Snow fell on the already piled path, but the lamp's magical state continued to melt through. Amma continued to bear the burden of pulling the carriage through the difficult journey ahead. The Moirai Summits were in sight– it stood behind a smaller set of mountains, and their gargantuan bodies swirled the Maiden's inner thoughts. The peaks pierced the dark clouds above. The top of the three sister-mountains was so tall that even Tenebrosia could not see it clearly. Such a thought continued to mock her broken veil, which failed to protect the innocence of the one she had grown fond of: Sekai.
"Oh, my sweet thing. Why play like a fool with that child when you are in the face of death? Why, oh, why? You're only breaking your promise further." One of the mountains seemed to speak to Tenebrosia's inner thoughts, a voice she could only hear herself. A voice that isn't real, but it seems so much so.
"You know, you had the power to turn back. Are you going soft for a child belonging to a lesser form of life? Making it seem like this is a journey of hope and adventure? You are no hero, you are a murderer. To HER and to that child." Another spoke, continuing to taunt Tenebrosia. Bringing Sekai along was a mistake so avoidable. But the circumstances of the clan of the Maidens' reputation choose to bring the boy along are only imminent in the threads of fate.
"You, Tenebrosia, are a liar, a false inheritor of a worthy god, and one undeserving of power. You could have abandoned this quest so long ago. Why didn't you? Oh, that's right. All would end either way you help or not. You're but another pathetic insect caught in a spider's web, like the rest of history's heroes that tried to help a world on fire. The maw of death is not escapable. You, out of all, should know that." The final mountain spoke. Tenebrosia had her eyes closed, continuing to listen to a body of heaping stones to mock her for her failures. The Maiden spoke no words, but the toll of it all makes her head spin. Is this truly what destiny sought her to do? The Summits are nearer than ever.
The blizzard consumed the path ahead. Tenebrosia could use her magical abilities to help her along the path ahead as she had before, but the nervousness around her kept her from doing so. The thought of conversing power for anything extremely dangerous was one of the Maiden's top priorities. The path was becoming steeper. Then, she remembered the voice of the Unlightened One back at the Paradigm Observatory:
"I FEEL THE PULSATION OF THE OTHER HALF OF ME... NEAR THE HEAVENS. WHO IS SHE?" Those words, before Tenebrosia forcibly ejected herself from the pedestal weeks ago, struck her like a forest of bells around her. If anything, what the Seer said was true, the only place that could've prophesied everything was the Summits themselves. Tenebrosia looked once more at the trio of mountains and continued to stare at them with empty eyes. Suddenly, that voice of the woman– the one who wore the mask– her unnerving laugh came striking Tenebrosia's mind once more. Everything felt dark; a voice only Tenebrosia could hear. The Maiden kept a poker face, but the voice continued laughing.
"So, you are finally here. I heard your thoughts, my little sorceress. It's extremely strong." The voice taunted. Tenebrosia's eyes got smaller, shaking slightly. The strands of her hair shadowed the fear within her eyes. The journey was about eliminating a demon, but it diverted into a journey of her facing her inner demons. "Questioning yourself? That's adorable. The link between us here is stronger than ever... I can give you answers. I can answer what you want to know, right here... right now."
The Maiden thought of the boy's safety. Danger is imminent ahead, and that source of danger was talking telepathically through the group's sole protector. Amma continued to pull the carriage slowly through the snowy gravel, and Sekai and Aiwa were unaware of everything. Tenebrosia's worries vibrated through the link between her and the mysterious voice. "Is that weakness I sense? Shake once, and I'll destroy you this instant. I'm granting you a thread of mercy," the voice laughed as if mocking the Maiden's soft heart.
"What do you know?" Tenebrosia spoke through her mind, her arms crossed over as she stood tall. The thought vibrated through the link between the two. "Confident now, are we?" The mysterious voice laughed, but then was interrupted by Tenebrosia through their telepathic connection. "Why hesitate to kill me now? You have the power, try so." The mysterious lady laughed, as if what the Maiden said was a joke. "You're hilariously right, my sweet little thing!" She continued to laugh, but then became serious. "But, oh, this is so fun! Such entertainment indeed! A wolf would pounce on its prey as easily as it sounds. But, a hunter likes a worthy prize." Tenebrosia continued to stand without responding.
"Tell me what you know," the Maiden demanded, continuing to stand her ground from a fear she hides with a poker face. "I feel your fear." A pause, and then the voice spoke again. "I won't tell you much so that you won't run and act like a coward. But, I'd add what that Moy'r man told you."
"I've heard everything he said. You must remember what he said, too." The female voice spoke, waiting for a response from Tenebrosia. However, the latter did not speak of anything and continued to listen. This earned a grunt from the voice. "Hmph," she simply huffed. The voice continued to speak. "As the Cardinal said, I am opening the gates of both heaven and hell. To bring forth a century anew." The voice grinned in those final words.
"You must be completing the pieces to who I am, don't you?" The voice laughed and laughed until it continued to speak. "Indeed, I am the Masked Signora. To whom I am truly... is a reward you'd only see by the time you and I meet." Silence. The carriage continued to stroll with the Mayuno pulling it, the Padomas boy, and the Dunwanku from within the mobile abode continued to play. However, such were the sounds of the movements around her that were void from the Maiden's perspective
"Don't be shaky now, you're getting close. I don't wish to fight a weakling if a battle were to happen–" "Stop with the bullshit and just speak of what you know. You told me you'd say what you'll–" Tenebrosia tried to interrupt, but she too was cut off by the voice. "Don't interrupt me." The voice distorted momentarily. Once more, the Masked Signora spoke. "As I was saying, the gates of Elysium and Hades will open to bring forth a new age. A new age... where you and I will rule, you see."
"What?" Tenebrosia exclaimed through the mental link. "I can't exactly push through your memories with my powers... but I know you've been discovering more and more of your past. Whatever you are uncovering from the deepest abyss of your thoughts, you'll get the answers, and I'll give more once we meet." The Masked Signora spoke, and then Tenebrosia added.
"What about the Directors of the Conjuration Parliament?" Tenebrosia asked, with a tone cold as ice. "Let's just say... they're alive, but not in good condition. How else could I ask the audience of the guardians of the earth without their elemental magic?" Tenebrosia widened her eyes. Those giant creatures she saw back in the Firn Marches... the guardians of old? However, the Maiden felt a pulse of magic around her body. The link was gone.
An orchestra of anxiety sang its terrifying melody through Tenebrosia's being. The drums of uncertainty blasted her inner thoughts, the trumpets of fear sounded their blares, and the opera of clouded memories pieced themselves together to form a voice of dread. "Tenebrosia...?" The fogged remnants of the past came striking the Maidens once more.
A flash of white struck Tenebrosia as she closed her eyes.
A young Tenebrosia's hand was bloodied– a memory that struck her right at her heart. That face.
Ragena.
The flashes of memories... that figure... that same mask.
The memory ends here.
Tenebrosia widened her eyes. It once again shook her pupils and covered her face. Not a tear did run down her face, but only utter shock. Killing her mentor? This hardened herself, doubting if she could even be a heroine in this quest. This made her doubt, and it further fueled her fear.
"Misssssssss!" Sekai yelled from within the carriage as he opened one of its windows. The squeaks of Aiwa followed his calls. This caused Tenebrosia to snap out of her vacuous behavior following the revelations of the memories. "Yes, little one?" She replied through the muffling winds of the cold north. "We're hungry!" Sekai yelped as his hair was getting covered by snow, as well as his Dunwaku companion. "Typical," Tenebrosia muttered before stopping the mobile abode with a powerful tap on it, causing Amma to stop the carriage with a loud trumpet.
Tenebrosia drops off by jumping off the carriage and leads the Mayuno to a secretly hidden spot to rest for the night. Sekai's voice was a light within a space devoid of it. A void began swallowing Tenebrosia, uncertain if a glimmer of shine could save her from a sea of darkness.
Darkness swallowed the skies, leaving only the moon and dots of stars to linger in the night sky. The winds howled, and the blizzard breathed its terrifying storm upon the Graupelwind Plains. The Moirai Summits stood only thousands of meters away. Their gargantuan bodies towered over the smaller, bumpy mountains below. The cave they were hiding in was small, but enough to muffle the sounds outside. For the boy and his beast-companions, only the crackles of the campfire and the faint sounds of the harsh blizzard outside can be heard. Sekai decided to sleep beside Amma, as Aiwa snuggled within the Padomas boy's arms. However, what the Maiden was experiencing was only the continuing haunting tunes of her sins.
Her heart was wrapped in thorns made of guilt, sadness, and doubt. Tenebrosia stood at the entrance of the cave; her eyes hidden by thick shadow. The heart she had guarded so valiantly began to crush the walls around it. A heart once so proud of her name, declaring the pride of her Elder Ragena. The feeling was intense, as if the Maiden's soul was being bathed in scorching magma. The pride she had as a Maiden of Darkness turned rancid and into shame. Murderer of the very mentor– the very guardian that raised Tenebrosia as an orphan of murdered parents was nothing short of terrifying. The victim of murderers became one herself. The manifestations of her sins turned its mirror to reveal a hypocrite who hid the reflection away with a pathetic excuse of forgetting it. Even when her memories were fogged and the remnants of her history, her own sins haunt Tenebrosia.
—
The sun barely made its presence known through the winter clouds. Sekai slowly stirred from his sleep, slowly raising himself as he stretched his arms and let out a pitiful yawn. Beside him, the Mayuno slowly awakened from its slumber, and the Dunwaku squeaked in delight for a new day. "The journey continues, little ones." The clinking footsteps of the Maiden's boots were heard by the three, along with the crackles of the fireplace. Tenebrosia stood a few feet away with one hand on her hip, with a face prepared for the final steps of the journey. Tenebrosia had her signature smirk; once used to be of arrogant signature, now turned with a bit of warmth. "Get up, the journey is about to finish."
"But, miss, breakfast!" Sekai yawned as he childishly lay on Amma's side; his fur was as soft as silk. "There are rations by the carriage's closets. Help yourself and your charming little vermin," Tenebrosia replied with a strange warmth in her voice.
The carriage continued its journey through the Graupelwind Plains; the Summits are nearer. Tenebrosia looked upon the sister-mountains; the gargantuan edifices towered over the group. The gravel path ahead led directly to a gigantic crater that still smoldered with fresh ashes, and faint smoke was visible. Massive claw marks, the length thrice as the carriage, and Amma together were seen. Giant draconic footprints that dwarfed the Mayuno led deeper to the foot of the Moirai Summits. The massive trees that rivaled the sizes of spires effortlessly crumpled and were torn apart; their pieces, both great and small, lay pathetically on the snowy ground. For someone close to the threads of mana, the infernal energies around the site were nothing but demonic. "The demon," whispered Tenebrosia, who stood at the top of the carriage's roof.
Suddenly, acres of the surroundings became dark and magenta. Thunder crackled from the ground, and its writhing crackles struck the surrounding few standing trees, barely hitting a panicked Amma and the carriage. Sekai opened a window and yelled, "What's happening!" His panicked voice muffled from the gushing winds; the source of it was at the center of the crater. The thunder continued to sprawl, and Tenebrosia's heightened senses to the weaves of the arcanes caused her to momentarily strike. A Titan of Inferno. 'I thought it was just another big brute... a titan?' Tenebrosia told herself within her mind. The power of such a god-like beast shook her. The veil of the three worlds needs to be ruptured significantly to open a gargantuan way for a Titan of hell to emerge successfully into another world. Just as she thought back then, when Edward told her about such a gargantuan demon, her sole quest was to solve it. The ground began to shake more violently. The blizzard fused with the cursed magenta and the crackles of thunder emerging from the crater's depression. From the ground emerged a humongous draconic demon. Its head appeared monstrous and reptilian, its body was stocky, yet its neck was long; a tail that could span several yards with ease. The size of the creature towered over the group; its clawed paws dwarfed Amma. When the infernal Titan's red eyes glowed, and its breath began to prepare for a fiery blast, Tenebrosia acted with no time. The safety of her companions is her main priority in the face of potential infernal death.
—
THE SCROLLS OF REVELATIONS
[Titans]
Titans are often classified as extremely powerful entities that only the elites of heaven or hell's denizens could achieve. Scholars classify these Titans as quasi-essential gods, having been known in myths to be the "first lords" of the heavenly realms of Elysium and the deathly landscapes of Hades. Conversely, they are the "lesser rulers" who live in the realms of the gods that rule the domain they inhabit.
To be precise, arcanic studies of these beings are often impossible, and whatever knowledge we can ground on logical factors is extremely limited. However, the First Generation of our history often tells us that these Titans have accounts often in mythological contexts to have destroyed lands or created life, whether by intention or not. These accounts range from either angelic or demonic origins.
Scholars cited that when mortal intervention came and strengthened the veil that separates our worlds with unionized magic at the end of the First Generation, Titans were sealed to whatever realm they came from. This made it impossible for a Titan to naturally enter our world or the other without a giant scar that could make it enter. However, such a feat is logistically improbable and would require a powerful union of all the seven elements to tear the veil and weaken it once it was during the earliest era of mortal-kind's advancement.
—
"MACALGE!" Tenebrosia chanted, and from beneath the Titan's form appeared a portal where the smaller Mistress Hecate appeared once more. Her heels came first, striking the demon right by its chin before delivering a flurry of punches towards its face. The gargantuan fiend let out a monstrous roar as Hecate's distorted laughter was heard. The furious strikes of the demoness staggered the demon backwards. While the Titan was distracted, Tenebrosia jumped down from the carriage and looked back at Amma with Sekai and Aiwas' heads exposed from one of the carriage's windows. All of them were terrified and in awe, their eyes shaking. Sekai's mouth was agape with fear. "Run! Scurry to that opening by the trees. Quickly!" Tenebrosia pointed to an opening: a narrow crevice that led higher to the mountains just past the two demons fighting, with its entrance being surrounded by torn trees. The Mayuno quickly huffed before stomping its way to the opening. Sekai and Aiwa watched Tenebrosia's expression: it was her smirk and a wink before turning around and jumping high to battle. Amma continued to pull the carriage with all the might he could muster to be at his fastest. The Padomas boy and his Dunwaku companion watched as Tenebrosia and her demoness took on the Titan of Inferno.
Amma pulled the carriage successfully through the crevice and into the clearing. The entrance to the crevice, however, was now blocked by heaps of collapsed rocks. Only the sounds of the Titan's roars were heard with the battlecries of the Maiden, along with the laughter of Mistress Hecate. Sekai went outside the carriage to look along with his Dunwaku companion to check. "Miss! Miss!" The Padomas boy yelled, his tail wagging intensely as his grip on his wooden staff got tighter from anxiety. The nervousness of his guardian being hurt in a battle against a giant of that size. Aiwa followed, going up to the boy's shoulder and squeaking. In a moment, Amma's trunk rested on Sekai's other shoulder, causing the boy to turn around. His eyes were trembling as drops of tears fell. However, the Mayuno gave a gentle huff, as if telling the Padomas that their Maiden would come back eventually. Sekai shook his head before wiping the tears away. He tried to utter a word; however, before he could, the crevice began to shake violently from the collateral damage caused by the fight on the other side of the blockage.
Amma immediately grabbed Sekai (with Aiwa wrapped around his neck) with the Mayuno's trunk before trampling away. There was an opening ahead, and the cave they were in began to crumble. Heaps of snowy rocks and ice fell upon the group; Amma continued to sprint towards the exit of the cave. However, the ground was beginning to give way and collapse. Unfortunate befell the group as a sinkhole from the fight on the other side of the blockage began spreading more of its collateral damage. The carriage was caught by the sinkhole, leaving Amma to struggle with the weight of the burden the vehicle was causing it. The Mayuno released a loud trumpeting from the pain of the carriage's weight after letting go of Sekai. The Dunwaku squeaked in terror. The Padomas boy, still holding his staff and Aiwa on his shoulder, rushed to Amma's saddle. Sekai began destroying the rods that the saddle was attached to the bogie. "I don't want to hurt Amma by accident with the power of the talisman...!" Sekai grunted as he began harshly hitting the rods with his staff. Seeing this, Aiwa began helping by loosening the hardwood rods by chewing rapidly on them. After a few short moments, the rods were beginning to crack, but the sinkhole was growing larger. The Padomas boy then looked back with a cold sweat running down the side of his head. In a flash, he gave the carriage one harsh tap with his staff, and it fell into the sinkhole. The Mayuno was free from its burden and began trampling away.
The carriage was lost, but their lives remained. Amma rushed towards the opening as Sekai and Aiwa held tightly on his back. As they finally reached the exit, the cave they were in was swallowed by the ground. However, the environment is still not truly safe. The screeches of a giant creature. A distorted one, both deep and high, and both humane to beastly. From the blizzard, the same angel that took the form of a giant pale dragon of many marbled statues of men and women that adorned its body made its presence known. Its body was covered with dozens of bangles of halos, and it glowed with its heavenly rays. Its charged body was heading directly at them. Its mouth glowed yellow as it seemed to prepare an attack with its breath. Time seemed to freeze. Amma froze, and its eyes widened in terror. Sekai's mouth was agape, and tears began to slowly form on the sides of his eyes, and Aiwa hid on Sekai's neck. The face of death seemed imminent to the group.
Within the flash, as if the group thought all little bit of hope was lost, she appeared. "Open wide!" Tenebrosia rode upon the infernal Titan's back; Mistress Hecate was, by the literal sense, grabbing its horns and leading its directions, steering the infernal titan to where it would go. As the giant pale dragon was only a few seconds away from closing the gap between its jaws and the trio, the titan's jaws bit into the angel's neck. The demoness Hecate and the Maiden jumped from the gargantuan beast's back the moment its jaws collapsed on the angel's neck. The two Titans of heaven and hell collapsed to the ground below and began to struggle with one another. Tenebrosia landed with style, and Hecate unmanifested the moment the demoness's heels landed on the snow. "Another Titan? So, it seems." She murmured. Tenebrosia's heightened connection to the threads of magic made her feel something. The pulsation of its mana was at the same height as the infernal giant.
"Miss! The–..." Sekai yelped out for his pedagogue and rushed to her. Tears running down his cheeks. Tenebrosia already noticed the missing carriage. Aiwa squeaked, and Amma huffed. She noticed the collapsed caves from behind them. "The carriage..." The Padomas boy weakly sighed as he began to break down; the Dunwaku wrapped its body around the boy's neck. "No need to fret over that, little one." Tenebrosia's voice spoke. The Maiden took on one knee and even kneeled further to match Sekai's small height. Her gloved hands rested on the boy's fluffy hair. "Survival matters most in this world. Whether you like it or not, I'm proud you saved your friends." This made Sekai halt his cries and look at Tenebrosia's eyes. Her deep blue eyes were seen through her rosy glasses. The Maiden stood up before looking upon the open space where the two Titans crashed. They began to slowly rise together in a writhing cloud of war. The two brutes of heaven and hell began fighting tooth and nail. "Hurry up further to the Summits, before we're their target once more!" Tenebrosia hurried the group upwards the path to the mountains as the two Titans were distracted, attacking one another.
Sekai continued to be frozen before snapping out of it and focusing on the objective of getting to safety. He immediately rushed to the Mayuno with a clothed Aiwa on his shoulders. The boy sat tightly on Amma's back before the beast trampled away. Tenebrosia, however, was on the lookout, jumping from one high place to another to observe both the Titans and the trio. As if anything could get better, time for everyone seemed to be distorted. "Oh, Tenebrosia... you're a fool." The voice of the Masked Signora that she could only hear. Suddenly, the two Titans halted for a few moments as the trio continued to ascend upwards to the stones of fate. And with a blink of an eye, the two giants of heaven and hell began an unconventional coordinated chase. The infernal fiend chased the trio through lands while the angelic beast soared from above.
"I should get a vacation day after this," Tenebrosia sighed with her hands on her hips. "DIU EOPHAN... MACALGE! The Maiden chanted as she performed her ritualistic poses and dances. From the skies soared the demonic beetle Apate from a portal as it challenged and slowed the Titan of Heaven. From the ground, Mistress Hecate appeared once more and pierced the eye of the Titan of Hell, significantly slowing it down. The trio continued to charge forward up the mountain without halting or looking back.
The Maiden's demons were doing everything they could to stagger the two gargantuan beasts from utterly wiping the three from this world. With the attacks from both Apate and Hecate seemingly harming the Titans, their attentions were redirected to the two demons that attacked them. The screeches of the much smaller queen scrab Apate clashed with the giant of the heavens' roars, exchanging fires of both infernal and divinity. The demoness Mistress Hecate continued to pierce deeper into the eye of the giant hellish beast, causing it to writhe in pain and force its direction onto a wall. The moment it crashed onto a mountain wall, the demoness jumped backwards and unmanifested before hitting the ground. In the skies, Apate delivered a scarring attack to the scales of the angelic beast with its claws, causing it to shriek in pain and fly upwards.
Tenebrosia jumped from a nearby cliff and landed with grace, running with the trio as the Infernal Titan began its composure, only being angered by the injury it took from the Maiden's demonic pact. It's one remaining eye engulfed in lavender flame, and it began its chase. However, as it chased, the scarab returned and landed on the Titan's reptilian nose, before glowing and exploding into magenta; it left magical debris and Apate's flesh scattered around. The blast was strong enough to paralyze the Titan momentarily with a following, beastly roar. "She'll be back," Tenebrosia spoke while looking back, continuing to run on foot.
"Do you really think it'll be that convenient for you?" The voice of the Masked Signora was heard once again only through the Maiden's thoughts. From the skies above came the angelic behemoth flying down with its wings. It screeched terrifyingly; its divine light piercing through the thickest clouds of snow. Its jaws began to open as it focused on the Mayuno, with Sekai and Aiwa still at its back. Sekai noticed this and screamed, followed by the muffled squeaks of the Dunwaku. Before its jaws could clamp down on the three, Tenebrosia summoned a fist of the demoness Hecate and landed a critical uppercut, directly punching its uvalva and the roof of its throat, causing it to roar and land on the side. "I'm losing my patience for the trickeries you have in store," Tenebrosia murmured while continuing to run; a breath of exhaustion did not escape from her lips.
As they ascended, the brute bashing beneath the foot of the mountain resulted in an avalanche. Rocks and heaps of snow tumbled violently downwards the slope of the stone edifice. If the jaws of the titans can't succeed in clamping down on the group, then the jaws of the stones of fate may do it themselves.