by It was a dark and rainy night as Selenia practically forced herself to walk back to the guild hall. Each step was full of agony, both pain and sadness. It'd been about three days since that fateful event... the job that had been so promising, with the bonus reward being a golden key of the Zodiac. How had it all gone so wrong?
"What do you think this thing is gonna be, Xavier?" Selenia asked, smiling as the sun shone down.
"Not sure, honestly. But it won't be anything too hard to handle for us, right?" Xavier grinned, winking at me. I blushed a little, turning my face and pushing my hair to the side. That guy always knew what to say...
"Don't get ahead of yourself. The first thing we're supposed to do is do some reconnaissance, got it?" Vi demanded.
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist. We're not going to rush into anything," Damien replied, annoyed.
"That's what you'd like to think, isn't it? It's too bad you mages had to come here. I'm not done with my task yet. I guess that means I have to kill you; can't have you interfere with the sacrifice, after all," a voice whispered out of nowhere. The world around suddenly vanished, as though all the light had disappeared from the world. In seconds, we were completely enshrouded by darkness, and it was impossible to see anything. Selenia raised her hand in front of her face to no avail; there was nothing to do but take a stand.
"Look at the frightened little mages, all quivering. This should be a nice snack... I hope he doesn't mind if I take you all for myself. And I think I'll start... with you," the voice said, growing louder right at the end. Without us realizing it, he struck, and it was only when I felt the warm blood splattered on my face that I realized that Damien, who'd been standing next to me, had been killed without warning, not even given a chance to scream.
"Ooh, that was too easy. I guess this will be quicker than I thought, huh?" the voice said, chuckling.
"I won't let... I won't let you!" Xavier shouted. Although I couldn't see him, I knew his face was set in grim determination; this was by far the strongest enemy we'd faced, able to murder one of my teammates in a single blow. He used his Heavenly Body Magic to cast Heavenly Blast, the bright light allowing us to finally see our enemy. I almost wished I hadn't ever seen it... that nightmare. His body was seemingly made of black mist, an existence that was so heinous that even the dark world we found ourselves in paled in comparison to the aura of evil he radiated. It was as though his body was composed entirely of darkness, save for red and silver metallic blades on his arms which were now covered in blood. His eyes pulsated with black light, and instead of legs he seemed to have a tail. However, the most disturbing sight was his lack of a mouth. For at the sight of it, all I could wonder was where his villainous voice was coming from.
"Don't you realize what I am?" it taunted, slicing its blades through Xavier's magic so that it disappeared. "I'm inside your head. I'm that which you can never escape. I have no name, but you may call me the eternal nightmare. In fact, you should be honored to face me... even if it's only for a few moments."
Inside... inside our head? That had to be how he spoke. But how was he so strong, and what was this monster?
My questions, however, if he could hear them, were left unanswered. Instead, he proceeded to slay Xavier in the blink of an eye, his blade protruding from Xavier's back, having sliced clean through his chest, before the thing retreated into the shadows once more.
"Now then... who is next? Perhaps the blond girl, who is speechless? Why don't you beg me to die already, so you can join your friends in the afterlife?" the thing chuckled.
"Don't... don't let him win," Xavier muttered, just loud enough for Vi and me to hear, before he collapsed forward onto the ground.
"You, you monster!" Selenia shouted, unable to move out of fear. She knew that the nightmare would close in at any second, and so she closed her eyes before she died, hoping it would be over quickly. But then she heard a strange, piercing sound inside her brain, which quickly grew louder, the pain it caused her forcing her to open her eyes. In front of her, although she couldn't see, she could hear the Vi's sobbing and knew what had happened. Vi... Vi had tried to protect her, hadn't she? But why?
"You... you filth! How could you do this to me, to me!" the voice shouted, angrily roaring until at last it faded away. As it left, light came back into the world. But it did not bring happiness with it. Vi stood in front of her, having used her Machina Soul: Demon Lance to spear through it with her arms. But it had also sliced into her body and blood was dripping from her abdomen.
"Vi, please, please don't die!" Selenia cried, trembling. "I can't-I can't lose you all!"
"I'm," Vi coughed, blood spewing forth from her mouth, "I'm sorry. Please... live."
And with that, Vi collapsed onto the ground, her three teammates circled around her in pools of their own blood. And so, unable to save them, Selenia fell to the floor as well, weeping until her eyes were dry.
When Selenia arrived at the guild hall, one of the other guild members was eagerly awaiting her and her team, the reward for the job and Aquarius's key in hand. But upon seeing the dead look in her eyes, he knew that something had gone wrong. And so the guild came to know of her friends' deaths, which she spoke of slowly and emotionlessly; all form of feelings had been sucked out of her, and she'd become a void. It was only later, when she finally realized that she must keep living, as Vi had told her, that she accepted Aquarius's key and began to return to the person she'd once been. Still, it wasn't an easy, and if she had the choice, she would bring her friends back to life even if it meant never having Aquarius's key. While she loved the Celestial Spirits, there were probably other capable summoners out there. But her friends... they would never come back.
~~~3 Days Earlier~~~
"What do you think this thing is gonna be, Xavier?" Selenia asked, smiling as the sun shone down.
"Not sure, honestly. But it won't be anything too hard to handle for us, right?" Xavier grinned, winking at me. I blushed a little, turning my face and pushing my hair to the side. That guy always knew what to say...
"Don't get ahead of yourself. The first thing we're supposed to do is do some reconnaissance, got it?" Vi demanded.
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist. We're not going to rush into anything," Damien replied, annoyed.
"That's what you'd like to think, isn't it? It's too bad you mages had to come here. I'm not done with my task yet. I guess that means I have to kill you; can't have you interfere with the sacrifice, after all," a voice whispered out of nowhere. The world around suddenly vanished, as though all the light had disappeared from the world. In seconds, we were completely enshrouded by darkness, and it was impossible to see anything. Selenia raised her hand in front of her face to no avail; there was nothing to do but take a stand.
"Look at the frightened little mages, all quivering. This should be a nice snack... I hope he doesn't mind if I take you all for myself. And I think I'll start... with you," the voice said, growing louder right at the end. Without us realizing it, he struck, and it was only when I felt the warm blood splattered on my face that I realized that Damien, who'd been standing next to me, had been killed without warning, not even given a chance to scream.
"Ooh, that was too easy. I guess this will be quicker than I thought, huh?" the voice said, chuckling.
"I won't let... I won't let you!" Xavier shouted. Although I couldn't see him, I knew his face was set in grim determination; this was by far the strongest enemy we'd faced, able to murder one of my teammates in a single blow. He used his Heavenly Body Magic to cast Heavenly Blast, the bright light allowing us to finally see our enemy. I almost wished I hadn't ever seen it... that nightmare. His body was seemingly made of black mist, an existence that was so heinous that even the dark world we found ourselves in paled in comparison to the aura of evil he radiated. It was as though his body was composed entirely of darkness, save for red and silver metallic blades on his arms which were now covered in blood. His eyes pulsated with black light, and instead of legs he seemed to have a tail. However, the most disturbing sight was his lack of a mouth. For at the sight of it, all I could wonder was where his villainous voice was coming from.
"Don't you realize what I am?" it taunted, slicing its blades through Xavier's magic so that it disappeared. "I'm inside your head. I'm that which you can never escape. I have no name, but you may call me the eternal nightmare. In fact, you should be honored to face me... even if it's only for a few moments."
Inside... inside our head? That had to be how he spoke. But how was he so strong, and what was this monster?
My questions, however, if he could hear them, were left unanswered. Instead, he proceeded to slay Xavier in the blink of an eye, his blade protruding from Xavier's back, having sliced clean through his chest, before the thing retreated into the shadows once more.
"Now then... who is next? Perhaps the blond girl, who is speechless? Why don't you beg me to die already, so you can join your friends in the afterlife?" the thing chuckled.
"Don't... don't let him win," Xavier muttered, just loud enough for Vi and me to hear, before he collapsed forward onto the ground.
"You, you monster!" Selenia shouted, unable to move out of fear. She knew that the nightmare would close in at any second, and so she closed her eyes before she died, hoping it would be over quickly. But then she heard a strange, piercing sound inside her brain, which quickly grew louder, the pain it caused her forcing her to open her eyes. In front of her, although she couldn't see, she could hear the Vi's sobbing and knew what had happened. Vi... Vi had tried to protect her, hadn't she? But why?
"You... you filth! How could you do this to me, to me!" the voice shouted, angrily roaring until at last it faded away. As it left, light came back into the world. But it did not bring happiness with it. Vi stood in front of her, having used her Machina Soul: Demon Lance to spear through it with her arms. But it had also sliced into her body and blood was dripping from her abdomen.
"Vi, please, please don't die!" Selenia cried, trembling. "I can't-I can't lose you all!"
"I'm," Vi coughed, blood spewing forth from her mouth, "I'm sorry. Please... live."
And with that, Vi collapsed onto the ground, her three teammates circled around her in pools of their own blood. And so, unable to save them, Selenia fell to the floor as well, weeping until her eyes were dry.
~~~3 Days Later~~~
When Selenia arrived at the guild hall, one of the other guild members was eagerly awaiting her and her team, the reward for the job and Aquarius's key in hand. But upon seeing the dead look in her eyes, he knew that something had gone wrong. And so the guild came to know of her friends' deaths, which she spoke of slowly and emotionlessly; all form of feelings had been sucked out of her, and she'd become a void. It was only later, when she finally realized that she must keep living, as Vi had told her, that she accepted Aquarius's key and began to return to the person she'd once been. Still, it wasn't an easy, and if she had the choice, she would bring her friends back to life even if it meant never having Aquarius's key. While she loved the Celestial Spirits, there were probably other capable summoners out there. But her friends... they would never come back.
