Zerstörer took another step, but before the step touched the ground he appeared behind me. The cat hissed and I managed to weave his jab.
It was as if he vanished with every step but afterwards, he slowed down and the cat hissed. Was it maybe that he accelerates himself and then slows himself down? But why can't he stay accelerated the whole time? Maybe there is a time window?
How was I supposed to do this? I can't touch him and if I do I slow down.
"Devina?"
She answered and told me to buy some more time.
"Buy more time?"
She didn't say anything more but then one another one of the animal heads started to move. Wait, are they activating after a certain amount of time? If so that would mean he would have more and more abilities each time an animal woke up.
The head of the lizard opened its eyes. Its narrow pupils searching around for me. Zerstörer took another step.
Where was he now? He had completely vanished. Then I heard in my coms that he was above me.
Looking up I saw him standing upside-down in the air. He fell, and before I could react the silver sword blocked him from reaching my body.
The silver glow emitted from it as I heard scraping sounds as Zerstörer's body smashed into it.
It slowly started to freeze his body with silver as I continued to touch it. His eyes widen with confusion wondering why it wasn't decaying.
My silver sword wasn't getting turned into dust. Was it completely immune to time acceleration? The flower of Breakage on his chest pulsed even more aggressively. But the silver sword wouldn't budge.
Zerstörer pushed his half-frozen arm away from the sword before taking a few steps back.
Was the sword the key to winning this battle? He took another step towards me, he appeared face to face before trying to land an uppercut. The sword came crashing down in front of me blocking his punch. His hand started to freeze and his confident demeanor started to deteriorate.
I was still trying to find a way to catch him off guard and damage him. But if this sword continued to block his attacks then what did I have to worry?
The head of the ox woke up and bellowed.
What was it that I had to avoid this time? He took another step and my sword blocked as usual but this time it got flung away. He grabbed it and tossed it to the side.
Shit! I swapped my sword into my left hand and fired a shot at him, the recoil sending me a few meters back. But as I have thought, the bullets didn't touch him, they got slowed down and weren't able to detonate. The silver sword came back and floated above me.
Zerstörer gave out an irriterad huff telling me how obnoxious that silver sword was.
He picked up some rocks and debris and threw it at me. It hadn't even registered and my sword didn't even react. I held my hand against my stomach and saw blood dripping out of holes in my body. Oslovi quickly healed me up, but Zerstörer started to arm himself with more rocks. I tried to run around, trying to make myself a more difficult target to hit.
With rocks in his arms, he took a step and appeared behind him. He tossed the rocks and they traveled straight through my body.
It was nothing serious tho because Oslovi took care of all the wounds. With one arm he punched me and with one arm he threw rocks. The silver sword blocked his punch but the rocks went through my body.
While healing up another animal's head opened its eyes. It was the crocodile head. The mouth of it opened wide before snapping. The whole area around me turned dark and I found myself in a murky swamp-like area. Viscous liquid covered the entire area up to my knee slowing down my movement but Zerstörer could move freely in the air.
"You have been a good sport kid."
Zerstörer put his hand into the waters, and the roots of the Breakage extended into the waters. Slowly closing the distance between me and him. I tried to move but I was too slow in the muck and the roots reached me.
It went around my protective silver sword and wrapped itself around my body.
I felt how my body started to decelerate, my breathing started to slow and my thinking started to become sluggish.
He once more moved instantaneously towards me. The cat hissed before he grabbed the silver sword once more and threw it away. It landed in the muck and it started to sink into the murks of the waters.
The Aeon of Freedom reacted violently to being trapped but it couldn't free itself from being slowed in time. Oslovi still on my shoulders started to stress, hissing back at the cat's head.
Its Aeon of Rejuvenation bloomed. Zerstörer was taken aback when he saw flowers and lilies start to grow in the murky depths of his swamp.
"Decoration for your death?"
Oslovi jumped onto the flowers, but not caring about the cat, Zerstörer put his hands on my head.
Was it finally over? As I felt my head accelerate in time I could see how Emovi cried. I saw blood spill onto her hands. Thousands of black crosses covered the earth. No one was there, no one except Emovi. She was sitting there on her knees with blood on her hands weeping trying to wipe her tears.
Why was I seeing this? What are you trying to say, Aeon of Freedom?
Zerstörer had a panicked look on his face, he grabbed both of his ears with his hands and tried to cover them. My head was undamaged, why wasn't I dead yet?
I didn't feel trapped anymore, the Aeon of Freedom was resonating within my body. Oslovi's flower shone even more green.
I took ahold of the flowers and pulled myself out of the depths. What did Zerstörer see when he touched me?
He was still panting, trying to get rid of something inside of his head. He was thrashing around and not completely aware of me anymore.
Then it happened, he finally snapped, and his eyes shifted towards me once more. His arms fell straight down, left hanging there motionless.
"Why do you exist?"
A finger raised towards my direction, but it felt like it wasn't to me but to the flower on my cheek.
Zerstörer looked at me with a horrified look. His eyes filled slowly was filled by rage, the anger inside of him overrode the fear and he began his assault on me.
What was this feeling I had inside of my body? It felt so empty, my body felt like a shell, every time he touched my body, I would cut off the parts of my limbs, just for them to regrow.
Alicia, you were right. I wasn't human anymore, I'm no longer human, I do not have the properties and qualities to be human.
I saw myself chained up in the same mysterious dark void again. The same woman in the red kimono approached me. The sound of her wooden shoes echoed throughout the void. She stroked my cheek and rubbed my head.
"It is time for you to learn Vivshi."
Her soft voice pierced into my soul as I raised my head to see her face. A dark mass covered her face but I saw those lips. The words coming out of those soft lips.
She rubbed my hand and told me that I had done a well enough job.
The chains around my hands and legs started to rust as I saw Zerstörer's mark on them. I fell off onto the void floor. The woman lifted my face, her still a blur.
"No matter how many times you fall, I will always help you back onto your feet…"
I called out towards her, and the bubbling emotions inside of me finally burst out.
Telling her everything I had built up inside, I didn't feel human anymore, I felt like this power I had gotten had taken away my humanity. It wasn't a blessing anymore, I grabbed onto her kimono and yelled out that I didn't want anything anymore.
She crouched down, her hair flowed down towards me as if it was embracing me. This embrace, the smell of periwinkles and myrtles filled my nose.
A warm soft touch stroked over my head as she shushed me.
"Vivshi."
The voice called out, it was so familiar, it was as if a distant memory had reawakened inside of me.
"There is no time left."
Hands of the void reached out grabbing my feet. They slowly pulled me away from the lady in the kimono, I grabbed onto her dress as hard as possible trying not to let go.
"Continue."
Their hands wrapped around my face and pulled. My grip on her dress loosened. Her faint smile burned itself into my soul. Zerstörer had undone the chains that bound me to that place.
I drowned myself in the depths, curled up like a baby, I was floating in the abyss. My eyes slowly reopened. What was it I was expecting every time I blinked?
I saw Zerstörer on the opposite end, he was floating in the same endless void as me. Light shone from above him and the hands of people pulled him out of the abyss.
Reality had finally been reopened for me. Fluttering open my eyes absorbed the scene in front of me. Zerstörer's fist was flying straight at my face.
The void that had concealed me for so long and still does. What is it that my mom wanted to say to me just before she disappeared from our lives?
I always wanted to know those words. Even if they were empty, I wanted to hear them.
Isn't it ironic? Freedom?
Smiling I thought of my brothers, my mom and Emovi.
Freedom… is sacrifice.
"Aeon acclimation."