The Ancient Revelation: Rewrite

Jett's irises flash purple, as all around him goes black, with a man appearing in front of him.

- "Jett..."

- "My... My lord..!"

Instantly, Jett puts down the glass of wine, falling onto his knees. The man, who appears to be the Dark Wizard himself, becomes clearer, his hair and irises sharing the same purple color.

- "I see that you've been having.. fun."

- "Y-Yes... I apologize, my lord."

- "No, don't be. I saw that you killed my soldiers and turned them into undead warriors."

Jett gulps, fearing what repercussions that could entail.

"I must say.. I'm impressed."

Suddenly, the Dark Wizard slowly claps, his serious expression remaining unchanged.

"Good job, Jett."

- "Thank you.. my lord. Truly."

- "I've also heard that you faced Akio Phoenix, no?"

- "I.. I did, yes."

- "And..?"

- "I spared his life..."

- "..."

"Why? Why would you spare his life, Jett? Tell me."

- "I wanted him to become stronger.. my lord."

- "And why is that? Do you want him to kill you? Perhaps pose a threat to my empire, like his forefathers?"

- "No, heavens, my lord. I only desire to test his power, and it's extent."

The Wizard lowers his head to look at Jett, who continues to lie down.

- "Just this once, I'll allow this insubordination to go unpunished. However, if you have not disposed of him in six months, I will gladly have your life instead. Do you understand?"

With the Wizard's remark, Jett starts sweating profusely.

- "Y-Yes.. my lord! As you wish..!"

- "Good. Make sure he cannot defeat you."

The Dark Wizard slowly disappears into the darkness, as Jett opens his eyes, seeing that he's back in his "throne". In front of him still stands the soldier that he had threatened just seconds ago, now being able to regain his breath.

- "You..."

- "I'm at your service, commander."

- "For the next six months, keep track of Phoenix as much as you can. I want to know about all of his activity. In the meanwhile, gather up those undead weaklings and make sure they live enough to become even stronger."

- "Alright..."

The soldier quickly disappears from Jett's sight, as he starts moving his glass of wine in a circular motion. Meanwhile...

In a land covered by clouds of dark magic, a man stands atop a hill, overlooking a few graves. Upon closer inspection, that man is actually the Dark Wizard himself, his hair having turned from the purple which his irises share to raven black.

- "Akio Phoenix, huh..?"

The Wizard rips off his right sleeve, revealing a burn scar that goes deep into his hand.

"I hope you've nurtured your son well, Atlas."

Quickly, the Wizard continues to raise his head to the sky, as it slightly clears, revealing the beautiful blue that makes it up.

"The savior..."

Holding his head and walking to his left slowly, the Wizard looks on at a stump of wood with an axe on top of it, cutting through and holding in place a tattered shirt.

"The one who's meant to rival me... I hope the wait has been worth it, Theos."

As the Wizard walks away from the stump...

- "Sorry for the wait, Akio."

Aoi exits her home, with Akio sitting outside. After leaving the headquarters, Akio suggested that Aoi change to something more comfortable, considering that they won't be working today. Aoi agreed, changing into a total consisting of black sweatpants and a skirt, with a jacket on top.

As Aoi goes next to Akio, the latter looks inside of the house, at a man staring right back at him. That man is Aoi's father, Yukio.

- "It's alright. See you later, Yukio."

Akio nods at Aoi's father, who slightly smiles, nodding back at him. Closing the door, he looks at a picture with him, a younger Aoi and her mother.

- "I wish you were here to see our daughter's happiness, Umi."

Meanwhile, Akio grabs Aoi's hand, as they leave to start their date.

- "So, Akio.. where are we going?"

- "I don't know!"

Aoi facepalms, chuckling. It's kind of ironic. The strategist of the Shining Generals and the General who heads into battle without thinking anything through are together, but Aoi considers that one of Akio's charms.

Akio actually starts thinking. Since it's about 2 PM now, they should get some food.. and they do. There wasn't any reason not to do so, after all. Afterwards, the two go on a walk around the city, considering Akio doesn't take the time to admire it when he's usually out.

From the corner of his eye.. a certain building grabs Akio's attention.

"Hey, Aoi. Wanna go in there?"

- "I thought you said that you wouldn't train for two weeks..?"

- "Come on..."

Akio points towards a boxing gym.

"Is boxing really considered training? I won't use magic and I won't exhaust myself. It'll just be some friendly sparring with some guys."

- "Really..?"

- "Yes, I promise."

Aoi concedes, prompting Akio to thank her profusely. They enter the gym, and everyone turns to look at them. After all, the whole city recognizes the Shining Generals, preferring not to bother them in their daily lives. However...

- "Hey! Our leader has come to visit!"

Suddenly, everyone in the gym comes to greet.. Akio. This doesn't come as a surprise to the couple, considering that he leads the army, and everyone holds him in great regard. Though, to their actual surprise, there are a few retired members of the force in here.

Akio's happy to see them, and the gym owner asks him if he wants to spar with anyone, free of charge.

- "Hey, that's what I'm here for. I'm not allowed to train for now, but checking your skill is not off limits."

With that, Akio gets in the boxing ring, having been equipped with gloves. One by one, most of the boxers in the gym face him, knowing well that Akio is holding back. Even so, the opportunity to fight the strongest Shining General is not one that everyone can receive.

Akio compliments the boxers' skills and power, but he also points out lacks in their stance. This doesn't really occur with the soldiers that retired from the force, and it shows, since Akio is more excited to fight them more than anything.

In truth, Akio wasn't really allowed to spar with the soldiers when he was younger. Instead, he had friendly relationships with them, whilst Atlas and Asterope trained him and the other five Generals.

After a few hours of fun, Akio and Aoi leave.. after the former conveys his gratitude to the gym owner with money. A fair bit. Akio knew that it was free of charge, but he wants his people to prosper.

And so.. the date continues. The couple now does things that Aoi suggests, since Akio wanted her to be happy too. After all, boxing is not up her alley. As the sky darkens with the sun's setting, Akio and Aoi get ice cream.

Aoi gets strawberry-flavored ice cream, having an.. affinity for strawberries, to say the least. Meanwhile, Akio gets a passion fruit flavor. The two sit on a bench, having fun whil eeating their sweets.

- "So, Akio.. what do you want to do now."

- "The night's young, so we can still do some stuff. Come with me."

- "Alright..."

Akio takes Aoi to the outskirts, where had made the grave prior.

- "This is where I fought the commander. I made a grave here for the soldiers that we had to defeat."

Aoi nods, as she and Akio pray for them again. Afterwards, Akio sighs.

"Aoi.. do you want to go back?"

- "Back.. where?"

- "To that forest."

Aoi agrees. After all, she doesn't know the full extent of Akio's experiences, since Genkei never told her. As the two reach the forest, Akio sighs, seeing the destruction. He knows that he caused most of it.

Suddenly, a tear falls from his right eye. He doesn't realize it, but Aoi does.

- "Akio.. are you crying?"

In truth, Akio was.. sad. Almost depressed, even. Being humiliated by the commander, being brought to the brink of death and that dream...

Akio breaks down in tears fully.

- "I'm sorry, Aoi. It's just... I don't know if I can fulfill my role. I can't take my mind off the fact that I'm weak."

Aoi hugs Akio, grabbing onto his hoodie and reaching up to kiss him.

- "Please, Akio.. don't talk like that. You can do it. You will defeat the Dark Wizard, won't you..?"

As her grab on Akio's hoodie weakens, they look at each other. Slowly, they walk towards a nearby cave, and when they reach it...

Akio starts taking off Aoi's jacket.