The ———— Stanza

“So, what now?” I asked my companions, all reunited.

Agnes Stein explained her idea of taking each of the Original Stanzas and stopping his powers one by one.

“First, what about the other foreigners?” asked Ishaan.

“Brita is probably alive, but frozen. The other two, however… I think they are dead,” Helia Vivarium said. “Well, at least we can use the Turquoise Demon, that can give us an advantage. That is very impressive by the way,”

“Thanks, it’s very weird to use the Original Poem to control the Turquoise Demon, but they will help us while I hold this.”

“No.” Ember Lascander told us seriously.

“What, you don’t want to use the Turquoise Demon?” asked Hiyoku.

“We need it for another task. Look at the city.”

Although they were not around us, the other seven Elemental Demons were destroying everything in sight. The Orange Demon was gathering more buildings to make another armor, the Red Demon was burning, while the Cyan Demon was freezing. There was no place in the city that was safe.

“We are still Heroes, are we not?” Mom asked us.

“But what about… Amaru?” I asked.

“Leave him to me and Ishaan while you save the city.”

“You can’t, he defeated everyone he fought so far with ease,” Agnes Stein said.

“Well, he never faced me before. Rita, you can free Takai from the ice?”

“With a little time, yes. But shouldn’t I free Brita first?”

“Why would you?”

Rita Fiori did not understand Ember Lascander.

“Well, she is a legendary leader and…”

“Takai was the apprentice of the best Hero I have ever know. We need her, not some hot-headed berserker.” She looked at the rest of us. “Can I count on you to save everybody?”

In unison we all agreed and each went to a different place.

Nikolay flew above the Turquoise Demon; with their size and speed, it was perfect to rescue as much as they could. Hiyoku transformed the metal from her dagger into multiple metal ropes that grabbed people from the ground and put them on the allied Demon. They flew around the ever-growing body of the Orange Demon.

I’ve never seen so many vegetal creatures of Helia Vivarium. There were probably more than a hundred of them, all saving people from inside destroyed houses. There was also a giant one trying to fend off both the Purple and the Green Demons.

With her high speed, Agnes Stein was distracting the Yellow and Cyan Demons at the same time, making way for entire families to run through the street out of the city.

While all of us were helping the citizens, Rita Fiori focused on freeing Reikokuna Takai from the ice with the Blue Demon sleeping around her after she once again calmed the beast.

I could count on my family, but I also had to do my part and in front of me I saw the Red Demon, burning multiple houses.

“It all begun with you. But I don’t have time for this now.”

Using my inks, I created Void Bubbles and not only the Red Demon but all the fire that he made was consumed by my powers.

We were all using all the strength we had in this battle and even as we became exhausted, we kept doing it. As long as there were still people to be saved, we would keep doing our job.

In the sky over the city we saw them fight. They were moving so fast, with fire explosions, miniature suns and all the colorful elements that Amaru could use. From where I was, I couldn’t see a lot, but it was clear that Amaru had de advantage.

I ran through the city, absorbing all the Demons my friends were fighting but once I was in the middle of the work all the ones I had destroyed came back. Even if we defeated all of them it would never end, but what we did was save the people of Reinaria.

With the streets clear of vulnerable people we all reunited in front of the castle once again, with Reikokuna Takai just thawed out and back up to speed. Around us all the seven evil Elemental Demons were coming and even if we could win, that sight was very scary.

But before we could fight someone fell in front of us with force, breaking multiple tiles of the castle’s entrance.

For a second I hoped it would be Amaru, but it was Ember Lascander, breathing with difficulty.

Amaru came soon after, but slowly descended, putting his foot on Mom’s throat and looking at us. It was terrifyingly with all his Demons behind him. And there was also no sign of Ishaan anywhere.

“Daddy was more beautiful before, right, Nina? It’s a shame, so many powers but not one who can change my appearance. Say, can anyone here shapeshift? I would like to get this power.”

His clothes had burned in the last fight and he lost his mask. His skin was completely burned, without eyelids covering his white eyes.

“Father, stop this! Look at all this death! Why are you doing that?”

Hiyoku came to my side with her dagger in one hand and a kunai on the other.

“I’m sorry Nina, but after all that I don’t want to hear your father’s sad backstory.”

Amaru started laughing and seeing that deformed body doing that was traumatizing.

“Sad backstory? Sorry, I don’t have any. I was born rich and, yes, I lost all my money by gambling, but I never missed anything in life. My parents loved me, and they were useful until I saw an opportunity to usurp them. I founded the cult because I was bored and because I wanted to know how much stronger I could become. And look at me now! Once I can change my appearance, maybe I will be satisfied.”

“I can’t believe it… you are a monster, no matter how we look!”

“No, Nina. I’m your father, and now I see I may have been too harsh on you. We, users of the Void Stanza must stay together. What do you say? Now I can get all the canvases and paintings in the world for you. If you come with me, I might even let this woman live.”

Then I saw a chance of victory, I just had to go with him, and everyone would be saved. Maybe with enough experience I could even change him, after all I had learnt so much about people in the last months.

“We can even get rid of this terrible dirt skirt and get a new one. All white like what was before, what do you think?”

That made me stop. I knew that if I went with him everything I have achieved so far would be thrown in the garbage.

I was not the one who answered first, but Reikokuna Takai with cyan flames in his sword.

“A father who only wants their child after they have proved useful. Please, Nina Nune is better off with us.”

“That’s right, she is our sister, after all.”

Agnes Stein made sparks from her fists ready to fight.

“To tell the truth, your entire existence is a blasphemy to this world. Nothing can escape death.”

Helia Vivarium had already started to summon her cute and round saplings.

“If Nina wants to stay, she will stay!”

Rita Fiori was braver than I had ever seen before and connected us all with her empathic threads.

“Oh yeah, she is our guest of honor to our wedding. And as the future king I can’t allow a citizen to not be freed.”

Nikolay Pompovisky made his turquoise winds spin around us making everyone much faster. The Turquoise Demon behind him growled.

“She is my rival and she can’t lose to anyone until I win against her.”

Kurohona Hiyoku, despite her manners, also had my back.

“That is it? My own son… sorry, ‘daughter’, going against me. I think I can do better next time. Now, you can just die.”

The Undying Flames came from both of his hands, ready to reach all of us. In that short amount of time, my Void Bubbles could only save me, but I couldn’t let it hurt all my family.

Void Bubbles did appear, but they were not mine. Once all the flames were absorbed, I could see the woman with white braids I had met in the graveyard before.

“A father wanting to kill his own child. How sad,” she said after saving us all.

“Another Void Stanza user to mess with me? You should be like the Void and disappear!”

He used the yellow lasers, but she didn’t even need to move. The woman summoned Void Bubbles in front of each of them and they caused no damage whatsoever.

“Not existing? Do you know what you are talking about? Like all Stanzas there is contradiction with the Void. It is actually nothing and everything at the same time. That is why it’s in the center of the Stanza circle, it is the null of the clash between Stanzas, but also the storm made from multiple sources.”

“And who do you think you are to teach me about Stanzas? I’m the strongest on this planet. I have almost all of the Original Poems. And I’m the Gray Demon. You are nothing!”

“Well, my name surely wouldn’t mean anything to you, but you know my title; after all you just said it.”

No one understood what she was saying, so she sighed and explained to us.

“I’m the Poet.”