Telos feels like he has no other choice but to strike at The Princess with all the power he has. The wanderers didn't think it was a good idea, and they clearly noticed that he changed after seeing Akwan perish. The sun's vivid rays blaze through the gaping hole, spewing out its brightness towards the overgrown ruins of 'The Old' Cleira.
As a dozen more Gallants charge from the tilted hallway, Asahi darts towards the darkest corner of the cave, pulling Aletha toward it. He takes a deep breath and swallows his fear, maintaining confidence.
"Okay, sis, have you found any way out of here? I surely couldn't."
"I can't find one either."
Both of them look puzzled, trying to find any methods of escape. They know they can't stand a chance after the devastating presentation of The Princess's power, so they think of possible exits.
Sadiki swiftly slides towards the wanderers as the rocky earth trembles, dashes upwards into the air, and points at a small dark hole poking out from the end of the ruins.
"Asahi, Aletha, come on! I-I found an exit far from The Princess. Now is our chance!"
Aletha replies while tilting her head downwards to the floor.
"But… Akwan died."
Sadiki's violet eyes broadened in shock, unable to understand what they meant. He is too confused about how Akwan can lose his life, so it's assured that if anything happened to him, Belial would instantly know it.
Suddenly, a massive wolf-like silhouette flashes within the darkness and the light, howling and tearing The Ending Gallants' arms off. Its glistening emerald eyes flash upon the dark, with a trail of luminance following each step.
One scratch after the next, The Princess gives no care to the attacks and instead stands still; then warps behind the wolf. She slowly whispers while piercing her amethyst eyes at him.
"The poor dark wolf…."
The Princess immediately knocks back the wolf towards the wall with a robust and controlled force of gravity.
The wolf's formation slowly molds towards the appearance of Belial, with nothing but torn brown pants on his body.
His face shrouds in pure fury, burning hatred streams through his crimson blood, and nothing but shreds of fur remain of his wild wolf form.
The Princess wickedly grins while slowly pulling her dark violet blade out from the luminance of her hip. At an extreme thirst for blood, she swiftly dashes to Belial. His green eyes widen, thinking that if he can redeem himself to Akwan, perhaps he can meet him in the heavens.
So, he charges straight towards The Princess with a loud, determined yell resounding over the cavern.
The wanderers' gray eyes widen in surprise, unable to accept another death.
So, the wanderers (Asahi and Aletha) push themselves through the darkness and hastily leap over the stream. The wanderers quickly dash in front of Sadiki with The Princess' violet blade streaking in the dark hazy mist.
Telos jumps up, and sprints behind the wanderers. Time stops as the four of them stand in front of The Princess' direction of her blade. Just as the tips of the sparkling sword reach the wanderers' skin, her veil-covered eyes widen in shock, her high-pitched voice trims, and instantly she tosses her own blade to the floor.
"A—
Before The Princess can speak, Telos shoves her into thin air, with himself disappearing as well. Both of them are teleported somewhere else, leaving nothing but a black flower petal behind.
Everyone else horrifyingly shrieks in shock after the event.
"?!"
It seems as if the entire atmosphere fades into a peaceful, tranquil, calm feeling. As if the dark events never happened.
Small white flowers begin to flourish around the dense green patch below the ground, with the shimmering rays of the sun reflecting off the vibrant white petals.
Minor black inky marks trace over the surface of the flowers, matching the shape of the marks on their faces.
Aletha's gray eyes widen in shock, feeling as if she has familiarity with these flowers before. Her faint words tremble upon her lips.
"Miracles? What are they doing here?"
"The flowers you loved… a divine connection to heritage upon our family. I don't understand …why they are blooming underneath the ground when we know for the entirety of our lives that it thrives under the stars."
Aletha shuts her eyes and takes a calm breath. As she picks up the black petal, she softly whispers.
"Telos abandoned us…."
Sadiki worryingly dashes at Belial and asks.
"Are you okay? Why did you…."
Small trembling sounds of tears echo. Sadiki slowly lifts Belial's head up, and tears flow down his shimmering eyes.
"He's gone. I failed him."
Asahi replies while picking a soft white petal off from the Miracle.
"What do you mean?"
Belial grits his teeth and takes one calm, relaxed breath. He perks his head out to the poking hole and shuts his eyes.
"I made a contract with Akwan… one hundred years ago… and swore to protect him at all costs. It seems, I have failed the contract… and now,"
His emerald eyes filled with a glittering tear.
"He's gone… for good."
Sadiki slowly crawls to him, pushing the smoldering debris out to the delicate crystal clear rivers. He slides the crumbling dirt from his cat ears and pats Belial's head.
"It seems when Telos left, he made similar particles as Akwan vanished from the plane of existence. Perhaps, he too was not slaughtered, but rather… teleported somewhere else? It's just my guess… I don't have thoughts of a god, you know...."
Aletha shakes her head, staggers from the many blooming flowers, then accidentally pushes Asahi towards a stream. He plants his bottom against the flowing streams of the river, then yells at Aletha.
"Sis, what was that for?!"
Aletha forms a faint blush while feeling Sadiki's chest pressing against her's. Aletha's long silky white hair brushes against Sadiki's face.
"N-Nothing…"
She lifts herself back up and tramples over endless amounts of flowers before finally settling herself next to the shore of a stream.
Asahi walks towards her, analyzes his surroundings, and sees a strange 'S' symbol carved deeply through an ancient flat tablet. Asahi looks at Aletha's mark for a moment, then shakes his head.
"That can't… be possible. That's the Adtraic Symbol... from five thousand years ago. How is it… How did it not vanish yet? And…"
"Brother, look!"
Aletha tilts Asahi's heads towards two massive ancient statues buried halfway through the ground. One figure is taller, wore a hood, and had almost the same outline and symbols as Asahi. His gray eyes broaden while Aletha sees the second one.
The dark gray stone structure has a slender body, with long braided hair, has a halo tilted sideways, and a long dress stretching down to her ankles.
There is a star symbol imprinted onto the statue's forehead and one bracelet wrapping over the wrist. Knowing and remembering who this statue belongs to, she quickly backs away from it and shuts her eyes.
Asahi scratches his head and sees Aletha muttering.
"Was that… me? Were there… followers of us?"
Aletha takes a faint sigh and stares at her own ancient statue.
Sadiki and Belial confusingly approach the wanderers.
"What has gotten you so spooked, huh?"
"It's… this statue. It's so strange, deep inside my mind… I recognize this old attire. Our forms from years that we can't even remember."
Belial squints his eyes and responds to Asahi.
"Yes, I have seen many of those similar statues scattered all around Gincad. It seemed you had some significant importance as if they were building kingdoms out of you. Sometimes, I even wondered what happened within the genesis of Gincad. Not to mention that all of this was buried underneath the mainly tranquil nation known as Pladtioa. I have also seen some in my home nation, Zomrack, Linuxinia, Astait, Destia, and most importantly, within the outskirts of Cleira. You two already knew you had followers, right? After all, both of you two were gods."
The wanderers fall silent and slowly tilt their heads down to the ground, remembering the burning world in the past and then the surprised look on The Princess before she vanishes. They swiftly shake their heads and reply.
"Yes!"
Asahi adds in the conversation while sliding his fingers down the statue's old bumpy texture.
"We had many followers, but mostly my father and mother were the ones praised. Now, it's… me and my twin sister, Aletha, after their deaths."
As Aletha slides her finger against the dirt, she replies while shutting her eyes.
"They couldn't possibly die; they were too powerful. It would be horrifying if there is another power on top of the already powerful."
Sadiki aggressively and speedily replies while gritting his teeth and staring into their souls.
"There will always be a power beyond another."
Aletha tilts her head to Sadiki and asks.
"What did you say?"
Sadiki rubs his head, lightly chuckles, and tilts towards the massive archway leading straight towards the exit hallway within the ruins. He points to it, quickly grabs Belial, and nervously shouts to the wanderers.
"Nevermind. Actually, let's go back to the surface. I feel… an odd feeling resonating in here."
Belial states while his legs slowly form into gray fur.
"The Ending's Creatures do have a resonance with this place, so… yes, we should follow Sadiki. Dangers run deep nearest unto darkness, is what Akwan said to me while traveling through the caverns of Zomrack. There could be a potential threat resting deeper into The Soil. It could be monsters or could be something far dangerous like dragons. I suggest we should return to the surface before any other dangers set in."
As Sadiki and Belial tilt behind, Asahi and Aletha slowly walk up to their own statues. Sadiki and Belial raise their eyebrows in confusion, choosing not to mention anything. Belial sarcastically whispers while watching the wanderers walk closer towards the structures.
"What are they doing?"
After a small silence, the wanderers place their pale fingers upon the rocky surface of their statues and emanate a bright luminescent glow on the rocky surfaces. They feel the power surging through their veins and their blood. The tiny white particles orbit both of the siblings, dispersing all of their energy towards them.
Small white luminescent dots form on their dark attire, like poking milky stars in a vast night sky. An immense burst of power fills their bodies before suddenly… an instant flash blinds all their eyes.
* * * * * * *
An unpigmented void fills the siblings' sights... The color of their eyes bleaches into a white glow, with nothing but eight flowers swaying into the hole. Given only an empty echoing white void and small flora underneath their feet, the wanderers have no choice but to evoke reminiscence of their eternal history.
As Aletha stands still, staring into the flowers, Asahi faintly mutters.
"The Last Flowers of the Old World."
The wanderers slowly approach the eight flowers, constructing a brief analysis of their odd colors. Out of the blue, one of the flowers steadily blends into a black shade, shriveling up to the glossy white floor and scattering its rotten ashy petals onto the luminescent empty ground.
Before anything can be said, the wanderers gasp in shock, and the white void collapses into itself back to reality.
Their vision flashes towards the bumpy green hill, with Sadiki and Belial taking a moment to grasp their minds back to reality. They see that they're close to the outskirts of the village, far from the distant ruins.
The sounds of the birds chirping fill their ears, the ambiance of the luscious plains return and the sight of the ruins are nowhere to be seen.
The gentle breeze blows against their hair, with the sun scintillating throughout the bumpy grass hills and the rocky-edged cliffs.
The same pine tree forest is seen meters away from them, with the massive hole Asahi made slowly shredding much vegetation behind it. Sadiki pushes the wanderers out of their trance and asks.
"Wanderers, what did you do?"
Asahi slowly replies while fearfully pushing Sadiki back.
"N-Nothing. We… teleported here, didn't we?"
Belial swiftly replies while scratching his ear with his claw.
"Indeed. After you two touched your own corresponding statues, we saw both of you flashing at the speed of light, and then we saw the plains shortly after a small white flash. You two were lying on the ground until you hastily jumped up moments after. Are you two okay?"
The wanderers nod their heads and grits their teeth. Both of them feel an intense feeling of dizziness pounding against their heads.
The wanderers shut their eyes and see the vision of the thriving white stained bridge of Cleira, suspended high above the puffy clouds. Their eyelids part away, and at last, they see the faint mist resonating over the lush, extensive meadow.
"At least we are still here. I can't believe we were worshipped."
"Brother, you know that we were worshipped. We're gods after all!"
Asahi and Aletha thought in a world filled with gods, they never would have thought that they, out of all the variety of gods, both of them were the ones to be praised. With both of them still questioning what happened to The Princess, and Telos, the wanderers slowly walk with Sadiki and Belial back to the village.
* * * * *
The misty tranquil heights of the peaking grass summits fill my ears. The flock of crows soars downwards to the lowest part of the Peak of Linuxinina, dodging the many serpents and the buried fossils deep within the rich, dry soil of the nation representing joy.
Their yells echo over the dry crevices, burying themselves deep within the small clear rainstorms hovering over the tall lush hills.
Dark brown dirt, a rarity to call richness in this strange place. I can see the city of Linuxinia far at the lowest shores of the nation, sticking out like a tiny insect crawling over a massive rock.
I tip my head up to see a clear view of the enormous Dragon of Temperance, encircling the misty rain.
I tilt my head below to see the vast mountain stretching downwards with thick forests and bumpy terrain. The unusually light blue ponds and lakes fall towards the waterfall, spreading its nurturing pores onto the many villages scattered over this massive mountain called Everlaster.
I tread further from the mountain and push myself through the bushes blocking the scintillating rays of the bright sun.
Many peeking summits stretch to the clouds from Linuxinia, with an unusual curvy snake structure that isn't supported by anything but the Queen of Linxunia's power.
Multiple of them sprawl around, creating massive archways, tunnels burrowing under the ground, and creating lush, thriving, moist landscapes spreading from the never-cold circular peak of this mountain.
Buried within the dark history and massive underground ravines, caverns, and trenches… I most likely warped myself to the nation of Linuxinia, with the horrid faction of The Ending's Princess, roaming elsewhere in this world. Until the wanderers return, I will find camp and settle here within the unusually tranquil heights of Linuxinia.
I ran through the thick blue vines covering the greenish aqua-colored bushes and saw the extending glittering sea stretching with the line of tall puffy clouds touching the summits of the world.
I can see the small green mountains lying at the center of the horizon. That is Pladtioa, where both Asahi and Aletha are.
I sigh and remain silent, mindlessly staring into the tiny speck at the bottom of the mountain. Even the clouds are below me. If They can ever reach here, I must inform them of The Truth. But until then… I, Telos: The Harvester of Destiny, shall roam this nation to find clues or traces of The Ending. It's not Their journey anymore that started.
It's Our Journey.