Volume 1 Chapter 23 End of the Journey

 Chapter 23 End of the Journey

I

One hour ago, there was a mountain lying at the south of Normania. It was a beautiful mountain cutting into the sky and its peak was even higher than the sea of the clouds.

This was a mountain blessed by the stars in the night sky. Though the world had been corrupted by the ulcer of necrology, and the night sky became starless due to necrological smoke that lingered in the air, the stars would not disappear. High on the mountain, they could still be seen.

But now, this mountain had disappeared and been replaced by an enormous lava lake. After the eruption, the whole mountain sank into the underground world, and nearly the whole mountain was molten into burning lava.

Everything could be destroyed in the lava of the lake and even the Cube of Necrus, inside which a new demigod would have been born, was devoured by the lava and turned to cinders.

Now, the at the bank of the lake stood a giantess of three meters tall with scarlet hair and eyes. Her skin was as grey as the dead, though it was still smooth and graceful. There were nearly no emotions inside her flame-like eyes, and no one would ever know what she was actually thinking about.

Opposite her was a weary barbarian boy. He was born in a tribe and grew up with his sister. He used to work for the Grey Factory, but he still loved the world of nature. He had had to make a choice between wealth of the tribe and his best friend. Without hesitation, he had chosen the latter.

His name was Yanni Greyson.

“Aislina, stop, please. There are many ways to change the world, but bringing death and blood to this world is the worst of them,” muttered Yanni.

“I am not Aislina, Yanni. I am Blightess. We have merged into one, but I take control of this vessel,” corrected Blightess.

“I know, you were once Sylvana, but you have been corrupted by anger and violence,” sighed Yanni.

“Aislina didn’t take control of this body anymore,” Blightess pointed out.

“Where is she?” asked Yanni.

“She is deep in the bottom of our shared consciousness and I guess she will never come back,” replied Blightess.

“I she dead?” pursued Yanni.

“No, I can still talk to her if I dive into the bottom of our consciousness. What do you want to say to her? After all, you will never have the chance to talk with her in the future. Would you like me to get your message to her?” responded Blightess.

“Umm …”

“What do you want to say to her, Yanni?” questioned Blightess

Yanni lowered his head, irresistible tear lingering in his eyes.

“I’m … We’re waiting for her,” stammered Yanni.

“You’re waiting for her … Is that all you want to say?” inquired Blightess.

“No, it’s not … I … I have feelings for her …” stuttered Yanni.

“Look how sweet you are … Anyway, she will know what you say, because we share our memories. Anyway, we’re lucky to have you with us,” Blightess smiled slightly and turned away.

Floria and Starsha walked up to Yanni’s side. Floria put her arms around Yanni’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring hug while Starsha walked up behind Blightess.

“Stop!” shouted Starsha.

“What do you want to say, bard?” queried Blightess.

“What will happen after you massacre the other humans? You will still be lonely and you will have no friends. Nothing will save your hollow heart!” Starsha pointed out.

Blightess didn’t say anything. Emotionlessly, she walked away and her figure disappeared in the mist of volcanic ashes.

II

Blightess was roaming in the vast grassland.

There were some humans’ residences along the way. She wanted to decimate those residences and kill all the humans living there. However, she didn’t do what she wanted …

When the sun went down, she would sat down and rest. Obviously, since Master Mortis had died, the Grey Factory was not functioning normally now and the chimneys didn’t emit necrological smoke into the sky. Therefore, the air pollution had been alleviated.

Looking up to the sky, Blightess could blurrily see one or two shining stars, though they were barely visible. However, there were still some hope born out of those few stars, which meant that the world wasn’t incurable.

In her dream, she would travel in her mental world. One night, she travelled to the bottom of her consciousness, where she saw a garden of beautiful flowers.

There were all kinds of flowers growing in that garden, which was as colourful as a rainbow. Birds were twitting, singing joyful songs, and there was a small sun hanging on the virtual sky, illuminating the whole land.

The air there was filled with the fragrance of flowers, which could never be smelt in the polluted reality at all. Dandelions were floating in the air as well and they were as white as snow in the winter. Even inside one of the most lonely and empty hearts, there was still a beautiful garden where all seasons were like the spring, where life grew.

Blightess could feel that she didn’t fit in here at all because it was a place brimming with joy, happiness and hope, but she lived in hatred, anger and agony. There was a dark aura emanated by her, but this garden was such a pure place that Blightess felt as if she were some sort of intruder.

Anyway, she had to admit that she had never seen such a beautiful place. She could feel her heart being purified.

Aislina was sitting on the grassland. There was a naive smile lingering on her face and when she saw Blightess, she greeted her, waving hands. Under the pure lights, she looked amazingly beautiful.

Since she was much taller than Aislina, Blightess sat down so that she could look into Aislina’s eyes without lowering her head.

“ᛑᛅᚱ ᛅᚱ ᛂᚿ ᚡᛆᛍᚴᛂᚱ ᛔᛚᛆᛐᛌ,” [It is a beautiful place,] exclaimed Blightess.

“Ĭᛆ,ᛌᛂᚿ ᛑᚢ ᛚᛆᛆᛌ ᛁᚿ ᛉᛁᚵ ᛡᛅᚱ, Ĭᛆᚵ ᛒᛂᛡᚯᚡᛂᚱ ᛡᛁᛐᛐᛆ ᛌᛆᚴᛂᚱ ᛆᛐᛐ ᚵᚯᚱᛆ. ᚠᚯᚱᚱᛂᛌᛐᛂᚿ,ᚡᛆᛑ ᛅᚱ ᛑᚢ ᛡᛅᚱ” [Yes, since you trap me here, I have to find something to do. By the way, what brings you here, Blightess?] Aislina smiled.

“ᛚᛁᚡ ᛅᚱ ᛉᛂᚿᛁᚿᚵᛚᚯᛌ, ᛆᛁᛌᛚᛁᚿᛆ,” [Life is meaningless, Aislina,] sighed Blightess.

“ᚡᛆᚱᚠᚯᚱ ᛌᛅᚵᛂᚱ ᛑᚢ ᛑᛂᛐ,” [Why do you say that?] asked Aislina.

“ᛅᚡᛂᚿ ᛌᚮᛉ Ĭᛆᚵ ᚠᚯᚱᚵᚯᚱ ᛆᛚᛚᛐᛁᚿᚵ ᛁ ᛑᛂᚿᚿᛆ ᚡᛅᚱᛚᛑ … ᛁᚿᚵᛂᚿᛐᛁᚿᚵ ᛌᚴᛆᛚᛚ ᛅᚿᛑᚱᛆ. Ĭᛆᚵ ᚴᛅᚿᚿᛆᚱ ᛁᚿᛐᛂ ᚡᛆᛑ Ĭᛆᚵ ᛌᚴᛆ ᛐᚱᚮᚱ ᚮᛍᛡ ᚡᛆᛑ ᛅᚱ ᚡᛆᚱᛐ ᛆᛐᛐ ᛐᚱᚮ,” [Even if I destroy everything in this world … Nothing will change. I don’t know what to believe and what is worth believing,] whispered Blightess.

“ᛐᛁᛐᛐᛆ ᛔᛆᛆ ᛑᛂᛌᛌᛆ ᛒᛚᚮᛉᛉᚮᚱ ᛁ ᛉᛁᚿ ᚵᛆᛆᚱᛑ, ᛒᛚᛁᚴᚿᛂᚱᛌᚴᛆ. ᚠᛆᛌᛐᛅᚿ ᛑᛂ ᛅᚱ ᚠᛂĬᚴ ᛒᛚᚮᛉᛉᚮᚱ ᚠᚯᚱ ᚱᛂᛆᛚᛁᛐᛂᛐ, ᛑᛂ ᛅᚱ ᚱᛁᚴᛐᛁᚵ ᚠᚯᚱ ᚡᛆᚱᛆ ᛡĬᛅᚱᛐᛆᚿ, ᚮᛍᚴ ᛑᛅᚱᛉᛂᛑ ᛑᛂ ᛅᚱ ᚡᛆᛍᚴᚱᛆ,” [Look at those flowers in my garden, Blightess. Although they’re fake flowers for the reality, they’re real for our hearts, and thus they’re beautiful,] Aislina pointed out.

“Ĭᛆᚵ ᚴᛆᚿ ᛡĬᛅᛚᛔᛆ ᛑᛁᚵ ᛆᛐᛐ ᛐᛆ ᛡᛆᚿᛑ ᚮᛉ ᛑᛂᚿᚿᛆ ᚵᛆᛆᚱᛑ, ᛆᛁᛌᛚᛁᚿᛆ,” [I can help you to take care of this garden, Aislina,] suggested Blightess.

“ᛑᚢ? ᛑᛂ ᛂᚿᛑᛆ ᛌᛆᚴᛂᚿ ᛑᚢ ᚴᛆᚿ ᚵᚯᚱᛆ ᛅᚱ ᚠᚯᚱᚵᚯᚱᛆ, ᛂᛚᛚᛂᚱ ᛡᚢᚱ? ᛐᚱᚮᛐᛌ ᛆᛚᛚᛐ, ᛑᚢ ᚠᚯᛑᛑᛂᛌ ᚠᚯᚱ ᛑᛂᛌᛐᚱᚢᚴᛐᛁᚮᚿ,” [You? The only thing you can do is destroying, right? After all, you’re born for destruction, ] questioned Aislina.

“ᚿᛂĬ … ᚿᛅᚱ ᛁᛆᚿᚢᛌ ᛌᛆᛑᛂ ᛆᛐᛐ ᛡᛆᚿ ᛡᛆᛑᛂ ᚴᛅᚿᛌᛚᚮᚱ ᚠᚯᚱ ᚮᛌᛌ, Ĭᛆᚵ ᛔᛚᚮᛐᛌᛚᛁᚵᛐ ᛁᚿᛌᛆᛆᚵ ᚿᛆᛆᚵᚮᛐ. Ĭᛆᚵ ᚡᛆᚿᛑᚱᛆ ᛁ ᛂᚿᚮᚱᛉ ᚡᛁᛚᛑᛉᛆᚱᚴᛂᚿ ᚮᛍᚴ ᚿᛅᚱ Ĭᛆᚵ ᛌᛂ ᚢᛔᛔ ᛐᛁᛚᛚ ᛌᚴᚤᛂᚿ, Ĭᛆᚵ … Ĭᛆᚵ ᚴᛅᚿᚿᛆᛑᛂ ᚡᛆᛑ Ĭᛆᚵ ᚡᛁᛚᛚ. Ĭᛆᚵ ᛌᚴᛆᛚᛚ ᛌᛐᛆᚿᚿᛆ ᛡᛅᚱ ᛑĬᚢᛔ ᛁᚿᚿᛂ ᛁ ᚡᛆᚱ ᛡĬᛅᚱᛐ, ᚮᛍᚴ ᛑᚢ ᚴᚮᛉᛉᛂᚱ ᛆᛐᛐ ᛑᚮᛉᛁᚿᛂᚱᛆ ᚡᛆᚱ ᚴᚱᚮᛔᛔ,” [No … When Yanni said that he had feelings for us, I suddenly realized something. I wandered in the vast wilderness and when I look up to the sky, I … I know what I want. I’ll stay here deep inside your heart, and you’re going to dominate our body,] stammered Blightess.

“ᛡᛆᚿ ᛡᛆᛑᛂ ᚴᛅᚿᛌᛚᚮᚱ ᚠᚯᚱ ᛉᛁᚵ, ᛁᛌᛐᛅᛚᛚᛂᛐ ᚠᚯᚱ ᚮᛌᛌ!” [He had feelings for me, not us!] corrected Aislina.

Blightess didn’t say anything but stared at Aislina.

“ᚴᚮᛉ ᚿᚢ, ᛒᛚᛁᚴᚿᛂᚱᛌᚴᛆ, Ĭᛆᚵ ᛌᚴᚮĬᛆᚱ,” [Come on, Blightess, I am joking,] giggled Aislina.

“ᛅᚿᛑᛆᛆ, ᛑᚢ ᛡᛆᚱ ᚮᛉᛌᛆᛉᚿᛆᛐ ᛉᛁᚿ ᚴᚱᛆᚠᛐ ᛔᛆᛆ ᛔᛂᚱᚠᛂᚴᛐ ᛉᚮᛉᛂᚿᛐᛂᛐ. ᚮᛉ ᛑᚢ ᛆᛍᛍᛂᛔᛐᛂᚱᛆ ᛉᛁᚿ ᚴᚱᛆᚠᛐ ᚠᚯᚱᚢᛐ ᛁᚿᚿᛆᚿ ᛉᛆᛌᛐᛂᚱ ᛉᚮᚱᛐᛁᛌ ᚠᛁᛍᚴ ᚴᚢᛒᛆᚿ ᛆᚡ ᚿᛂᚴᚱᚢᛌ, ᚡᛅᚱᛚᛑᛂᚿ ᚴᛆᚿ ᚡᛆᚱᛆ ᛌᛚᛆᚴᛐᛆᛌ ᚠᚯᚱ ᛒᛚᛁᚴᚿᛂᚱᛌᚴᛆᛌ ᚴᚱᛆᚠᛐ,” [Anyway, you’ve embraced my power at the perfect moment. If you accept my power earlier before Master Mortis got the Cube of Necrus, the world may be slaughtered because of Blightess’ power,] narrated Blightess.

“ᛑᚢ ᚴᛆᛚᛚᛆᚱ ᛑᛁᚵ ᛌĬᛅᛚᚡ ᛔᛆᛆ ᛐᚱᛂᛑĬᛂ ᛔᛂᚱᛌᚮᚿᛌ ᛔᛂᚱᛌᛔᛂᚴᛐᛁᚡ,” [You just referred to yourself in the third person,] Aislina pointed out.

“Ĭᛆᛔᛔ … ᚡᛁ ᛌᛚᛆᛆᛐᛌ ᛌᛆᛉᛉᛆᚿ ᛐᛁᛚᛚ ᛂᚿ …” [Yep … We’re merging into one …] muttered Blightess

III

The journey towards Infernal Mountain was full of danger and thrill, while the journey back home was safe but boring and the four didn’t talk much on the way.

After one month, they arrived at Starshine Village.

The place where Sir Bellum died was now a pond of black poisonous water, at the centre of which was the horrible corpse of Sir Bellum. Around that lethal pond, plants were withering and the soil had turned black too.

When they arrived at Starshine village, it was already night, so they ate dinner and spent the night in Mister Berg’s house. Mister Berg didn’t ask where Aislina was, since he knew that there must be a tragic story.

Sneaking through the window, the moonlight shone brightly on the ground. Floria and Yanni were lying on the bed, their eyes brimming with hollowness. Holding each other’s hand, they tried to dispel the emptiness inside their hearts by feeling the temperature of each other.

To their surprise, they found out that falling asleep in the wilderness was easier than falling asleep on a bed, because there were too much noises stopping them from falling asleep in the village.

Outside the windows, there were some insects humming, and blown by the wind, the trees were rustling. Though those slight negligible noises wouldn’t break the tranquillity at all, the siblings still felt difficult to sleep because of them.

Insomnia … Insomnia was a kind of illness. It would eat up the heart and vigour of people. Nothing in this world could conquer the power of insomnia …

“Floria?” called Yanni.

“You’re still awake …” responded Floria.

“So are you,” Yanni smiled.

“Just try to sleep, Yanni,” encouraged Floria.

“When will it end?” asked Yanni. He was still thinking about Aislina and thus it was hard for me to fall asleep haunted by lovesickness.

“I don’t know, Yanni. Maybe one month, maybe one year, or maybe one whole life,” breathed Floria.

“You’re not helping,” complaint Yanni.

“I’m sorry,” apologized Floria.

“Where is Blightess now? Will we fight with her in the future?” questioned Yanni.

“I don’t know. As Starsha once said, the future is full of uncertainty. No one knows what will happen. Anyway, you don’t need to be sad, Yanni. Our fate has been bound up with Aislina’s, and our paths’ are destined to cross. I am sure that you and she will meet again very soon,” Floria assured him.

“Very soon?” queried Yanni.

“I’m not sure … But one thing is certain: with or without Aislina, I’ll always be with you, Yanni,” whispered Floria.

“You’re the nicest sister in this world,” murmured Yanni tenderly.

“Thanks…” giggled Floria.

“What will we do in the future? Now the Grey Factory has been decimated by us, but obviously, there’re still many things we can do. We’re given those power by the Spring of Sylvana, and we have the responsibility to do something,” inquired Yanni.

“Maybe we can be some supervillains,” guessed Floria.

“Supervillains? That’s a cool idea,” Yanni pointed out.

“Our path will not be a lawful one. After all, we have already been wanted criminals in Normania now,” joked Floria.

“That’s true. We’re the sinister siblings,” agreed Yanni.

“Sinister siblings … Hilarious, Yanni. Anyway, I know that your heart is broken and you’re feeling sorrowful right now, but you will get through this and I will help you,” Floria patted on her brother’s shoulder.

IV

About two months ago, a necroplane of the Grey Factory burnt the Dream Forest to the ground, turning it into a lifeless ashen land.

Now, the four stepped in the Dream Forest once again and to their surprise, in this scorched land, plants commenced to grow once again. Life would always find a way.

At the centre of the Dream Forest lay the remnant of the fallen necroplane which destroyed the forest. Green vines started to frow on the walls in this dark ruins of necrology and soon greenness would dominate this sacred forest of elves once again.

It was an early morning when the four arrived back at the Dream Forest. Crystalline dewdrops were shining on the grass along with the sunlight and the newborn flowers were emanating refreshing smell.

After the apocalypse of darkness and death came a new dawn of light and life. Though the Dream Forest had been turned into broken barrens and Sylvana had died, replaced by Blightess, the Power of Life had now retrieved its domination.

While the four were walking around the ruins of the fallen necroplane, they found out that they were not the only one here. The Farseer of the Wildshadow Tribe was here too. She was observing the wall of the destroyed necroplane, searching for something.

“Mom!” greeted Starsha excitedly upon seeing her mother. She ran towards her and hugged her tightly.

“Starsha! It’s nice to see you. I have received the message from afar that Master Mortis had fallen. Clearly, there wouldn’t be Grey Factory anymore and without the necrological smoke coming out from those black chimneys, some of the stars commenced to reappear in the sky. You have changed the world, my little heroine,” the Farseer praised, her face brimming with joy.

“Thanks, mom,” sobbed Starsha with tears of joy.

“Your friend, that adorable elf girl is waiting for you three in the village now,” whispered the Witch Doctor.

“The elf girl? You mean Aislina?” questioned Yanni.

“Yes, Aislina. She arrived several days ago and she had been waiting for you since that,” the Farseer nodded.

“How is she?” pursued Yanni.

“She is fine and obviously she has already gotten used to the life of humans. Some of the barbarians in the tribe were afraid of her at first because of her horrific magic but now all people in our tribe have accepted her. By the way, I have something important to talk with you, Yanni,” replied the Farseer.

“Me?” asked Yanni.

“Yes. Something is going on between you and Aislina, isn’t it?” queried the Farseer.

“Oh, that’s embarrassing,” murmured Yanni, flushing.

“Love is not a shame, Yanni. Anyway, what I’d like to talk to you is that I think Aislina is not the only elf in this world,” informed the Farseer.

“She is not the only elf? You mean that there are other elves in this world? But where?” exclaimed Yanni.

“There is a sacred place called Sanctum of Life. No one knows where it really is and according to a book called Saga of Cuore Celeste, there may be other elves living in the Sanctum of Life. Aislina is an elf, Yanni. If you two really …” the Farseer pointed out.

“I know. I will be old but she won’t. While I am becoming an old man, she’ll be still a young lady. That’s unfair for her …” muttered Yanni.

“You give Aislina your love because you care about her and you’re afraid of her being lonely. But now, since you know that she may not be the last elf now, you need to consider everything prudently or both of you may regret in the future. Anyway, even though the romantic feeling between you two may not have a good ending, the friendship and the bond shared by you two will never die,” suggested the Farseer.