Deicide: To Kill The Gods

Leaving was a somewhat sad sight. Hua and I had been packing our things all morning, though we didn’t have much. Xiao had agreed to accompany us to the edge of the forest (for as the forest Guardian, he couldn’t be away for too long in order to protect it) because Meryll was busy setting up the teleportation gate that would take us close to the edge of the forest, allowing us to reach the city’s edge far faster. We would be travelling at sundown, in order to reach the city by daylight in time to get Hua back to her family and register for the tournament. And for me to… finally return to mine, too.

The day slowly ticked on by. I could tell we were both excited, but also… sad. I had grown used to Meryll’s laughter as well as her treatment of the Guardian, a treatment which would undoubtedly have gotten anyone else killed if they had done the exact same thing. Yet, it made the “all-powerful guardian” seem just a little bit more human, and I swore I had seen a smile flicker to his expressionless face when he had believed nobody was looking. What a tsundere…

Meryll seemed to be somewhat anxious after my talk with her yesterday. I could see her fidgeting constantly, even if it wasn’t as noticeable to the others. She spent a long time lingering in various spots, and ever so often, I could hear her sighing quietly as though she was preparing for something. If she was that worried about us leaving, she could simply accompany us to the city– that was what I believed she was anxious about.

I was wrong.

After we had finished packing and saying our goodbyes, Xiao slowly began to set up the teleportation gate with Meryll’s help. Imbuing soul into small crystals, they floated and assumed a rectangular formation, exuding warmth before they started to hum. The gate was set up, as a yellow energy connected each pink crystal, drawing an iridescent portal, which seemed to switch colours every few seconds.

Reaching a hand out slowly to push through the portal, a rattle echoed throughout the cottage. The crystals sputtered, falling from their positions and clanking to the floor, luckily being left undamaged. The smell of smoke filled the air, my eyes darting up to Xiao and Meryll. A troubled expression lay on Meryll’s face, and on Xiao’s was one of immense fury.

The air slowly began to distort around his body, but with a pat from Meryll, it calmed down almost immediately.

“Take the kids and go. They’re here.”

“Meryll,” I uttered, “Who is it? Who’s here–?”

“Go!” She yelled. It was the first time I’d seen her so serious, so worried, as a dark figure descended through a hole in the ceiling. We were on the lowest floor, in a cavern beneath the earth, so it was a wonder how such a being had gotten there in the first place. Yet, they didn’t seem friendly. As the smoke cleared, I was able to get a better view of their features.

Pale skin, so pale it simply didn’t seem to be human. As though there was no blood flow, no beating heart. His eyes were a stark red, and as his gaze turned towards me, I felt a shiver pass down my entire body. No breaths left my mouth as I silently willed for him to look away, his gaze terrifying me. Isabella hissed at him, and I took a moment to take in his appearance fully.

His ears had pointed tips, like that of an elf, but it was far more unsettling, and his hair hung down to his ears, greyish-white in colour. At his side was a long, black rapier, sheathed in an ornate scabbard. The man wore a noble’s outfit– a suit, long coat, white pants and long, black boots that ended at his mid-thigh.

As he reached the floor, his feet made no noise upon touching the ground. Pulling back his lips into a wide grin, his gaze finally left me, instead, staring at Meryll, hands splaying wide as he bowed. It was merely for the theatrics– I could tell, due to the fact that he contained the power to kill us all– perhaps not Xiao, but the rest of us– within a second.

As he raised, his voice carried around the entire cavern.

“His Highness presents you with an offer. Hand over the Sin, and he will allow your lives to remain intact. If you refuse…”

The man’s smile faded slightly, though he continued to remain playful throughout it all.

“You will not leave here with your lives.”

–

Meryll paused, a smile flickering over her face.

“How about we sit down for a cup of tea and a nice chat about this ‘Sin’---”

His hand hadn’t moved from his side, but a long, thin, twisted thorn of solidified black flames had lodged itself in the wall, which disintegrated in a crater around it. Blood dripped hypnotically in a steady rhythm from Meryll’s ear to the floor, as I watched a cut open on the edge of her ear. The look on the man’s face told me that her face could have very easily been the target, and she could have ended up with the thorn through her brain– it was merely because he looked upon us as not even worth his time that we hadn’t all been killed the moment he’d entered. Lambs to the slaughter– that’s what we were, Unable to fight back, and even if we did, we wouldn’t win anyway.

“I would advise you not to play games with me, Meryll Ambrose. I'm a very sore loser, you know?”

Vines curled down from the hole the man had entered as I glanced back to Hua, who seemed to be focusing her magic intensely upon the man. The vines curled further down, and I immediately knew the strategy. Meryll had intended for us to leave her here, to fight and die against this… thing. However, the both of us were hellbent on fighting to our last breaths. Or at least, stalling it enough for Xiao to reactivate the teleportation gate.

The vines wrapped around his body, but it wasn’t enough to hold him as he simply waved a hand, slicing them to pieces. Nodding to Hua, my foot slammed into the earth, sending a vibration through it. Meryll seemed so… sad. Like she knew what was coming, and had accepted her fate.

I wasn’t one to do so. Even if it killed me, I would challenge my fate until the day I breathed my last. The tremor caused plant roots to rise to the surface, which Hua grew into large thorny vines, sending them after our opponent. He dodged, weaved, and ducked under them easily, before being caught by a soul-infused punch from me.

Or he should have been. The man showcased superhuman speed, beyond that of Xiao. As my hand shot forward, he was already behind me, and before I knew it, I was in the air. His fist slammed into my stomach, sending me flying into the wall– luckily, not into the spike of flames he had launched earlier.

His body descended gracefully to the ground once more, flexing his fingers as his eyes darted towards Hua. Noticeably, he was taking care not to harm her as much as he did me, as though he had been ordered not to.

Pushing myself back into the fray, I saw a wind spell be let loose from Meryll’s hands, flying towards the man’s face as he ducked underneath it, spinning and kicking her in the side of the face as Hua’s vines wrapped around his legs and I set them ablaze. Flames licked the ends of his boots, but he simply turned to the both of us, the black flame lighting in his hands again.

The flames seemed to be the embodiment of pure destruction. As they came into contact with the vines, the vines crumbled to dust. Yet, as the caster, he remained completely unaffected by them. Damnit!

[Crescent Stormblade]

A torrent of crescent-shaped wind blades shot towards the man, but he simply batted them off to one side carelessly as they hit the wall and exploded, causing the cottage to rattle. As he was focused on the blades, I took the opportunity to shoot a few balls of condensed flame at him. Which, due to his overconfidence, exploded in his face.

I could see his eyes narrow, his smile fully fading as I felt a sharp, jagged pain through my core. Looking down, I saw a thorny lance protruding from my stomach, yet no visible damage to the outside of my body. The lance faded, and a moment passed. Then a gut-wrenching, excruciating pain which felt as though my insides were twisting into a knot and then was ripping itself into tiny pieces. A pain I’d felt only once before. A horrified expression covered my face as it dawned upon me–

It was my soul core.

The flames had the uncanny ability to affect my soul, it seemed.

“Got it!” Xiao’s voice filled the clearing. Turning to Meryll, who was engaging in combat with the man, and Hua, who stood beside Xiao, I nodded to both of them.

Meryll merely shook her head, raising an arm, as a vortex collected at her fingertips before condensing into a small ball.

It would take its toll on me, but I had to try. To save her, I was willing to try anything.

[Chronosphere]

All time froze, except for me and her, as we were separated from the flow of time.

—

“It doesn’t have to end this way, Grandma. You can come with us. You promised! You promised you’d see your daughter again!”

My voice went from calm, to trembling, quaking. I couldn’t lose her too. Not her. My mask of indifference that I had kept up since Diana’s death, pretending to laugh, pretending to smile, crumbled. In my heart, I still harboured some resentment for Xiao. I doubted we’d ever fully get along. However, our duties brought us together. The fact we both had to protect Hua brought us together, and in some ways, Diana’s death was salvation for her. Yet that didn’t mean I could get over it.

“Please, Meryll. Please, don’t leave me.”

I sunk down to my knees, the moment of frailty and weakness (thankfully) only for us to see. I sobbed bitterly, not wanting to accept the reality. Because as I peered into Chronosphere, there was only one outcome: Meryll met her end here, allowing us to escape through the teleportation gate.

Her hands wrapped around my body, stroking my hair softly as she sung lullabies into my ear. Though I had grown in strength and maturity, I was still a child at heart. A child who needed her.

“I’m sorry, my child. But I cannot. As you must have seen, this is the only way that ensures your safety.”

“But we can–”

“We can’t. This ‘fate’ is one that cannot be challenged. It is the way things must go, and I have long since resolved myself to that fact.”

My head hung low, my heart shattered. I couldn’t bear it– I had failed to protect someone again. My fists balled, blood drawing from my palms as my fingernails cut deep. My head raised as I let out an anguished, pain-filled cry, that wrenched free from the deepest pits of my stomach and tore from my throat.

“Remember what I said, child. Do not allow my death to take up every waking thought. Live your life and live it fully. Can you promise me that?”

“I…I….” My voice faltered. Could I? Well, I didn’t have a choice.

“Can you promise me?”

“Yes, Grandma.”

She enveloped me in a hug, before slipping her earrings off. They were simple earrings, golden, with stars on the end. Slipping them gently onto my ears, she smiled.

“They look perfect on you. Think of it as a gift from me to you, for fulfilling my wish of being the grandson I was never granted. Not only that, but they will help to ease the pain of the damage to your core enough that you may participate in the Succession Ritual. However, it is not a permanent solution, so I would advise you to get it as fixed as soon as possible.”

She turned, and walked towards the edge of Chronosphere.

“Ah… my only regret would perhaps not being able to tell my beautiful daughter how much I loved her, one last time.”

I smiled halfheartedly.

“I’ll tell her for you, Grandma.”

Chronosphere fell, and the spell collided with the ground. Being blasted backwards, I heard the familiar noise of Isabella’s transformation as she grew in size. Rubble covered my vision, but through the dust, I could see Meryll’s smile.

‘Thank you.’ She mouthed, and that was the last I saw of her as Isabella dove through the enlarged portal, the portal shutting off as she made our way through.

The other side was at the edge of the forest. Isabella dived, clearly catching onto something as I struggled to stay conscious due to my usage of Chronosphere. However, I slowly began to regain my strength as she transferred her soul to mine in order to replenish my strength. It didn’t do much for the fatigue, but it was enough to keep me awake forcibly.

She landed near to Xiao and Hua, who were dishevelled and shivering. Hua gave me a look– perhaps attempting to gain some information. She seemed hopeful, but I merely shook my head.

“She’s gone. She died trying to take that– thing down. Whatever it was. He seemed to be on a time limit, so I doubt he’ll continue pursuing that thing.”

Xiao let out a bitter, angry sigh. The ground trembled beneath his feet as he slammed a hand against a tree nearby, which toppled. I didn’t blame him. The forest was his home, the place he’d sworn to protect. Not only that, but Meryll was his sponsored incarnation, and he was no doubt fond of her.

“We are on the edge of the forest,” He said curtly, “If you follow this path, it should take you no longer than half a day to reach the city.”

Holding out a coin to me, it had engraved an insignia upon it.

“If they ask for identity, use this. If the royal family questions you any further than what you have said, use this. It comes directly from me.”

With that, he stalked off, and I could feel the rage peeling off of him even as he sauntered out of view. I glanced at Hua, and nodded. We both needed rest, so we set up camp on the edge of the road. The night was cold, and my thoughts kept drifting back to Meryll and the promise I’d made.

To live my life– how was I to do that, when memories of her and Diana haunted even my dreams? It wasn’t long before I succumbed to sleep’s sweet embrace, the usage of Chronosphere causing me to do so much more quickly than usual.