"Argh, this pain. This agony…" He embraced it. "HAHAHA!!!!"
His laugh roamed as if ceasing fierce violence. In the grimy night, his agony-filled steps marched forth, climbing a hill with growls and vicious rage. "When shall I walk on the stairs of Heaven with your severed head, the realm will shiver from the echo of my steps." His ferocious smile cast an aura so violent, that the grass he walked upon died with every step he took. "It shall be the greatest redemption Olympia would ever see." He yelled with sheer confidence and lost slight balance which made him lay a palm over a tree beside and that too began to perish, surging black. He growled with severe pain as the tree dissolved to mere ashes. He has reached the top of the hill, and his gaze wanders the world beneath mesmerizing little dots of light and halts over a far city, bright red that it illuminates. "I am close…" With a lasting smile, he spoke eagerly.
*The Steps of Destiny Gets Closer*
"I am fading. I am disappearing. I don't want that… Please, find me."
*Yet He Stayed Unaware*
"Hatim?" Zera spelt his name with the utmost kindness and so his eyes whirled to her with a calm and gentle gaze. Humans are not as capable as the lady of Olympia, Zera was at her wits, after all, the sun was on the horizon within a few hours and she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. Barely opening her eyes, they walked on their feet after resting the horses at the stable nearby. As her legs wiggled with every step, Hatim lent her a piggyback and Zera accepted it with no hesitation, though she felt a little bad as well since Hatim too is extremely tired from what she can say with her situation. Yet Hatim has a worse sleeping record than this one when training with Vestal, so he can keep his composure without any sleep for at least three days and is unaware of the fact Zera felt terrible. "Hatim, uhh, you can put me back on the ground." Hatim whirl his gaze to her upon his back. "Why? Do you feel like vomiting or something?" Zera got flustered. "No! No, that's not it, well I thought you might also be tired. Both of us haven't gotten any sleep for today, so you must be extremely tired…" Zera didn't feel like lying and came up clean. Hatim smiled back. "No, I am not tired, don't worry." Upon gazing at a warm smile, in a matter of minutes. "...is that so…" Zera dozed off on his shoulder fondly
It was The City sunken in a Red chasm, of course, its every ounce wails, yes, it was the Red Light District. The smell of liquor stinks in every corner of it and the fog of hookah haze the view. The echo of moans roams from every structure they pass by. Hatim for the first time saw in the night it as before he arrived here cold with the wolf's fangs gnawed at him, and as he went further deep down his steps after Athena's, his eyes wandered and saw the beauty of it, no, it wasn't nature that astonished him, but the naked beauty of humans. Ladies in terraces, half-naked and soaked in liquor, whistling upon him occurring in their view with lust and laughter echoes when he looks over. He, of course, was flustered somewhere in his young mind and his gaze averted from them perplexed but as it reached the slumbering darkness living deep in those alleys below. There were more men present than in the morning and they weren't locals, it bothered him, after all, if they aren't locals, then who are these men. But after his gaze wandered all across, it stopped at a black-cloaked figure walking right before him, Athena, she halted her steps before a large structure, it perhaps was the largest place around which was about ten stories and radiated red the brightest. But his gaze couldn't avert from her, even though she has a hood, he knows her face beneath, as always, mystic yet determined…
Known to eternity but unknown to words.
In the red mist, his gleaming sunflower eyes merely gazed upon her, beneath the hood, he merely looked. His mind was empty and his tongue had no words. There was an emptiness that wasn't leaving him, residing deep somewhere in his heart and perhaps killing him inside. But suddenly when the warm breaths of Zera tickle his ears, he recalls why he abides in this world, even after hating himself so much, even after using anger that was, well, just a lie, he still breathes, he still has something to protect, and until then.
"The Bell of Chaos has rung." ~
He has to make a choice, he has to build a greater will that shall prevail over the truth, he has to be ready for that moment, and somewhere deep in his heart, he knows that minute draws near, but there was no point of thinking about it now,
'So till then I have to fulfil this oath I made, and once that ends, I will…'
Suddenly once again his thoughts went empty.
Athena whirls her head to him, she doesn't utter a word, but somehow just meets his gleaming eyes, and doesn't speak one word.
She blinks.
Green her eyes gleam, facing him, and lost to her Choice of Words. There was a distance between them, perhaps just a few steps away from each other, yet they stood worlds apart, the only thing common they had was hate for each other. The Olympians live tenfold the life of humans and yet in her more than One Hundred and Seventy-Two Years of life, she never developed the nature to feel anything for another life, for her there was no scale between virtue and sin, but how beneficial that existence was to the certainty of her ultimate goals. Her ferocious Will always shined in the history of Olympia, never withered, not even against the mighty Gods. But to this man with the eyes of Sunflower, she never had words. Every gaze at him felt like the fire enraging in her heart, it perhaps was not him, but the same Will he carries, it is dreadful and hurls darkness that might eat everything in the end. It was merely her theory with no validity or truth favouring it, yet she has to keep her clasp tight over her weapon, after all, perhaps someday she has to slit his throat in the name of her Lord.
In the mere minutes, many thoughts haze their stares for a period, but the eyes just kept meeting each other in a frozen moment, with the whisker of a gentle breeze wiggling their hairs, they came back to the moment, dazed, Hatim avert his gaze quick and Athena calmly turned back to the structure before. The glow within their eyes perished as each of their steps continued to walk in a structure named Red-Line, there was no denying it was a great Brothel where the Empress of this City rests. According to Athena's analysis, she was the most beautiful woman to ever exist, but not only that, she is the adviser of this city, otherworldly, giving orders to all prostitutes here, and perhaps why she holds so much power in her palm. Like Dara of Melidiona, she rules this city. A few steps in, everything the eye could reach was mere red, light, curtains, walls and carpet, even the counter was painted red and stood there a young charming receptionist in matched red clothes.
Upon the arrival of a figure in a raven black cloak, she gets startled for a second as those steps continue to get closer to her, eventually standing right before her. A figure in a cloak stood behind a young lad with a child on his back, aside from seeing the young lad in distance, nothing else was making sense to her, yet trying to calm her composure, she welcomed them with a wide smile, hiding some feat within. "May I help you?"
"I demand to meet the empress of the Red-Line." Getting right at the point Athena blandly kept her demand. Strangely it occurred to the receptionist that she couldn't tell whether the voice that just echoed was of a man or a woman, and it panicked her slightly. "Wh-what? May I beg your pardon?"
"We have arrived here for the sake of meeting the Empress." Once again repeating, Athena spoke with a clear and vibrant voice. "Uhh… do you have any invitation or perhaps an appointment?" Hesitantly the young receptionist tried to ask for the reasonable need for meeting such an important figure here.
Athena sighed.
"Tell her, Captain Alika has sent us, it is an emergency." Just upon hearing the name Alika, the young lady got shivers in her soul. Despite having next to no authority, when the name of their saviour rang into her ears, a sparkle bloomed in her vivid brown eyes. "P-please wait a moment." She pleaded to Athena and Hatim to sit in the hall for a few seconds as she ran in haste to get to the person Red Light respected the most.
Ark Ischyros.
The guard of the Empress, and a figure respected by countless in the Red Light District. People often call her Bulldog for her loyalty to the Empress. However, not only was she a guard of Empress but of the Red-Light District, it was given that if there were some roaming wild men, there has to be someone that can be taken for granted whenever the situation gets out of hand despite the fact women of Marina are not allowed to commit any crime nor take any combat training, even the gate guards, so her presence was very important. Furthermore, she also was in charge of the insane training of young lads soldiers, which always has been described as a nightmare. So as much as she is respected, she is equally feared. So with hasty steps, the young receptionist knew where her destination was.
***
"Hey, hey…" A gentle touch on her cheeks woke her up, Hatim then lay his palm over her head. "Can you wake up now?" He never sounded this kind before and for a moment startled Zera. "Woah!" Flustered, she looked around to find only the colour Red and recall where she might be. "Oh, hehe… my bad…" She scratched her head with embarrassment. Although she saw it in the morning time, there was a huge difference when it comes to night. The illuminating Red to every point the eyes reach was sure mesmerizing, while her black gaped only reflected red wherever she looked, but then it stopped to that man standing not far from her, in a brown robe and leashed scabbard on his back, she fondly smiled for some reason.
There was never a third person.
As far as she gazed over her life there were perhaps only two people who probably ever cared for her, the rest merely had anger and frustration in their gaze whenever it turned to her. Her mother always loved her, tired, ill, soaked in endeavours, her mother always looked at her with vivid pride in her eyes. Cleo perhaps was the only person aside from her mother, who always stood by her side, for the longest time, for her, he perhaps was the one who still lived in this world and cares if she lives or dies. But suddenly, something happened, although she will never tell this secret to anyone, in her heart, she felt at ease when this mad lad stood by her, it was the same feeling she always got from her mother and Cleo. She doesn't remember when it happened, but now there was another name on that list… she chuckled.
"So yer the ones associated with Captain Alika…?" A large figure barged her steps through the point the trio stood. Behind her walked the receptionist. A bulky figure with heavy armour steps in and wanders her gaze upon the folk that summoned her, but of course, it was the name of Captain Alika who made her come to meet them with haste. She looked over the two mysterious figures, a young lad with some kind of weapon leashed, and even though the lad was young, his eyes had a tale trapped in him, she could sense this is no ordinary lad, while the other black-cloaked one just gave a monstrous vibe, or her instincts told her so. She had her guard on from the moment she laid her eyes on both of them.
However, with just one glance over at that feminine yet bulky figure, Zera recalls her from yesterday morning. "Ah!! You're that muscle lady!" Of course rude she was, there was no mean denying she didn't have muscle. "Ah, ain't yer the lady with that royal name! Hmm, r ya with these goons?"
"Wait, no, they're not goons!" Zera spun her gazes at both figures next to her. One had a dagger and a violent gaze in his sight while another merely stood in a mysterious black cloak. Both of these two looked no less than some kind of big-shot criminals. "They are not goons… hehe…" The confidence in her words changed drastically with just one gaze at them, so she refused to look at them again, and assured Ark with probably the nicest word she could find in her vocabulary.
Ark glances over the two once again, she had her doubts, but there was the name of Marina Hero on the line here and she doesn't know anything vital to Captain Alika so she can ask for some proof. But, there was one way of confirming, yet her pride perhaps might not let her ask that question. "Madam Ark…" The receptionist calls her with hesitation, reminding her that she can not leave her duty for this long as many of the customers have started to gather around, and that same thing was applied at Ark, she can not leave Heaven's Gate for much more minutes. She let out a sigh, and gestured to the receptionist to go back to her duty, and whirl her gazes back at this mysterious figure. "Why did Captain Alika send ya guys? What happened to soldiers?!" She knew that was a kind of useless question but at least had to make it, after all, the soldiers of Marina are not allowed to enter the Red-Light District without a permit which usually takes months to get and lasts for very few days. Yet she has to make sure these people know at least this one fact. "Perhaps you do truly think this question will lead with substantial evidence you are trying to concede, I may tell you I do know about the permit law." With just her simple, steady words Athena annoyed Ark quite much. She scratched her head and got to the point. "Ok, Ya win!" She gave up on her pride. "Who are the three knights of Captain Alika…?" Weirdly, even though she did know the two of the three knights of Captain Alika since military affairs are never told to people here, there is no way outsiders would know about that. Yet still, she does happen to know one of them since she bears the same name as that man. This was the only possible way to confirm that these people were sent by Captain Alika.
She Blinks.
Her emerald eyes gleamed once again for a brief minute as if this was her intention all along. "Sir Stolos Dodiah, Sir Navarch Ischyros, Sir Polemiko Nautiko." Without a single shred of hesitation, she spoke out all three names. Of course, it was the first Ark ever got to know the other two, but when the name wanted to hear most spelt from Athena's tongue, an enormous sparkle occurred in her eyes. "Pops." She whispered.
She let out a long breath.
"Ok, I get it, yer ain't from here, but ya sure know a lot, and I meant a lot, ya hear me?" She started to walk. "Come, I'll take ya to Rose."