Aspera - Advent Trigger Part 3

Ledger

I spent most of the day learning hieroglyphs in the body of Ramses. Amelie had taught me the basics of moving throughout the day, and we had even begun advanced movements like wall-running, swinging from pillar to pillar on grappling hooks, and basic blocking and a little combat.

But then… night time fell upon us.

The world around us shifted and changed as the sky quickly turned to night and the hot sun disappeared from sight. Geography began to rearrange. The large river near the Temple of Philae turned red, as did the night sky.

Everything began to change, malforming.

I lifted up my hand, only to witness my fingers acting sporadically -- as if we were caught in a system glitch.

The sounds of static white noise and visions of horrors began to invade.

Our pleasant Egyptian tutorial had changed on a dime.

I turned to Amelie.

“What is this?!...”

“Ramses?” said the Egyptian Queen.

She wasn’t Amelie anymore. No. No, she was Cleopatra again.

Had Amelie left me in this world to survive on my own?

Is that her sense of a tutorial?

G̵̜͐̌̆a̴̭̳̰̹̬͍͙̱̺̙̝͕͗̕t̵̛̛̘͈͍̞͖͕̖̖͙̝̰̳̼̱̗̬̳̯̿̍́̓̌̄̈́̂̀̏͊̌̄̕͠͝ȩ̸̖̭͗̐͒̓̏ XX-XX-XẌ̶̭̳͙͎̙́̈̆͋̽͜͝

We had shifted. Unwillingly, entering into a new gate -- a Dark World.

The world was pitch black. An absence of light and fire, only the stench of rot, the sound of moist steps approaching, and creeping low fog.

I felt the floor, looking for a sense of direction. The ground felt like marble stone, but it had been carved into stone faces. The pitch-black became illuminated only briefly, as a red sky shined for a brief moment before fading back to black.

In my hands was a military rifle.

I was a soldier now -- was this a survival horror?!

My gear was heavy, meant for ballistics.

My rifle-- it had a torchlight.

I could hear the steps drawing closer.

I still couldn’t see anything but I could hear the direction.

I pointed my rifle in the direction, using the flashlight to see.

The character dressed in a thick hooded cloak. An aura of gold light surrounded them like an angel. Its hands were covered in blood, its face had specks of it as well, and its cloak was drenched in red.

Two eyes peered up at me.

Its irises were like rings of a halo and bright enough to see my surroundings as they gazed at me.

“Good, you’re here. Follow me closely.”

“Wait…” I said, with my arm extended out to the person.

“Something’s wrong. This isn't the right gate,” said the person.

“Amelie?” I asked as I tried to keep up in the absolute darkness.

The deep red took over the pitch-black sky again.

“Don’t look. Keep your gaze low.”

A blood-curdling shriek sounded off.

The sound of a pterodactyl being strangled by a gorilla.

I could feel liquid running from my eyes.

An enormous bird, or dragon, took to the sky. A beast with four eyes, mangy feathers, and bones piercing out from its malformed ribs.

“What is… that…” I said in awe.

The liquid from my eyes was pouring like a river now.

I felt my face and put my wet hands into the light of my rifle.

It was blood. My eyes were bleeding...

"No... Ledger. Don't look up. We have to exit before the Death Gaze."

“Amelie… That creature…” I spoke, lured to the Beast’s draw.

"͍̦̲͔̥̀̒͗͒̓̔S̟̪̫ͩó͓̤̲̝͓̰̰͑ͩ́̾ͅn̖͂̓͗͆ͨ.̫̎͋ͬ̍.͇̼͚͍͋ͬ̄̽ͧͫ.̤̝͔͐̀̓ͣͧͯ"̯͉̪̠͖̺͕̗ͤ̿̆̄ͥ, said a voice, conversating through my mind.

“Death Gaze!” said Amelie, pulling me to the floor.

I struggled to fight her off of me.

“Get off me!” I shouted.

I tried to stand...

I couldn’t rise to my knees.

I was locked in position.

My body shook, sporadically as it did before the gate.

My mouth was frothing like a dog with rabies… was I having a seizure?

“Pull out your handgun…” instructed Amelie.

“And do as I do."

The cloaked figure drew a handgun from her waist and pressed it to her head.

I turned to her, confused and disoriented.

“NO!” I shouted.

PPCKK!

She fell to the floor as the gun separated her body from her mind.

I couldn’t tell if I was covered in her blood or my own anymore.

This twisted sick fantasy...

My vision was getting increasingly blurry.

The blood poured profusely from my eyes.

The shriek of the beast filled my mind.

Where was her gun?!

I panicked to find it in the black abyss, running my fingers across the smooth stone and fresh warm blood.

I found the bloodsoaked gun and put it to my skull and pulled down…

PPCKKKK!

※※※※※

"You are safe now, Summoner."

The sound of a familiar soft voice.

Ares…

I felt the area around me… the soft skin of a warm leg…

She sat by my side, directly next to me.

I was in a small bed. In comparison, the bed was cold and coarse.

I felt my face next, a thick cloth was tied tightly across my eyes.

“Am I blind?...” I said in a raspy voice.

I could hear Ares have a pause in her voice as if she did not want to answer.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to sit up.

"You're strong-will has protected you from the Gaze of Dark Alignment…” said Ares as she felt my forehead, checking my temperature.

“It appears to have left you blind, but much worse effects could have occurred. A weaker-willed Summoner would have succumbed to corruption and madness. Had that been you, you would have lost all control."

I pulled at the cloth wrapped around my head.

Ares took my hand away -- as if to tell me not to, but then she paused.

She helped me untie the knot and pulled the cloth from my eyes.

I tried to open my eyes, but it was as black as before the reveal.

“Eigengrau…”

“Hm?” asked Ares.

“The colour of blindness. It’s not a true black, it’s just a dull grey.”

I was unable to see anything.

Truly blind from that gate.

"What do my eyes look like Ares?" I asked.

"Emptiness."

"Cloudy white pupils?"

Ares rose from the bed.

I could hear a soft gasp -- as if she was alerted of an approaching presence.

"The one responsible for this is approaching, Summoner. I will begin an assault if that is what you command of me."

"No."

"Are you sure? Other Summoners cannot be trusted."

“This is my own fault,” I said, laying back down.

I could feel Ares' presence disappear, like a warmth exiting the room, a fire being extinguished.

PSST!

The sound of an automatic door opening up.

"I'm sorry for what happened back there. Really really sorry."

Amelie had come to apologize for what had happened.

"It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. It doesn't normally happen -- that... we're summoned through that...gate... It never happens when I'm partnered with someone. Because of my presence in that gate your blind," said Amelie.

"How are you the cause of this?" I asked.

"I've been linked to that gate ever since I can remember. It's something I face alone, and that I never wanted anyone else to experience. It's been years since it's pulled me during a gate transfer… It’s never happened when I’m with someone else," said Amelie.

Amelie pressed her clammy hand against my forehead, also checking my temperature.

“You must feel weak right now… Your mana is depleted. You’re very pale," she said.

“I just want to see… I should have listened back there…”

“It’s strange. I felt a strong presence of mana in here earlier, but it couldn’t have been from you, in this state. I came to make sure you were safe.”

“Heh, afraid an Assassin was going to off me?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time an emissary of a Dark Aligned Pilot came to kill someone… sadly. Summons can travel almost completely undetected sometimes, especially Assassin and Hunter class Summons.”

“The Dark Aligned Pilots… are they the cause of the darkness approaching?”

“You haven’t been there yet? It’s like a different world entirely. As if a Gate is attempting to claim and convert our world into its own. I’ll have to show you.”

“There’s no point if I can’t see it for myself.”

Amelie began to make her leave but paused at the door.

“You can see it through the eyes of your Summon,” said Amelie.

“...!”

I hadn’t told her yet that I had a Summon…

“How did you know…?”

But, she had left the room already.

I wonder how she was able to endure the Demon-Phoenix back in the gate… without losing her vision and losing her mind.

It had something to do with her golden eyes and aura…

I needed to rest some more...

※※※※※

A tall figure dressed in black.

Over his shoulder was an enormous greatsword -- a raw slab of iron, dull and as heavy as a blacksmith’s anvil.

The man had one eye, and a deep scar across the other. His nose had another deep gash through it, and protruding from the left side of his forehead looked to be a horn made of shrapnel.

His hair was short, black and spiked.

His expression looked of hunger, blood-lusted or straight anger.

Walking beside him was a princess-type girl.

She was small and innocent, wearing a silver tiara vaguely resembling demon horns on the side of her head, which clung tightly to her head.

Behind them was a hallway of bodies.

They had infiltrated the Vestal facility and dispatched all of the scientists.

The walls were painted in blood.

Behind me was a cloaked woman on the floor -- a Spellcaster.

Her arms were up, covering her face and head.

I knelt down and lowered her hood.

“Amelie…” I said, shocked.

“Step aside and let us kill the heretic,” said the murderous princess.

I turned to the duo and shook my head.

“Not a chance.”

“Then you will die too, big brother.”

“Eh, you don’t scare me.”

“My name is Cortia Crane. And I should scare you.”

The girl smirked before pressing her hand on her Summon.

She disappeared into her beast of a Summon-- she was an enemy pilot.

The swordsman shouted.

AWRRHHHHHHHH!

He charged towards me.

Ares rushed into battle.

With a swiftly-timed roll of her small Spartan shield, she parried the swing of the enemy Summon’s massive sword-club.

The hallway shifted into a new world entirely, a new battleground for a fight made impossible in the cramped corridors of the facility hallway. The area was a stage in the mountains, a tournament setting with no spectators, just a flat rocky surface surrounded by trees and rocky mountains.

Ares and the mysterious Summon began to battle, clashing swords and creating enormous holes in the rocky forest terrain.

Ares was unparalleled in battle, even against a Summon of brutish size. Heracles had much greater physical strength and even greater physical defense. Only a Crusader-class was capable of so much physical power. Ares made up for this with her higher evasion skills, nimbler speed, critical damaging skills and ability to place a well-timed weapon parry -- effectively stunning them for a moment.

The large Summon backed off, unable to hit Ares with any heavy attacks.

“Heracles is a Crusader-class. His type disadvantages are obviously present in this fight,” said the large Summon.

Cortia appeared once more, from within her Summon.

In her hands was a black lock of hair, tied in a bundle -- a memento.

Did she plan to summon forth another Summon?!

Her Summon Heracles faded away, and another appeared to take his place.

“Lityerses the Reaper, my second Summon,” said Cortia.

Lityerses dressed in a long black cloak, but it left the lower half of his torso exposed, like a strange crop-top. He had horns, light red skin, a skull mask, and wielded a large reaper scythe.

The reaper vanished in the wind and appeared behind me.

Ares looked around.

“...!”

I dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the swing of his scythe.

Ares slid across the smooth surface of the tournament floor to my side and grabbed my hand.

“Fusion,” she said, “speak the verse!”

“Right.... Uh."

"Saaaaa-Na-Saaa…” I shouted.

GAAA!

My body went into Sov -- the legendary Sovereign state.

We were one as I possessed her and sat behind the wheel.

Ares erupted in energy, as she gained access to my mana pool.

Her short sword now glowed blue, with small illuminated runic words decorating the blade at the base.

The Reaper cackled madly, like a witch in heat.

“It still won’t be good enough! You only have ONE summon!”

Lityerses vanished again and appeared behind us.

Ares and I smirked and turned around ready to parry his thin scythe.

But, it wasn’t the Reaper -- she had switched back to Heracles, and now we had a large iron club coming down on us.

We weren’t ready.

Ares crossed her arms and blocked the blow, but I didn’t…

I slid several feet back, with my arms crossed.

Ares stood in front of me, with the greatsword clashing against her.

She blocked. I didn’t… and it caused us to separate…

We weren’t in sync.

We had to move as one… even in critical moments.

Moments that were too fast to track...

We had to find our flow and act on impulse.

There wasn’t time for planning sometimes.

I was only beginning to understand.

Ares broke free from the clash of iron and steel and darted back over to me.

Once again we fused.

I knew I was holding her back.

I was still a novice, and she was at a professional level.

“In this state, my sword can cut through any material, Summoner.”

She was speaking to me.

“We need to find an opening. One good clean hit is all it will take.”

END OF PART 3