Sekai landed somewhere far away from the Moirai Summits. Aiwa was still hanging around by his neck, squeaking as her long body was still adorned by the black piece of fabric that the Padomas boy made for the Dunwaku. The grass was green, he still had his staff and companion, and the talisman, still tucked away on his belt. The air felt warmer and more temperate. "Are we back further south…?" Sekai questions himself. Aiwa squeaked with some form of affirmation, seeming to agree with the statement. The boy looked around, his tail wagged slightly, and his ears twitched. An open field… a forest? Trees lined up everywhere. However, the boy sensed something: ashes. He sniffed it and followed the trail, with the Dunwaku also picking that up. It wrapped itself on Sekai's neck slightly tighter, as a sign of caution.
The scent of ashes led the duo to a burnt settlement. It's familiar… and with his memory, it was Rindsow. "That's right… the settlers retreated to Windstrew," the boy whispered. "But why did miss sent– should I even call her miss?" Sekai grumbled. "If that lady with the mask was right… why should I trust her!" Sekai kicked small debris, getting Aiwa to squeak. The Dunwaku squeaked again, as Sekai began thrashing out of confusion and anger. A figure he looked up to, a monster? The Dunwaku quickly unwrapped itself from the boy's shoulder as Sekai began thrashing his staff and preparing to tear the talisman out of his furious state. Aiwa squeaked louder and louder, causing Sekai to stop his hurl of fury. "I'm sorry, Aiwa." The Padomas boy broke the silence and sat on the rubble of the fountain, grumbling once more. The moonlight embraced the abandoned town and the duo. Sekai sighed, rubbing his face violently and groaning. "Why am I even wearing this cloak?!" He groaned. Aiwa, still standing in front of him, leaned her head to the side out of curiosity. Sekai tried to take it off, but the cold breeze hit him, causing him to quickly put it again. "This is an exemption." He grumbled.
Aiwa squeaked and nodded. The small critter climbed back up, snuggling into his arms, as if telling him to rest now. The night is late, and he's far away from the monstrous Tenebrosia. Sekai grumbled, already missing Amma severely, which caused him to wince. Hungry and sad was truly a concoction of internal disaster for the Padomas boy. There was no food, no carriage, and no place to sleep. His stomach grumbled again. And again. And again. Sekai grabbed his staff. The power of the talisman would keep him alive, fight for food and water. But the talisman itself reminded him of his affiliation with a supposed abominable woman. Aiwa comically grumbled, too, from hunger. Sekai sighed, "Just this one time… I guess." He stood up, hesitantly picking up his staff once more and traversing the outskirts of the destroyed Rindsow for food, scavenging even any remnants of edible plants or otherwise.
—
The boy and the critter searched for food, only acquiring a few safe berries to eat and a root vegetable dug up by Aiwa. Sitting at a nearby lake, Sekai and Aiwa ate their gathered goods. The berries are sweet and sour, and the root vegetable had its dirt removed. The taste reminded the boy of home. But home, where? His destroyed origins in the Green Boscages? Or within the shadow of a monster? None. Amma is still gone. The moon still blesses the lands with its moonlight, but its blessing did not fade the loneliness within the boy's heart. Tears fell his cheeks; the maw of isolation swallowed his heart whole. Shivers and sniffles followed next, and a beating drum of worry pumped his heart.
Aiwa notices this and squeaks. Another squeak, and another. However, the sniffles of the boy muffled his sense of self, rendering her squeaks useless to the pitiful cries of the Padomas boy. Out of sheer desperation, the Dunwaku climbed towards the boy's chest and wiggled, snapping the boy's attention away from his crying. "I'm sorry, Aiwa," said Sekai. "It's hard. I don't believe in what's real… was miss really a monster?" He continued. Aiwa, in all of her adorableness, tilted her head as if she were confused. "Oh, why do I care? You wouldn't understand," he pouted. Aiwa squeaked, as if to protest she does. "You're my only friend now. I'll treasure you and promise you won't get hurt, alright?" Sekai vowed, with a squeak in return from the critter. The Dunwaku followed the boy as he continued on his path once more. Sekai sighed, his heart slowly hardening from the blow it took from such a betrayal.
The boy looked up at the night sky: the stars were bright, and the moon continued to stay idled on its celestial throne. The vision reminded him of something warm and protective. But it all became a blur, as the only home he considered, the only protection: Tenebrosia, was a monster. Or was she? Sekai stomped his foot. "Stupid… stupid…!" He whispered as he continued to grow even madder at the thought. "She was just another fraud like the other people in my life!" Dunwaku continued to follow, without a squeak. He can't go back to the orphanage, where all the other orphans made fun of his lineage. He also can't stay in the wilds for too long. What if bandits showed up yet again, wanting to claim his skin? Sekai made a decision: back at Windstrew, he goes. Enduring the torment with a life is better than torment without a life. The flame of anger, born of doubt and sadness, burned his body as he wandered into the night.
However, danger approaches. Footsteps trampled the path ahead, almost in a frenzied state. Sekai turns around to see a stampede of foot soldiers coming his way. Their armors were golden with gray metallic outlines, and the symbol of Windstrew was stamped proudly on their chest. But their eyes were glowing magenta, their mouths snarling and bubbling, and their weapons drawn. "The hour of doom is upon you, boy! Let me take the pain away from you… by taking your life away!" All the soldiers spoke in unison of a woman's voice: the Masked Signora. "What is life without your precious little home!" The swarm of possessed soldiers screamed. Sekai, in terror, grabbed Aiwa– a squeak from the Dunwaku– and fled to the deep forest, hoping to escape their clutches. "Follow him!"
—
Back at the Moirai Summits.
"Give me back that power if you shall not use it!" Taralon yelled, charging her claws upon Tenebrosia. "Or what?" The Maiden gave a condescending smile. "ARGH! You're testing my fury, you gnat!" Taralon snarled as she lunged again, powering up a blast of magic within her hand. The two continued to fall in a long loop; the mountainous bodies of the Moirai Summits seemed never-ending. Dark magic boomed the winter skies; hailstorms swallowed the two, yet they continued to battle in elegant genocide. "You're wasting my time," Taralon coldly stated, before covering herself in a magical coating, blasting Tenebrosia. The Maiden covered herself with her weapon, blocking the attack but blasting her upwards at the Summits. Taralon followed soon.
The legion of angels and demons was gone, yet the Antediluvians and Titans remained. Tenebrosia crashed onto the broken temple: heels clicking, rubble everywhere, and she was on one knee. The Masked Signora herself stood a few meters away from her. Taralon's face changed once more; she aged rapidly. "Damned be the gods. You've crippled me once more," she uttered in disgust. "Old folks stay old, unless you can't accept you're sagging now." Tenebrosia snarled back. "You amuse me," Taralon exchanged, before closing her eyes. A mystical aggressive aura wrapped the broken temple as mana disrupted everywhere. "The boy is in danger. I know you will never hand the Unlightened Seer's essence to me, that is why I'll play your long, amusing game, Tenebrosia." The Antediluvians and the two Titans snarled and shrieked in pain as their eyes glowed purple. Taralon raised her hands; her robe flaying wildly in the chaos. Her mouth chattered indescribable words to the human tongue, but words understood by the Maiden of Darkness.
The giants themselves all rushed into one floating and glowing sphere of light that appeared at the center of the skies behind. The magenta orb of magic origins began to absorb both the Antediluvians and the Titans as the violent globe continued to aggressively grow until it was almost as big as the Summits themselves. The sphere of light exploded and strong winds were created by the force of the blast, causing Tenebrosia to cross her arms in a defensive position to halt herself from being flayed by the wrathful winds. There it was, a serpent of abomination that appeared behind them: an amalgamation of the giants themselves. Its body was enough to wrap the Summits themselves in one go. Taralon had a maniacal look and she visibly aged more: her hair white and her skin sagged further. "Behold, my sweet! Behold, a god! The one who shall do as what the heart of the Hydra did!" Her arms spread to the heavens and her robes began to dance in a fury. "Another load of work for me? Charming, but it's getting tiring," Tenebrosia said with a calm demeanor, yet her heart pounded.
"Shut your mouth, you bitch." Taralon snarled back; her wrinkly hands pointed at Tenebrosia. "I know you are afraid. I know you… you're not one to hide when anything you care about is in peril," she continued. "I predict without you always babying that beastly child, he'd be dead by sunrise. Time is ticking," she laughed. "Either hand the essence now… or I will hunt your little precious Sekai down." Tenebrosia's eyes widened and a short grunt escaped her lips. "You have only a few minutes to make a decision… if not–" Taralon suddenly used her last bits of her mana to showcase a fragment of memory that projected itself in front of Tenebrosia. The perspective of a dozen crazed and possessed soldiers relentlessly chasing Sekai and Aiwa through a thick forest, before the memory itself faded away. The Maiden had her teeth exposed out of sheer anger, but fear only resided at her chest. "I can feel you're afraid, my little sorceress. Now, why don't you be a gentle lady and hand what your elders want?" The sarcasm in Taralon's voice was snarking that fueled the fury within Tenebrosia's heart.
Tenebrosia did not give a second to react before shifting into an owl, flying away downwards south. "Ah, how predictable." Taralon spoke, as the serpent gave a bellowing screech that could be heard from miles. "Let her go, my sweet. It is time. I'll find another way to get through her stubborn skull."
—
"Oh, c'mon!" Sekai yelped as he and Aiwa ran to the trees to escape the crazed mob that relentlessly chased them. Into the clearing the duo they go, they were cornered by some of the knights. The Padomas boy gasped before quickly evading them. However, another group trapped them, and another, then another. With no choice, Sekai begrudgingly held onto his talisman. "Oh, Great Goddess… protect me and cover me with your blessings." There is no more a boy of pacifism or goodness; it's either he dies or he survives trying. His staff glowed with magic, and the knights soon approached with rampage.
"First lesson: agility and be quick on your feet." Tenebrosia's voice echoed through his memories. 'Not now!' Sekai internally said. As a possessed knight approached and drew his bayonet, Sekai dodged before hitting the man with his magically infused staff, sending the knight hurling.
"Remember to dodge, make use of our first training for this second one." The voice of the Maiden echoed again, causing Sekai to groan. From behind him, a knight appeared that swung his sword, which the Padomas boy evaded from. Aiwa suddenly got off and sank its paws upon its eyes, stumbling him. As the man was stunned, this caused Sekai to have the chance to hit him with his staff, having the man thrown. Aiwa immediately jumped to the boy's shoulders after the strike.
"Extra lesson: don't trust strangers," Tenebrosia's voice grew stronger, causing Sekai to let out a roar as he struck his staff to the ground. This caused a gargantuan ripple to the earth, sending all the knights hurling, turning into mists of blood in all directions.
Was she right all along? Is Sekai wrong for abandoning his trust on the Maiden?
Sekai looked at his hands. What is he now? The child of beastly mortals who used to love nature and her gifts? Or is he now a murderous boy in the name of survival as an excuse? The trails he faced so far altered his perception of life. What if he had never met Tenebrosia? Would he have been dead when he wasn't saved by bandits? The torment within his mind played into his reality once more. Aiwa notices this, and squeaks: there were footsteps behind. More soldiers. Sekai immediately snapped from his daze and grabbed the Dunwaku before the violent stampede of bloodthirsty men approached them.
—
The scorching winds and freezing temperatures of the clouds was something Tenebrosia already accounted for, yet her heart pounded indescribable drums of uncertain fear. With fury, Tenebrosia screeched in this form, conjuring a power to cover her avian body which caused her to boom through the heavens in hypersonic speeds. 'Damn! The hag is getting through my skin,' Tenebrosia internally spoke to herself.
Rumblings behind her were heard, and from beneath the clouds, the gargantuan show of the amalgamation-serpent is seen below her through the clouds. Tenebrosia, in all her power, forced herself to exude far more power than usual. The magic was exhausting, however, she kept pushing and screeched further, amplifying her speed in ways thunder can't match.'To hell with me! The boy!' Tenebrosia began flying far faster than the shadow behind her.
What seems like an eternity, the Maiden reached the southern parts of Galamona and she descended like a comet. The strain of the magic was too much, taking a toll on her body. From the skies, Tenebrosia quickly turned from owl to human. The Maiden crashed onto a gravel path, leaving a crater at her wake. The woman grunted and sighed as steam exuded from her body, yet her clothes were mostly unstained. "I better hire a laundry maid… these clothes are too good to be dirtied up," Tenebrosia spoke as she dusted herself off. Even in the midst of her quest to save the boy, something was growling behind her. The Maiden of Darkness turned around slowly with an expression of disgust. "What now?"
From behind her was a pack of horses mutated into forms unknown to their kind. Their faces had mouths where they shouldn't be, eyes in the wrong places, their hooves sprouted tentacles made of nerves, and they dripped of black. Above them were men, or what used to be, as they are used to the back of the horses where they once sat. Their bodies rotted, and their bones were already showing. "Even the tumors reached here? Damn it," Tenebrosia sighed. "I have no time for this," she spoke. The abominations in front of her did not listen and all of them released a gasping roar, as if even releasing sound was difficult for their bodies. Tenebrosia summoned her Chateau Scapegrace before infusing it with magic. "Disgusting filth," she said in disgust as she charged at them.
—
Sekai was getting out of breath, yet he continued to run through the thick greens of the forest as the knights continued on their pursuit. "Oh, great goddess Utna-Vi!" The boy squeaked as Aiwa wrapped herself on Sekai's neck. The Padomas continued to sprint through the forest, squeezing in places to make it harder for the knights to track him down. However, Sekai tripped onto the exposed root of a tree after his panic state left him unable to analyze the ground. The boy grunted and Aiwa was flung a couple feet away. The knights have found him, "Get the child!" They all gargled. Sekai picked his staff up and was terrified of himself and those around him. The boy grabbed Aiwa as he continued to sprint through the forests. He was getting tired and predicted he wouldn't sustain his escape for another long period of time.
The boy was already running out of breath and Aiwa was pushing him on to survive. However, it was too late. Some of the possessed men appeared right in front of Sekai and holding their rifles, bayonets, spears, and swords upon him. Sekai had nowhere to go, and neither did Aiwa. "Wrap me in your blessings, oh, goddess of the earth!" He shakily said as he prayed. "There is no god to hear you, little gnat!" One of the knights laughed. "No god to meet you in the afterlife, only but silent darkness!" He grunted before lifting his rifle. As the mad man tried to fire a shot, flames erupted from the darkness, burning a couple of the possessed knights into a rampant state. "Get yer filthy hands of the little rascal, you mad yolks!"
An older Paragos holding a modified flamethrower appeared from the forest. He had a scar on his right eye and was wearing light armor. His beard is gray and he looks rugged. "Well, don't just sit yer ass there and give an oul fella a hand!" Sekai looked stunned, before bobbing his head. "Oi! Hurry!" The Paragos yelped more. The Padomas boy begrudgingly held his staff and quivered at the thought of hurting another. A knight appeared behind the bearded Paragos and Sekai quickly reacted, hitting the armored soldier and hurling him into a mist of blood. After a fierce battle, the knights came back for more as they regenerated with the magical properties they had in their bodies. "Gobshite men! Fall back!" The Paragos yelled as he and Sekai, with Aiwa on the Padomas boy's shoulder, ran deeper into the dark woods.
At a clearing, a steam-powered carriage was at standby. "Get to the carriage!" The Paragos yelled at Sekai as he let the latter enter the open carriage first. With the boy and his critter safe, the gray Paragos took a jar containing a volatile chemical mix from his small belt bag as the mutated knights approached. "To hell with ye, ye disgusting banjaxed lickarses!" The Paragos threw the jar at the trees before setting it ablaze with his weapons. The volatile concoction created a blast powerful enough to even crack the ground as flames began to erupt quickly, swallowing the entire linings of trees whole before setting the other linings on fire. The knights were burned in a blaze of glory as the Paragos quickly entered the carriage and locked it behind, before hitting the engines on power to traverse the path ahead.
Inside was a meticulous workshop. The carriage itself was much more spacious than ordinary ones, with weapons on the walls and a crafting bench on the side. A small kitchen tidy, yet the workshop itself on the back of the carriage wasn't. The metallic clinking was accompanied with the rapid rumblings of the wheels and the chugging of the carriage's steam-powered mechanics. "Excuse me, sir… but may I ask who you are?" Sekai asked in an almost gasping voice from the exhaustion. "Aye, the name's Khanih. What's yers?" "Sekai," the boy responded. "And this here critter's Aiwa." The Dunwaku squeaked.
"A Dunwaku? In these parts?" Khanih expresses confusion while he powers the steam, looking at the slim window in front of him to navigate his path without hitting anything. "The craiters only appear in the cold north. Did ye go there?" "No, sir… I was with someone…" Sekai responded. Khanih then noticed the visible talisman attached to Sekai's belt and it had the emblem of the Maidens of Darkness. The Paragos rotated his head slightly in curiosity while Sekai and Aiwa looked at the hanging weapons nearby. "Were ye with a Maiden?" Khanih said. "Huh? Wh– oh," Sekai touched his talisman. "Yes, sir… I was with a Maiden." Silence filled the carriage, and only the rustic ambience of the carriage's rumbles and the metal clanking was heard.
"Do you find them dangerous?" Sekai asked out of the blue without adding anything up. Another moment of silence. "Most folks would say yes, but I have grown too old for that. Ye see, I am a friend of one! She is something, I tell ye." Khanih replied, continuing to drive the engine. "Really?" Sekai replied. "Yes, lad." The Paragos replied. "What did yer friend Maiden do when she was with ye?" The Padomas boy looked for an answer, but finding one is hard after everything he's been through. After another moment of saying nothing, Sekai finally said something. "I've… I've trained to be like one when she saved me from a pack of bandits and now… she saved me from danger." Khanih only chuckled. "See? Maidens aren't always gobshite, lad." "Right." Sekai replied as the carriage strived forward.
"May I ask, sir… what do you do?" Sekai asked as he sat on a chair. "Lad, ain't it obvious? I'm a weaponsmith of Windstrew!" He laughed jovially as he powered the engines. "I'm a master of steel, lad!" Windstrew, that word caused Sekai to jump. "Windstrew! Mister Khanih, I need to get to Windstrew, can you perhaps drop me there?" A moment of silence. "Ah, about that," Khanih spoke with a gravelly tone that contrasted with his earlier manner of speech. "Windstrew's in total chaos; total rotten. The streets are manky with abominations left and right. If ye don't want a death wish, I suggest you won't go there." Abominations? Sekai thought. Has the infection reached the capital of Galamona?
"But mister, where should I go? I'm an orphan!" Sekai sighed and Aiwa squeaked. "I'm moving to the desert city of Alkosehm in the nation of Naiarit. Aye, it's the only place this oul fella can rest. If ye wanna go with me, then I would be happy to assist ye." He continued. However, before the carriage can further continue, a gargantuan shadow the size of what could be hills rushes past in front of them. An amalgamation of a serpent rushed from the east to the west, heading in the direction of Windstrew. "What in the shitehawk is that langer?!" Khanih yelped as he immediately stopped the carriage, causing Sekai to stumble and Aiwa to cuddle tighter onto the boy's neck. "What happened?" Sekai asked as he fought for balance using his stick as everything shook from the sheer size of the creature. Sekai looked at the window and saw the giant that began to slither its way past them. Silence befell the two as they finally saw the entire gargantuan city of Windstrew surrounded by angels and demons.
—
At the other side of Galamona was Tenebrosia, with mists of blood beneath her. From her left hand holds a brain which contains a tumor. "That's the last of them… finding their 'spots' is way harder when they regenerate." The Maiden set it ablaze with her magic and threw it out before sprinting into the night. However, before she could continue, a few grunts of heavens blocked her alongside other demons. "Move out of my way, fools!" She roared before charging through them with her fist alone. From Tenebrosia's back sprouted magical dragonfly wings and she began to fly to charge forward and find Sekai.
As the Maiden ascended further, so did her will to find her student increased. The darkness of the night is about to end, and the skies are beginning to further light up. "Shit," she muttered. "Where is he?" She asked herself. Yet, Tenebrosia encountered Windstrew once more. The city was in ruins and the gargantuan city itself was overrun by angels, demons, and even people fighting each other. From the distance, she also saw mutated citizens. "It reached here, too?" Tenebrosia groaned in disgust. "More work, I say."
The Maiden of Darkness scoured the skies, and she couldn't find Sekai anywhere. As Tenebrosia looked to the east, the body of the serpent itself was visible. "You can't be serious," she hissed. It was headed directly to Windstrew: its head alone was enough to rival the size of the giant walls of the city itself, and it began to slither its way towards it. As dawn came, something was off. It was an eclipse and the skies turned bloody.
Only time will surely tell what is about to unfold in the next seconds of this climactic requiem.