Inari sat in Akuro's throne room, fuming. She went from being shocked and depressed to being infuriated. Her face was red and she was grinding her teeth in anger, mumbling profanities and about how much of a jerk Akuro was.
Onoma watched her with wide eyes. 'This chick is just as crazy as the other one…' he thought.
"Are you in love with him or something?" Onoma asked.
"W-what? No! Of course not!" Inari responded, but when Onoma saw her face turn even more red hand her ears turn pink, he furrowed his brow.
"Sure.."
"He just makes me so mad!" She growled.
"Mhm. I can see that he has quite the effect of you."
"He does, and I don't know why! It's frustrating!"
"Yeah… maybe it is because you love him."
"No! I do not! Shut up!" Inari said, glancing up at the throne. "It's not like that."
"Oh? It seems like it to me."
"It can never happen."
"Why's that?"
"Did you not hear him before? Did you not watch him kill a god? He's out of my league. He is too far gone for me to pull him back."
Onoma folded his arms. "I don't think trying to pull him back is what you should be doing."
"Then what?" Inari asked. "What am I supposed to do?"
"How about trying to catch up to him. Make him notice you."
Inari sighed. "It'll never happen. So just drop it."
"Fine."
Inari leaned down next to Makane.
"Are you two done gossiping over Akuro?" The fox spirit asked.
"Shut up." Inari retorted. "Release Emma."
"Here?" Makane questioned. "Are you certain that's a good idea?"
"Just do it, she's been in there long enough. Have you removed her curse mark?"
"Yes, I have."
"Okay, then release her."
•
•
•
Emma was curled up into a ball, her legs tucked to her chest as she drifted endlessly through her own mental scape, an endless void of black.
'Am I asleep…?' She wondered. 'Why can't I wake up? It feels like I've been here for a long time…'
She felt warm and comfortable, as if she were tucked into soft blankets that swallowed her up. She also felt something running through her body, like a tingling feeling that energized her. She felt anxiety rise up inside her, she felt like she needed to move. It's like when you are forced to sit around but you feel an extreme need to get up and move, yet you can't and so you feel anxious and uncomfortable.
Why was it, she wondered, that she felt this way? It was strange, she couldn't pinpoint a cause for why she felt the way she did. As she slumbered, she also couldn't help but wonder what was going on around her at that moment. All she remembered was meeting a strange, white haired woman and Akuro coming home with some friends she had never seen… now that she thought of it, her memories became confused and hazy, like she had double the memories of the same events, just with changes made to the events. On one hand, she led a normal, usual life, on the other hand it was the same life except with Akuro in it. What was going on? She was so confused, she couldn't tell what was real and what was fake anymore.
And then she felt a change in her mind, as if there was a presence other than herself. She attempted to open her eyes, but, again, all she could see was darkness, as if her eyes were sealed shut.
"Well, this is a surprise. I can't say I ever expected this." Came a voice.
Emma wanted to call out and ask who was there, but her body wouldn't respond to her.
"We are in your mind, unless you have enough mental strength, it's impossible for you to communicate with me. The only way to get enough is to possess a larger than average amount of aura. I'm astonished you can even notice my presence, seeing as you have practically no aura to begin with."
Who was there? She was so confused, she didn't recognize the voice that spoke to her. It was a calming, relaxed and slightly playful tone that she couldn't help but find soothing.
"Well, even if you can't communicate with me I can feel your thoughts, so whatever crosses your mind I'll know. My name is Nathan, and somehow, you've been given the blessing of my aura. I'm guessing it's because you were being contained in Inari's little fox spirit, and when I gave her my power a fraction of it went to you. You may be wondering why you can't speak to me if you have my aura inside you, I mean I just said that if you have enough you could talk to me, but it's simply because you haven't learned how to use it, not just that but your body has yet to adjust to it. When it does you will have much more power than you could ever imagine. It's interesting, how, by accident, a weak nobody could become a powerful warrior."
Many questions ran through Emma's head, if only she could ask them. This person, Nathan, was somehow communicating with her telepathically, and talking about strange things she didn't even understand. What even was aura? Who was Inari? A fox spirit? His aura inside her? A nobody, changed to a warrior? What did any of it mean?
"Alright, look, I don't really feel like explaining shit to you, so, let me just do this. I will share my knowledge with you through a memory pact, meaning you will see my memories and through them you will learn of the things I am talking about. But, be aware, my life was not… as kind as yours."
•
•
•
*Two weeks before Mato's end*
Nathan sat in a polished, oak wood chair, arms crossed and leaned back. He was in a small, cramped room with a stone table and four other chairs. The table had small figurines and stones with symbols painted onto them staircase across its surface. It was a war table. Presently, Nathan and the other Deities, Mato, Evelyn, Lyra and Desrian, we're discussing the situation of the demons rising from their caves and joining in the war. Apparently two whole battalions were completely crushed, and according to the few survivors that were left, it was all by one demon.
One could guess it was an Archdemon, but to be able to take out over three thousand soldiers, alone, it was hard to believe. Especially when all of the survivors, which there were only four of, seemed to of been traumatized, and they mostly spoke in crazed ramblings that made no sense. It took three whole hours just to get the information they currently had out of them.
Mato and Desrian were yelling at each other in a heated argument over the actions they needed to take. Desrian believed that the best move would be to pull back all of the troops and come together, creating one massive army to march on the Titans with, that way if the demons, or the Archdemon, showed up, they would be able to handle them. Mato believed that Desrian's plan was foolish, if the Archdemon had enough power to kill two whole battalions single handed my, then if it grouped up with its other demons, and other Archdemons, their entire army would be annihilated.
"Well then what do you suggest we do? Keep staying in separate groups so we can all be picked off one by one?" Desrian roared in frustration.
"Look, I don't know, but we can't group up like that! It'll make us an easy target, especially against Titans who would be able to kill us in large groups, being spread out is better than being wiped out all at once." Mato said.
"We don't have time for this." Evelyn said. "We need to make a move soon, or else it's the end of the human race."
"Pretty short lived, huh?" Nathan spoke.
"What?" Desrian asked.
"The human race has only existed a couple hundred years, yet we are already on the verge of extinction. Maybe it was meant to be."
Desrian stood, knocking his chair to the ground as he crossed over to Nathan, but Evelyn stood up and blocked his path.
"Stop." She said.
"What, you protecting your boyfriend because he is a coward who can't do anything for himself?" Desrian growled.
"Leave him alone."
Desrian raised his hand, but then Nathan suddenly flashed behind him, grabbing his arm and kicking his feet out from under him as he flipped Desrian's body over, his face bashing into the wooden floor, his nose snapping.
"I don't care what you say or do to me," Nathan said, "but if you touch her, I will kill you."
"Damn… bastard.." Desrian growled, and a sudden surge of aura stormed through the room.
"Enough!" Lyra yelled. "Nathan, I get how you feel, but you need to calm down. And Desrian, don't touch my sister. So just stop fighting, please. We need to be a team right now, not enemies!"
"Lyra's right." Mato agreed. "We need to stick together."
Desrian rose to his feet, shaking Nathan away from him, then returned to his seat, wiping blood from his crooked nose. Evelyn put a hand on Nathan's shoulder as he moved past her to sit in his own chair.
"The Titans have taken over Visrik, the city of the gods. Soon they will be marching on our kingdom as well, we need to organize a counter plan." Mato spoke, moving some pieces on the table. "Not only that, but we can make a calculated guess that the demons reside somewhere in the Teletosh mountains. I suggest we avoid encountering them entirely, at least until we have more information on them."
"You think we should send scouts there to try and find where they are hiding out?" Nathan asked.
"Not sure yet, we don't know if the demons have the ability to sense us or not. As of right now it's too risky… I think we should just avoid them in general. We have enough to deal with without having to fight demons."
"We are always fighting demons…" Lyra said quietly. "Just not in the same sense."
"Not the same." Desrian said.
"We need to focus on the oncoming Titans, if we don't take action soon it won't matter if there are demons or not." Mato said.
"Again, what do you suppose we do, oh mighty leader?" Desrian spoke in a mocking tone.
Mato was silent for a long moment, then his eyes widened.
"I've got it." He said. "Me and Lyra will take the fourth, fifth and sixth battalions and go through the Eastern Mountains, while Nathan and Evelyn will take the the first through third battalions through the Western Forest." His eyes turned to Desrian. "You will take the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh fleets straight down the center of Mezzrik Valley. You will be the first group to engage the Titans, while my group, the second fleet, and Nathan's group, the third fleet, will come in from the sides."
"But that only leaves two battalions to defend Esselon… also the fact that the Eastern Mountains are pretty close to Teletosh…" Evelyn spoke up, glancing at her sister.
"I'm willing to take that risk." Mato said, his resolve clear in his words.
"But what about-"
"Evelyn." Lyra said suddenly. "I'll be fine. Me and Mato are the strongest of the Deities. There's no way we'd be defeated by some silly demons." She gave a warm, kind smile to her sister.
Evelyn bowed her head. She wore a frown and was obviously concerned for her sister's well being. Nathan felt an urge to reach over and grab her hand, his fingers twitching, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Do we all agree to this plan?" Mato asked.
"Well, I have one issue." Desrian spoke. "I may have more soldiers, but I'm the only one among them who can use aura, making my group at a disadvantage."
"Actually, your group is at the advantage." Mato said. "Because you not only have the largest force, but you will also have Sedori go along with you."
Desrian nodded. "Fine. I admit it has potential to work. But what if you get killed by demons while you are in the mountains? We will surely lose if you don't make it…"
"We will be fine." Mato said, glancing over at Lyra and placing a hand on the hilt of a weapon sheathed at his side. "I have more than one ace up my sleeve."