Capítulo 21: An Ode to Fight
A faint silence fills the atmosphere of the situation. Trees swerve, the remaining birds chirp, the dust clouds expand, ash stains the ground, and the crowd screams in both horror and panic.
The dust and ashes spew out into the air, staining the grass, the treetops, and the clouds.
The Queen's long brown hair sways with the quiet wind. After the smoke settles, she raises her voice and lifts her arms high into the air…
"I command you to capture these two! They were involved with the destruction of The Great Fountain!"
As Narcissa turns her head back and forth to find where the Four Knights are, Asahi tightly grips Aletha's arm and sheds many tears.
As the darkness slowly swallows his vision whole, Asahi quietly whispers to Aletha.
"We will be fine. Trust me, sis..."
Asahi calmly grips Aletha's hand warmly. He feels pain resonating within his legs.
As Narcissa approaches the wanderers with a sword and full malicious intent, a light green streak quickly pierces one of the guards instantly, and they fall to the ground.
The guard's existence vanishes into dust, then another green line stabs another existing guard through his chest. As their heads tilt left and right, the guards scream.
"Intruder, show yourself!"
Immediately right after, a barrage of green streaks pierces through eight guards behind the vanishing one.
Narcissa swiftly tilts her head upward and screams to the air, hoping that she will get a response.
"Who are you?! Where are the Four? Didn't I say that all four should keep watch on The Great Fountain?"
As Narcissa slightly backs away from the Fountain in confusion, a soft male voice echoes through the forest.
Aletha's eyelids slowly part away. Immediately after the strike, Narcissa sees three dark silhouettes of humans standing at the tip of the cliff in the far distance.
"That's impressive that you took no care for the guards that lost their lives behind you. It really exposes how selfish you really are in front of your crowd. I wonder why we even decided to join you in the first place."
The wanderers tilt their heads towards the blurry silhouettes.
The dust clouds drift away and reveal three humans standing on a cliff with all of their arms crossed.
As he grabs Aletha's hand tightly, Asahi shakingly mutters.
"Who… are they? Is that… Akwan?"
As the wanderers painfully crawl on the floor, their wounds and bruises vanish, then heal in just a blink of an eye. Both of their round gray eyes widen.
The wanderers push themselves upwards and stand in front of the debris as if nothing ever happened. Their white hair slightly stains in dirt, ash, and dust.
Then the stains vanish into thin air magically, and their hair gleams brightly.
Aletha whispers to herself as she brushes off the remaining dust within her shiny dress.
"Who was that? I feel… healed. My wounds vanished. Asahi, did your's vanish too?"
He slowly nods his head and perks a thin smile. He replies to Aletha as the dust blows over their hair from the speed of the winds.
"Yes, Aletha. I don't feel that pain resonating within my body anymore. Strange."
Narcissa inhumanly hears the wanderers, and she swiftly turns her head. The wanderers can see the entire audience fleeing and running up the hill, through the forest, and to their carriages.
Then they see Narcissa's hands gripping onto a long sharp glowing light brown blade. Her mocha eyes glow in a fury.
She approaches the wanderers with a menacing grin on her face. She then angrily mumbles to them.
"All you had to do was accept… and you couldn't even do that. Nevermind. This disgusting boy will not be with me, and the girl definitely will be exterminated. Your rare hair disgusts me. Repulsive, unattractive, awful… that's what both of you are. Now accept your fate and feel the wrath of my blade!"
The wanderers tremble in fear. They tightly hold their hands and shut their eyes, waiting for guaranteed death.
As the glow on her mocha eyes gleam, as the luminescent blade swings into the air, as her brown hair sways backward, a massive blue shockwave knocks back Narcissa far from the wanderers.
A calm and soothing feminine voice says to the audience.
"I am not happy. I am not proud. And you should too… and so should the crowd."
Narcissa swiftly tilts her head up. She watches the four shadows speedily vanish into thin air. Her mocha eyes widened in fear.
"I recognize that voice… Is that… the Four Knights?! Why didn't they slay those filthy outlanders? I command you to atta—
All four voices mix in with their pitches, tones, and intentions. They all interrupt the Queen of Pladtioa without any hesitation.
"No."
Narcissa slowly backs away from the Fountain in disbelief while whispering.
"What? That can't be… why won't you listen to me?"
She hastily sprints to the group of guards standing at the forest border and orders all of them.
"Slay those outlanders immediately!"
A deep feminine voice resounds over the carved cliffs and terrain.
"Don't you dare try to give orders to us again! We know what you did. You made us look like we were peasants and weaklings. You did not make us look like knights and heroes who fight and save this nation."
Her dark black hair gently sways with the wind. A tall feminine figure kneels her legs over a cliff, with an intense magenta luminance resonating over her hands and illuminating her face.
She wears a mask.
She has glistening amethyst eyes and dark attire. After a few moments, the dark figure clenches her fists and yells at Narcissa.
"If you truly cared… you wouldn't have ordered your guards to attack the new King! Were you not interested in him moments ago? What happened? Huh? Answer!"
The glow on Narcissa's glistening brown eyes vanishes, along with her sword. She breathes heavily. She constantly shakes her head in disbelief and fear.
As she approaches the forest, Narcissa fearfully mutters.
"But… it… it was just a misunderstanding. I-It was all a joke… You… a-are true heroes a...and- you are knights an—
Narcissa gets interrupted again by another familiar-sounding voice.
"Don't come up with such a blatant lie that not even the strong will believe. You know what you did, and you should be ashamed. You don't want Asahi… all you want is the power that resonated within him,"
He clenches his fists and raises his voice, peering his golden eyes at them.
"I know the capabilities of what she and he have, and you are never going to capture them. They are special... unlike you. You, Narcissa, are truly narcissistic, selfish, and unforgiving. You should be the one who should disgust others, not the wanderers."
The wanderers confusingly tilt their heads to the cliff. Both of their gray eyes widen as they see the sun shining on the beautiful male figure like a spotlight.
He has long glistening blonde hair, an orange necklace wrapping over his neck, two different colored eyes, and a long white cloak reaching down to his ankles.
The wanderers both whisper softly.
"Akwan…?"
All four of the voices scream out to Narcissa.
"You are not a true ruler!"
The people of the crowd swiftly jump up into the air and scream.
"You are no heroes either! All you four care about is the image that people see you like... and the lies you give to the people of Pladtioa. You should be the one who should kneel to the Queen, not her!"
Belial softly chuckles and shakes his head with his hood over his head.
"And what kind of moron told you such a lie...? All of the people that dwell in Pladtioa are corrupted by Narcissa's deceptive ways. Sigh."
Narcissa harshly bites her lip and stomps on the ground furiously.
"You better get down and capture these two filthy outlanders. We have worked together for fifty years, and we have had no problems until now. Get down here now, and listen to my orders!"
Drimi lightly giggles and covers her mask with her hand.
Her dark amethyst eye bursts out a bright violet luminance; she clenches her fists and walks out of the shadows to reveal herself.
"You didn't even take the notice to think of what we said. You just tried to ignore us so that you can lure us back to your unholy deeds. If you dare hurt the Wanderers one more time, you will not have that malicious smile on your face ever again."
Narcissa squints her eyes, and her heart beats rapidly. She clenches her fist and fills her face with pure anger; she hastily grabs a sword from the deceased guard's hand and furiously approaches Asahi with full force.
"You think you're so special with that otherworldly attire. Foolish. You are the one who corrupted my devoted four knights. You shall be punished, and you should never be the King! You have no power. You are not a divine deity like me."
She lifts her arm and opens her palm. A robust dark magenta luminance hovers over the center of it. Suddenly, Asahi stands still, unable to move his arms or legs.
He is stuck in a constant state of paralyzation as Narcissa drags her long brown blade against the ground.
"I can't wait... to—"
Just as she tries to stab Asahi with the sword, Aletha swiftly jumps in front of him and shuts her eyes.
The silver tip of the blade from Narcissa gleams a tiny spark of a white luminance as it brutally hovers over Asahi's eye. She viciously smiles and roughly grits her teeth.
"I don't mind stabbing this filth's ey—
Just as soon as Narcissa pushes the blade a little closer to Asahi's eye, a solid orange beam moves her away from them. It's filled with bright red flower symbols encircling the energy.
Narcissa drags her fingers against the dirt and swings her claw at the luminescent orange silhouette.
She clenches her fist and glares at The Four with pure anger. She screams.
"Guards attack The Four, and kill the two putrid white-haired outlanders, immediately!"
Suddenly, a large number of guards sprint behind Narcissa and charge towards the wanderers.
But as soon as ten guards try to pierce their spears through Asahi and Aletha's backs, a dark-haired hooded boy slams into the ground and forms a trembling shockwave.
A large aura of green light encircles all three of them. Creating this healing aura that restores both of the wanderers' health.
The wanderers look at themselves and shake their heads.
"Who was that?"
Aletha whispers as the strength of the healing power increases.
Asahi shrugs his shoulders and perks his head away from Aletha. A guard sprints behind her at full force with a large brown spear piercing forward through the air.
As he yells with his helmet dangling over his chin, the hooded boy swings his legs at the guard and kicks him away from the wanderers. His long black braided hair swings to the right.
He turns his head to the wanderers and gives a delightful smile.
He perks his legs back up and stands proudly with no weapon on his hands. The boy warns the wanderers.
"I'm delighted to meet you two. I have heard rumors from an ally of mine that you two came from the comet that other night. Is that true?"
Aletha wipes dust off her mouth and takes a deep breath. She nods at him and replies.
"Indeed. Oddly, you consider us allies despite our appearance. An alchemist named Akwan dispensed all his power to our souls just for the rite of outlanders. It's quite strange."
As the boy lifts his hand up and tries to reply to Aletha, another guard screams.
"You think you can escape and deny The Queen's love? Not on my watch!"
The boy bites his lip and squints his eyes. He clenches his fingers tightly and forms a glittering green glow resonating within his hand.
In just an effort, he pierces his hand through the guard's chest, and they instantly vanish into slight hints of light.
He breathes heavily, shakes his head, then turns back to the wanderers and pushes aside what he was trying to say to them.
"Actually... Never mind. Stay put. It's dangerous to wander the woods. I will explain everything later."
As the dust of the destroyed Fountain settles, as the winds die down, a distantly familiar voice shrieks out to the dark-haired boy.
"Belial, there are... hundreds of guards arriving!"
The boy shakes his head profoundly and faintly mutters as he grabs a guard's lost blade.
"Hundreds...? Oh well, at least we have a strong team even without our weapons. Drimi, show them who's a true knight!"
The dark-haired figure abruptly leaps off the cliff and releases a barrage of dark orbs that explode upon impact. Chunks of dirt fly in the air and crash into treetops.
The crowd sprints away and panics as a platinum-haired girl hastily appears from nowhere, with a familiar blue luminance striking through four more guards.
She swiftly sprints to another group of guards next to Narcissa and harshly kicks all of them five meters down through the ground.
A giant icicle pierces straight through all of their bones and turns them into small particles.
Her bright tan eyes gleam in determination as she needly fixes her long silky platinum hair in front of the wanderers and Belial. The woman hurries to the Queen of Pladtioa, who is seen sprinting to her carriage.
She twirls her arms into the air and forms a small snowstorm that tries to freeze Narcissa. Unfortunately, the attack is deflected from Narcissa's mirror powers and strikes the platinum-haired woman slightly through her skin.
Belial charges towards her and swings his hand over her wound.
Immediately, the scars on her vanish, and the snowstorm dissipates into dust.
Belial stops himself using his inhumanly firm grip on the bottom of a tree and scrapes a chunk off from its trunk.
He roughly grits his teeth and pulls up his hood over his head. Belial angrily shouts at the platinum-haired girl.
"What were you doing? We were not here to target the Queen, despite her unlawful ways. We were here to get the wanderers to safety!"
A faint silence sounds off from the dark depths of the dark green forest, and a feeble wind blows through the woman's oddly shaped hair and attire.
The wanderers take a long glance at her appearance and a timid calmness from within the situation's atmosphere.
She stands boldly.
The fair woman has light pink eyes, long swirly ash platinum hair with half of it tied up from a beautiful bouncing blue ribbon bow.
The tall woman wears a long sleeveless silver bodycon dress stretching from her sizable plump chest to her curvy lady figure.
She wears bright, light pink stockings underneath the dress, half of it cut off from a glistening baby blue ribbon.
And she wears a beautiful otherworldly soft blue mixed with a sappy white flower behind the top of her head.
Her voice sounds like a fine young lady whose pitch is deep, soothing, and admirable.
"It's what they deserve... tee hee."
Belial relaxes his arms and takes a deep sigh as the fair woman gives a delightful smile. She crosses her arms and darts her glimmering pink eyes towards the wanderers.
"W-Who is this?"
Belial jokingly shakes his head and sighs once more. He replies with a relaxing attitude.
"Sally… These two are the otherworldly travelers we heard about from Akwan. It seems that they are the only beings that have such a bright hint on their hair in this world."
He grabs the wanderers' hands and pulls them away from Sally. His glistening emerald eyes peer straight through the starry eyes of the wanderers, then he carefully whispers to them.
"Don't worry, she won't hurt. She is just timid. Nonetheless, she is also mighty and submissive. She came from the icy region of Astait, and we found her crying in a forest a long time ago."
He pats the wanderers' heads and smiles.
"It's good to know that you two were just bruised and not injured. Otherwise, we might not have what it takes to overthrow the throne of our Queen."
He shakes his head and questions both of them.
"Now Wanderers, do you two know how to fight?"
Asahi slowly shakes his head and grabs Aletha's hand.
"No… we don't."
Belial deeply sighs and profusely shakes his head, then replies.
"Okay... that's fine. Just stay put... we have never done this type of stuff against our old leader before. Speaking of, did Narcissa flee? I saw her carriage darting off when Sally came around, ruining everything."
Aletha softly replies with her high feeble voice.
"No…"
Suddenly, the sounds of clinging bells mixed with the blasts of explosions tremble the ground underneath the wanderers, Belial and Sally.
All of the race back to the Fountain and see Akwan summoning four-round golden slime creatures in front of five oppressed guards.
He tamely turns his head to all four of them and cheerfully shouts out.
"I can hold all of them. Just get the wanderers out of here and to our base!"
Belial and the wanderers nod their heads then continue to sprint up the hill and through the dense bushes of the forest.
As they run up the grass hill covered in dust, ash, and debris, Belial shouts out to the blonde-haired boy.
"Akwan, can you destroy these guards ahead of us quickly?!"
He nods and raises his arm into the air. His fingers generate an intense bright luminance, and suddenly, energy bursts upwards to the sky, piercing straight below like if there was golden rain.
Belial knows exactly what Akwan's attack is and how dangerous it can be. He stops the wanderers halfway up the hill.
They see a dozen guards sprint towards them with spears, swords, and fury.
Belial whispers to them as they hear the distant, angry shouts from the guards.
"Wanderers, stand still…"
Suddenly, a bright blue beam of light instantly disintegrates all enemies and creates a shockwave that shrivels a few trees and grass.
The platinum-haired girl enters with her beautiful pink eyes shining out a significant blue barrier surrounding the entire area of The Great Fountain.
Belial pulls them back to the opening of the forest and whispers.
"Okay... you two will be safe. We just have to escape the forest and run far from the capital... okay?"
Asahi and Aletha both reply to the Belial.
"O... Okay..."
Belial grins to them while hearing loud thunderous booms of energy echoing behind them. Asahi and Aletha try in their best effort to sprint through the forest with Belial.
They hop over considerable hurdles of rocks, sunken holes with debris below, and shriveled up trees.
The pace of their breathing grows slim as Belial mutters to both of them quickly.
"You two will be safe... I will explain everything after we get out of here."
As they sprint through trees, logs, and rocks, a tiny green spark shocks both Asahi and Aletha, and Belial's eyes widen.
"No... I really hoped for the side-effect of healing to wear off after we reached the base..."
Asahi and Aletha both close their eyes and tumble to the ground. Dirt scatters over their hair, but the same magical reaction makes it disappear.
Belial shakes his head and grabs both of the wanderers by their arms. He briefly sighs and softly murmurs while they see a small pointy fluffy tip perking up from his hair. Belial presses his palms against his thigh and pulls his hood off, revealing another soft tip at the right side of his head.
"I guess I have to—
Just before Belial finishes his sentence, Asahi and Aletha's vision fade into darkness, and the sight of the forest vanishes, along with the sense of their hearing. Only the faint echoes of unrecognizable whispers of Belial can be heard from the deafening hearing. Some words from him are inaudible, while others are clear.
"It wasn't enough. I guess I have to use the power of my ... to rescue the twins and retreat back to the base far from the city."
Before Belial can reach them while they are still conscious, Aletha and Asahi faint.
His sleeve pops out from his arm, and fur rises up from his skin.
He grabs the twins with both of his hands and inhumanly leaps over a large wall before they fainted.
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