Crimson

***You’re broken.***

***You’re corrupted.***

***Crimson overtake you.***

***Drown in Its sin.***

***Your fate unwavering, doomed to die.***

## **Chapter 1**

Date: Month of the Phoenix, Day 5,
3040. Season: Fall

Felecia lie in her bed asleep. Her long, snow white hair draped down onto the floor. The warmth of the heater was resisted by the cold as it slips through the cracks in her room, making it comfortable. The sunlight from the rising sun beams through the curtain upon
her face. Her eyes open; their sapphire blue colour sparkling in the light. She rises from her bed and stretches her arms. She walks up to the window, and goes to close it, but as she was doing so, a gust of wind blew it open. Her hair flew behind her, and her night gown flapped.

"Ngha!" Felecia cried as the sudden opening startled her. She quickly closes the window and locks it, then covers it with the curtains. After dealing with that small issue, Felecia walks over to her dresser. She takes off her gown and panties, and tosses them into a basket. She pulls out a school uniform and a new pair of panties, and puts them on. Her school uniform is a white dress shirt with a blue collar, and a striped tie, with a blue plaid skirt, and a white suit jacket with blue cuffs. On the right shoulder is the Christian Cross.

After Felecia slips on her thigh-high stockings and shoes, she gets down on her knees beside her bed, and places her hands together in a prayer, "***O Pater, Gratias ago tibi quoniam tam pulchra et mane diluculo nobis diligere. Da bono cuique dies facti ueniam delictorum. Amen.***" She then stands up, grabs her bag, then leaves her room and heads downstairs.

"Good morning Felecia. Did you have a good night's sleep?" said Felecia's mom as Felecia entered the kitchen.

"Yes, I slept wonderfully. So, what's for breakfast?" Felecia asked as she sat down in her seat.

"I'm making eggs and toast. If you want I can make pancakes as well." Felecia's mom asks.

"Sure. I've got time. Plus, I'm pretty hungry." Felecia says as she organizes her school papers. She straightens
out the stack and aligns the edges, finishing off by tucking them neatly into a folder. "There's also the fact that I have a Quantum Mechanics quiz today, and a test of Trans-Dimensional movement."

"That's nice. What about your magic class?" She asked as she flipped the eggs.

"The only interesting spell I learned was the healing spell ***Sana Tuum Parva Vulnere.*** I think I might drop the class since I have no need to learn much more than that." Felecia explains. She didn't really like magic class, as most of it was meant for combat purposes, something Felecia wasn't interested in. She only learned the healing spell because she believed it would be useful.

"Oh, is that so? Your father would be disappointed." Her mother states.

"Despite how much I care for my father's expectations, I am simply not interested in magic like he is. I often feel as though he expects me to be like David." Felecia says as she places a napkin in her lap. "I miss him. He must have his hands full because of the rising tensions between the east and west." Felecia looks down with an expression of loneliness.

"Don't worry, dear. I'm certain he'll make some time to visit." She says as she places Felecia's plate of food on the table. Felecia puts her hands together and gives a prayer to thank God for the meal, and begins to eat. She takes the eggs and puts them on the toast and eats it like a sandwich.

"What time is it, mom? I can't afford to be late. In fact, I'd like to arrive early." Felecia asks.

"Oh, it's currently 7:03." She answers.

"Perfect." as Felecia says this, a slight red glow flashes in her eyes and fades away. She quickly finishes up her breakfast and gets up. She slings her bag over her shoulder and pushes the chair back under the table. "I'll see you when I get home, Mom." Says Felecia as she walks over to the door.

"Have a good day." Says her mom.

"I will." Felecia walks out the door and closes it behind her. While walking down, she bumps into the back of someone, “Oof!”

"Hey, could you watch it?" The man turns around. He is wearing a white suit jacket and dress pants. Underneath is a white dress shirt with a blue collar. There is a Christian Cross on his shoulder. He is one of Felecia's classmates. "Oh, it's you, Felecia." he says.

"A-Auron!. I-I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." Felecia speaks to him with a soft voice. She looked at him with her narrow, shy eyes. "So, you want to walk the rest of the way to school together?" Felecia asked him nervously.

"Sure, why not?" Auron turns around and lets her walk up beside him. “I wonder if we’re truly safe. These peace talks between the east and west can only do so much, am I right?” Auron asks.

“Y-yeah. My brother works at the palace. He’s having a hard time as it is. If war breaks out, the stress could really kill him.” Felecia elaborates on the subject further.

“Sounds tough.”

“It is. Also, I do think we should be alright here in this town. There’s nothing that any enemy could possibly want. I mean, we’re just a small town in the middle of nowhere. The only thing of worth would be the grain fields, but even then, we’re only a small settlement.”

“I dunno. Rumors have it that the princess is hiding out in a small town. We could be targeted in order to sniff her out.” Auron said. Felecia stopped walking. *There’s a rumor like that? How could one even surface as to her location*. *This doesn’t make sense*. Felecia thought.

“That’s quite the rumor. I wonder where it started. Hehe…” Felecia looks at her watch. “It’s 7:17. We should get going.” Felecia and Auron continue down the sidewalk until they get to the
school, discussing random topics along the way. Upon arriving at the school, the two part ways and Felecia heads for her classroom. She looks at the clock on the wall after situating herself at her desk. "7:23? That gives me little over an hour to study." Felecia pulls out one of her textbooks and compares her notes for the hour of time she has. She doesn't even notice when people begin to enter the classroom. A few classmates walk up to her for help on copying notes, but Felecia pays no mind. She had an image to keep up and didn’t need the distractions.

For the next few hours after the bell rings, testing takes place in every class. Being at the top of her school in grades, Felecia completes most of her tests quickly. The only one that did present a challenge was the communications test.

After all the testing is finished,
Felecia packs her bag and heads for the cafeteria. Some girls approach her and
ask how she thinks she did on the tests, but Felecia ignores them. She was too
focused on whether or not she got a perfect score on her tests. Secondly, she was
looking forward to seeing Auron in the cafeteria. “I think I might have missed
a question on the communications test.” Felecia leaves the classroom and heads
down to the cafeteria. Once there, she sees Auron sitting at a table next to
the glass wall that looks out into the city. “Auron!” –she runs over.

“Hey Felecia. How do you think you
did on the exams?” Auron asks.

“I think I did just about as well as
I can, what about you?” Felecia asks back.

“I think I did alright. May I look
at your notes?” Auron asks.

“Huh? Sure.” Felecia reaches into
her bag, only to find that she doesn’t have them with her. “Eh? I seem to have
forgotten them in the classroom. I’ll be back.” Felecia runs off leaving her
bag on the table.

“Okay.” Auron shouts. Felecia gets
to the classroom and looks towards her desk. She notices that her notebook
isn’t on the desk and looks around the floor.

“Hmm. It’s been a few minutes. I
wonder if she needs help.” Auron looks out the window. His eyes widen. A large
Warship flies in from behind the mountains. “Huh? Why is an Eastern Warship
here?” Auron thinks for a few seconds. “Felecia!” Auron jumps up from his seat
and runs off to the classroom.

“Ah. There you are.” Felecia reaches
inside her desk and grabs her notebook. Just as she begins to stand up, Auron
swings the door open.

“Felecia!” Felecia turns her head
abruptly towards him, but as she begins to say his name, the classroom explodes
and a fireball blasts through the doorway, sending Auron flying into a wall.
“ARGH!” Auron lets out a scream of pain as his back collides it the wall. He
slumps over, but does not fall down. He’s been impaled to the wall be a steel
beam. He looks down, seeing his blood seep from the wound in his abdomen. The
wall behind him begins to crack and the floor begins to give. “Shit.” Auron
grabs the beam and pulls it hard with all of his strength. He can feel the cold
steel sliding out of the wound, causing extreme pain. Auron lets out slight
moans of agony as the beam pulls completely free of the wall. Auron falls to
one knee and quickly runs over to the collapsing classroom doorway. He looks to
see nothing but broken flooring and twisted rebar just in front of him. “F…
Felecia!!!” he shouts.

The building begins to give. He can
feel the floor collapsing beneath him. He runs out of the doorway and down the
hallway. Just as he reaches the stair well, another explosion rocks the
building, causing the floor behind him the give way. He slams the door behind
him and runs down the stairs, jumping steps to get down faster. When another
explosion rocks the building, the stairs begin to sway and collapse. Seeing no
other choice, Auron makes a flying leap through one of the stair’s windows, on
the fourth floor. He lands on the ground with a sickening crunch. He limps away
from the collapsing building, only to see the Warship firing its cannons on the
whole town.

Auron falls over. “Wish I hadn’t
skipped Mage Study. I would have learned to heal myself.” Auron drags himself
over to a wall to lean against, and watches the chaos. He looks up to see the
ship lowering. Ropes fall from the underside and soldiers slide down. They rush
the houses, tossing in bombs and shooting through the windows. A couple of
soldiers run over to Auron. “Sorry kid, nothing personal.” Says one of them in
a sincere tone.

“Hehe. Just do what you’re going to
do.” Auron closes his eyes. The soldier places the barrel against Auron’s head.
Auron smiles. The thunderous bang from the gun echoes against the walls.
Auron’s body falls over to its side, a deep crimson painted against the wall.
Another soldier runs over to the two.

"Have you found her yet?"
asks one of the soldiers.

"No, sir, as we don't know what
she looks like." responds another soldier.

"Don't worry. Admiral Xeraph
will be able to tell which one is her. He's been watching the wh-" the
soldier is interrupted by another one that's shouting.

"Hey! You guys might want to
take a look at this." The soldier calls the others over. Standing on top
of the rubble before them is Felecia. Her eyes are cold, showing she's not
conscious. The eyes also exhibit a red glow. "She seems to be in some sort
of a trance."

"Doesn't matter. Shoot her
down." All the soldiers aim their guns. "FIRE!" They all fire,
but the salvo shatters against an invisible force surrounding her. "Wait?
WHAT! Our guns had no effect!" Felecia begins to step forward, but she
loses balance and falls down the pile of rubble.

"Someone call in the Admiral.
He'll want to see this." says the commander. Felecia slowly begins to
wake. As her eyes focus on her surroundings, Felecia becomes surrounded by
soldiers.

"Huh?" Felecia begins to
take notice the destruction around her. "What....is this?" her eyes
lock onto the corpses of her fellow townsfolk. "No...no no no. This can't
be happening." Felecia then looks at the soldiers. "What would you
want from a town like this? We have nothing to offer. I have nothing to offer.
What do you want from us?"

"Us? You're the last one,
missy." the soldiers aim their guns at her.

"No..no...this can't be true.
No...no....nononononooooo." Felecia begins to panic. Felecia looks to the
pile of rubble. "Auron. Where are you Auron? Come help me...."
Felecia begin to cry. As Felecia weeps at her own helplessness, a large man
walks into her view. "Huh? Who are you?"

"Felecia Lupus Flare of the
Flare dynasty, because of atrocious acts committed by your family, the entire
clan will now be executed by my hand." Xeraph pulls a sword out.

"W-what?" Felecia says. In
that moment, Xeraph plunges the sword through the center of her breasts. She
retches from the blood flooding her throat as the sword furthers itself into
her heart. The icy cold steel of the blade has slowly but surely begins to
fully penetrate her body. Slowly her hand reaches over the area where the blade
had lodged itself, only to notice the slick, warm blood slipping through her
fingers and running down her chest. Bright crimson oozes out from a gagging
throat, seeping through her clenched teeth. A sharp yet dull pain echoes through
Felecia as the blade is pulled slowly out from her. Whatever strength was in
her body had now fleeted; not so much as even her desperate attempts to let out
a cry or groan in response to the agony were successful.

"We're done here. Please send
forth a message to all media stations. Tell them that the princess is
dead." Xeraph says as he walks away with his soldiers; although, in her
fading moments, Felecia could hear his words as no more than mere murmurs.
Felecia searches for the strength to reach forward, but not so much as a single
finger upon her hand even twitches. She tries to make a sound, but can't. Her
vision begins to fade, as does the pain. A chill embraces her tightly, as she
falls into darkness.

Felecia opens her eyes. “Am…am I
dead?” She says as she drifts in a black void. “I can’t move…” she lets out a
small breath. “This is death? It feels cold.” In the distance Felecia can see a
faint red glow. “What is that? It feels cold.” Felecia suddenly feels strength
return to her as the light grows closer. She reaches out to the light, to see a
red sphere in front of her. “What is this? It’s crimson…but…it feels like me.”
The light suddenly shines bright.

Deep within the heart of darkness,
where screams and gnashing of teeth fills the air with its bloody stench, atop
the mounds of suffering sits the great guardian of the realm's gate. His name
is Death, that which rules all of Hell. His sleep is suddenly and abruptly
interrupted by a disturbance in his world, a soul scheduled for the domains of Hell
is ripped from his grasp. “Such a power, very few can do,” Death rises from his
throne, a horrid mountain of flesh made of damned souls left to suffer
eternally under him. Death speaks again; the very sound of his voice causes all
of Hell to wail in pain, “This isn't any one of 'them', no this power is of
that reddest sin. It would seem that more of this most crimson evil has
surfaced itself again.” Death reaches his claw like bone fingers out upon the
face of a poor, suffering soul. A pain most crushing surges within the soul's
very being, and rips him apart from the inside, out in a flurry of blood. Out
from his bowels and blood the Reaper is unsheathed. Death takes hold of his
Reaper, a brutal curved blade attached to the side of a long black pole. “It
would appear, I must take flight,” Death says sliding the tip of his Reaper
blade through the sternum of a woman's soul as she cries, “Still sharp then,
good. At least my power remains strong.” Death raises up his Reaper and cleaves
the blade through the air and down into the ground of bodies, opening up a
portal before him. Large, menacing wings of black bones and torn flesh unveil
themselves out from his back from under his hooded robes. Without another word,
Death vanishes into the portal. Death has returned to the realm of the living.

Felecia rises up off the ground and
coughs up blood onto the dirt. She places her hand on her chest and can feel
the thick layer of blood, but the impaling wound is gone. She feels sharp pain
in her chest and vomits on the ground. At the same time, a man beside her
watches in shock as Felecia has just risen from the dead.
"I'm...alive?" Felecia asks herself. "How am I alive? This isn't
possible. I know that blade plunged through my heart. Does this mean God still
has use for me? Was my death not predetermined? Or was I brought back by the
Devil to carry out his desires?" Felecia falls back on her bottom and
clenches her hair. She is unable to comprehend with what has happened. "I
don't even know anymore."

"How are you alive? I just declared
you dead five minutes ago. Are you a demon?" Asks the man standing above
her. Felecia jumps and falls back then crawls away from him. "Wh-who are
you?" She asks him.

"I am Xeon Morimatta. I'm a scout soldier from the Gigian Empire. I saw
the smoke from the burning village and rushed over as soon as I can. Originally
I had deemed everyone here slaughtered, then you came back from the depths of
hell. Who and what are you?" Xeon summons an oversized Chainsaw sword.
"No one can survive a wound as severe as yours was. You heart was completely
cleaved in two. Either you used magic, or you aren't Gigian." Xeon
steadies his blade at Felecia.

"W-wait! I have no idea what's going on either. Please have mercy! It
was just a normal day this morning then my town was attacked by some soldiers.
I have no idea how I'm alive. You've got to believe me!" Xeon thrusts his
blade forward and presses it against Felecia's throat. Felecia backs away a
little. Her eyes fixate themselves on the blade. Her heart begins to rush, and
she begins to sweat. Her breathing becomes erratic. She can’t help but remember
the pain as the sword that nearly killed her plunged into her chest.

“P-please. Remove your blade from my neck.” Felecia falls onto her knees.
Her body is shaking all over.

“You don’t look too good. What’s transpired here has had a profound effect
on your mind.” Xeon moves the blade away from her. Xeon de-summons his blade
and reaches out to help Felecia up. “Don’t take this the wrong way. From what I
can see, you are innocent, but that regenerative ability of yours is on the
level of which no being should possess. I won’t be able to trust you until I
can be certain that you’re not a danger to me or the people.”

“I...I understand.” Felecia takes his hand, and Xeon pulls her up.

“We should get going. Who knows who’ll come wandering through here? Follow
me.” Xeon jumps down from the mountain of rubble and runs over to a car. Felecia
follows closely behind. Xeon opens the hatch and hops in. Felecia climbs in the
back. “I’m going to drop you off at the nearest outpost. You remain quiet until
we get there.” Xeon straps in, as well as Felecia.

“Wait? Outpost? No! We need to get to the capital! We must see my brother!
He’ll know what to do!” Felecia demands.

“What!? Are you crazy!? That trip would take a month at least, normally two
to three months at the most! Not to mention we’d become a target. I’m taking
you to an outpost!.” Xeon snaps back.

“I don’t care how long it takes! My brother would provide the most
protection! Plus, how can you guarantee my safety at an outpost? Those places
are always the first to be ransacked! We need to go to the capital!”

“God damn! Demanding much!? Jesus!” Felecia punches Xeon. “GAH! HEY, WHAT
THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?”

“For using the Lord’s name in vain!” Felecia shouts.

“Fine. I won’t use Lordy Loo’s name in vain anymore. Happy?” Xeon states as
he starts up the car.

*Lordy Loo? Is this guy serious?* Felecia
thinks to herself. She plops in the back seat as Xeon throws it into main gear
and drives off.

In the rebel zone on planet 339E26TB7, aka Ptraminum, a battle has concluded
in favor of The Strongest Army. Captain John Blackwolf is about to board a ship
to transport him to the other side of the planet where others of 5th division
are still fighting. He is a massive man standing over 9 feet tall with a brutal
body and long black hair. He is wearing the white coat of a captain, with a
metallic, star-alloy breastplate and heavy, black stomping boots. Suddenly, the
blazing hot red and yellow suns of the planet are blocked out as a darkness
envelops the skies. Thunderstorms roll in and the temperature drops
dramatically. Down from the heavens the skin torn, black bone wings of Death
carry the great and powerful creature to the ground. The grass, trees, flowers,
and even air dies and withers around him. He flies, just hovering above the
ground, over to Captain Blackwolf. “I didn't expect someone as high up as you to
be here,” John says to Death, “We have this little nothing planet under
control. You needn't waste your time here.”

“I care nothing of such trivial matters,” Death says, “You must come with
me.”

“I cannot,” John replies, “What few men I have here are already spread short
across the planet. I won't risk losing anymore soldiers than I have to. If I
leave now, many of them may die in vain.”

“What tiresome dilemmas,” Death groans, “Very well then, I haven't time to
make fuss.” Death lifts up his Reaper and slams the end of its pole to the
ground and then he says, “You will find the planet's rebels are now all dead.
Shall we be off then?”

“This must be serious,” John says crossing his arms.

“Truly I know yet not,” Death replies turning around to open another rift
portal with his blade, “I do yet know it to be a matter of which you are
experienced in. I shall explain on our way.” Death points the end of his
Reaper's pole towards the portal, John walks through, and Death follows closely
behind.

The soles of shoes clash against the hall floors at a fast pace, echoing
down the chamber. Three men walk together, the two on the right and left
dressed in formal garb, while the man in the middle wears casual clothing and a
flat cap. “They just broke the treaty by attacking that village. Henry, I want
you to ready the armies, and send out an order for all those who are 18 or
older to be drafted into the ranks. This is war now.” The man in the middle
says to the man on the right.

‘“Yes your majesty.” The man on the right walks off. David turns to the
left.

“Economic report? I need to know the price of arms.” David asks. The man
hands David a packet. David quickly scans through it.

“Arms have gone down significantly in price in the past few years due to
finding an ore vein on Tressmas.” Says the man.

“Perfect. Send an order for arms to supply a 750 million strong infantry.
Also set aside some funding for the Air Naval Academy (ANA). We need
experienced Gunners operating these ships, not rookies. We’re dealing with a
tactical genius here, however, so we can’t waste any time.” David explains.

“I understand sir. Shall I have rations prepared for the troops?” he asked.

“Sounds reasonable.” Says David. The man on his left walks off. David comes
up to a two large doors. He swings them open, and in the room is a large oval
table with men in suits sitting around it. David walks over to the very end and
sits.

“Good evening your highness.” Says Fleet Admiral Zixon.

“I need an update. What have our scouts found?” David picks up a folder with
several papers.

“The village was completely leveled. We did not fine her highness, but we
did find the body of her Bodyguard, Auron. His left leg was broken, and it was
apparent he was impaled by some object. If not for the bullet in his head, he
would have bled out from the wound.” States Admiral Gerald.

“We did, however, find blood near the school building. It was a large
amount, at least 3 quarts. Upon a quick test, it was found to be female. It’s
very possible now that Felecia is either badly wounded, or dead. The latter
being the most plausible.” Informs Vice Admiral Nimitz

“No…I believe she might still be alive. She’s…shall we say, ‘Special’.”
David states.

“What do you mean?” asks Rear Admiral Davis.

“Classified. For me to know only. Anyway, report on the Defective’s
position?” David asks.

“Yes. He has arranged a fleet of several warships behind the mountains. He’s
preparing to strike. If we launch a surprise attack, we could eliminate his
fleet swiftly with little to no civilian casualties.” Nimitz explains.

“Very well. We’ll see what we can do. I will now adjourn this meeting with a
finally statement. Men, from today and onwards, we formally declare war on the
scourge that is former Admiral Xeraph Vixbar.” David declares.

## **Chapter 2**

Felecia sits in the back of the car, staring out the window. She can’t help
but think ‘*What happened?’* She
couldn’t quite make sense of what happened to the village. Nor could she
remember what happened. Despite this, she still felt at fault. It was her they
were after.

“We’re almost to the outpost.” Xeon said.

“Okay. We should see my brother though.”
Felecia stares down at the river as they cross a bridge. She sighs. “So
pretty…”

“You should really stop blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault the village
was ransacked.” Xeon says.

“You think so? Liar, you know they were after me.” Felecia mumbles.

“Can up please stop spouting nonsense. Why would they come after a girl like
you? You’ve been nothing but trouble for me.” Xeon states. Felecia continues to
stare out the window. As Felecia looks upon the open fields, she sees a pillar
of smoke rising in the distance.

“Hm? There seems to be a fire nearby.” Felecia says.

Xeon turns his head to the right. He sees the smoke. “You’re right. It’s in
the direction of the outpost. I’ll see about checking it out after I drop you
off.”

“Something tells me it is the outpost that’s burning.” Felecia states.

“Why’s that?” Xeon asks.

“It’s simple really. Eliminate the enemy little by little. Decrease their
forces. In fact, being so close to my village, I wouldn’t be surprised if they
attacked it for extra caution.” Felecia explains

“You have a point. In that case, we must hurry.” Xeon floors the throttle
and speeds over to the outpost. Upon arriving, Felecia’s suspicions are proven
correct. The outpost is in smolders, completely destroyed. Dozens of bodies
cover the ground. Xeon opens the hatch and jumps out of the car. “Dammit. You
were right.” He runs over to the burning ruins. He checks all of the bodies.
While he does this, Felecia steps out of the car.

“It’s all my fault. They did this looking for me…” she looks at the bodies
with distressed eyes. Xeon runs over and grabs her by the shoulders and shakes
her violently.

“STOP BLAMING YOURSELF! THERE”S NOTHING THEY COULD EVER WANT FROM YOU!” Xeon
screams at her. Felecia slaps him hard.

“Do you even realize who I am? Indeed, I may have a week heart, but they
told me straight to my face I was what they were after. This is all my fault.
If only I hadn’t been shipped to that town, this would have never happened.”
Felecia scowls. She looks at Xeon with cold eyes.

“I don’t get it. What could they possibly gain from hunting you down?” Xeon
asks. Felecia just stares at him with her cold dead eyes. He could see she was
in a lot of emotional turmoil. Xeon’s hands still firmly grasping her
shoulders.

“I’d like to know that myself.” Felecia walks back to the car and goes to
the back seat. She curls up in the backseat and cries softly to herself as Xeon
goes back to searching through the debris. Unable to find anything of
significance, Xeon collects weaponry and ammo, putting it in the back of the
trunk. Felecia remains curled in a ball when Xeon enters the car. Xeon remains
quiet for a few seconds taking a quick look at Felecia. He couldn’t help but
feel that something was amiss about her. Xeon starts the car back up and turns
on the radio for some music.

“Looks like we’ll be heading to the capital like you wanted.” Xeon states.
Felecia doesn’t respond. Xeon begins to drive off when the news starts up.

“This just breaking in: Apparently the Village the princess had been in
hiding out for so long has been attacked and leveled. We have a major source
stating the princess is dead. I repeat, the princess is dead.” Xeon raises an
eyebrow.

“That’s some pretty serious accusations.” Xeon states.

“I wish they were true. Might as well be…I
did die…” Felecia mumbles under her breath.

“Hm? You say something?” Xeon asks. Felecia doesn’t respond. Xeon now puzzled
with her, kicks the car into gear and drives them away from the ruined base.

“What seems to be the trouble?” John says as they travel.

“A power of the most sinful. *It* has
made itself present on an ancient world.” Death raises his bony hand through
his cloak and points at Blackwolf’s eyepatch. “While I slept upon my throne in
the deepest depths of hell, a soul bound for my realm was torn from my grasp by
this crimson power.”

“I understand. Once we arrive I should be able to track this power with my
right eye. Let’s hope the wielder doesn’t lose control in the meantime.” John
states. Death nods, and they continue their path to Gigia.

Felecia wanders down a decrepit hallway. A stench of evil hovers in the air,
Felecia nauseated by it. She walks into a single room with a mirror in the
middle. “A mirror? What would one be doing in a place like this?” Felecia walks
over to the mirror. “It’s pretty.” She places her hand on the glass, staring at
her reflection. “Such a crystal clear image. There’s no smearing, no scratches.
I’d like to have a mirror with this kind of quality.” Felecia smiles.

“Is that so?” says a female voice. Felecia looks around her, only to see the
room is completely closed off. She turns back to see herself, only this time
with black hair and wide, glowing red eyes, with a narrow grin across her face.

Felecia jumps back, “What the!?” Felecia backs into a wall and falls on the
ground. She watches helplessly as her black-haired self, steps out of the
mirror. The walls begin to bleed as the mysterious clone walks closer. Felecia
begins to panic, but before she can react, her clone straddles her and speaks
softly.

“I have a feeling we’ll be working well with each other in the near future.”
Says the doppelganger before giving Felecia a deep wet kiss, pouring crimson
down Felecia’s throat. “This is the price for wielding me. Felecia gags and
squirms before shooting up and hitting her head off the ceiling of the car.

“Owww….” Felecia regains her composure. Xeon looks back at her.

“You okay?” he asks.

“I’m fine.” Felecia replies. The truth was much different however. As
Felecia settled in and got comfortable in the seat, the flashes of the
nightmare she had keeping popping her mind. It felt so real to her, as if she
wasn’t dreaming at all. “What was that?”

Xeon looks back at her then goes back to focus on the road, when he realizes
something was off. He makes a double take of Felecia before slamming on the
breaks. Felecia, not buckled in, flies head first into the passenger seat.

“ARGH!?” Felecia gets up. “HEY, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?” Felecia
pauses. *Did I just swear? I’ve never*
swore once in my life. That was strange.

Xeon turns back and looks at Felecia. His eyes widen with a little
disbelief. “Weren’t your eyes a deep blue before?” Felecia looks at him,
confused.

“What do you mean?” Felecia rubs her head. “Could
have at least warned me…”

“You’re eyes are red. Not only that, but they have a glow to them as well.
How do you even change your eyes to look like that?” Xeon asks her.

“My eyes are red?” just then, Felecia remembered back to her nightmare.
“Give me a mirror! Now!” Felecia demands.

“The only mirrors I have are those on the car.” Xeon points to the rearview
mirror. Felecia climbs forward and looks closely at herself. Xeon was right.
Her eyes were now a glowing crimson. She stumbles back.

“Wha…what is this?” Felecia holds her face. “These aren’t my eyes…” she
lowers her hands. “These aren’t my eyes.” Felecia starts falling into a state
of distress. Cold sweat runs down her face as she falls back into her seat. She
looks back at the mirror. There sits her black-haired doppelganger in the
mirror, in her place. She smiles and looks at Felecia, possessing Felecia’s
sapphire blue eyes. Felecia clenches her fists and lunges at the mirror “YOU
BITCH! GIVE ME BACK MY EYES!” she grabs the mirror and stares into the
Doppelganger’s eyes. The Doppelganger just smiles and lets out slight giggle.
Felecia becomes infuriated, gripping onto the mirror hard enough to crack the
glass and crush the casing around it. “GIVE THEM BACK!” Felecia tears the
mirror of the ceiling and smashes it against the dash. The broken glass cuts
deeply into her hands, the crimson dropping unto the carpeting. Felecia reels
back in pain, her hands tensing in front of her, trying to clench shut. Tears
fall from her eyes in waterfalls. “Why? Why is this happening to me?”

*This is the price of wielding me.*

*She said that. She said that. Wield*
her? I didn’t do anything. What’s going on here? I’m so lost and confused*.*
Felecia thought to herself. Without Felecia realizing it, Xeon takes hold of
her hands and begins removing the glass shards and bits of plastic.

*This was to be expected. Not only was*
her village attacked and was nearly killed, but she blames herself for the
attack of not only the village, but the outpost as well. It was only a matter
of time before she lost it. *Xeon thinks. After removing all of the*
fragments and shards, Xeon wraps Felecia’s hand with some gauze out of the
first aid kit. Once he’s done, Felecia pulls her hands back to the center of
her chest and falls on her side and cries heavily. Xeon gets back in the
driver’s seat and throws the car back into gear and drives off.

While flying towards Gigia, John receives a sharp sensation through his
right eye. “Hm? There’s been a spike in the energy.” John tells to Death.

“All the more reason why we must hurry.” Death spreads his bony wings and
accelerates. John follows closely behind.

Xeraph, lounging in his Admiral’s Chair, feels a dark presence take
dominance in the atmosphere. He slowly rises up and focuses his senses. *What could this overwhelming evil be? Where*
could it be coming from? *He thinks to himself. He looks down at the*
communications operative. “You there, could you scan for any strong sources of
dark energy?”

“Yes, Sir!” The operative turns to his monitor, punching in signal frequency
code ranges and turns on the scanning dish. After a few minutes pass, the operative
turns back to Xeraph. “I’ve got a lock on a source of some really potent energy
sir. It seems to have an irregular pattern, indicating instability. It’s moving
north at 67.2 knots.”

“Good work. Send out a drone to destroy it. It feels as if it could pose a
threat. I won’t take any chances.” Xeraph tells him.

“Aye-aye sir!” the Operative flips on a switch and types in some
instructions into two drones. “Launching.” He presses a switch on the console,
and from the portside of the warship launch two drones.

Xeon looks at the clock. It says 12:33 AM. “Well. Now would be a good time
to get some rest.” Xeon turns off the car and pulls out a blanket from the
glove box. He drapes it over his body and leans the seat back and dozes off.

Felecia tosses and turns in her sleep. Her eyes suddenly open. “Huh!?” She
swallows and looks around. Noticing Xeon sleeping, she gets out of the car for
some fresh air. The sun is starting to rise in the west. “What a nice breeze.”
Felecia brushes her hair back and leans against the car. She then starts to
hear a slight hum. She looks in the sky towards the south and sees to black
dots moving toward her. “What’s that over there?” The hum of objects growing
ever closer and louder. “Are those planes?” she wondered. Immediately she opened
the hatch and got back in the car, then shook Xeon to wake him up.

“Huh? Wha?”

“Xeon, it seems planes are headed this way.”

“Yeah, so?”

“It means if the Rebels find out I’m still alive, they’ll come after me
again. I don’t want any more lives taken as a result of my own living.”

“Fine…FINE. I’ll go check it out. You wait in the car, you paranoid maniac.”
Xeon says as he tosses the blanket off. He grabs a pair of binoculars and opens
the hatch. Felecia points him in the direction of the drones and turns his eyes
towards them. “Attack drones. Don’t know why they’re headed in this direction,
there isn’t anything for miles.”

“They could be hunting for someone.” Felecia suggests.

“True.”

“Have the drones arrived at the source?” Xeraph asked.

“Yes, sir. It seems to emanating from the car, the energy waves that is.”
Says the operative.

“Open fire when I give the order. I’d like to see the face of the one with
this power.”

“As you wish.”

The drones zip overhead then loop back and aim their cameras through the
windshield. Despite Felecia’s best efforts, her entire face is caught by the
drones as she ducks behind the seats. Xeraph shoots out of his chair and looks
at the footage in shock and fear. “Sir…that’s…”

“Impossible. Turn the drones around and destroy that car!”

Xeon notices them turn back abruptly and dives back into the car in reaction
to it. He immediately throws the car into drive and floors it, sending Felecia
flying back into the seat. Xeon then pulls a large revolver out of the glove
compartment and tosses it to Felecia. She catches it out of reflex, but is in
complete shock when she sees what she caught. “THE HECK YOU GIVING ME A G--”

“LESS TALKY MORE SHOOTY”

“WHAT?!”

“SHOOT THE DAMN DRONES!”

“BUT---“

“SHOOT DAMMIT!”

Felecia reluctantly opens the sun roof and points the gun at one of the
drones. It is a 12 inch triple barrel .500 caliber revolver. She pulls the
trigger. The recoil sends her arms flying back.
Her shoulders pop and she lets out a small wail of pain. She missed the
drone however, but her eyes glow and she takes the gun up and aims again. She
pulls the trigger. The recoil knocks her back again, and she managed to hit the
drone’s wing, but it was merely a scratch. “This is impossible.” She said.

*Shoot again.*

“What? But I’m out of rounds.”

*Shoot.*

“I ca—”

*Shoot, before I make you.*

*“*Alright! Just leave me alone!”
Felecia pulls the trigger. A beam of crimson shoots from the barrel and
straight through the drone. Felecia experiences no recoil and looks in awe of
what happened. “W-what!? W-what was that?” While Felecia tries to make sense of
what happened, the other drone unleashes its Vulcans. Three shots hit Felecia
and she falls back into the passenger seat. While two grazed her, on penetrated
her abdomen and she now bleeds profusely. “GWUAAAAAAAAHHHH!” Felecia screams in
pain. She clenches down on the wound as the slick crimson seeps between her
fingers. “D-Dammit! NGAAH!”

*Quiet. I’ll heal you. Focus on*
destroying the Drone.

Felecia Stands back up “Yeah? Heal me? Then do it already. CAUSE THIS IS
PISSING ME OFF!” A crimson aura envelopes Felecia. The red static bounces
around her as she rises through the sun roof and swings the gun at the drone.
It immediately shoots at her. Her arms and body take in several shots, but she
still pulls the trigger, with an angered look. “TAKE THIS, YOU BASTARD!” A
massive, dense beam of black with a red glow erupts from the guns barrel. The
recoil forces the car into the ground and cracks the Earth. Felecia is pushed
back into the car with incredible force with a loud thud. The Beam then
evaporates the drone and punches a hole in the sky. The barrel of the gun
shatters in Felecia’s hand as she tries to recover from falling. She looks out
the sun roof, her eyes widened. “D….Did I just…?”

“JESUS! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO!? IT WAS ENOUGH THAT YOU TALKED TO
YOURSELF LIKE SOME LOON, BUT NOW YOU’RE SHOOTING HOLES IN THE FUCKING SKY!?
WHAT THE FUCK!?” Xeon screams, freaking the fuck out. Felecia looks at him with
her shocked expression.

“Hehe…” She chuckles.

“…hehehe.” He snickers.

“Hehehahahahah…” Felecia laughs.

“Hahahahahaha…” Xeon laughs.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAH!” Felecia becomes hysterical.

“HEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Xeon keels over, laughing.

“That was so freakin’ ridiculous!” Felecia exclaims.

“Hahahah, yeah, it was.” Xeon replies.

Felecia then feels the sharp pain of being shot multiple times as her
adrenaline dies down. She cringes and grips some of the areas, but notices
there to be no wounds. “Huh? I swear I got shot several times. There’s even
blood on my clothes from where I was shot…”
Felecia wonders.

“That is strange. Could be the same thing that brought you back to life.”
Xeon suggests.

“I guess you’re right…” Felecia clenches her chest. *So that voice wasn’t kidding when it said it’ll heal me…Could it be? It*
probably is. Whatever power this is that I have…I doesn’t want me to die. *Felecia*
sits up and hops into the passenger seat. “With all these holes in my clothes,
we better get me a new outfit.”

“True. I guess I could get myself one too. This armour slows me down,
especially when I’m wielding my blade.” Xeon adds.

“So then it’s settled. Next town we arrive in, we’re getting new clothes.”
Felecia states.

“GOD DAMMIT! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!” Xeraph rips his Admiral’s Chair from
the floor and hurls it across the bridge.

“I’m sorry, Sir.”

“No, it’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault. There’s no way we could
prepare ourselves for such a power. You guys can all take a break, while I try
to sort this out.”

“YES, SIR!” everyone but Xeraph leaves the bridge. Once the door closes,
Xeraph slams his fist on his War Table, cracking the holographic projecting
screen.

“Dammit. Why? First HE betrays us, and now THIS appears on our home world.
Deus auxilium nobis omnes.” Xeraph collapses at the table, the stress taking a
toll on him.

“John, did you feel that?” Death questioned.

“Yes. That massive burst of power. It must’ve attacked.” John narrows his
eyes as they approach Gigia.

## **Chapter 3**

Felecia and Xeon drive up to the town of Libra. When they arrive at the
gate, Xeon pulls out his Military entry pass. After being let through, Xeon
pulls into the parking lot of a blacksmith. Felecia turns to Xeon, “Let me
handle paying for everything, okay?” Felecia opens the door and climbs out of
the car. Once Xeon gets out, they bother head for the shop entrance. Felecia
feels a chill run down her spine. She can’t help but feel people are staring at
her.

As they walk in, Felecia notices the swords hanging on the wall and
immediately breaks into a cold sweat, gripping her chest and starting to
tremble. The Black Smith takes notice of her, immediately seeing all the bloody
cuts on her uniform. “My, my, you look like you walked straight through a
warzone young miss. Hell, you even look like you’ve seen some serious shit. If
these weapons on the wall are bothering you, I can take them down until you
leave. No issues.”

“Th...Thank you…” Says Felecia as he takes down the swords. Felecia walks
over to the counter. “I’d like some new clothing. As you can see, mine have
seen better days. If possible, light armour would help.”

“Light armour in your size? Let me see.” The smith walks over to the
catalogue. After pulling out a card, he swipes it through a scanner and a door
opens revealing a rack full of jackets. He pulls one off the rack and places it
on the counter. “This is Micro-woven Titanium Alloy Armour. Covered in high
tension Faux leather, it’s a bit on the heavier end of Light armour, it can
stop any bullet. Only 17,000 Reens.”

“I see. May I try it on?” Felecia asks.

“Why certainly.” The smith hands her the jacket. She grabs it and finds that
it is a bit on the heavier side as he said, but nothing she couldn’t handle.
She slips her arms through the sleeves. She shimmies around in the jacket for a
bit, before pulling out her card. “I’ll take this. I’ll go look around for
clothes in the meantime.”

“You have a good day, miss.” The smith said.

“You, too~” Felecia walks off.

After meeting back up with Xeon who had found some armour he liked, him and
Felecia went deeper into the store and picked out some clothing. After Felecia
got changed, Xeon told her to wait outside while he got his weapon maintenance.
The Blacksmith was impressed by the blade, and happily refined its edge.
Felecia then came back in once Xeon was finished and paid for the services.

“I actually quite like what I picked out, what about you, Xeon?” Felecia
asks.

“This is actually pretty good quality. If anything, the armour should last
us a long while. The clothes are decent as well. One question, why the skirt?”
Xeon asks.

“Legged wear is uncomfortable.” Felecia answers.

“I guess that makes sense…” Xeon says.

“So, anyone got a clue as to where they ran off?” Xeraph asks.

“It appears from their direction that the most probable location is Libra,
sir.”

“I see. Send Commander Kexion. They must be eliminated as soon as possible.”

“I’ll contact him immediately.”

*I swear. I will eliminate Felecia. The*
power she holds is far too dangerous. *Xeraph grips the arms of his chair.*

“Maaaagnaaa~” says Felecia as she stretches in the bath tub. “It feels so
good having a bath after three days~” Felecia relaxes in the tub and thinks
about the past few days and how crazy they’ve been. “It feels so surreal. All
that’s happened. I still can’t wrap my head around it.” Felecia sinks into the
tub. She places her hand on her chest, stroking it once. “I can’t forget. I
still feel the pain.” Felecia looks up. “But…I don’t mourn. Why? My mom’s dead.
Everyone I knew is dead. So why don’t I mourn?” Felecia sighs and looks back
down. In front of her sits the dark doppelganger. She’s smiling. The eyes she
stole from Felecia, glowing. They narrow, and she lets out a slight chuckle,
before crawling up against Felecia.

*What’s the point in mourning? Those*
feelings will only get in the way~ Hehehe~

Felecia leaps out of the tub. “UWAHH!? W-What the Hell!?” upon leaping out, she
slips on the tiles due to her wet feet, and falls with a loud thud. The Crimson
Doppelganger rises out of the tub and walks over to Felecia. Felecia’s hands
clench into fists. She leaps up and tackles the Doppelganger, and grips its
neck tightly. “YOU! YOU’RE THE ONE TAMPERING WITH MY FEELINGS, AREN’T YOU!?
FIRST YOU STEAL MY EYES, NOW YOU STEAL MY FEELINGS!? I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!
GIVE THEM BACK!” Felecia’s grip tightens, her eyes becoming a flame of crimson.
“GIVE THEM BACK!” Her grip becomes tighter. The room becomes dark, black and
white. The only colour being their eyes and blood. The sky out the window turns
crimson, and a black rain begins to fall. Thunder roars as Felecia stares
intensely at her doppelganger, her grip becoming tighter.

*Yes. Become more aggressive. Become*
more violent. Like that’ll help the situation~

“YOU BITCH! AHHHHHHHH!” A crunching noise followed by a sickening snap
echoes in the bathroom. Even so, Felecia grips tighter. Her nails dig into the
Doppelganger’s neck. Blood seeps from the wounds. Suddenly, the blood shot eyes
of the Doppelganger look directly at Felecia. Felecia freezes. The Doppelganger
begins to laugh. She laughs and laughs and laughs.

*Such a foolish person. Killing half of*
yourself in a fit of rage~

*“W-what!?”*

*Must’ve been fun choking yourself to*
death. You broke your own neck. Hahaha~ But don’t worry. I healed you. Sadly
though, you’ll be unconscious for a while. Hehehahaha~

“YOU! YOU! RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Felecia crushes her neck between
her fingers. “DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! GO AWAY! I WANT NO PART OF THIS!” Blood wells
up in the Doppelganger’s mouth, pouring out the sides. Blood stains Felecia’s
hands. The bathroom becomes dark. The walls fade into nothingness. *No more. Whatever this is inside me. Go*
away. I want no part of this.

*It’s too late. You’ve already become*
my puppet. You’re mine to control, and you can do nothing about it. Hahahaha~

“No. I refuse to have it.” Back in the real world, Felecia lets go of her
neck and rises out of the tub. She walks into the hotel’s kitchen, and grabs a
knife. “I will not let you do what you please with me. Even if I have to kill
myself.” Felecia thrusts the knife into her neck. She digs it deeply across.
Blood gushes from her neck. Felecia falls to her knees, but she continues to
dig the knife in. Thick crimson wells up in her mouth and oozes out through her
clenched teeth. The knife buries itself into Felecia’s spine, cutting away the
vertebrae. Her body falls limp, blood still pumping out of her artery. She
falls onto the kitchen floor, a pool of blood growing beneath her.

*Didn’t I tell you yet? As long as I*
remain, you can never die.

Felecia’s wound closes up quickly. All the blood drained from her body is
pulled back. The pool of blood underneath her vanishes as the wound zips shut.
Her eyes blink. She stands. Without saying a word, she walks back to her hotel
room. Tears roll from her eyes, as she collapses onto her bed.

Xeon woke to Felecia sleeping next to him. At first he jolts a little in
shock, but notices that Felecia is shaking, bad. She was clearly asleep, so
Xeon came to the conclusion that she must be having a nightmare. “Figures.
After all she’s been through.” Xeon pets her on the head. Suddenly his eyes
widen. *Wha…what is this presence I’m*
feeling from her? It’s so sinister. It’s as if Satan himself cradles her. *Xeon*
sits up and puts his armour on. He then pats Felecia on the head, waking her
up.

A man enters into Libra through its gates. He has long blond hair and is
wearing a trench coat. He quickly looks from side to side, then straight ahead.
“So the targets are here? Tch. It’ll be a pain to find them, that’s for sure.”

“Hey, you. Where’s your entry pass?” Asks the gate keeper. The man turns
around slowly.

“I am my own pass.”

“No. All persons regardless of status are required an entry pass. I will
have to ask you to leave, sir, or you will be detained.”

“Too bad.” The man snaps his fingers. Suddenly, the Gate Keeper is struck
down with an intense lightning bolt.

“Hm?” Felecia looks out over in the direction of the lightning. “That’s
weird, the skies are clear, and judging from the levels of humidity, storms
shouldn’t be nearby.”

“Do you really need to go into that level of detail?” Xeon says.

“Of course. Because, my Mage Teacher said that if something unusual happens
that normally wouldn’t be possible under current conditions, then it was most
likely magic. Chances are, someone was just killed with Thunder Magic.” Felecia
explains.

“I see.” Xeon looks at Felecia. *Is it*
me, or is she becoming rather tactical? *“Anyway, about this morning. You*
were shaking like crazy. Did you have a nightmare or something?”

“I…I’d rather not talk about it. You’d think I was going crazy.” Felecia
says.

“Are you sure you aren’t already?”
mumbles Xeon.

“Hm? What is it?” Felecia asks.

“Nothing.” Xeon replies. “Well, we can’t stay in the town much longer.
Someone will eventually come find us. Worst case scenario, they’ll attack the
town. I don’t know what they want from you, but you weren’t lying when you said
they were after you. I can be certain of that now.”

A man walks out of an alley the two just passed. It’s the same man with long
blond hair. He looks over at the two, then pulls out a photo. “White hair…truly
an unusual hair colour.” He turns and calls out to them, “Your highness, so
it’s true. You really are alive. I’m so relieved.”

*Eh? Wait, did someone just call out to*
me? *Felecia thinks to herself.*

“Princess Felecia Lupus Flare, it’s an honor to meet you.” Felecia turns her
head abruptly, and sees the man. Her eyes widen. Xeon turns as well.

“P-princess?!” Xeon questions, before looking at Felecia.

“I guess there’s no use in hiding it. What do you want?” Felecia asks.

“I’m just following orders.” The man raises his hand and points at the two.
People around them begin to watch. Felecia’s eyes widen. Her vision becomes
crimson. She can see it. She can see the Magic circle on his hand. She can see
the execution process.

She grabs Xeon’s arm, and dashes into alley, right before a lightning bolt
shoots from his fingertips, and shatters the concrete sidewalk. Felecia and
Xeon stumble when they land in the alley. Xeon pauses for a moment, trying to
make sense of what’s going on.

“Don’t question it, just run!” Felecia grabs his arm and they take off.

“You can’t hide from me. If need be, I’ll wipe this entire town off the
map!” the man becomes wrapped in lightning. He raises his arm to the skies,
then thrusts it back down. “ZEUS’ WRATH!” There was a flash of light. A
deafening explosion. Building are obliterated by a massive shockwave. People
are incinerated too fast to scream. “Didn’t destroy the town, but still an
intense bolt nonetheless. Heh. Even if they survived that, they’ll be injured
at least.” The man jumps down into the smoking crater. His smiling face fades
into one of disappointment. “Hm? Well now, that’s just straight up cheating.”
Felecia and Xeon stand together under a crimson barrier. Felecia has a stressed
expression. Sweat trickles down her face.

“That was way too close…but, where did this barrier come from?” Felecia
asks.

“I have no idea.” Xeon responds.

“My name is Kexion by the way. Sorry for the late introduction. Not that it
matters.” Lightning begins to appear all around Kexion’s body. His clothing
flutters from the disturbance of mana in the air. “I’ll just have to hit your
barrier even harder.”

Xeon steps forward out of the barrier. He summons his blade and rests it on
the back of his neck. “A little shock doesn’t scare me.” he says.

“And who might you be?” Kexion asks as lightning flickers around him.

“My name is Xeon Murayama, I’m a soldier for the Gigian Army.” Xeon gets
into his stance.

“Nice to meet you, Xeon.” Kexion says. Kexion raises his arms, the lightning
becoming more intense. However, before Kexion could attack, Xeon was already
right in front of him. “What!?” says Kexion in shock. Xeon’s sword comes from
the left at incredible force and speed. Reacting just in time to bring up
lightning barrier, the force of the impact sends him flying through several
buildings that still stand. Kexion rises from the rubble bruised and bleeding.
“Damn. I didn’t expect this. This ought to be interesting.” Kexion arches his
body then swings out his arms. Lightning erupts around him, and he beings to
float. The ground breaks up from the constant shocks. Within seconds he bolts
back to Xeon. He fires a bolt fire lightning at Xeon. Xeon blocks it with his
sword. “What!? His sword doesn’t conduct?!” Kexion says in surprise.

“Shouldn’t be all that surprising. After all, this is an enchanted blade.
It’s only natural I would have it enchanted so that it doesn’t conduct. Thunder
Mages are common, aren’t they?” Xeon explains.

“Can’t deny that one. Who can blame them? Thunder magic is powerful and
fast. Like this.” Suddenly Kexion is right beside Xeon. He encases his fist in
lightning then thrusts it at Xeon. Xeon tries to bring up his sword, but is hit
in his side, sending him pirouetting through the air and into a nearby
building. He stumbles out of the building, holding his side. He drops his sword
and falls onto the ground.

“XEON!” Felecia shouts. She immediately stands up and runs over to Xeon.
Kexion sees this from the corner of his eye and shoots a bolt at her, taking
off her left arm. “Eh?” Felecia looks down at the nub where her arm used to be.
Blood pours from the opening as she staggers back. Pain shoots up through her
body and she lets out a deafening wail. She collapses to her knees.

“Heh. Pitiful.”

“Now that’s no way to treat a lady.”

Kexion’s eyes widen from being surprised as Xeon lunges at him from behind.
Kexion moves just barely out of the way as Xeon’s sword thrusts forward. Xeon
takes a step to the side and swings the sword across Kexion’s chest, barely cutting him. Blood
flings from the tip of Xeon’s blade. “Damn. And I thought you were down for the
count.”

“Don’t count me out till I’m dead.” Xeon looks over at Felecia. She stands, her arm
completely regenerated. *So it does heal on its own. Intriguing. Father might be*
interested. *Suddenly lightning shoots by Xeon, grazing his shoulder. Xeon stumbles*
back.

“You
should pay attention more.” Kexion states.

“Sorry. I
saw something that intrigued me is all.” Xeon holds up his sword, but staggers
a little. *Damn. That first attack he got in on me has really dragged me*
down. I can barely move. *Xeon manages to keep himself standing and charges*
at Kexion. Kexion easily dodges and tosses a lightning ball into Xeon. Before
Xeon knew it, he had went flying past Felecia and into the rubble behind her.

“Xeon!”
Felecia called out. Slowly but surely, Xeon stepped out of the rubble. He trips
over himself as walks back towards the crater. His sword falls to the ground
next to Felecia, as he too, collapses from the damage he’s taken. Felecia moves
back at the sight of the sword. She begins to sweat profusely and grips her
chest. Her breaths begin to increase in speed as Kexion makes his way to her.

Felecia
looks back at the blade. Then back at Kexion. She looks at the blade. She looks
at Kexion. She *looks* at the blade. She looks at Kexion. Suddenly she
felt it. This was no time to be afraid of what killed her. If she didn’t act
now, all would be for naught. She quickly dives for the sword and grabs the
hilt. She struggles to lift it, but manages to get it in the air.

“Hm?”
Kexion looks at Felecia with a puzzled face. He could see that Felecia was no
fighter. “Is this a joke?”

Felecia
just stares him down silently.

“You’re
shaking in your boots. You’re no warrior, don’t try to act tough.” Kexion
glares at her. Felecia remains silent. “Pitiful. I’ll just put you out of your
misery.” Kexion becomes incased in lightning and bolts next to Felecia. Before
Felecia could react, his electrically charged hand cuts down through her shoulder.
At the same time, he discharges a bolt of lightning through her. Felecia drops
the sword and falls to the ground.

“Well,
that’s the end of that. Time to finish off that soldier before he gets up. He
did a number on me earlier, can’t risk such a threat recoverin- Huh?” Kexion
looks down to see Felecia grabbing his ankle furiously. She looks up at him,
anger flaring in her eyes. “What, I thought I killed you?” Kexion looks at her
wound to see it closing up.

“Ki…ll….y..ou…!”
Felecia’s grip tightens. Her eyes begin to glow.

*My my, what bad boy you are.*

“Huh? Who
said that?” Kexion looks around frantically. Then he looks back at Felecia. Her
hair begins turning crimson. A wide, angry smile covers her face.

“I don’t
know what you guys want from me, I have no idea what you want from my brother
either. But I cannot just sit her and watch you kill innocent people just to
exterminate me.” The air starts to become heavy. The ground begins to shake.

“W-What
is this!?” Kexion panics. He quickly uses lightning to chop off Felecia’s hand
then jumps back several times. His eyes widen with horror when he see the hand
rise back to the stump on her arm and reattach seamlessly. Felecia rises.

“First,
you attack my village,” Felecia steps forward, “second, you attack an outpost,”
the sky fades into a deep crimson, the clouds turning black, “and third, you
attack me, killing dozens of innocent lives. I’ll be sure to make you pay for
your sins.” There was a crimson fire flowing from her eyes. Her deep red hair
flowing in the wind. The blood on her clothing fit her appearance terrifyingly.
“Now. I wonder what it’ll feel like, as I give you a taste of your own medicine.”
red energy flows around Felecia’s body as she kicks forward off the ground,
shattering it. Chunks of cement and dirt fly through the air when she suddenly
appears in front of Kexion.

*What!? I didn’t see her move!. No one is that fast, right!? What is she!?* Felecia grabs his left arm tightly.

“Let me
show you how it feels to have your arm ripped off. Spoiler, it hurts a fuck
ton.” Felecia bites into his arm and pulls. First came the snap, then the drawn
out sound of tearing and snapping flesh, blood flinging from the severed ends.

“NGRAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”
Kexion screams. Felecia spats his arm off to the side before kicking him into
the ground. The earth around them explodes into chunks, Kexion coughing up
blood. “S-Shit!”

“I don’t
recall allowing you to speak!” Felecia shoves her hand into Kexion’s mouth and
firmly grasps his tongue, then rips it from his jaw.

“RUUUUUUUUH!!!!!” Kexion cries in pain, crimson spraying from his mouth. Felecia stands over his body, smiling. Kexion lifts his head. “Fu…fu…huu….”

“Hm, what
was that? C’mon, tell me.” Felecia leans in closer.

“Fuuu….hu….”
Kexion says as blood streams from the corners of his mouth.

“Oh, I
forgot, you can’t.” Felecia presses her foot down harder on Kexion’s chest. “I
guess it’s time to put you out of your misery.”

“Felecia?”

“Huh?”
Felecia turns to see Xeon standing there. His face holds an expression of
shock.

“What…are
you?”

“UAAH!!!”
Kexion suddenly grabs Felecia’s ankle and begins to charge electricity around
it. Felecia immediately turns her attention towards him.

“Nice
try.” Felecia presses her boot down harder. Sounds of cracking ribs can be
heard.

“Ooo…oo…ea…ot…”
Kexion tries to speak.

“Sorry, I
didn’t quite get the message. How about I let this be a message to Xeraph. I am
tired…of him…killing…innocents…when he tries…to…exterminate…me!”

“Felecia,
don’t!” Xeon tries to jump after her. But it’s too late, by the time he starts
moving, the sound of crushing bones and shredding organs ring in the air. A
cloud of blood erupts from Kexion’s chest. He gags violently, blood flooding from his mouth. Xeon freezes in his footsteps. Surprised by Felecia’s actions,
he takes a good long look at her. *Her hair is red…and her eyes…they’re glowing. This isn’t the Felecia I know,* he thought, *but she still seems*
somewhat conscious of her actions. I may be able to snap her out of it, but I don’t know how.

“Hey Spiky. Come deal with this for me, will ya? I’m gonna check around for
survivors.”

*She’s perfectly self-aware, but her attitude, her personality. They’re completely different as well. Whatever is affecting her must also be affecting her mind. That has to be the case.*