"Firestorm Enigma!!!!" The student screamed as multiple explosions rocked the bedrock of the academy, but a raven monster managed to snatch her arm in a swift move.
The Battle of Black Meadeow have lasted for 3 hours, with neither side showing any signs of retreat or success.
The Figure, now named Unkindness, spreads with ideology and wrath on Zion's soil as he walked on the sky, staring down on his onslaught.
His waves of slaver-beak ravens were relentless, impaling and delivering fatal wounds to the young knights.
But if an attack closes in on the villain, the doves will either devour, deflect, or bear the brunt of the impact, giving him a perfect defence with a perfect offence.
"Still hiding in your perfect defences?" A voice said. "How cowardly!"
Caesar appeared behind Caesar in the sky, delivering a blow coated with blue flames, but the Unkindness caught it easily.
"Still throwing surprise punches?" The Unkindness whispered. "How insolent!"
The two harbingers exchanged blows in the sky, each wounding the other, but only one could heal.
"His attacks are unpredictable and dangerous," Caesar thought. "The embodiment of chaos infused in every strike."
The Unkindness spread its wings, one white and the other black, as they resonated with the sound of light and darkness.
Caesar could feel his attacks getting slower, more delayed in time itself, but the unkindness's wounds were already healed.
"Wait a minute," a thought struck Caesar's head. "He got damaged by the explosion."
As Caesar sprinted in a flash of light, the unkindness pressured him with greater momentum.
"So," The unkindness whispered. "How is Pandorica?"
The words caught Caesar off guard, as his opponent grabbed his leg, sending him into a large pillar, followed by an endless surge of ravens.
"Oh, Caesar." The unkindness tilted his head. "You think Pandorica is your guardian paladin, a saint, a protector."
Caesar summoned a sword to his arm, grazing the Unkindness' cheek with a burning slash. The two continued their exchange, the Unkindness getting faster and faster.
"Pandorica is a goddess, a being beyond mortal and transcendental comprehension," The Unkindness said. "We are not chosen by these gods to be protected, but to be heralds for their divine empire. Only yours doesn't have one."
Caesar's sword ignited in a blaze of blue amber, scorching the air molecules into oblivion.
"We?" Caesar questioned as a raven monster appeared above him, but was quickly dismantled by a column of black energy.
Out of the smoke and heat of the battle, Abyss emerged gracefully, her bleeding skin closing with forbidden precision. She held her umbrella in one hand and her sabre in the other, both glowing with a purple aura.
Her violet eyes were too heavy to move, as in an instant, her sabre was lodged in the Unkindness chest.
"I wonder, I wonder, I wonder," Abyss smiled maliciously. "Do you even have a heart worth destroying?"
The unkindness swiftly escaped the sabre's grasp, but was stopped by Abyss's umbrella.
"Umbre Umbrella." Izobel whispered as a thick, flexible shadow grabbed the villain, threatening to devour his soul and essence.
"Enough!!" The unkindness sends a wave of ravens, disrupting his death sentence.
Abyss' face twisted in a terrifying grin, the hands on her armour groping her body viciously.
Abyss's eyes drifted to Caesar, who stared at her in discomfort.
"Caesar?" Izobel's voice rang out. "A-are you scared of me? Do I look like a monster to you? Do you now see me as a-"
Caesar slapped Abyss, the echo travelling throughout the entire battlefield.
"I hate you so much," Caesar whispered. "And I hate myself, for my death forced her to use you."
Caesar pointed his finger at Abyss. "But mark my words, you foul creature. Stare into the eyes of me, remember my face, cause that will be the last thing you will see when I kill you."
Abyss was quiet, her cheek red and aching from the slap. Suddenly, she laughed. Her hollow screams of amusement rang out like the voice of the dead, a microphone for pure, unfiltered evil.
"Deal," Abyss said. "But look into my eyes too. Scar my presence in your brain, because that will be the last thing you will feel when I use your little girlfriend's body to send you to the depths of hell."
The two stared at each other with pure hatred, but their gaze soon shifted to the Unkindness, his wounds healed and his power growing further.
"But, now." Abyss licked her sabre.
Abyss and Caesar dashed towards their opponent, pressuring him with divine energy and dark divinity.
"I am chosen by a god, Caesar." The unkindness screamed. "A god who sees the darkness of this world, and has endowed me with the power to kill said darkness. We are the same. We are Harbingers."
Caesar's hate boiled within him. His hate for the Unkindness, his hate for Abyss, his hate for the enemy who orchestrated this battle for an obscured endgame.
And his hate reached its limit.
Caesar touched the ground, sending shocks of fire and nuclear explosions as Abyss darkness spread like a plague.
As the Unkindness was pushed further, Caesar pulled him, with Abyss joining him in a devastating punch.
The unkindness's white wing blocked the attack, but he was set ablaze with white flames.
The Unkindness summoned multiple ravens abominations, their claws and beaks tainted with hunger.
"Do not ever lump me with you," Caesar said. "I also want to see into this darkness, more than anyone alive. The secrets beaming inside the oblivion are a beacon that I must not denounce, that I must not silence, a price of intelligence I am willing to pay."
Caesar's blazing sword and Abyss's sinister sabre dismantled through all the abominations, the blade inches away from the villain's face.
As a large raven attempted to push Abyss away, Caesar grabbed her by the feet, sending her closer into the Unkindness's reach.
"But I do not pay with blood." Caesar's voice grew deeper as his white hair shimmered with divine presence. The splatter of colours glowed with intensity, his pathways burning with rage beyond mortality, and his brown eyes were replaced with a golden halo.
Behind the young knight, a pentagram was summoned from the heights of the 3rd heaven. The 5 pointed star glowed with blinding light, Caesar's divinity growing and growing beyond his grasp.
Rubbles flaoted and circulated him like a satellite, flames danced in his wake, motion seemed to move under his command, and nuclear explosions cried in his scream.
Summoned from Abyss's blood, a large pillar emerged from the shadows. The pillar was built of bones and skulls, each skeleton positioned in different prayer styles. The skulls opened their mouths, allowing large roses to grow out, their petals glowing ominously.
As the dark flowers bloomed, multiple snakes were born, their skin shimmering in an evil halo, their eyes filled with deadly venom.
"Umbre Shadow shrine!!!!" Abyss screamed, the skulls, roses and snakes joining her in her commanding tone.
The snakes dug their fangs into the Unkindness's skin, the rose blasted him with pure dark energy, and the skeleton tore his body parts, slowly and painfully.
Caesar's divinity and Abyss' divinity reacted with one another, their rage and hate providing the perfect link for a synergy.
Caesar's body was enveloped in the dark halo, and Abyss's form shimmered with golden and crimson light.
"Divinity Synergy: Dark Pentagram."
The large pentagram and the pillar of bones merged into one, horrifying abomination.
The pillar's skeletons laughed in joy, their eyes and joints coated in flames of different intensity and curse. The roses grew large mouths and dagger-like fangs, their petals discharging flows of nuclear force, each sway creating earth-shattering explosions.
The snakes were given a crown forged from the heat of stars, their scales and venom circulating them like a deadly weapon. The pillar was completed with a large golden pentagram, emitting light that could blind the sun.
Caesar's and Abyss's blades landed on the Unkindness' neck as the pillar dealt their own servings of torturous pain.
"Your doves can't stop attacks coming from all directions." Caesar grinned, his hate solidifying ."Nothing is perfect, you are not PERFECT."
The power of the 3rd heaven and singing darkness was overwhelming for the Unkindness. His blood boiled till evaporation, his body was filled with nuclear explosions accompanied by shadows, his organs moved ferociously, and his cells would stop moving entirely.
The pentagram turned with unprecedented speed, and Caesar's anger was fueled more as the sword dived deeper into the Unkindness' neck.
The Unkindness was done for; he was stuck in a checkmate. The students evolved faster than he could imagine. His death wa-
"I have your father, Albert Gregory Percival."
....
"What did you just say?" A girl questioned Izobel, her head down in sorrow as other pupils surrounded her.
"The school forbade any student from leaving the school." Izobel winced and kicked her feet. "Me and Caesar can no longer go on our date."
Another girl patted Izobel on the shoulder. Her cyan and violet hair, her 3 interconnected pupils, and long, elongated ears proudly showed her elf heritage, with the tattoo "Teodora" running down her neck.
"The school and its rules," Teodora sighed. "And Caesar won't even think about sneaking away. That goody-two-shoes."
Izobel was distraught and restless. "It was all meant to be perfect. I planned a perfect night just for the two of us. We were meant to have dinner in the Bonney Lounge."
"Nice taste, girl."
"And I even booked a night in the Damsel Theme park," Izobel clawed her skirt. "But it's all ruined now."
The dining area buzzed with youthful energy and nobility, as students laughed as they dined together, distracting themselves from the gruelling past and hidden future.
"Raquel, what should I do?" Izobel desperately asked another girl who sat beside her.
Raquel quietly sipped on her juice, listening to Izobel's heartbroken cries. She was in a pink, furry onesie, her mouth hidden under a mask adorned with slaver jewellery.
"Raquel thinks that Caesar should prove himself," Raquel whispered, her voice no louder than a fly.
"Care to elaborate?" Nicole asked.
Raquel looked at the ceiling, as if calculating her words and accents perfectly to build her sentence. "If Caesar really wants to go on this 'Date.'"
"It was a date." Izobel corrected.
"Then Raquel firmly believes that Caesar could, and should, find a way to take you out on the school premises."
"Terrible, Terrible, Terrible," another girl in the group exclaimed. Her skin was as pale as a phantom, her eyes changed colours at random intervals, and a subtle but dangerous aura of electricity crackled around her body.
She raised an eyebrow. "We all firmly know that the only thing romantic about this school is the theatre, which is closed, and the roof. Are you saying that Caesar would stage a date on the academy roof?"
Izobel and her cohorts looked at their companion.
"Silver?" Izobel quietly said. "I think you need to recharge."
"Huh," Silver looked annoyed, her eyes changing to deep scarlet. "Why, because I am a cyborg."
"No, because you are clearly tired and cranky," Teodora said.
Silver wanted to scream and defend her ego, but-
"Raquel, do you mind taking me to my room?" Silver said. "I think I am tired."
Raquel slowly dragged Silver away, both retiring for the night.
Izobel stared at Teodora. "But what if Caesar doesn't want to go out with me?"
"Is he stupid?" Teodora said. "He had better chack his preferences, because you are perfect for him. You are beautiful, intelligent, kind, and curious. You are his missing piece."
Izobel stared at her hands. "Even after what Abyss said to him?" Izobel's chest ached. "What if she told him, you know, the curse?"
Teodora's eyes were filled with pain. "You can't keep using your curse to curse yourself. Caesar will take you out, I swear on the world tree."
"Shush," Izobel said. "That is a serious oath that elves can't just say."
"It tells you how sure I am." Teodora grabbed Iozbel's hand. "And if Caesar won't accept you, you have companions who will do anything to see you smile."
The two nobles exchanged a warm embrace, but Izobel felt she felt something pulling her hair. The invincible force was gentle, as Izobel stared outside the window.
"Oh my god." Izobel whispered.
Teodora glanced in her direction to see Caesar waving at Izobel, behind the window.
"Told you," Teodora said.
Caesar pointed up, nodded, grinned, and vanished.
"Dora," Izobel smiled. "I have a date to attend."
. . .
"You like it?" Caesar said as he held Izobel's hand on the rooftop. "I tried not to set it up on the roof of the economics class because I know how much you hate it."
Izobel was in awe as her heart skipped several beats.
A large cotton carpet was laid on the sloped roof, its crystal-like fur catching the light of the stars and moon, making it shimmer.
On the carpet was a food basket and a bottle of...
"Indigo bliss!" Izobel grabbed the cold glass bottle.
"I also remembered how much you loved the grape taste," Caesar smiled. "So I thought, why not?"
Izobel stared at the setup again. "How long?"
Caesar rolled his eyes to recall the information. "Maybe, 30 brumites, give or take."
...
"So, a carpet?" Caesar asked Pandorica, who nodded.
"And a bouquet?" Caesar asked.
Pandorica nodded again. "Many...wild...flowers...different."
Caesar smiled as he jotted everything down. "The gods are wise."
...
"So.."
Caesar levitated Izobel, gracefully and carefully, and dropped her on the carpet. He brought out a bouquet of wild flowers with dazzling colours, each petal closing and opening as if they were snoring.
"Now, Fair Izobel."
"Now, Noble Caesar."
The two companies wined and dined under the light of the two moons, Iago and Edirp. Their laughs echoed throughout the night wind, their happiness clearing out the darkness in their hearts.
"No, you didn't," Izobel laughed. "I was the one who got the ruby first."
"No, no, no," Caesar smiled. "You got the fake ruby first."
The two companions laughed as their legs touched. They fell on the carpet, gazing at the beautiful night sky filled with marvellous celestial bodies.
"You do not know how much I have wanted this." Izobel clenched her stomach.
"Rough times, I know," Caesar said. "We were so excited to join Black Meadows, and now we are in a war."
The two allowed pleasant silence to linger between them as they stared at the two moons.
"Two distant celestial objects together." Izobel smiled.
"They come once a month to meet." Caesar looked at Izobel. "Their beauty together is unquantifiable."
Izobel looked back at Caesar. "Have you heard of the excursion?"
Caesar sighed. "Yeah. Me, you, Fenrir, Chalybe, Jacques"
"Aurelia," Izobel said.
"Aurelia," Caesar repeated. "And two more students, we have no idea who they are."
Izobel's leg went over Caesar's.
"I feel bad for Aurelia," Izobel said. "I didn't really mean to embarrass her that way. I wasn't sure whether it was me talking or- Abyss."
Caesar's smile weakened.
"Caesar, I am sorry." Izobel sat up. "I know what Abyss said about me killing you, and I still feel ashamed of even using her. Your death was just too hard, and I- and I- and I didn't know what to do. I know I promised, but I just couldn't stop myself."
Caesar continued to stare at the moons and the stars. "Don't blame yourself. I should also be ashamed."
Izobel could feel a tear building behind her eyes."What, why?"
"I was just... too reckless," Caesar said. "I don't really want to vent out all my trouble and -"
"Hey," Izobel touched Caesar's cheek, her palm cool on his face. "Talk to me."
Caesar's hearts fell relieved, but his memory was still cold.
"How can I live with myself?" Caesar frowned. "My power, my privilege, my knowledge, my abilities. But I still hungered for more, and more, and more, and more. My unquenchable desire led me to make stupid and fatal mistakes. My entire world feels like it's imploding on me, and the dead torture me for my greed. And what did my curiosity bring? Abyss is awakened and active in you, Chalybe is walking around smiling with one heart, Fenrir is emotionally scarred and can't stop blaming himself all the time, my father, Izobel... My very own father is missing, my household is in grief, and now, this school trust me to lead an excursion to another city. At least you fought with everything. I fought with my greed, and it almost killed you.
Caesar grabbed his hair. I am scared, Izobel. I always wonder... every day after the battle. What if I had just died?
Izobel listened attentively, her heart rupturing into a million different pieces. She couldn't stand to see her love in pain over the past.
"Caesar?" Izobel said. "Do you know why we all follow behind you?"
Caesar's eyes darkened. "Why?"
A bird landed on Caesar's head.
"Your Curiosity," Izobel said. "Your ability to always ask why. Your ability to always find the truth and find the truth under the truth. We all, very, very, very, very much love you for that. We all love you so much is not even companionship. It transcends just trust."
"Fenrir sees you as an Idol, your existence constantly pushing him to evolve. He grows stronger every day to surpass you, as he sees you as a benchmark for what greatness should feel like."
Fenrir sat on the balcony of the star gazer club, feeling the fresh air.
"Zeus sees you as a brother he never had. You two came from a family that preys on each other, and you both saw yourself as companions closer than brothers."
Zeus violently punched the punching bag. 3000, 4000, 5000, 9000. The apparatus measured his punching speed and power, his dark skin draped in sweat.
"Jacques sees you as an anomaly, an anomaly he wants to study and accompany everywhere, and an anomaly he is too afraid to admit he loves."
Jacques' focus was centred around his machine, his hands greasy, and a girl keeping him company, both nobles laughing with one another.
"Your father saw you as a gift from the gods, a treasure he felt unworthy to wield. He nurtured you to be the best you can be, and you have no idea how proud he is."
Gregory panted in the dark, cold room, the chains digging into his skin, but his heart was praying for the safety of his family.
"Chalybe, your deuteragonist, your other half, your brother with a connection thicker than blood. He sees you as a necessity in his life. Where almost all treasure riches and wealth, you are his anchor to this world and humility."
Chalybe stretched his bow in the field of the archery class, his arrows hitting the bullseye in every attempt. He fired multiple arrows at rapid speeds, evicerating a target into dust.
"And you have me. My life was hopeless and dark, literally, no future to care about, no dream to strive towards, no goals to pursue. But you pulled me out of my shadow and into your light."
"We all love you, Caesar, and you bringing me to this dinner says everything."
Caesar was shocked and dumbfounded, his heart warm and his head dizzy.
"Izobel," Caesar asked. "Can I hug you?"
Izobel quickly hugged Caesar, his head gently lying on her chest, the bird gliding away into the night.
Izobel's blouse got wet, her hands sweating, but she didn't mind.
Caesar's face was filled with hot tears, his walls finally crumbling. His cries were pure and painful, his pain and emotions dancing in his mind as his hand went around Izobel.
Caesar felt another hand, and another, and more. He looked up to see his companions, all of them with tears on their faces.
"We understand, Caesar." Chalybe sniffled. "We all go through this, together."
The future knights cried out their hearts and hidden emotions as they smiled with one another, as the waking of the next day would take them to their next step into destiny.
. . .
The moonlight poured gently through the silk-veiled windows of the high tower suite. The city of Eborny, blessed under the pleasant moonlight of Edirpe and Iago.
Inside, the room was a gentle cascade of warmth. Walls of soft lavender and gold, bookshelves lined with tales of fantasy and reality, and a fireplace humming low with blue emberlight.
She sat by the window, dressed in a flowing ivory nightgown, her hair tied up with a gold ribbon. A porcelain cup of tea, still steaming, was held delicately in her hand. Fingers adorned with thin, glistening rings. She took a slow sip, exhaling softly as she set the cup down on a tiny saucer with a near-silent clink.
Where is he? she whispered to the night. He promised he would arrive.
Every movement of hers seemed rehearsed, graceful, like a noblewoman from a praised age. Even the beautiful Duskingales, beautiful birds that invaded the night sky, still rested peacefully near her, as if drawn by her warm presence.
A bird flew into her room, landing on her arm and transforming into a bracelet.
Her eyes widened, a single tear falling from her eyes. Caesar?
Then came the feeling. A presence that she could never mistake.
She turned without alarm, her eyes meeting the figure perched just above on the rooftop outside. A pitch black silhouette of a young man, cloaked in darkness and subtle secrets. At his side was a beastly creature, its cold silhouette pierced by bloodshot eyes
But she smiled, warm as ever. She returned to her tea, fearless and calm.
You're late, she said, her voice honeyed and amused, as if welcoming a dear guest home from the cold.
The figure reached out and gently stroked the beast's fur, the creature relaxing at his touch. Then a soft bark was heard.
I always arrive when I'm truly needed, he replied.
As the darkness cleared, the figure was revealed. A tall young man, particularly in his teenage years, dressed in an all black regalia. His hair was the rainbow itself, shifting and turning into gradients of different colours, flowing into his neck region, and a well-built, lean stature.
He continued to stroke his beast, A domango. Thick black fur, two curled horns, a bright white mane, 6 powerful legs, and deep brown eyes that spoke of loyalty.
Her smile was warm as ever, making the boy smile. She stretched out her hand, her delicate skin feeling the cool night breeze whispering through.
Come in, she said. The tea's still warm.
The boy's smile widened as his eyes glistened. His Multi-colored pupils shifted and changed, with slow but alluring motion.