Volume 2 Chapter 19 Santo Cielo

Chapter 19 Santo Cielo

I

Nephrenbethys slammed the door of Achnosiris’ office open and stared at him.

Instead of being in power armour, she wore a robe resembling the assassins’, but the colour of her robe was scarlet instead of black.

“צְיַאוֹ אַקְנוֹסִירִידֵי׃”[Hi, Achnosiris,] returned Nephrenbethys coldly.

“וַואיְ הַַ סְפִידַארְמִי. גְייוּסְטוֹ?׃”[You’re going to challenge me, right?] probed Achnosiris.

“הוֹ דוֹמִינַאטַה לַה פּוֹטֵינְזַה דִי אַרְקַאנַה. אִינְַארֵّיסְטַאבִּילֵי אֵינֵירְגַייה סְטַה פְלְוֵינְדוֹ דֵינְטְרוֹ לֵי מְיֵי וֵוינֵי. וַואדוֹ אַ רֵיעַארֵי קְוֵיסְטוֹ מוֹנְדלוֹ אֵי אִילְ פְּרִימוֹ פַּאסّוֹ אֵי֫ אוּצִّידֵירְטִי, לְ אוּנִיקַא פֵּירְסוֹנַה קִי פְּווֹ֫ פּוֹסִّיבִּילְמֵינטֵי פְּיוּ֫ פוֹרְטֵי קֵי מִי.׃”[I’ve dominated the magical power of Arcana. Destructive energy was flowing inside my veins. I am going to rule this world and the first step of it was killing you, the only one who can be possibly stronger than me,] announced Nephrenbethys.

“פּוֹסִّיבִּילְמֵינְטֵי פְּיוּ֫ פוֹרְטֵי… אִינְטֵירֵיסַّאנְטֵי… פֵּינְסִי קֵ סְטַאיְ פְּיוּ֫ פוֹרְטֵי קֵי מִי אוֹרַה?׃”[Possibly stronger … Interesting … Do you think you’re stronger than me now?] probed Achnosiris.

“פֵּירְ צֵירְטוֹ! יוֹ סוֹנוֹ אִילְ פְּיוּ֫ פוֹרְטֵי מַאגַה מַאיְ!׃”[For sure, I am the strongest magician ever!] exclaimed Nephrenbethys.

Nephrenbethys shot a barrage of dark bolts towards Achnosiris. The dark bolts were magical bolts composed of materialized darkness. Pure energy was flowing inside them and they were glowing in whacky scarlet light.

Achnosiris pressed the button on his ring and it commenced to release dark green metallic particles, which assembled into his power armour.

Since Achnosiris was thin and tall, his power armour was taller in size than the power armours of Hetepasis, Totanchinpys and Nephrenbethys. The whole armour of Achnosiris was glowing in weird dark green fluorescent light, making his figure shadowy and blurry.

There were metallic mummy bandages on his power armour, which he could control as if they were some sort of tentacles. Those tentacle-like mummy bandages filled the space of the whole room as if everything were under his domination.

With the help of his armour, Achnosiris became rather agile and he dodged all those dark bolts of Nephrenbethys.

Nephrenbethys released a gigantic dark bolt. Since they two were fighting in a narrow office, it would be extremely hard for Achnosiris to dodge it.

Since that, instead of trying do dodge it, Achnosiris wrapped himself with those metallic mummy bandages as if they were a barrier. That giant dark bolt exploded on Achnosiris’ mummy bandages and gave off a surge of mist. However, those mummy bandages remained intact after the impact.

“אִימְפּוֹסִّיבִּילֵי! פֵּירְקֵי לַה מְיַה מַאגַייה נוֹן פְּווֹ דִיסְטְרְוִירֵי לַה טְוַה פּוֹטֵנְטֵי אַרְמַאטוּרה?׃” [Impossible! Why can’t my magic destroy your power armour?!] demanded Nephrenbethys.

“קֵי אִי מַאגִיי סַאיְ אִינְפַאטֵّי ווֹמִי מוּטַאנְטִי אֵי לַה לוֹרוֹ אַבִּילִיטַה֫ דִי מַאנִיפּוּלַארֵי אֵינֵירְגַייה אֵי֫ דוֹוווּטַה אַיְ לוֹרוֹ גֵיינִי בְּיוֹלוֹגִייקַאלִי דוּנְקְוֵי לַה מַאגַייה אֵי֫ סוֹלוֹ אוּנַה נוֹרְמַאלֵי סוֹרְטַה דִי אֵינֵירְגַייה, אִינְוֵויצֵי דִי קְוַאקֵ סוֹפְּרַאנַّאטוּרַאלֵי פּוֹטֵינְזַה מִיסְטִיקַה.׃” [Magic is just a normal kind of energy which could be manipulated by elves because of their genes, instead of some mystic supernatural power,] smirked Achnosiris.

“אִימְפּוֹסִّיבִּילֵי!׃” [Impossible!] roared Nephrenbethys.

“לַא מַאטְרִיצֵי הַ אַיוּטַארְמִי אַ פַארֵי לַה פְּיוּ֫ דוּרַה דוֹרְמַה דִי לֵיגַה מַאקִّינִיטַה אִין קְוֵיסְטוֹ מוֹנְדוֹ אֵי הוֹ אוּסַאטוֹ קְוֵיסְטַה לֵיגַה מַאקִّינִיטַה אַ קוֹנְסְטְרְוִירֵי קְוֵיסְטַה אַרְמַאטוּרַה מְיַה קֵי אֵי֫ רֵיסִיסְטֵינְטֵי אַ טוּטֵّי פוֹרְמֵי דִי אֵינֵירְגַייה אִין קְוֵיסְטוֹ מוֹנְדוֹפּ!׃” [The Matrix has helped me to make the hardest form of machinite alloy in this world and I’ve used that machinite alloy to construct this armour of mine which is resistant to any known form of energy in this world!] continued Achnosiris.

“נוֹ…׃” [No…] murmured Nephrenbethys, her voice trembling.

“גֵיינֵירַאלְמֵינְטֵי, יוֹ סוֹנוֹ אינְוִיינְצִיבִּילֵי אוֹרַה…׃” [Generally, I am invincible now …] bragged Achnosiris.

Achnosiris held out his hand and shot out a stream of dart-like sharp mummy bandages. Those bandages were glowing in whacky green light because of the energy it contained.

Nephrenbethys knew how powerful Achnosiris’ bandages were, so she conjured a magical barrier composed of materialized darkness and wrapped herself inside it.

Protected by this dark barrier, Nephrenbethys wasn’t hurt by those glowing energetic shooting bandages but the shockwave produced by the impact still sent her hurtling out of the room.

Storming out of the room, Achnosiris found that Nephrenbethys was charging herself and energy was gathering among her hands. Achnosiris knew that the fighting between Nephrenbethys and him would be destructive so that they had to fight outside or Ombra Fortress would be ruined.

Achnosiris shot a stream of bandage, which merged together in the air and transformed into a mummy automaton. The mummy automaton pounced on Nephrenbethys and grabbed her arms.

Seizing Nephrenbethys with his arms, the mummy automaton cracked the window of the office open and jumped out of the fortress.

Outside of this Ombra Fortress was endless darkness because the sunlight of the whole area was blocked by Santo Cielo, that floating archipelago in the sky. There were only several beacons lighting up this shadowy place.

Roaring in wrath, Nephrenbethys shot a dark bolt at the mummy automaton and blasted him into shreds.

Achnosiris jumped to the front of Nephrenbethys and the latter summoned a magical dark barrier. Waving his tentacle-like bandages as if they were his fists, Achnosiris punched Nephrenbethys dark barrier into pieces.

In the intervals of Achnosiris’ attacks, focusing magic on her fist, Nephrenbethys hit Achnosiris on his chest heavily. Achnosiris stepped backwards and started to shoot out some nets made of mummy bandages in an attempt to entangle his opponent.

Though Nephrenbethys’ mechanical wings had been destroyed by Aislina, a luminous magical wing was growing out from her back right now at a visible speed, flapping which, Nephrenbethys soared into the sky.

Nephrenbethys closed her eyes and gathered her power, her shining wings flapping rapidly.

The lights given off by the beacons were darkening and murkiness was gathering … The magic of Nephrenbethys was so powerful that shadowiness had wrapped everything at the scene.

At the centre of all the storms was glorious Nephrenbethys. She was floating in mid-air, her eyes glowing dark blue and her wings flapping.

Staring Achnosiris, she released her ultimate surge of magic. Thousands of dark bolts vibrating with destructive energy were shooting all the way towards Achnosiris.

Achnosiris wasn’t afraid at all. He just aimed at his opponent and shot out a small strip of dart-like bandage. The bandage cut through all those dark barriers summoned by Nephrenbethys as if they didn’t produce any resistance against the bandage at all.

Finally, the bandage cut into Nephrenbethys’ body and slashed her heart into half.

Nephrenbethys’ fell to the ground, her heart stopping thumping.

Achnosiris won.

II

The four arrived at the archipelago in the afternoon and soon the night was about to come. The sun went down and the moon went up. It was a crescent moon.

Moonlight was pouring down gently from the higher sky, dispelling the murkiness of the night. The clouds were darkening, rendered grey by the shadowiness of the night.

Quietly, the whole archipelago drowsed into the night, and under the crescent moon, Santo Cielo was bathed in tranquillity.

Slowly and tiredly, the four climbed up a small hill and went into the clouds halfway up. They couldn’t see anything inside the clouds except the blurry figures of each other, so they held hands in case of getting separated.

Finally, they climbed up out of the clouds.

Under the moonlight, the sea of clouds looked extremely peaceful. It was a cloudy night, and this sea of clouds extended to the infinite distance.

Above the clouds was the hovering solitary moon. It watched over the whole earth quietly, illuminating the world of night. Sometimes when the gentle wind blew by, there will be ripples on the sea of the clouds.

In the galaxy, some stars were appearing.

Below the clouds, the air had been polluted by the humans, especially the necrologists, but beyond the clouds, the air was clear and pure. There were some places that the clutches of necrology wouldn’t reach to.

Breeze blew, and the trees around them began to dance slightly.

They decided to spend the night on this isle and set out the next morning. Although they really didn’t want to stop because every second was precious right now, they were too tired. Their legs were getting so sore that they couldn’t move anymore.

“Aislina, my legs are killing me. You can use your magic to heal wounds, right? Since that, can you heal my sore legs?” pleaded Starsha.

“I want you to heal me too!” begged Floria too.

“For sure I can!” agreed Aislina.

She began to heal Floria’s leg. Particles of green lights were glowing around Aislina’s hand. However, the lights suddenly disappeared and Aislina suddenly slumped on the ground holding her head.

“Aislina, You don’t look well,” whispered Yanni.

“Sorry, I’m just too tired and exhausted,” sighed Aislina.

“My legs are OK, Aislina. Have a good rest,” Starsha reassured her tenderly.

“It’s because of the magic you cast, isn’t it? You have summoned several magical bridges of vines across isles and those spells have drained your power,” queried Yanni with concern.

“Yes. It’s exhausting, and figuring out the direction towards Cuore Celeste is tiring too, Anyway, I can sense Cuore Celeste pretty clearly now and I think we can find the gemstone tomorrow evening,” guessed Aislina.

“That’s good news,” commented Yanni.

“My head is aching,” Aislina moved closer to Yanni and turned to him, blinking her eyes flirtingly.

“All right …” Yanni put his arm around Aislina’s neck and massaged her head gently.

“Thanks, Yanni, that’s comfortable,” expressed Aislina.

“That’s so sweet!” tittered Starsha, looking at Yanni and Aislina.

“What do you three feel now? The doomsday is coming and everything is going to be mechanized by the Matrix,” queried Floria

“I feel somehow peaceful. It’s a strange feeling. But I feel peaceful. In the past, there are something I cannot figure out, but now everything is clear,” replied Aislina.

“Me too. Tomorrow we’ll take Cuore Celeste and start our lives of running and hiding. Anyway, it’s good to have you with us … My life is worth living,” added Yanni.

While they were talking, the stars began to appear in the night sky.

They saw the star sky for the first time one year ago on Infernal Mountain and there they were shocked by the beauty of the stars.

However, Infernal Mountain was destroyed by the epic fight between Master Mortis and the Blight.

Now, standing on a hill beyond the clouds on Santo Cielo, the four could enjoy stargazing once again.

One year had past … Time flew fast …

Last year, they were travelling to destroy the Cube of Necrus and their enemy was the Grey Factory.

Now, they were trying to steal Cuore Celeste and destroy it.

For the stars, one year was just a shortest moment. Maybe those stars had witnessed millions of planets and civilizations experiencing the same process: some pioneers wanted to bring their race to a higher civilization but there would also be someone trying to stop them.

History was like this. There were mysterious things in the ancient times: magic, gods, art, love, friendship and kindness. Although they might be fake, they were the most beautiful things on earth.

Now, everything was proved meaningless … But in the meaninglessness, there would always be someone struggling.

After half an hour. All the stars had showed up in the sky. The four could see those constellations which they had only seen in mythological books.

Stars were real. No matter how many planets and civilizations were mechanized or destroyed by necrology and mechanics, stars would always be stars. They wouldn’t change. They had existed since the dawn of the history, and they would be there in the night sky until the end of it.

Although things would change and perish, there were something in this cosmos which were nearly eternal. They could witness the birth of a civilization as well as the death of it.

Macchina Gloriosa, Grey Factory …

Maybe there would be more such things in the future. Who knew?

“I love those stars,” exclaimed Aislina, looking at the star sky.

“Me too,” agreed Yanni.

“My mom said that when bathed in the starlight, elves would feel energetic. We elves believed that our magical power came from the world of nature, and the power of nature came from the moon and the stars,” recalled Aislina.

“Doesn’t the power of nature come from the sun? You know, plants will photosynthesize under in the sunlight,” queried Floria.

“Photosynthesis built the physical parts of plants, but the moon and the stars built the spiritual parts, according to the teaching of the elves,” explained Aislina.

“By the way, we haven’t talked about the Sanctum of Life for a long time. Whether does the Sanctum of Life really exist or not?” inquired Yanni.

“We’ll wait and see. I always believe that fate will finally take us to where we belongs to. Maybe we’re all destined to go on this journey against the inevitability. Anyway, we must not be discovered by Nephrenbethys or Achnosiris, or we’ll be doomed,” warned Aislina.

“The Mother Matrix seems to be omniscient, will it know that we’re here?” queried Starsha.

“Clearly the Mother Matrix is not so omniscient. It hasn’t figured out where Cuore Celeste is, but Aislina was going to find it. If Mother Matrix is omniscient, Aislina will be something higher than the omniscient,” answered Floria.

“Higher than the omniscient, that’s funny. I’m not omniscient, but I can sense things, especially magical things. In fact, I have a feeling that the Sanctum of Life may be hidden on Santo Cielo too. When I was young, I always imagined that the Sanctum of Life was a castle flying in the sky …” narrated Aislina.

III

The next day. The four woke up.

After a whole night, the four had regained their vigour.

In the afternoon, the four arrived near a small lake.

“It’s there …” announced Aislina.

“What is there?” asked Yanni in confusion.

“Cuore Celeste is here,” explained Aislina.

“Is that gemstone under this lake?” pursued Floria.

“I think so,” Aislina nodded, but she didn’t look so sure. No matter how, there must be something inside this lake.

Together, the four dived into that lake. .

The water was cool and it washed all the sweat away. After searching inside the water for several minutes, they didn’t find any gemstone. When they were about to give up, Floria saw something.

It was a small cave under the water. She pointed her finger at that cave and motioned Yanni, Starsha and Aislina to follow her.

Diving into that cave, the four swam through a long narrow tunnel and arrived into an underground pond

After surfacing and climbing up the bank, the four found themselves standing inside a large grotto, and the narrow tunnel they just swam through was a connection between the cave under the water and this grotto.

This grotto was considerably big. Standing at the bank of that underground pond, they couldn’t see the other end of this grotto. After walking out of the pond, Aislina summoned a cloud of active carbon to dry themselves.

After walking inside the grotto for five minutes, a building came into their sights. To be honest, it was rare even for explorers like them to see an underground building.

Being around twenty meters tall, the building contained four floors.

Above the gate of the building, there was a line of Desertish abjads: “אִילְ טֵימְפְּיוֹ דֵילְ קְווֹרֵי צֵילֵיסְטֵי”

“The Temple of Cuore Celeste,” Starsha translated, “What Aislina has sensed is real! Cuore Celeste is inside this building! Even the Mother Matrix hasn’t figured out where that gemstone is! You’ve beaten the Mother Matrix, Aislina!”

“Yeah …” Aislina smiled, her face reddening because of Starsha’s praise.

“What are you waiting for? Get inside this temple, take Cuore Celeste and destroy it in the lava of Infernal Mountain!” suggested Yanni.

“Yanni’s right, let’s go!” commanded Floria.

Prudently, they pushed the gate of this building open and walked inside it.

“There are four floors inside the temple. I think we have to split up. Yanni, you and Starsha search the first and the second floor. Aislina and I will search the third and fourth floor,” proposed Floria.