Sedori stood in the middle of the desert, holding the dagger in his hand. He fiddled with the blade, careful to not cut himself, not that it would really matter now that he was a demon. He knew what he had to do, it was the only way to reach the goal he needed to reach, the best outcome possible, the best chance for victory. He didn't care what happened to him as a result.
He tucked the dagger into his pocket, then stood sentry, waiting for Darius and Inari.
•
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•
Darius knocked on Inari's door and called her name. It was the third attempt that day. She would never give him a response, and, from what he knew, she had not left her room at all during the two days they had been there.
"Inari!" He called.
....
Nothing.
"Listen.. I have a way we can get our powers back!" He said.
....
Nothing.
He sighed, banging his head against the door. "Come on.. we can't give up.. we've gotta do everything we can to get him back.. remember?" He said. He recalled when she had been clinging to him and crying upon the battlefield.. his heart stung at the thought.
Then there was a soft thud from within the room. The thud was then followed by softer thuds that grew closer and closer, before stopping. A moment later the door handle clicked and the door slowly swung open.
Inari's eyes were dead and red, she had dark shadows under them and her hair was a mess. She looked sick.
Darius had nothing he could think of to say in that moment, all he knew was this confusing feeling of being glad, glad to see her face again, but it was accompanied by the ache of seeing her in such a state, seeing her in so much pain. It made his heart throb in pain.
"You can get our powers back?" She asked, her tone that of a dead, soulless shell.
"Well, not really me, but Sedori said it was possible, yeah." Dariu explained.
"You think we can trust him?" Inari spoke.
Darius thought for a moment, remembering how Sedori had taken the dagger. Asking them to meet somewhere away from anyone else.. it seemed so suspicious, but at the same time he wanted so desperately to trust Sedori. Was this how Akuro felt trying to trust Darius?
"Yeah. We can trust him." Darius said. He made up his mind. After all, what did they have to lose anymore? Nothing.
"...alright. When do we meet with him?" Inari asked.
"Soon. It's almost midnight, so we need to get going now."
"Get going? Where are we meeting?"
"In the desert a couple miles out."
"Fishy."
"I know.."
•
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•
The air seemed to shift and glow for a moment as a figure could barely be made out; it was Gwydion. He stood at the doors of Fort Arashi, perspiration covering his body and making a reflective covering around him that made him appear invisible. Another figure, much the same way, appeared beside him.
"We have found it." Gwydion spoke.
"Yes, it would appear my first guess was indeed accurate. This is what happens when you work with a god of knowledge, all you idiots depend on raw power. It's quite pathetic to be honest."
"I'd agree with you, brute force is never the key." Gwydion waved his hand in agreement.
"Hah, even you use brute force, Gwydion. Remember the last war?"
"I have both power and knowledge, the most powerful combination of skills to exist."
"Yes, but you lack tact."
"You don't need tact when you are me." Gwydion said proudly.
"You really are way too confident." Mímir rolled his eyes. "It is so annoying."
Gwydion turned to leave. "We should report back to Youlgnir."
"Yes, yes."
•
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Akuro focused with every fiber of his being on wiping the planet from existence.. but nothing happened. It was failed attempt after failed attempt, and he was getting frustrated.
"Take your time, Akuro. This is our private sandbox, do as you see fit. We don't need to rush anything. It takes practice." Kasziel spoke.
Akuro raised his hand and stared at his palm. Black aura shifted about his hand in waves.
"I don't understand why this is proving to be so difficult." He spoke.
"Bending and destroying, and especially creating, reality is much more difficult than you think. You can't just have he power, you have to learn to control it."
"And how does one do that? It seems so simple on paper, but it is quite difficult."
"It actually is simple. To a degree. Erase any and everything from your mind except the image of what you want to happen, what you want to make become reality."
"What I want, hm?"
"Yes. Think of it as... you know when the gods asked you what you wished for? For your power? Think of it kind of like that, except you are the one wishing something into existence. You have to envision it and focus it into existence." Kasziel glanced at the planet. "Or, in this case, out of existence."
Akuro looked at the beautiful planet. He imagined it burning, the earth erupting and the planet exploding apart into billions of pieces, asteroids flying through the air as the planet self destructs. He reached his hand out to be planet.. suddenly the atmosphere of the planet began to shit and churn before eventually it became a more orange-red shade, and then a moment later massive splits showed in the planets surface.
Akuro suddenly lowered his hand, sucking in air greedily, realizing he'd been holding his breath. Then he wondered how the hell he was breathing in space? Maybe Kasziel had formed an oxygen cloud around them? That would also explain how he could hear him. The planet stopped shattering apart. It now just sat, glowing with cracks of raging flames and magma across its surface as its beautiful lights began to fade out.
"You almost succeeded, but, that isn't what I'm asking for. I'm not necessarily asking that you destroy the planet, I am asking that you simply remove it from existence." Kasziel spoke. "Like this." He waved his hand, and in an instant the planet shimmered and then it was gone, leaving nothing more than empty space. Kasziel snapped his finger and it reappeared instantly, no trace of destruction upon its surface.
"How.." Akuro asked, but decided against finishing his question.
"See? That is what I want you to do."
"This.. is harder than I thought it would be." Akuro said simply.
•
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*BAM*
The sound of something being struck could be heard through the halls, echoing from the training room.
*BAM* *BAM*
The training room was a solid rectangular room, large and secure, the walls practically impenetrable. This was where the soldiers would train, as well as the Archdemons. It was a recreation of the coliseum in Xinoll, basically.
*BAM*
In the training room, Onoma was sparing with the Archdemon twins. The two girls dashed at him one after the other, Sallius wielding a sickle while Razzaiel wielded an axe. Onoma used his massive double sided axe to deflect attacks before he would attempt to throw one of his own, though, he was too slow. None of them were using their abilities, this was simply physical training.
The better shape your body and focus were in, the easier it is to form an Aura Cloak.
Sallius rushed at Onoma, staying low to the ground. She hooked her sickle around Onoma's axe and wrenched down as Razzaiel' sheep cracked into his head, throwing him to the ground painfully.
"Damnit.." he cursed.
"Just get back up, wipe it off. You can't give up, man!" Razzaiel spoke. Onoma found her annoying. She was either super bubbly and positive, or she was angry and aggressive. Meanwhile Sallius was cold, soft, calculating and quiet.
"I know.. it just seems like my Aura Cloak doesn't exist at all." His wounds healed over. "It's frustrating." He held up his arm. Crimson aura began to swirl around his lower arm in a faint outline, but then it fizzled out. "It's like I can sometimes almost summon it.. and then it just fades out."
"It's because you doubt yourself. You need to stop. You need to wipe your tears and stand, moving forward. Even if you have no traction, the motion of trying to move forward can only result in progress. Sitting idly by in sorrow and self pity only results in regression." Sallius said.
"I know that! What do you think I'm trying to do?" Onoma growled, irritated. He always did have a short temper. "It just seems like my growth is so little, or non existent at this point."
A gentle, fragile hand extended out to him. Though she had talons, her hands were soft and kind. Onoma placed his hand in hers and she lifted him to his feet. He felt embarrassed, feeling like the bitch here. Shouldn't he be the gentleman pulling her up? Yet he was getting his ass kicked by two girls who then help him up after. He really was their little bitch.
He laughed to himself.
"What?" Sallius asked.
"Nothing." He said, he didn't need them knowing that. He'd never live it down.
•
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•
Darius's feet sunk into the sand, one step after another. Inari walked a few paces behind him. She moved slower and she seemed groggy and sickly. There was no spark in her eyes whatsoever.
He looked up at the glimmering stars high in the night sky. It was a clear night and you could see every single shimmering light.
"It is a glorious night." He said softly, hands shoved into his pockets.
Inari stopped suddenly, turning her eyes skyward. Darius stopped as well, turning to look back at her. Even in the darkness, even in her sorrow, Inari seemed to glow beneath the starlight. She truly was beautiful.
"I wonder where he is.." Inari spoke softly.
Darius lowered his head grinning sadly. He loved how he was staring at her as he thought of her, meanwhile she stared at the sky thinking of Akuro. He envied Akuro.
"I don't know." Darius said. "I imagine he's fine though. He is more powerful than any of us ever will be."
Inari stared at the sky for a long minute. It was painfully silent then. But it was ear deafening. It was that kind of silence that made you want to cover your ears, the kind of silence that made you tense up and cringe. It was that silence that made your ears ring. That long, painful, torturous silence.
"Let's go." Darius said finally, no longer able to stand it.
For a moment Inari just stood still, ignoring him, and then, hesitantly, he held his hand out to her. A light seemed to flicker in her eye as she looked at him, then down at his hand. Her fingers twitched and she stared as though she was thinking of taking it.
Darius immediately felt his cheeks grow hot. He cursed himself for being so dumb. As his hand began to lower and he turned to walk away, he felt Inari's fingers wrap themselves in between his own, lacing their hands together.
He stopped moving in his tracks, frozen.
"Darius.." came Inari's voice, soft and meek. "Thank you.. for everything.. you are far too kind to me."
Darius's heart skipped a beat and he couldn't help but grin madly.
"Of course.." he said awkwardly. "It's just what friends are for, right?"