V3 Incline 26: Nin

An alarm blares.

The young, student-aged man transforms into some kind of armoured creature that lets out a guttural roar. Brilliant red scales adorned with emerald-like marbles and golden spikes. Something caws and a wave of hot, ember-carrying air washes over us. Following the sudden, bright light, I blink worriedly at the giant flaming bird heading out to meet the creature.

A serpent suddenly coils from portals by me, one with seven jaws protruding from one head!

"I have no idea what I need to do... Hm, Kyrvern sounds like Kyarverin, somewhat. Maybe this is one of his memories? I am in the memory of a god? Do I need to find something or...? BLOODY DAMMIT!?" I ponder obliviously at first before a flaming lance turns a generous line next to me molten. Following the line of steaming orange, I freeze up a little at the devastation that exists further down.

An entire chunk of the arena is just gone, just like that.

Hopefully, I can leave the fight to this student, he seems to be able to handle it quite well. He's ducking and weaving and delivering powerful blows which disturb the heat of the fiery bird. I watch as the student suddenly stumbles out of nowhere, only to be surrounded by sparkles. He is nearly struck down, and the woman on the screen screams his name, yet, I hear nothing.

I heard the noise of a speaking scream but not the name...?

"AH!" I go as a cross inexplicitly finds its way into my grip with the other student howling in burning agony. I try to release the cross, but I can't, my hand is not responding. Heaving with pain as the strange item continues to burn its way into my palm, I focus on the bird. A black, blue-rimmed portal appears on my right, another by the bird, so close behind it.

I drive my cross-holding hand towards the fiery avian, only to find myself elsewhere.

Blinking, I look around at a well-kept garden and a massive house that could only belong to a spire-lord or similar. Cluelessly spinning about as I look over my newfound, stinging wounds as well, I stop. That woman from earlier, the one with the red hair and white dress. She's joyful now, joyfully teary and that student is back, all fine and dandy as if he wasn't a second ago being cooked to a crisp.

"Kyrvern, thank you!" the woman goes as she rushes me down to give me the tightest hug she can. It's better than the bird, but I still can't help but be put on edge by it all. I've had enough of red-haired women latching onto me inexplicitly... The pain making me return the hug for upright support isn't helping either.

Retreating to my mind, I start to think as I rub a freshly kissed cheek to the background noise of that student whining. I give an idle glance at this strange, half-bird, half-Beast of Pride thing patiently waiting near us. Honestly, it's probably the most normal thing I've seen since waking up in that bug hive. The woman starts to pull us towards it and she encourages me to touch it.

Placing my hand on the feather-half, I suddenly shoot up from the floor and am met with mostly darkness. Blinking at the carved-up, bloodied panels once again, I blink some more and pat towards the dropped torch. Slowly, I get back to my feet and shake my head as some mild aches hinder me. What just happened, I was in some kind of memory right before and now I am back...?

That girl's worried voice echoes in my head as I stumble out of the room and back into the tunnel.

Finding the stairs again, I get back to going down them and wobble on the final step, collapsing down then and there. I groan in frustrated disbelief and alert the army of white-robed men ahead. All of them hold the same kind of guns and swords as that lunatic has. An annoyance that I am, unfortunately, still forced to deal with.

"Oh, shit! How'd you get in here!? FUCK!" the crazed man swears from atop his leg-tiring altar, pyramid thing. At its top, another one of those crosses, only this time, there's something dark chained up to it and it's much larger. My eyes narrow as I recall what Motrtha said, are these the chains?

I've already found the...

"Plough through until I get all the way up there..." I start to say as I notice I am holding the game piece, the torch gone. I swear it flew off, but, whatever, I suppose. Moving one leg forward, I am met by a thousand tapping bullets across every bit of my front. My patience is shredded far sooner than anything else on my person or about it.

I growl.

"OH, WILL YOU LOT CUT IT OUT!" I snap, rushing forward, many of the robed men turn to dest as I barge past them, my shoulders huddled up as battering rams. Smacking down many more, I keep it up until the first step of the structure smashes apart under my stride. Falling into the collapsed stone, my hands uplift more of the steps as if I weigh the same as solid iron. Looking up with a frown, bullets continue to pester me with their dull jabs.

Slugging up the steps as I catch my breath pointlessly, I eventually find the lunatic, "Shit! Shit! SHIT!"

He backs away until there is nowhere for him to go but dangerously down. Grabbing him by his clothes, I end up tearing them slightly. But, they hold together as I rear back to then toss him down to the ground, fulfilling his greatest wish at the present time. Rather than blood, however, he splatters into dust and tiny specks of light.

"You look immediately familiar." I remark as I look at the creature chained up on the cross, my mind thinking more of that creature from the chamber memories. I groan as I spot the lock on the chains and glance back to where I chucked the man. Groaning louder, I gently toss aside the game piece, shattering it into eight pieces and disturbing the creature. It looks up at me and blinks in confusion as the eight shards glow.

"Who... Who... Who are you?" it struggles to let out with a raspy, water-devoid voice.

Ignoring its question, I inspect the creature closer and start to see limited similarities between me and it. There's some human here, but, it's clearly also something else, a bit like the aelenvari, thankfully, rather them than the bugs. Red scales, green lights and golden bone. It has to be something powerful, Vapooliar's magic glows a similar green, if not the same.

"Please... Answer me, you are not a spectre here to torment me..." it goes as I finish looking it over.

"Uh, Nin, awkward baggage of Undwote." I answer and it perks up as soon as I say the God of Death's name.

"You are here with my brother!? BROTHER! I AM HERE!" it lets out, screaming with all it has before desperate tears leave it a shivering wreck.

"The whole family is here, up the stairs." I say, smiling as more and more hope pulses through the creature. It strains the chains to get as close to me as it can and I step back, a little frightened by how quickly it can move with those spikes and scales weighing it down.

"Everyone...?" it shivers out and I nod, making it whimper with delight.

"Yeah, just need to think of a way to get them down here, though..." I mutter as I turn back towards the way I came. The horde is now gone and a clear, well-lit path awaits my return. The miserable aesthetic this place had is gone, quite out of nowhere if I must say.

"Wait... You are a human, you are a mortal... Free me! Free me, Mortal!" it realises then orders. Initially, I throw my head back at the demand, but, thinking about how it spoke of Undwote and the others... It starts to become obvious. This thing is a god, yet, I do not recall any god with red skin and golden horns.

My mind is blurry for some reason, but, I can recall a monster that the God of Thunder fought.

"I... I may have lost the key." I tell, but, it simply shakes its head and fights the chains some more.

"Break them! They cannot hurt you like they do me! There's no way She could've ever known a mortal would end up here!" it tries to explain, pulling with all the meagre strength it has.

"Well, Motrtha, time to test your words." I comment as I hook a finger through one of the chains. Pulling, the dark metal pales and then snaps with a ping that leaves me smiling. Steadily working my way through the rest of them, the creature flexes and moves. Newfound freedom is quite intoxicating, I know that from experience though my reference is far dirtier.

Yet, as I reach the final binding chain, I blink as my mind seems to unblur. Memories I was so sure of are now held in doubt and a name is coming to me. Thurnmourer's feats of heroism, they are suddenly so very clear, the image of what he is fighting. This thing is it...

I snap the final chain as a name comes to mind, Iderim-Ovi.

The Singular God, the Crimson-Scaled Beast. The stories of Thunder and Lightning battling to save the mortal world. This thing is it. Iderim-Ovi, the god that wanted to destroy humanity...

I fall onto my rear and hurry back until my hand slips on the top step, nearly rolling me down the stairs.

I have released the very thing that wants to destroy everyone. Everyone is now going to die because of me. I need to... I need to reseal it, now!

A clawed hand keeps me on the ground and the god towers over me as its giant wings unfurl themselves. Sharp teeth show themselves and darkness envelops me as it comes closer. The claws on the tips of its fingers become all the easier to notice. They're pressing down and their points are about to-

Iderim-Ovi collapses down and... Hugs me tightly, whimpering.

"Thank you, Nin. Thank you with all my heart and essence... I owe you a debt I have no idea how to pay back..." he cries as I continue to stay on edge, quite literally as well. The god leans back, wiping his eyes and laughing.

Unmoving, I meet them with my pair.

"Oh... Right, human." he chuckles as he takes me into his clutches. Flapping his wings once, we break out into the sky, through the now-destroyed church. Crashing to the ground and dipping into the new crater, he lets go of me. Stumbling away, I scramble up towards Motrtha as she covers her mouth.

"Iderim...?" she questions as the terrifying reptile shifts into a small hatchling.

"Grah!" he chirps as he waddles up and out the hole and into the grip of his crying sister. I try to calm down as I watch the reunited siblings catch up without a word. Only for Motrtha to suddenly turn with a now free arm and march up to me. She grabs me harshly, pulling me in close where there's room.

"H-How...?" she questions as she continues to hold her brother close. Her chin moving about on the top of my head with the softness of her neck right against my cheek.

"I..." I start to say before the world shakes with divine might as a mountain on my left shatters. Turning away from the goddess, I stare at the inferno eating up the remains of the city. The gods are still fighting with all they have against all manner of beast and creature. Everything breaks so easily, even that which you'd think cannot be broken.

A giant with Sraacdchammu's colour scheme flies through the sky with a purple snake in his grip. It howls and hisses as damson fire burns from its mouth. I bounce into the air as the pair crash the land into an earthquake, and like he's holding a bundle of flowers, the God of Giants keeps its many fangs away. With a primal cheer that nearly leaves me deaf, the god seemingly bests the beast.

In the greater distance, a shining length roars as its mirror-like scales deflect blasts and spells. A pack of hounds follows it and they bring down some mountain of a thing together as shots ring out. With each bang of Undwote's gun, I feel cold, shiveringly so. Everything's freezing over and ice grows like a patch of rust might.

"I think we need to try and get out of here or to your father..." I mutter as the God of Law comes back from wherever he went with a black feather in hand. The god notices the addition to our group and stiffens up. A pat on the head meets Iderim-Ovi before Enorcoustice turns to the dot on the horizon.

The one that feels like anger whenever I look its way...

"We go to the academy." Enorcoustice says as he points at the place as a crystal-like barrier shimmers around the extensive grounds. Thunderclouds go off in the sky and I nod with a slight smile. If Thurnmourer is there then I don't need to worry about Iderim-Ovi or anything dangerous. The God of Thunder is there!

But...

"How are we meant to get there...?" I ask in disbelief as more of the city is torn up by whatever divine powers are firing off in this split-second of a moment. If I never understood the concept of 'apocalypse' up to this point, I do now. There's no way I can make it there, I'd discover what it's like to die whilst I am dead!

"The same way I got you here." Enorcoustice answers as he snatches me up.

"H-Hey!" I groan as the God of Law sprints effortlessly towards the inferno spreading across one of the formerly green mountains. Smoke quickly finds its way into my mouth and nostrils and I cough with soreness-inducing hacks. All as beasts made of tornadoes are struck from the sky by a small, barely seeable man-like figure.