“…You…”
A sharp crack in her voice and its immediately apparent that whoever stands opposite Hannah at the door wears a familiar face, but not one she had expected to see today… not after all these years.
[Mount Kendo]
“Falls… springs… melt flowers.”
Arteus repeats the words to himself as he stares to the top of a hot spring inside Mount Kendo.
And the ceiling of the cave he now stands, where the sweaty teal glow of the melt flowers shines a blurred blueish colour. The glowing indicator for the famed upside-down plant!!
A once active volcano turned dormant, Mount Kendo sits south of Barley, and is the last bit of land before the Great Oceans Pesedon. It is here and areas like this that melt flowers grow.
Extreme heat the most important factor in their growth, melt flowers take their nourishment in Mount Kendo from the steam raised by the cave hot springs below. Hence why they grow upside down.
This one flower could be Barley’s salvation if they knew how to farm it safely. Lucky for them though their village has a boy with not only a tremendous resistance to heat but remarkable healing abilities to boot oh and not forgetting a woman crazy enough to constantly risk her and her son’s lives for them.
The main ingredient in making flare ups, melt flowers once mixed with the appropriate herbs can help restore a person’s body temperature almost immediately. Making them perfect for white-snake bites and frostbite.
“…”
“Well… Up to it Art.”
With a quick leap Arteus is off the ground in a flash and reaching for the cave’s ceiling.
“…”
*FSsshhh
The heated rock sizzles against his skin as he sticks his hands finger first into the ceiling, dangling wildly over the hot springs.
“…Tch…”
“How does mom usually even collect these.”
He twinges in pain while scaling the ceiling in a manner similar to crossing monkey bars as he makes his way towards the flowers!
-Two And a Half Hours Later-
“Hup!”
*tut.
One soft landing later, and Arteus is safely back on the ground with relative ease.
“One… two… three… Good! With this many we shouldn’t have to worry about melt flowers for a while.”
The boy smiles proudly to himself, clearly pleased with the hull.
“Hopefully we get out of this damned winter soon.”
“Geez… What sort of games is All-sky playing with us.”
He mumbles to himself salty at the cruel hand fate is dealing.
All-sky. The proverbial utopia of the afterlife for all who had led their lives according to the Laws of the Gods. But also, the home of said Gods.
From Chief Gods of the realms to Gods of the elements and fortune. Everyone on Avaricia prays to the All-sky.
And while its actual existence is heavily debated it would be hard to argue against given the subtext and hundreds of thousands of accounts that exists detailing the exploits of the Gods when they still roamed the continent.
From their individual ascensions to deified figures to them making the Laws of All-sky and eventual Vow of Birthright.
Avarician faith insists that the Gods are always watching and judgment will eventually be passed come time for the second birth.
“Considering how long it took to get here and pluck theses off the ceiling, most of the townsfolk should be respecting curfew by now.”
“Which means, it’s probably time for me to head to Red Square.”
*POOOOAOAOAAAAAAAAA!!!
“…”
*Horns blare.
Just then, as Art was leaving the cave. It came down from nowhere.
From All-sky.
And across all four realms.
The Six Horns of Second Birth.
The Six Horns… of Armageddon.
[Realm of Demon-folk]
*POOOOAOAOAAAAAAAAA!!!
[Realm of Elfish-kin]
*POOOOAOAOAAAAAAAAA!!!
[Realm of Dwarfish-kind]
*POOOOAOAOAAAAAAAAA!!!
An ear shuttering sound. With no melody whatsoever beat across the four realms.
And with it came a single realisation. A single acceptance.
“It was time.”
For the devout… salvation.
For the heathen… damnation.
But outwardly the belief was the same. The dead religion was in fact not dead. The Gods of Avaricia were indeed real. And the time had come for everyone to acknowledge this.
Suffice to say the feeling was unanimous among all. To the point that even the most stone cold of none believers understood exactly what the sound meant.
So as mythical Under-realm opened its gates at the centre of the continent. And the scourge of the deep dark abyss burst out in full force. Spreading across the realms from the inside out.
Taking, destroying, and violating all that the continent had cultivated over the thousands of years of its existence there was almost a sense of peace.
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Like nothing else mattered. Like the world had run its course. Like fate had come to collect what’s owed to it.
The feeling resonated with all.
All, but a few.
The blaring noise, the rumble of the dormant Kendo, the stampede of the fleur deer, the howls of the arctic wolves and the Screech of the titan Yeti, and yet Art could only think of one thing.
“…mom…”
Arteus, was a few.
He did not resonate with the sentiment.
He did not accept death.
He did not accept fate.
He sought only to see his mother.
He sought only Hannah.
Through the trees and into bushes… over rocks and stumbling to a painful fall that left a cut upon his forehead.
Art run.
And run!
With one thing consuming his thoughts.
With one thing constantly being repeated to himself as he battled nature at full sprint.
“…mom…”
“…mom…”
“..MOM!..”
He knew, didn’t he?
Even though Art was not accepting of fate…
Even though the euphoric nirvana that consumed everyone had not consumed him…
He knew.
Arteus knew what those horns were telling him.
Arteus knew what All-sky was telling him.
-Ten Years Ago-
[Arteus’ Home]
“*sniffles… *sniffles… Waaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!”
A young Arteus wails at the top of his voice as his mother tends to his wounds.
“C’mon don’t cry Arty, c’mon.”
Hannah repeats to the wounded child. Again and again, in an attempt to quail his cries.
“It’ll stop hurting soon c’mon.”
His mother’s voice seems close to breaking as her hands shiver upon his face with every tear she wipes.
“but… *sniffles… but mama *sniffles…”
“I didn’t even do anything!”
The boy wails
“All I wanted to do play was with everyone else…”
“Why would they do that to me…”
He wails
“I don’t know Arty; some people are just never satisfied until they feel above others.”
“You shouldn’t care about such people… c’mon stop crying the pain will go away soon… I promise.”
She wipes the tears off his cheeks as the composure on her face cracks to one full of grimace and sorrow.
“*sniffles… but… *sniffles… but that’s not why am crying mama!”
The boy wails
“It doesn’t even hurt at all…”
He wails
“I just don’t understand! Why won’t they play with me?? What did I do?!?!!”
“… Oh…”
“…Arty…”
*sniffles
“WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!”
The boy and the mother wail together.
So why won’t they play with him?
Why does the boy pain so?
…
Aged six at the time, a young Arteus is goaded into playing atop a hill with his new supposed ‘friends’ where he is pushed off.
The boy suffers a broken arm and leg. But withstands the pain to shoulder a bloody smile for his friends to reassure them of his safety.
His friends, terrified, however, run away. Leaving him at the bottom of the cliff.
…
Broken Arteus returns to the village after a day, limping to meet with his friends. Who in turn shun him.
Their parents slamming the door on the six-year-old.
…
An hour’s trek back home by his lonesome has his worried mother grabbing her missing son in tears at the severity of injuries…. and jubilation of his health.
His mother’s tears, coupled with the pain and influx of emotions the boy doesn’t fully understand yet finally pushes him over the edge.
A broken boy and his mother wail together for a night…
-Three Days Later-
“So Arty… that’s the Vow of ‘Your’ Birthright.”
“Understand?”
“…hm…”
A bright smile with shut eyes from Hannah as she scruffs up Art’s hair…
“Great… now never forget it okay?”
“Hmpf!”
A response full of great conviction from Arteus in return…
“Good, now go help mommy with those weeds out front okay…”
And the fleeting instruction she left as she headed for her workbench…
…Four and a half days after his horrific injury, the broken boy makes a miraculous full recovery on all his injuries.
And his mother… recites the Vow ‘on’ his birthright to him…
[Present Day]
[. All-Sky .]
“The time for Avaricia has come.”
???
“Isn’t it a little premature to call its end over the choices of a young King?”
???
“Foolish! it is those choices that will end the continent should we not act fast enough.”
???
“I agree… we must begin the second birth as soon as possible”
???
“If you agree with that then you’re just as naïve as the rest of them.”
???
“Watch It!”
???
“Or what?!”
???
“Hmmmmm… it seems the God’s are eager to bury their secrets.”
“I wonder what sins you all have toiling away down there…”
“Hahahahaha!!!!!!....
“…”
“…”
-To be Continued-