Ellianor opened his eyes. He was not back to where he should be at. It was not the space station he was in before, or anything close to that. It was a burning field, where fire burned endlessly.
From the ground to the skies. It was painted red with flames. A picture from hell itself, as a figure stood in the middle of that field as more silhouettes appeared by her side.
Almost as if they were a pack of beasts. All wielded weapons, from swords to spears, axes, and cannons.
Their hair fluttered against the wind, as the central figure stood still, even as hell fire burned.
"That is it, isn't it?" They whispered. One figure looked at the one at the center of the field.
It was hard to discern who was who, their bodies devoid of features beyond their shapes, and height.
One, amongst the smallest ones, sighed. "She lived as good as she could." The shadows mourned, and Ellianor walked to the figure they surrounded.
Yet before he could fully see who that figure was, someone cried, a blood-curdling scream, which drew his attention, and the shadows, towards the one who screamed.
The wind and flames blew black and pink hair, her face hidden by the darkness, but it did nothing to hide her cries. "I won't allow this to end that way! I will not!" She cried louder.
Her hands pointed at the shadows in an accusatory tone. "I will not stand by and let things end that way! I refuse! I will find a way, a way to revert all of this! Damned be all of you!" She rose, holding her arm, barely holding on a great sword.
"Damn your pride! Damn your wrath! Damned be all of you gods!" The voice cried with rage, and fear, the mask of darkness around her face breaking to reveal sharp pointed teeth and a mouth twisted by rage.
Ellianor felt a thug in his consciousness, his eyes going cross-eyed, his consciousness forced out of that place, forced out of that memory.
(...)
Back in reality, orange eyes opened to see a sterile white room, a blank ceiling, and a futuristic bunk bed. He was resting on the sofa, as someone poked his face.
Black and red hair, and a concerned face that brighted up the moment he opened his eyes. "Mister Urien! Ellianor is awake again!" A man closed his book and walked up to Ellianor.
He was young, at best in his mid-twenties. His hair was light blond, his eyes yellow as gold, and he wore a black and white suit. "I see. You are a sturdy one, but that was expected."
The blonde man sighed. "My name is Urien. It is a pleasure to meet you. You may have some questions, so allow me to answer them."
Kissenn blocked his view of the blond man.
She resisted greatly an urge to jump on Ellianor and hug him, it was visible by the tension on her shoulders, and her excited face.
The blond man's face palmed.
"Kissenn. I need to talk with Ellianor. You…"
The black-haired woman turned around, scowling deeply at the blond who widened his eyes in surprise.
"Please. It is a serious matter. You don't even need to exit the room… just… get out of the way."
She continued to scowl, and the blond man rolled his eyes. His hand fell on her neck. Ellianor's eyes widened as he literally held her by the scruff, and threw her at the bed.
'Humans don't have a scruff.'
It was more proof of the theory that Kissenn was not human. She continued to scowl from the bunk bed, annoyed at her handling and how. Urien adjusted his tie.
"Well, since Kissen is no longer interrupting us, you can ask any questions you may have."
Ellianor blinked, it was a tempting offer, but he had to refuse it.
"I can't ask anything. I don't even know what is happening right now." Urien's eyes widened, before he nodded, sighing deeply.
"So you don't know about the system that has been attached to your existence?" Ellianor shook his head.
"I am aware of the system, and that it is attached to me." Urien shook his head as he pinched his temples, he let out a tired groan out of his mouth.
"If it was only "You" it would be a simple matter. It is attached to your existence… think of it as your black box, what makes you who you are, and where all of your information is stored."
Ellianor's eyes widened a bit.
'That's complicate things…' It was not only in his body but attached to the very being he is. "What a drag." It was worse than he thought at first.
"Yeah, it is that bad. Well, since you don't know anything about the system, I think it is fair that I give you a rundown of how it works." A sort of blackboard manifested out of thin air, alongside a white chalk on the blond's hand.
He quickly started to draw on it.
"The system is a method to grow someone's potential, generally employed by stars quickly, I have an inkling you don't know what those are, so I will explain it later."
Urien continued to draw and write words and symbols, very familiar with physical formulas and equations, even if Ellianor couldn't understand what the formulas entailed.
"It was used long ago for stars, divinities, and the powerful, to nurture someone's strength to its apex, and sometimes, beyond that, in a short amount of time."
Ellianor nodded, it made sense why the voice gave him the system if she needed him to grow quickly.
"HOWEVER, a big HOWEVER, those systems fell out of line eons ago because they couldn't compare to other methods to grow someone's strength, growing outdated and old."
Ellianor raised an eyebrow.
"Then why give it to me, if it isn't the better option?" Urien smiled as if Ellianor touched the subject he wanted to approach since the beginning.
"Because my dear friend, the one that gave it to you did a sloppy job, and was rushing it."