Volume I Chapter 6 Part II Those Without Fear (II)

Darkness,

Pure black darkness, that was what Bready was able to see and feel, since he couldn’t know much what was happening to him, he never felt like this before, so cold, frigid. That was what Bready felt, completely unaware of his real condition.

“Come back to me!” Bready heard from afar, as his conscience was fading away without knowing what just happened to him…

“Ahhhhh! Don’t leave me… please! Don’t! Ahhh...” He heard again a familiar voice weeping every time more distant, while he felt himself in the void, deprived of movement or thought.

‘Caut!’ Bready suddenly recognized the voice as he tried to move in the void but to no avail.

‘I… can’t… give up… she needs… me…’ Bready mentally repeated to himself, as his process of thinking was becoming harder and harder, while his conscience slowly scattered in its fading to darkness.

“Please!!!!” Bready kept hearing Caut yelling, her gradually fading voice broken and full of grief.

And after three seconds, Bready was now lost and helpless in the void, unable to see, hear or sense anything.

*GASP*

From nowhere, Bready appeared in a white, infinite room without any door or window, his senses and consciousness were back on track.

He barely could stand on his feet, feeling dizzy, heavy breathing and sweating cold and soon fell on his knee, touching his chest with one hand as his heart was quickly beating.

“What’s ha-happening…?” Bready mumbled as he looked at the floor, seeing his sweat drops instead going down, they were going frontwards.

Upon seeing this, his eyes abruptly opened and with his only hand available pushed himself back, feeling a strange and impulsive dread to the unknown, while his heavy breathing and heart rate slowly stabilized back to normal.

He was now sitting on the floor within a room of infinite white, completely alone and confused.

“Agh…” Bready brought both of his hands at his head when he tried to remember how he came to here.

“Is this a kind of magic or-” Bready kept mumbling to himself, but this time while doing so, he looked up to the roof of the room and noticed that there was no roof, instead there were multiple and beautiful constellations, stars, nebulosus and other countless wonders of the midnight sky above.

“Where the heck am I?” Bready exclaimed, as his eyes were still stuck to the beautiful constellations that he has never seen before, not even...not even…

He couldn’t remember where he saw beautiful stars before but he was sure he saw stars somewhere before, it was a beautiful place with colorful vegetation and near a lake during the night.

“Bready!” Suddenly, a female voice echoed in his head again as his heart started to beat harder for a few seconds.

But he was now unable to recognize the voice echoing in his head and every time he tried to remember, he felt a mind-shattering headache forcing him to abandon the mere idea of a further attempt.

*TRP-TRP*

“Uh?!” Bready stood up right away upon seeing two individuals appearing in front of him from black-purple distortions, whose immediately fixed their gazes on him.

One of them was a white-haired woman of short height, around 5’45’’, gazing at him with a straight face. He didn’t knew any of both individuals before him although judging from their expression, they did know who Bready was.

Looking back at the woman, he witnessed several wounds on her face along the clothes scrapes were slowly regenerating altogether.

“W-what…?” Bready mumbled quietly as her large, narrow, black pupils were fixated on him with severity and became even narrower, out of apparent disgust. Her eyes were indeed unique as they had dark orangish eyes with yellowish pints all over, highlighted by a thick, black line on the upper eyelid meanwhile her long, silky hair gently rested over her shoulders and back with a red double ruffle bow ribbon tied at the end.

“She even has horns… what are you?” Bready asked astonished as his eyes were still at her, fixing his attention on her figure, as the thick, pointy horns were dark reddish-brown and pointing forward emerging from the lateral parts of Pandora’s head.

“*Sigh* So much effort for this ‘great’ and ‘important’ being, Kelsaik?” Pandora exclaimed ironically as she quickly turned towards the other individual next to her left while her black shoes with short, kitten heels tapped on the room of the floor, surprisingly echoing while her vestment softly waged along her move, lifting a soft, warm and taunting aroma towards Bready’s nose.

Her one-piece astral dress had a carbon black color fastening on her petite, tight chest with flounce sleeves and a half, diagonal A-line, handkerchief skirt which on every ending had white frills just as her thigh-high black socks with a white twisted boutique bow ribbon on its top end.

“He is the one, believe me, it is just matter of time for…” The other individual, Kelsaik, replied back with a clear and serious voice. To Bready’s eyes, he wasn’t more than a normal human, with brown eyes and black, short hair with an average height for one of his race.

Kelsaik was clad in a majestic, heavy and white plate armor with some runes inscribed on the breastplate; his gauntlets, gaiters, and boots had thin yellowish lines edging his armor as every a few seconds, the runes on his breastplate dimly shone, as if the armor itself had a connection with the mana network somehow.

“Matter of time? You kidding me, right?” Pandora exclaimed with noticeable irritation upon hearing at Kelsaik’s words as Bready just stood looking at both, being a mere spectator but when Kelsaik was going to answer Pandora’s words, she spoke again with a serious, cold voice.

“The only matter of time here is that you are going to be hunted down by the madman of Quote anytime if you do this and I won’t help you again.” While saying these words, Bready was able to see for just a second Pandora’s eye softening, with hesitation and anguish although her body kept the very same coldness and unaltered expression as her wounds and clothes were already fully regenerated.

“I understand my situation, but it is my duty to end this or die trying it, otherwise my very own existence is meaningless, Pandora.” Kelsaik replied back without any hesitation, with a clear and serious voice.

“Without your true form you are not capable of doing much Kelsaik, but if you have such a strong death wish, then so be it, I am going to be happy to have at the gates of the oblivion.” Pandora replied as she turned around and fixed her gaze at Bready, making him feel a chill on his back since her ‘draconic’ eyes weren't too friendly at all for him.

On the other part, Kelsaik closed his eyes and exclaimed with determination.

“I shall embrace my fate.” Then, he re-opened his eyes and looked at Pandora’s back with soft eyes for a second to then regain his composure.

“You are embracing your fate believing to an eidolon, a spell, a mirage created by someone else’s delight. You are being played Kelsaik, open your eyes already.” Pandora replied back to hearing Kelsaik determination. It could not fit in her head how, how mortals were so naive, so easily controlled by meaningless emotions.

“She is the Sayune’s successor, she is going change our future Pandora, her plan is the only one that still holds peace,” Kelsaik explained.

“Sayune is dead, and her daughter will share the same fate as her mother’s. This, I guarantee you. Soon enough.” Pandora replied, like a judge sentencing a death penalty.

“I disagree. I always thought that you wanted to help the world from perishing, but now I soon realized you became like Velik, Kaia, and all others. You’ve abandoned us long ago. Why?” Kelsaik asked with a serious voice, slightly confused of Pandora’s stubbornness.

“A few years before, you aided Sayune’s quest to save us from our fate but now… I can’t even recognize you.” Kelsaik added.

“Sayune provided nothing but false hope. Like you, I believed in her and all of your ‘persecutions of hope’, only to discover them being nothing more than falsehoods, spouted by a delusional idealist.” Pandora replied back coldly, without looking at Kelsaik.

“Ha. I believe otherwise. Alongside Sayune’s daughter, we will prove that hope still exists, and can be realized starting with her plan. If you haven’t noticed, the Seven Signs are already converging and Noryhil along Isren have spoken me about the ruptures that Wonder is actively generating. There is doubt that the time is coming, so I must do so too just as Misfortune, Wonder, Annihilation-” Kelsaik was speaking but he was precipitously interrupted by Pandora.

“The Seven Signs is nothing more than a mere legend, Kelsaik. A tale to cultivate seeds of life in the most barren wasteland.” Pandora replied with a soft voice, as if trying to convince herself more than Kelsaik behind her.

“Even if that’s true, you cannot make blind eyes towards the ruptures Pandora, it is the most solid proof that something is happening, something that even the Gods like you cannot control, you must hear me Pandora…” Kelsaik exclaimed with hope and determination, as he gave a step forwards towards Pandora.

“I have heard enough from Sayune already. Her words are biased and meaningless, I am not going to help such a lost cause. Sayune never had anything to prove her right and she is dead, there is nothing else to do, Kelsaik. Let the supreme cycle do its job.” Pandora exclaimed.

“There is no cycle, it is an annihilation Pandora, and you are not going to be an exception.”

“I already played my cards.” Pandora replied without any hint of hesitation or will to help any further.

“*Sigh* I have no more time to waste with someone who had already abandoned us.” Kelsaik replied coldly.

“Kelsaik, you are entitled to your own thoughts… but accuse me of abandonment again, I will make your passing legendary.” Pandora replied shortly, while she squinted her eyes with irritation and pain as her heart was quickly and silently beating in her chest.

“You have deeply disappointed me, Pandora. You have no honor after all.” Kelsaik exclaimed with severity.

“It is enough! You don’t know how painful is all this for me too but I have no choice, I am the Goddess of the Void after all, the successor of Vanitas. I must uphold my duties like it or not, so don’t treat my job as a privilege free of consequence. I cannot just interfere with the material world like you. Doing this is already too dangerous for all of us.” Pandora exclaimed with a sore tone.

“You are just wasting time, Pandora. Time that is running short.” Kelsaik said in a warning tone as if something bigger than him or Pandora was coming.

Upon hearing those words, Pandora slightly turned her head back to Kelsaik and squinted her eyes at him with askance.

“You speak of choice, yet you fail to empathize another’s plight. You call me selfish, Kelsaik, yet you are the one who fails to respect my own problems.” Pandora shot back.

“I don't have to respect someone who forsook her honor and left behind her own humanity,” Kelsaik replied back without holding anything back.

“Tch… I see, leaving my position is not easy as there is no successor to take my place. And without a Void Goddess, the energy of the souls would destroy the material realms at the end, making all this purposeless.” Pandora replied back, with an upset expression on her face.

“You are just making up excuses for yourself, Pandora. No matter how I see it, you are traitor for us-”

“Enough! Don’t forget who you are talking to, Kelsaik. I will start the spell, and after it is done, I will wait to harvest your soul personally.” Pandora exclaimed coldly, interrupting the conversation as she had her fists strongly gripped.

“I am ready,” Kelsaik exclaimed ignoring Pandora’s ultimatum as then, Bready, who have been a spectator to all this chatter between these two individuals that seemed to know each other well, felt a huge pressure all around his body, as he started to sweat and breath hardly while hearing a high pitch beep on his head.

*Heartbeat-heartbeat-heartbeat*

“Aghh…” Bready fell to the floor drowning with the hands on his throat and looked at his surroundings, as Kelsaik was suffering the same fate as him while Pandora was closing to him as her heels echoed lengthy within the infinite white room.

‘This pressure… where is it coming from?!’ Bready thought for himself quickly while seeing Pandora turning around and walking towards Kelsaik, unable to find a source, as if the room itself suddenly changed of properties, taking away the air and exerting a crushing pressure on them.

*Taap-taap-taap*

“Ggg…” Although Bready’s hearing was limited, somehow he kept hearing Pandora’s heels hitting the floor echoed in his head. ‘This is bad!’ He shouted in his mind by instinct.

His eyes darted everywhere trying to find a shining light out of his predicament, something that would help him, just to see that Kelsaik was on the floor, drowning and Pandora slowly approaching to him, moving her lips but Bready was unable to hear a word.

“Ozaygan Duosi…” Pandora exclaimed with a reverberating voice upon she was in front of Kelsaik, while he started to move with difficulty against the pressure that was being exerted by Pandora’s power, trembling on each of his moves, slowly lifting his torso, standing on his knees while he was looking at her without a hint of fear on his eyes.

In response, she lifted her wide-open hand up to the height of her chest and Bready saw several silver-golden spears that appeared out of nowhere, right behind Kelsaik’s back.

“Ghh… Pan-dora… you… t-”

“O't... Olish!” Pandora sentenced and closed her hand with determination, and immediately after the spears flew down, running through Kelsaik’s back until the tips protruded out from his chest. After ending his life, the spears kept his corpse lifted it from the floor while Kelsaik’s blood trickled down by the spears from the shaft to the tip, forming a pool of blood under him.

She remained a few seconds looking at Kelsaik’s corpse, with tearful eyes and giving long, deep breaths as she then lowered her hand and the spears disappeared, allowing Kelsaik’s corpse to hit the ground, with a wet, bloody sound along with a tinkle of his armor.

“Ah...” Pandora cried silently as her legs trembled a little.

“No matter what I do, killing never ends Kelsaik...but deep inside myself, I still believe in you, don’t waste this opportunity...” Pandora said slowly while sobbing, as she spoke to a dead corpse.

“This… all of this… is your fault Sayune…” Pandora murmured.

“Aghhh…” Bready uttered as he was still drowning, as his vision was blurring by the lack of air.

Upon hearing him, Pandora wiped off her tears and turned around and walked towards Bready.

“Apologies for my poor manners, animal. Welcome to my borderland, the line of life and death.” Pandora manifested with an eerie, cold calmness and then lifted Bready from his neck with her right hand.

“Kelsaik gave his own future to preserve yours…” Pandora exclaimed, with angry watery eyes looking Bready, who was unable to hear a word.

“I can’t understand why he did this at all. He saw worth in you, yet I can’t see anything of that in you, useless furball!” She shouted with irritation and confusion.

“But I gave my word to him… as I gave my heart to him too. And I am going to accomplish it, so make yourself useful or I will personally take your soul and torture you for an eternity. I, the successor of Vanitas, the Goddess of the Void, Pandora van’ Vanitas, will seal a soul pact with you, Bready.”

Under Pandora’s feet, a shiny white star appeared gleaming as a strong airstream surrounded her due the intense energy being channeled by Pandora.

“Qutilish...ulug'vor fidoyilik!”

Thereupon Pandora words, a bright, shiny white light appeared forming a star and then it was absorbed by Pandora.

“Now you live…” Pandora kept speaking as Bready felt a crushing force around his neck while his black eyes fixed on Pandora’s tearful but raging face.

“Akkk-S-sto-ag…” Bready vocalized in dismay as he frantically flailed his arms and legs trying to break free, hitting Pandora’s arms and stomach without any success.

“Sto-”

*CRACK*

“...And now you die.” Pandora sentenced as Bready’s body turned into a corpse.

Velika

A few hours before…

It was still several hours past midnight, when Caut and Bready were walking through Velika’s street which were being heavily patrolled by Elins and Castanic, towards the Officer’s Headquarters of the Free Traders Collective at the Strategic Command square, to investigate and interrogate an enemy high-officer captured during the chaotic battle of Velika.

The several Elins patrols that they encountered, stopped their march when they saw her and stood firm, firmly greeting placing their right fist on their chest and then awaited the Princess to pass by to continue their march, although Caut did not even greet back once.

“Uh… uh…” Bready followed her rhythm, as Caut was quickly walking towards her destination with resolution, and apparent determination.

‘Ahh! Why? Why? Zalyn and her mouth… this is so embarrassing!’ Caut thought for herself as she kept walking straightforward her destination while Bready couldn't understand her behavior at all.

“Princess… Princess…” Bready kept exclaiming every now and then to try to stop her movement and understand the situation they were in since Caut did not even stop to make any quick plan for the interrogation or gave any further instruction, as she was submerged in her inner thoughts.

‘If I don’t stop her, I am never going to know if she was the one who performed the awakening on me!’ Bready thought quickly in his mind to gain determination and then pushed himself towards, stretching his hand onwards Caut.

“!” Caut stopped suddenly upon feeling a warm and furry feeling at her hand, interrupting her messy chain of inner thoughts while her black wolf ears perked up in full attention.

“Finally…*phew*” Bready exclaimed a little overwhelmed as he kept holding her hand.

“W-What happens?” Caut asked trying to be tough, yet she was unable to hide the blush on her cheeks and her black wolf tail slowly wagging side to side behind her

“Uh… sorry, Princess… I just had a few questions to ask along the way. There is no need to rush there... I think.” Bready replied as calm as he could.

“Please, just call me Caut. And we can for sure talk but first…” Caut affixed her crimson red eyes on her hand, seeing Bready’s hand over hers.

“Oh. Oh. Oh! Sorry! It’s just that you were so focused on going to our destination that I needed to stop you so you could relax a little from all this mess… I guess it must stressfully exhausting.” Bready replied a little nervous, trying to explain his actions accurately as he let go Caut’s hand.

“Hahaha… sorry about that, and you are right, I am a little stressed lately with all this mess happening.” She answered hiding some part of the truth. “Hmm… so what did you want to ask me though?” Caut added as she fixed her eyes at the sky for a second and then back at Bready.

“*Sigh* It is good that you can relax once in a while… is it true that you have performed Awakening?” Bready asked right away what he had in mind. The Awakening Ceremony performed by the Elins, meant that they catalyzed their energy from their fragment of life to bring an animal to complete sentience through a long and complex magical ritual that can only be performed by any Elins, thus, each spell meant that a new Popori was ‘born’, cutting down the lifespan of the caster as aftereffect.

“Oh… that. Yes, as Princess I must do at least one awakenment to be able to perform my duty as ‘Princess’ in the Nature’s council. Although I have heard that Mech has performed way more than me, as I have just done one to be honest.” Caut exclaimed with a honest smile.

‘Why is he asking me about it?’ Caut thought in her mind, slightly disconcerted by Bready’s question, it wasn't too common that a Popori asks how they are ‘born’ or anything related to that.

The truth was that their lifespan was too short to care about banal things such like the depths of an Awakening or who did awaken them, compared to an Elin, that can live up to a thousand of years and reborn if their fragment of life is intact. Thereby, the Elins got to know as ‘Timeless allies of Nature’ and the Popori fell upon that category too, since they serve the Pora Elinu Nation and the Queen by their allies and enemies.

The Princess pondered for a few seconds the strange question coming from Bready, he stood in silence, unable to articulate an answer, even when in his mind it was crystal clear, he fell in love with his ‘awakener’.

He was unable to explain to himself why, but those brilliant blue eyes, the rhythm of her voice, her mana flow, her personality, everything of her attracted him, pushing his heart and soul to be near the Princess, with steadfast desire to protect her and help her out of anything that he could do.

“Why do you ask?” Caut ended up verbalizing her inner thoughts, as the question for herself was enough surprising, more when coming from a Popori itself. She knew that Poporis as a race themselves were… extravagant, and from her own experience, they are too curious for their own good, leading them to unusual problems with other races.

“Errr…it is…a little difficult to explain…” Bready scratched his head while his heart pounds accelerated from his hiding nervousness.

‘Just say it!’ Bready yelled in his mind.

“Uh… uhh… it is because I think… that you were… err… the one who awakened me… and I am highly grateful for what you did to me that day…” Bready explained with difficulty, although he was just saying the point of the iceberg of his inner thoughts.

“Let’s keep walking, we have to arrive soon.” Caut resumed her walk towards the building where the prisoner of war was waiting for their interrogation, under the surveillance of FTC’s officers.

‘She just ignored me!’ Bready shouted in his mind, staying his ground dumbfounded by Caut’s reaction for a few seconds before starting to walk behind her just as the beginning.

“Princess…” Bready vocalized while he kept following her.

“I thought it was something more important, I don’t even remember who I did awake.” The Princess replied honestly, although her heart was beating with clear expectation by some reason, which she was unable to understand at all.

“I know it was you! Your blue eyes! They are unique! I am sure that it was you!” Bready exclaimed with pure enthusiasm and certainty.

“You are putting too much energy on that, you know?” Caut said with a short giggle, as her tail waged once while she placed her hand over the golden blue hilt of her rapier, sheathed in a black scabbard with a white version of the Elin’s royal seal.

“It is important for me! You are the one who gifted me all this!” Bready exclaimed as Caut was able to feel with her sensitive black wolf ears how Bready’s voice reverberated through the streets of Velika during the night.

“Don’t be so loud, all the Elins are hearing you…” Caut exclaimed calmly as she smiled to herself, while Bready was still behind. They were about to enter the building, as a hundred of meters before them there was a building 3 floors built with orange-red clay bricks and several large windows around.

“Uh-uh...sorry.” Bready apologized shortly, embarrassed.

“No worries no worries...hahaha… let’s get going, we can keep speaking after doing this short task given by the Queen.” Caut spoke calmly, focusing on her job.

‘Such professionalism…she keeps calling her mother as a ‘Queen’.’ Bready thought for himself while nodding to Caut, admiring how she separated the things in her mind.

Although it seemed like a normal building, it was a military building camouflaged with the antiqued and poorly maintained civil infrastructures, where prisoners were held for long interrogations. However, this building was almost without use since the armistice with the Enlighten Union was sign and the Iron Order repelled from the continent.

But now, with a clear violation of the armistice, the building became fully active once again for train the explosive ingoing of recruits responding the recent call of arms made by Adiar, training them with long vigil hours and guard war prisoners.

“Princess!” Two guards at each side of the metallic silver door exclaimed in unison and stood firm gazing to the night sky upon seeing the Princess standing a few meters before them.

“Rest. In which floor is the prisoner?” Caut asked right away.

“The Prisioner 378 is being held in the basement.” One guard replied back, wearing a red, cerulean blue and white uniform and holding a long halberd.

“Understood, lead me there,” Caut replied back sternly.

“Yes, ma’am!” Both exclaimed as they opened the door with slightly difficulty, as it was a iron door.

Then, one guard led Caut and Bready inside the building, which had light brown wooden floor and a width hall with concrete walls, illuminated by magic green lights. At the end of the hall, they turned to the right and went downstairs and the guard knocked at another iron door.

“Hm?” Caut squinted her eyes as her acute black wolf ears felt something behind the door.

None opened the door.

“That’s strange, I can swear that Mike and Tom had their turn today in this room.” The guard exclaimed and pushed the door.

“Oh… it opened.” The guard exclaimed with a slightly happiness.

“I am sorry my Princess, they might have fallen asleep… the prisoner is in the cell in front of us as you can see, I am going to look for Mike and Tom, they might be somewhere around here.” The guard added while pointing forward.

“Alright… just be careful… I feel something strange in here.” Caut advised although she was unable to explain what it was… as this new ‘feeling’ was completely unknown to her.

“Hahahaha… this building is quite creepy for your information, I know what you feel… hahaha.” The guard exclaimed calmly while Caut walked around the cell which had a chair in the middle with someone sat on it.

“*sniff*”

‘What’s that smell…’ Caut thought for herself while Bready was also smelling something...dense and somehow known...

“!” Caut stopped her walk right away upon seeing the worst nightmare she could ever be seen.

The prisoner had his eyes with several blue/dark-blue roots around with its iris black and the pupil of a brilliant blue, as well as part of his neck and skin, with a dense, black liquid coming out from his lacrimals, nose and mouth.

“What the hell?” Bready exclaimed stupefied, unable to understand what just happened to the prisoner.

“This is… impossible… they were eradicated years ago…” Caut mumbled to herself.

“Hahaeheheaheahaehaea!”

Suddenly, both heard a loud laugh from behind while the room brightened behind Caut and Bready.

“My dear Princess… it all an honor to meet you here…” Caut heard a soft female voice from behind...

Credits to I4MD34TH for editing this chapter!