“Aliya!” Zephyr yelled, panicked at the unknown fate of his sister. He quickly got to his feet and started running back into the smoke and steam, dodging the fast emerging Celestial that charged straight for Kindle. Everyone was able to recover and move out of the way before one of the two dark claws swiped down at them. Erik quickly followed after Zephyr, his eyes fixed on the Celestial with his sword at the ready.
Zephyr dropped to his knees when he found Aliya on the ground unconscious. Her clothing was shredded and her skin was burned. His clawed hand just grazed the right side of her body, deepest on her arm. Zephyr was cursing his inability to learn Healing Magic Artes as he carefully pulled her into his arms.
Even though the Celestial was aiming for Kindle, everyone was so close and the sheer size of the Celestial filled half of the room. His stature wasn’t the only thing intimidating about him, his massive and long serpentine body had skin like cracked obsidian, in between the cracks a glow from magma shifting underneath. Four dark horns curved back and up from his long, narrow skull.
“Why the hell are you after me?!” Kindle raised her voice as the Celestial swiped at her again. The Celestial paused and tilted his head realizing she was not his target.
“I can smell Alcor! Where is he?” The Celestial raised his head, glancing at Terbius, Breyze and Pree that were near.
“Who the hell is Alcor?” Kindle narrowed her eyes confused at his demeanor, She never heard of Alcor before and she didn’t understand why she was the first he’d go after.
“He must be here! Don’t lie! He’s the only one who can open this door!” He lowered his head near her and the glow of magma under his skin brightened. “You had the most Fire Mana I assumed it was you!” His head whips around towards Erik, drawn to the mass of mana emanating from the Fire Rune in his sword. “There is more! Suppress all you like! You can’t hide from me!” He charged towards Erik who was standing between the Celestial and Zephyr and Aliya.
“Zephyr! Move!” Erik yelled as he held the broad side of his blade up and braced for the impact from the Celestial’s claw. Zephyr quickly carried Aliya out of the charge line. The Celestial’s claw clashed with Erik's sword. His body screamed as the impact reverberated through his body. Erik drops to one knee under the strength bearing down on him.
“No… You are human…” The Celestial eased up slightly and leaned down to better observe Erik. “You have a strong fire but it’s not your own.” He released Erik from his pin and started glancing around again. “Alcor! Stop hiding and face me! I know you aren’t fool enough to let me out and then leave!”
“Hate to break it to you, buddy,” Erik’s arms fell to his side, barely able to keep a hold on his sword due to the pain coursing through his body, if the bones in his arm weren’t broken they were definitely fractured. His voice strained as he tried to hide the pain he was in, “The one who opened the door is neither a Fire Spirit or a guy. The fair Water Spirit you burned on your way out, she is the one who set you free.”
“How can that be?” His head tilted in the direction of Aliya and Zephyr.
“Don’t you dare touch her again!” Zephyr glared viciously at the Celestial as he turned to block Aliya protectively. “Or I will kill you if it’s the last thing I do!”
“There is no one named Alcor here!” Kindle reaffirmed, “We don’t know anyone by that name!”
“Seems this one is a fool!” The Celestial closed his eyes, disappointed in himself for letting rage get the better of him. The air in the room began to cool as smoke emitted from the Celesital’s body. His form began to change, he shrunk into a smaller more humanoid form. A pained look on his face as he dropped to his knees. “I let my ire for my betrayer blind me. I dared to attack those who set me free!” He shook his head, tossing his long dark hair enough to see the red streaks underneath. “I wasn’t aware there was a being alive that could out match Alcor’s binding magic artes…”
Everyone was dazed and confused at how quickly his rage turned to remorse and regret. All the fight he had before was clearly gone as he looked towards Zephyr and Aliya with sorrow. No one knew what to do next.
“While this cannot make up for my transgression, please, accept this as an apology,” He lowered his head and closed his eyes. A large glyph filled the room and a pleasant warmth permeated their bodies. Erik realized his pain was gone and Zephyr watched as all the cuts and burns on Aliya’s skin began to quickly disappear.
“Aliya? Are you alright?” Zephyr sighed in relief as her eyes began to flutter open.
“Yeah, I feel fine,” Aliya looked down, a bit disappointed in the fact her clothes were shredded. “My clothes not so much…” She glared at Zephyr realizing he was still carrying her, “You can put me down now.”
“But what if I don’t want to?” Zephyr mumbled with a playful pout. “I almost lost my baby sister!” As he tightened his grip on her she annoyedly raised up her hand and chopped him in the middle of his forehead. “Okay! Okay!” He set her down with a faint smile of relief, glad she was still the same as ever.
Aliya eyed the Celestial rather impassively. His freckled skin was a darker tan than Zephyr’s. His horns, albeit smaller than his true form, still manifested amidst his dark hair. He wore incredibly long, layered kimono robes incredibly loose on his form. The inner one was red while the outer one was black with a flamed tribal pattern embroidered in gold on it. Around his shoulders was a hooded cloak a warm black trimmed with golden markings similar to his robes on the outside while the inside looked very similar to magma.
“I do hope you’ll forgive me. If you don’t, I understand,” The Celestial was looking in Aliya’s direction with sadness in his amber eyes as he bowed. Aliya looked among those around her. They all looked at her with uncertainty at the situation.
“I won’t blame you for your confusion,” She returned her gaze to the Celestial seeking her forgiveness, though she didn’t really hold any ill will towards him. “You have been trapped under a powerful Binding Arte for thousands of years judging by the age of these ruins. If you had emerged with a clear mind I would have been far more surprised.” Aliya saw a wave of relief wash over him. “My name is Aliya, might I ask yours?”
“I am Sigmis,” he stood tall and placed a hand on his chest. “I was once The Fire Celestial, though I assume that has long since changed. I can sense many powerful Celestials in this age.” He looked directly at Aliya, “One is bound to you, is it not, Kinbound?”
“I am bound to The Water Celestial, Lady Azurius,” Aliya nodded, a bit surprised he could tell just from looking at her.
“I know not of her,” A wistful expression fell across his face. “If as much time has passed as you say, it is no surprise new Celestials have arisen. There is one with the Fire Celestial title, correct?”
“Yes, we are in an age where all four elemental Celestial titles are claimed and awake.” Aliya explained.
“It seems I will have to rethink my title as a Celestial and my place in the current age,” Sigmis tilted his head trying to wrap his head around his situation.
“Why were you sealed away?” Zephyr asked, a bit leery of Sigmis still.
“I suspect Alcor thought to take my place. He always sought power,” A bitter expression filled his features as he spoke. “He was so young at the time I don’t think he knew that simply defeating a Celestial does not make you one.”
“You mentioned he betrayed you,” Kindle noted with an air of concern.
“He was once a Kinbound of mine,” Sigmis explained with a heavy tone. “He was important to a human I cared deeply for and her dying wish was that I look after him. He and I grew close, he was always wild and impulsive but he meant well. His betrayal hurt more than anything, I never saw it coming.” Sigmis closed his eyes and clenched his fists. “If he is still alive then I shall kill him myself.”
“Chances are rather slim,” Zephyr sighed thinking about how bad recent Ages have been for Spirits. “Many Spirits perished in the Age of Stars and during the Age of Bloom.”
“The Age of Darkness was a hard time for our kind as well,” Sigmis lowered his head and his rage subsided once again.
“Perhaps Lord Igneous or the other Celestials would know this Alcor,” Kindle looked towards Aliya. “It wouldn’t hurt to get some information from The Fire Legion anyways.”
“You’re not wrong,” Aliya placed her hand on her chin considering it. “Since Nessarose Shrine is the closest to Mombi Shrine, Lord Igneous and The Fire Legion would know best what to expect from Turfuris. Given the Imperial Knights are on our case I wouldn’t be surprised if the port is on high alert for us. We could ask The Fire Legion to help us secure a route to Cibnask Kingdom if there aren’t Druids there assisting them that we could pass our message along to.”
“Wait! Hold on!” Zephyr finally clicked what Aliya was up to, “Are you trying to intervene in the war? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I haven’t had the chance yet! I got busy trying to clean up your mistake!” Aliya crossed her arms and glared at him. “I’m going to go try and talk some sense into the grumpy old Earth Celestial and if he doesn’t listen to reason that’s why I have a back up plan of gathering enough people to help me beat the sense into him. You in or what?”
“You know I’ll always help you out,” Zephyr crossed his arms and sighed. She sounded pretty set on setting things right herself, he knew once she was in that mindset he wouldn’t be able to convince her otherwise so he figured he’d at least be there to protect her.
“Wait, you guys aren’t really going to fight someone like him are you?” Erik pointed at Sigmis. He watched Aliya get dropped in a matter of seconds and he knew he didn’t stand a chance against a second attack. The rest of the time everyone else was on the defensive. He saw little to no chance of them surviving. “Are you insane?”
“I never told you the full details because I didn’t imagine you’d stick around anyway,” Aliya coldly glared over at him. “Honestly, I don't know why you are still here. I would have expected you to try and escape by now if you liked that gun so much.”
“I always honor my wagers,” Erik drew the gun and flipped it around so he was holding the barrel. He held it towards Aliya. “Here, you decide what to do with it.”
“I’ll hold onto it for now.” Aliya sighed as she took it from him and held onto it rather than giving it to Zephyr like everyone else thought she would. “I will decide what to do with it later.”
“This, Igneous, is The Fire Celestial of this age, correct?” Sigmis inquired. “I would much like to meet the Celestial that now holds my former title.”
“Yes, he is, and I’m sure we can arrange that,” Aliya turned back to him with an apologetic smile. “I apologize you must be a bit at a loss to what’s currently happening.”
“It is to be expected, but you needn’t worry.” Sigmis shook his head and closed his eyes. “Perhaps one of you would be willing to elaborate just a touch on what has happened throughout history while I was imprisoned.”
“Yes, perhaps we can while we rest up a bit,” Aliya clapped her hands together with a warm smile. “We can potentially head out tomorrow morning if the rest of you don’t mind. Reporting the Devitalization weapons to The Order is top priority, it’ll be dangerous should things take a turn for the worse in this war.”
“I agree,” Kindle stated with Terbius nodding behind her.
“Devitalization?!” Zephyr looked as though he’d seen a ghost.
“Yes, Lost Continent technology is currently being weaponized by the Empire,” Aliya explained briefly. She was worried upon seeing Zephyr’s reaction.
“Aliya, are you missing time?” Zephyr’s expression was dead serious.
“Relax, I used up too much mana in the fight,” Aliya stated. “So when we escaped, things got a little fuzzy. Can’t say I’m really missing time again.”
Zephyr grew silent, placing a hand over his mouth, trying to calm his racing mind enough to think clearly. Regardless if it was the curse placed on her or not, that dangerous technology couldn’t be ignored. “You’re right, we do need to report this to The Order immediately.”
“We are going to have to pass through a few towns on the way there, you know,” Erik crossed his arms. “I don't think we'll go unnoticed by the knights with a Celestial in our party.”
“What do you mean we?” Aliya glared at Erik with disdain. “Do you really plan on sticking around that much longer?”
“I don't know,” Erik shrugged and smirked. “You guys seem to be a rather interesting bunch. Would it really hurt to have a human around that knows how to lay low in all three countries?”
“Pretty sure it would if it's you,” Aliya scowled at him.
“He does have a point though,” Zephyr shrugged. “He’s pretty good at running and hiding. He’s been dodging me for about a year now.”
“To be honest, if you plan on fighting a Celestial, he could be beneficial to you,” Sigmis had realized that Erik was no ordinary human. Erik took his attack surprisingly well when he thought back to it. He could also tell from the mana in him that he was much stronger than most. “Kinbound do function at their best when-,” Aliya cut him off.
“I will never tether with a human again!” Aliya’s voice was filled with so much hatred, her expression was filled with so much pain. Everyone but Zephyr was a bit taken aback by her tone. Erik especially so. He wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. He looked at Zephyr who simply shook his head. Aliya took a deep breath, not meaning to react as harshly as she did. “I'm well aware of the disadvantages and I'm prepared to make due.”
“Forgive me I didn't mean to upset you,” Sigmis bowed his head slightly.
“It’s not your fault,” Aliya shook her head.
“Look, let's just take it easy for now alright?” Zephyr tried to lighten the mood. “We can worry about the little details tomorrow!”
“Yeah,” Aliya nodded and put on a smile. “Let’s head upstairs.”
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