"Long time no see," Kenshe said, trying to break the initial tension between them all.
"Why did you bring that demon here?" Gwa said bitterly as he kept his gaze on Nafury. "Get out of here and take that trash with you."
Nafury peeled the griffin shifter's harsh words off his ego and took a step forward. "We need your help. We have to go to Earth to stop Cirrus."
There was a few moments of silence between them. Then Gwa broke into a sudden and hard laughter that echoed through the Falls.
Nafury, not knowing what to make of the griffin's madness, looked at Kenshe.
"Is this a joke that you can share maybe?" Kenshe asked, also trying to keep his cool against his childhood rival.
"Let me get this straight, you both came here to find a way to get to Earth and stop the Dragon Moon?" Gwa asked, barely able to hold his laughter at bay long enough to speak.
"Yes, and just how--wait, what did you just say?" Kenshe asked.
Gwa shook his head and unshifted in a rush of white mist into his human form. His long, white and rose dreads were a mess and looked like they had been unkept for ages. His face that should have belonged to a man in his twenties looked like a fifty year old. Without saying a word he turned and walked off down the hall.
Kenshe and Nafury followed him. After several turns they reached what looked like Gwa's chosen work room. Pieces of Tech and damaged machinery lay everywhere. Lava had hardened and become a part of the room's walls and windows years ago.
Nafury gave a brief glance around and then looked to the large monitor on the wall in front of the griffin shifter. On it, there appeared a static-covered image of what looked like a mechanical dragon. "Is that him?"
"That there is the end to all our problems," Gwa said, throwing his arms out in the direction of the screen.
"You want Aster to end?" Kenshe asked.
"The Dragon Moon isn't coming for us, you dumb dog. Cirrus' intents are not bent for Aster, but for Earth."
"What? You're not making any sense," Nafury said.
"He's flipping the table for this Apocalypse," Gwa explained. "Once the Dragon Moon devours Aster, he will remake it on Earth. Of course, Earth's current inhabitants will have to be eradicated. With Earth's sun darkened, we will be able to live on. Sybl won't have to be a prisoner and battery for Aster for any longer. Dreams and nightmares can't last or sustain themselves forever, even if she stayed as she is. Sybl will never be able to be alive and real again until this illusion ends and we take over Earth. That's the driving force behind what Cirrus is doing."
"So Cirrus is destroying the Awls because they're the only ones who can stop him..." Nafury thought aloud. "They're the only ones who can survive on Earth long enough in the sunlight to stop him."
"Sybl said she wanted this Aster to go on," Kenshe added. "This is not one of her wishes. And frankly I don't want to be 'devoured' by anything."
Gwa looked at Nafury. "You spoke with her? When?"
"That doesn't matter," Nafury replied.
"Yes, it matters," Gwa said, getting up from his seat. "Where is she?" He glared at Nafury. "How many times do you plan on killing her!?" Gwa shifted back into his griffin form and sent his talons straight for Nafury. Crushing him against the floor, he opened his beak to strike.
Nafury had to use all his strength to suppress Alexia in him from shifting and tearing the half bird apart.
"Gwa, stop it!"
Everything came to a stop when the voice appeared from the screen. It was followed by the image of a darker woman. She had the same brown eyes as Gwa.
Gwa let go of Nafury and turned to look at the screen, then he sat down like an innocent cat. "Mom?"
"You put your talons down right now before I come over there and beat your ass!" Celia said, with a voice that could shatter concrete.
Gwa started to shake, and several feathers fell from him.
Nafury took the moment to slowly get back to his feet.
"Celia," Kenshe said in surprise.
"I can't believe you would help something like this. Have you forgotten that I'm a human from Earth? Have you forgotten that we too have the right to live? Have you turned into a complete animal!?" Celia scolded Gwa.
"No. Of course not, Mom. I would never let you get hurt."
"Shut up!" Celia shouted at him, and Gwa's long, tufted ears flattened against his head. "You get your ass over to the Efereal Mountains and fix that Gate. And then you are going to shut down this Dragon Moon machine before Hino retaliates and destroys all of us. Have you forgotten Sybl's sacrifice? It's the only thing keeping Hino from destroying all of us right now!"
"She's right," Nafury added. "Hino will not stand aside and let all the humans on Earth perish. I would have sacrificed Aster to save my sister. But if we threaten Earth, Hino will destroy all of us. Sybl will have died for nothing. Then there is no guarantee that this
machine
can bring her back to life."
Gwa was laughing again. "Silly demon. Silly, silly demon in you talking." His brown eyes flashed momentarily, revealing his erratic self. "She always wanted what's best for us, at the cost of her own life. Now it's our turn to give her what's best--and that's a real life, not an imprisonment of death. There is only one way to save the world that I will have any part in, and that's if it includes saving her. Now get out, because I'm not helping you get to Earth." He hit a button on the keyboard and the screen went off.
Nafury looked at Kenshe, with a faint hope that he might help him grab the griffin and go. But Kenshe only crossed his arms in front of him. The phelan looked uncertain to just what he intended to do next. Several buzzing noises pulled Nafury's attention and he looked up. Large guns that had been mounted on the walls were now aiming at them.
"I really hate Tech," Kenshe mumbled as he took a step back and started to retreat.
Nafury looked at all four of the weapons. He started to calculated just how much he could get shot at by them before he would be toast. Alexia was doing the math for him as his fear began to swell up from within him and force him backwards.
TWENTY-FOUR
Everything hurt at once when Nafury opened his eyes sometime later. He was surprised to find that he was still alive and in one piece. "Where am I?"
"Toria," Cecil's voice replied. "Because you're still a complete idiot."
Nafury sat up, feeling groggy as if he had been drugged. "I was still your Prince once. It wouldn't kill you to show some respect, Cecil. How did I get here?"
"Gwa sent you through the Gate. I found you in the basement." Cecil pulled a chair over and sat down, resting his arms on its back.
"Wait, what? You have a working Gate?" Nafury asked in disbelief. Of course Cecil did--he was just as good with Tech as Gwa, just usually without the pieces he needed. Nafury silently cursed himself for not anticipating such. Something dripped from his face and he looked down. A drop of blood had fallen from his nose to his shirt. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand, not knowing what to make of it.
"You really don't know anything. I fixed the one that blew up with the Town of Berion some years ago," Cecil elaborated.
Nafury heard the Town's story from one of the phelan shifters from the Torian Continent a few years ago. The phelan shifter swore in his tale that he saw a kyrie wipe out the Town of Berion with its power. The old timer called it a 'Deathmare.' The tavern in the Harbor called the poor guy insane. Nafury's sister had chosen an interesting creature to speak through, that was for sure. He got a tighter grip on his psi as Cecil was looking at him strangely, as if he were listening in on his thoughts. Cecil had always been smart, but never good with Thread. Now the look in his orange eyes suggested otherwise.
"Don't get all excited," Cecil said and broke their stare-down. "Gwa sent you with a note stuck in your mouth." He lifted the piece of tattered white paper in his hand. It was written with the invisible embroidery that was Thread. "It says that if you try and use the Gate to reach Earth, he'll kill you by cutting the connection from his end."
"I don't need some bird's permission to go to Earth," Nafury spat back and dropped his feet to the floor. His head spun. He didn't have time for a headache now. For some reason, his aeri energy was doing nothing to heal it. He looked around the room and found what else was off. There was almost no Thread present. "Where are the Sentry?"
"We killed them all, after you ran back to the Suzerain Continent."
The few Thread present vibrated with estus energy. Cecil was lying.
"Look, Nafury," Cecil said and got up from his wood chair, "We all miss her. But you're taking this too far. You will be killed if you go to Earth."
"What are you talking about?" Nafury asked, as every functioning part of his head warned him of where this was going. He looked around for Alexia, but she was nowhere in sight and not answering him.
"Do you take me for an idiot? I know exactly what you will do if you reach Earth and Cirrus. You're a human and your treachery has already proven to have no bounds. You will help him bring your sister back, even at the cost of Aster."
"You're as insane as that damn bird," Nafury said as he tried to get to his feet. He had to sit back down on the bed when the world spun madly.
'Stop dying! They've set a trap for Sybl!'
Nafury looked around the room again, before realizing that Loki was screaming at his psi. "What did you do to me, Cecil?" he asked and looked up at the blue-haired dragoon. Cecil's orange eyes were glowing.
"What's necessary for our survival. Radiation poisoning is rather rough on humans."
"Why kill me like this? Just to hide the fact that you have already sided with Cirrus?" Nafury asked. This wasn't how he wanted to die. He didn't want to die at all anymore now that he was the only chance of saving Sybl and Aster.
"I don't--"
"You're still a coward that's full of shit!" Nafury said as his anger pushed his adrenaline high enough to empower the balance in his legs.
'Get out of there!'
Loki's psi yelled at him again.
He pushed himself past Cecil and towards the door. He had to use the wall to steady himself as he made his way down the hall. By the time he reached the main hall, his sight was almost gone. There was only a blur of dragoons who did nothing but watch their former Prince die before them. No one reached out a hand to help. No one cared. He would never know if they ever did.
Loki...
"You're living in a world made of nothing but nightmares, human. But there is a way out for you, and that is death," Cecil said as he came up behind Nafury. He kicked him in the back, sending his face into the marble floor.
"Why...do this? Why...if we...are on the same...side?" Nafury asked as he pulled himself in a crawl across the floor. He could feel a faint breeze coming from the main gate. "I want Aster...to remain...as it is."
"It's as I've told you, dumb Prince. Your resolve would never stand up to Cirrus. Everyone knows how close you both were. I'm just guaranteeing the survival of the dragon race. Now that we have Alexia and her power, we only need the last piece. With Sybl contained, this Aster will cease to exist. A new, perfect world without our enemies will arise on Earth," Cecil said.
Nafury didn't have the strength to respond and tell Cecil just how wrong he was. Every former demon that existed now would not just perish.
"I hate to say it, but I've come to the conclusion that we will never be friends. Yet my conscious is clear with the fact that I tried. Goodbye, Nafury."
A clash of steal rang out from the gate, but Nafury was too weak to lift his head to look.
"You monster!" Loki's voice shouted. The Threads that remained trembled as he grabbed the lifelines leading to Cecil. He could only hold them for a moment before one of the High Guard landed a strike to his back. Loki spun around and stabbed his attacker in the chest with a dagger and returned his focus to Nafury. He grabbed him and pulled him over his shoulder and immediately turned to retreat. But before he could shift and run, the main hall roared. The exit was covered with a wall of water, while the room started to flood from Toria's waterfalls.
"This where you get washed out with that garbage from my castle." Cecil commanded the water against Loki and Nafury. It trapped them in a harsh tornado of water, before flooding them out onto the main gate.
Cecil followed them as his power over water circled him. He began to direct the water to wash them off the side, but a cloaked figure stood at the end of the gate. At their feet was Nafury and Loki. "Who are you?"
"Sentry are not allowed on Aster without Aragmoth's blessing. Neither are their allies." The face lifted, and Sybl's blue eyes glowed a dangerous warning his way.
"There you are!" Cecil shouted, and several Sentry appeared around them. Some were invisibly clinging to the crystal-like walls of the castle. Others emerged from the main hall.
"You sicken me, Cecil. The Laws of Aragmoth demands your death!" Sybl said and the Ain Soph Aur grew brighter and more powerful. In moments its light began to spread from Toria's center and expand towards them in a deafening rush. The Sentry, being unable to fly, were vaporized instantly. Cecil could only shift into his dragon form and flee to avoid being burned alive by its intense energy.