Titans’ dominion and the chimera broke real space in the second week of his return to Gaia, the absolutely large warships manned by servants and ascenders of house Kairos alive placed the ships directly behind the moon, the ships camouflaging at the direct orders of Moyo and Ashira alike. The last thing he wanted was to put the factions of the world on edge again with ships that could glass an entire continent to ashes in minutes, still, he kept the option open, just in case Lumia was indeed lost as everyone kept telling him.
It was a last-ditch effort, if all his solutions came to naught, but for now he would place it at the bottom of his choices of possible solutions. He stepped in the purple and silver metallic interior of the ship, the ascenders snapping to attention at his appearance through a pathway, Ashira behind him, with the entire leadership of the clan gawking in awe as they stepped through. Mr. Boyle whispered to a member of his sect who nodded and began fiddling with a construct that began to scan the ship, already lost in the technological marvel that was the defiance.
Idris whistled appreciatively,
“You got this for placing in the top four?” he asked,
Moyo nodded absent mindedly, making his way to the captains’ chair, a structure of ornate gold and silver with his sigil emblazoned on its back. Touching the chair that was more of a throne, he felt a power course through him as a voice spoke up,
“Touch sensors activated and recognized, welcome lord titan blade” a mechanical voice said,
Everyone paused and glanced around, one of the ascenders who followed the ship all the way from Altera, a gold ranker stepped forwards and bowed,
“By your will lord titan blade, I will explain” he said,
Moyo already had an idea of what was happening, but he nodded for the gold to proceed, the gold bowed deeper,
“This is a sentient A.I built into the ship, as until now, she has been working on passive mode, ensuring the overall safety of the ship at the minimum level. However, with your appearance lord, she now has the command to obey you and you alone, that is, after you give it a name” the gold completed,
Moyo glanced up as a holographic image of a woman appeared, dark skinned with purple eyes and dark hair. She turned to Moyo and bowed deeply,
“Welcome lord titan blade, I am designation Y-1245, the first in the latest of newly created artificial intelligences, my oath to the archailect and to you is to serve only you and you alone until the moment you’re no longer of need of my services” she said as a loud gong echoed around the room,
Moyo raised an eyebrow at that,
“Even A.I can make oaths?” he asked,
The female nodded,
“At the core of this ship is a crystal shard bearing my soul, forged from one of the fallen honored caste members of house Crestsun, I was formerly a soul bound android, I am now whatever you make of me” she said,
Moyo frowned at that,
“I have an imprisoned soul in my ship powering it?” he asked, his voice taking a dark tone as the ascenders shuffled backwards a bit,
Ashira shook her head,
“No, willing soul, the greatest honor for a fallen Crestsun as I know of is to serve even in death” she said,
The female nodded and bowed to Ashira,
“It is as the heir of Kairos says lord titan blade, my flesh is the metal of this ship and my fluids are the same ones that run through this ship” she said with determination running through the holographic eyes, if such could even be said,
“I will be the last to go down with this ship, I will die a second death in the honor of lord titan blade, I will be the shield that protects the lord, the blade that cuts through and destroys his foes, I will be his construct that carries his will and might throughout the great expanse that is the archailect, this I swear on the archailect” she said again as a loud gong echoed again, the archailect respecting her oaths,
Moyo raised a hand,
“that’s enough oaths for one day” he said,
He turned to the A.I of his ship,
“If I understand correctly, you require a name, right?” he asked,
She nodded,
“To fully be online and with all my parts functioning, yes, my lord, a name given only by you. My form can also be changed depending on your specifications” she said,
“How do I start?” he asked,
She gestured to the chair,
“The throne of the titan is the hub of the ship, from there you will be linked to the entire ship and I as well” she said,
“and if someone else seats on the chair?, do they get to wield the same power I have?” he asked,
That was a cautious thought, he wasn’t one to think something bad wouldn’t happen and someone wouldn’t gain control of the defiance in his absence. The A.I shook her head,
“The throne is configured to run with the pure power of a master and a little extra as said by the true blade ruler, Zane” she said staring at him pointedly,
Moyo smiled and nodded,
Primordial energy, anyone without so much as a touch of it would have something happen to them,
“In other words, they’d be a pile of ashes on the throne in less than a minute” she clarified,
“Well, that explains security” Annika said,
Moyo nodded and proceeded to sit on the throne when he felt the pure aether powering the ship pause at his intrusion and welcomed him in a rush of power, tuning the aether to his specific signature. Now his aether ran through the ship itself, the ship was him and he was the ship, he glanced at the A.I who bowed again respectfully and his mind touched it, revealing all he needed to know about the intelligence.
Her former identity had been scrubbed with the barest left behind, a simple warrior who had risen to the rank of diamond before dying in battle at the hands of another android diamond. He respected her will, for even in death she still wanted to serve, he would honor her wishes,
“Thank you” she whispered out to him, Moyo nodding and closed his eyes,
He envisioned his mother, her smile, her brown eyes and light skin, her dark hair with tinges of grey but in a youthful body from the old pictures she had shown him when he was young. He modeled her after his gone mother, down to the very fingers and smile,
“Shola” he said, giving her a name,
All systems blazed to life as a loud hum and vibration took over the ship, the A.I grew brighter in a flash and became the spitting image that he had imagined, black and white hair braided, brown eyes, red beads adorning her hands and legs with two small incisions on her face, a mark of his tribe. She bowed gracefully again,
“I will carry this name with pride and honor lord titan blade” the A.I named shola said,
Moyo nodded,
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what news do you bear from Altera?” he asked,
Shola nodded and spoke,
“The message was placed of the highest priority, and for your ears only, transmitting to your HUD now” she said,
Moyo nodded and closed his eyes as the message played, deep in thought as his eyebrows furrowed. He opened it a while later to see everyone staring at him, Shola standing with her hands clasped besides her. He stood up and clapped his hands, turning to the ascenders who manned the stations of the ship,
“I thank you all for bringing the defiance all the way to my galaxy, your dedication and skills are noted in the eyes of me, my clan and even your princess, Ashira chimera Kairos” he started,
“Surely you’re tired, a pathway would be open to my world to which you all will be treated as my personal guests till your eventual departure” he said,
They all bowed,
“The graciousness of the master is a boon on us, we thank you” the gold who had stepped forward replied before bowing, deeper than the rest,
Moyo nodded and opened a pathway straight into Ife, the capital of Bastion where servants of the clan waited for them. He turned to his clan members and Ashira as the pathway closed up, waiting for all attention to turn to him,
“Shola, play the message for all to see” he ordered,
“By your will lord” she replied,
A holographic image of Zane true blade came into view, the harbinger and primordial ruler stood in a ship, his unadorned blade at his side and his eyes cold,
“Titan blade, I trust you are safe on your home world of Gaia and are now a master” he started,
“I suppose congratulations are in order, getting to such a rank where you truly can begin to see the secrets of the archailect, secrets I’m sure you want to share with those who fight under your banner” Zane said, as if directly in the room,
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“It is for these reasons I would be revealing only a fraction, nothing too dangerous to drive those beneath our standings mad with fear” he continued,
“As you no doubt know the situation of the archailect currently, the cult is on the move, what you don’t know however, is how far a move they’ve made. An entire galaxy has been cut off from us, a prison galaxy under the control of the brigade, its inhabitants no doubt gone into the cold night of oblivion”
Moyo heard a collective intake of breaths, an entire galaxy worth of inhabitants, no doubt surely in at least their millions gone, eradicated by a psychopathic group. He fists his fists tighten in rage but kept his demeanor outwardly calm,
“The great council of houses of the archailect has been called, monsters unseen since centuries and even millennia ago now being awakened, species unseen also that once called the archailect home have been roused from their slumber, no doubt, you understand why” Zane said,
“war” Moyo murmured,
“war” Zane said in tandem with him, nodding,
“There will be a great convergence, unlike any seen before in the archailect, a war spanning an entire galaxy, hopefully staying in one galaxy” Zane said, but Moyo could hear the doubt in his voice, the ruler doubted it,
“In four months’ time, the archailect would need its greatest defenders, of which I am proud to call you one, you whose path was shattered but rebuilt back into a mythical one, one of the few, less than a hundred in the archailect actually that have done so”
Moyo felt the widened gaze of his clan members on him, pride radiating from Ashira as well, he turned his attention to Zane who continued,
“Hone your skills in anyways possibly, arrange your HUD table if such still matters to you, the rank of master is one that transcends the mortal coil as you well know, all that matters are your skills in battle. Also, seeing as your world is a category 3 but no doubt on its way to category 4, you’re by law required to carry a standing army with you to war, but I and a few…friends of yours have argued to the special circumstances of your situation and have agreed you can come along with whatever force you deem fit” Zane explained,
“So, I leave you to plan your movements titan, in four months’ time, a brigade general would come to guide you to the muster point whose location would be disclosed by then, I wish you good fortunes titan blade, goodbye” Zane finished as the recording fizzled away.
The room was silent for a minute,
“a war huh” Idris murmured,
Moyo turned to them, nodding,
“a war filled with golds and diamonds at least” he clarified,
“Meaning we have to be gold and diamond by at least then?” Ayo asked,
Moyo shook his head,
“no, I’m sorry but I’m not taking any of the leadership with me” he said,
Annika narrowed her eyes,
“Why?, do you think we can’t make it to gold or diamond?, you did it in about two months plus” she argued,
“And I tasted death more times than I wanted to, and you don’t have the get out of jail free cards I’ve been spending so lavishly due to the intricacies that come with my path” he said firmly,
Mrs. Martha stepped forwards, one hand on Annika who had storms raging beneath her eyes,
“What our patriarch is saying” she said in a soft voice,
“Is that he doesn’t think the war would be restricted to that galaxy, does he?” she asked as Moyo nodded,
“You think other worlds would be hit as well and you need us here to defend it?” Idris asked,
“I need you here to defend an entire galaxy” Moyo clarified,
That shut up the entire room, their minds trying to wrap around what he had just said,
“The entire galaxy?” Boyle asked,
Moyo nodded,
“This cult we’re facing are…. like an infection, once they hold a world, they begin to blight it” he said,
“The blight” Mrs. Martha said with wide eyes,
“exactly” he clarified,
“So I need to deal with this black zone, I need to deal with whatever is going on with Lumia, and I need to put all the factions in their place, four months from now I would be gone, and I want Gaia to be the throne world of a galaxy spanning defense system” he said, eyes hard as steel,
The silence after that declaration spoke volumes, pride radiated from them all, even Annika who was close to exploding before. He was going to leave them in charge of an entire galaxy, the responsibility while looking insurmountable was a task that would take all their willpower and strength. Mrs. Martha tapped one of her weavers on the steel plated ground of the ship,
“Well, it seems the expectations of our clan lord keeps growing larger and larger, best we get to it” she said,
They gave a good-natured laugh as Moyo opened a pathway back to earth, filing in with Ashira who nodded at him,
“Going to check out the chimera, coming?’ she asked,
He glanced at Annika who was staring at the starry expanse in silence,
“Will be coming, I have something to deal with here” he replied,
Ashira glanced at Annika, understanding in her eyes before leaving quietly. The silence was deafening, Moyo and Annika alone in the large control room of the ship,
“I’ve been thinking” she started,
“Annika, I- “he said as she raised one finger, lightning dancing on it, silencing him,
“At first I was angry, pure anger, why would he lead me on?” she said rhetorically,
Turning to him, Moyo saw her blue eyes glowing as a miniature thundercloud manifested beside her shoulders, her aura manipulating the very aura in the air,
“And then after a while I understood, no matter how much we gain godlike abilities, at the end of the day, we’re only that, human” she continued,
“Deep down you know it as well as I do, in as much as you try to deny the fact, you love her now, don’t you?” she asked,
Moyo felt his head nodding, in as much as he tried to fight it, Ashira sighed, a sad smile on her face,
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asked,
Moyo squeezed his hand, all the aether, all the intent, all the Ashe and all the titan aspect couldn’t stop what was about to happen. He gritted his teeth, Annika shook her head,
“you’re behaving like a child” she said with a laugh, wiping a tear from her eyes,
Moyo was close to breaking something, to crush something and he felt his throat seize up,
“I’m still sworn to you Moyo, sworn to your cause I fully believe in, I will stand by you as a general in your clan, I would advise you with all honesty and when you’re falling or stumbling, I and the others would be there to raise you up” she said softly, touching his shoulder,
“But I can’t be the one who wakes up beside you, nor raise your kids Moyo, not anymore” she whispered,
Masters were beings that surpassed all bodily needs, their bodies made up of pure aether,
But the titans’ eyes grew blurry,
“Goodluck Moyo, you’d need it in the coming war” she finished,
Moyo nodded and snapped his fingers as a pathway opened up straight back to dominion itself where the rest awaited them, Mrs. Martha’s smile slowly turning into a frown as Annika stepped through, the pathway closing behind Annika. He took a deep breath, shuddering at the break up and sat back down on the chair,
“My lord?” Shola asked softly,
“Seal the ship, close the glass shutters if that’s possible, cut off communication with Gaia or anyone aiming to get in touch with me, I need a few hours to myself” he whispered,
“Even lady Ashira?” Shola asked,
He nodded, Shola bowing,
“By your will lord” she replied as the room became absolutely dark, all systems shutting down with Moyo remaining, Shola disappearing, leaving the lord of clan titan blade alone to his thoughts, silence prevailing the entire room.
****************************
There was a mountain range in Asa, a place carved out when the titan blade had once trained when it was simply a flat ground. The titan had happened to it, his power literally transforming the area into its current state, it had been deigned a holy ground by those who in the eyes of the upper echelons of the clan considered foolish as a holy ground, a place to reflect on the way of the titan and to solidify their willpower to keep pushing, it had seen numerous ascenders merge their willpower and authorities, creating a maelstrom of power that ravaged the area.
Nothing short of expert could survive there, and even at that, irons could only stay there for a limited amount of time before their bodies were battered by the pure power that called the range home. Bronze was the stage where ascenders could begin to try to eke out a space for themselves there, it was here that a large door stood, carved into the mountain just mere days ago, and within the mountain, tens of rooms had been carved out, a place of training designed by the titan himself.
Moyo sat in front of the door, legs crossed, eyes closed as his aura settled around him, stilling the rampaging aether around the mountain itself. He had been that way for an hour plus, awaiting the participants that were making their way slowly to the surface, ten would make it out alone, the ten whom he would deem fit to train by himself. He had been on the defiance for the better half of the day, coming to terms with the fact that Annika had broken up with him, not that he could call it a relationship if he was really frank with himself.
They had simply been at the beginning of their situation when he left for the tournament, while that felt like ages ago, he had grown during that journey, but now he was coming to realize that he had kept the relationship in his mind as an anchor to take him back home, not the love, but the thought that he had responsibilities back home on Gaia that required his attention. Gaia and Asa had grown without his touch, some for good and some for bad, all in all, he had returned home to realize he was a changed man.
Now he was left alone, Ashira informing him of her wish to stay as friends at least till the end of the war and Annika calling it quits. The war would take a while, anything could happen during that time, Ashira could fall in love with someone else and he could be left alone once again. He had come to terms with that train of thought, he had other things to deal with, other battles to handle and an entire galaxy to secure, he had no time for frivolities at this point.
An entire continent needed his help, he had an alien entity looking to dig its claws into his world and he intended to drag it out, crush it and send a message back to whatever group intended to come after the bright scourge for his world. Opening his eyes as the door groaned open, he eyed the ascenders who crawled out, half alive, cold amusement dancing in his eyes as he stared at the haunted looks on their eyes, unaware of his presence even though he did nothing to hide it.
After using his command for the second stage, cutting the forty down to thirty, the next stage was the thirty fighting against a holographic image of him at bronze, something Ashira had bought from the warehouse, a construct that could reflect what ascenders past ranks looked like, turning it into a training ring. The thirty against Moyo had been a bloodbath, the titan plowing through them like a boulder through dry sticks, eventually relenting to allow only twenty escape into the next chamber.
There they had met the vice sect leaders of the clan, Josh, Julius, Charles, Jide, Sonya and the first hand of Anansi. Engaging in combat, the bronze rankers who once thought themselves powers in their own rights had been totally broken down, having to somehow collect tokens from the six vice sect leaders before they could exit the room. Moyo had instructed the vice sect leaders to carefully observe those who showed the most promise, somehow letting the coins get into their hands and making their way out to where he sat.
As they collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily as they tried to recuperate from the arduous trials they had just been through, Moyo glanced over the ten he was left with, their names and paths filtering into his head,
Hajin lightning eater,
Romulus beast walker,
Fern steel champion,
Wutan piercing spear,
Tomasa golden staff,
Yemi rune brawler,
Vaughn assault piercer,
Marcel devil touch,
Amiya sound screamer,
Lucina blade rain,
Waiting for them to realize his presence, he materialized dominion by his side. Wutan noticed him first, freezing to the spot, the rest coming to see him soon after, all pausing in awe and terror at the sight of the titan.
Moyo stood up, taking a wooden bo staff at his side, the rest of them still frozen,
“a year and a few months ago, we all saw our worlds come crashing down” he started,
“Some of us were fathers, lovers, friends and family members, we all saw that go down the drain, death coming quickly and with a finality which we couldn’t argue” twirling the staff, he continued,
“Some of us gave in to despair, while others like you and me shouted back in defiance, knowing well enough that we had no choice than to keep moving, to keep growing stronger in the face of overwhelming odds”
“For a moment I was at peace, the undying will of humanity would survive, I could finally focus squarely on my ascension alone. Imagine my surprise when I found out a bunch of ascenders decided to paint me as some deity, as some ultimate being, what happened the undying will of humanity?” he growled,
Hajin stood up,
“You embody that will lord- “was all he said, before the bow came crashing into Hajin, driving him into the mountain itself, the bronze ranker groaning as he collapsed in on himself,
“First rule of training with me, there will be no veneration of me, not while I draw breath and in charge of this group” he growled,
Yemi, the light skinned ascender nodded,
“and what is this group?, what are we, titan blade?” he asked,
Moyo nodded,
“Good, you’re learning, what you are is a guard, the details will be explained at the end of the training, should you survive till then, so tell me, ascenders, do you dare take on my trial?” Moyo asked, eyes glowing,
Wutan slammed his spear on the ground, eyes glowing, the rest drew themselves to their full height,
“We are” Hajin said, pulling himself out of the crater in the mountain,
“We are” Yemi completed.