friends. My teammates and I ran into them yesterday. Luckily for me I have a good relationship with this forest's guardian." Ziera said as she pulled out the sonic grenade disk from her leg.
"REEEEEEEEH!" The draugr screeched in anger.
"Yeah I'm not much of a hugger either so I feel ya on that one." Ziera replied. She pressed down on the button in the center of the disk and threw it into the draugr's mouth. The draugr swallowed it but the grenade went off releasing powerful sonic waves inside the draugr's body.
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" The Draugr screeched in pain as the bomb blew up from the inside and effectively destroyed all of it's internal organs. The vines still had the Draugr in it's grip but it no longer gave resistance abd just hung over.
"Reee. Reee. Re." The draugr weakly winced in pain. Ziera flew down and scooped up the ghoulish draugr in her arms bridal-style.
"Sorry. Hopefully now you'll find-." Suddenly Ziera's scanner detected something inside the draugr. "Wait. Your DNA it's the same as.... . I see now." Ziera said begrudgingly.
***
The Azalea Forest
Oak Village
While Emilia, Rudy and Reisha looked after Henro in his sleep, one person volunteered to stand watch over Luca while he remained unconscious. That person was Amira.
The ghostly yokai who previously attacked Jayden and Ziera in the forest but they have made peace with each other. Amira stood over Luca and gently stroked his hair with her clawed fingers.
"Lu....Luca." Amira said gently.
***
Fury's Imperial Warship
The Bridge
Fury, along with Silas' assistant SIX, had just witnessed the battle between the ghoulish draugr and Ziera. All Draugr's had small cameras inside their heads for research purposes.
Now all that was left was the battle between the bigger draugr and Jayden. Fury himself couldn't be less interested in the boy but he was curious to see how he would handle himself.
"Okay boy. Let's see if you are worthy of my time. And Ragnarok's." Fury said.
***
The Azalea Forest
Oak Village
Jayden vs Draugr
"WAAAAAH!" Jayden wailed as he went flying onto the ground. "Ugh. That smarts." Jayden quipped as he sat up and held his head.
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"Damn. This thing hits hard." Jayden said.
"RAAAAAAH!" The draugr roared as it leaped towards Jayden.
The Draugr tried to smash him into the ground but Jayden caught its fists just in time.
"But during training, Ziera hits way harder!" Jayden quipped.
Jayden drags the draugr by its hands, spins around and throws it at a tree. Jayden then jumps forward and shoots an energy blast at the creature flying through the tree. Jayden went to follow but his head was spinning.
Damn. The poison! No. I just have to keep this up for a little while longer. Get it far away from the village as possible. I'll worry about me later.
Jayden flew up and pursued the creature but couldn't find where it landed.
Wait. Where did it go? Jayden heard a beeping noise and turned around to be met with a fist to his mask.
"GAH!" Jayden welped.
"RAAAAAAH!" The Draugr roared. It punched Jayden more and then tackled him into the ground. As Jayden laid on the ground, the Draugr continued it's assault by grabbing Jayden's leg and throwing him up and onto the ground.
"GAH!" Jayden grunted as the draugr kept swinging him around by the leg and slamming him on the ground. It then spun and threw him across the forest sending him crashing through several trees.
Jayden grunted again as he recovered and landed on his feet and clawed into the dirt trying to slow himself down. He managed to stop but was then met with another fist to his mask sending him flying back again. Jayden finally flopped onto the ground face first.
"Ow. Man I am so glad Henro isn't here to see this. He'd never let me live it down." Jayden said.
"RAAAAAAH!" The Draugr roared as it flew towards Jayden.
Jayden got up and flew towards the draugr. The draugr was ready to clash with Jayden but Jayden stopped flying and ducked under the draugr while it was mid air, turned both his arms into Omni-Cannons and blasted the draugr with the full force of his energy attacks.
"Omni-Stream!"
"RAAAAAH!" The Draugr cried out in pain as Jayden's attack sent it flying farther up into the air.
The draugr took severe burn damage but it began regenerating quickly. Jayden wasn't done though as he flew up towards it with an Omni-Blade. He swung the blade at the draugr but the draugr saw it coming and caught his arm.
"Oh this won't be fun." Jayden said.
The Draugr yanks Jayden by the arm and backhands him with it's giant hand. It then grabs him by the throat and tries to bite his head off.
"H-Hey man. Ever heard of mouthwash?" Jayden quips.
Jayden struggles to break free and behind his focuses eyes in the draugr. He keeps focusing until a blue laser shoots from his visor and right through the draugr's mouth .
"RAAAAAAAH!" The draugr cried out in pain and released Jayden from his grip.
"HOLY SHIT! I GOT LASER EYES! Whew. Ziera wasn't kidding when she said we could reconfigure our entire bodies." Jayden said feeling confident. "Okay. Time to finish it off!" Jayden said as he flew towards the draugr with an Omni-Blade and stabbed it in the chest with the blade going through it's back.
"I got it! Wait a minute." Jayden said. He scanned the inside of it's body and noticed tendrils inside were wrapping around his arm. "It's insides are wrapping around me. EW! THAT'S GROSS!" Jayden said with disgust. Jayden then heard the draugr growl. He looked up at the creature as it stared down at him.
"Oh haha did I say gross? I meant uh....you're beautiful on the inside." Jayden said with a smile behind his mask.
"WAAAAAH!" Jayden wailed as he was punched from the sky and fell hard onto the ground. "Ugh. Well Jay, what did we learn today? You have neither luck with women or draugr." Jayden said as he groaned.
Jayden looked back up and noticed that the draugr was flying back to Oak Village. "NO!" Jayden shouted. He got back up and flew after it.
The Draugr looked behind and saw Jayden catching up to it. The draugr decided to change course and nosedived towards the forest inside.
"What's it doing?" Jayden asked himself. He went down and followed the draugr but when he got there..
"WHEEE!"
In front of Jayden was the draugr holding a baby kitsune fox in its hands.
Shit! It took a hostage. Jayden thought.
"Let him go, you bastard!" Jayden demanded.
The Draugr just chuckled and squeezed the baby kitsune harder in its hand.
"Hey stop!" Jayden ordered.
"WHEEE!" The baby kitsune cried out.
"I SAID STOOOOOP!" Jayden roared.
He made a dash towards the draugr but the draugr chucked the baby at Jayden. Jayden gasped as he caught the baby kitsune in his arms. "It's okay! I got yo-."
But unfortunately, with Jayden's guard down it left him vulnerable to the draugr's attack. It plunged it's large sharp claws through his armor and deep into his skin. Behind Jayden's mask he hurled blood.
"RAAAAAAH!" The Draugr roared as it picked up Jayden and then slammed his body hard onto the ground.
"AAAGH!" Jayden cried out but he didn't let go of the kitsune.
"WHEEE!" The kitsune baby cried out of worry for jayden.
"It's okay. Just run. I-I'll take care of this guy. Now go!" Jayden yelled as he threw the kitsune baby away from the fight. The kitsune baby ran away but looked back still worried for jayden. "GOOOOO! AHH!" Jayden wailed as the draugr began stomping it's foot down on him.
"RAAAAAH!" The Draugr roared as it kept stomping on Jayden again and again without mercy.
***
Fury's Imperial Warship
The Bridge
Fury witnessed the whole fight and safe to say he was less than satisfied. He sat there watching Jayden getting pummeled and had a bored expression on his face.
"Tsk. That's it? The punk barley put up a fight. Why did Ragnarok choose someone as worthless as him to be it's next wielder? What a waste of time. This fight's over and so is he." Fury said.
***
The Azalea Forest
The Draugr had stopped mercilessly stomping down Jayden leaving him battered, bruised and barely conscious.
His armor was dented, scratched and had holes on the sides. The right side of his mask was almost torn off exposing his now black right eye and some of his hair.
It wasn't just that armor protecting Jayden. If Ziera hadn't taught Jayden how to use mana to increase his defense he would have been worse off. But despite that Jayden looked up and glared at the draugr in defiance.
"Is that...all you got? Ziera still hits harder." Jayden coughed out.
"RAAAAAAH!" The Draugr roared as it was about to stomp down on Jayden's head.
***
Henro's Pov
3 Years Ago
The Citadel
"Who...are you?" My younger self asked.
The girl's smile grew bigger and she said: "My name is Emilia! And I've come to rescue you, Henro Akumura!" Emilia said while lending her hand out to my younger self and me.
"That's right. Emilia....you." I said. My younger self however wasn't convinced at all.
"Rescue....rescue me? Is this some kind of joke?" He asked in disbelief.
"Oh no it's nothing like that at all! Listen, I'm from...". Emilia tries to explain but Henro cuts her off.
"Hold on! You look human but that scent of yours smells off. I feel like I've seen your kind somewhere before." The younger Henro said with caution.
"Oh I'm a Garuda! Half avian and half human. I'm a warrior from the Garuda tribe above the clouds." Emilia explained.
Garuda? Oh yeah I think I met one ounce back at the church. Young Henro thought.
"Well what do you really want? I know this isn't a rescue. Are you one of Silas' lab assistants or something?"
"No I promise it's nothing like that! Listen, we don't have much time! Guards will be here soon and..".
"Wait! That's it! This is a test! Yeah. Lord Silas he...he sent you here to test my loyalty right now didn't he!?" My younger self questioned.
"A test? No, trust me it's not...!"
"Yeah that's it! If I go with you, you'll just take me to a room where he'll torture my mother for hours! And then he'll make me watch as punishment! All because I keep going against him! Against what I am! His experiment!" The younger me cried out.
"That's not true, Henro. I understand it's difficult to trust me but believe me I'm..." Emilia tried to say gently.
"IT IS TRUE! DON'T ACT LIKE YOU UNDERSTAND ME! You're a Garuda! I bet your kind is treated with the utmost decency right!? But demons!? We're feared, persecuted and hunted like animals! Oh but even amongst demon kind I'm still the odd one out! Just because I'm a Fallen! And...and because of that everyone turns on me and my mother! The demons who drove us away from the underworld, those liars from the church who sold us out, those fake guardians who never bothered to come save us, and Silas who sees as nothing more then his fucking guinea pigs! And it's all because of me!" The younger Henro cried out.
"It's not your fa-." Emilia tried to argue.
"YES IT IS! YOU HEAR ME!? IT IS MY FAULT! If I...if I wasn't born a fallen...my mother wouldn't even be here! She wouldn't have suffered like this! She wouldn't have....wouldn't have...GODDAMMIT!!! WHY!? WHY WAS I BORN!? I SHOULDN'T BELONG HERE! I'M JUST A MISTAKE! A FUCKINF MISTAKE!" My younger self fell over and clawed into the floor. He roared in anger as he cried his tears out.
Emilia slowly walked into the cell and approached Henro.
"Henro." She said gently.
"Stop it. That's not my name." He begged.
"Henro I know what it feels like to-."
"I said that's not my name! My name is 6167! Henro is gone!" The younger Henro screamed and finally looked up at her but he was swiftly met with a hug. "What?" He asked
"You're right. I don't know what it's like to be discriminated against. But I do know what it feels like to lose everything you care about. When I was young, I lost both my parents and my entire kingdom in a single day." Emilia sadly said.
"What?" Young Henro asked in shock.
"Yes. I used to be their princess. But I even lost that as well. And I have to live with all of that for the rest of my life." Emilia sadly said. She then pulled herself back and looked him in the eye.
"But I won't give up. I'll spend every moment carrying the pride of my tribe. My nation. My family. I'll keep getting stronger. Strong enough to fight for those in need. So that they won't go through what I went through. What we went through." Emilia said as she
"Who are you?" He asked.
"I'm Emilia. But my full name is Emilia Sylphion. Former princess of the Kingdom of Ventus. And like I said before I've come to save you, Henro." Emilia said with a bright smile.
There's no way. This...this has to be a trick but...she seems genuine. He thought.
"No. No I can't! My mother she'll..she'll be tortured or worse and..". The younger Henro panicked.
"Henro. I'm really sorry to tell you this but....you're mother isn't here anymore. I checked the records and Silas moved her to a different facility a long time ago. We don't know where. Not yet." Emilia apologetically said.
"No. NO! Son of a bitch! That fucking....GAH!" Henro roared as he held his head. "I'm never gonna be free of him! I'm stuck as his slave forever!" Henro shouted. Emilia was about to comfort him but she heard footsteps fast approaching.
"Subject 6167's cell block has been breached! Kill the intruder and secure the experiment!" The imperial soldier shouted.
"Henro we have to go now!" Emilia shouted.
"No! Just leave me alone! I can't turn against him! He'll hurt my mother! No matter how hard I try I'll never be free to live in this world!" Henro shouted back. The soldiers arrived at the cell and aimed their guns at Emilia.
"We've found the intruder! Freeze!" The soldier ordered.
"That's not true Henro! You deserve freedom just like anyone else!" Emilia shouted.
"How!? How can you possibly know that!?" Henro questioned.
"Take her out! Open fire!" The soldier ordered.
"Garuda Style: Tempest Slash!"
In a split second the guards were cut down into pieces and electrified simultaneously. Emilia moved so fast the younger Henro couldn't even register what had happened.
"She's...she's so strong." He said in awe.
"I know because of what my father taught me. Everyone deserves to reach the skies like we do. To know what it's like to feel true freedom. It doesn't matter to me whether you are a demon, Fallen or anything else. To me you are just another person who's been wronged by this word like I was. But you can't let it tear you down. You have to keep fighting. For both your mother and for yourself." Emilia preached.
"Emilia." I said.
"Henro. If you come with me, I'll do everything in my power to help you find your mother and save her. On the pride of my people, until that day comes I will never leave you for as long as I live. I, Emilia Sylphion, swear it!" Emilia said as she looked back at Henro and smiled.
"You....you really mean that. Don't you?" He asked.
"Pinky promise even!" Emilia said cheerfully.
"Huh?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yep. Once I make a pinky promise I can't ever break it. It's like a binding contract but without the magic. So let's do it. Let's promise that we will never leave each other's side, Henro Akumura." Emilia cheerfully said as she showed him her pinky finger.
Can I really trust her? No she's just like all the rest! I know she is! But....
["Someday, you will find people like that as well. People who will love you for who you are. Henro Akumura. Don't let anyone take that away from you."].
Mom. Is this what you meant? That she....doesn't see a monster. She only sees..
Me.
"Me." Me and my past self said simultaneously.
I looked at Emilia. She was talking to my younger self but it felt like she was looking towards me as well. That she was making her promise to me again. That's right. Emilia, you're the one person who's kept me going this whole time. No. That's not true.
Images of Ziera, Tenjin, Luca and even Jayden flashed through my mind.
"Aw man. I really screwed up this time. I really am the biggest pain of all." I said. My chains came undone and I was beginning to finally revert back to my real self. I got up and saw my shadowy self as he stared at me.
"I've been running away this whole time from who I really am. The others may have accepted me but I never could. I hated myself for being born because of the suffering my mother endured just to raise me. But that was wrong. Even after everything she went through...she still...still protected me. She loved and accepted me as her son. And the others accepted me as one of their own. And I gave them all shit for it." I said with bitterness.
"Heh. Well no use crying about it anymore. I'm done running. And I'm done hating myself. Right now those losers need me. Henro Akumura. Their uncertified, lazy and yet irreplaceably handsome doctor. Besides, I got a promise to keep." I said with a smirk.
I held out my hand towards my shadowy self. He smirked back at me. As he gripped my hand, my younger self took Emilia's signaling our promise together. A light began to shine so bright it enveloped the dream world.
The Azalea Forest
Oak Village
Emilia still sat by Henro's side gripping his hand while he was asleep. Suddenly, Emilia felt his hand grip hers tightly. Emilia gasped for a second but then smiled at her best friend.