The Last Saga 2 (part 3 of 3)

a Original Fiction fanfiction by Kaiser

**********

PART THREE

**********

By the time Helene realized that she was beginning to awaken, it was 
already too late to know the fate of Wishram. Was he okay? And more 
importantly... what was going on here? The young woman sighed heavily 
and held a hand to her head. Whatever magic had been used on her by 
Angel Knight Vohraphamon, it was quite potent. It had put her to sleep 
instantly, nullifying Helene's natural magical resistance to such 
spells. It even left her with one throbbing headache. The girl groaned a 
couple times before allowed her eyes to open and her bodies to rise up 
from the stone floor. Or that which felt to be stone. Helene then eased 
onto her knees. And slowly but surely, she managed to bring herself to 
stand up again. 

When she did, Helene began to take note of her surroundings. She was in 
a very large stone room. It was shaped in a circular hexagon format. All 
along those walls were abstract carvings that looked to be thousands of 
years old. They were clearly ancient. These carvings were of 
anthropomorphic creatures of all kinds of shapes and sizes. There were 
also written passages around those walls and up on the ceiling. And they 
all happened to be written in Et Ohm. The prehistoric language in which 
Opus Edda had been written. She looked around and took note of what 
these passages said from her intermediate understanding of the old 
language. The comments were not cheerful. The writing of Et Ohm in here 
possessed none of the beauty of that which had been written in Opus 
Edda. These passages spoke of a great catastrophe and misery. And of 
hatred. But it was not just the writings on the wall that intimidated 
Helene. The longer she stayed here the more she could feel the malice 
that oozed from every brick of stone that had been used to build it. 
This place was full of long dead spirits. Lost souls. Trapped souls. In 
her heart... Helene could feel the deep-seated hatred and menacing evil 
that those spirits wielded. It was terrifying. 

Helene actually felt frightened from just standing in this place. And 
now the idea of escaping while she was alone made more sense. But just 
as she thought of the fact that she was alone, a bright flash overtook 
the room. Illuminating it for a brief second. Then the light died away. 
Leaving behind the man who had kidnapped Helene. Angel Knight 
Vohraphamon. 

"W-why have you b-brought m-me here?!" Helene questioned, "W-what is the 
m-meaning of this...?!"

The Angel Knight looked on. "...You are trembling. I suppose you must be 
feeling the ancient evil that infests this place. The building you are 
presently in is known as Fretta El La'Bael An archaic home for the Rah. 
A people that the teachings of Avernae are very explicit about. You 
should know that better than anyone, my dear."

Helene blinked. "The Rah... were the enemies of the Gods..."

"Enemies of the Gods?" Vohraphamon chuckled with amusement, "Heh, heh, 
heh. So said by the girl who would have become the next Cardinal of 
Avernae. There is still much you do not understand. But it matters not. 
This place, Fretta El La'Bael, is located just three miles from Castel. 
But it cannot be found by the insignificant. It is visible only to those 
who have roles in the fate of the world. That makes you FAR from 
insignificant, does it not?"

"...Why did you bring me here...?" She asked. 

Vohraphamon crossed his arms. "Because you are the key to my Master's 
new world. You are the Oracle of Heaven. You bring to the world the 
Voice of the Gods because of this status. But you have come to the last 
stage in your destiny. The final act has begun for you."

Helene was visibly frightened. "...Are you going to... kill me...?"

"Heh, heh, heh..." Vohraphamon chuckled again, "As much as I resent 
admitting the idea, I do not have that power. Only one person on the 
face of the Earth has the power to kill you. And you are the only one 
who can kill her. The Scion of Earth... better known to you as... Rune 
of Eltah..."

Then Helene's head jerked. Rune? "...W-what does... she have to do with 
this?"

"That is for you to find out. Right now... it is time to awaken your 
inner self. And I believe you have made this a lot easier to carry out."

Vohraphamon waved his hand again like before. Inducing new magics. When 
he did this, a sort of mirror-like sheet of silvery energy appeared 
before the far wall. Helene found herself compelled to look into it. The 
effect that Vohraphamon had planned. The blonde watched the magical 
mirror. Soon images began appearing in it. The voices behind those 
images echoed loudly in that large hall of Fretta El La'Bael. Helene's 
face fell with heartbroken eyes when she saw it. She could see Rune. And 
another woman, redheaded, along with Rune. The two were making love to 
each other in a double bed which looked to be in a Castel Inn. Their 
moans of passion and ecstasy filled this hall just as loudly as if their 
actions were taking place there. 

Vohraphamon stood astride Helene as she looked on at Rune and this other 
girl in bed together. "...Not exactly what you would have imagined, eh? 
The girl is not exactly chaste. Not in the least. Imagine that. She 
charmed you in the moonlight with her smiles and her coy demeanour... 
but in truth it was all a lie. She manipulated you... and your 
feelings... your loneliness. You dreamt of her and burned to meet with 
her. How does she repay that? By  feasting upon the flesh of another. 
Rune has betrayed you..."

Helene still could not take her eyes off the magical mirror picture. 
"...N-no... I... she..."

"What?" Prodded Vohraphamon, "...You must feel rather pathetic right 
now. While you languish over something you so clearly deserve... that 
little redhead is reaching into places you should be touching. How does 
that make you feel? They will laugh at you... at how ridiculous you 
are... to install your faith and emotion in such a selfish woman... Rune 
has forsaken you... just as you have forsaken your own judgement in 
believing in her. Does that not make you angry? Does that not make you 
wish to see her suffer? Do you not wish that Rune's treachery be paid 
back with the ultimate consequence? Do you not wish to see her damned 
forever in the firestorm of hell?"

Helene tried to ignore what Vohraphamon was saying to her. She tried to 
block it out. To say to herself that this was all some kind of trick. 
But his words, magnified by the evils of their surroundings, had a 
strong impact on her. All she could think of now... was this feeling of 
jealousy. As she stared at Rune and the other girl, fornicating, the 
idea of this jealousy grew into a sense of betrayal. And from that 
betrayal came an anger. An outrageous anger that seeped into her being 
with amazing speed. A fact that Vohraphamon was taking note of. It 
caused Helene's whole disposition to change. And the evil voices of the 
dead spirits that inhabited Fretta El La'Bael soon joined in on her 
mind-washing.

"Do you see her for what she is?" One hissed. 

"Scum!" Spoke another. 

"Back street trash! Peasant!"

"She is a filthy sinner! Feeding off another's flesh like a newborn..."

"...Such hedonistic actions must be punished..."

"She is worthy of death and death alone..."

"That filthy mortal must roil in the flames... burn her... with 
purifying light!"

 "Yes, burn her! Burn her with purifying light!"

"Burn her in your purifying light!"

"Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! BURN HER!"

The words of Vohraphamon and the taunts of the spirits made their mark 
upon the Oracle of Heaven. Her expression changed from one of shock into 
one of anger. Of disgust. Of hatred. Hatred of that girl... Rune of 
Eltah... The Scion of Earth. Helene's fists clutched into balls while 
her braided hair began to rise into the air. Along with her clothes. 
Waves of dust from the floors of the hall encircled her ankles. The 
deeply hidden powers of the Oracle of Heaven finally began to unlock 
themselves from their prison inside the lonely heart of Helene Ferey. 

Helene's eyes turned blood red whilst watching Rune and that girl in 
their sexual advances towards each other. Her expression darkened 
menacingly and a golden light surrounded her now tense body. "That... 
filthy... little... whore..."

Vohraphamon chuckled once more at this development. One of them was now 
ready for the Contest. Now it was time to prepare the Scion of Earth 
herself. But before he left, he had a gift for the Oracle of Heaven. 
Vohraphamon opened his hand pressed his other hand against it. A glow 
beamed from the conjoined hands. Then he pulled his hand upwards. When 
he did this, a shining short staff made of silver and forged with a ruby 
crest, appeared. Vohraphamon clasped its shaft and admired its sheen for 
a few seconds. This was the Granish Rod. A weapon  that could heighten 
the magical strength of the user. He then threw it at the feet of the 
girl. Though she did not notice it then. The Angel Knight stepped back 
from the enraged Oracle of Heaven. And he vanished in that instant, 
making use of his teleportation magical skill. 

**********

The quiet stillness of the Azure Drop was misleading. The kidnapping of 
Helene Ferey had more on it that this quiet lakeside area could say. But 
at the edge of the inner city lake, a hand covered in white armour, 
reached out from the drink and latched onto the stone of the archways 
that supported the upper pavement. A second hand reached out of the 
waters and did the same with another loose stone. And the Angel Knight 
that had been thrown into the water climbed right back out again. 
Wishram coughed and spluttered behind his visor, as he inched his way up 
the wall to the top of the wharf. His normally polished white armour was 
covered in seaweed and traces of sludge. Obviously dragged into the lake 
from the pipeline that diverted water here from a nearby river. But with 
all his superhuman strength he soon got to the top of the pavement. 
Wishram threw himself over the railing and onto the ground.

The tales of the invincibility of the Angel Knights were all true. When 
they went up against normal people. When Angel Knights fought against 
other Angel Knights, suddenly they became a bit more aware of their own 
mortality. Wishram could see that for himself now. But his eyes 
concentrated on one thing. Helene. He had to find her. Because she 
wasn't here now. Neither was Vohraphamon. They had both disappeared. And 
Wishram had failed in his one duty. His one remaining promise to 
Berthelsen Schaefer. To protect his true daughter. The irate warrior 
growled furiously and thrust his fist down into the paved ground. Smooth 
rock shattered in that instant. Smashed apart. Leaving behind a deep 
imprint of his spiked gauntlet and the cracks in the ground that darted 
out from it. He was angry with himself for being defeated so 
effortlessly. But thinking about that simply drew attention to the one 
who had delivered that shameful defeat.

Vohraphamon. 

Wishram growled and spoke aloud. "It cannot be him! It cannot be! I saw 
Vohraphamon die nine years ago before the murder of Cardinal Berthelsen 
himself... how is it possible that he could have survived...?!"

Memories of that very same day returned to Wishram. To the turbulent 
last few days of Berthelsen Schaefer's position as Cardinal. The last 
few days of his life. "...I remember... on that day... nine years 
ago..."

~~~~~~~~~~

Lemarchand, 26th of August, AC 784.  

A gentle rain came down upon the grasslands outside of Valencia. The day 
had gone by swiftly. From hearing of the problem to the mobilization of 
the Angel Knights. A nearby village had reported in the morning, to the 
Holy Basilica, that there was a monster attacking people in and out of 
the precinct of the village. Once news of this reached Cardinal 
Berthelsen he made a point of rectifying the problem with immediate 
action. He was a gentle man. But had the courage and skill to call on 
any force necessary to defend the peace and his people. A small team of 
seven soldiers from the Lemarchand Standing Army, the Force of Onreld, 
had been sent out to counter this threat to the village. They were elite 
ranked soldiers from a division of the F. O. O. called the Warriors of 
the Pentagram. A secretly trained squad with a minimum of 300 able 
bodied men and women in its ranks. But the small sample of fighters from 
the Warriors of the Pentagram did not come alone. Accompanying them were 
two Angel Knights. One was Angel Knight Wishram. The other was the 
highly respected and devastatingly powerful Angel Knight Vohraphamon. 
And he was the unchallenged leader of the Angel Knights. 

Vohraphamon, Wishram, and the seven Warriors of the Pentagram, marched 
through the grasslands of outer Valencia. Towards the terrorized village 
(which happened to be called Rune Village). While the seven others 
walked behind the two Angel Knights, Vohraphamon and Wishram spoke to 
each other, the droplets of rain pattering down on their smooth white 
armour. 

"So," Wishram began, "What class of monster is this?"

Vohraphamon shook his helmet-covered head. "We have no idea. Based upon 
its description from some of the surviving victims, it would appear to 
be around Class C. Hence the need to send us Angel Knights into the 
fold."

"...But why you?" Asked Wishram, "You are the leader of our sect. I 
would have thought that you of all people would not bother with 
relatively small issues such as these."

The older Vohraphamon chuckled. "Well, there are reasons. Rune Village 
has special value to Archbishop Richard. He was born there, after all. 
And he loved it so much that he named his daughter after it. I think he 
might have swayed the Cardinal into allowing us to destroy this monster. 
But that is not all. In truth... I asked to be included in this mission. 
The sheer levels of administration involved in being leader of the Angel 
Knights is more than I would have expected, initially. Pardon my saying 
so... but... sometimes I prefer to be out fighting and honing my skills. 
Rather than simply wasting away behind a desk and mountains of paper."

Wishram smiled behind his helmet's visor. That was the kind of man 
Vohraphamon was. He liked to know that he was doing his job. But could 
never turn his back on the part of him that wanted to be out there; 
defending Avernae and its Cardinal from the dangers of the world. Ever 
the brave romantic, Angel Knight Vohraphamon had risen up in ranks from 
a low-tier Angel Knight to the leader of the entire faction. All thanks 
to his courageous valour and his incredible, almost preposterous, 
strength. The group made their way across the grassland to Rune Village. 
But rather than directly enter the village, they went slightly north of 
it. That was where the monster had last been sighted. In an old church 
called Freixenet Cathedral. It was an abandoned building, less than a 
fifth of a mile from Rune Village. The old priests had left the place 
derelict when monsters had attacked it, fifteen years ago. Angel Knights 
had crushed the beasts when told of this, back then. And now it seemed 
that the same breed of creature was back, taking up residence inside 
Freixenet Cathedral.  

Vohraphamon, Wishram and the others stopped when they finally got to the 
Cathedral. It really was derelict. The wood and iron doors were battered 
and broken, hanging off the hinges. The stained-glass windows were 
shattered, the glass lingering around the grassy up growth surrounding 
the Cathedral walls. Vohraphamon inspected the place at the head of the 
party, stepping forwards, with his lengthy blade Stratum El Dalvacour at 
his side. It was one of the sacred treasures of the Angel Knight order, 
given to only the strongest of the strong. And Vohraphamon was by far 
the strongest Angel Knight in the 1200-year history of the group. 

"Follow me, men." He commanded. 

Wishram and the Warriors of the Pentagram followed behind the leader as 
he walked to the Freixenet Cathedral's smashed doors. He ripped one of 
them off, with one hand only, and threw it to the ground. He stepped 
inside from there. To see the ruined innards of the building itself. 
Wishram and the others join him in seeing it. The pew was cracked in so 
many places. The benches were all ripped from the ground. The statues 
and scriptures were broken and torn. Across the floors and walls were 
clusters of a yellowish-brownish matter. Which Vohraphamon knew to be 
the hardened droppings of the monster inhabiting this place. Over in a 
pile by the main altar were a pile of bones. Arms, legs, pelvises, 
fingers, skulls, ribcages, etc. The victims of the creature. Their bones 
had all been stacked up in one place. So the thing had to be fairly 
intelligent. 

"Spread out." Ordered Vohraphamon. 

The other soldiers all readied their weapons and did as they were told. 
The seven of them took position and waited for the following commands. 
Or for the appearance of the monster. Things got silent from then on. 
The only sounds nearby being a soldier stepping on glass or a drip of 
water in the back. Wishram pulled up his own weapon, the great spear 
Janus, while his eyes stalked from one side to the other in search of 
this being that had done so much in the way of damage to Freixenet 
Cathedral. The silence was broken when one of the younger soldiers 
screamed in agony. The others turned to the left to see that particular 
soldier. With a grotesque and scaly arm sticking oddly out of his 
ribcage. Blood gushed rapidly from both the soldier's chest wound and 
his mouth. While the monster remained in the shadows of a supporting 
pillar. The creature ripped out its long arm from the dead soldier, and 
his torso toppled in an awkward heap. The two Angel Knights and the six 
remaining Warriors of the Pentagram scrambled around the corpse and the 
shadowed monster. 

"It's here!" Growled Wishram.

Vohraphamon gripped Stratum El Dalvacour tighter. "Now men! Attack!"

The soldiers all screamed passionate battle cries and charged at the 
being in the shadows in unison. Once the men all made their way for it, 
the monster stepped out of those shadows. It was of a humanoid 
persuasion. Its disproportionately long arms flailed about its body. One 
of the soldiers tried to slice at it with his bayonet-musket. The 
monster's talons sliced through his skull with one swipe. In a jet of 
blood his body fell back down to the ground. While the thing took out 
more of them. Its claws slashed apart any of the soldiers who dared to 
attack it. It jumped up and landed on one of them. It grabbed the young 
man's arm, knocking his sword from his hand. Then reached down and 
gnawed at the flesh of his neck and shoulders. The soldier shrieked in 
agony as the monster gnashed and feasted upon his neck, and then gargled 
a dying breath once the foul teeth of the beast ripped open his 
windpipe. The other four soldiers were ripped apart shortly afterwards. 
A new stink of blood joined the foul stink of the monster's faeces. 
Leaving behind only Wishram and Vohraphamon. 

Vohraphamon spoke as the monster leered at them. "...I know this type of 
monster. They appear a lot in the north of Lemarchand. Up there we call 
them Verdelho. And the Verdelho would normally be ranked as Class D 
monsters. But since this one is clearly adult... he is far more powerful 
than usual. Be your guard."

"Yes!" Wishram nodded, then released Janus to one hand. With the other 
hand, he pointed at the Adult Verdelho. He spread his metal palm open 
and gathered magical energy to his hand. This took on the form of a 
golden lightning. Which circled around his arm and hand until it was 
ready. With a grunt, Wishram fired the Thunder Beam magical skill at the 
Verdelho. The monster shrieked bestially when it was struck by the 
attack. Lightning energy rammed in to the chest of the Verdelho and 
burned against its oily, scaly plates of flesh. The golden light from 
the Thunder Beam partially illuminated Freixenet Cathedral. But when the 
attack ended, the Verdelho was still standing. Small traces of smoke 
rose up from a black spot on its chest... but that was it. Wishram was 
startled. But Vohraphamon was not.

"As I suspected," Vohraphamon spoke solemnly, "This Verdelho is more 
than simply Class D or Class C. It is probably closer to Class A. And 
now I see why the villagers of Rune were so shaken by the appearance of 
it. I'll have to handle this."

Wishram nodded and stepped back. Vohraphamon faced the leering Verdelho, 
its teeth and talons stained with the blood of its newest victims. The 
Angel Knight's leader heaved that long sword called Stratum El Dalvacour 
into the air. Holding it poised beside his head with both hands. He 
stopped there and focused his energy. While Angel Knight Wishram just 
watched along in awe of his commander. Power started to appear at the 
blade. Covering the whole of that glossy, extended metal length. It 
glowed with a bright forest green. And this was the time at which 
Wishram remembered Vohraphamon's special skill. The art of Magi-Fusion. 
The ability to use magical energy in conjunction with weaponry. Once he 
was ready for it, Vohraphamon growled venomously and swung the now 
burning Stratum El Dalvacour around in a horizontal arc motion. The 
energy from the slash extended across the air and burned at its 
particles, heading for the Verdelho. The beast screeched the second that 
the flaming sword wave hacked/burned against its armour-like plates of 
skin. The creature was then ripped apart in glorious masses of green 
blood and sallow intestines, guts and bile. The flaming energy of the 
blade faded with the success of the attack (The Messiah Slash). 

Wishram looked on with astounded surprise while Angel Knight Vohraphamon 
lowered his Stratum El Dalvacour from attacking position. Tales had been 
told of his strength, but no one could ever understand just HOW powerful 
he was until they saw him in action. This man had not been in an active 
battle for months. And yet his skills were still sharp enough to 
slaughter a Class A monster. It was incredible. But the two of them were 
soon to find that they had more issues to deal with. Just as they were 
about to leave, the sound of a Verdelho's screech cut the air. But there 
were more than one of them. Suddenly more of them burst from out of the 
floorboards of the pew. From behind the pillars. Or from down the 
rafters. Around ten Verdelho jumped out from secretive positions. 
Surrounding the two Angel Knights. 

"Curse it all!" Wishram seethed, "It's a nest!"

Vohraphamon grunted in agreement. "...It seems the Verdelho we just 
killed was a Mother. Now its had offspring... I was hoping that we could 
kill that one and be done with it. But it seems that will not be the 
case. So you are going to have to flee."

"What?"

"I said you must escape," Repeated Vohraphamon, "You have seen that you 
cannot handle creatures of this calibre. You need more training for 
that. I will deal with this while you make your escape."

Wishram blinked. "...I-I cannot abandon you, Commander!"

"That was an order, Wishram, not a suggestion. Now go!"

The second he said that, Vohraphamon vaulted ahead with Stratum El 
Dalvacour at the ready and sliced at one of them. Some of the Verdelho 
gathered up around him. And Vohraphamon swung his blade around to defend 
himself against them. Wishram did not want to leave. He wanted to stay 
and fight alongside his leader. But he also could not refuse his 
commander's orders. Wishram took one last look at his master battling 
off the Verdelho. Then dashed for the door. One of them tried to get in 
his way. To block him. Wishram swerved around the monster and threw 
himself through the broken doors of Freixenet Cathedral. Back out into 
the drizzle and grass. The shrieks of the Verdelho were so loud that he 
could hear them from the outside just as well. And through the door he 
watched the fight take place. Vohraphamon continued to fight off the 
creatures, and had taken down at least three of them. But while he was 
occupied with one of them, a second jumped up behind him. The hidden 
Verdelho thrust his hand and arm straight down into Vohraphamon's back. 
He could not have defended himself against it. The thick, meaty hand 
smashed through the plates of his white armour. It's talon burst through 
the front of his ribcage. Blood soon gushed from the holes of the visor 
of his helmet. Vohraphamon's actions slowed to a stop. With one last 
action he pulled up his free hand and gathered power towards it. This 
magical energy transformed itself into a wide ball of flame. That grew 
in short bursts each second. The Verdelho stepped away from it. It 
appeared that they were sensitive to fire. Vohraphamon choked up more 
blood but had enough time left to throw the flaming orb upwards. The 
flaring ball rose up into the air. When it reached its peak it divided 
itself into seven smaller balls of flame that split off from each other 
and zoomed towards each of the Verdelho. More of their shrieks could be 
heard while each of them were gunned down by Vohraphamon's Feuerkrieg 
magic attack. They were all killed. But Vohraphamon was mortally 
wounded. The shocked Wishram ran back into Freixenet Cathedral to 
inspect the condition of his leader. But by that time it was too late.

Vohraphamon was dead.

When he took in both the sight and the horrifying realization of what it 
meant, Angel Knight Wishram lowered his head in sadness. There were no 
words he could say that would do the situation justice. It was the 
passing of... a truly great warrior. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Wishram's thoughts began to return to the present. After the death of 
Vohraphamon, the spear-wielder had him buried in secret in beneath an 
abbey in Valencia. He knew that if people discovered his death, it would 
dishearten the whole order. So Wishram told everyone that he had gotten 
split up from the main forces during the battle at Freixenet Cathedral 
and that nobody had seen him since. Thankfully, before anyone else could 
ask any questions, the focus turned from Vohraphamon to other issues 
shortly afterwards. It was only a few days later that Cardinal 
Berthelsen was murdered. It was then that Wishram was fully charged with 
the protection of Helene Ferey. From that point, Wishram closed his 
heart off to almost everyone. There was a woman who he managed to love. 
But she passed on. Reminding the Angel Knight of all he had lost. 

And now... he had lost Helene. 

If anything, he thought of her as a friend. Not just as his charge. Now 
that Vohraphamon, or someone claiming to be him, had kidnapped Helene, 
Wishram was in a bad position. He had to figure out a way of getting her 
back. No matter what the cost.

**********

"I can't believe you felt this way for so long and you didn't tell me."

Rune and Satsuma giggled childishly as they stole kisses from each other 
while trying to get dressed. Neither girl had been expect what just 
happened to happen. But it felt right. Especially to Satsuma. She had 
known for quite sometime that she had feelings for Rune. More or less 
since they first met. Anytime she saw Rune swimming or eating or 
laughing or dancing or yelling or running or drinking; Satsuma was made 
so very aware of her feelings. Of how much she valued the other girl. 
Observing the cute traits about Rune that made her so special. Far more 
so than anyone else Satsuma had ever met, on Frayne Island or elsewhere. 
It was the major reason she allowed herself to journey with Rune. 
Although Satsuma wanted to  leave Frayne Island long since her parents 
died, she could not imagine going anywhere without her Rune. 

Rune herself was just as surprised. She had always thought of Satsuma as 
a friend. And she had always known that, on some level, she was 
physically attracted to the Master Thief. But not once did Rune dare 
think that she could overstep that line. Whether she wanted to or not. 
However... when Satsuma kissed her... it brought up all these deep 
hidden emotions that Rune barely knew she had. And she could not help 
but reply to those affections with an equal passion. Conversely, Rune 
still wasn't sure just WHAT her feelings for Satsuma meant. She cared 
for Satsuma deeply. Rune loved her. But as a friend. The physical 
attraction was there and it was quite strong; but Rune couldn't 
knowingly mistake it for THAT kind of love. The dark-haired swordswoman 
didn't think her feelings had grown to be that strong yet. But right now 
though... those little details weren't important. They were just 
comfortable and happy with each other. 

Satsuma looked over at Rune with lusty, deviously crafty eyes. "Look 
who's talking? I would have said something sooner if I knew you could 
have liked me back. Anyways, back then, I didn't have too many friends 
on Frayne Island. The moment I told people that Avernae was a load of 
crap, I kinda got cold-shouldered by just about everybody. But then you 
came. You were this gorgeous, smart, compassionate foreign hottie and I 
wanted... needed... to be around you. Then we became friends and by that 
time... I was so glad to have you in my life that I couldn't bring 
myself to risk it. I wasn't strong enough. I guess when I saw you with 
that Helene girl, something snapped inside me. I didn't think I was the 
jealous type, but go figure."

"You could have told me," Rune answered, "I would have understood. And 
for that thing with Helene... you don't have to worry. I like her. I 
like her a lot. But not nearly as much as I like you, Setsu."

The redhead giggled with glee at that. Then pilfered another quick kiss 
from her lover. When she pulled back she reattached Quiri and its sheath 
to her belt. Rune then noticed the knife. And she asked Satsuma a 
question she had been wondering about since the day Rune had found 
Rustam in the old church on Frayne Island. "Setsu, can I ask you 
something?"

"Yup?"

"Why do you carry that knife around?" The black-haired woman said, "I've 
been meaning to ask you since I first saw it on Frayne Island but there 
was never really a good time for it."

Satsuma smiled to Rune then pulled the short knife from out of its 
little pocket sheath. It still possessed a bright sheen even though 
Satsuma had used it to pick locks damn near thousands of times. "This 
little thing? I call it Quiri. My Dad gave it to me before he died. When 
he was alive, he was a blacksmith. Trust me, you wouldn't have believed 
the strength of the weapons he could make. Swords, knives, daggers, 
spears, axes, maces, flails, pikes, bayonets, shields, armour. 
Everything. Anyways, one day he told me that I'd have to grow up to be a 
good girl. And that the first step of that was learning to defend 
myself. So he gave me Quiri and taught me how to fight with it. My Mom 
had said that I should just let me future husband take care of me, but I 
think my Dad knew that I wasn't into guys. So it means a lot to me. 
Whenever I hold it... I feel like I can see my parents again. Pretty 
dumb, right?"

"Of course not," Rune said seriously, "It's sweet. It's 'cause of things 
like that, that I like you so much, Setsu."

The girl with the ring-hairdo blushed. "Thanks. But we can't stay up 
here all night. We better drag that Baliero upstairs before he gets 
drunk again."

Rune laughed at that while she got up. Satsuma strode towards the door, 
opened it, then headed downstairs for Baliero. Before Rune left she 
stopped and fished something out of her pocket. She took it up to her 
face and observed. It was the handkerchief that Rune had sown for 
Satsuma on the day Reen Village was set alight. She still had yet to 
give this to her. Then Rune figured that she should make a grand show of 
it. Maybe tomorrow, before she met up with Helene, she and Satsuma could 
go out to dinner. Then Rune could give it to her there. The daughter of 
Richard smirked with that brand new plan and stuffed the handkerchief 
into her pocket. She would have gone downstairs with Satsuma, but she 
froze when she heard the loud sound of a familiar voice that echoed 
around damn near half of the ENTIRE district.

"RUNE OF ELTAH! I KNOW YOU ARE IN THAT BUILDING! COME OUT HERE NOW! YOU 
CAME TO THIS CITY OF CASTEL FOR ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS, DID YOU NOT?! 
YOU CAME HERE TO FULFIL YOUR DESTINY! THEN COME TO ME! IF YOU DO, YOU 
SHALL HAVE ALL THE KNOWLEDGE YOU REQUIRE! IF YOU DO NOT, THEN I WILL 
KILL EVERY SINGLE MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD IN THE AREA UNTIL YOU SUBMIT!"

"That voice! I know that voice! Vohraphamon?!" Rune scowled, and ran 
straight towards the window of Satsuma's room. She looked out over to 
the streets below and saw the Angel Knight himself.  Once she confirmed 
it was him, Rune rushed out the door and down the flight of stairs. All 
the people by the bar were terrified and murmuring amongst each other. 
They all knew the legendary strength of Angel Knights. But they were all 
seen as divine crusaders against sin. Why would an Angel Knight make 
that kind of threat to the people? Rune dashed to the door and went 
outside. Satsuma and Baliero were already there. Facing off with the 
powerful Vohraphamon with their weapons ready to be drawn. 

Baliero reached for his sword Hammon. "...What the hell do you want?"

"...Boy," Said the tall Angel Knight, "I have no time for you. I have 
come for your friend. The Scion of Earth. The woman known as Rune of 
Eltah."

Rune stepped out of Inn's doorway. "I'm here, Vohraphamon. What exactly 
do you need to speak to me about?"

"...I don't need to speak with you. I came here to offer you an 
invitation. I know that you ventured to this city to find yourself. To 
find your destiny. And I can provide it. Follow me to a secret location 
and you will have ALL you've asked for."

Satsuma soon scowled colourfully at him. "What?! Get bent, metalhead! 
Rune's not going ANYWHERE with the likes of you!"

To that, Vohraphamon simply laughed. "Heh, heh, heh. The Scion of Earth 
will complete her destiny. Willingly or not..."

The Angel Knight pulled up his hand, pointing it at Satsuma. Seeing 
this, the girl reached into her pocket to try and take out Quiri. Before 
her fingertips even touched it, Satsuma's whole body fell still. She 
couldn't move an inch from her current position. And all the while, that 
armoured arm of Vohraphamon's kept up the pace of what appeared to be 
magic. 

Baliero saw this. "Satsuma?! What's wrong with you?!"

"I-I-I d-dunno!" She struggled to move, "...I-I-I c-c-can't m-move a... 
m-m-muscle..."

"That's correct. Normal people like you are just such fragile creatures. 
Now all I have to do is increase the strength of this magic and you will 
be crushed like a grape," Vohraphamon then stepped forwards once, 
turning his head to Rune, "I will kill this girl if you do not comply."

But that was more than Rune could take right now. The young woman grit 
her teeth angrily and tightened up her whole body. Including all the 
muscles and joints. Rune's torso soon smouldered with a bright amethyst 
energy. One that was so strong it instantly cracked the ground upon its 
appearance. Baliero's eyes darted over to Rune and watched this go down. 
There was no doubt that Rune had powerful magics burning within her. 
Which now made it easier for him to understand why Rune was so important 
to Danel and Avernae.

"Stop it!" Demanded Rune, her face darkening, "Let her go! Now!"

Vohraphamon continued to let the girl suffer. "Do you comply?!"
 
It seemed like there was no other option. Vohraphamon wasn't the type to 
be intimidated by anyone. Rune's flaming body continued to exude power, 
but for now it would not be violent in nature. The girl hung her head 
and clutched her hand into a fist. "Fine. You win. I'll do whatever you 
want. Now let Satsuma go!"

The Angel Knight roughly threw his hand to one side. Satsuma was 
released from the spell, but passed out the second this happened. Before 
she toppled to the ground, Baliero rushed over to her and caught the 
redhead. While Rune stood in a face-off with Vohraphamon.

The taller man sniggered under all that armour. "I see you still retain 
the kind of weakness that the lower-borne must suffer with. Fine. You 
will do what we wish in either case. Now. If you wish to know the 
truth... if you wish to know what you exist as and for, go east of 
Castel. To a structure called Fretta El La'Bael. You will know it when 
you see it. Reach that place and you will know the truth."

Vohraphamon surrounded himself in bright gold energy. Then teleported 
himself out of the scene. Leaving behind the commands. To go to this 
place, Fretta El La'Bael. Apparently she would learn the truth there. 
Rune turned her head and looked at Satsuma and Baliero. She was sure 
that they would be fine on their own for a while. 

Baliero stared at Rune with an unconscious Satsuma in his hands. "You're 
not actually thinking of doing what he just suggested, right?"

"...Take care of Satsuma for me, Baliero." That was the last thing Rune 
said. Before she invoked the powers of her magic again. The woman 
crouched down for a brief second. Then launched herself skywards. 
Baliero's emerald eyes widened when he saw Rune fly off into the air, a 
trail of purple flames following behind her. She was discovering more 
and more of her powers as time progressed.

But it did make Baliero wonder...

...Just what would Rune learn at Fretta El La'Bael?

**********

The time was soon approaching.

Cardinal Danel could feel it in his aging bones. The passage of time to 
the doors of destiny. Now everything he had worked for was coming to its 
conclusion. Or rather a new beginning. The old leader of the Avernae 
Church walked up to a nearby table in his quarters in Phoenix Castle. He 
stopped at the table and picked up a bottle of brandy. He poured some of 
it into a smaller glass and placed the bottle down, exchanging it with 
the glass. Then Danel put that glass to his lips and sipped some of that 
brandy down. Things were getting quiet in Phoenix Castle now. It was 
past midnight, so that wasn't very surprising. And Danel's heated little 
discussion with Professor Oro was over. So Danel needed to think no more 
of that raving old lunatic he once called a teacher. 

The Cardinal walked over to his window and looked out into the night 
skies. The stars and moon were brighter than ever now. Maybe that too 
was a sign of the impending new world. Maybe the Gods were sending those 
midnight lights down as symbols the rebirth of their holy kingdom. 

Danel sipped some of his brandy and then spoke. "It shall begin soon. 
The Contest of Heaven and Earth shall take place. The Holy Realm will be 
born. All my work, all my effort, it will all be settled. And thus the 
Gods' embrace of humanity shall once more be verified."

Then another voice spoke out. "...The Holy Realm will be with us 
soon..."

"What?" Danel turned around, but calmed himself when he saw who it was 
that happened to be standing just a short distance away behind him, "Oh. 
It is you, Vohraphamon. Have you manoeuvred the Scion of Earth towards 
Fretta El La'Bael for the Contest?"

Vohraphamon nodded to him. "Yes. As we speak, the Scion of Earth 
journeys to the palace of lost souls and will meet with the Oracle of 
Heaven. The Contest of Heaven and Earth will begin and the Holy Realm 
shall be born upon the face of reality. The will of the cogwheels of 
time and destiny have decreed nothing less."

"Yes," Replied Danel, "I have done the will of the Gods on earth. Those 
who dared to stop the enviable, like Richard, Berthelsen, Oro and 
Ottaman, they have all either ceased to be or will be vanquished in the 
flames of holy justice. That is the TRUE will of the Gods. The pure 
shall be brought into the bosom of divinity and the degenerates and 
reprobates of society will be exterminated. A glorious new world is upon 
us."

"That is correct," Answered the Angel Knight, "We currently dance upon 
the very edge of the Holy Realm. It will occur very soon... but you will 
not be there to witness it."

Danel was about to roughly ask what Angel Knight Vohraphamon meant by 
that, until he felt it for himself in full force. The soulless warrior 
proceeded to ram Stratum El Dalvacour straight through the stomach of 
Danel. The sword sliced through his stomach and bowels and reappeared 
from out the small of his back. The old man's eyes widened and his mouth 
hung open in utter shock, staring deep into the burning eyes trapped 
with in that gleaming white metal helmet. The Cardinal choked on his 
blood violently. It splattered over his chest and the jerk of his head 
caused his papal cap to fall off, revealing Danel's crown-balding head. 

"...Voh... raph... a... mon... w-why...?"

The Angel Knight sniggered. "Did you really believe that you were the 
prime-mover in this little tale? Or that you would be the one to author 
the new epoch? My TRUE master is the shadow behind your success. I was 
ordered by her to work under you following my shortly lived... 
'disappearance'. To help bring about the Contest of Heaven and Earth. 
But I never once pledged any REAL allegiance to you, Danel Ferey. The 
stage has been set... not for your delusions of a hallowed kingdom for 
the Gods... but for the birth of my Master and the Holy Realm that SHE 
will rule. Unfortunately for you, Cardinal, you do not have a place in 
it."

Still, somehow clinging to life, Danel looked over at the door. 
"...I-Ish... I-Ishmael..."

Vohraphamon chuckled to himself, with Danel still impaled on his sword, 
"...Heh, heh, heh.  Still thinking that there is a way out of this 
situation? Think again. Angel Knight Ishmael will not be joining us 
today..."

It was then that Danel noticed the puddle of blood that was spreading 
under the door into his room from the outside. Vohraphamon had killed 
Ishmael. Without Danel even knowing about it. In that instant, Angel 
Knight Vohraphamon ripped Stratum El Dalvacour out of the carcass of 
Danel Ferey. The old man released a dying sigh before toppling over. As 
dead as his chances of seeing the Holy Realm with his own eyes. 
Vohraphamon lowered his blade, now covered in blood, and looked out the 
window. Just as the late Cardinal Danel had done.

"Do not worry, Danel. Your stagnant spirit may find some peace in the 
Soul Stream when the Contest is concluded. All our displeasure is about 
to be bled free. As for me? My part in my Master's plan is over. My 
fated mission is complete. And now... the final act has begun."

**********

The skies surrounding the region were darkening over. Not with the 
night, but thick grey clouds that covered and blocked up the light from 
the moon and stars. These clouds were thunderous. A blast of lightning 
would be cast down every few seconds. While the clap of thunder followed 
shortly after it. The skies rumbled with the bright flashes and 
throbbing sound. It was as if this was a manifestation of the chains of 
destiny in movement. All this did not gradually appear. No. It came 
suddenly. As Rune flew through the skies of Daneland towards the place 
Vohraphamon had baited her into visiting. Fretta El La'Bael. 

The blue-eyed swordswoman looked up and saw the building on the horizon. 
It was not all that far away. But Rune was caught up with it, in all 
ways concerned. The dark building was shaped like a bastard cross 
between a castle and a pyramid. Twelve tall spires surrounded the upper 
level of the structure. Spiked rods were connected to each of them. And 
between those rods were streaks of blue electricity. Each beam 
connecting the chain of spires. Thus they surrounded the upper tower 
like a hexagonal crown. By now a huge wind had encircled the whole of 
the fortress. It was a slow-moving grey mass of air that tore up the 
grounds beneath it. Stray trees, blades of grass, loose rock, timber, 
dead animals, human corpses, more such items danced around the waves of 
that wind. Protecting Fretta El La'Bael from outsiders. 

But not from Rune. 

The young woman slowed her flying to a stop when she came right to the 
face of the wind shield. Any further and she'd probably be sliced to 
death. But Fretta El La'Bael was not rejecting her at all. The shield 
warped itself and a section of it parted. A hole opened up in the wind 
shield right as Rune stood poised to enter. Which she did. Rune's 
instincts were telling her that this was not a happy place. But in the 
end... what choice did she really have? Rune flew through the hole in 
the wind shield. Which proceeded to seal itself once the Scion of Earth 
entered the sanctum of Fretta El La'Bael. The moment she got inside is 
innards, Rune could feel a disquiet in her heart. She flew upwards 
towards the main tower, but she could not ignore this feeling of hatred 
and discontent she got from this place. As she neared the main tower, 
Rune's eyes widened. She could see some sort of golden light up there. 
When she caught that out... she realized that whatever it was must be 
important. Maybe the true reason for Vohraphamon asking her to come 
here. Rune soared up as fast as she could to reach it. Her body zoomed 
up the face of the tower and then flew up over its metal railings, 
coming back down. Rune's shoes slapped against the stone floor when she 
landed on the tower roof. The highest point of the structure.

Rune looked over to the mass of golden light she could see. But it was 
not produced by an object. Rather by a person. A person that Rune knew 
herself. "...Helene...?"

It was her, alright. But not the same as she was before. This time, from 
her back, were a pair of pure white angel-like wings. Both spanning two 
metres in length, while constantly dropping glowing feathers to the 
ground. In Helene's hands was a jewelled rod. Its crest was a ruby. 
Inside that ruby was a burning flame energy that could been seen through 
the translucent jewel. Though Helene had positioned herself in a 
childish stance (staff held loosely behind her back while her left leg 
crossed her right by the ankles) there was a new, threatening aura about 
her. Powerful. Almost godly. A look that was magnified by that devious 
look of intent on her pretty face.

Helene laughed loudly. "Aha, ha, ha, ha! You're late, Scion. Too busy 
fucking that little whore of yours, eh? Or were you just afraid? The 
people who have sinned must finally answer to their normally benevolent 
overseers."

"What are you talking about?" Questioned Rune, thrown by Helene's sudden 
change in manners and attitude, "...Helene... what are you doing in a 
place like this...?"

The changed Helene stared at Rune for a brief second. "...Hmm. I see 
that you have not completely awakened yet. Just enough for the powers... 
but not enough for the awareness. How convenient. Never mind. I'll just 
have to open those eyes of yours!"

In that second, Helene threw her right arm forwards. A huge gust shot 
out from her hand and surrounded Rune like a rotating cylinder cyclone.  
The young woman struggled to maintain her standing position. Her bangs 
blew backwards along with the edges of her clothes and sword. While 
Helene simply stood and laughed whilst doing this. Rune's feet skidded 
back bit by bit. She'd be blown away if she didn't do something soon. 
But thankfully her body did all the work for her. Just the result Helene 
was hoping for. Rune kneeled to the ground slowly and grit her teeth. 
There was an aching pain in her shoulder blades. A pain that grew and 
grew until it reached a boiling point. Rune screamed out into the night. 
And something burst up from her back, shredding part of her clothing. 
Two things. A pair of purple, fleshy bat-like wings reared up from 
Rune's shoulder blades. And a purple smoggy mist enfolded her body. 
Helene smiled in victory and lowered her hand, ending the wind cyclone. 
Rune, now added to with her dark wings, stood up from the ground. Then 
looked over at Helene with a bloody new red in her eyes. And a grin on 
her face that matched Helene's own.

"Finally awake?" Prodded Helene.

Rune nodded while her new large bat-like wings swung behind her. "...So 
it seems. The girl we inhabit seems to be of a stronger will than you 
give her credit for. Your host probably noticed the same thing. It's a 
bit of an annoyance while trying to dominate her spirit... but a strong 
will often makes for a strong body. Knowingly or not..."

Helene (or rather something in possession of her) chuckled. "...That 
would be your only hope. Because today I bring the Word of the Gods. 
Humanity has ruled the world for too long. Your sins fester and spread 
like a disease. Moving towards all that is good and doing nothing but 
destroying it. You eat the planet up from under you and shirk the chains 
of responsibility that were offered to you in conjunction with the 
bounty of the Earth. You have forsaken your right to dominion. It is 
time for the world to return to the trusted hands of the Gods..."

"Is that right?" Seethed the controlled Rune, "This world belongs to the 
people. And our combined powers are too much even for your sort. We 
frighten you. We worry you. We trouble your minds and cause that which 
you call nightmares. Because of all the lowly and mighty creatures that 
inhabit the world, you Gods know that WE humans are the only ones who 
can match with you. This girl is our descendant. This is our child of 
hatred. The spawn of our discontent. The progeny of our fury. A fury 
born from thousands upon thousands of years of wrongdoing. The time has 
come to see which force shall be victorious. The Will of the Gods..."

"...Or the hatred of the People," Said Helene, readying her staff, "Show 
me what you have!"

There was no waiting. Rune and Helene rushed straight each other with 
equal force. In her running, Rune withdrew Rustam and clashed with 
Helene's Granish Rod. The echoing clap of the two weapons colliding with 
each other sent shockwaves through the upper levels of Fretta El 
La'Bael. The two grinned at each other while their weapons were locked 
together. They immediately strained to outdo the other in the stand off. 
Helene growled effeminately and pushed more effort into the lock. Rune 
was knocked out of it and thrown backwards, the heels of her shoes 
skidding over the dusty floors. Helene pulled up her Granish Rod and 
cockily smirked at the young woman. The Scion of Earth spread out the 
full wingspan that had now been given to her, then lifted herself upward 
with a beat of those wings. Helene's own angelic counterparts to those 
did the same. And she flew straight upwards to chase after her 
sky-soaring enemy. Rune reached a high point in the air and remained 
there - not moving any further. While Helene zoomed in towards her with 
that staff at the ready. Helene swung her rod around in an arc motion. 
Rune suddenly dove backwards from the strike to avoid its path. Helene 
rushed ahead again for a follow up. Seeing her come in at this speed, 
Rune made a quick swerve to one side of the Oracle of Heaven. Then once 
she was in position, Rune slashed downwards quickly with powerful cry. 
The tip of Rustam slashed into the fabrics of Helene's white robes.  
Slicing open the front part of her chest guard. The woman growled and 
flew backwards from Rune to get into a better position from there. The 
Scion of Earth flapped her own wings and remained in place, pulling 
Rustam back up into a fighting stance. 

Helene stopped at around a twelve-metre distance from Rune. The blonde 
pulled her arm up into the air. Her eyes looked on Rune but her powers 
were focused on her hand. A bright light appeared at it. A smooth golden 
energy started to take shape. Revolving and rotating into itself. The 
energy became a sphere. Helene opened her mouth and yelled a commanding 
shriek, right before she hurled the Radiance Orb magical attack straight 
at Rune. The Scion of Earth clenched her teeth and waited for the attack 
to near her. Once in striking distance, the girl heaved Rustam above her 
head. She waited for a brief moment - then swung the sword around her 
body. The blade of Rustam slapped violently against the burning light 
energies of the Radiance Orb. With enormous strength Rune batted the 
light ball away, aimed back down at the ground. There was a terrific 
explosion when the Radiance Orb collided with the tower roof of Fretta 
El La'Bael. Rock and light was hurled every which way from a powerful 
blast that blew a large hole into the roof of the Rah fortress. 

Helene scowled with the failure of her attack and flew back into the 
fray. Seconds later the Rustam and the Granish Rod were clashing with 
each other once more. The two warrior women struggled against each other 
in a new weapons lock. Rune pushed at the hilt of her sword with as much 
energy as she could spare. While Helene held back Rustam with her two 
hand spread grip upon her rod. The two then suddenly repelled each 
other. The shockwaves of the clash were felt across the entire rooftop. 
Even from that point. The thick build up of dust below was blown from 
the stone. Angelic wings flapped two the same beat as demonic ones while 
the two flew apart from each other. Rune altered her path of flight and 
curved around Helene's point of standing. She released her two-handed 
grip on Rustam and used her free hand for her own magic. Rune's hand 
shook with a dark glow. One that surrounded her hand which soon balled 
into a fist. From across the scene she could see that Helene was flying 
towards her once more. Even better. Rune continued to gather up force 
while the Oracle of Heaven neared her. But was immediately ready when 
the gap between the two of them lessened. The dark-haired girl pushed 
her energy-charged hand outward and an intense beam of purple energy was 
cast at Helene. The dark magic power beam (known as Shadow Ray) cut 
through the air with a tearing energy fully dangerous to mortals. Helene 
blinked and quickly dove to one side of the shot. It came hazardously 
close to burning the tip of one of her wings. But avoided it. However 
the second that Helene was distracted, Rune took her best opportunity. 
And she flung herself forwards from the legs leading in. Her feet rammed 
into the tight knots of the blonde's stomach. Helene's wind was robbed 
from her in one double kick. After which Rune followed up with a slash 
of Rustam. The blade swept past the neck, a strike that Helene managed 
to avoid. But not without a bloody scratch on her throat upwards. The 
Oracle of Heaven frowned menacingly then pushed her hand forwards into 
Rune's face. A few seconds later there was a gigantic flash that boomed 
around the entire rooftop. The brightness of the magic was so furious 
that Rune was partially blinded by it. The Scion of Earth flapped 
backwards, with her empty hand covering her eyes and face. Helene waited 
no longer and swooped into for her reprisal. She thrust the butt of the 
Granish Rod straight into the stomach of Rune. The older girl coughed 
from the force. Then Helene pulled up the rod and knocked her 'former' 
friend across the head. A splurge of blood slipped up into the air but 
Rune herself was whacked straight back down to the floor of Fretta El 
La'Bael's roof. 

The girl tightened up into ball. And her body smashed straight through 
the floor, breaking a hole into the ceiling of the tower. Then Rune's 
torso fell inside the building itself. Her back and wings slapped 
against the stone floor of this new room inside Fretta El La'Bael. 
Rubble from the broken ceiling fell and clattered on top of her. 

Eventually it all came to a stop, but Rune now felt the blood dripping 
down her forehead and ears. Then she heard the sound of distant, moving 
light. She looked up into the skies, through the hole in the ceiling. 
And her eyes widened as a another Radiance Orb was thrown her way. Rune 
scrambled onto her feet and flapped her wings as hard as possible. She 
flew away from that point. The light ball smashed into the stone floor 
beside her and it exploded upon contact. A huge gust of wind and light 
was thrown across the room in all directions from the blast point. 
Rune's fleshy, bat-like wings flapped in front of her body. Shielding 
her from the loose pebbles and blasted rocks. 

Helene flew down through the hole to see the outcome. But was surprised 
to see that the deep, smoking crater left behind in the floor of that 
room was empty. "Odd. At the very least, there should be a corpse..."

Then Rune zoomed in towards her from a different angle. From behind. It 
was too late for Helene to do anything about it. Rune swung Rustam 
across the face of the angelic fighter. The Ferey girl scrunched up her 
pretty features and was slashed straight over her cheek and chin. Blood 
spurted over her shoulder guards and upper armour plates. Rune turned 
her body to one side and extended her leg swiftly. A powerful kick to 
the face had it all coming. Helene cried out as she was thrown backward 
from the strength of the blow. Her wings couldn't stop the motion. And 
Helene was sent sailing through the stone wall of that particular room. 
Rock was smashed again and the girl of light had been thrown into the 
grim outside once more. Rune flew through that new hole to make a 
pursuit of her target. Helene held a hand to her slashed face and sailed 
upwards from her attacker. Helene flew upwards with Rune chasing her. 
The thunderbolts echoed and rumbled in the skies as they battled. Helene 
turned to the pursuing Rune and cast her hand forwards. Another Radiance 
Orb was blasted at the dark-haired girl. The swordswoman pushed her hand 
forwards too and released a second Shadow Ray. The dark beam and the 
light ball approached each other through the skies. Then met and 
collided. A mammoth burst of gold and amethyst light brightened and 
darkened those skies all at once. Rune and Helene stood on opposite 
sides of that combustion. Then suddenly flew around it to attack the 
other. 

Rune pulled up Rustam and Helene gripped the Granish Rod. The two flew 
past each other and their weapons clashed in that immediate second. They 
alternated positions and stopped mid-air, turning around to inspect the 
damage done (if any). Rune took note of the absence of one of Helene's 
shoulder guards. While Helene focused on the new bruise on Rune's face. 

"I would seem that we are evenly matched," Admitted Helene, "Your skills 
match mine."

Rune nodded. "So it would seem. Maybe the all-powerful Will of the Gods 
cannot completely dominate the anger of the people...?"

"And maybe the anger of the people will never be enough make them the 
true rulers. Like any pet... humans can become unruly and rebel. But in 
the end... the master is always the one holding the leash. Never the one 
attached to it." 

If the spirits controlling Rune had anything to say about it, that would 
not be the case forever. The young woman smirked and then threw herself 
at Helene again with Rustam ready to strike and kill. Helene extended 
her wings to their full span and twirled the Granish Rod as the charging 
Rune neared her. The ruby jewel at the top of the rod began to glow 
brightly in blood-tones. Then all of a sudden, her body just vanished. 
Rune stopped and blinked with surprise. Where did she go? She continued 
to ask herself this. Until a loud blasting sound came from her left. 
Rune's instincts acted and she dodged it, flying to one side of the 
blast. Then from the right came Helene. The shock of her speed was too 
much. Helene pelted the older girl across the face with the Granish Rod. 
Her head jerked back from the strength of that blow. Blood trickled down 
from her lips. Rune scowled and tried to swipe back at the quick Helene. 
She slashed horizontally with Rustam. Helene moved in a blur and swiftly 
shot up over the slash. He zoomed back down behind the Scion of Earth 
and smacked the Granish Rod into her spine. Rune screamed loudly. With 
the kind of agony that could un-shake mountains. There was the distinct 
sound of a crack. A crack in bone. Rune closed one of her eyes and tried 
to slash at her back. Again Helene blurred in movement, reaching back 
above her. Helene gathered up more power into the Granish Rod. A 
aggressive golden energy then surrounded the upper half of the staff. 
Entirely. Then she swung the Rod downwards with a brutal force. Rune was 
not quick enough to see it coming. A horrific, blood-curdling scream 
echoed across all of Fretta El La'Bael. Drowning out even the claps of 
the thunder and the howling of the wind shield. The Granish Rod struck 
at that joint connecting Rune's arm to her shoulder. Then tore straight 
through it. There was a geyser of blood, as the rod did not slice 
through, but rather it broke off, Rune's right arm. Ripping it straight 
out of the socket. Rune shrieked and bellowed while her body fell out of 
flight and back towards the ground. She fell  into the flat roof of 
Fretta El La'Bael again. Her body did not break through it this time. 
But the damage had been done. Rune's shattered limb fell weakly to the 
ground as well. Fortunately it was not the arm that was holding Rustam.

Helene smirked and lowered the Granish Rod, which was now tainted with 
blood, flesh and a few scraps of bone. "I told you, did I not? The 
people have their voice. But it is nothing in the face of authority. 
Mankind's sins have brought this divine wrath down upon you. It could 
have been avoided... if you were willing to know your place and accept 
it. But humanity is clearly incapable of bowing to its rulers. Scion of 
Earth! This your last day! With your death comes the glorious beginning 
of a tremendous new world! The Second Coming of the Gods is nigh!"

"...T-think so...?" Rune said, struggling. She stuck the Rustam sword 
into the ground to use it as leverage. Then tried to lift herself 
upwards. Her wings flapped as best they could to help Rune get up. Soon 
she was back on her feet, but not without some effort. However when she 
stood up to face the Oracle of Heaven up above in the sky, there was no 
look of despair on her face. No expression of worry, no look of doubt. 
The sentiment that was quickly confirmed by her words, "...Never 
underestimate the depths of our suffering. Or how far this suffering 
will take us..."

Rune pointed Rustam at her dismembered arm. Magic circulated at the tip 
of the blade. Then the arm reacted to that and started to rise from the 
floor, hovering in mid-air. It then floated toward her, commanded to 
approach by the strength of her magic. Rune sheathed Rustam with her 
good arm then grabbed her broken-off arm. She brought the arm back 
around to the socket it had been torn off of. She grunted; then more of 
her magical amethyst energy surrounded the point at the joint/socket. 
Reattaching it. Rune's left hand let go of her right arm. Then she 
clenched and unclenched her right hand into a fist. Good as new. From up 
above, Helene was now frowning. But said nothing and swooped back down 
towards the Scion of Earth. 

Rune looked up and saw this. Her eyes then turned to some of the loose 
rocks down by the hole she had made through the floor. She concentrated 
for a brief moment. Then those rocks began to float upwards too. The 
selection of chipped, loose rock was then shot straight at the Oracle of 
Heaven. This was easy for Helene to catch onto. She pointed the Granish 
Rod at them and a smooth shield of light appeared before it. Once the 
rocks attempted to break into the shield they were burned into nothing 
but ashes. Not an attack that could keep something like Helene Ferey 
down. The girl then looked to the ground. And Rune was no longer there. 
Which was surprising at first, till...

"Yeeeaah!"

Rune came out of nowhere and curled her fist straight into the stomach 
of the blonde. With her other hand she launched the butt of Rustam into 
Helene's face. It jerked back. A bloody wound left behind.  Rune the 
slashed across the plate of armour guarding her chest. This time it fell 
away completely. Helene regained her senses and tried to knock Rune away 
with the Granish Rod. The black-haired girl flew around the path of the 
blow and then zoomed right back in again. This time her fist led into 
the face. A fleshy thump was heard when Rune's knuckles collided with 
Helene's cheek. She tried to reply with a swing of the Granish Rod. Rune 
struck that rod away with Rustam, then lunged in for the killing blow. 
The Scion of Earth screamed out passionately and thrust the Rustam sword 
straight through the chest of the Oracle of Heaven. The blade stabbed 
through the gap between Helene's breasts and came out through her back. 

Impaled fully. 

Things fell silent from then on. As the two floated up in the air.  
Blood started to gush from the gap between Helene's lips. While Rune 
panted to regain her breath, Rustam skewering its adversary. Rune smiled 
cruelly at the fallen angel, her voice cold and sharp. "...We're not as 
worthless as you seem to believe, are we, Oracle? Take this message to 
Onreld and the others in the afterlife. The Holy Realm is ours."

"...I see... so... the new age... will belong... to... the people..." 
Helene struggled to say. The Granish Rod fell out of her hand when the 
grip of her fingers loosened. She then gave her last breath before the 
end. Helene's head slumped forward. She was dead. The Contest of Heaven 
and Earth, as brief as it was, had been decided. The Scion of the Earth, 
Rune of Eltah, was the victor. Then the power and influences of the 
spirits began to fade. Fretta El La'Bael was the place at which the 
hatred and intensity of lost souls reached its zenith. While here Rune 
felt nothing but anger and the will to wreak vengeance. Now that the 
Contest was over, that high presence of discontent was leaving Rune's 
body. Her wings regressed and returned into her shoulder blades. As did 
those on the floating corpse of Helene Ferey. The blood red in her eyes 
also vanished. The girl now had control over her body again. But before 
she could even celebrate that, she looked at the young woman across from 
her. Impaled on her sword.

Helene Ferey.

"...Oh Gods..." Rune said accidentally, "...W-what have I done?! What 
have I done?! Helene?! Helene?! Please say something to me! Helene!"

There was no reply. And though there was a pleasant smile on Helene's 
face, it looked absolutely chilling with the blood running down her 
lips. A shocked and now tearful Rune carefully pulled her blade out of 
Helene's body. The girl's corpse fell into Rune's arms. The Scion of 
Earth held onto the girl desperately as the tears started to run freely. 
"...Dear Gods... dear Gods... what have I done... what have I done...?"

While Rune held onto the dead body of Helene Ferey in the air, Fretta El 
La'Bael was not in the middle of a quiet time. The door of destiny had 
been opened. And the new age of the world that would spring from it had 
finally been decided. Rune's tear-stained eyes began to look around her. 
And her sobbing stopped when she did so. The skies were getting darker 
and darker. She could see little of what was going on outside because of 
the wind barrier, but she could tell that their was a new level of 
darkness and that it was not normal. Everybody in Castel who was awake 
and aware could notice it. People began to come out of their homes in 
the city and gather up in crowds to observe the cause behind this new 
darkness. But it could not be seen anyway. At first this darkness 
appeared only over Fretta El La'Bael and the region it was in (which 
included Castel). But that darkness began to spread like wildfire across 
the country. If seen from space, a huge glob of black was spreading at a 
steady pace across the length and breadth of Daneland. Then onto Geshtar 
and the Paradise Isles. Even all the way up to Lemarchand. The whole of 
the known world was smothered up in a smouldering layer of thick 
blackness. The clouds of it cast down its own thunderbolts. Lightning 
flashed and cracks of thunder echoed violently over the entire world. 
All the animals in all the forests, mountains, swamps and grasslands 
began to howl and shriek. Knowing intuitively that there was something 
very wrong here. 

In Fretta El La'Bael, Rune was constantly looking around the place, with 
Helene's corpse in her arms. She could sense the darkness growing. She 
could feel things. Anger. Jealousy. Hate. Revenge. As if these things 
were springing forth from the roots of the earth for a release. Then 
suddenly there was a gargantuan explosion of sound beneath her feet. 
Rune held onto Helene desperately as insanely bright white light rose up 
from the ground and totally engulfed Fretta El La'Bael. The powerful 
beam of light rose up skywards, climbing up through the smog-like 
blanket of darkness and up into the atmosphere. The grassy grounds 
around Fretta El La'Bael began to crack from the weight and strength of 
this blinding pillar of light. The worn ground rumbled and separated in 
rocky sections. Some rising. Some falling. Any nearby animals were 
swallowed up and crushed to death by the hard shifting plates of soil. 
And, just like the wave of darkness, the trembling of the earth spread 
outwards from that point. The ground was torn up vehemently. The people 
in Castel all trembled with the force of what seemed to be an 
earthquake. But they were even more alarmed by the pillar of light. The 
bleak chorus of thunder and lightning up above took on a whole new 
pitch. And the screams of the terrified started to occur. 

Soon, in orbit now, the pillar of light reached its knowing peak. Once 
it had gotten as high as it possibly could, a section of that luminous 
pillar broke off from the rest. Then exploded. The sound was muffled by 
the nothingness of space. But it would have more than enough of an 
effect on the world. The light's explosion shattered it into billions 
upon billions of little pieces of flaming energy. Which looked 
incredibly beautiful in the backdrop of space. But meant doom for those 
living on earth. Because those flares of light energy began falling back 
down to earth like a meteor shower, spreading over the whole world with 
intense speed. Anyone who happened to standing around would have been 
able to appreciate the beauty of that. But not the results. The flames 
of light ignited everything they touched. The trees of the forests, the 
grass of the grasslands, the vines and shrubbery of the marches, the 
homes of villagers, the flesh of the people. Men, women and children 
from across the globe were burned alive from being struck by one of 
those intense 'falling stars'. Fires began to spread across entire 
fields from this. Ravaging the countryside and razing the towns to the 
ground. And the shrieks of fear were nothing in comparison to the 
shrieks of pain. 

From the window of his room at Phoenix Castle, Professor Oro could see 
the both the infernal darkness as well as the rain of fire. Not to 
mention that throbbing column of light currently surrounding Fretta El 
La'Bael. 

Deep in the heart of that pillar of light was Rune. The girl still held 
Helene's corpse in her arms, with Rustam sheathed. But she had no idea 
what was happening to her. The young woman floated along in this place 
of intense light. Nothing but the purest mixture between gold and white 
was here. Rune's body moved slowly but easily in this place, which did 
not burn or scold her. But felt oddly warm and comforting.

"...Where are we...?" Rune wondered aloud. 

A voice soon answered for her. "This light you see before you is the 
truest culmination of all the rage, hatred, agony, fear, resentment and 
lusts that burned in the hearts of the people. In the memories of the 
lost souls that were damned forever by the taint of higher will. Which 
is represented by the girl you now hold in your arms. The girl you just 
vanquished."

"Wait a minute..." Rune now realized how familiar this voice was, "I 
know you! You were the voice speaking to me at Kol Sohrab!"

"...Correct. I shall now take on a humanoid form for you... to better 
understand me."Answered the seemingly gentle voice. 

Rune turned to her left and watched as a cluster of energy started to 
form there. It grew in size. Then started to take shape. But by bit. It 
grew four lengthy proportions from its sides and bottom. Which soon took 
the shape of arms and legs. Then a lump of the energy at its top 
transformed itself into human-like head. Without the deep textures or 
colour that a normal human would have. The energy mass soon developed 
breast-like mounds at its chest. Until the energy had fully taken on the 
shape of a female human being. 

It then spoke to the Scion of Earth. "...Greetings, Rune of Eltah."

"...W-what... who... are you...?"

"...I have given myself the name... Ayurveda," She said, "and I am the 
embodiment of the combined discontent of all lost souls. Souls who could 
not find peace in the eternal home of the spirits, the Soul Stream. For 
thousands of years... men have fought in the name of the Gods and killed 
one and other blindly. However there will always be those that will have 
their lives taken away from them unfairly, before they could complete 
their work on earth. It is their unfathomable discontent that created 
me. I was born as the representation of all the resentment that exists 
in the hearts of those lost souls. And in the hearts of the people, that 
eternally cry out for a new world. I shall be its deliverer."

Rune cast her eyes fully on Ayurveda. "...You... were the... owner of 
that voice...?"

"Yes," Ayurveda nodded, "You have done well, Rune. You fully deserve 
your reward. I believe that you wanted to know the truth about 
everything you had been dragged into. I shall reveal it. Many thousands 
of years ago, there existed a people known as the Rah. The Rah were 
highly developed for their times and were the founders of culture, 
wealth, business, art and so many other things besides. Their capital 
was once stationed around this pillar of light that you are currently 
floating in. And the castle of their leader was Fretta El La'Bael. They 
were also the inventors of a religion. Which was known as Scrim-Rah. 
They worshiped the creatures that you would call 'Gods'. And they had 
the amazing ability to harness the 'Gods' powers. Giving the Rah 
unbelievable spiritual strength and relentlessly powerful magics. But 
their powers were not always looked on with favour. Human people, normal 
human people, grew resentful of the power of the Rah. This resentment 
turned into fear. And then that fear led to the mindless persecution of 
the Rah as a people. In four short years, the whole bloodline of the Rah 
was erased, aside from three small family lines. You belong to one of 
those bloodlines, Rune. As did the Oracle of Heaven. And so too was the 
one who destroyed Reen Village, Angel Knight Vohraphamon."

Rune blinked. "All three of us are... of Rah descent...?"

"Yes," Answered Ayurveda, "When the Rah were eliminated, the people took 
over their religion of Scrim-Rah, re-naming it 'Avernae'. It became 
widely accepted in the country that would someday become known as 
Lemarchand. Adopted by many of the upper classes and taught to those of 
the middle class, it was seen as both a useful tool for the subjugation 
of the peasantry, the working class masses and as an expression of the 
absolute power of the world. But because human beings lacked the 
spiritual powers of the Rah, they lost contact with the 'Gods' and were 
unable to hear their words."

Rune was shocked. "You mean to say... that the Gods are real...?"

Ayurveda nodded again. "Yes, they are. But they are not what you believe 
them to be. They are the representatives of the natural elements and 
wonders of the world. Living as great sentient beings that shaped the 
world billions of years ago. But they left this earth many years into 
the past. When the humans realized that the 'Gods' would no longer heed 
their words, the finest minds of that time generally believed that they 
had fled the world because of the impurities of mankind. They theorized 
that there would be a time when humanity would be cleansed of its evils. 
Thus the Gods would return. It would be the birth of their 'Holy Realm'. 
And the event that would bring this about was called the Contest of 
Heaven and Earth. As time past, the picture of this theory changed into 
an accepted fact of the Avernae Church."

"...A battle fought between two equals," Rune answered, "...Between two 
people that stand for something opposite."

"Indeed. But far from being a battle between the People and the Gods, 
your fight with Helene was something far more trivial. You were driven 
by discontent of the Rah and those who suffered the subjugation of the 
Avernae. The combined force of which is me. And Helene was driven by the 
so-called 'Will of the Gods'. The strength of those in positions of 
power and their shared desire to maintain those positions by putting 
down those below them who would dare stand for themselves. In truth... 
this was nothing more than childish battle between the classes."

"Then what was the point?!"

"Results," Ayurveda answered, "That is the issue. As meaningless as your 
fight was, there is true impurity in the world. Which must be cleansed. 
Now it shall be. You have tremendous power, Rune. You have the power to 
purify spirits. That is your true strength. Thanks to your victory over 
Helene, my power has been rendered pure. Which was my intention all 
along. It was why I revived Vohraphamon from death and used him to help 
bring about the Contest of Heaven and Earth. Not to settle a grudge 
between Avernae and the souls of those it abused. But to push your 
powers to their highest possible limit. And now that your TRUE power has 
awakened, the lost souls are, at present, entering you. With each bitter 
soul that passes through you, your power renders them pure and 
untainted. Using you as their gateway to the Soul Stream. You might not 
be able to feel it... but it is happening. The lost souls of the world 
are finding their rest in the Soul Stream thanks to your powers. With 
each soul purified, my own power grows. Soon I will have the strength to 
start the purge of the living. I will vanquish all evils and build the 
new world with the force blessed upon me by the purification of the very 
same spirits that shaped my existence. However the only way to clean the 
hearts and souls of the living... is to exterminate them all. Then allow 
their souls to pass through you and enter into the Soul Stream. As 
horrific as this act will be... it is the only way to begin building the 
new world. To bring about any true semblance of a Holy Realm."

Rune scowled at Ayurveda. "...Y-You're a monster! You really think 
killing people is going to make things any better?! You're doing the 
exact same thing that happened to the souls that created you! It's like 
you're trying to wash away blood with more blood!"

Ayurveda crossed her 'arms'. "I cannot expect you to understand any of 
this, Rune of Eltah. But this was the fate that was destined to befall 
the world. While piety equals benevolence, benevolence is not always the 
correct way to quell evil. Thus total piety can never protect the peace. 
If the transgressions are not ended here, people will continue sinning 
and will not think twice about doing so until their souls are rendered 
irredeemable. The only way to left prevent that... is to destroy their 
mortal flesh now. And then let their free souls pass through you. If 
there were another way... I would have chosen it. My new purity proves 
the horror of my actions with the heaviness of my heart. But it is a 
matter of the lesser of two evils. If I must choose between a brief 
moment of slaughter and eternal happiness there afterwards, or the 
eternal continuation of a world that guts itself upon sin and 
wrongdoings... I think my choice is by far... the most logical one."

"But does that make it the RIGHT one!?" Questioned Rune angrily, 
"...This is why my father took me away from Lemarchand, isn't it? He 
knew that something bad would happen if I fought in the Contest of 
Heaven and Earth!"

Ayurveda sighed. "...Richard of Eltah tried to avert destiny and failed. 
In some way, shape or form, you would have fought and killed Helene. 
There was no escaping that outcome. When Richard was an archbishop in 
the Avernae Church, somehow he learned of the truth from a man known as 
Oro. When he learned of your fate he took you away to Frayne Island 
shortly before his death at the hands of the Angel Knights. This 
subsequently ended the friendship between yourself and Helene. I take no 
pleasure in admitting that this was the regret that I had Vohraphamon 
manipulate in order to bring out Helene's powers. She... was the light 
to your darkness. The good to your evil. But... in reality... the 
hatreds of the spirits that circled within you during the Contest were 
goodness under the perversions of evil. The power that drove Helene 
might have been the representation of the birth of an ideal world under 
human hands... but such a world would have been built on unstable 
foundations of greed. The greed of the Avernae Church. Which itself is 
simply a glorified carcass belonging to something else. To the Rah. "

Rune lowered her face. So this was her answer. She was nothing but a 
tool for purification. This so called Contest of Heaven and Earth was 
just a way of magnifying Rune's powers so that the 'purification' could 
begin. And she had been forced to kill Helene for it. For nothing. All 
the strife that had been caused up until this point was instigated so 
that Ayurveda could find her own decontamination through Rune. And thus 
use her new powers to raze the known civilization to the ground. Tears 
dropped from Rune's eyes. Her Father, Grandfather and Helene had died 
for this. Ayurveda would even kill Satsuma, Baliero, Isabella, Tia and 
Mariah. The friends she still had in this world. 

Ayurveda watched the downhearted and saddened Rune. "I know this must be 
hard on you. But it is necessary for any kind of peace to take place. I 
will convey you to a safer place. The cataclysm has already begun... but 
you shall not be dragged into it."

Nothing more was said from Ayurveda. She placed her hands together and 
chanted in an old tongue. Probably Et Ohm. Rune (with Helene's body in 
her hands) was teleported outside of the pillar of light that encircled 
Fretta El La'Bael. 

**********

Rune blinked when she found herself out in the open, on a tall hill a 
few miles away from the pillar of light. But that rising beam was still 
clear from that point. Rune placed Helene's body to the ground and 
crouched down with it. She looked over at everything that was taking 
place. The darkness hanging in the sky. The rain of fire that was 
burning everything. The pillar of light surging upwards from Fretta El 
La'Bael. But after that she looked down upon Helene.

Sweet, beautiful Helene. 

Though Rune had been controlled... it was via her hand that Helene had 
died. She killed the girl with her own sword. And for what? For this 
nightmare? Rune couldn't take it. She could not stand the idea that 
suffering had been caused just to bring about more suffering. But there 
was one thing that she knew she could do to amend some of it. Rune 
closed her eyes and placed her hand above the bloody wound in-between 
Helene's breasts. This was a powerful and ancient magic she was about to 
invoke. But now that she had unlocked all of her powers, it was not 
beyond her. The bright plum-coloured glow of Rune's magic returned 
around her hand. That magic was passed into Helene's still body. Slowly 
it had a result. The lungs that had been pierced began to heal. The 
flesh that had been torn through did the same thing. And a few seconds 
later... her heart began beating again. 

Rune lowered her hand and took a deep breath. Magic of that kind was not 
very easy to manipulate. But she had done what she wanted. Helene's 
eyelids flickered. And then opened. Her whole body jerked up with shock, 
while Rune simply smiled at her. 

"...Rune?" Gone was the bloodthirsty Helene that had broken off Rune's 
arm up on the tower. She was back to her normal self, "...What's going 
on here? What happened?"

The Scion of Earth breathed in. "...I can barely understand it myself. 
But from what I can see... spirits and conjoined willpowers were 
controlling us. To fight for them. But the true purpose of the fight was 
to fully awaken my powers. My powers of soul purification. Now a soul 
entity named Ayurveda wants to use me to purify all the spirits of the 
world. Just after she kills all their mortal bodies."

Helene was gob-smacked. "...I don't believe this... but... we... can't 
let this happen. Wishram and my Father are still in Castel. Your friends 
are there, too. I'm not sure if I understand what is going on now. 
But... I believe what you say. I feel... connected to you, Rune."

"Yes," Rune nodded, "I feel the same way. But what can we do about 
this?"

While Helene and Rune discussed that on the hill that overlooked Fretta 
El La'Bael, the violent calamity that Ayurveda was bringing down on the 
entire earth was taking a turn for the worst. Over in Castel, many of 
the houses and buildings had been burned down. Queen Diamond and her two 
sons had been evacuated to a secret underground base below Phoenix 
Castle. But the people of the town were not faring as well. In the Gold 
Clover Inn, Baliero had taken Satsuma up to her room and rested her down 
on one of the bed. She was still out cold from that magical blast that 
Vohraphamon had fired on her. From the window, Baliero looked out and 
saw everything. The pillar of light, the darkness, the rain of fire. But 
he was also seeing something extra in the book. The flames that were 
coming down from the sky (as a result of the explosion above the light 
pillar in space) were not all dissolving into common fire when touched 
the face of the earth. Baliero took note as one of the descending fire 
shots crashed into the pavement outside of the Inn. But it did not 
remain as a build up of flames. It actually took a shape. The white fire 
transformed itself. Rising ever upwards until it evolved into a human 
form. It came out in the humanoid vein of Ayurveda, but with one new 
addition. A pair of wings (both 1/2 a metre in length) sprouted from the 
sides of their heads. Baliero was thrown for six when he saw this. The 
spawn of Ayurveda (Ayurva) then proceeded to attack a nearby man who was 
trying to flee. The Ayurva flew over to him with the wings on its head 
and threw a punch. The punch was so strong that it smashed the man's 
skull into a mass of bone, blood and brain matter in seconds. Almost 
like an explosion of force. The Ayurva then turned to the windows of the 
Gold Clover. Staring straight into the eyes of a startled Baliero. It 
cast an unreadable look it his direction. Then flew directly toward his 
room window. 

"Holy damn!" Baliero remarked, "That fucker's coming this way!"

In mere seconds, the Ayurva smashed through the window with its 
solidified flame body. The ex-soldier backed up to Satsuma on the bed 
and pulled out Hammon. If anything he had to keep his promise to Rune 
and protect the girl. The Ayurva turned to the man and made some kind of 
a half-shriek, half yell at him. Then launched ahead. Baliero grit his 
teeth and slashed at it. The blade of Hammon hacked through the 'head' 
of the creature. It dissolved back into the flames of its creation right 
after this. Baliero lowered his sword and sighed. Only to notice that 
his sword had been burned savagely. In fact part of the blade was 
melting from the heat of the Ayurva's body. Whatever it was, it was 
powerful. But Baliero kept guard of Satsuma and remained vigilant.

"This is all connected to Rune somehow," He surmised, "I'm sure of it."

Baliero was not the only one dealing with the Ayurva. Over by the Azure 
Drop, Wishram had his hands full with around five of them. With his 
magical powers he was able to dispatch them all effortlessly. But now he 
feared for Helene and the world. If Vohraphamon had truly intended to 
bring about the Contest of Heaven and Earth... this all had to be the 
result. And if that was the case then the Scion of Earth had been 
victorious. What did that mean for Helene? 

Those in Castel were not the only ones having to deal with the Ayurva. 
All across the world, the flames were turning into them. Even Isabella 
and her Blades of Rossellini squad were dealing with them. In the 
country Lemarchand, the humble attendants of the Holy Basilica were 
dying by the dozens as hundreds of Ayurva began appearing in Valencia. 
Even in Geshtar, the mighty fortress of Ottaman XII, Katabul, was being 
attacked by them. Everything was being ripped apart. The rumblings grew 
in strength. The rain of fire increased, thus the Ayurva appeared in 
greater numbers. And few even knew what was going on. 

Over on the hillock above Fretta El La'Bael, Helene and Rune were 
watching Ayurveda's  devastation of the world with deep intuition. They 
both could feel the amount of death and destruction that was taking 
place across the globe. The flow of dead souls passing through Rune for 
purification each second was numbering at the hundreds. And yet... this 
was just the beginning. The more people died, the more souls went 
through Rune into the Soul Stream. And the more that these souls were 
purified, the stronger Ayurveda would get. If something was not done 
soon... the plans of Ayurveda was be achieved without fail. 

"Dear Gods," Helene whispered, "I can feel it all. I've never seen or 
felt carnage like this. It's just... terrifying. How could anyone claim 
to be doing this in the name of a peaceful new world...?"

Rune looked on. "Ayurveda is definitely distorted somehow. Though she 
claimed to have been 'rendered pure' by my powers. If she could still do 
something like this... then I doubt the future she hopes to build will 
be any different to one that came before it."

"But what can we do? Should we fight her?"

"I don't think..." Rune sighed, "That even our magic put together could 
break that pillar of light protecting her. Besides... she was born from 
the combined angst of souls. She's not really alive in the first place. 
Confronting her is impossible."

"Then what should we do?!" Wondered Helene, "We cannot let that 
apparition devour the world if there is some hope to stop her!"

Rune lowered her head. She didn't see anything that could help in this 
situation. Reasoning was obviously out of the question. Fighting her was 
damn near impossible. And finding a way to simply stop the cataclysm of 
their own power was equally impossible. So what? What could they 
possibly do to stop Ayurveda from carrying out her plan? Rune wracked 
her brain for an answer to that. It would not come fast. But after 
careful thought... the reality of this situation was clear. It occured 
to Rune, that the key element in Ayurveda's plans... could be stopped. 
And thus break down her entire hopes for the destruction of the known 
world. 

Rune alone... could end this. 

The girl smiled softly and looked over at Helene. Dear, sweet Helene. 
This would be hard. But she had to do it. For Helene, her Father, her 
Grandfather, for Baliero, and most of all, for Satsuma. To let that girl 
live her own life in the future that she deserved to see. Though Rune 
doubted that Satsuma would ever forgive her for this, it was the only 
way.  

"Helene. Could you do something for me?"

The blonde looked curious. "What is it?"

"I need you to give something to someone for me," The sword-fighter 
reached into her pocket and pulled out something special. A white 
handkerchief with a rose print sown into it. Rune put in Helene's hands, 
"Give this to a girl named Satsuma. She's at a Inn in Castel called the 
Gold Clover. You'll know who she is from the red-hair and the ring 
hairdo. Tell her that I'm sorry."

Helene knew exactly who that girl was, after what Vohraphamon showed 
her, but the girl did not let Rune know of this. "...Why... can't you 
just give it to her yourself?"

Rune lowered her eyes. "...Because I'm never going to see her again."

Now that had Helene confused. But before she could say anything more, 
Rune jerked her around by the shoulders so that they were facing each 
other. Helene gasped but there was a warm expression on Rune's face. 
"Helene. I wish we had more time together. I would have liked to have 
picked up where we left off. But fate isn't always predictable... is 
it?"

"...What are you getting-" Before Helene even finished her sentence, 
Rune drew back her fist and squarely punched the Ferey girl in the gut. 
Helene released a startled gasp as she was robbed of her air, and she 
toppled over with a stunned, open-mouthed expression. Rune grabbed the 
Oracle of Heaven and slowly eased her down to the ground. Helene was 
still conscious, but out of the way. 

"... I'm sorry, Helene," Rune said to her solemnly, "...but I just can't 
have you stopping me on this one. Goodbye... my friend..."

Rune then turned and left the startled Helene behind, walking to the 
edge of the hill. She focused her powers once more. And those purple 
flesh bat-like wings sprung back out of her shoulder blades. Rune then 
took off in flight, in the direction of the pillar of light. Helene 
continued to watch. But that was all she could do. She couldn't 
understand why (whatever it was) Rune was doing this alone. Then the 
pieces all just fell into place for her. Helene's eyes were filled with 
terror.

"...N-no..." Helene strained to say, "...please... don't... do it..."

But now Rune was too far away to even hear that. Once she reached a 
certain height, the young woman stopped in midair. The earthquakes had 
torn up much of the ground around the light pillar. The rain of fire was 
burning much of the surrounding lands. The darkness of above made it 
harder to see. And the ravages of the Ayurva were growing by the second. 
It had to end before anymore damage could be done. Now, all of a sudden, 
a gigantic wave of courage spread through the body and soul of the Scion 
of Earth. The kind of courage that could transcend destruction... and 
defy destiny.

"Ayurveda!" She screamed aloud in the air, "I know that you can hear me! 
I know you can see me! Your farce of a new world will NOT be born! Not 
now or ever! You might be more powerful than any normal person can 
understand! And you might be impossible to kill! But you based your plan 
around one person who IS perfectly mortal! I'll kill her to stop you! 
And that person is ME!"

Nothing more need be spoken. With a look of sheer determination on her 
face, Rune pulled out the Rustam blade. Swiftly. She clutched it with 
both hands, aiming its tip at her body. Then, without any hesitation, 
she plunged the blade deep into her own torso. Rustam stabbed straight 
through her body and stuck out of her back with a rough shot of blood. 

Helene was horrified. "R-Rune...!"

The blood from her mouth dripped freely. And her sight began to turn 
red. But there was a satisfied smile of defiance on Rune's lips. "...The 
Scion... of Earth... is more... than your... tool... Ayurveda. More 
than... the anger... of the people. She is... their... sacrifice..."

And so Rune of Eltah spoke her last words. Upon her dying breath, her 
body plummeted out of the air, with Rustam still lodged inside her 
stomach. Helene, still powerless to move, could only watch with the deep 
sadness, her friend's suicide. While Rune's body fell onto the grass 
below,  her actions began to have their effect on Ayurveda. Inside the 
pillar, the woman born of souls and rendered pure, held her chest and 
scowled. Her sources of power were the purified souls of the world. 
Without the conduit for the purification of souls, Rune, she could not 
maintain her body in the physical world. Ayurveda cried out and her body 
dissolved into nothingness. Bound by the restrictions of purity. And 
with her downfall came the downfall of her plans. The light pillar that 
surrounded Fretta El La'Bael, rising into the sky, started on the path 
to weakening. Helene closed her eyes and looked away when the whole 
thing simply exploded. Enormously so. The echoing bang from the 
destruction of the light pillar went around the world. And the light 
from the blast could be see as far as deep space. Helene held onto the 
hill as tightly as she could to prevent from being blown back. 

But... when the dust was settled, the light pillar was gone.

Fretta El La'Bael remained. The dark clouds that blackened the skies all 
across the globe were now spreading up. Reducing themselves into 
nothing. Until the gorgeous shimmering light of a morning sun could been 
seen in the making. The attacking Ayurva that had landed in towns and 
cities now dissolved just as their master had done. Turning back into 
the little traces of fire they had evolved from. The rain of fire, now 
without the continual support of the light pillar to replenish it, also 
vanished after a few minutes. The Contest of Heaven and Earth had taken 
place... but the new world had been averted. Helene opened her soft 
sapphire eyes to see the outcome. Humanity had been saved from the 
benevolent terror of Ayurveda... 

...but it had cost Helene her only friend in the process. "...Oh, 
Rune..."

**********

A year had passed since the death of Rune and Ayurveda.

When the world stepped out of the ruins created by Ayurveda, it became 
obvious that this was all a result of their folly. The discontent that 
invades peoples hearts. It grows to be ingrained into the very fabric of 
the soul. Creating power. When that power is harnessed with the 
purification of the soul, amazing and terrible things could happen. The 
only way to stop was to make an effort. To live for the right reasons, 
not to die for the wrong ones. When the dust settled, it was clear that 
all three countries had sustained heavily losses. The death toll for the 
night of Ayurveda across the globe was estimated at around 950,000. In 
that short time so many people had died. It was an atrocity no one ever 
hoped to see again. Thus it became understandable that the hostilities 
between Geshtar and Daneland ended. 

A peace treaty was brokered between Queen Diamond and Ottaman XII. One 
that would allow them to rebuild the damage done to their countries. 
Lemarchand had also agreed to this under their new leader. And under 
this new leader, a new religion took the fold. It now was known just as 
'Neo Avernae'.  It had a different name, and most people did not know 
what it was. But did it matter? Not to the ordinary folk. Their lives 
were peaceful now. The war was over. Ayurveda was gone. 

But it would not have been possible without the sacrifice of one woman. 

On Frayne Island, three people had gathered by a certain gravesite in 
Reen Village. One of them was Lieutenant-Colonel Baliero. Leader of the 
New-Life Griffin Panzer Division. In these times of peace a standing 
army was not needed. However the Sacred Knights of the Sovereign's Guard 
had the job of peacekeeping. Which meant doing down those who would 
attempt anything like a coup or a revolution. And in Daneland's union 
with Lemarchand, keeping the peace was a priority. 
 
Beside Baliero was Satsuma. Fully dressed for the day. With a rose-print 
handkerchief hanging out of her chest pocket. She had given up her hopes 
of being a Master Thief. She was certainly worthy of the title. But felt 
that was not her place anymore. She did the other thing she wanted to 
do. Have an adventure. So Satsuma began an adventurer. Not the most 
mature or safe of occupations there were; but it suited her to the 
fullest. Besides, healing a broken heart was easier when you were on the 
run.

Standing astride Satsuma was Cardinal Helene Ferey. The leader of 'Neo 
Avernae'. The old church had been founded for the wrong reasons. Out of 
jealousy and hatred. The same things that gave birth to lost souls. And 
those souls fused to become Ayurveda. In a roundabout way, Avernae was a 
strong cause of the tragedy that took place a year ago. Which was why 
Cardinal Helene was doing her very best to reinvent the image and status 
of the Avernae Church. The Angel Knights had been disbanded. The damage 
done to Reen Village by Angel Knight Vohraphamon (status unconfirmed) 
was repaired shortly afterwards. 

It was the least that Cardinal Helene felt her church could do. But now 
was a time to reflect and pay homage to the one who's sacrifice had 
allowed this. In Helene's hands was a bouquet of rare flowers picked in 
Lemarchand. Helene crouched down to one of two graves, the other 
belonging to Edward. The Cardinal placed the flowers by her friend's 
tombstone with a gentle smile. She then stood back up.

Baliero smiled. "She'll like those. Rare as all hell. Isabella can't 
stop talking about them."

"Their called Amah Lilies," Answered Satsuma, "She saw some once from a 
trader. She told me that she always loved that 'sea' smell you get from 
'um. Of course the only place you can actually get them is from that 
area up in Lemarchand where Amah Village actually is."

Helene nodded in agreement. "They are special. Just like she was."

"Got that right," Baliero then looked to the rosy sunset, "Hmm. It looks 
like I have to be going now. Take it easy, you guys."

Both Satsuma and Helene nodded to Baliero as a goodbye. He couldn't 
spend much time here before sailing out to the mainland. The Sacred 
Knights of the Sovereign's Guard were always busy, regardless of the 
peace in the world. This left behind Helene and Satsuma. Both women 
looked to the grave of Rune with sad, nostalgic eyes.

"...I hope she is at peace," Helene said softly, "I think that is what 
she truly desired."

Satsuma looked over to the Cardinal. "...You were in love with her, 
weren't you?"

"Yes, I am," She replied, "just like you, no? That was the odd thing 
about her. She had this unspeakable magnetism. To draw in the hearts of 
many. And yet with all that power... she did not let it corrupt her 
soul. Rune was as pure and wonderful as newly fallen snow. I doubt that 
I will ever forget her. So I will continue on. To heal the world she 
laid down her life to protect. That will be my role in life."

Satsuma bobbed her head. "...I understand. I'll do my best for her too."

They all had their lives to lead now. Satsuma gave the tombstone of her 
friend one last look then turned to leave. She had gotten over her 
sadness now. It was time to move on. Cardinal Helene was the last to 
leave. With Satsuma and Baliero gone, she gave her last offering to the 
grave of her loved one. The photograph of them together as children. The 
leader of Neo Avernae crouched down and placed it down by the flowers, 
then stood back up again. She would pay homage to those of past. And 
ensure the safety of those in the future. The Cardinal smiled and then 
slowly turned away. "Goodbye, Rune of Eltah."

The heading of the tombstone read; 

 'Rune of Eltah
 AC 774 - 793'

And the little passage beneath that read;

'Saviour of the World'

**********

END OF THE LAST SAGA 2

**********

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