Phthonus' hands were imbued with a burning ember. His warm orange eyes pierced straight through the beastly kitsune's soul. With hatred accumulated upon his stressed mind, Phthonus violently pushed Drimi outside the burning circle and screamed at her.
"Get Aletha out of here!"
Only aggression filled inside his thumping heart. He wanted all of them to be safe.
However, no one responded.
The kitsune's vision blurred. Phthonus never would've believed it. He saw Aletha encircle the beast with her glowing waker's blade.
Her sheer speed was quick enough to draw outlines of her movements in thin air. Even the dust got repelled.
While the wind swirled and the embers scattered all over the air, the kitsune muttered.
"No… you are an absolute fool."
As the kitsune steadily crawled on the floor, Aletha tilted her head upward. She darted her eyes to the kitsune with a look of pure wrath. Immediately, she pushed her feet off the ground and swung the sword with unimaginable force.
The blade almost pierced the kitsune but then as the tip hit the beast's fur, a massive explosion blasted into the air.
The shockwave from the blast ruthlessly tossed Aletha into the air. She then got slammed into the ground, with her blade flying away from her hands. As the kitsune leaped on her, Phthonus cried.
"NO!"
He knew Aletha wasn't strong enough to counter the kitsune's devious attacks. He believed a girl like her should never get torn apart by a beast that was drastically stronger than her. A goddess never deserves to die.
Phthonus tore his scarf off his face and saw Aletha almost smothered in burns and ash.
"She can't do it!"
He stared through Drimi's purple eyes, hoping that she understood. Drimi replied while she crossed her arms.
"Fine."
Phthonus' eyes widened when he saw Aletha lying on the floor, wounded, right in front of the kitsune.
"ALETHA!"
Just as the beast's claws reached her skin, Phthonus swiftly darted to her and pushed her away. Aletha flew into the air, speedily tumbled down the hill, and then clashed her head against tree trunks and loose twigs.
Aletha later found herself just mere centimeters from falling off a cliff. Adrenaline pumped through her heart. She felt her breath stolen from the thick smoke. Phthonus swiftly tilted his head toward the cliff and saw her, holding on for dear life.
As he leaped up and kicked the massive kitsune away from him, he muttered in his mind.
(I have to save her. Even though we just met, I believe she and her brother are The Ones that many have mentioned.)
He pierced through the thick wall of flames, then tossed twigs, leaves, and rocks away from his path. His eyes were filled with the hue of orange ember. Aletha's fingers start to slip off.
"AH!"
One finger slipped off the edge and then the other. Aletha's lungs were filled with toxins. Her vision started to blur, and so did her hearing. She saw Phthonus piercing his body through the smoke. The massive silhouette behind the fumes slowly stood up and howled into the air.
"All of you are ignorant beings! AWOO!"
Her other fingers started to slip. She felt the pebbles falling down.
(No. I don't want to meet my end. I don't understand what the beast was saying.)
Those were the words that were left behind her. She thought this was her last moment.
. . .
However, as her eyelids slowly closed together, ready to embrace death, she felt a warm and robust grip that clasped on her palms.
"Huh?!"
As her body dangled over the massive sea of green, she slowly rose over the cliff then found herself lying behind an enormous tree. A blurry silhouette of a man dashed toward her. He slowly rubbed ash off her eyes and cleared Aletha's vision.
"P-Phthonus?"
His face was stained with gray. He rubbed ash off his eyes and tilted his head toward the beast. It still pried behind the cloud of dark smoke and eager to face him. Phthonus wrapped Aletha's mouth with his sacred, soft dark scarf and whispered to her.
"This will stop you from inhaling the fumes. Though I never thought I would ever let someone use my ordained scarf, I believe that you, Aletha, are more important than anyone else."
Aletha's face slowly blushed into pink. Phthonus' eyes broadened.
"N-No, I don't mean that in that way. You're charming, but that isn't what I was talking about. I realized that you two were gods. I saw ancient statues of you and Asahi scattered over Zomrack. You must be powerful, right?"
Aletha fell silent and stared at Phthonus' eyes.
(He won't understand, but I must tell Phthonus anyway.)
"P-Phthonus, I… I… don't have any powers. Nor does my brother."
Phthonus froze still.
"H-Huh? W-What do you mean? You're a powerful goddess; you can't just say that."
"No, you don't understand. All my powers were drained away--
A tree collapsed near them and tossed the fumes toward their faces. Phthonus shook his head.
(She can't be powerless. There are gods in this world with powers. How does she not have any of her abilities?)
He took a deep breath, pulled Aletha upward, and yelled at her.
"Are you saying that you don't have your powers anymore?"
Aletha tilted her head to the ground.
"Y-Yeah…"
Phthonus sighed and turned his head toward the moving silhouette of the beast. As the sound of flames obstructed his hearing, he grabbed Aletha and pushed her as far from the area as possible. A massive tree fell in-between them.
"Get out of here now! Drimi will escort you!"
Aletha shook her head in disbelief. Deep in her mind, she had thought to never leave anyone behind. However, in this scenario, she was forced. She felt her arm pulled from Drimi. Aletha raised her voice and tried to stand still.
"B-But Phthonus, what are you going to do?! Why are you leaving yourself behind?"
Drimi interrupted.
"He'll be fine!"
Drimi covered her mouth with her mask and roughly dragged Aletha away from the hill.
Phthonus's long dark brown hair swayed side to side; he kindly responded to Aletha with a large grin.
"Because I have a connection to the kitsune. You will understand once the problem is over. Now leave! Get out of here now!"
Aletha nodded her head and followed Drimi through the tunnel of trees. Just as she was moments away from leaving Phthonus' sight, she tossed his scarf toward him. He picked it up from the ground and sneered at Aletha. She gave a bright smile to him and a thumbs up.
"I don't need the scarf anymore! You need it more!"
As the kitsune slowly approached Phthonus from the front, he deeply sighed, lightly laughed, and smiled at Aletha. As he saw her fleeing away from the smoke with Drimi, Phthonus thought.
(You ARE someone special.)
* * * * * * * *
The kitsune approached him. The atmosphere of the area gradually filled with blinding black smoke. Phthonus ran down the hill and saw a shining silver blade that lay on the ground. He hesitated at first but then heard the howls from the kitsune.
He then darted toward the weapon and firmly grasped Aletha's waker's blade with his left hand. He lifted it up into the air and saw it gleam from the bright luminance from the flames. The silhouette of the kitsune launched into the air and pierced through the smoke. As its two claws reached for Phthonus, he hastily backflipped away from the beast and threw the blade as if it was a spear.
The blade shredded a portion of the kitsune's fur.
"Grrr! Why are you here? You dare to challenge me?!"
Phthonus remained silent, then pivoted his hand toward the sword pinned on the kitsune's back. He swiftly pulled it upward and jumped away from it.
The kitsune growled and gritted her teeth. Her brown fur stood straight, her tails lowered, and the hue on her eyes turned orange.
"You're a fool. Stop embracing your failure."
The massive kitsune lifted her head into the air and opened her jaws. A barrage of fireballs spewed from the glowing orange orb that hovered over her mouth and rained down like meteors. Phthonus hopped from one side to the other and dodged them. The balls of fire splattered on the ground, like bubbles popping.
Each missed Phthonus by a few meters. As the rain of fire stopped, he chuckled and hollered out to the kitsune.
"It's been years!"
As the kitsune charged at him, Phthonus pulled a sizeable brown book from his right pocket, flipped it to an empty page, then tore one-off from the book. The page then glowed in bright orange.
"I haven't used this book for a while. From my family of Zomrack, I will unleash hell upon you!"
As the page dissolved and infused with his skin, Phthonus leaped eighty meters into the sky. He didn't see any flames; instead, a peaceful, green patch of trees.
(It's an illusion. The flames don't appear when you're far from the kitsune.)
He heard the birds chirping near him and felt the cool breeze run up his skin from the altitude. As he descended down to the kitsune, his vision flashed into white, and a sweet, feminine voice spoke to him inside his mind.
"Look at the sand, honey!"
Phthonus recognized that voice. As time seemed to stall down for him, Phthonus whispered.
"Chanda?"
* * * *
Looking through the memory, Phthnous was shocked. The wind blew through the dry landscape of sand. From a distance, massive canyons were stretching from the blazing hills. Many buried structures were scattered over the surface. Some ranged from huge towers, while others were nothing but the size of small huts.
There was hardly any oasis scattered upon this barren land. The oasis spread in tropical green. Plants thrived underneath the shade of the towering trees. It was a haven in-between misery.
Young Phthonus took a deep sigh and dipped his toes through the crystal clear water of the lake. He enjoyed hearing the birds chirp from above, the insects buzzing, and trees dancing. It was almost enough for him to sleep.
While he pricked a tropical leaf off from a tree, Phthonus heard a door shut from behind. He turned his head and saw a beautiful woman with long dark hair, tan skin, and golden eyes sprinting toward him. She didn't look too happy.
"Honey, why are you dipping your toes in the lake? That's our water source!"
Phthonus' eyes widened in shock. He knew that this would be a bad idea, yet he did it anyway.
(Oh no.)
As he heard the loud thumps of the woman sound from behind, Phthonus swiftly pulled his feet away from the water and jumped up. As she sneered at him, Phthonus scratched his head and mumbled.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry, Chanda."
While her palm was close to his cheek, suddenly, she stopped, then giggled. She shook her head and sighed, resisting the urge to slap him. She patted his back and wrapped her arms around him. Then pushed him to the water and cheerfully hollered.
"Phthonus, you're always so naive, haha! Don't be scared sweetie, your ignorant self is why I love you after all. If it wasn't for you, I would've never escaped the Queen's side."
Phthonus nodded his head and stared at Chanda's gleaming yellow eyes. While getting tranced from her pretty iris', Phthonus returned to reality and responded.
"Yeah. Maybe being naive was good. Now I wish I was trapped in the Queen's side. The King's side is just sand from every horizon. Not to mention, the heat is unbearable."
"Stop whining! I love the heat here!"
"You can't be serious!? Really?"
Chanda covered her mouth then smiled at him.
A brief silence stood in between them while they stared at each other. While the wind blew over their hair, the tropical ambiance soothed their ears. Phthonus' hair wasn't as long. Instead, it was a lot brighter and thicker. He was just as attractive as Chanda.
As their faces warmed up, both of them awkwardly turned their heads away from each other and broke the silence.
"Nevermind about that. Guess what day it is?"
Phthonus replied with a confused tone.
"A Thursday…?"
Chanda shook her head.
"WHAT?! NO! Today is our thirteenth anniversary! I can't believe you forgot about it… again!"
She giggled again and sighed. She pushed her dark hair from her face then kissed Phthonus on the cheek.
"It's fine; this isn't TOO out of your character. Since it's been a while, how about I give you a cool anniversary gift?"
Phthonus raised his eyebrow.
"A gift? I thought I was the one who was giving the gifts?"
Chanda suspiciously squinted at Phthonus. She knew that Phthonus was sarcastic.
"You forgot about it, haha! Let me be the one to give you the gifts!"
Phthonus mumbled.
"Okay…"
From there, she pulled out a slim brown book covered in unknown runes, dust, and sand. She carefully placed the book in Phthonus' hands, then remarked in a serious tone.
"This is a book from my ancestors. It's an important book containing the magic from gods. It can amplify your stamina, endurance, strength, and speed for a long duration of time. My parents used it when they tried to escape the King's side, then gave it to me because they were going to pass away...
She took a deep breath.
"They said to me while I left their house, 'if you ever found someone you deeply entrust, make sure to give the book to them. They will need it more than you do. All you need to do is follow your heart.' and that's where I lend this to you."
After that, they sat down and leaned against their small house. It wasn't too impressive. It was just made of lumber, a few sticky substances, and stone. Phthonus and Chanda thought it was enough to dwell in anyways.
While Chanda leaned against Phthonus' arm, he continued to examine the book. He tilted it left and right, peered his eyes inside, and tried to find words on the pages. However, there wasn't any of it in there. Phthonus asked.
"Why are there no words in the book?"
Chanda's eyelids slowly parted. She released a loud yawn and rubbed her eyes. Chanda noticed Phthonus hastily flipping the empty pages. She hurriedly answered.
"H-Huh? O-Oh… right, that. Well, for that book… you have to make the words yourself. It's not an actual book with information on it. It's a substitute for a magic wand."
Phthonus' orange eyes broadened in realization.
"Ohh, now that makes sense."
As the memory started to fade away from Present Phthonus' mind, his past voice slowly vanished.
"://://So, Chanda, how... do I use this book?://://."
* *
A sparkling luminance shimmered underneath his chin. Phthonus found himself falling toward the kitsune.
"The book. I remember now!"
As he was moments from hitting the ground, he tore another page off from it and tossed it below him.
"I hope this works."