"Get up. Now." Hikari says as he stands over Sympha. Sympha quietly rises from her pallet and starts to clean up. The river water was gleaming beautifully in the light of the dawn. The pair had been traveling for about a month together, and in that month Sympha had learned some things. Important rules that helped her survive her very volatile captor. Rule one, never disobey him. If Hikari gave a direct order to do something, it must be done immediately. To break rule one was to court death. Rule two, never touch him without his express permission. She had learned this rule the hard way.
It had been two weeks since they had met Hikari and it was nighttime. They were camping out by a river when after sleeping for about thirty minutes she was awoken by Hikari's screaming. He was having vivid night terrors and out of concern, she went to touch him. The moment her hand touched his arm he snapped awake, grabbed her arm, and snapped it like a twig as a reflex. He healed her arm silently for the next thirty minutes, not a word spoken between the two. After he healed her arm she caught a glimpse of his eyes when he lay back down and saw only sadness.
Rule three, never try to run. During the first week, Sympha had tried to run away but discovered that just because he was asleep didn't mean he couldn't sense her. As soon as she had gotten ten feet away, she could feel his emblazoned blue eyes on her back. It was like a demon holding its hand over her, almost as if she were a roach. She knew that if she had taken another step forward, everything would've gone black. She would've died a terrible death.
Rule four, never lie to him. Hikari made sure to make this rule known from their first moments together and Sympha has never tried to break this rule. Lastly, rule five: Never, EVER, make it known what Hikari's intent was to Dark Elves that they met along the road. It is a rule so important that the thought of breaking this rule would make Sympha soil herself.
Sympha continued to pack up their supplies as Hikari washed himself. There was nothing to hide between the two of them anymore, not that Sympha would try. The risk of her trying to hide anything from Hikari and him becoming suspicious of her actions carried a danger that she didn't want to know. As she put the last of their things in the bag Hikari walked out of the water naked and clean. He walked up to her with the soap in his hands.
"Clean yourself." Hikari puts the soap in her hands and walks off. Walking off the river bank, he moves to the bag with their belongings and dresses himself. Everything that he put on had been made from scratch. He hunted every deer, wyvern, and other mammal that his clothes were made of. He was taught sewing by his mother and hunting by his father. Hikari found it ironic that these skills came in handy now but not when he was in the woods with his family. Hikari clenched his hand swiftly, accidentally squashing a fly that was flying over his palm out of disgust for his previous weakness.
"Ugh. Disgusting." Hikari wipes the bug off the palm of his hand and stands up fully dressed.
Hikari looks up at the sky when he finishes dressing and sees a bird flying up there. It circled them, flying as young birds do, and as the bird swung back around, Hikari reached out with his finger, giving the bird something to land on. The bird unaware of Hikari's monstrous actions heeds his call, swooping down and resting its beautiful wings.
"Look at you little bird, so beautiful, so free. Unaware of the horrors around you, or worse, the things that await you. I used to be like you." The bird chirps at him and Hikari chuckles dryly, stroking the bird innocently. The bird takes off from his finger and flies into the sky. After becoming nothing more than a dot in the sky a large Wyvern flies over top of them casting its shadow over their old campsite. Sympha hurries out of the water covering herself and takes shelter under a tree.
"This thing has been flying a lot recently, Sympha. It's becoming an eyesore." Hikari holds out his hand to summon Arcadia but it doesn't move an inch. Hikari goes silent before he walks over to his sword.
"Today, the creature dies. Get dressed, we're having Wyvern tonight." Sympha hurries out of the shade to dress herself and after a few short moments, they start chasing the monster. Sympha was lucky all things considered, while she did try to stay out of sight when the thing flew overhead, she knew how strong Hikari was, or at least had a general idea of his strength. Besides him snapping her arm like an ant and killing her father easily, she had seen him fight specifically, against a stampede of Demibeasts.
They came in the night, the ground shaking as hoofs and paws slammed the ground. It was completely random and stirred them from their sleep. While Sympha was panicking Hikari was busy readying his weapon. When the monsters entered the clearing Hikari started cutting them down. An arm, a head, a leg. Limbs flew everywhere as he began dispatching them with no effort. There was a point when Sympha couldn't see Hikari; his movements were too fast to be seen with the naked eye. Five minutes was all it took to be done with them. That was also the night they stocked up on smoked meats and furs.
"We're getting close. Hide." Hikari said flatly.
Sympha jumped into the bushes and stood close to a great oak tree. Sympha was no longer close enough to hear Hikari, instead, she could only hear the vague sounds of nature that had a unique kind of symphony. Sympha slowly slid down the tree as she sat in the grass, the remains of her clothes singed and slightly tattered. She felt the sides of her neck, rubbing the spot where Hikari held her by her throat. The burns had mostly healed, but when Hikari used his powers every so often, she'd start to feel like her neck was burning. Almost as if he was still cooking her alive. Sympha shook her head.
"Such thoughts are useless now…" Mumbling to herself she failed to notice the Dark Elf man in front of her. He was a tall fellow with broad shoulders and rippling tight muscles. His jacket was a little tight, you could tell that while it was tailored for him, he had gained enough muscle to fill it out. He carried a sword on his left hip with an ax and dagger on his right hip. His horns were thick and white, shaped like ram horns. He knelt in front of Sympha and with his leather-gloved hand gently patted her shoulder. Sympha yelped, backing away from the dark elf man, and she began shaking.
"Whoa there wee child. Are you okay? Better yet, what the hell are you doing out here, this is Wyvern territory."
"You have to go now!" Sympha shouted uncontrollably. "I don't have time to explain but you need to leave now before he gets back from his Wyvern hunt!" A blue plume of fire erupts upward and a wave of heat rolls over them making her burn scar act up. "Please, I'm begging you!" She grips her neck in reaction to her neck pain. She tries to push the man away but she can't budge an inch.
"Slow down lass. What, no, who's making ya this scared? Do you need help?" The man said cautiously.
It was becoming hotter. Beads of sweat began forming on their chocolate skin.
"The hell is up with this heat?" The man stood up pulling on the collar of his shirt gently. He activated his mana to shield himself from the heat and looked down at Sympha hyperventilating worriedly. "Look girl, it obviously ain't safe here and you look worse for wear. Come with me. I'll protect you. I'm a married man, father, and warrior so no need to be fearful."
It's too hot.
The Wyvern's body crashes into the soil as the two dark elves feel Hikari's eyes on them. It's almost as if the world went dark and only Hikari's daunting gaze remained. The man slowly stood up and readied his weapon. He turned around and met Hikari's gaze, his eyes ablaze with mana and fierce spirit. However suddenly, the pressure and heat fizzled out as their eyes met. Hikari stumbled backward. Hikari continued to look at him, but his breaths came a little quicker and the blue light in his eyes flickered. Sympha was lost in all of this. Standing up she gripped the man's arm as a little girl in a store would. She'd never seen Hikari look so…normal. Or more accurately he looked sickly. All the monstrous power he had displayed went out the window as this mysterious man stared him down.
Hikari's grip on his sword loosened as anxiety washed over him. His knees were weak and he started to sweat. "Is it his fire", he thought to himself. "No, not my fire. But it's too hot!" he thinks. Outside of his head, he couldn't hear anything. No, he could hear war drums. War drums? Those weren't war drums, that was his heart.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
"...it…stop..it…" Sympha's ears perked as she heard a meek voice leave Hikari's mouth.
"Stop looking at me like that…" Hikari dropped to his knees with tears flowing down his cheeks. His fingers dug into the ground as he screamed. The heat that had started to die down raring up as his surroundings started to singe.
"Please stop, please don't look at me like that, not with those eyes! I'm begging you please!"
"Who are you, boy." The man pointed his blade down at Hikari's head. His hand was as steady as his voice, and he never let down his guard.
Hikari's eyes never left the ground. It was too much to look at the man's face. His blue Mana which flickered like flames started to turn golden. A brilliant and warm gold that grew bigger and bigger.
"Run, little girl! There's a town 30 miles north of here! Tell the innkeeper Sabyin sent ya!" The Aura continued to grow in intensity. It had been a long time since Hikari's power surged forth like this, Hikari felt like he was breaking, his body a vessel overflowing at a rate the opening couldn't handle. Hikari slowly stands up, his eyes overflowing with divine light.
"..."
"What'd ya say?" Sabyin says as he places his hands in front of him, his mana growing in response to Hikari's. The heat is intense to the point where the ground they stand on is actively melting.
"...ther." Hikari's power continues to rise as Sabyin takes a step forward. His eyes focus as he examines the boy. A gold liquid pours from his eyes slowly, almost like tears. No, they are tears, tears of fear, hatred…pain.
"Father…" Sabyin doesn't understand everything happening but moves even closer, his mana close to being overpowered.
Hikari has been incredibly unstable for the past month, the negative energy inside of him poisoning his mind. He was always a second away from killing everything around him. His mind was constantly on the brink of collapse. He had nothing, nothing but hatred inside as he wandered around with a dark elf girl who never guided him to a settlement to burn. Perhaps he would've killed her eventually, or maybe not. Hikari didn't know. A month had passed, and his hatred was still strong. Sympha was nothing like he'd thought a "demon" would be. She challenged every preconceived notion he carried, and it drove him mad. When he met this dark elf randomly, Hikari steeled himself to kill him. He was finally going to scrub the world clean of another "demon". And when he looked at him, he only saw his father. It was not a hallucination, but Sabyin genuinely looked like Hikari's father. When their eyes met, that fragile thing that had been holding everything back, all the pain and power, all the grief and suffering, the fear of dying again, it broke. What is standing before Sabyin right now isn't Hikari, but a broken Divine Avatar. And it is extremely volatile.
Hikari raises his right hand out in front of him, palm upward and fingers slightly curved. The heat was unlike anything Sabyin had ever felt before and he had survived an encounter with a dragon. Hikari took a step forward and it was like Sabyin stepped from the inside of a bonfire to the mouth of a volcano. Sabyin stubbornly met Hikari's gaze and took a step forward too. His weapon had grown to hold so he dropped it as he calmly and cautiously reached his hand forward to match Hikari's. At this point neither Hikari nor Sabyin could hear anything, the heat was simply too great. The very Air had burned away. The only reason either could breathe was the mana covering them acted as a thin breathable membrane.
Sabyin took another step forward and his clothes started to singe, the heat starting to bypass his mana. Hikari took a step forward and his foot sank into the desolate earth beneath his feet. Step by step the two drew closer, each step hell for Sabyin. Something compelled Sabyin to take his hand, even if it meant he got burned—something divine and powerful, something old. Step by step until finally, after all of Sabyin's clothes had burnt away, they stood at hand touching distance, their fingers met. The moment they touched, everything went white; it went from unbearably hot to cold, and golden energy exploded from their flesh. And then it all went black.
When Hikari opens his eyes he's somewhere familiar, a beautiful blue night sky reigns above him, and blue crystal clear water ripples below him. He can see his reflection and he looks…tired. He contemplates momentarily, breathing deeply and letting everything sit on him. For the first time in a month, he can think clearly. No anger, no hatred, no sadness, just him and reason. He looks at his calloused hands and thinks to himself, "What have I done? Why am I here?" He recognizes that he's committed great sins, yet where is the shame? He feels nothing for his wrongdoings. He stands up and takes a moment to survey his surroundings, drinking in the mana-rich air and clarity being unburdened by emotion. And then an unfamiliar voice calls out to him.
"This is new, where are we, lad," Sabyin said, his voice hard. Sabyin walks over to Hikari and puts on his shoulder. While Sabyin didn't hurt Hikari, his grip was strong and firm. Hikari smirking says, "We're in the Infinite Azure. Which shouldn't be possible."
"And why's that, young man?"
"Because the creator of the Infinite Azure is dead. Crumbled to dust in my arms…it was my fault."
Sabyin lets go of Hikari's shoulder and his eyes soften a little.
"I'm…I'm sorry to hear that. Death is never easy. Especially the death of a loved one"
Hikari turns away slightly and mutters, "You have no idea."
The both of them look around the space but don't see anything that may help their situation. After walking a few yards forward, Hikari sees a glimmer of light in the distance. It's faint, hardly noticeable, but still seeable.
"Hey, uh…what's your name?" Hikari says, his voice raised because of the distance between them.
"The name's Sabyin! What about you?"
"My name is Hikari. It's a bit weird, but my mom got to name me instead of my dad."
"Hikari? Ain't that Elven?" Sabyin asks, walking a little closer.
"I guess? I never gave it too much thought. Anyways, you see that light in the distance? I'm thinking that could be our ticket out of here." Sabyin squints his eyes to better see the light in the distance. His eyes start to glow weakly and he slows his breathing.
"I can barely make it out but I can see it. Maybe half a mile away. However, my mana control seems…off. Know anything about that?"
Hikari looks up at Sabyin and shrugs. Sabyins sighs and the two of them start walking towards the light.
The two walk silently, neither wanting to break the newfound silence that hangs in the air. The closer the two got to the light, the more obvious it was that it wasn't a light but a gleaming structure. Still unable to make out much detail, they continued to walk forward. After 5 more minutes of walking they finally made it to their destination and the structure was much larger than either had thought it'd be. A large crystal was embedded in the water in front of them. It was 40 feet high and pure. Looking through it was like looking through a glass of water. It was majestic. Inside however was a vague shape. It looked feminine and glowed faintly. The silhouette was familiar to Hikari but unknown to Sabyin causing a vast difference in reaction.
Sabyin walks up to the crystal and places his hand on it, curiously gazing inside.
"Is…is that a woman inside of there?" Sabyin turns to Hikari and says, "Look I ain't one to judge if that's your truth kid. Aye?"
Hikari coughs confusedly and holds up a hand.
"By the goddess no. However, I need to take a look. That shape…" Hikari moves up close to the crystal and gazes deep within it. When Hikari gets a closer look at what's inside he stumbles backward.
"It's her. It's Arcadia…"
Confused, Sabyin asks, "And who would that be? I literally have no idea who that is, boy."
"She is, was, my master. In a way. To be honest I've had many people I could consider master. My father, my instructor, Magnus, and Ryke. However, Arcadia was the most effective of them all. I'd been a student of hers for only a week but in that time she'd eliminated my fear of death."
Sabyin crosses his arms, grunting in respect, surprised that she managed to do that with her training.
"Not what I would have done but that's respectable. Do tell Hikari, how'd she do that?"
Hikari thinks for a little and decides to bluntly say, "She killed me repeatedly for days on end in my sleep." The smirk drops from his face immediately.
"Oh."
Hikari places his hand on the crystal feeling a warm hum vibrate through his arm. He had missed her dearly and weirdly missed their training sessions in his dreams. Her face was peaceful, her eyes closed as if she were sleeping. A tear forms in Hikari's eye rolls down his face, and drips into the water below. A ripple pulses from below his feet and a crack forms in the crystal. Shocked, both men take a step back. As more cracks formed light started spilling out of Arcadia's crystal cocoon.
"Do you know anything about what's happening, Hikari!"
"Not really! I'm hoping we don't get blown up! That's about it!"
"If I die, I'm gonna kill you-"
The crystal explodes showering the two of them in golden light. Hikari gets blown back a few feet while Sabyin's clothes are blown backward in the wind. Arcadia floats in the air, her clothes softly glowing a beautiful golden color. Her shin was vibrant and rejuvenated. She looked better than the day Hikari met her.
"Hikari…Hikari…HIKARI!" A sharp pain spreads through Hikari's face as his eyes fly open.
"Ugh! My face. Who the hell…" Hikari looks up at Arcadia's face and her golden blonde hair as they flow behind her. "You, how are you? Oh goddess you're alive!" Hikari jumps up and tries to hug Arcadia only to be met with a vicious angry punch to the jaw.
"You racist little shit! Genocide? Why was that the first thought you had when I "died"? HMM?! What do you have to explain yourself, you knucklehead!"
Hikari takes a deep breath before letting it out.
"I don't have an excuse. Everything came over me all at once when I woke up in my new body. I was alone in that cave, and…I broke. Every terrible thing that had happened to me, every traumatizing event, had something to do with Demons. I-"
"I'm gonna stop you right there, Hikari. One, they aren't demons, they are Dark Elves. Get it right. Now continue." Arcadia floats slightly, hands on her hips.
"Dark elves destroyed my home, we're at war, and hell, the only reason I've had to train is because of that war. The Dark Elf queen killed my father! And that thing…it killed me. At that moment of fragility, I snapped. I wanted them gone, to never have to experience that pain again. I killed an innocent man, a father, out of hatred. Now that I have mental clarity, I deeply regret that. However, after traveling with that dark elf girl, I've had my notions of Dark Elves challenged."
"You finished kid?" Arcadia's feet touched the floor and she walked up to Hikari. "I know exactly how you felt. We went through it together. When I was young, I too felt pain. Loss on a large scale. I know the pain you're feeling, but this is wrong. When I said to kill dark creatures, I meant tainted monsters. Actual monsters of the night, not dark-skinned people!" She grips Hikari's cheek and pulls it down to her face. "You've committed a great sin, Hikari. You killed an innocent man, kidnapped his daughter, and then planned on wiping a species off the face of the planet. However, it's not my forgiveness you need." Arcadia lets go of Hikari's cheek and points at Sabyin. "He heard everything you had to say. You need not only his forgiveness but also that poor girl Sympha's."
Hikari takes a deep breath and walks over to Sabyin. Sabyin looks Hikari up and down, what little friendliness that they had built in a short time gone.
"I'm sorry."
"And?" Sabyin says.
"I mean, I am truly sorry. There's not many ways I can cut it. I was going to do…terrible thing to you. Terrible things to that girl. I was broken inside and out, but that doesn't excuse my actions. I'm sorry and I hope that as a Dark Elf, you can forgive this sin I've committed against your people."
Sabyin looks at his hand deeply, weighing Hikari's words against his feelings. After 10 seconds of silence, Sabyin speaks.
"You haven't wrong me. As a child that grew up in war times your reaction, while extreme, is understandable. You owe me no apology, but the girl, you should beg her for forgiveness."
Hikari hangs his head in shame, remembering all the ways he wronged Sympha. A wave of disgust washed over him as he tightened his hands into fists.
"You're right, but to do that, I need to go back to the real world."
Sabyin turns to Arcadia. "So uh, yeah how exactly do we leave? The kid said this is your domain."
"This, nah, this is holy energy. This isn't my doing. The only reason I have any kind of form is because this kid's energy is sustaining me. The moment he gains control and turns off the well of mana, my ego will fade again."
"What." Hikari's face goes pale.
"Kid, this is your mana. Don't tell me you got so caught up in the place that you didn't notice that the signature was completely different. I swear, kids these days." Arcadia walks off exasperated at her student's lack of attention.
Sabyin rests his hand on Hikari's shoulder, "Just breathe. Just don't break."
When Arcadia comes back she's calmed down and looks to be in deep thought.
"Okay, so let's get this straight. This Infinite Azure isn't mine. It isn't the dark elves, and Hikari's too incompetent to pull something like this off. Who the hell's mana domain are we standing in."
As soon as Arcadia finishes her sentence, a shadowy hand grabs onto Hikari's ankle as a disgusting black creature crawls from beneath the tranquil waters. Everyone is unable to speak for a different reason. Hikari is frozen in fear, Sabyin is confused and senses danger, and Arcadia is silent because she recognizes what's in front of her.
"I've heard…enough. What type of lazy cop-out is…this? I'll be damn…before I let this filthy "demon" leave…here unslaughtered."
Hikari stumbles backward, falling on his butt in an undignified manner. "What is that thing?!" he screams.
Arcadia draws her blade. "That is a Night Terror. Not to be confused with a Nightmare. This is a physical manifestation of your pain, suffering, and trauma. And it has come to finally consume you."
Arcadia begins glowing a soft blue color. "This is what a real demon looks like." The creature smiled sickly and dementedly as it solidified its form. When it finally finished, what stood before them was a blackened copy of Hikari himself.
"~Master~! Let's play one final game for this pathetic whelps soul~~. Whoever wins gets to keep him."
"His soul isn't ours to gamble!" Arcadia rushes forward with sword and shield in hand, a trail of golden light following her blade.
Dodging Arcadia's blade, the Night Terror mocks her by saying, "But master, I don't know when I'll see you again. Won't you humor weak little me? Oh so dependent on others, I can never help myself. Legendary masters, weapons, and genetics, but I'm oh so weak and helpless. Don't you love me enough to play one last game before the big bad demon eats my soul for brunch?"
"Less. Talking. Now." Arcadia goes for a leg sweep only for her attack to be jumped over. The demon continues to cackle in delight as Arcadia keeps the demon on its toes.
As the two men watch them fight, they are lost in awe of Arcadia's techniques. No wasted movements, her body is loose but strong, and she leaves no opening. Even as the demon continues trying to get to her, she is unshaken. She is a true warrior. The demon doesn't attack, not because it doesn't want to, but because it can sense that every "opening" is a trap. Every moment outside of those traps is completely guarded. She has no blind spots.
"She's really good. Who the hell is that woman, and why have I never heard legends about her?"
Hikari answers him calmly. "It's not that there aren't any legends about her, it's just that they're so old they're lost to us. She is Arcadia, the first human. The progenitor of the human royal family, and she's probably the strongest human to ever live."
"This game is taking t-too long master. Maybe a b-break is in order?"
"You're dead." Arcadia in a burst of speed quickly grabs the Night Terror mid-dodge, slamming its spine on her knee and creating a sickening snap. The Night Terror goes to scream in pain but Arcadia clenches her hand around its throat, stopping the scream in its abyssal chest. Its lower half dangles limply in her grip.
"Hikari, pay attention to this next attack. Learn well, because after I kill this thing, this realm will collapse and my ego will fade again. These are the creatures you need to kill to restore me. And this is how you kill them."
The faint blue aura that surrounded her for the entire fight began shining brilliantly as a familiar heat rolled off her body. Her eyes glowed with power as a blue ring slowly formed behind her head until it formed a halo resembling the Sun's corona. The heat was anything like Hikari had ever put out, the only reason he wasn't reduced to ashes was because the attack wasn't meant for him, but he could feel everything.
"Astral Prominence: Corona."
The enter realm erupted into flames from the ground up blinding everyone as within milliseconds the Night Terror's body, soul, and everything that could be considered as "Other" was deleted from existence.