HOLY INFERNO (IV)

Prince Parsia was grimly looking at the spacial ripples around him; during the last hour, more and more began appearing, and now they numbered in thousands. It didn’t take him too long to realize that there was a major battle occurring in the realm he was passing through, and it became harder and harder to actually evade them as he continued his journey.

“It must be a curse!” he cried. “Definitely! Definitely a damn curse! Gods don’t wish for me to succeed, so they decided to screw with me as if I was a whore in a brothel! Dammit, I have a wife, I ought to stop thinking about brothels! Well, technically I wasn’t talking about-- aii, who am I making up these excuses for?! I’m all alone, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by spacial ripples and most-likely hidden tears, and I’m quite close to jumping into an unknown world that is currently a host to some major battle… hah, why is it always me?” he suddenly sat down and buried his head into his knees. “Oh, you have some spare bad luck on the side? Please, don’t let it just sit and rot there, I’ll gather it all!! I’m best at it!! I was practically raised by it!”

As he sat and cried and cursed, more and more spacial ripples and tears appeared around him, causing his ship to sway left and right rigidly.

**

The world suddenly froze, as if each part of it was bound by a different chain living outside the very notion of existence. Lynne watched as burning haze turned to radiant trails, and brandished elements in the sky freeze mid-journey. The bolt of lightning looked like a snake’s corpse, cold and dead, brushed into the sky itself.

Startled, Lynne felt cold sweat pour down his back as the beautiful woman jumped off from the ship’s bow and gently landed before him. The world around her appeared celestial, not belonging to this world. A white veil masked her face, and a beautiful, snow-white gown stretched down onto the floor, trailing behind. Her skin was pale white, and she looked to be an angelic presence which descended upon the world of mortals. It didn’t take Lynne long to realize that the world froze because of her – or, rather, she froze it – as his thoughts momentarily traveled to the depths of terror and fear.

Blue particles flew left and right around her, like downsized moons, and each step she took caused earth beneath to tremble, almost as if afraid of offending her. There was no one and nothing around the two of them who was aware, leaving the world to be the stage, with two of them being the only leads.

“Hello,” the woman spoke in a soft voice, lifting her veil up; she had an oval-shaped face, her eyes glistening and azure-blue, lips soft and full, and cheeks reddened. She smiled gently and warmly as she softly gaze at terrified Lynne. “I take it you’ve realized who I am.”

“You could say that, yeah.” Lynne muttered, taking a step back.

“No need to be afraid,” Yunchi said, coming to a halt. “I’m not going to harm you.”

“Uhm… sure, it’s just, uh, I’m not good with women, is all.”

“Really?” Yunchi chuckled lightly as she covered her mouth. “From what I’ve observed, that is perhaps the thing you’re best at.”

“Eh, you must have me confused with Charming Lynne. I’m the Uncomfortable, Creepy One.”

“What has your father told you about me?” she asked.

“Uh, not much,” Lynne smiled nervously, taking another step back. “Just, you know, that you were kind of dead.”

“I assumed. So he never spoke of me?”

“No, not really.”

“Do you know why?”

“I can venture a few guesses, yes.”

“I was told, just recently, that you died as well,” she smiled lightly, looking at the sky. “During the Fall.”

“Very much alive… which I’d definitely like to stay.”

“Your father told me you were terrified of killing,” she pressed as her gaze shifted back onto Lynne. “Didn’t seem like it today.”

“…” Lynne swallowed a gulp of saliva, his forehead dripping with sweat.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid of killing. After all, it is in your blood.”

“… right. So, how can I help you?”

“You don’t belong in this world, Lynne,” Yunchi said, sighing. “You’re a Dragon amongst men. You belong with me, back home, where you can truly soar and become who you’re meant to be. Do you even know anything about who you are?”

“I’m a son of a former Lord of Highlind,” Lynne replied, calming himself slowly. “And a woman who died during the childbirth.”

“It is true when they say that children can’t choose their parents. However, it is the same for us; I never intended to give a birth to a child outside the clan. You became a strange enigma to us, neither a blessing nor a curse, but something in-between. When my Clansmen divined your bloodline, they saw it was diluted, and that you couldn’t be fostered properly. I fought – nay, I’m still fighting – to change their minds about you, so I can take you home. However diluted, my blood still cruises through your veins, after all.”

“… I am home.” Lynne had finally calmed down, glancing back at frozen Median and smiling gently.

“No,” Yunchi suddenly disappeared, as if devoured by light, reappearing next to Median a moment later. “You aren't. Your home is in Divine Realm, in the heart of Hyord Clan. Although you’ve followed wrong paths until now, it is not too late to change it.”

“What’s your name?” Lynne asked.

“Yunchi. But you can call me mom.”

“Yunchi,” Lynne said, walking forward and standing on Median’s other side. “While I appreciate the sentiment – mostly due to the fact that I’m terrified of you, really – this is my home, a place where I grew up, a place where I’ve seen highs and lows of life, and a place where I can always return to.”

“You really think this is a best choice for you?” Yunchi creased her brows slightly as she asked.

“Whether it’s best or not, I don’t know, nor do I care,” Lynne replied calmly, not breaking the gaze. “All I know is that this place that you call home for me had to debate for over eighteen years as to whether I belong there, and still failed to reach the verdict. Allow me to help you with that decision then: no, I don’t belong there. I never did and I never will. Not only did you abandon my father and left him here, on his own, to raise me, but you even turned the blind eye to what happened to him.” traces of anger festered on Lynne’s face as he continued to speak. “Yet, you still can come up to me and ask me to abandon him and leave with you?”

“I couldn’t help your father,” Yunchi said. “He was supposed to make sure you never trained in Magic while we decided what to do with you. He was given a card to be left out of this conflict, and he should have taken it; change sides, and both you and him would be safe. Yet, like a stubborn fool he is, he refused, and look where it got him. Don’t make the same mistakes he did, Lynne, and listen to the reason inside of you, not your broken sentiment.”

“Hai, your tongue is more proficient at licking the lies than mine,” Lynne chuckled lightly as he said. “I can finally see where I got it from.”

“I can change the course of this battle with a flick of my finger; you can never win.”

“Then change it,” Lynne furrowed his brows as his face grew grimmer. “Flick your finger and burn us all to ashes. No one here can stop you anyway. If you think I’m a mistake – this whole thing is a mistake – go on, fix it.”

“Well said!” a familiar voice suddenly appeared, startling Lynne; next to him, space distorted, rippling outwardly as two people appeared. Lynne’s jaw nearly fell onto the floor as he recognized the newcomers: Thalia and… the Nameless Lad--- I mean Lady Ella!! Holy shit, she’s here!! She’s freaking here!! Wait, how can she move… aii, don’t tell me…

“Lady Ella,” even Yunchi was surprised by the newcomers, taking a step back. “Pleasure to see you.”

“Doubt it,” Lady Ella said, smile of innocence on her face. “I had a feeling you’d come here.”

“And what are you doing here?” Yunchi asked.

“How does it feel being told to ‘screw off’ by your own son, huh? Can’t be good.” Oi, this isn’t the Nameless Lady!! This is the bitch-mode on Lady!!

“… do you really want to fight with me, here and now? The entire realm would collapse.”

“The three people that need to live from this realm are all here,” Lady Ella glanced over Thalia, Lynne and Median before turning back to Yunchi. “So, go ahead. Let me see if you improved any since our last… spar.”

“You don’t have to be polite, Master,” Thalia joined. “You completely destroyed her the last time. You practically aged her for ten thousand years within a minute.”

“Ah, true,” Lady Ella nodded. “I had nearly forgotten that.” Dammit, is there no genuinely nice person involved in this conversation?! Lynne was sweating bullets as his gaze shifted between Yunchi and Lady Ella. Are we all truly just shameless bastards of the fiftieth order?!

“You really think your Masters can make any difference this time around, Ella?” Yunchi’s face grew uglier by second as she stopped bothering with the pleasantries. “Just like the last time, all of you will be massacred down to the last babe.”

“There’s only one Hyord clan, Yunchi,” Lady Ella said. “Even if we fail this time as well, so what? Next generation won’t. Face it: sooner or later, you all will be wiped from the annals of history, just the way it was meant to be. Now, how about you and I leave this place, and let this battle go towards its natural end, huh?”

“You better pray I don’t find you,” Yunchi said as she turned around. “Lynne,” she briefly glanced at him, her eyes full of disappointment. “You’ve made your biggest mistake today. One you’ll soon come to regret.”

“Good talk,” Lynne replied, having been emboldened by the appearance of Lady Ella and Thalia. “Now shoo back to your clan and tell them they can stop sweating over what to do with me.”

“…”

Yunchi flew into the sky, disappearing back onto her boat and then off into the distance, but the world didn’t unfreeze; it remained static, moving yet not at the same time.

“Hello Lynne,” Lady Ella turned towards him and smiled. “We meet again.”

“Yeah,” as Lynne recalled their meeting, he began sweating bullets yet again. “About last time… uh, I… I totally meant it,” he suddenly knelt, taking Lady Ella’s hand into his own. “You are gracious angel, benevolent and loving; you strike my heart with thunder of gods, leaving me helpless, lying on the ground! Ah~how solemn the fate is, that I suffer unto fate of loneliness; you--”

“Idiot,” Thalia suddenly smacked his head, interrupting him. “Do you have literally no shame?”

“None whatsoever,” Lynne bluntly replied. “Besides, Nameless Lad—I mean Lady Ella is an angelic existence. If I don’t strike front--ly and fast, I may never have a chance to strike!”

“… even if you struck from every angle imaginable, you’d still be shooting blanks.”

“… I’m confused. Are we talking about the chances or, you know, the chances.”

“What?” Thalia looked at him confusingly for a moment before it dawned on her; she shook her head and sighed, nearly bursting out in tears. “You are absolutely beyond help. I don’t even know why we came to your rescue.”

“Oh, right, thanks for that by the way,” Lynne said, getting up off his knees. “Now, Lady Ella, if I could just ask… are you perhaps free for a chat or two after we wrap up this whole battle of life and death thing here, hm? You can choose when and where, of course, but allow me to bring the wine! We can stargaze or moongaze or just… well, gaze and whatnot, and get to know each other on a more, you know, personal level.”

“… let’s just go Master.”

“I’ll come and find you after you wrap things up here,” Lady Ella said, leaving Thalia with her jaw agape and Lynne with his eyes shining. “So, good luck and don’t get killed.”

“Get killed?! With a promise like that?! Hah, as if ever!”

The world unfroze as Thalia and Lady Ella disappeared into the ripples of space; the battle continued, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Minutes passed, yet to others it felt like a brief moment. Lynne found it hard to breathe as he realized just how much can one person truly do; after all, most of the people fighting here aren’t just ordinary men and women – some are even Celestial Mages. Yet, it didn’t seem to matter one bit.

He quickly shifted his eyes to north where the sky suddenly grew bloated, covered in black. As the cloud approached, indiscernible figures came into sight, all donning black robes. Lynne creased his brows as he realized they were gunning towards him, full speed ahead. As he finished counting, he was slightly startled as the number went over a couple thousand.

“Hai, I just had a very strange moment and I’m in no mood for fighting…” he sighed as he lowered his head, the two floating Chakrams disappearing into nothingness. “Ai, it looks like it’s time to make a fool out of myself.” Emperor’s Scythe came into being, and with it an outward gale of overwhelming strength, leaving everyone touched by it aghast.