Burning Soul

…

“We still have to climb up a floor, are you sure you don’t want to wait? We could have waited till the morning! After all, even if we go now, we’d need to wait till dawn to step out of the dungeon.”

Vivian asked as Theo proposed an idea of collecting the second shard the same night. It’s been hardly 20 mins since Ember joined them, but it was still night-time.

“I know, but somehow I feel like, right now is the time to get it, or we might miss something.”

As Theo said so, his eyes had this shine and in the moonlight, his pendant shone in a way, its radiance was enhancing his features.

Hearing his worry Aeneas replied, “Maybe you are a right kid! The last time you spoke with the shard it was also night-time, let’s keep the same track as we are sure what we need to do.”

He picked his sack and said with resolve.

“Argh, okay. Fine! Let’s get moving then! Even I don’t want to stay here waiting for that hammer guy, who knows when he’ll return. From which, Aeneas! What is his deal! Why did he attack you? And what Ace attacks his fellow companion?” Naomi asked, looking at Aeneas who was hastily making preparations to move.

Hearing this everyone’s eyes caught him making him freeze and sweat.

“Yeah! I had the same question! Who was he?” Theo asked him, looking at his frozen posture.

“Damn that idiot, Okay! I’ll tell you about him a bit!” He turned, but this time he had a serious expression,

…

“He’s one of the seven legendary Aces, Laimus. His divine weapon is Mjolnir Hammer, an artifact. As for why he’s on me, we have a history, A bad one!”

As he replied his eyes were carrying a hint of sadness.

For some reason, even though he didn’t say a word, everyone could feel sorrow in his words.

Even though Theo was curious to ask, he held back,

“How come he was so powerful? And how was he so weak at the same time? Aren’t Aces supposed to be a lot stronger?”

His question held a point, Aces were supreme beings on the primal place back in the days, it was said that they hold strength that rivaled that of the gods. There were many unknown facts about them though the baseline was that they weren’t weak by any means.

And Aeneas, as per legend goes, was known as the leader of these Aces, supposedly the strongest, and yet in the earlier fight, it was clear as day that he was being dominated.

“A lot happened kid,” Aeneas replied with a low voice without even looking at them.

This time there was no sadness in his tone, but rather hatred.

He clenched his fists tightly and turned around to continue walking without saying anything further. Realizing that asking any further was a bad idea others simply followed him.

…

After a while they were finally at the top floor, the walls seemed a bit scorched, maybe it was the aftermath of the ferocious fight that happened here a while ago.

Looking around they found nothing, which made them a bit worried. If this was the right place and they were right about the shard being here, there must be something around here to indicate its presence.

“Ember! When you were here, was there any door, or box, or anything that looked different?”

Theo asked looking at Ember as she was the one who fought here earlier.

Thinking she might have a clue about where it was, he asked her.

“I’m sorry master, when I was summoned here, the only thing I remember seeing was that women and the hammer guy eloped in a fight.” Hearing this Catherine instantly replied,

“Then was it that women who…” Before she could finish Theo stopped her signing to stop talking.

“Is it a trap?” he asked Aeneas to which he replied with a non-affirmative nod.

“I do sense magic here,” Ember replied casually.

“What do you mean?” Vivian asked her as she stood right beside her.

“Yeah, I can locate the source of the magic in the air! I’m the descendant of the proud dragon race, after all, I can locate the source.”

Hearing this Theo turned around and grabbed her hands before asking, “Where? Where is the source?”

“Ma…Maa…Master! Ahem! Let me see!”

She then closed her eyes and may have chant something in her mind as there appeared a small magic circle even though she didn’t even utter a word.

That circle then started moving on the floor, at a certain point it came to halt, and its radiance suddenly increased.

“There!” She pointed towards the circle

as a slight distortion in the air appeared.

…

Everyone went close to take a look at the scene, it was clear that their vision was being blocked by some sort of magic as all they could see was a wall, but once every few moments there were some distortions in the air suggesting there was indeed something.

As everyone had this thought, Nuae pointed out something,

“Hey, Theo! Look, something is glowing in your bag!” He was indeed right!

There was a slight radiance coming off from his bag.

He opened it up to see what was emitting that light, to his surprise it was the first shard.

“Tear of Oizys! Maybe it’s resonating with the other shard!” Nuae said.

“Hey! Didn’t Serena tell us to only interact with the stone if it’s in order, how can we tell if it’s not in order?” Vivian asked Theo as he pulled the shard out of his bag.

“I don’t know! But I’m sure it’s the right one! I feel like that!” He replied as he held the shard in his hand.

He then held the shard in both of his hands and placed it in front of the distorted wall.

To everyone’s surprise, the wall suddenly vanished and they could see another shard, that was emitting a bright radiance, almost similar to that of the one Theo was holding on to. The stone then flew close to him and merged with the shard he held. Once it finished merging, the light it emitted also vanished.

“Okay! So, what next? Is she not coming this time to talk to us?”

Aeneas asked him with a questioned look.

“Last time I broke the statue and she appeared, should I rub on it like from the urban legends?”

He asked as he began to rub the crystal to which Vivian replied,

“As if that’d work!" But surprisingly it began emitting light again,

“It worked?”

Theo blurted to which Vivian replied with a jaw-dropped expression,

“No way! You are kidding me?”

Everyone stepped back a little bit and drew their weapons as they knew if anything was to go bad, they’d be facing unknown danger as Serena said last time.

But fortunately, nothing scary happened, just like the last time, the light again took a shape of an elegant woman, Serena!

“We meet again!” She replied in her soft tone.

Looking at her no one could help but appreciate her beauty, even though she was just a fragment.

“So beautiful!” Naomi exclaimed, even Nuae and Ember had the same expressions written on their faces.

“Oh! More beauties this time around! You sure are popular among girls!” She chuckled while teasing Theo.

“It’s not like that!” Theo was not the only one blushing.

Though others were still standing in awe.

After all, it was the first time they had seen her, all they knew was from the descriptions that these guys gave them, but now they were watching her, for real.

“I won’t take much of your time, but this time I can share something important. Shards merge into each other if the order is right and will repel if they are out of, do not force it okay! Also, Theo! I have a suggestion. Your weapon will no longer be enough, you need better weapons. There is a crystal in this cave, use it to forge a weapon, it’ll be necessary for your future endeavors.”

“Umm, I had a question!” Vivian spoke,

“Yes, go ahead!” Gearing Serena’s reply she asked,

“Is there anyone from the heavens who also wants to help you?”

Hearing this they suddenly remembered their interaction with Regis and Valkyrie.

“No dear! I’m afraid no one in my knowledge knows the truth. Even the goddess of Truth left the heavens leaving no one with the ability to determine what actually happened. Even I can’t tell anything in my fragmented state.”

“Then why did Regis, the god of Games, helped us?” She asked, to which Serena went silent.

…

“Was he here?” As she asked Vivian nodded in agreement.

“You need to hurry! His arrival means the barriers are warring off! Something big is going to happen!” Hearing this Theo couldn’t help but ask,

“What is this big thing you say? And is Regis that bad news?”

As Theo said so, Serena looked at him and replied with a sad look,

…

“Cleansing...!”