[ALEXIMUS]
I can't hear anything…
Aleximus forced his eyes open. From what he could gather, he was floating in a dark space. He couldn't feel the ground below him or anything above him; It felt heavy and formless. Like a cloud… or a star.
"I must warn you both:" Nahasch's voice replayed in his mind, "Once we begin, you will fall unconscious. Your mind may conjure images or memories that will shatter your concentration amid the torrent of Sanctum Energy. You'd do well to resist them."
Aleximus gritted his teeth and barked, "Focus!", to himself. I'm not gonna die here! He centered himself and steadied his breathing. Not now!
A familiar chill crawled down his neck. It permeated his skin and nearly caused his blood to freeze. Back in the Axis, he had felt it firsthand — How oppressive it was. Aleximus recognized it at once. It's acidity and darkness…. The frightening purple hue that threatened to consume him the closer he got… such heinous power could only belong to one person.
A hair-raising laugh split the air around Aleximus and made him flinch. "HAHAHA!"
"HATAGI!" Aleximus growled, a surge of anger flushing his cheeks dark red.
As if reacting to the change in his emotion, the dark mindscape shifted as if it were made of molded clay and transformed hauntingly into a dimly glowing path, and thrust Aleximus onto the ground.
The boy darted upward and landed on his feet. T-This is the Forbidden Area..!
His expression tightened as he scanned his environment. There was pure darkness behind him, and though the path ahead was blurred, it was clear he was being led somewhere. Then, Aleximus's head spun in the direction of the noise. Someone was talking. He listened closely, hoping to discern who was speaking.
"See, in the outside world," an unnerving voice said, "There's all sorts of people with abilities born from Sanctum Energy. Everyone falls into one of the four class systems depending on their affinity to it. Dopi and I were what's known as Extractors."
There was no doubt about it. The laugh and voice both belonged to Hatagi. Somehow, Aleximus's emergence process had transported him to the past. The very night he lost everything. But Aleximus had already understood that. Instead, he dashed forward down the path and rushed through the forest. Almost like they were expecting him, the trees spread apart at his sides and elongated the path.
Please, Aleximus's heart thumped, Please don't let me be late again..!
"I'm an extra rare fighter able to siphon and redistribute Sanctum Essence at will. But that's not all…" Hatagi's voice echoed again. This time it was closer. Aleximus noticed an entrance ahead and hurried through the white light. It was the only thing illuminating his otherwise dark path. He couldn't lose it — He wouldn't.
Finally, he had arrived at the opening, his body racked with exhaustion and unease. Just as he feared, his posture stiffened as if he'd been dunked in cold water. In front of him, down the broad glade where the waterfalls outlined the area and the great statue stood, sat a gruesome scene straight from his own nightmares. He saw himself, foot missing and all, bleeding out on the grass with his younger sister in his arms. She was teetering between unconsciousness and her body was quickly fading due to Hatagi's RotVenom.
Aleximus's breathing hastened with horror as the Sanctum Energy greedily ate away at Anna's lower body. Not too far away, stood the man himself — Hatagi — dagger at the ready with a fiendish smirk.
The light around Aleximus all seemed to fade from the opening behind him until the walkway disappeared. The moon shimmered above him like a spotlight; his face erratic and arms shaking. Then he noticed it. His past self was staring at him angrily as if he was to blame. A red teardrop fell from his eye — blood — and ran down his chin. "You…" he choked with contempt.
"…You didn't save her."
Aleximus's feet gave way beneath him. He could hardly feel the grass grazing his knees; he was too consumed by his emotions. There were no thoughts rushing through his mind. It was quiet.
Above him, the darkness gradually began to envelop the moon.
-------🅰🆂🅷🅵🅸🅴🅻🅳-------
[JACENDER]
Jacender slowly blinked at the golden-red valley in front of him. Every time his eyes fell upon another blade of grass, another vein of irritation popped up on his face.
"Argh!!" he grumbled, rolling on the ground. I've been here for two frickin hours!! Where did that bastard send me?!
Since Nahasch had rendered him unconscious, he found himself here, alone surrounded by several roads made of fire running through the bright crimson lowland. It was faint, but at the end of each path, he saw a strikingly broad steel object jammed into the ground. Swords, he realized. Swords, lances, sabers, and other bladed weapons. Each one had a muted blue Codex resting against its handle.
They were scattered throughout the entire valley. Were they choices? Paths he needed to go down? At any rate, he couldn't enter any of them. Whenever he tried, he'd be repelled by a strange force. At firs,t he assumed it was Sanctum Energy, but whatever it was, it was something stronger — purer. Jace suspected he would only be able to get through if he was allowed to.
"Damn snake," the boy tsked, thinking of Nahasch. He imagined punching the lord in the face once he got back but quickly abandoned the idea at the thought of getting squished by his Sanctum Energy. Instead, he jumped to his feet and cupped his hand to his eyes so he could see further. There was no end to the valley, and the sun wouldn't get lower. It was unnaturally strong and felt like it was getting stronger still.
Jace decided to give up and fell flat on his back. Am I dead?
His face reddened at the lack of response. "STUPID SUN!" he glowered, his eyebrows furrowing. He pursed his lips together and childishly blew raspberries at the star. "No way am I gonna let this place kill me! You hear me, you bastard?! Huh?!"
He thrashed against the floor like a baby and kicked at the air screaming, "Bring on everything you've got! You hear me?!"
Fatigue was starting to catch up on him. He took in one more sharp breath and balled his fist. "I'm… gonna open my Sanctum Chamber… and… get out of here, dammit!"
WHOOOOOOOOSH!!
A blast of wind whipped past his ears and ripped through the grassland almost as if in response to Jace's declaration. Thinking nothing of it, Jacender crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Stupid test," he pouted, "I'll burn this whole place up!"
VRMMMMMMM!!!!!
Something cold trickled down Jace's neck. It wasn't sweat, nor was it goosebumps. His eyes flew open as he felt for it. "Aie!" he gasped, looking at the blood running down his nape. He jumped up and spun, suddenly seeing it behind him. One of the blades that were down the path on the left had flown forward and nearly taken his head off. But it wasn't just that either; several dozen of the weapons around him had been rendered airborne and soared through the air, gleaming with unstable Sanctum Energy.
"Is that a…" he started, flinching as the wind picked up.
The Codexes hovered into the air above him and shot into the sun, disappearing immediately. A vortex began to form around the blades and picked up a dangerous speed. A tornado?!
Jace bolted away from the whirlwind of Sanctum Energy, nearly tripping over himself as he went. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE?!" he screeched. His head twirled from left to right as he searched for a way out. Miraculously, the paths where the weapons had been on had vanished, leaving only the open grass field for him to run away on. He was free to flee.
There's gotta be something, Jace thought, scanning his surroundings. Then, in the distance not too far away, he noticed a large black shape. It looked worn down, but imposing and royal. Please be a way out! he begged as he made his way to it. The tornado was closing in on him, threatening to slash his body should he make a single misstep.
As he got closer, he was able to make out what the structure was — a black and red mansion surrounded by tall golden fences. The entrance gate's handle was formed around the striking symbol of the letter A sitting in the center of a flaming ball of fire — a sun. For some reason, the mansion wasn't being uprooted and pulled into the air like everything else. "Perfect!" Jace laughed while making a dive for the building. There was someone on the edge of the window on the second floor. They stood back far enough for him to not be able to make out what they looked like, but he caught a glimpse of spiky red hair.
"H-Hey!" Jace yelled, grabbing the front gate. He shook it hard, but it would barely budge. "PLEASE! LET ME IN!!"
There was silence. Then, the whooshing of the wind.
"Screw you then!" Jace seethed. Cross-popping veins appeared across his forehead as he strained for dominance over the fence gate. With a strained groan, he leaned back and uprooted the gate, his muscles bulging as its hinges snapped and flew off in the wind behind him. The moment he did that, however, the front door to the mansion swung open to reveal the head of a man with a dumbfounded expression.
He had a short red beard stylized without a mustache. His hair, like Jacender's, had a part near the left side of his head that allowed his longer, red bang to touch his eyebrow. Just like his beard, the rest of his hair was mostly red despite some streaks of black running haphazardly through his scalp; It gave Jacender the suspicion that he probably dyed it. He couldn't have been that old.
"Uh," the boy noised, embarrassed to have been seen destroying property. He sheepishly let go and scratched the back of his head. "Thanks for coming to help, I appreciate—"
"—ARE YOU AN IDIOT, KID?!" the man barked madly. His face swelled with anger so much that it looked as if he was inflating. "Don't you know not to break other people's property?! I was coming to open the door!"
Jace flinched, spluttering in an attempt to explain himself. "W-Well you weren't coming down so—"
"So nothing!" the red-haired man screamed back. "Now I'm the one who had to fix that, you bastard!"
Can't he see the tornado? Jace asked himself as frustration took over. Who cares about the gate?!
He couldn't be bothered to worry about formalities now. "Look," Jace told him as he entered the walkway. "Those blades are gonna kill me! I'll help you fix it later, alright?!"
"Hmph!" the man scoffed. He crossed his arms and sneered. "And why should I let you in here?" Before he could react, Jace kicked a broken piece of the gate off the floor with as much might as he could muster and struck the strange man in the chin hard enough to knock him back into the mansion.
Jace didn't waste the opportunity. He quickly dashed inside and pushed the door close before he could be kicked out again. "Ngh!" he grunted, bracing himself for the wind to rip through the door and destroy everything. But nothing came. In fact, he could no longer even heard the crashing howls of the tornado. It was almost as if he was in another area altogether.
Damn it… What's going on?
He rose to his feet and quickly inspected the area. The man in the doorway had vanished and left him there alone. He was in the grand foyer; the entrance hall of the mansion. Around him — hanging on the red and black chequered walls — were dozens of faded portraits of older men and women in regal clothing. Their ages ranged from early twenties to as old as mid-nineties, but there was one distinguishing similarity between them all. Each person in the portraits in one way or another had red streaks running through their hair. Some had more than others, while others nearly had a full head of it. Regardless, they all seemed to be from the same family.
"Creepy…" Jace muttered as he spun around. Hanging above him was a great chandelier slated with diamond candles that were set alight with red flame. It reminded him of the statue back in the Forbidden Area; a sort of fire different than any he'd ever seen before.
"Hey old man," he asked, keeping his guard up. "You still here?"
Apart from where he was standing, most of the manor's halls were dark and dimly lit. Once he had called for the man he had hit with the gate, the room was suddenly flooded with a blinding flash of white.
FWSH! FWSH! FWSH! FWSH!
Just up ahead, illuminated by the light, was a wide imperial staircase splitting off to his left and right. Standing on each step, the balconies above looking down, and posted against the doors around him were several individuals with streaks of red hair; Just like the portraits.
Jace instinctively reached for his waist, forgetting his wooden sword wasn't with him. He cursed his luck. Not because he didn't have his sword, but because he could feel that it wouldn't do anything to a single person there. Jacender could sense it just by looking at their crimson eyes; every one of them was as strong as his uncle, Matsuda. No… possibly even more so.
He stepped back, wincing as his sweat rolled down the base of his nose. The staircase looked as if it had no end; Its ceiling seemed to stretch infinitely. "W-Who are you guys?" his voice trembled. "Where's the old guy?!"
"I'm not old, you little bastard!" a gruff voice yelled at him. Jace's eyes traveled to the center of the landing to see who'd spoken. It was the man he had argued with just moments earlier. Now that his full body could be seen, Jace marveled at how in shape he was. He wore a black compression shirt, which put his muscular and lean figure on display. His legs were absurdly thick and almost didn't fit in his red cargo shorts. Also, he, like Jace, was the only one out of all the others in the room, with blue eyes.
"Show some respect, I'm only twenty-three."
"Twenty-three?!" Jace jumped. He bowed his head and clasped both hands together in a praying motion. "May God embrace you kindly, mister."
"S-Shut up!" the man shouted, his cheeks burning hot with shame. "My beard just grows in fast! It'll happen to you one day too, idiot!"
Jacender rolled his eyes and muttered, "I doubt it,"
"Runnulf!" one of the people above finally spoke. It was a man with long, spiky hair running down both his shoulders. Half of it was red and the other half was black. His voice was also almost theatrical in diction, which made sense to Jace because he looked to be in his late forties. "You have allowed the boy to come here to this sacred place without completing his test. If he isn't worthy—"
"—Don't worry, Vincent," the man named Runnulf responded. He waved Vincent off and kept his eyes fixed on Jace with an assured grin. "He's got a mouth on him, but he's accepted the powers of the Codex with his own free will. We just have to prepare him for his responsibilities. I have full faith that he can do it."
"Hey!" Jace interrupted. "What are you talking about? What responsibilities?"
He wondered if it had anything to do with what Nahasch had told him. Were these the people he was told to meet?
Runnulf stepped forward and came down the landing. "We have a lot to talk about, you and I. Over ten years of stories to catch up on."
Jace felt the hairs on his neck rise. Huh? What's happening? he asked himself. His heart felt like it was being filled with air and a warm pressure rose through his throat and nestled comfortably beneath his nose and eyes. With every step closer Runnulf took, a sense of vulnerability and safety took hold of Jace.
"W-What are you doing to me?" he asked, fighting back tears.
Runnulf's brow raised for a moment before he smiled. "I'm not doing anything," he replied. "I'm just here."
He extended his hand, placed his palm on Jace's head, and ruffled his hair. His uncle had been the only other person to ever do that to him, but this was different. Jace could no longer hold back his tears as they fell into his hands. He could feel his heartbeat tighten and his gaze become averted as Runnulf beamed at him. He knew who he was without him having to say it.
"I never thought you'd grow up to be so big, Jace."
Jace's lips trembled at his words. I get it… That's why I felt so comfortable walking in here…
He raised his arms and slowly grabbed Runnulf's shirt. "Are you..?"
Runnulf shook his head. "Yeah…"
Jace wailed and threw himself into the man's arms without a second thought, hugging him tightly as he did so. He wouldn't let him go — not now.
Not after he had finally met him for the first time.
Runnulf closed his eyes and embraced the boy tenderly. After all this time, he thought, I can finally hold you again.
"...It's me, son."
[SANCTUM CHAMBER EMERGENCE]