"This will be the last time I reiterate myself. Trespassers, show yourselves!" The dark-haired man says to the wanderers and Sadiki while slowly standing up.
The wanderers and Sadiki all freeze still as they blatantly stand in front of the tall man. He has long, glistening dark black hair reaching to his ankles, with half of it tied up from a glimmering light blue flower on the center of the back of his head, and the rest of his dark hair relaxes in a curvy pattern stretching down to his hips in such a divine fashion.
He has an ashen and handsome face with crystal dark blue eyes and fierce eyelashes. His attire is the shade of an otherworldly black with a dark intimidating blue scattered at the tips of his sleeve, one half of his arm is revealed, while the other remains covered in a dark stretching sleeve, and the center of his chest gleams out a crystal cyan. At the same time, his fingers encroach in a perpetual flowing stream of star-filled liquid. But nothing answers him except complete silence.
As the ambiance of the device sounds from behind the man, he slowly stands up and forms a long dark blade from thin air.
"Are you members from The Ending? Does this device belong to your doing?"
The wanderers shut their eyes in fear and slowly part away from him. The man casually approaches them, with his height towering all three of them. His dark hair sways back and forth, forming a small dark blue particle trail below his hips. His shadow looms over their scared faces. The man stomps his foot on the ground and raises his voice.
"Speak! I don't want to lead myself to slay all three of you..."
"..."
Absolute silence. Not a word came out from the still wanderers. The man sighs and shakes his head. He grips his long dark sword, points it towards the ceiling, darts his dark blue eyes towards the wanderers and Sadiki, and directly shouts.
"I can't believe I am resorting to violence. Reveal thyself, or be punished underneath the power of the cosmos!"
The wanderers unsheathe their waker's blade from their hips. Sadiki hurriedly pulls his dark blade upwards and charges at the dark-haired man. The man swiftly knocks Sadiki into a wall and pummels his face down two stories into the ground.
The wanderers' gray eyes expand in shock, with their hands trembling in fear. The dark-haired man grits his teeth and darts towards Asahi. He lifts his massive blade towards Asahi's arm and pushes it. Asahi closely dodges the attack and jolts himself towards the device.
"Don't attempt to touch upon such dangerous weaponry!"
The man grabs Asahi by the neck with his dark magic and tosses him away from it like a rag doll. Aletha lifts her arm and screams.
"Asahi!"
She grits her teeth and tenses her fists. She can feel the excess energy enter through her veins and deeply soak into her soul. Her fist illuminates a bright white starry aura before instantly piercing through the man's entire body.
A massive hole forms in the center of his chest, his eyes broaden in wonderment after the striking blow before instantly recovering the wounds and tossing her away from the room. The man whispers to himself as the wanderers twitch in pain.
"Such divine powers. I hadn't heeded such elements in a prolonged time. Are you the two that I met earlier? Against the putrid colony of Wraileza?"
Asahi slowly rub the ash off his arm and nods his head.
"Y...Yeah..."
Before the man can grip his initial train of thought, the wanderers and Sadiki fainted.
* * * * * * * *
"Ah yes, I recognize your structure now. It belongs to the countless statues scattered and buried around Gincad." The dark-haired man whispers while he analyzes the wanderers. He places both of them against a wall while the resting monsters continue to sleep against the corners. The dark blue luminance from the pulsating device glows on their faces before swiftly awakening from the flash of the sea of flames they witnessed millennia ago. Asahi screams in fearful shock.
"Gah! Huh? W-Where am I?"
The man slightly smiles while carefully rubbing the back of Asahi's head. He softly whispers while shutting his eyes.
"I dearly apologize for that misconception, dearest god. Your attire is vaguely similar to the gods that dwell within the nation of Cleira."
Asahi tilts his head towards Aletha and sees her eyelids slowly parting from her round gray eyes. She swiftly lifts her body upwards, pulling Asahi with her. Deep in their minds, they can't believe that the man knows the existence of Cleira. Aletha says in his mind.
"Wasn't I told that only gods knew the existence of Cleira? Perhaps, he too was a god?"
That further explains the immense amount of power he possessed and unleashed towards both the wanderers and Sadiki. The man instantly stands up in front of the wanderers and bows his head towards both of them. His cape swings upwards; like grass buried underwater, defying gravity.
"You are from the family of the Adtraic, yes? The only gods who were able to control the unstable element of light? Considering your eerie silence, I suppose you have experienced quite the events, no?
Aletha and Asahi stare at him, both in confusion and flatter, because of the abrupt recognition coming from the man that tossed them earlier. Sadiki remains fainted, with the glistening aura of his 'kiss' shining on his pale lips.
The man staggers his head, seeking to get the wanderers' attention. He rises, firmly holding his glowing chest, and sheathes his sword into dust. A silence fills the entire room, with the faint hums from the device humming in the background. As the silence continues, the man confidently stands and introduces himself.
"Well, if gods are silent, I must not follow suit. My name is Télos. The Harvester of Destiny. I am cursed to wander around this world forever, never escaping and having freedom like the rest of Them. I favor in my excellency, for you two are the ones I have been destined to looking for."
Asahi faintly mutters while crossing his arms.
"Really...?"
Télos slowly nods his head and approaches Asahi with his enchanted luminance shining over his dark attire.
"Why, yes. I am the fallen protector of oblivion. I was birthed right before the genesis of The New World, and I so happened to be cursed with immortality. I witnessed many events, and I have extensive knowledge of everything, including the reason for the birth of this world."
Aletha pushes her long white hair to the side and suspiciously squints at Télos. She brushes the dirt off from her attire and turns her head towards the glowing device. Aletha stands up in a formal posture, thinking as if she can promote her god act. She desperately tries to speak to Télos' in her ancient dignified language.
"The birth of this orb? Protector of oblivion? Harvester of destiny? I might not, but say that is some profound names. Doth I want to engage divine punishment towards thou for mocking our holy ability?"
Telos' dark blue eyes broaden in shock. His cyan pupil is at the center of both his iris peers at Aletha before responding.
"Ah, so you do know the language of the ancient tongue? Impressive, I must say."
He shuts his eyes and sighs. He is staring at the wanderers while his attire glistens like dark, dim stars.
"I didn't intend to mock thy ability. 'twere something a simple misprision since thy attire matches that of the piercing stars of The Ending."
Sadiki faintly whispers to himself while rubbing his eyes.
"What are they saying?"
Asahi interrupts the conversation, with his mind tangled upon the blurry memories of the ancient language.
"Canst not we just say 'i ordinary language? Though I doth understand the wording of thy quotes, Methinks it is quite difficult to comprehend thy dialogue, following by others."
Telos bows his head towards Asahi and nods.
"Understood, lord Asahi. And Ms. Adtraic, do you also have something to say to your servant?"
Aletha softly giggles and peers her glistening gray eyes at Telos.
"No, no. You don't have to call me that, Telos. Asahi and I are nothing but ordinary humans."
Telos suspiciously squints at her. He swiftly raises his voice and clenches his fists.
"So are you two blatantly... MOCKING the Adtraic?"
Asahi pushes Telos away and swiftly nods his head.
"No, not at all! What Aletha is trying to say is that we were gods before we returned to this world. But later, these strings grabbed hold of us and stripped away all of our powers. We then awakened in this world, knowing that this used to be our home."
Telos slides his fingers over his chin and nods, understanding Asahi's explanation. He pushes his silky dark hair to the side, then sits against the wall, eager to learn more about the wanderers. Upon further analysis, Telos answers the wanderers.
"Ah, I see. So it wasn't the two of you that destroyed The Old World. You two were the ones that were trying to stop the destruction. Mhmm. That further explains why you two hadn't returned to Gincad in more than five thousand years. You were too scared of seeing the results of your fallen kingdom and..."
Asahi confusingly screams.
"Five thousand years? Has it been that long?"
Aletha hastily intervenes at Telos while nervously sliding his fingers in his white hair.
"We were not the only ones."
Telos confusingly tilts his head to Asahi and responds.
"Eh?"
Aletha barges into the conversation, deliberately pushing Asahi away from Telos.
"We had a younger sister who was with us. She had silver hair, violet eyes, she wore a long white dress, and a flower was pinned on her shoulder. Her name was Aiyana, we... erm... lost her to the hands of the Creator."
Telos traces Aletha's words.
"Creator?"
"Yes. Even with all our powers combined, it still wasn't enough to stop her from grabbing Aiyana. We then saw her take The Prism of Creation and trap her inside it. N-Not only that, she then--"
Aletha forms tears over her eyes and lifts her arm over them. Asahi continues while trying to resist the emotion.
"...W-Was brutally shattered into eight fragments right in front of our very eyes, then launched towards the world. We were forced to exit the world before everything flashed to white."
After a long silence, Telos lifts his head and stares at both the wanderers' gray eyes. He envisions the sight of Aiyana, floating within his mind, then the massive glass prism, floating on top of a white pillar secluded from the rest of the kingdom. His eyes widen before instantly backing up and breathing heavily.
"Your sister... was forced INTO the Prism of Creation? I never thought that was possible. That certainly explains the image of that mysterious girl that I had seen every time I attempted to use the magic of The Soil."
Telos tilts his head to the ground and shuts his eyes. He takes a deep breath and whispers to Asahi and Aletha in a worrisome tone.
"Wanderers... your sister could be the very enchanted essence that runs and makes the landscape of Gincad."
The wanderers silently tilt their heads in confusion.
"Huh?"
Telos clenches his fists and opens his eyes. He tries to resist himself to release the answer but then shatters the barrier of his attrition. He slowly lifts his head towards the wanderers and responds.
"Your sister may now be the ground that you are walking on at this moment. To put it in simplest terms, this world, Gincad, is created by the elements of your youngest sister's soul,"
The wanderers' eyes broaden in absolute shock.
Never in their deepest, most wicked thoughts would they ever think that this world was created by the mere fractions of their youngest sister's soul.
They hurryingly walk away for a moment to recollect their train of thought, then turn their heads towards Telos. Sadiki jumps behind Aletha, confused about the screams he hears. His eyelids part away from each other, with his glistening blue eyes shining with awe.
"That explains... everything. It explains the formations, the identities, the symbolism, how the dwellers' act, and the representation of the eight nations in this world. My mind was so tangled up in the constant speculations; I was beginning to lose my soul for analysis."
The wanderers and Sadiki fall silent as Telos brings a rare smile of relief out to the ruins.
"At last, for five thousand years, my questions have FINALLY been answered."
Telos tilts his head to the wanderers, ceasing his wondered voice.
"Have any of you had some strange interactions in darkness? I'm speaking about the people, not the monsters."
Aletha swiftly nods her head and jolts herself upwards.
"Yes, I have. It happened not too long ago,"
She slowly tilts her head to Sadiki.
"There have been many strange actions that this boy has done, but I never saw him act strange in light."
Sadiki stands up and charges towards Aletha.
"It wasn't my fault. I felt this force every time I was under darkness. It kept on forcing me to get closer, fall into a blinding attraction to you, and try to make me attempt to do false actions towards you. It wasn't the feeling of love; it wasn't true admiration... it was forceful."
Telos rises and walks towards Sadiki, pushing him away from the device. He scans his eyes over the body of the cat boy, then backs away and formally responds to Sadiki.
"Determining from the analysis and collection I gathered, I suppose this force that this frail 'cat boy' had was from the enchanted essence from The Soil of this world. Perhaps, the essence had a deep connection within the faces of the two twin siblings, thinking as if the two were this young girl, Aiyana. Thus, in relation to the faces, appearance, and family from The Soil's core, it gives a blinding attraction force to the beings covered in shadow, or darkness,"
Asahi and Aletha's face falls into a realization of Telos' explanation.
"Your youngest sibling... could be in connection to darkness rather than light. It explains the color scheme of both of your attire. Though the fabric is tainted in darkness, there remains to be light shining within the shadows,"
Asahi and Aletha grab their hearts and breathe heavily.
"But that doesn't mean that the feeling of true love is invisible to the dwellers. Sometimes, it can be true love instead of a force that drives people to be attracted to you."
Telos grabs a dust particle and swiftly tilts his head to both the wanderers. He lightly chuckles, shuts his eyes, and continues with a smile.
"Suffice to say, both of your appearances are unimaginably gorgeous, so it can also be likely that will be another reason too."
The wanderers form a bright red blush over their cheeks. They slowly tilt their heads away from Telos and nervously bites their lip.
"I think I am getting caught in the subject at hand. I don't need any more distractions from anyone. Never ignore that your sister is there with you, okay? Do not forget. We still have a threatening device..."
Asahi and Aletha tilt their heads and question while Telos tremblingly stares behind them. Aletha says while Sadiki freezes still.
"Why are you so silent all of a sudden, Telos?"
Telos faintly mutters while his whole body shakes rampantly.
"T-That shouldn't... be possible. How can I see you? After so many years?"
The blue device trembles uncontrollably, blasting out faint streaks of blue light towards the ceiling and the room's walls. All of them knew something isn't right, and of course... I, too, know that, for I can see my own shadow after seemingly eternal millennia, hovering over all of them and the world that I was forced to wander.
I could see my pale hands, my long robe, and my long dark blend of blue and black hair stretching down beneath my hips. For the first time after the calamity, my knowledge and my form can now be projected to the world for moments. My old friends, Asahi, and Aletha, whom I have been spectating for so long, finally scream out to me in confusion.
"Arisanna?! Is that you?!"
I can see the reflection of my surprised dark violet-azure eyes staring back into my cold surprised face.
I knew Akwan had something to do with this; there would be no other reason why I suddenly broke the boundary that separated me and the rest of reality for too long. But at last, for just a brief moment, I would be able to see and touch reality once again and finally be relieved from my curse.
For once in a time, the constant root of knowledge, my phantom that followed everyone and everything, detailing myself everything I see, can now come to an end, for just a moment. After a faint silence, I can hear my soft, timid voice sounding in reality.
"Asahi, Aletha, Telos, I am so delighted to meet you."