Dragon-Kin arc
"Why does Ragnarok have an Omni-Barrier?" Henro asked.
"Huh? Am I missing something? What's the big deal? Both Jayden and Ziera have the same powers don't they" Ryoka asked.
"Yes they do but Ziera is the daughter of Zenal. His powers of Technopathy and Omni were passed down to her genetically. But Ragnarok can only hold the power gods." Julia explained.
"That's right. Jayden can turn into a cyborg and manipulate technology thanks to half the power of Zenith, the goddess of machines, because it was absorbed into the gauntlet. But Omni is a different story. It does not belong to Zenith, or any god in this world." Tenjin explained.
"Then how the hell is he doing this!?" Henro questioned.
"Honestly, I'm not sure." Tenjin sighed.
"Still you seem rather unphased, General Tenjin." Julia said.
Tenjin didn't answer.
For a blind girl she's the most observant here. Tenjin thought.
"Well what's important right now is Jayden stopped Ziera for the time being. Even her holograms have disappeared. But why are they frozen? What happened to them?" Emilia asked.
This must be a soul link. Tenjin thought.
"They'll be fine. This is all Ragnarok's doing. I'm confident Jayden will return with Ziera." Tenjin said.
"But what do we do? Sit and wait? Ugh Lame." Ryoka said.
"We've done our part. The rest is up to Jayden now." Julia said. Emilia flew down onto the ground and placed her hand on the Omni-Barrier. She looked at Jayden and Ziera with worry.
Jayden. Ziera. Please come back to us. Emilia thought.
***
Jayden was asleep on the ground for about a minute or two. His eyes slowly opened and he began to wake up. He picked himself up from the ground and held his head.
"Ow. That sucked. I gotta stop bumping my head into Ziera's. I keep forgetting she's literally thickheaded." Jayden said.
Once Jayden's head stopped hurting, he took notice of his surroundings.
"Wait a sec. Where am I?" Jayden asked himself. He looked around and saw that he was in some kind of palace. A really advanced looking one too.
"The last thing I remember was crashing into Ziera. But how did I get this far away from her and the group?" Jayden questioned.
Jayden then heard footsteps. He turned around and saw two imperial soldiers dragging a man by his arms. The man was beaten to hell and in cuffs.
"What the hell!? Hey let him go!" Jayden demanded. He transformed into his suit and went after the guards but he phased right through them.
"What the hell!?" Jayden shouted. Jayden turned back to the guards walking away. He ran up to them and tried to tap one of them on the shoulder but his hand went straight through them.
"What is this?" Jayden asked in confusion.
"It's no use Jayden." Ragnarok said.
"Wait. Ragnarok? What the hell is going on!? Where am I? And why can't I touch these guys?" Jayden asked.
"Listen very carefully Jayden. You are not in the real world. You are in one of Ziera's memories." Ragnarok said.
Jayden freaked out instantly.
"Her memories!? What the hell are you talking about!?" Jayden questioned.
"Remember how your friend, Henro, was able to go through his memories thanks to the illusions of that yokai back at the Azalea Forest? It's similar to that but also different." Ragnarok said.
"Yeah I have no idea what you are talking about. Can you explain in a way that makes sense?" Jayden asked.
"What I mean is unlike him this isn't a mere illusion. None of you could have experienced seeing Henro's memories. Only he himself could. But in our case you and Ziera's minds are linked. Actually it's more than that. Your very souls are now tied together thanks to my power. This is what mages would call "A Soul Link." Ragnarok said.
"A soul link? Seriously!?" Jayden asked.
"Yes. That is why you are here and why both your bodies in the material world are in a frozen state. Until you do what needs to be done here, they will remain that way." Ragnarok explained.
"Oh well I don't know how to respond to all of that." Jayden said while holding his head.
"I figured you wouldn't. Given your mentality." Ragnarok said.
"Oh shut up! Don't act like this is something people just casually know! Actually hold on. If you can do this, why didn't you link my soul with Henro? I could have helped him back in the forest with his past." Jayden said.
"Not possible. It wouldn't have worked with him." Ragnarok said.
"Huh!? But why?" Jayden asked.
"Look, that's not important. Ziera is our main priority right now. Focus your energy on finding her." Ragnarok said.
"Yeah I know. So long story short, me and Ziera are connected now and we need to work together to wake up right?" Jayden asked.
"Correct." Ragnarok said.
"Okay. But how do I find her?" Jayden asked.
"Simple. Follow her memories." Ragnarok said.
"Follow her memories?" Jayden asked. He looked over back at the guards who stepped before two people.
"Wait a minute". Jayden began.
Before Jayden was a very young Ziera. She looked about to be five years old.
"Ziera!? And wait, that's....." Jayden said in shock.
Jayden looked up at the person next to Ziera and froze. Not moving an inch. His body was sweating and trembling, both his eyes were wide open, his legs were starting to give out and he had a shortness of breath. Jayden had a mix of different emotions flowing through him at once. Fear, anger and guilt.
Standing before Jayden was a tall and muscular android standing up at 7 feet tall. The android was male and coded in black armor with red lines circulating red mana inside his body. He had a large black cape on his back, two large black horns above his head and crimson red eyes. To Jayden, seeing this android was like staring at death itself.
A clear painful reminder of his past and his future of facing such a monster. Even with Ragnarok, the strongest weapon in the universe, Jayden felt horribly helpless just standing before him. The most powerful machine on the planet as well as Jayden and Ziera's worst enemy. Zenal, Emperor of the Machina Empire.
"Z-ZENAL!" Jayden screamed. He began backing away and staggering. He tripped and fell on the ground, clutching his chest. His anxiety consumed him.
He's! He's here! Why!? Why now do I have to-FUCK! Jayden thought to himself.
"JAYDEN! Calm down! That's not really Zenal! Just a memory of Ziera's past!" Ragnarok yelled out.
He's here! Zenal is here! What was I thinking!? I can't fight him! I can't do this! I have to go! I have to get out of here! He'll kill me! He'll kill someone else I care about! Jayden thought.
Images of his past with Zenal flashed through his mind. Zenal killed Jayden's father. Zenal standing over a younger Jayden with his red eyes staring down at him. Jayden breathed harder, his vision getting blurry. He began crying and couldn't control himself.
I can't breathe! I can't breathe! I can't breathe! I! I! Jayden thought anxiously.
"Jayden."
Jayden gasped.
"Ziera?" Jayden asked. He heard her voice and searched for her but he couldn't find her anywhere. And it didn't come from the younger Ziera either.
"Ziera where are you!? Talk to me! Please!" Jayden pleaded.
"It's no use. Ziera isn't here. That voice was her subconscious reaching out to you." Ragnarok said.
"But why?" Jayden asked.
"Remember your souls are linked. The same goes for your feelings. She sensed that you were in distress so she called out to you." Ragnarok explained.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
"Ziera knew I was hurting and despite what she's going through right now she still came to help me." Jayden said in shock.
Jayden looked at his metallic hand. It was still shaking with fear. He closed his eyes and gripped his hand hard. He took a deep breath and counted to ten. When he was done counting he calmed down, transformed back to normal and stood back up.
"Jayden. Are you okay?" Ragnarok asked.
"Not really. But I'll live. Besides, I'm not the one really hurting right now." Jayden said with a low tone.
"So then you are ready to continue?" Ragnarok asked.
"Yeah. But I can't look at Zenal. I'll lose it if I do." Jayden said.
"Then don't look at him. Look at who matters to you." Ragnarok advised.
"Okay." Jayden complied. He looked toward the younger Ziera and didn't keep his eyes off her.
"Have you forgotten what I told you when you were born?" Zenal asked.
"I only do what is required of me. I am your daughter and exist only to obey you." Child Ziera answered.
Jayden gritted his teeth. He bawled up his fist and had a look of pure anger written all over his face.
"Then proceed." Zenal ordered.
"Yes father." Child Ziera said.
Jayden saw Ziera aim her gun at the man's face. The man was muttering something which made Ziera visibly hesitate.
"Please forgive me, Carla! And my dead boy!" The man begged.
"Ziera." Zenal said.
"Please forgive me-****."
BANG
The younger Ziera shot the man in the face and killed him. His blood got on her face but Ziera was more focused on the now dead man himself. She stared at his corpse with a look of horror and guilt. Zenal approached her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Very good. I am proud of you Ziera. You really are my daughter." Zenal said.
"Bullshit." Jayden said with venom in his voice. He bawled up his hand so hard blood started to drip from his palm.
"I SAID THAT'S BULLSHIT! What kind of father says he's proud to have his daughter kill a defenseless man in cold blood!? Well Zenal!? ANSWER ME!!" Jayden roars while staring at the ground.
Ragnarok did not say anything. He let Jayden vent.
Jayden took deep breaths and looked back at the younger Ziera. She looked more than just sad. She looked nearly broken. Jayden hated seeing Ziera like that. And to see a glimpse of what her childhood was like only made him all the more furious.
Soon the scenery around Jayden changed to that of a room.
"The scenery changed. This must be a different memory. But what's in here?" Jayden asked himself.
Jayden heard grunting behind him. It sounded like someone was being attacked. He turned around only to see something much worse than that. It was Ziera. Still around the same age beating and torturing a man right in front of Zenal.
"I SAID TELL ME DAMN YOU!" Ziera roared as she slammed the man's head onto the floor and punched him over and over again.
Jayden could barely watch as Ziera just kept beating on this man mercilessly. It was sickening to witness. But he didn't take his eyes off her because he saw the look she had on her face. The same one as before. Ziera looked nearly broken.
"Please. Please just tell me. Please." Ziera cried and covered her face with her bloodied hands.
"Ziera." Jayden walked over to her and reached his hand out but his hand went through her. "Dammit!" Jayden cursed.
"Well done, Ziera. You once again showed me that I was correct." Zenal said.
"C-Correct? Correct about what?" Ziera asked.
"That you and I are the same." Zenal said.
In a fit of rage Jayden activated Ragnarok and began to transform. He turned both his arms into Omni-Cannons.
"This may scare you now, but I promise you this as your father. That you...were made for this." Zenal said.
"ZENAAAAAL!" Jayden roared as he aimed his cannons at Zenal and fired at full power.
Jayden was still terrified of Zenal. He couldn't face him but at that moment he didn't care. He didn't care if Zenal wasn't really there. He didn't care if that was just an illusion. All he wanted to do was protect Ziera.
"I'll never forgive you! You hear me!? I'll never forgive you for saying this to her! NEVER!" Jayden screamed at the top of his lungs as he fired an even bigger blast at Zenal. He kept firing until he was out of mana and fell to the ground exhausted.
Jayden laid on the ground tired. His body transformed back to normal as the scenery around him changed again. He slowly picked himself back up and looked at his surroundings.
"Is this a hospital?" Jayden asked himself.
"That's right."
Jayden looked up and saw Ziera standing in front of him. She was facing away from him.
"Ziera!" Jayden picked himself up and ran towards her. "Ziera thank the guardians. I was so worried I thought-. Ziera. What's wrong?" Jayden asked.
Jayden noticed that Ziera was staring at something. He turned his head and looked. She wasn't staring at something but someone. It was herself in a hospital bed. She looked injured and her hands were once again bloodied. And this time, Ziera truly looked broken. More broken than he had ever seen Ziera up till now. It broke his heart.
"Ziera. What happened?" Jayden asked with concern.
I didn't see the memory leading up to this moment? Is Ziera repressing it from me? Jayden asked himself in thought.
"You want the truth? I did what I was created to do. To be a weapon. For Zenal. For Midgard. Just to survive. Even for you if it meant unlocking your potential. I'm not a person. Not even a monster. Just a tool to be used." Ziera said in a shaky voice.
Jayden had heard enough and grabbed onto Ziera by her shoulders and turned her body to face him.
"STOP! Stop talking like that! Ziera why do you keep doing this!? Why do you keep hurting yourself!? How can you put yourself down when you're the one who keeps bringing me back up!? When you've been helping all of us this whole time!?" Jayden questioned.
"Why? Why!? Because it's who I am!" Ziera yelled out as she shoved Jayden back. "It's who I've always been! No amount of good I'll do will ever make up for all the horrible things I've done in my life. No matter how many people I save it will never bring back the ones I've killed with my own hands. All of their blood is on MY hands!" Ziera screamed.
"That wasn't your fault! Zenal he forced you to do it-!"
"I CHOSE TO DO ALL OF IT!" Ziera screamed. Jayden was finally quiet. Ziera began to cry as she bled her heart out.
"I chose to hurt all those people. I chose to leave and betray everyone I ever loved back at the empire! You saw the memories yourself! Ever since I was five I've taken so many lives for my family. Hundreds of people suffered and died because of me! My actions! Not just Zenal's! Mine! Because that was what I was born to do! Because no matter what you or anyone says, Zenal wasn't the monster in those memories. It was me! It was all me!" Ziera said as she looked at her younger self in the bed.
"Ziera." Jayden said sadly.
"I'm nothing like you Jayden. Ryoka was right. I have no dreams of being anyone's hero or princess. All I cared about was getting revenge on Zenal for ruining my life! For ruining the lives of so many others! But I'm not doing this for them. I'm doing it for me. How can anyone follow someone like that!? How can you.... . Ziera stopped herself and looked at Jayden with a saddened expression.
"How can you still look at me like I'm some beacon of hope when I don't have any hope left in me?" Ziera asked.
"Ziera. You aren't that person anymore. You've changed." Jayden said.
"Have I really? If you still think so, see for yourself." Ziera said as she snapped her fingers.
The scenery around them changed once more. Jayden saw the memory of Ziera put on Ragnarok. The past Ziera screamed in pain as Ragnarok electrocuted her and drained her mana.
Jayden didn't speak. He just stood there in absolute shock.
"Yep. That's right. I tried to use Ragnarok for myself. I wanted to kill Zenal with it. But it nearly killed me. Heheh. Funny how that works huh?" Ziera asked sarcastically.
"Ziera. Why didn't you ever tell me?" Jayden asked. Ziera dropped her bitter smile and frowned. She turned her face away from Jayden.
"I didn't want you or the others to look at me the same way everyone else does. You all really believed in me. Even wanting to be my friend. I haven't felt this happy in 3 years. But now, you've all seen the real me. It just goes to show that even if I beat Zenal, he'll still win. I'll never change." Ziera said bitterly.
"That's not-."
"JAYDEN STOP! For god's sake just stop! Okay!? You can't save everyone! You can't save me! Someone I cared about already tried and now he's gone! So I'm begging to please...please...give up on me. I already did." Ziera said with tears rolling down her eyes. Jayden didn't say anything. Ziera then crossed her arms and turned away from Jayden facing the ground.
They stood there in silence momentarily. Jayden sighed and finally spoke his mind.
"You remember when I told you about my father? That Zenal killed him? Sigh. Well the truth is...I killed him. Jayden said.
Ziera swiftly picked her head up and gasped. She turned around and faced Jayden. Jayden had a depressing look on his face.
"Yeah. I'm the reason why Zenal even attacked my family in the first place. I kept pushing him and pushing until I mentioned Perseus and said something that really got under his skin. Zenal was going to make an example out of me in front of everyone. But my father stepped in and took my place. We all watched as Zenal.....took off his head." Jayden choked out and bawled up his fists.
"Jayden." Ziera said sadly.
"I did it because I wanted to stand up to him. Like Perseus would have. Perseus was my hero growing up. He stood up to the gods and saved the world. I just wanted to be like him. So I arrogantly picked a fight with Zenal like an idiot! Not to help people! I just wanted to look cool! Like who does that!?"
"Henro was right to call me out back at the forest. And Julia was right about me too. I only do this out of guilt! Who puts their family in danger just to show off!? Who gets their own father killed and scars their mother for life!? It's unforgivable! It's unforgivable." Jayden cried out.
Ziera has a sympathetic look on her face.
"No Jayden that-." Jayden interrupted her.
"Yeah it was. I'm not some beacon of hope either Ziera. I'm not sure I'll ever be. I can't save everyone. I can't even save myself. But I do want to change. And it's because of you that I'm trying now." Jayden said.
"No. I didn't do anything." Ziera said.
"Not true. Back at my apartment, you called me a hero. Even though I knew it wasn't true, you saying that made me feel alive again. It helped me realize that my mother never hated me for what happened. Made me realize that someone else doesn't see me as my father's killer. But they just see....me. Jayden Cortez." Jayden said with a smile.
"N-No. I-I didn't. I couldn't have-." Ziera began tearing up again.
"Ziera, please listen. If there's one thing I know in life is that my mom gives great advice. And the last thing she told me before I left was this. You can't live in the past forever. You have to face it head on. Only then can you move forward. And when you do, don't let anyone shame you for who you are. You are not your father. You are not a weapon. You are Ziera. The girl that saved my life." Jayden said as he hugged Ziera tightly.
Ziera had a shocked expression on her face as Jayden hugged her. She tried to hold back her tears but was failing.
"No I..I didn't save you!" Ziera denied. Jayden pulled back still smiling at Ziera.
"Yeah you did. You're the reason why I'm even here. The reason why I fight. The reason why I try to do better. Ziera I can't imagine a world without you. I need you. We all do. But not as a weapon. But just as yourself. I know it's scary, but if you can't face yourself alone, we'll do it together." Jayden said.
"J-Jayden. Even after everything I've done you...you believe I...can change? That I'll be more than just a weapon? That I can just live as me?" Ziera asked.
"Yes I do. But you have to believe in yourself first. Like I always say. Never give up. And? Jayden asked in a teasing tone. Ziera chuckled.
"Haha. And never surrender. Right?" Ziera asked.
"Thatta girl." Jayden said happily. They hugged each other again.
The dream world around them began to glow blue.
"It's finally time." Ragnarok said.
"Right. Let's go back to everyone, Ziera." Jayden said.
"Alright. And Jayden?" Ziera asked.
"Yeah?" Jayden asked.
"Thank you. For saving me again." Ziera said with a bright blushing smile.
"Same to you!" Jayden said while smiling and blushing back at her.
The world around Jayden and Ziera was engulfed in a bright blue light.
***
The blue Omni-Barrier that was around Jayden and Ziera dissipated. Jayden and Ziera gasped and woke up. Jayden was on top of Ziera who accidentally raised her head up and head butted him off her.
"They're awake!" Emilia said happily.
"Took them long enough." Henro said.
"Heh. Not bad Mr. Wielder." Ryoka snickered.
"Hmm. Well done, Jayden." Julia said.
Tenjin took a breath. "Sheesh. Damn kids giving me a heart attack." Tenjin said as he bridged his nose. But while he was annoyed he still smiled.
"Ow!" Jayden yelped as he fell over onto the ground holding his head. "Ugh why?" Jayden groaned.
"Oh shit! Sorry Jayden." Ziera said apologetically.
"Ugh. No worries I'm used to the feeling of your big ass forehead." Jayden said jokingly.
Ziera had a deadpan look on her face. She put Jayden in a camel clutch.
"Ow! Ziera! I was just kidding! Ow! Come on, let me go! Ow!" Jayden begged as he tapped on the ground.
The others watched in both amusement and embarrassment.
"Aw. This takes me back, doesn't it jewel?" Ryoka asked.
"You mean when you embarrassed us on our second date and I had to teach you a lesson?" Julia asked.
"What happened on your second date?" Emilia asked.
"Don't worry about it." Julia said dismissively.