Chapter 11: Rebuilding, Reinventing, Remembering
34;12 Eternal bonds will be forever be bound by their strong loving hearts
The bright daylight breaks upon the manor, the morning dew shines off the various flowers of the manor gardens, “Again! Again, again, again!”, Rayen shouts out with excitement as she throws Blue to the ground with a soft spatial burst.
He slowly hobbles back up as he brushes off the dust from his clothes, “Can we please give this a rest? We’ve been at this same thing for weeks now”, Blue says to her while trying to catch his breath. She charges another more powerful spatial burst aimed at his face, but her hand gets pulled away before it can be used, “Okay Rayen, maybe we should take a more gentle approach. He’s not as durable as you”, Neon says while holding Rayen’s hand down.
“No, no, I’m good. I can’t be weak”, Blue says as his eyes begin to glow a bright Red. The ground around him frosts over and spreads with every step, but he quickly passes out from the sudden surge of power.
The blades of grass around him are frozen stiff almost as if it's made of glass, “Ruby, bring him to his room and keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn’t do any sudden training. A child awakening their complex this early is a very dangerous thing”, Neon says to Ruby as she walks over the frozen glass as it crunches under her feet.
A deep, thick fog covers the dark castle as a gentle rain falls from the overcast above. Rubble falls from the countless cracks of the dark castle’s walls as the rain trickles it’s way through the cracks, nothing's left untouched from Negative’s powerful spatial burst of the weeks prior. Nexie is shuffling through the chunks of debris, while Sky sits off to the side on a ruined set of stairs.
“What a troublesome girl, and to think we just got this lovely castle. Now it’s all in ruin”, Nexie says to Sky in frustration while picking her way through the rubble. “Well I’ve been able to easily track her down long ago, do you need me to hunt her down? I would love to get back at her, all this dust is horrible for my complexion”, Sky asks Nexie while staring off into the castle with a weary, bored face.
“Don’t even bother with it Sky, she’s more trouble than she’s worth. If she wants to fend for herself then so be it, it won’t get in the way of our plans anyways”, Nexie says while heading towards the castle’s entryway, “I’m sure we’ll get another chance to see her again anyways”, Nexie continues while looking through the bleak fog covering the castle.
Trees fall one by one in a distant forest, Negative emgurges from the flurry of falling leaves with her sword drawn in her hand, “So I’m actually back, I can’t believe it actually worked. It’s a miracle that Rayen actually pulled through for me”, Negative says to herself as she walks back into the abandoned town.
She sits on the steps next to the town hall and pulls out Argon’s severed hand from her cloak, “let’s give this a try”, she hesitatingly says as she places the sigel from it’s palm onto her own. She puts all her focus into reading the sigel’s power, and at first she feels nothing but is soon overwhelmed by an immense dark energy.
Her hand feels as if it;s on fire as steam rises from the joined hands, she separates the hands to reveal the sigel has swapped onto her hand, “Damn that hurt like a bitch, the spirit of the wind, and Nexie made sure to make that one a real pain”, Negative says in aggravation as she throws the severed hand across the town. Massive power surges through Negative’s body from the sigel as a powerful purple aura flows around her body.
“This power? Is this all just from the sigel? Nexie really does some impressive things up her sleeve”, Negative says while she feels the erratic energy flow through her body. She tightens her fists together to gain a realization of her new found strength, *clap clap clap*, “Congrats Negative, the child of eternal turmoil finally got her way. I knew it would be someone like you to cause an imbalance in the natural order”, the girl in green says with a sinister smirk.
The aura around Negative builds as the girl in green draws nearer, “Get away from me Rodoxa, I’ll never have anything to do with you ever again”, She quietly says as a flurry of wind sweeps around the buildings, rattling the shutters and twirling around the two as they stand off. Rodoxa playfully strolls around to the side of Negative, “aren’t you just so precious, I’ve known you ever since you were a little girl and still just as confused as ever”, she says to Negative as she whispers into her ear.
Negative quickly whips her arm up, the force of the swing causes a gale of wind to whips up beside Rodoxa as she effortlessly dodges her. The world almost feels as if it slows down to a crawl as the two lock eyes with each other, Negative throws another fast swing but is cut off with a swift, devastating jab from Rodoxa causing Negative to hunch over from the force of the blow, “Good job, just keep sinking into that feeling you have”, Rodoxa says with a cocky smile.
Negative yanks her head back up and takes another swing to clash with Rodoxa, but all her fist swings through is empty air. The whirlwind of emotions flow around her very much like the gale flowing around her, “I need more, I can’t falter to their whims anymore”, Negative aggravatingly says to herself as her fingers dig into the soil below.
Blue can feel the gentle warmth of a hand on his forehead as he opens his eyes to gaze upon the beautiful rays of light through his bedroom window, "Hey, it's about time you got up, I was starting to think you might never get up", Ruby says with a gentle smile to Blue.
His eyes shift over to the other side of the bed to meet with Ruby's, "It's amazing that you already showed your complex at such a young age, but maybe we should take it a little slower", Ruby says as Blue hops out of his bed. He flexes his hands out in front of himself before he bolts out of the room and down the hallway, "These kids are just something else these days, and that kid especially has some of the best drive I've seen in a long time", Ruby says as she follows Blue out of the manor.
The budding of young flower buds are populating the many beds around Rayen and Neon, “You have truly impressive powers Rayen, I was able to see it from your memories. Although your issue is in controlling those explosive powers”, Neon says as she guides them both to take a seat in the middle of the garden.
Rayen hesitates at first and just stares at Neon, “But I can control it...”, she says in a perplexed manner while outstretching her arm out to the side and releases a large spatial burst that devastates half of the garden, leaving nothing but a trail of ripped up soil in its place. Neon buries her head deep within her palm in frustration, “That’s not what I mean! Ugh, just sit down across from me and close your eyes”, Neon shouts out to Rayen.
She quickly takes her seat on the gentle grass and slowly shuts her eyes, “Are you able to feel the power flowing through your body Rayen?”, Neon calmly asks Rayen, “hmm yeah” Rayen replies back.
“Now take slow deep breaths, and try to visualize that power within you and bring it out.”, Neon says while making a rushing red aura around her body, “I’ve been training my whole life to focus my energy, and I can hardly keep if focused while staying still so don’t get annoyed if it takes you a long time to get a hang of it”, Neon says while she opens her eyes to watch Rayen in a deep trancelike state.
The ground begins to rumble as Rayen’s eyebrows scrunch up as her head leans down to the ground, and within just a few seconds her aura shoots out around her with bright pink streaks of light that raise high into the sky. Neon’s eyes quickly open with a surprised shock while she jumps to her feet, Rayen quickly follows suit and readys a fighting stance. She jumps forward to be instantly blocked by a Xenon who appears in a flash of light between the two.
Xenon grabs Rayen’s hand and twists it until she falters under the pressure, “Don’t have her be reckless with her powers or we will be compromised”, Xenon says with a stern tone as she breaks Rayen’s aura. She breaks out of Xenon’s grip and steps back from her, “oh come on I was just trying to have fun”, Rayen says in a pout as she walks over to the flower garden.
Xenon shifts her focus back onto Neon who’s still shocked by the whole interaction, “Just what the hell was that?! Xenon are you going to explain any of that?” Neon asks Xenon in frustration as she paces around the grass, “As you know this girl isn’t of this time, but she also isn’t of this world and is actively being hunted down by others of her kind.
You can train her but also make sure to suppress her energy until she can defend herself. Those who seek to hunt her down are too powerful, even for me”, Xenon says to Neon before vanishing in a flash, “Wait! Damn it, she’s always so quick to move onto the next thing to do”, Neon says to herself as she gazes at Xenon’s castle in the distance.
Inside the dark castle’s throne chamber Rodoxa is laying on top of the towering rubble piled throughout the room, “That little Negative is really the troublemaker as of late, I can’t believe she was actually able to touch you, I swear it made my day”, Rodoxa say to Nexie while trying to hold back a laugh.
“Alright alright, get the hell down from there before this place is destroyed even more", Nexie says as she looks up to Rodoxa, "ummm, no I don't think I will, it's just too comfy up here. You look so cute and small down there", Rodoxa says with a giggle as she plays with a ball of plasma in her hands. She drops her plasma ball onto the ground and at the moment it impacts with the floor it explodes leaving another crater in the ground,
“Okay get down now!”, Nexie angrily says as she charges up a spatial burst and instantly destroys the rubble that Rodoxa is laying on, although she seems to be completely unaffected as she slowly floats down from the raining rubble. Rodoxa simply looks at the sparkle of her painted nails making no mind to Nexie.
Nexie charges up another spatial burst and sets her aim right for Rodoxa, and as soon as she releases the burst Rodoxa seems to teleport behind her, “Please don’t start acting so cocky now Nexie, just remember who’s above you”, Rodoxa says with an ominous tone before unleashing a mysterious and powerful beam on her. The beam’s dark glow is covered with a cascade of sparkles as the beam fills the room with a purple haze.
The blowback from the beam is so strong that she’s flung right through a wall in the castle, her body is covered in exotic multi-colored burns as she struggles to get back to her feet, “Keep this image burned into her head Nexie, or perhaps I should make a permanent reminder” Rodoxa says as she charges up another one of her bizarre beams. The space around the two of them get covered in a thick purple musk as Rodoxa infuses the beam with more power, “Rodoxa, knock it off right now!”, Sky shouts out to Rodoxa from across the courtyard.
Nexie looks up to Rodoxa as her body shakes in pain, Rodoxa condolences the orb back down into nothing and kicks Nexie over into the dirt, “Fine, just know your place Nexie”, Rodoxa says as she slowly walks back into the castle.
Xenon returns to her room in the castle with a flash of light. The bright sunlight from the outside peers through the massive windows on the back wall of her room, and with a heavenly light Iris drops down from the ceiling above and begins to circle around Xenon, “Do you really think that girl is the one? It was really no problem for me to subdue her”, Xenon says with perplexed confusion.
“Not only do I think she is the one, I know that she is the one. Give her just a few years and she will act like a completely different person”, Iris says with a soft echoing voice. Suddenly Xenon stops in her tracks and stares at Iris as she floats around, “But how can you be so sure though?”, Xenon quickly asks while she keeps her ground.
Iris begins to spin in place as Xenon walks closer, “Don’t worry I have my ways, you shouldn’t put no such worry into any of those means”, Iris says to Xenon before her orb speeds away. “Hold on, but what do you mean by that", Xenon yells out to Iris before following Iris through the hallway. She rushes through the halls to keep up as she peers onto Iris as her curiosity grows.
"So where did you come from, I've never seen a friendly god before. The only one I know is cold and unforgiving", Xenon mutters as her head hangs down with a sorrowful tilt. "You don't have to worry so much, I came here to protect you from anything that would harm this town. You will have my everlasting word on that promise", Iris says as she hovers in front of Xenon while casting a golden glow onto her face.
The sun sets in a far away small town, the many small local shops are dealing with their evening rush before everyone settles in for the night. The shine of the sunset shimmers off the large lake nearby, the figures of two young girls can be seen at the water’s edge. The girls gaze upon the shimmering calm water who’s shores seem to reach endlessly out into the world, one of the girls looks over to the other.
“Hey Crystal, what do you think is out there? Like for real. I’ve heard these super cool stories about these really powerful warriors out there. I hope that one day I could become like them”, the girl says to Crystal with excited glee. Crystal keeps her focus on the calm shimmers of the lake.
“Oh come on Holly, do you still believe those silly stories? I swear you’ve never grown up past 10 years old haha”, Crystal says as she looks over to Holly with a wide grin. Holly jumps to her feet and frames her hands to the ever falling sunset.
“Don’t be like that Crystal, I’m sure you must feel like this from time to time too. You know what, I want you to come with me when we’re all grown up, to travel the world together. Who knows what kind of cool things we could find out there, with you by my side I feel like we could be damn near unstoppable”, Holly says with a tear streaming down her face as a sudden sense of melancholy runs through her body.
Crystal’s face grows with concern as she notices Holly’s sudden emotional turn, “Are-are you okay Holly? This feels kind of sudden from you. Are you sure you’re alright?”, Crystal asks as she gets up onto her feet. Holly lowers her hands back down as she looks over to Crystal, she begins to blush as she fidgets with her fingers.
“It’s just, I’ve always felt like an odd one out. Too weird for the rest of us, but then you started to talk to me one day and you were so much nicer to me than anyone else I’ve ever met. I know it’s weird that it took me so long to say anything until now but I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being the best friend I could ever have, I hope that our friendship can go on forever and ever”, Holly says as she rushes over to give Crystal a big hug as tears continue to stream down her face.
Crystal is initially overwhelmed with a sudden shock but quickly joins in on Holly’s hug before the two let go, “It’s okay Holly, you don’t have to feel weird or different no matter what anyone says to you. I’ll always male sure to stick with you forever, I’ll make a promise to that”, Crystal says as she stick her pinky out to Holly, the two lock their pinky fingers together ensuring the everlasting bond to be set between them, “We should really start getting back, our parents will really start to get worried sick for us”, Crystal says as the sun starts to completely dip below the horizon.
“I’ll race you back to your place! The last one there has to do all the other’s chores!”, Crystal shouts before dashing off towards the town, “Hey no fair you got a head start!”, Holly says as she chases after Crystal.
Later on in that night Negative is training even harder around the abandoned town, the endless chimes and clanks on the nearby trees echo deeply into the night. Flashes of the past begin to haunt her mind as she strikes harder into her surroundings, the flashes take the form of a large towering figure with haunting golden eyes.
"Never again, never again will I let you turn me into a vehicle to justify your own ends. I'm no longer bound by your own whims", Negative says to herself as she continues her training, "Just who do you think you’re talking to?", a mysterious voice calls out as it echoes in Negative's head. She instantly freezes in her steps with a sudden shock flowing through her body, “What? Who are you?!”, Negative nervously asks the mysterious voice as she looks around to find no one anywhere in sight. “Wouldn’t you like to know, how about you take a look at yourself”, the voice says back to her.
Her nerves continue to spike as she begins to break down into a frenzy of hysterics, “I’m not here to play games, SHOW YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!!”, Negative yells as her eyes scan her surroundings, “You’re so foolish, just look at the sigel on your hand and enquire on it for the slightest moment”, the voice says as Negative’s eyes shutter in horror.
She grabs her own hand as she splays her fingers apart, to stare at the sigel on the palm, “Try as hard as you will but you can never get rid of this curse within you, and soon enough you will be a pawn against my will, Negative”, The curse speaks in an ominous tone as Negative stands motionless in the middle of the forest. Tears run from her face as she realizes her future is left to a desolate waste of containment under a cursed soul.