The initial feeling of freefall overcame her senses, vertigo tugging at her body in waves— yet whether it was from the nosedive into the ocean or her Forecast, she didn’t know. Ah, right…she and the Outsider had plunged into the depths of the sea. It was no wonder then that the only thing she recognized, after years of feeling its ephemeral touch, was that this place— and this time— were not real.
At least, not yet.
She felt her body land hard into the ground, certainly dead from the speed of her fall, but upon opening her eyes she remained suspended in the air; the sensation of landing…it was a way of her consciousness anchoring itself to the world— at least, that’s the closest way she could describe being lucid when the Forecasts occur. Perhaps the reason her fall was so strong this time was due to her real body sinking to the bottom of the ocean? The drop from the sky affecting her natural abilities?
No……that didn’t feel right.
Even if she were to sink into the deepest abyss of the ocean, there was no way that absence of light could have made the sky of this future so dark.
But the lingering presence of the fire demon certainly could.
“Altzzht— hzeesert Oasis Redoubt— requesting further assistance! Immediate assistance!”
She heard a voice like static enter her mind— that’s right, she’d made the habit of searching for radio signals the second she entered any Forecast, lest she miss vital information. It was a relief her body did it on instinct, because her mind was in a fog. It felt like the static became a thin layer surrounding her brain making it confusing to think. But if this was a Forecast, it didn’t matter whether she was dying or if something else was wrong. The others were depending on her.
She closed her eyes…think and take it one step at a time. There was an Oasis— nearby? Does she know any? A body of water, the name of a building?……! Her eyes flew open, the Desert Oasis Redoubt, that’s where she is! But why—?
“Please, we can’t hold out any longer— they’re gone, they’re all gone!” screamed the voice in her skull. “Send reinforcements! Send reinforcements! Senh-!hzdzzhht…”
Her breathing slowed, but her body was far from calm. In a trance, she slowly turned from the desert toward the sunlight parting through the clouds, at last seeing what the darkness of the world hid behind it. And vertigo pushed through her in a colossal wave.
“Gblurrghh!”
The static exploded in the nerves between her temples, and though there was no physical evidence of her retching, her mind felt it real nonetheless. She knew exactly what this feeling was. Her instincts— carved within her being— knew. But never had she felt fear of this degree.
Fear of something that should not exist.
She collapsed, her apparition trembling as she viewed what could only be called a garden of slaughter. Machines and organs were spewn across the desert, painting the desert the color of human. Slayers were not razed, but dissected— limbs, visors, hundreds of gleaming metal pigments dyed crimson in a silence that screamed a warning: this is not a place in which life is permitted to exist.
But that wasn’t what she feared; rather, she retched at what stood in the midst of that scene…a creature. Its physiology was wrong; parts of its body that looked to be internal hung loosely from a monumental hexagon of flesh. Loose, horribly thin strands writhed out of solid chunks of…teeth? Bone? She couldn’t tell, its color kept changing. One moment the creature was an almost night shade of blue— the next, gleaming white like a cloud before shifting to the color of the desert sand. But its hanging organs…
Her apparition trembled like a child, shivers running in volatile waves down every nerve of her spine, making her unable to keep still. And all of a sudden, she stopped.
Overcoming her sense of fear was her instinct of survival, forcing her body to keep still lest, even in this place that didn’t exist, she would be killed. The hexagon turned, and the flesh spiraling into the middle of the shape opened to reveal…an eye? It was like an eye but in the shape of a pentagon, covered in what looked like fuzz from a distance.
It approached her, and she couldn’t move. Against the will of her instinct, Lia began hyperventilating— the thing lifted the strands of flesh from what she now recognized as glass, extending them above her and towards the distance. Heavy howls of wind shifted around the monster’s body, but she remained unaffected. Well, almost. Her apparition shifted right, and she saw dozens of Slayers approaching the being walking on thin hoofs. She reached her hand out, thinking for a small moment her voice may be able to reach them, but when she spoke, her vision, hearing, and mind merged into one.
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Scenes of a bloodied earth flashed through her mind like flickering lights. In shock she tried steadying the Forecast to absolutely no avail— a cacophony of voices and resounding machines echoed in her brain, out of sync with the images before her eyes. She couldn’t speak, but not for a lack of trying; everything spun so quickly that it felt as though her voice was sucked out of her, lost amidst the vortex of Slayers, Resonators, commands, warnings, and screams.
She saw heavy bursts of fire, swarms of bullets ricocheting through the air, and streams of Slayers arriving from Redoubts across the land. But what stood most clear to her from the fractured visions was the great burst of light plummeting from the sky like a meteor.
Seeing it in front of her, the world became white but……time— she had to know the time! Accompanying the still descending light was a voice from the lost Desert Oasis Redoubt as she struggled to read the time on her bracelet.
“Great Champion of the Endbringers…” said the voice as she strained to see, but thank goodness she saw the number— 9:09am.
“…The King Mirror!”
And the light swallowed her whole, bringing searing pain to her nerves. Panic returned— she couldn’t let this kill her friends! No— no!
“NO!” she said, bolting upright. The light, it was still here— but so was the pain in her cheeks, shoulders, back, and thighs; that means the Forecast is happening right now!
“No!” she flailed, ripping off strands attached to her body. The strands of the Endbringer? Its hanging organs!?
“Lia— Lia, calm—”
“I need to stop it! The mirrors— everyone said something about its organs like mirrors!”
The glass from which its strands of muscles came from? What about them? She didn’t know, adrenaline fueled her body, she was only acting. She threw herself onto her legs, but the flaring pain up her calf made her fall near instantly. Though someone caught her.
“We need to move! The light, maybe if we hit the mirrors the light will—”
A tight, familiar grip wrapped itself around Lia’s cheeks, forcing her neck to crane and face the girl holding them. Pain sank itself into her gums and teeth; the strength contrasting with the stern, worried face of the girl holding her.
“Hanna…where..?”
“Mesa Valley Vault City.” she answered. “Don’t move. You’re burned— badly. Lie down so—”
“No.” she said, gulping in her saliva but calming down. “I-I had a Forecast. What time is it?” Hanna looked as though she was about to disregard her completely, but closed her parted lips. She looked at the wrist still holding tightly to the girl’s face, and answered.
“It’s almost four in the morning, you’ve been out for a few hours. Why?”
Lia trembled as she lifted her hand, grasping the arm Hanna was using to keep her from panicking.
“They’re coming back.” she said, her voice slowly gaining its composure. It was embarrassing, but…she’d never been in the presence of something so otherworldly. So…malevolent. “But it might already be too late.” she admitted, hearing the voices of others in the brightly lit room.
Suddenly, the light of the unknown room went dark— save for three dark gray lights emanating from three metallic bracelets. Hanna remained in place, but the alarm in her eyes was clear even in the dimness.
“The tenth Endbringer…the one called Tezcacoatl.”
———————————————————————————
“Chanting..huh…”
“In a broad sense, yes, that is its purpose. Do so with caution, but not hesitation.”
I held the practice blade at my side, taking in and considering her words when the world became dark. The lights in the Redoubt suddenly went out, replaced with dull gray lights in the ceiling and floor of Skull Beach.
「Code Zero.」 said the announcement playing through the halls.
“What…is this?”
“…make haste.”
She almost ran towards the hangar, where every Resonator in Skull Beach congregated around Annika’s workstation.
「Code Zero.」 said the voice once more, echoing throughout the hangar; it was one that didn’t belong to Annika. Atop her workstation was a holographic map with coordinates— a bright red dot hovering near a place labeled “Desert Oasis Redoubt”. We watched as live feed from the faraway hangar played before our eyes, an otherworldly darkness covering the land as a…mass, of flesh descended onto our world.
「Code Zero.」 said the monotonous voice. 「Endbringer Arrival. Code Zero. Endbringer arrival. Code Zero. Code Zero.」