The entire area was engulfed in a swarm of slashes and punches. Asahi carried the hilt of his sword and struck each of the cloaked individuals with anger and aggression, feeling confidence radiate on his existence, noticing his followers watching him with awe. But the only attention he wanted was from Kendra, who was frozen in place, witnessing as chaos ensued.
"For you see before us, this is the result of your abandonment, you pathetic child. Look at what you have caused." The cloaked man wearing eyeshadow said as he deflected one of Asahi's attacks with his hardened wooden-shield. "It has been foretold by the leader of our faction, that Asahi and Aletha… are no match for their beautiful superiors. And we…"
Several of the cloaked individuals lifted upward and looked over to the ceiling of rock.
"… absolutely despise some of the Adtraic for abandoning us. That includes YOU, Asahi!"
As an opening in the battle ceased, the man stepped forward and spat at Asahi's shoe, clutching his daggers in hatred.
"For five thousand years, you have abandoned the ones that followed your family for generations." He said with a collapsing and trembling voice. "Do you know what it is like, to live in a world with no light? Where everyone is confused because the very rulers of this world failed to protect it? This… and many more factions residing beyond this expanse of ruins and landscape, are the reason why some despise you now!"
To counter this claim, a person from Asahi's followers, wearing sleek gray hair with blonde tints edged at their tip, stepped forward and proclaimed.
"We know our god had abandoned us for thousands of years. That they haven't interacted with us for so long. But matter in fact… they returned early." He pointed to the first inscription glowing on the cavern's walls. "For reasons which remain unknown, Lord Asahi and perhaps, Lady Aletha… returned to this world earlier than the prophecies' mention. Maybe it was that of their own will that they returned? So don't blame it on their abandonment. Perhaps there was a good reason why they had left, isn't that right… Lord Asahi?"
With this retort, all of The Ancients fell silent under the man's wise and persuading words. Kendra's round blue eyes dilated, unable to believe the words they were saying.
"Wait a moment. A-Asahi's a… GOD?!"
"Kendra…" Asahi replied as he reeled back from a group of fighters. "There is much you don't know about me. Just… stay put. I WILL find a way to save you."
"Why are you talking like that?" She mumbled underneath her breath, her eyes focused on the thick bundled bars of the bird cage.
Despite caring for the young woman so much, Asahi ignored her, and focused his attention only on the conflict ahead.
Asahi narrowly dodged a closing hallway of swords and daggers and he hastily took a jab through four of the individuals, cutting them in half, ceasing their existence right then and there. Sweat covered his face. His hands trembling from all the heaviness of guilt weighing down on him. But he refused to succumb to his weakness, and forced all of his energy only on focusing on fending off The Ancients.
Amidst the battle, the followers sprinted and invaded the act, stopping, and fending off other invaders from intruding upon the battle. An emotion of desperation pumped into Asahi's head restlessly as he noticed his followers backing up in shock and awe of his ruthless actions. Each of them sliced and disintegrated into dust. He wanted nothing more than to set Kendra free. He couldn't fathom the thought of abandoning even more individuals, when he had already abandoned billions beforehand.
The more that he had attacked, the more visions that were delivered unto his brain.
A restless and wrathful collapsing nation filled with nothing but seemingly countless piles of dust. Ash and boiling flames. Cries of the damned and wails from his little sister. The calamity.
As the flashing and flickering visions faded away, Asahi was swiftly caught off-guard by them, and was forced onto the floor by a bulky-shaped man. Followers of his own screamed at him shortly afterward, rushing at them despite being caught in the storm of attacks from The Ancients.
"Lord Asahi!"
"Get up!"
"We know you are strong!"
But, just as they could reach Asahi's touch, they were caught in one foul line of the swing of a sword, obliterating their existence right before their lord's very presence. As a silence ensued and enveloped the scene, the individual who discharged that attack dropped his blade and announced to everyone surrounding him, watching as the dust of Asahi's followers floated and get caught in the winds of the expanse.
"Us, the followers of our loving dame, Achlys, dares not to impede on any more transgressions. Fourth, with our sights toward you, are nothing but traitors and abandoners to us."
A woman with silk brown hair braided in an uneven, curly zig-zag pattern approached from behind and shoved her sword through the ground, emitting a faint white luminance to crack and split in-between all. Asahi, being caught in this attack, luckily stumbled and tripped near the birdcage, just centimeters away from Kendra. Their gaze met with each other before drifting over to the woman, stopping at their tracks as she spoke indignantly.
"We don't even see you as her child anymore, Asahi." She said, "Achlys is far more superior to you in every single way. We only do this to put pain in you, and force you to regret your abandonment to us."
She paused briefly, staring directly into Asahi's eyes.
"You will be left alone now, Lord Asahi, that is only if you were to abide by our demands. If you ever attempt to leave this world once more, we will show no mercy and tear you limb from limb. Do not forget what we have done here today. For it shall haunt you until the day you die."
Her words echoed across the area, sending shivers throughout the cavern as she turned around and walked back towards the cage.
"Now stay away from the cage, or we will approach you with mercilessness."
With a nod, Asahi stood up, brushing himself off as he looked at the birdcage again, where Kendra remained caged.
His heart was heavy, his mind was numb, and his body was weak. He felt as if he could collapse at any second. Yet, he knew that he needed to keep fighting. He glanced around, noticing that most of his followers had been eliminated, leaving him with only two hundred followers left, along with Kendra, who was cowering behind the cage.
Asahi understood his position within this conflict. He was never supposed to stumble upon this place, let alone interact with its people. But in times of uncertainty, it had come to this point. In order to move on and progress, he had to push his thoughts aside entirely and focus only on his goals.
His gaze was locked on the brazen and haughty woman who stood before him wielding a blade as she charged toward her next victim. In times of need, Asahi raced over to her and delivered eight powerful strikes at her with great force. He formed slashes all over her clothing and skin, from her legs to her knees to her shoulders and face. And soon but surely,
"Huff… puff…"
Those attacks were enough to force the woman and the ancients to cease fire and retreat.
In a hasty and chaotic form, The Ancients scurried away from Asahi and his remaining followers, dashing down the foothills of the expanse and falling back to the wall of ancient structures embedded onto the stone pillars. They were so frightened of his sheer power, that some didn't even realize that they slipped off cliffs, descending into the expanding floor of mist.
But with all of that pushed aside, Asahi hurriedly caught notice of a gleaming, strange-curved edged silver key lying atop a shallow pool of crystal clean water. He turned over and noticed rays of sunlight reaching down from holes, with a thin and slender waterfall collapsing into several miniature streams squirming forth the cavern. As the followers gathered around Asahi, rejoicing in their victory, Asahi picked up the key and shoved it into the lock attached to the bird cage. The see-through door pried and creaked open itself, freeing the blue-haired girl out. Immediately, she rushed to embrace Asahi. There was no thought into the embrace, just an act of gratitude and nothing more. But Asahi took it as a sign of care from Kendra. That even though they had just met in the mansion, they were able to establish such a relationship in just four mere days. They haven't even spoken to each other that much, and still, the actions that they have made were enough to draw deeper connections.
"Thank you…" Kendra whispered to Asahi, holding her arms close to him. "I… know we just met. But thank you, for saving me. I don't know what happened back to the surface, or even what this place is…" Her face turned warm as she noticed Asahi's top attire was absent. "B… But I appreciate it."
"You're welcome." Asahi said as he formed a caring grin on his face. "... I know we have just met. But…" As his gaze cruised over the joyful followers around him, Asahi clenched his fists and suppressed a trembling breath from his body. "I just couldn't take the thought of abandoning someone. Not after what I had done to my followers several years prior."
"I… understand."
While Kendra continued holding her grasp on Asahi, soon after, the followers led Asahi and Kendra to another village just atop a hallway of sorrowful waterfalls. All statues were seen scattered onto the floor, buried underneath old parched soil and rocks. Not even the grass here was moist. Though that may have served as a concern for Asahi and Kendra, they pursued onward in search of Asahi's attire. Kirei, who had been standing behind their backs for quite a considerable amount of time, took the initiative to acknowledge them of the sheer abundance of inscriptions carved in the walls.
"It seemed that not only had The Ancients claimed and nearly razed this land, they had also ignored the inscriptions layed out for them, leaving them to glow in a nearly endless sea of night." Kirei said as he put his mask back on. "I'm sorry, Lord Asahi. I will leave it for you and that other woman to lead our people to the heavens. Unfortunately, I can't come with you since I have a duty to protect and guard the claimed territory behind me."
"Understood." Asahi thanked with a forgiving smile. "I show you my greatest gratitude for coming with me this far, showing me the ways of our land. I hope to find a way out and bring you all to the surface."
As if reading the mind of Asahi, Kirei bowed his head deeply before turning around and vanishing into the darkness of the forest of ruins.
"Thank you, Lord Asahi."
* * * * * * *
After the events that had transpired before him, Asahi, Kendra, and his followers, trekked deep into the semi-lush terrain of this strange buried land. Instead of being enveloped in darkness, this segment of the area was illuminated with light; natural light.
The size of the structures shrunk, as if turning into a rural form instead of a prosperous one. It felt like it had been hours since their last interaction with enemies, but that hadn't concerned them. All Asahi wanted was to find his top attire, and leave this place with his people.
While the rest of the underworld was engulfed in a perpetual darkness, with the exception of a small portion of walls being illuminated by inscriptions, the walls in front of him currently were illuminated by light shining down from above, as if it were the sun itself.
Asahi walked forward, examining every centimeter of the walls, with his followers and Kendra following his footsteps. But he couldn't understand nor read this type of language. Even having learned several languages from the worlds he had visited before after he abandoned this world in the past, this was his only exception. And so, he turned around to the crowd behind him and asked while Kendra watched with fixed eyes.
"My followers, is there anyone else who can decipher these messages for me?"
Kendra couldn't help but admire the way Asahi spoke. There was something so formal and potent-sounding in his tongue that she couldn't comprehend. As if it was a certain type of dialect long-forgotten, never to be said outside of the previous incarnation of this world. She couldn't even comprehend that there was another version of this world that existed before this one.
And knowing that Asahi was a god of significance, made her change perspectives about him. Now, she couldn't recognize Asahi as human anymore, but as some sort of higher-being of which she doesn't deserve to be with. But despite these thoughts, Kendra still stood by his side.
After Asahi asked his followers, several faces turned toward him, but none of them could answer. Only the loud, ambient tremors of the waterfalls behind them and the howling winds from the expanse..
However, one of the followers did stand up and approached Asahi with a hand extended outwards.
"Lord Asahi! I am the one who has once interacted with Alaunus ever since the sky had darkened." He answered, eyes bulging with excitement. "I would be glad to help you decode them."
"Ah, yes. Thank you. Please do."
The follower walked up to Asahi and kneeled down, extending both hands out towards the inscriptions. Kendra raised an eyebrow in confusion, stunned on seeing the rather strange movements of the people. But she knew and realized that only Asahi could understand it, and so… she kept her mouth sealed.
While the follower was kneeling, his arms stretched out towards the inscriptions, the words glowed brighter, and started to take shape. In no time, the entire wall began to turn into a light source, illuminating the whole area with a soft, yet bright illumination.
[If one were to awaken me from my long slumber… then thou shall know intervening with The Outside is not sufficient enough to heal this world anymore.]
"It seems that these are one of the more recent prophecies Alaunus has written." The follower mentioned as he placed his ring against his finger, looking over to Asahi and Kendra with a confident face. "And when I mean recent, I am not talking about years, nor decades. But millenia. A thousand or two more years I say."
"So, you're saying it has been thousands of years since that mighty dragon awakened?" Asahi uttered, shocked at the sudden revelation.
"Indeed." The follower nodded, smiling widely. His smile was full of confidence, as if he had already predicted the future.
"Then what must we do?"
"That is a hard question. If it was just the prophecy itself, then it wouldn't be much of a problem." The man took a deep sigh and hunched his shoulders. "But unfortunately, Alaunus had also left us a warning. One that says, should the prophecy come true, it will result in the 'healing' of this world."
"Healing?"
"Yes, Lord Asahi. This world, along with all other worlds, shall be 'healed'."
Asahi took a moment to think about it. He didn't want to rush things, and so he decided to keep calm and think through everything carefully.
(Heal this world? What in the world does that mean?)
But just as his concerns got to him, Kendra stepped forward and intervened.
"That sounds ridiculous!" She said with a pale face. "How can a person or dragon even do that?"
"Ridiculous, right. But mocking Alaunus' ability, I'm afraid not." As the follower lifted up and stepped away from one of the many prophecies glowing on the wall, he approached Kendra with a passive-aggressive tone and continued. "Though there is much we know about Alaunus, there is also much that remains unknown about them. For they are of unknown origin."
With a shifting approach, an elderly man with an unkempt brown beard fleet footed forward and hoisted his staff into the air. For but a moment, a luminance shone and flew across the cavern's walls, keeping his face, along with multiple, including Asahi, under sheared artificial light. Asahi immediately took notice of this power, as if it had served as a reminder…
(This light…)
Suddenly, a memory he hadn't seen before flashed inside his mind.
* * * * *
Everything had descended into chaos. In times of lightning storms, and burping lava ravines, the only thing left intact was the kingdom floating in the clouds.
It looked like heaven, with a castle perched atop a levitating mountain.
This imperious and gleaming white castle was the Adtraic Family's home.
And the kingdom around it was for all lesser gods.
"It's… how did all of this happen?" A tall and beautiful woman capable of pushing away the disastrous luminance stood atop the highest porch of the castle.
Her skin was as silky smooth as a baby, perfected with tattoos. Her dark sweeping, thick, sharp eyelashes glittered from the light, watching as chaos unfolded around her. It seemed that even she didn't know what happened. A glossy black suit accompanied her firmly-shaped body, clinging onto her tightly, exposing her skin from the waist down. The frightful look on her face heavily contrasted with her appearance. She swung and twirled her unimaginably long brown scarf attached on her wrist up toward the heavens, pushing the consuming-luminance away from her.
At first, she felt confident enough to conquer this unknown entity.
But when she felt her hand get consumed in a strange pulsating warmth, the smile on her face faded.
After the luminance dissipated, what remained of the woman was her long brown scarf. It slowly glided down to the castle, and slipped through a window, lying peacefully against the cold floor.
* * * * *
With her voice fading and echoing away from Asahi's mind, he trembled in shock.
This flash of memory just happened out of the blue, completely taking Asahi off-guard from his initial thoughts. This was more than just a random occurrence; it was a grand reveal for him. One that expanded his understanding of the calamity even further.
"N…No. I… I can't believe it." He mumbled.
Kendra squinted at Asahi, completely oblivious of what was going around Asahi's mind.
"What is it, Asahi?"
Even his followers were concerned about him, leaning over and awaiting for anything to be uttered from his mouth. But all they had received was nothing but a face filled with pure disbelief. Asahi shook his head, trying to shake away the image that was haunting his mind. He couldn't bother to believe that was her.
"I don't know." He uttered with cold breaths, struggling to remember the woman's blurry face. "I was given this memory of... the demise. The disappearance of..."
Despite standing his ground, poor couldn't resist but to well up a tear from his sentiment of his uncertain past. Face paled, eyes shut, Asahi collapsed to his knees and trembled.
"...m...my mother."
"