Chapter 14: Visions of the Past
In a small temple two young men and a woman were gathered in front of a fire. It was late in the afternoon but they felt like they needed some light in this dim temple. They were all wearing white garments which had laced patterns of gold. They were discussing some of their daily activities.
"The elder said to make sure this temple is nice and clean", said one of the young men sitting down.
He was fairly tall with a muscular build and short hair. This man was fairly young compared to the elder but he was little bit older than the other two sitting down. Another young man was complaining about their tasks.
"This sucks," he said in protest.
He was a skinny boy, and was maybe 3-4 years younger than the young man. He carried a brown satchel in which he stored various things. A young woman the same age as the boy complaining tried to reassure him. "Don't complain, it won't be that bad. If we work and do our part we'll be finished in no time."
The young woman had fair skin and long brown hair that reached her shoulders but she kept it mostly on right side of her shoulder so she could play around with it.
"Ugh," the boy groaned in response and then proceeded to listen.
"Now that's settled I divided all of our tasks into equal parts", said the young man. Who then put on his glasses that were sitting on top of his head. He held a scroll in his hand and showed each of them which area to clean.
"You can clean the storage room in the back. It's a lot bigger than what I would like so we will join you later", he said with a smile.
The boy complained once more before the other young man could finish, "Ah what? C'mon meng!" He put his hands in his robes and walked away muttering under his breath.
"As I was saying, I'll be rearranging the inside of the temple since there is a lot of junk the elder brought in to store here." He then pointed to the direction of the boy and said "You can sweep around the outside of the temple you can get the broom from the storage room."
He then whispered, "Keep an eye on him."
She made an OK gesture with her hand and winked.
When she got to the storage room the boy was sitting on an apple crate trying to organize the junk on the floor while he was muttering to himself.
"Stupid scrolls, why are you so scrolly? Stupid books why are you so THicC?"
His back was turned while she walked in to grab the broom . "I guess he didn't hear anything" she thought to herself.
A few hours had past and the three of them were hard at work...mostly. The young man was picking up boxes of random junk and putting it in a room where there was a vacant room. The boy was looking at scrolls and random documents while sitting on the crate from earlier. It was finally dawn and the young woman was finished sweeping the temple steps and around the temple yard. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and gazed at the orange orb sink into nothingness to bring in the night.
She went inside the temple to help the boy with his work. She met the young man who was surveying the temple to see if anything was left unchecked. She then told him that she was done and he told her that he would be with her shortly. As she walked into the storage room it was messier than when she first entered, various papers, scrolls and books scattered around the room along with random junk that the young man was supposed to store in the vacant room. The boy was deep in thought, it looked liked he was reading an old book.
She was curious, "What are you reading that makes it so that we would have to do more of your work?"
The boy was intrigued, "It's this thing, th-th-this thing. I felt I-I-I've seen this before."
"Don't just stutter, tell me!"
"I found this book about an evil force that lies beyond a gate."
"A gate?" She was puzzled at the thought.
"There is supposed to be a gate just outside this temple a couple miles north from here. Ahh, its too hard to explain just here, read it." He gave her the book and his finger pointed at a page with a picture of the 'gate'.
The book was called, Divine Punishment. The cover was graced with a picture of a shadowy figure consuming what looked like the earth from below. The page he was showing her had a bigger picture of the gate the boy was talking about.
The book read, 'Beyond these gates is an unmistakable power. A power that has been crafted by holy magic, the Harmony Sword. Its power has been used to ward off demons and protect those that wish to be saved in His light. For some peculiar reason the sword lies where evil lurks and desires consume. The gate lies in-.
She saw that the direction of the gate has been ripped out. She then saw that a whole chunk was missing and what she read was the only legible part of the page besides the pictures. Upon further inspection she found a line displaying a warning.
'No one should ever cross the gate, the forces of evil that lurk there feed off of that chaos.'
"Chaos, Chaos? Chaos Cha-!"
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!"
The young woman was startled and dropped the book on the floor. The boy quickly picked up the book and put it behind his back when the young man came closer.
"What are you hiding behind your back?" The young man was interrogating the boy.
He glanced at the girl and looked back the young man. "It's a Gate."
"Wut? What are you talking about."
"We have to find The Gate. We need that sword."
"Bruh, you've been listening to the elder's dumb stories of old."
He palmed his forehead in anguish, "Just get this shit cleaned up. I wanna go home."
While the young man had his back turned he put the book in his sack that he was carrying earlier. An hour had past and they were finally done. The storage room was spotless. It was nighttime when they were finished. The only light that was available was the moon. They said their goodbyes and were about to go there separate ways.
The boy pulled the young woman to the side and whispered, "We are going to find that Gate." She nodded as she was intrigued by what it meant by the 'Other Side'.
She finally got ready to go to bed. She laid listlessly in her bed until she doze off. She could faintly hear a voice in her dream.
"wake up....wake up.."
And again.
"Wake up....Wake up..."
Once more
"WAKE UP...WAKE UP..." She felt that someone was pulling her.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH saVe mEeeee" The screamed echoed in her mind.
She woke up and it was late fall.
Mio opened her eyes and she was in her bed. Her head ached and she was holding her face in her hands. "What was that? Was that a dream? Who are those people?"
She tried to get up but her body was sore especially her right arm and her chest. She went to the mirror in her bathroom and saw the markings of the chaos blade on chest and right arms. She felt a sharp pain in her right arm. She took off her shirt and removed the bandages to reveal a red mark on her arm. She faintly remembered the fight that took place in the bank.
"Oh that happened." She remembered that the blade transformed into a giant axe.
"Azazel's Giant Axe", she whispered to herself. "I don't feel like a hero, I feel like some sort of demon." She remembered the girl she saved at the bank and various other survivors that were there when things went to shit.
After shaking the thought she brushed her teeth, took and shower and got dressed as she decided to go for a walk since it was the weekend. She covered any visible marks of the chaos blade with makeup as she learned from her previous encounter with Professor Archette.
She walked around the city looking at various shops. Stopping by to get some coffee at a coffee shop and looking at the cats at the pet store. One guy tried to hit on her but she ignored him and called him a loser. She finally had an uneventful day and lamented on the peacefulness of the night sky while walking home. Until she sensed a strong presence.
'Not this again' she thought to herself.
A figure tried to strike at her from the side. Mio sidestepped the figure.
"Missed Crticallru Stturikkku."
"Who is this weirdo?"
The figure was a short girl in comparison to Mio was a couple inches shorter. She wore a sailor uniform and an white eyepatch on her left eye.
"Wahahahahah. You have just graced the presence of a Chaos Destroyer Agent." She said while posing.
"Wut??" Mio was hella confused.
'I thought all the weirdos disappeared.' She thought to herself.
"Prepare yourself villain. I will unleash my powerful technique." She put on red fingerless gloves with a flaming skull picture on the back. She her fists together and proceeded to rush Mio.
Mio didn't have time to react and the bag that she was carrying went flying onto a park bench a couple feet away from her.
"She's too fast." Mio was barely able to dodge any of her attacks. The girl's punches were grazing her body.
"That's not going to work. Ultimate Starbursttoo Powah Sturikku"
She moved to the left on Mio's blindside and hit her straight in the stomach. Mio dropped to the floor coughing while holding her stomach. The girl kissed her fist and did a couple of flips to get a distance away from Mio. She held a peace sign to her face where her eye patch was.
"You are too weak. I did not even remove my limiter. Peace Peace," she said with a pose.
Mio slowly got up. She could feel the marks on her body consuming her entire being.
'Ussse ittt, killl, destroyyy.' A voice whispered in her head. She took a deep breath and removed the thought from her mind.
'I gotta find a way to escape. I can't use this power, she doesn't know who I am.' She scanned the area and saw that she could not escape, since the girl was too fast.
"UmU, UmU, the vilian decides she wants to challenge me again." She gestured Mio to come at her.
Mio didn't move.
"I see. I need to force you to fight me. Have it your way."
She charged at Mio but Mio sidestepped out of her way again and ran as fast as she could. She looked behind her to see if she was chasing after her. She wasn't.
'Where did she go? She can't be that fast, I couldn't even see her.'
In an instant the girl was in front of Mio.
"Nice try. Nee-san."
She tackled Mio to the ground. The girl was on top of Mio. "Maybe you'll use your power that you've been hiding all this time.
"I don't know what you are talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me, nee-san. UwU. It's super serious time."
She came closer to Mio's face. Mio got a good close at the girl's face as well, she was wearing red contacts and had dyed her hair blue as her hair shone in the light of a nearby streetlamp.
"Show me. Show me the chaos blade." She whispered ever so softly.
She smooshed Mio's cheeks with her right hand while she pulled out a knife with her left hand from her skirt pocket.
"Howww farr will you lett this go, Kawaiii nee-sann?" As she gently brushed the small knife across her neck.
No matter how many times this happens. Mio always hated this moment. She knows how this will end up, with her killing this girl, survival of the fittest as it is called. She could feel the killing intent of the blade and she could feel the marks pierce and stitch her skin. A thought of the chaos blade manifesting in her right arm...
Until a phone rang.
She placed her phone ontop of Mio's chest and put it on speaker.
"Darling, you still playing around?" An older woman's voice was heard.
"Mastah, I'm a lil busy right now." She replied
"Come to base now. We need you here. Plsss bby?."
"Yes, Mastah. Wuv youu."
She hopped off Mio and proceed to retreat. "See you soon, Nee-san. Maybe I'll show you my true form. Chuu CHuu." She was blowing kisses to Mio as she vanished.
Mio dusted herself off and got her bag that flew onto a park bench.
She sighed a gasp of relief, "So much for an uneventful day, huh?"
She then preceded to go back to her apartment walking down the path under the light of the moon.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Bonzoko
Bonzoko Sorry all for not posting a chapter last week I was preparing for exams (even if it is online lol). After that I will be hopefully writing more.
Other note I will be posting any dated announcements at the end of every chapter rather than publish a chapter in the auxiliary volume. Still learning lol.
I hope y'all are staying nice and healthy.
Anyways, enjoy the new format and the new arc.
<3
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