Everything within the device shattered and spewed into black fragments, tossing wires and gears into the air and dissipating into dust, leaving only silence in its tracks.
After the three of the Wrailezan Soldiers were slaughtered by Alai's forbidden magic, Aletha stepped back in shock, overwhelmed from all the new information she was given from eavesdropping. Her mind started to overflow with all the new knowledge she digested from the conversation of the Wrailezan soldiers.
From the mentioned prophecies, to a healer creature named Alaunus; all of those memories were embedded deeply into Aletha's consciousness. An insatiable crave for knowledge started to emerge from Aletha's curiosity after that encounter; as if she wanted to know every detail on who Alaunus was, or that destructive twister General Strodhell mentioned about, or even who this Protector was all about.
But before she could even grasp onto the details, Alai approached Aletha, exclaiming with a worried and disappointed tone in her voice.
"Don't lose yourself like that ever again!" She said with sweat sliding down her pale face. "You shouldn't have gone off course from the track. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be alone here?"
Aletha had trouble responding to her question. It seemed to her that the prideful lands of Linuxinia were indeed safe, but at the same time, something was invading the lands.
Something sinister that could suck the life from the land.
Appearing from the cloud of smoke, a man wearing sharp metallic armor lifted a large black device on his shoulder. His physic was bulk and sturdy, having no sight of mistakes except from his feet. Extending purple lights ran up and down from his feet to his head.
Aletha's eyes shrunk in horror, her heart beating with every footstep he made.
With a cold and brittle voice, the mysterious man unleashed a purple beam to skew through the bushes, piercing and shredding several leaves.
"One would rarely believe that The Promise only goes in groups of three." He said as he caught sight of Aletha, Aurelia, and Ubel fallen onto the ground. "To think that such beings could stop an interaction is beyond absurd."
Suddenly, several figures scattered into the air from behind, each sporting dark, intricate technological weaponry from their hands. A graceful and aggressive readiness and vigor erupted from the leading individual as he lowered his cannon, scraping the remnants of the device as he shoved his feet through the metal.
"Our ever-expanding faction known as The Promise, harnesses an OUTLANDISH power beyond this world's comprehension." He said with a poignant voice as he clenched his fists tightly. "And to think some prefer to go against it, is absurdly incongruous to this universe's fate."
A new and overmastering impulse came from Aletha and the others as the man released a powerful and earth-trembling laugh into the atmosphere. It was as if the entire forest was disturbed from his cackles.
Entirely powerless, Aletha hunched her shoulders and gulped a cold breath of fear, trouble meeting the man's gaze. She tried to look to her left, to see if anything else that could serve her a use to defend herself. Nonetheless, the only thing, or rather people there that may potentially serve as security for her was Ubel and Aurelia.
(Who is he?) She thought. (What… c-can I possibly do to go against him? Surely Aurelia or even Ubel may help.)
Yet, despite their powers, the two froze at the sight of the man in muted silence. Aletha shook them and screamed for help in their faces. To no avail, they remained stunned, refusing to budge.
No one dared answer the man.
Aletha prayed hard, the only course of action left to her.
"Fools." He said with a chuckle. "Do you know who I am? I'm the ruler of
Then his voice trailed off as his smile faded.
He frantically tilted his head back and forth, carefully scanning the land in hopes to find the person.
But before he could detect any trace of movement.
"STAY OUT OF THEIR BUSINESS, WILL YA?!" A gigantic warm beam of light plunged from the skies, unveiling a familiar gray-haired, crimson-eyed girl from the impact sight.
In an instant, everyone was overwhelmed from the bombardment, being instantly ejected into several corners of the forest except Aletha, Aurelia, and Ubel.
As the large ribbon of ruby light dimmed and dissipated, a silhouette could be seen from the ashes.
"Whoops, silly me for abandoning ya." She said as she scratched her head. "Obrus is too far away anyways."
The sight of her was rather unclear, with only one blade seen poking out from the clumps and clouds of thick brown dust.
Yet even with it, a round and optimistic smile could be seen plastered on her face. As she noticed Aletha pushing herself up, the girl hurriedly dashed through a dozen guards, then rooted her feet into the ground, clashing her two sleek dark blades as if they were one hardened shield. Then, her eyes flew over to Aletha's, and with a careful voice, she uttered.
"Just stay put… okay? I'm callin my bird."
Suddenly, a giant bird crashed down.
The impact of such a strike squashed two soldiers without effort, reeling and propelling the others like falling leaves.
Given this momentary chance to escape, Aurelia hurriedly pushed herself up her feet and staggered to Aletha with numb legs, gripping tightly onto her hands. Tears and sweat flew across her face as she used all her remaining strength to drag Aletha to safety.
"Don't worry." She said as she conjured a red luminance in-between her hands. "I'm here."
As the sound of footsteps resounded over the wall of wood, Alai ran through the bushes and placed Aletha on a soft bed of flowers and shrubbery. Judging by the look on her face, she was terrified for her, doing anything in her best to protect her as much as a sister would. She pushed herself so much to where her eyes blurred, running out of water to thrive upon.
Although paranoid, she was determined to keep her smile on her face in battle, favoring fun over safety.
"I don't care. This training was supposed to be fun, not hurtful."
As she looked over to Ubel, who was somewhat confused about what to do in this situation, Dina barged in and yelled with sweat dripping down her face.
"Alright… I got a couple of them down with my bird." She said with trembling breaths. "Man, those guys are tough. Anyways… the name is Dina. Nice to meet you."
Alai's eyes steered over to Ubel, then back to the silver-haired girl. She saw her place her hand over her heart while also simultaneously pinching herself.
"Heh. I pinch myself whenever I go into serious situations like this. No time to mess around, am I right?!"
While silence enveloped the area, Dina tried her best to break it, almost noticing herself was going to yawn.
"See what my bird and I did there?"
Aletha slowly shook her head in denial and shrugged her shoulders. The abrupt and rude reaction made Dina shrug her shoulders and sigh continuously, looking down at the ground as if she had committed some sort of act. She said with a sigh as her eyes anchored over to the dense shrubbery behind her.
"Ugh, lemme guess. You guys are scared of me, aren't ya?"
Though it may be one of the reasons they reacted like this, that wasn't the real one. What they were concerned about was whether or not they should lie to her.
In all honesty Aletha, Ubel, and Alai, because the bushes were blocking the way, all that could accompany or even give them a single idea on what Dina was doing in the background was her loud piercing screams and the yells of her giant bird.
Instead of giving weird judging looks, Alai ignored it and thanked her for her actions. She said with a careful and forgiving smile.
"Thank you for helping us. This was never expected from us at all."
"Oh, my intervention SHOULD be expected." Dina answered with a straight pouty face as her scarlet eyes steered over to Aletha. "Especially from you. Did you really think I would just leave ya' behind like that? NO! I'm not that stupid. Obrus is too far from me anyways."
As an abundance of footsteps came to a complete stop, Dina stopped pinching herself and hoisted her arm into the air. From her fingertips, a burning crimson flame emerged, sparking and nearly setting the environment around her aflame. She continued as she pushed her feet through the bush.
"Now, if you want to get outta' here, we have to defeat these junk heads. They have NO business intruding upon whatever the hell you three were doing back there."
After she took another step forward, Aletha replied as she slowly got up from the flower bed.
"Oh, we weren't doing anything important."
Alai hurriedly turned back and sneered at her.
"Sure about that?"
Silence crept up at them as they stood openly behind the bushes, needlessly waiting for whatever was to approach them. A voice echoed through the area that caused all the hair to stand up on their bodies. The same kind of voice that matched the deep, rumbling tone of thunder.
"STAND YOUR GROUND OR SURRENDER TO THE PROMISE!"
***
The moment the voice rang across the shrubs, Aletha dropped onto the ground, her knees and elbows touching the ground as her face pressed against the grass. Weakness settled in her. She knew that the only reason why she was in this situation was for her to improve. But if she were to act like this, there would be no chance of seeing her strengthen.
While her arms and legs shook, suddenly, she slowly rose to her feet. Alai grabbed her hands and pulled her back up. A warm and confident smile radiated on her face as she picked Aletha up, whispering as they heard Ubel pass through the bushes.
"I know it may be tough now, and you may be at a disadvantage, but I promise. If you stay with me, you will get to where I am. But for now. I want to see what you can do."
The second Alai gathered a cluster of luminescent pink flowers all on top of her hands, Aletha clenched her fists and took several deep breaths. The shivers on her spine that came from her fear came to a halt as she felt the warm rays of the sun touch her face. The accumulating unnerving redness on her face slowly faded away. Memories flooded her mind with each step she took.
The very first encounter with the eight-eyed, goopy creature all the way back in The Forest of Plados.
The time she was met face to face with someone who used her memories as a utility and was defeated miserably.
A moment in which she was pummeled to the ground in Clearstar.
All these memories, including others, were what fueled Aletha to step forward and try. She wanted nothing more other than to defend herself again. All she wanted…
(Let me be strong like my brother, so I can defend him as well.)
With these words, Aletha grasped onto her determination and sprinted out of the bushes.
(I don't want to be one who sits on the side. I want to be one who can defend myself without being seen as a fool.)